Friday, December 11, 2009

The Sh*t Never Ends in This Business

As most of you already know there is little, if any, glamor in filmmaking. (Fabricated studies have shown that for every 10 hours of ass-busting hard work you put into a shoot, there's about a minute of glamor somewhere on the back-end.)

Many times my students have complained about the difficulty, unpredictableness, and fly-by-the-seat-of-your-pants nature of making student film projects. And every one of them thinks it will be totally different and much easier when they get to "the big time".

I always tell them the same thing- no matter how big the budget, the difficulty and wild ride of filmmaking NEVER stop. Not for Francis Ford Coppola, not for Spike Lee or James Cameron either. Every minute you see up on the screen is usually hard fought on multiple levels- financially, physically, emotionally, logistically and technically.

Your best bet is to just plan well to anticipate and avoid problems, and then expect problems anyway. Accept them and deal with them, 'cause the sh*t never stops in film and tv...Not even when you get a job as a "big-time" news producer for CNN. So suck it up, and get used to the constant obstacles and adversity 'cause they ain't goin' nowhere...

Witness the behind-the-scenes of a simple interview for a major news network...


Monday, December 7, 2009

It's All About Being a P.A. on the Next Double Down Film Show!



On the next Double Down Film Show we’ll be breaking down the real skinny on working as a P.A. with our special guest, 2nd A.D. Jason Altieri (Ray, The Devil's Rejects, The Box) who will be sharing some of the many tips he learned the hard way in his self-formulated “P.A. Manifesto”.

Whether you want to be a D.P., cameraman or producer, your first job on a professional set will probably be as a production assistant. Film school basics and knowing how to coil a cable may get you on the set, but it’s takes a whole lot more knowledge and understanding to rise above the dregs of grunt P.A. and onto your desired career path in the world of filmmaking.

  • What types of P.A. jobs can you get?
  • How do you break in as a P.A.?
  • What offenses will get you fired on the spot?
  • How can you ingratiate yourself to the crew?
  • What are walkie talkie best practices on set?
  • What answer should you never give?

Tune in and move up the production ladder faster with the answers to all these practical questions and more on the next Double Down Film Show. Raw answers to real filmmaking questions, every Wednesday night. Listen and learn.

The Double Down Film Show...Filmmaking Reality Starts Here!

Listen Live Every Wednesday 9pm-10pm E.S.T.

Call-in Number: (646) 929-1956

Listen To It Online Here:
http://www.blogtalkradio.com/DoubleDownFilmShow


*PS - If you can't tune in live, you can still stream the show or save the podcast to your iPod later at the site above.