Notes to refer to when the lake is frozen and I’m out fishing
Paragraphs that rock from the book “What they don’t teach you at film school”
Desire is a sign. Spoken to you. Talent, in contrast, is a judgement rendered after the fact.
If you’re worried about being too exposed, remember that the audience does not know and/or care who you are. It’s their pain they care about and theirs they feel in the dark room. Let them have it.
Directors need to sharpen the same skills that private investigators do: the capacity to notice definitive clues.
Writing is more important than taking your vitamins. skip it and you will take a very expensive road back to square one.
Breakfast, sex and the trip to the dry cleaners can all happen after the crucial 20 minutes of writing.
Tell a kid your story and see what parts you leave out. What you leave out in the telling is significant. They probably don’t belong in the film. If an 8 year old can understand the story without it, why have it?
Making films is an expensive way to find yourself
FINDING YOURSELF : A COST COMPARISON
Spiritual retreat in Santa Fe : $800
Trekking in Nepal w roundtrip airfare from LA : $3300
The couch (3 years, 3 times a wk, $100 sessions) : $46,800
Film School (3 yrs tuition, living expenses and film production costs): $110,000
Financing your own feature that sells : $5,000 to infinity or beyond.