Movies Made Me Do It – Becoming a Jack of all Trades

“We cannot change the cards we’re dealt, just how we play the hand.”
- Randy Pausch

In any kind of endeavor that we take on independently, be that making movies, parenting, being novelists, performing music, etc. we must figure out the best plays for the hand we’re dealt, in order to get ours projects off of the ground.

It’s not uncommon to get the feeling that the deck of opportunity and achievement isn’t stacked in your favor, when you’re operating on a small budget. I understand this all too well, having had to play my court cards, essentially becoming a Jack of all Trades between the time it took writing the screenplay for a buddy drama to the day it played in a theater, and then using this movie to benefit the American Red Cross.

Among the multiple hats I wore and several industries I ventured into while bringing the concept of an Army Sergeant’s marriage proposal gone awry, to fruition include:

• Graphic designer, to produce the key art and other promotional materials including the movie poster, World Premiere flyers, raffle tickets, website headers, DVD cover and DVD packaging.

• Web designer, to create the website and online newsletters for “Abyss: The Greatest Proposal Ever.”

• Visual merchandising, to design and create the retail displays during my Red Cross fundraiser.

• Street vending, to sell tangible products during my fundraising initiative in support of the Red Cross.

• Magazine publishing, for the zine I made to introduce military veterans, small businesses and corporations to my work, in request for collaboration on the Red Cross initiative.

J is for JacksWhile this is just a start, it’s all I’ve gathered during the time of writing this blog post. As you can understand, none of these positions have anything to do with what I wanted when the journey for this particular project began, which was basically to write and direct a movie.

Now I look at it as a venture that helped me build on some skills I already had while also allowing me to develop some new ones.

So it was time well spent when I consider that I now have a nice little portfolio that can garner me some gigs if I need some extra work. That’s not too shabby, especially since there’s no telling when any of these “trades” will come in handy sometime in the future.

How often do YOU find yourself in the position of a Jack of all Trades?

If the world ended and communities were rebuilt based on the skills of their inhabitants, what is the one random thing YOU do really well?

15 Insane Misconceptions about Indie Films

Director Mo Ali on the set of his action crime film MONTANAI’d be willing to bet the festival submission fees spent on my film last month that most people have misunderstandings about how the movie industry works. Yet it still never ceases to surprise me when meeting someone whose idea of what constitutes “independent film” goes no further than Sundance or flicks like The Blair Witch Project.

Even hardcore movie fans across the board have the motion picture industry pegged all wrong, according to insiders who set out to debunk a lot of myths floating around in your heads, and into your conversations, like wildfire.

In You're Wrong: 10 Common Movie Blog Reader Misconceptions, Cinemablend’s Josh Tyler and Vanity Fair’s Katey Rich goes on to clear up the ins and outs of how things happen in Hollywood. One of the “straight truths” from these veteran film reviewers is that no matter what movie goers and crabby filmmakers want to believe, box office results do matter; the money made at theaters affects what you’ll be watching in the future.

In Debunking 5 Myths of Independent Cinema, Raindance’s Elliot Grove points out how marketing budgets are huge factors in determining what movies get on your radar as are social media know-how, yet neither of these things indicate whether the film is good or not.

I is for Indie

Are there any aspects of the movie industry that YOU think are absolutely insane?

How to Have a Heart – The Gavin vs. Doyle Complex

“We all have the potential to be an angel or a devil. Most of us are in between.” - Tania Yardley

A legendary singer named Michael Jackson once said “we are the world.” So, if our society is ever going to grow for the better, it starts with us not fixating on our agendas in ways that come at the expense of everyone else’s ability to fulfill their purpose.

All around the world, it seems like people are only concerned with getting theirs, which leads to more conflict as we all try to navigate life from the confines of our own little bubbles, without concern for the next person. A lawyer named Gavin found this out the hard way after his car collided with that of an insurance broker by the name of Doyle, in the dramatic thriller Changing Lanes starring Ben Affleck and Samuel L. Jackson. The rushed and inconsiderate handling of this minor automobile accident leads to Gavin’s loss of a legal document with millions of dollars at stake, and costs Doyle the custody of his children – all within a mere 20 minutes.

Of course, there were other factors that may have contributed to Doyle’s court hearing not going in his favor but Gavin’s failure to acknowledge the presence and importance of other drivers on the road in the first place, makes this lawyer an accomplice to the chain of events that occurred on what seems like the worse days ever for both men. Unfortunately, their bad luck kept on coming because each man is only worried about himself and his own plight; how to get over on the other one and how to make their adversary pay because they blame each other for their problems. Do you want to know when things start looking up for both of them? It’s when both of these guys decided to have a heart.

So what does a movie about reckless driving, and road rage, have to do with the rest of us?! A whole hell of a lot, given that we not only perceive strangers (and even those we know) to be hurdles that we must jump over to get on with our tasks, we treat them as such; as if they’re committing some type of crime by going at a pace that differs from ours and/or in a manner that does not meet our satisfaction.

Realize that you share this world with billions of other people who each have their own struggles, responsibilities and concerns. The next person has things to do, just like you. Someone else has strong viewpoints and belief systems, just like you. Another individual is seeking a way to get his or her needs met, just like you. We all have a sense of urgency for whatever it is we’re going after. The intensity may vary but the feeling is the same.

Can YOU describe a situation or matter you wish more people would approach with more compassion?