Attitude adjustment

I'm probably going to step on a few toes here, but I think that "aspiring filmmaker" is one of the most ridiculous titles anyone can apply to themselves. If you call yourself an "aspiring filmmaker" it strikes me as giving yourself an excuse. If something goes wrong, you didn't lose much; after all, it was just a goal, nothing you were really making a go at. It's a terrible way to think and I've seen it bite people on the ass.

You have to call yourself a "filmmaker." You have to BE a filmmaker. You have to sit down, have your idea and say "I am going to make this if it goddamn kills me." This is a level beyond simply aspiring to be a filmmaker, this is getting yourself into a state of mind where you are going to get shit done. For instance, I am going to make Discovery. It's already way above what I was expecting the budget to end up being and I'm going to have a hell of a time raising the funds, but I WILL make this movie. If I had my old attitude of "I'll get around to it" the damn thing would never get made.

Some people will, of course, tell you that you can't make it. And you know what? Statistically speaking, they're probably right. Try not to listen to them though, they might also just be assholes. If you start hearing things like "you'll never make it in the film industry" or "you'll never be able to make the movie" then you're probably talking to assholes. However, if you start hearing things like "you haven't planned how you're going to shoot this at all" or "this is completely unshootable on your budget" then maybe you should pay some attention to them, since they're at least giving their criticism thought.

Making a film is HARD. I'm not even done getting pre-production organised and I'm pulling my hair out at times. I still need to get some things done, like talking to ACTRA to potentially cut down my actor's wages. I also still need to contact Six Shooter Records about some music licensing costs, get my post-budget ready and make sure I can get my cast and crew on the dates I'll need them. It's hard, it's stressful and I have constant headaches but I'm a filmmaker. It's my job.

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