Month of June

Last day of June.  The most popular blog entry this month was "Telling Stories."  Jesus, my Master, was also the master storyteller.  He used stories to illustrate points.

Some people make movies to entertain.  I think just about every movie contains a message-- something the filmmaker is communicating tot he audience.  It might be that the main point is to entertain, but many film storytellers are primarily sending a message that also happens to be entertainment.

Yes, movies are entertainment and part of the entertainment industry.  But the are stories.  Some in Hollywood say there are no messages, but clearly that point of view is inaccurate.  Aaron Sorkin has something to say in every television drama he writes.  Even the flippant Larry David and Seinfeld had a message, though they took pride in it being a show about nothing.  That in itself is saying something.  And they said a lot more-- like homosexuality is okay ('not that there's anything wrong with it.")

So, my filmmaking friends, don't' deceive yourselves into thinking that you really aren't pushing an agenda or sending a message, because you are.  It's the essence of story-- you are communicate something.

It's not just entertainment.

The Victim Drama

I've been a victim.  You've been a victim.  I've victimized, as well as you.  Everyone in the world is a victim at some point.  Except for one person in history.  You couldn't make Him a victim.  They tried.  Pilate said he had the power.  Jesus responded that he didn't because He willingly laid down His life.  Of all the people, Jesus could have worn the victim merit badge.  He earned it.

But oddly He didn't.  Jesus was never a victim.    Even when He was victimized.  It looks like being a "victim" is a choice.  And it's a choice of the flesh.

Now before a few haul off and slug me, let me clarify-- I'm not talking about the innocent child, the utterly helpless.  I'm talking about you reading this now.  You have been victimized somehow, someway.  But whether you choose to be a victim is up to you.

"Victim" becomes an identity-- a mask you wear to make yourself feel better.  Or to manipulate those around you.  Or to get your way.  Or to get back.  Often times, the victim becomes the victimizer.  This whole "victim" thing is not from God.  It's not His Purpose for your life.  Or mine.

I've found an area recently in which I've been extremely vindictive.  When I reconcile my behavior to God, this is an area lacking.  I need to conform my mind to the things above.  Playing the victim and victimizing is now part of that.

If you're caught up in this horrible circular drama of victim/victimizer, you can make it stop.  Remember Jesus said you can't take my life because I willing give it.  Forgive.  Live for the Purpose He created you for.  And when you catch yourself falling back into the victim rut, pull yourself mentally out.  Take captive those thoughts.

I'm going to stop being the victim.  Hope you stop too.

Rising Stars

I'm excited about "Rising Stars."  We shot the movie last August and finished earlier this year.  Doberman Entertainment is nearly done with the deal for distribution and it will be exciting.  (I'll announce when they tell me I can the specifics).

We shot this movie here in the DFW area, mostly at the University of Texas at Arlington.  What's really fun about this film is the cast-- these guys across the board were awesome.  We have Kyle Riabko, who's playing on Broadway right now.  Lauren Ashley Carter-- one of the best young actor's I've ever worked with.  We've got Fisher Stevens, who just won the Academy Award (producing a documentary).  Barry Corbin... the lovely Catherine Mary Stewart... And Rebecca St. James.  Rebecca is really doing well moving from grammy award winning Christian singer to film actor.  There's Leon Thomas III who's landed a sweet role on television.  As well as Natalie Hall who's done the same.

The movie is about high schoolers caught up in a national talent search, squaring off against each other in the Finals, to see who will get the fame and fortune contract.  The two categories are Musical Acts, and Filmmakers.  Three musical acts pair up with three filmmakers for one week of collaboration and competition.  The movie is that week.

The film is targeted as a family film for the secular audience and I think there's something in there for everyone.  Premieres and dates will be forthcoming shortly.

Resourcefulness

For low budget indie filmmakers, the key to making a good movie is *resourcefulness.*  This begins with the Idea and continues with the Script.

What I mean is this: if you know Hollywood's not going to swoop down and wave their magic fairy wand over your project, blessing it with 20 million golden bucks 'o pixie dust, then you need to have an idea that can make the most of what resources you have.

One of the keys is available locations.  If you're best friends with the director of the county hospital and he's willing to give you a floor for three weeks, then a medical movie makes a lot of sense.  You can get lots of production value out of that.

Maybe it's a run down municipal airport.  Or a large warehouse.  Or a golf course.  Look around you and figure out what you have.  For those writing the political thriller taking place all over the White House, it's going to be difficult to pull that off on a small budget.  Building sets is expensive.  Try to stay away from that.  Also, limiting the locations is a great idea.  Ideally, try to have your story in a place that gives you multiple looks without having to move the company.

On my last film "Rising Stars," I accomplished this by setting the location on a college campus.  Only one day out of the whole shoot was somewhere else.

Other areas of resourcefulness is equipment.  If you can get a great deal on cranes, jobs, and dollies, it can make a huge difference.  Same thing for HMI lighting, high quality mics, and high quality cameras.

These are just a few ideas to help you maximize production value on your film project.

Revisiting Chicken Love

A long time ago I wrote about Chicken Love.  But at the time, I think three people were reading this blog.  So I want to discuss this principle again because it's the foundation of a lot that we discuss here.

Chicken Love.  A mom says to her child that she loves him.  Now, she doesn't discipline the child and he's a hellion.  She let's him have a bunch of sweets and sugar drinks.  He rules the roost, but no problem-- she "loves" him.  Now he grows and gets into drugs, smoking dope in his room, hanging with the wrong crowd... but it's okay because she "loves" him... even "loves" him too much.

Clearly, I'm not believing that she "loves" him.  To understand Chicken Love, let's define real Love: Seeking the others highest good and purpose in God.  Is she doing this?  No.  So when she says she "loves" him, what's she really saying?

I love chicken.  Grilled, baked or fried, chicken is delicious-- I love it.  Am I seeking chicken's highest good?  No way.  When I say I love chicken, what I'm really saying is I love the way it tastes-- the WAY IT MAKES ME FEEL.

Let's takes another example.  19 year old boy "loves" his 18 year old girlfriend.  He convinces her to go all the way, saying "I love you baby" in the process.  Chicken Love.  He'll devour and then want more to feed his selfish body.  Is this any different from the long suffering mother?  No.  If she truly loved her son, she'd kick him out and quit rescuing him-- hoping that he'll come around because she's not protecting him from natural consequences.

I think real love is rare in this consumer driven society.  I know that I all too often practice Chicken Love instead of Real Love.  Chicken Love is the love of the Narcissist, and it has to die.  Daily.

I'll say it again, because if it becomes a mantra for you, that's not all bad: Love is seeking the other's highest good.  It might not look all warm and fuzzy.  It might appear harsh at times.

Jesus is a great example of real Love.  When the rich young ruler wanted validation of his own righteousness, Jesus gave him a choice to lose the thing that was keeping him from a real relationship with God.  Then Jesus let him walk when he chose poorly.  He didn't slober over himself, saying "you know what, come as you are!"

Then there's the gentile woman with the demon possessed child.  She become obnoxious in trying to get Jesus's attention.  But Jesus knew that she needed to press through.  So he insulted her... called her a dog.  But she chose wisely and pressed on.  Jesus pointed to her as a great example of faith.

So love can mean insulting the other-- if it's seeking their highest good.  Love can mean letting a person walk towards destruction (rich young ruler) if it means seeking their highest good.  So sometimes, letting a child, or friend stay in the pokey and not bailing them out can be following in Jesus's footsteps. 

The question I ask myself is: what is their highest good and purpose in God?  It's okay to let this be a mantra.

Spend A Day With Jesus!

I heard a sermon last Sunday that had a very interesting concept:  What would you do if you actually had to spend the day with Jesus.  How would your life change?  What activities would you do differently?  Now I've heard sermons like this all my life, but for some reason, this time some things struck me.

• The Obvious-- You'd put on your best clothes, shower, shave, style your hair.  Because then you can fool Him-- he'll never know what you look like on the inside.
  
• What if you didn't recognize Him because he didn't have an effeminate face, or had cut his hair or beard?
  
• What if He never holds a little lamb?
  
• As you walk with Him through the countryside, the birds will sing, the flowers will bloom, and the unicorns will poop rainbows.  Actually, for those of this halcyon mindset, be ready for Him to put your expectations on end.  (And of course, there's probably some of you that were just offended because in the same sentence I talked about Jesus, I used the word "poop.")
  
• Would you wake him up if he slept past 8:00?  I mean, He is the Son of God, but the work day is the work day.  Wakey, wakey!  Now this seems silly on the outside (because you know He'd never sleep past 8), but I got a feeling that if you'd spent the day with Jesus, there'd be a lot of things He'd say or do that would be contradict your expectations.
  
• Would you tell Him we can't go see the Matrix cuz it's "R" rated?
  
• Would you laugh and joke with Jesus, especially if He told a joke about pooping Unicorns?  Afterall, God created unicorns didn't He?

The conclusion here is this: First, I hope that I will act like I do now.  Why put on any masks or masquerades?  He knows who I am.  Secondly, our expectations will be turned upside down in some cases.  Especially the Pharisee side of me.

Remembering "The Keyman"

I wanted to make a movie.  I had tried writing screenplays but could never get past page 18.  I hated what I read and would lose heart.  When the idea came for "The Keyman," I was a new father, working at a production house doing commercials and corporate video.  What I discovered in this screenplay was that if I don't read what I wrote, I'd be able to push through.  The real writing, as they say, is in the re-writing.

So in 1998 and 1999, after finishing early drafts with a co-writer, I kept polishing and refining the script, until I got to draft 13.  In July of 1999, I incorporated and created the entity.  In early August, I left the corporate video world and began to focus on getting this movie made.  I remember talking to my first investor, telling him I believed I could have the funds raised in two or three months.

A year later, and I finally have just enough to begin shooting, so we enter pre-production in late July of 2000.  We came close to getting Mark Hamil in the leading role, but he had a conflict come up.  Then we talked to Adam Baldwin, who really liked the script and was eager to play the role.  Adam ended up doing an excellent job.

Another LA actor with the same manager as Adam contacted us about the crazy homeless role.  They sent his demo tape.  I was concerned-- he played mostly detective types and was too cleaned up, as it were, to play a dirty, crazy, homeless man.  But Tom Wright ended up being one of the best surprises in the whole movie, playing "Popeye."

We signed with a distributor in the summer of 2001, and scheduled to go out on the foreign market in October of 2001.  Timing wasn't great, being one month after 9/11.  We did sell to some foreign countries, but for US-- we got told the subject matter was just too sad-- that it wasn't a "Friday night rental."

Later, in an effort to get it out, I renamed it "Finding Redemption: The Keyman," but we still couldn't get a US distributor to back us.  I made a limited number of DVD's that I sell out of my office (if interested, only $10, click here.)

Tom Wright said at a public screening of the movie that this film had a soul.  And I think he's right.  It certainly has touched quite a few people, from the letters and email I receive.  I've been thinking a lot lately what I'm going to do-- and I'm thinking about shooting some new stuff, incorporate with the movie and release it.  When I shot the film originally, the target audience was secular.  But it's all about forgiveness and would be great for the church, but would require a little re-editing.

Plus, we shot in 35mm, and I never made a inter-positive of the print, which I would love to do.  So who knows, maybe we'll release the new version of the movie sometime soon.