Show Runner, Producer, Author, Speaker, Software Creator

What was your first job on a set...?
I started on the other side of the camera, as an actor in an industrial commercial.  My first job on the production side was as a segment writer on a pilot presentation for Robert Townsend back in the mid ‘90s.  Every single night, we were falling down laughing - the talent was hilariously funny - and I'm still friends with the other writers all of these years later.  Every set should be like that experience.

What other jobs have you done on set...?
My professional home has been in non-fiction, so I began as a writer and segment producer, then went up the chain as a producer, then a story editor, senior producer, supervising producer, and EP.  A lot of the work was in reality TV, which means I also did casting, cut teases and flipped pancakes on Saturday mornings for the 8 am shift.  Whatever got the show OUT OF THE DOOR.  I spent a lot of time as a "rescue producer" in reality, which means you get called when an impossible deadline or a brutal delivery or bloated budget is spelling trouble for a show.  So I would show up and look at the current system, then sit at a computer and crunch out some hyper-efficient new workflow or program to get things back on track. 

Who were your mentors...?
I don't know that I had a mentor, per se.  I had some really wonderful people who opened doors for me, who were great bosses and gave me responsibilities and opportunities to do more as I grew as a producer. 

What was your last project...?
My last projects haven't been in production - they were in "production instruction."  After my last show, I was speaking about once a month about screenwriting (my first industry job was as a story analyst) and making reality TV.  And it really struck me how little people knew about selling and producing non-fiction TV.  So I took a year away from production and spoke non-stop and wrote two books on how to craft sellable scripts and shows.  The second book, "The Show Starter Reality TV Made Simple System," has been called the "bible" of the biz, and it's taught at colleges and sells out regularly at Amazon and the Writers' Store.  So the book may be its own "mentor" for people.  Certainly people who have read it or consulted with me on projects have sold shows. 

What's your next project...?

My next project is an ongoing series of clips for The CLIC Network (www.theclic.net), a free college-bound social network I launched earlier this year.   All the while I was producing TV, I was funding and directing a college mentoring program in Los Angeles, and with the new media craze, it seemed logical and necessary to take that experience to the Internet and mobile arenas.  And I'm very busy marketing my new production software.  Whether it's college apps or scheduling shows, I try to make the path from A to B shorter, cheaper, faster, easier or simpler for everyone - it makes my inner geek just purr.

What are you doing now...?
I just released new production software.  A few years ago, I did a show where the pilot had 16 different versions of the schedule and we cranked out over 20 budgets before we ever shot an episode.  There were a LOT of cooks in the pot, and every time my line producer and I got a note, we were going into Outlook and dragging those little bars around, then going into Excel and deleting rows and columns and checking formulas.  It was literally weeks of work. 

So I created Show Starter Scheduling & Budgeting Plus, a software program that lets you create a schedule, and it links your budget and cash flow to it, so every time you make a change to one item, the others instantly update.  You also see a running total of your spending as you add to the calendar, that's not something you do separately later.  We built vendors in, so people could get instant quotes.  The application works for TV, film, commercials, theater and of course, new media.  And voilà - MovieMaker magazine named us one of their "Top 40 Indie Film Friendly Businesses"! 

Show Starter Plus slashes over a week's work down to just a few hours.  Last month, I sat with a friend of mine to do the docs for her film short, and we blocked off Saturday afternoon, but we finished in half an hour.  So we went and had drinks (TMI?). 

There's a free trial of the software and everyone is welcome to try it out.  We're also planning free Webinars to help people learn how to budget and schedule projects because not knowing how to do that is one of the bigger roadblocks to being able to run or sell a show. 

Which of your shows is your favorite...?
One of my favorite experiences was a Modern Marvels I did with a really savvy AP (who's a successful doc producer now) where every shoot, every interview, all of the writing, the researching, the documenting, just everything went so smoothly, and we had such a fun and fascinating time, and our crew was just these incredibly cool guys, and at the end of it, no exhaustion, no clock-racing, and I'm pretty sure we went home every night and had some weekends off.    That was like Disneyland, that show.

What is the secret of your success?
I am intensely curious about how things work and highly motivated to find ways to make them work better.  That's what made me a good producer, particularly in terms of protecting the bottom line, but it really makes me a perfect match for new media.  In technology, the "comfort zone" and "the way we always do it" are not desired or rewarded.  It's always about designing the new "optimum" in speed and style and efficiency.  When I talk to producers, I speak really passionately about reframing uncertainty, so that things you don't know yet become a beacon rather than a barrier.  There's just no reason to work this hard if you aren't on fire to try new things.

Producer, Writer, Mentor, Funder

What was your first film job…?
I was commercial actress.  (First and last time!)

What other jobs have you done on set…?
Producer, schlepper, set designer, interviewer, writer….  A long while back I coined the phrase “short ends” and began buying and selling film ends left over after production. Those low-end prices helped nurture the independent film community. Of late, I’ve been providing film grants through The Roy W. Dean Grant Foundation.  My job is more than giving away money – I think I’m helping build dreams.

Who was your mentor…?
I’ve learned so much from the hundreds of brilliant filmmakers who have applied for my grants.

What was your last project…?
BAM 6.6 - Humanity Has No Borders is a feature length documentary.  It's the story of Tobb Dell’Oro who takes Adele Freedman to Bam Iran to propose to her at the ancient citadel. On the first night, their hotel collapses and they are buried in the earthquake that killed 30,000 people.  This is a story of love, loss, survival and most importantly, the heart of the Iranian people. The filmmaker, Jahangir Golestan, will be at the screening for discussion on funding and filmmaking in turbulent times.  Screening time is 7:30pm on 11/29 at Raleigh Studios. Please come.

What's your next film...?
Esfahan, Pearl of Iran is in English, French & Farsi.  It documents the brilliant art and architecture of Iran.

What other projects have you done?
I'm especially proud of From the Heart Productions and the Roy W. Dean Grant Foundation.  We've provided financing and mentorship programs worth millions of dollars in goods and services. from original donation of raw stock, lights and camera to the current New York Film, LA Film and LA Video grants valued at over $50,000.00 each.  Plus our new writer/researcher grant for a 4 week sojourn in New Zealand - it allows serious screenwriters and documentary filmmakers to work on their projects in a serene, quiet setting on the Wye River surrounded by unspoiled beauty from the surrounding hills and working sheep farms.

I produced over 100 television programs, including the popular cable program, HealthStyles, where o interviewed great people including Dr. Deepak Chopra, Dr. Weil and Dr. Caroline Myss.

I share a lot of my knowledge about financing in The Art of Film Funding which teaches filmmakers how and where to find funding. (The book is sold on ReelGrok - just click the image.)  My newest book is for a wider audience.  The Art of Manifesting: Creating your Future was created to bring important information from leading physicists on the new studies that support your ability to create your reality, attract what you want and manifest the future you want.

What are you doing now...?
Raising goods and services for more Dean Grants, mentoring filmmakers and teaching film financing.

Which of your films is your favorite...?
Play it Again Sam, a video sales brochure I made for my short ends and reprocessed film stock  before I sold Studio Film & tape to Edgewise.  That started everything.

Media Executive, Producer, CEO, CFO, Consultant

What was your first film job...?
Product Placement:  Scored 200 cases of Rolling Rock Beer ... i.e. more beer than the film budget had dollars.

What was the most unreasonable production request you ever received...?
Running spring water in the shower of a US actor's trailer - on location in Australia.  (I refused.)

What was your most unusual production deal?
Buying an animation studio from the Government in Poland.

What was your most unsuccessful production deal?

Who was your first movie mentor?
Martin Jurow, the producer of Breakfast At Tiffany.

Who is your favorite film composer?
Michel Colombier (White Nights", "Purple Rain", "Against All Odds", "Wings")

What was your last project...?
Did I die and not get the news yet?

What's your next project...?
The International Production Finance Fund

Which of your films is your favorite...?
The current one, of course.  The Art of Political Murder.

Director, Writer, Producer, ReelGrok Tutor

What was your first job on a set...?

My 1st job on a set was as a Set PA on EARTH2 in Santa Fe, NM in 1994.  I was living there at the time, just finished film school, and I had tried to get on a couple of Hollywood shows there to no avail.  My friend had worked on a few projects already and told me to go see the production secretary with resume in hand.  She specifically told me to tell her "Deborah sent me and said to put me in the good pile." About 5 weeks later I got a call and here I am today.

Which different jobs have you done in production...?

Gosh, which production what jobs have I not done?  Let's see: Director, Writer, Producer, 1st AD, 2nd AD, 2nd 2nd AD, Key Set PA, Office PA, Production Manager, Location Scout, DP, Executive Producer....

Who was your mentor...?  How did you find your mentor?

I have had a few mentors over the years, but the most influential is one of my best friends today.  Her name is Pam Kuri.  Right now she is the 1st AD on the Emmy nominated TV show, SAVING GRACE.  Pam and I actually met on EARTH2.  She gave me my first set PA job.  I can tell you she was the best boss I ever had.  She is also the best A.D. I have ever seen.  She trained me about set etiquette, identifying what's the priority, how to break down a script and tons more.  She is a person of enormous character and strength.  I was lucky to have found her.  After EARTH2, Pam and I went on to work on several other big union shows.  Now, for my directing work today, my mentor is Michael Grossman.  Michael directs a lot of TV shows and movies.  And, again, he and I met on the set of EARTH2 as well.  He was the 1st AD at the time.  He and Pam were best friends and remain so today.  We have all moved up over the years, but remain close.  I am very, very lucky to have met such good and generous people early on.

What was the worst thing that ever happened on a set...?

I guess the worst thing that ever happened to me was new script revisions had arrived and I neglected to give them to the Script Supervisor.  I was a Set PA and still very, very green.  All of a sudden at the end of the day, the 2nd 2nd AD came down on me really hard and the script supervisor would not speak to me.  I was totally confused as to what had happened.  The 2nd 2nd AD made me apologize to the script supervisor and that was that.  Later is was explained to me that the script supervisor is the first person who ought to receive the script revisions... makes perfect, common sense now... but at the time... with over 100 crew... honestly, I did not know who to give them to first.

Who are your favorite actors?  

As a director, my favorite actors are based on who I find inspiring.  It's very subjective.  While I can and do have a great deal of respect for many, many actors who master the craft, there are certain ones I am especially impressed by.  Hilary Swank, Laura San Giacomo, Michael Chiklis, CCH Pounder, Sandra Bullock, Jennifer Aniston, Lindsay Lohan, Joaquin Phoenix, Ed Norton, Ian Somerhalder, Gary Sinise, Glenn Close, Felicity Huffman, Denzel Washington, Jamie Foxx, Katey Sagal, Diane Lane, Evan Rachel Wood, Jennifer Garner.

Who are my favorite directors?

My favorite feature film directors are: Catherine Hardwicke (Thirteen, Twilight), James Mangold (Copland, Walk the Line), Marc Forester (Monster's Ball, Finding Neverland), Gus Van Sant (Good Will Hunting, Milk), Kim Peirce (Boys Don't Cry, Stop-Loss).  My favorite episodic TV directors are Michael Grossman (Private Practice, Dirty Sexy Money), Marcos Siega (Dexter, Vampire Diaries), Guy Ferland (Sons of Anarchy, The Eleventh Hour), Robin Schmidt (The Shield, Saving Grace) and Gwyneth Horder-Payton (Criminal Minds, The Unit).

Any regrets that you became a filmmaker?

Absolutely none!  I cannot imagine doing anything else.  I certainly don't want to do anything else.  Even though occasionally it crosses my mind that by staying in Los Angeles and doing what I do is a bit like chasing the dragon... I do know that no matter what anyone can make it in this town.  I remain very optimistic almost all the time.  You have to believe in yourself, as they say, because if you don't no one else can...  Plus, inevitably people move up the food chain here... a bit like last one standing... If you are not Meryl Streep or Martin Scorsese today, who can say you won't be someday?

What was the best project you ever did...? 

My best project was my last movie, HOLDING TREVOR.  The script was so good and the acting that it was a real treat to make it come to life on the big screen. The crew came together as a passion project.  There was so much talent on our set.  It was one of the happiest experiences of my life.

The worst project? 

The worst project?!  Well, unfortunately, many can be that way... ones where I was the set PA or even the 1st AD were sometimes so painful and usually due to bad producing.  Crews typically are pretty happy when there are good decisions coming from the top.  If the crew loses faith in the producers... the negativity and resentments spread like a California wild fire.  Filmmaking is hard enough, I always say.  There are so many challenges and so much can go wrong.  The cards are already stacked against you... So, the solution is to do everything right... hire the best people... and by that I mean not just people who are the best at what they do, but also the ones with the good character.

What was your most recent project?

My most recent directing project was HOLDING TREVOR.  It was the little movie that could and did.  We had a shoestring budget and shot it in 14 days with 2 cameras.  The movie went on to get a theatrical release in the U.S. and sold in many countries.  I was the director and producer.  It was a labor of love.

What's your next project?

My next project is either a director for hire gig where I direct someone else's project or a KGB FILMS production, which is my company. I am currently developing many projects under that shingle. The frontrunner is an indie love story revolving around death called MONGOOSE8.  It's a bit like GHOST meets 6th SENSE with a WIZARD OF OZ twist. Currently, I am looking for producers to work with on a slate of projects at KGB FILMS. http://www.kgbfilms.com.

Any other projects keeping you busy...?

I mentor and tutor through ReelGrok, working with filmmakers to plan and plot their productions.  It's vital to help filmmakers get their films seen everywhere from Sundance to TV to the web. 

Producer, AD/UPM

What was your first job on a set...?

I met a Producer in my senior year at USC and he wanted to mentor me into producing, so he hired me as a PA on the Movie of the Week, Goldie and the Boxer for Columbia Television.  One of the first things I learned was that my film education did not cover everything.  With the right attitude as a newcomer, I was able to get everyone on the crew to offer their two cents in explaining what they were doing and how it related to the film. I heard some great personal stories that I would later discover for myself were true for many of us. 

As a PA I did the usual get this and more of that and throw this someplace asked of me, but most importantly, I watched and learned and asked questions when I could.  Just having the opportunity to experience the workings of a real set, paid off later in my senior year, when I produced my senior film with a Panavision camera and HMI lights.  This job was my first introduction to a very important fact that would stay with me forever, I learned how important it is to respect and treat the crew well.  They are the foundation and backbone of every production. It was a tremendous experience supported by the fact that I was open to learning more which I still am to this day. 

What other jobs have you done on film...?

Knowing that I wanted to eventually produce film and Television, I needed to learn as much as possible about all of the different aspects involved in a production.  I initially worked as a PA for Columbia Television and Warner Bros. who at the time were at The Burbank Studios. I was able to continue learning something new on each production, while at the same time, purposely worked closely with the 1^st and 2^nd Assistant Directors to learn their important responsibilities in production.  After working on many series, careful now I am about to date myself, Hart to Hart, T. J. Hooker, Fantasy Island, The Waltons, and many Movies of the Weeks, it was suggested I apply for the assistant directors training program. 

Prior to joining the Directors Guild of America Training Program, I was given the opportunity to assist as a 24 frame Video/Computer Coordinator for the playback of images.  I liked the technical part of this work, but soon discovered how I could work in the creative part by moving up to a Coordinator and designing the material for playback that was not simply a person talking on a monitor.  This work fascinated me both technically and creatively with how much I could do in support of the set design and the story. I had enough experience in doing this work, that I started my own company and did the work on shows like, Stephen J. Cannell's Riptide, The A-team, and Stingray.  I had the pleasure to work on Sam Peckinpah's last film, Osterman Weekend, as well as all of the Enterprises monitors on Star Trek II, The Wrath of Kahn. 

I worked mainly for the studios and major independents on film and television, and as we know today the use of playback has improved greatly and gone beyond what could be done earlier.  Those were the only two positions I worked in before becoming a Trainee and eventually an assistant director and Unit Production Manager. I am grateful to the fact that I became an assistant director and had the chance to work on mainly studio features like, Die Hard 2, Two Jakes, Lethal Weapon, In the Line of Fire, to name a few, and television like, Sabrina The Teenage Witch, Louis & Clark, Gabriel's Fire, LA Law, Hooperman, and I Dream of Jeannie, the movie.  It was an invaluable experience that to this day I will always be thankful that I followed my mentor's guidance.

Who was your mentor...?  How did you find your mentor?

I met my mentor at Columbia Television while still a senior at USC. I was visiting the office of the Arizona Film Commission when I noticed the director was handling Arizona Highway Calendars and sending them to people in the film business.  I happen to catch that one of the envelopes was addressed to a producer at Columbia Television, so I asked the director if I could deliver it to him.  He would check and called the Producers office to be given permission for me to deliver it.  I went to the studio being very nervous for the fact that it was my first time on a studio lot as well as meeting a producer.  I delivered the calendar, but had called ahead to ask if I could also meet with the producer and he agreed.  I met him and soon discovered that he went to SC as well, but more importantly, he liked what I had done and wanted to help. I followed the lead and advice of my mentor, Hugh Benson, of the Columbia Television studio, to learn all the aspects of production and utilize them to make myself a knowledgeable producer of making a film or Television show.  Hugh's guidance was for me to become an assistant director which is a valuable position in production and a way to utilize the workings of a production, such as scheduling, budgeting, cast, call sheets etc.  The rest is history.

What's your most recent project ...?

I am currently preparing to go into production this year on a thriller, Dead Easy, and I am at the stage where I have just found the right director and will be packaging the film with recognizable actors he has already worked with.  I have the main crew members already interested as well.  The most important aspect, financing is coming into place through an equity contact in another country.  I plan on making this film as an independent, but I am not foolish enough to not try and get the interest of a distributor as we cast and go into production.  I am hoping to stay in LA, if I can get the incentives attached.  If not, the film takes place mainly in a marina, a mansion and a sheriff's station, so I am already in contact with 6 other states that have the locations and a better incentive program.

What's your next project...?

Next is hard word to attach to an independent production company, so I will answer by saying that I have planned, depending on when the thriller feature shoots and must be delivered, to do another feature, a drama, called Escaping The Game, which is already written, has a director attached, and is looking or financing.  There is a slight chance that this film may go before the thriller, depending on the availability of the cast of both films.  I am currently pitching 3 Reality shows to the network and cable that I developed with partners.  I continue to work on several other features that I found and wanted to improve, or should I say, "make them more commercial."  I work well with writers in re-developing a story to improve on it and the way the story is told. I am a development producer as well, so I pride myself on being capable of improving a good story to be better. 

I have developed a television Comedy called, Mixed Nutz that I am pitching as well. I will soon add a Variety show that I developed with two comedians to the list of what I am currently pitching.  I continue to work with the writers on two other features, Sparkle Serena, a drama, and Tarry McBride, a drama, that should be completed in the next few months. Even as I write this for ReelGrok, I have been attached to another feature, a romantic comedy, for a minor story development rewrite.  In closing for this question, I wanted to add that I never have too much work or too much on my plate, since all of these projects I am involved with were picked by me to be produced by my company.  I only attach myself and my company to projects that I am passionate about and want to place my name on proudly. I continue to have pride in saying that I am an independent filmmaker.

What was the worst thing that ever happened on a movie...?

There are two answers to this question only because one has to do with a producer being responsible for everything on the set, and the other is a personal note.  In the first, I learned mainly as an assistant director, that when a mistake happens or something goes wrong on a set, you want to focus solely on resolving the problem and keeping production moving ahead.  It does more harm then good to the friendly, "family" feeling of the crew and how the set works, to be pointing fingers and trying to figure out who is to blame.  Sure, once I know what the problem was and who or whom may have been responsible, I will still talk with them in a calm nice manner, simply to find out what happened, and know that it was not intentional and will not happen again. 

As a Producer, I am a strong believer in first taking the blame myself if it means production won't be slowed down that much or not at all.  I truly believe that one of the most important objectives I have as a Producer, is to show the crew that I sincerely appreciate their hard work and that I respect them all for what they are doing. One of the first and very important ways of showing this to the crew is to make sure they have a really good craft service table and an excellent caterer. There will never be an empty crafts service table or not enough of something and especially no crew member who can't find what they want at the table.  I will admit as part of the production section of this answer, I should include that the worst thing that ever happened to me on a movie was when we were at a location, with our base camp at the studio, and when the director called for one of the actors in the scene to be on the set, I was the one to blame for forgetting to bring him from the studio to the set. 

In the second, personal part of this answer, I was working on The Man With One Red Shoe, ad while riding on the camera car for a shot of Jim Belushi riding a bike, the generator that I was sitting on, suddenly blew up and threw me off the moving truck.  I suffered a very severe concussion and was out of commission for several years.  It is the only personal injury I have suffered, but I attribute my love and desire of this business for why I was able to return at all.

Any regrets that you became a filmmaker?

None, absolutely none.  As a high school senior, I was taking a still photography class and soon discovered that this teacher included as part of the class, the making of a super 8mm film, OK I dated myself again.  I tried it, really enjoyed it so much that it was the important factor that made me major in film at college.  That and the fact that my short film won the State Film Festival for best drama that year.  I continue to truly love what I do everyday and would not want to do anything else.  Sure, there are hard times for all of us as independents, but it is my love for my work that allows me to concentrate more on the positive factors of what I do. 

I have decorated my office to be like a second home, and I spend more time in it than I do in my home.  If I had to include a regret, since that seems to be the subject of this question, then I will add that maybe I could not have decided to be on my own, but instead decided to have gone to work for a larger, established company in film that would have opened the door for me to become part of the "studio system."   I can still partner up with a company like that, but it wasn't until I read this question, that this thought re-entered my mind.  I have not and do not dwell on this at all.  I made my choice and I am happy with it.  Everyday is a step forward, and you let the parts that you may not want to remember, fall behind you never to be seen again. 

Producer, Director, Musician, Teacher

What was your first film job...?
I started out as an actor on a feature shot a long time ago in Budapest.  I had to sing a song freshly composed by a major Hungarian pop star, Gabor Presser, for the movie, Auto. I went on and won first place in a national songwriting competition.  Once I played for an audience of 5000.

What other jobs have you done on set...?
Directed, of course.   One time, as part of the sound team,  I built an impenetrable wall on the streets of NY using smelly trash bags.  They stunk, but they also blocked the genny's noise quite effectively.  I wish they hadn't leaked though... The director was a young lady from Afghanistan who insisted on helping me lift the generator out of the taxi's trunk. We pulled it forward a bit, I asked her, "Isn't this too heavy for you, are you sure about this?" Don't worry, she said. And immediately dropped her side. It took a year for my toenail to grow back.

Who were your mentors...?
Immortal Hungarian actor, Zoltan Latinovits. Then there were Eisenstein, Bergman, Tarkovsky, Spielberg, Lee, Cameron, Kitano Takeshi, Tarantino, Woody Allen, Kurosawa, Fellini, Pasolini - all through their films and DVD interviews.

What was your last project…?
A silent film shot in color, serving as a trailer and a vehicle to re-discover the genre.

What’s your next film…?
Film Synergy Magic, LLC is developing Trouble With Uncle Max - a Film Noir.  A hoodlum fresh out of prison has to deal with a dead body, get his girlfriend back and kill his rival.  All in a single evening.  We’ll be looking for an Executive Producer in 2009.

You earned a Master’s in Music Education.  Do you use it…?
Absolutely.  I still sing and I’m thinking about starting a rock band.  We tend to stay young as long as we have our dreams.

What are you doing now…?
Shooting a Web/TV comedy about two musical clowns - a blind/deaf piano man who’s voice coaching a mute singer.  I’m also rediscovering writing.  Working collectively in the Film Synergy Group.  And developing projects in our company, Film Synergy Magic, LLC.

What kind of collective work are you doing in the Film Synergy Group…?
Building a community of filmmakers.  Americans spend most of their energies developing themselves as individuals.  And people sometimes don’t understand that we’re all parts of a larger community – the Universe, God, Gaia, Nature, Humanity, Society, Nation, Culture, Family, you name it.... While so many people are trying to become powerful, rich and famous, I want to build my career by nurturing the communal aspects of filmmaking.

How…?
By creating an environment that encourages individuals to work together. To reach serious depths, an orchestra or a film crew has to learn how to play well  together.  And that takes years.  Mentoring filmmakers is part of the mission of Film Synergy Magic - we learn when we share our insights.  For example, I took Norman Bern’s online classes last year.  I was so impressed by their thoroughness and overall quality, I thought, “We need to bring this to the masses!”  And now we’re developing a six-week online course, complete with guest speakers and great follow-up materials.

Which of your films is your favorite…?
The ones I haven’t made yet....  They are perfect.

Producer, Coordinator, Cinematographer, Still Photographer

What was your first job on a set...?
Although I did extra in a couple of movies and appear on television a few times, I never considered these experiences as jobs as much as they were something to do at the time. I wasn't looking for a career in acting then or now.  As such, my first job on set was gaffing for a local television shoot in the main studio at the film school I was attending. The shoot was being produced by the film school for a local government channel as a 'here's what your local government is doing for you' infomercial. If memory serves, they were trying to talk the local population into approving a bond issue.

What I learned most from this shoot was not the technical end of rigging lights and running cable (though these were quite valuable lessons in and of themselves). I learned that two professionals, the technical director and the DP, might have very different working styles and processes but, when they are both professionals and eager to cooperate and do their best, they can create a wonderful synergy.

For anyone who isn't familiar with television studio shooting, the cameras are linked directly into the broadcast servers and edited live on the technical director's board - another position I would eventually fill - and the live edit as well as the feed from each camera are recorded each directly to it's own tape. The live edit is simultaneously sent over microwave from the film school directly to the television station for inclusion in their live broadcast. The individual tapes are then delivered to the station and could be reedited later for a more polished final version of the show. It's really an amazing process and nearly as much fun to watch as it is to work. The process is as different from film studio shooting as is studio shoots are from location shoots.

What have you learned most from your shoots?
I've found it very valuable to learn as many different workflows as possible. Very often what is both expensive and time consuming using a 'standard' workflow is both cheap and quick using another. My experiences with a variety of workflows allow me to gently suggest alternatives to my DP and/or director that can pull the production back onto schedule and budget.

Another valuable lesson is never to discard the unusual or untried. Ric Waite once told me of a shoot he was DP'ing wherein he had to capture cut-aways of squad cars rushing past with lights and sirens. As he was carrying the camera and batteries from one location to another a block away he heard sirens. Without focusing or mounting the camera, he simply turned it on and kept walking - shooting the cut-aways that were eventually cut into the movie on the fly.

A somewhat similar situation happened on a short I shot for another producer. We were shooting on location in a very small cabin using a wide variety of Dutch angles and positions. As we wrapped the shoot one actress said her favorite moment was when I murmured, "I don't know how I'm getting this next shot but that sewing basket is part of the solution!" And it was. I used the sewing basket as a impromptu baby legs tripod to shoot a cutaway of a character picking up scattered cassette tapes from UNDER the coffee table! Another shot from the same production called for laying the camera on it's side on a plastic sheet under a bed. This was one of the most enjoyable shoots I've been on yet - and a hell of a lot of work and skull sweat!

The fact is that once the cameras are rolling failure is NOT an option. I - we all - have to do whatever it takes to successfully capture the footage and sound needed in postproduction. If this means we have to throw the book out the window and make up our own solutions on the fly, and this is often the case, than so be it. It's more fun this way, don't you think?

What other jobs have you done on film...?
My goodness, that's a long list.  I started working in entertainment at the age of twelve as an extra in a European-produced movie titled 'Joseph and Mary: a Love Story'. You can guess the plot from the name. I was cast, primarily, because I was living in Israel at the time, was the correct age, and spoke fluent English and Hebrew as well as conversational Arabic and Aramaic.  The working language of the movie was English but, for some reason I still don't understand, the producers forgot to hire interpreters. I've extraed, uncredited, in a couple of other movies since then and been on TV and radio but most of my acting, in named roles, has been in minor stage productions. Acting is fun on an occasional basis but I much prefer working behind the camera.

I've been a director, editor (Avid and FCP), DP, camera operator, production designer (once!), boom op, best boy, sound op, telepromptor operator, gaffer, craft services, P.A. (of course), production secretary, UPM, security, location scout and manager, 1^st and 2^nd assistant director, and now producer. This is the short list.

There is, I have found, a definite advantage to having performed all of these jobs and more. I now know what everybody does in at least some detail and have a basic understanding of each job's jargon. Postproduction's definition of 'rendering' is completely different from production design's - but both are vital to the production process. If my production designer tells me the forced-perspective renderings aren't quite correct, I don't have to ask for an explanation and we can move directly to the extent of the problem and possible solutions. If I don't know what rendering means to a production designer, if forced-perspective is an unknown term, I would then have spend time figuring out what I'm being told. I'd much rather use my time giving the production designer the time and resources they need to fix the problem.

But of even more importance, my having filled so many jobs on shoots gives me a deep appreciation of and respect for the work each person working on the production has to do. When I see anyone working, my reaction is "God, I remember that...!" and my appreciation of the work being done grows because I no longer have to do it myself.  We've all heard that film and video is a collaborative art - but I KNOW it because I've worked so many positions.

Who was your mentor...?  How did you find your mentor?
As a cinematographer and camera operator, my mentor is Ric Waite ( http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0005923/ ). In 1954, in the middle of a successful career as a fashion photographer, Ric found that business too overrun to be profitable - so he packed his bags and moved to L.A. With no experience in shooting movies he talked his way into a DP gig and realized he knew nothing about shooting MOTION.

He learned. His first gaffer made Ric look good ("Just act like you're talking, tell me what you want, and stay out of my way") by calling the lights according to Ric's supposed plan and Ric learned by paying attention and remembering everything that happened.

I took a number of classes under Ric in film school. Eventually he took me aside and told me he was tired of hearing my voice giving everyone the correct answers and would I please let other students think for themselves. We worked out a solution: I stopped answering questions - until all the other students were stumped and Ric asked me directly. Over the years I spent as his student we became good friends. Ric's earned several Emmys and I hope to hire him and get him the Oscar he so richly deserves.

Oh, and by the way, his hearing my voice was nothing more that the voice projection theater actors learn. Even in a large studio, a correctly projected voice carries for a very long distance. Being able to be heard across a large and noisy studio without having to shout can be a great advantage...

As a writer, well I don't think I have a mentor. I've been a published writer for more than twenty years and recently changed from articles for newspapers and magazines and shorts and (unpublished) novels to screenwriting. While the format and background of the projects have changed, the essence of telling a compelling story hasn't. Why the change? Screenwriting has the highest per-word return of any writing. You don't have to believe me - do the math yourself.

As an editor, I learned what I know from Jerry Hofmann. Jerry is an accomplished FCP editor and expert - and an exacting taskmaster. Work with him and you will learn that anything less than perfection just isn't good enough. This is one of many reasons he's so very good at what he does. I took most of my postproduction classes under Jerry.

As a producer... well, as we all know, producers tend to be relatively unknown outside the business and a mentor, to me, is someone I know on both a personal and a professional basis.  The film school didn't provide connections to producers. I should explain that the film school I attended hired only working or retired film/video professionals as instructors. There is a great advantage to this as classes are based, however egocentrically, on real world experience and not on theory alone. However, I don't live in southern California - I live in the Denver metropolitan area. This means there just aren't any feature producers to draw from and the relatively few short and commercial producers who remain in the area tend to be too busy to take on such a low paying, high maintenance job on the side. Production courses, therefore, were taught by UPM's, production coordinators, etc. and, while each of these is a valuable crew member and completely professional and competent, they aren't producers per se. So my contact with producers in and of themselves wasn't really possible through the film school. This does not mean to say I haven't had any contact with producers. Quite the contrary.

Early on I decided to use my time as a student in building the list of contacts I would eventually need professionally. To, at least in part, accomplish this, I used that wonderful tool, the Internet. I joined several online groups (Norman's among them, of course!) read every post and offered information I was learning at school as answers to questions being asked by others. I now own or moderate six different filmic groups including a new one I am just starting for film students to offer mutual help and support - and get tough answers and answers to tough questions from a picked list of industry professionals. These groups have given me the access to independent producers that film school couldn't and I consider the groups and the contacts I make through them a vital asset in developing my first feature production. I don't ask many questions publicly, I know, not because I know everything - if I did I wouldn't have needed film school! - but because I HAVE read the posts and save many important ones for future reference.

I guess this means that the producers who participate in ReelGrok and the groups are my mentors, as well they should be. There is nothing so valuable and precious as someone who teaches without asking for compensation. The data gleaned by the student tends to be impartial and the lessons real, so thank you, one and all, for mentoring me.

Why did you become a filmmaker?
Some of you already know at least part of this story - I did post it at least twice on the groups. Different groups, of course.

I graduated university this past December (2008) with a BFA in film emphasizing in cinematography (the film school did not at that time offer an emphasis in producing). I STARTED college in 1996, which means I have been going to college for twenty-two years, longer than many college students have been alive! How & why?

I started college 'way back when I was trying to figure out what I wanted to do with my life.  In my third semester I had to drop out to care for my ailing parents. I took a few courses over the years because I love learning just to learn but I couldn't maintain my grades when I had to drive hundreds of miles once or twice a week to my parent's home. Eventually I simply bought textbooks and continued learning on my own when and if I had the time. In this fashion I learned many esoteric subjects (quantum-astrophysics, for instance).

My parents passed away within three years of each other with two of my six siblings just ready to move out and a third just entering high school. The eldest (of six) sister lived in NYC but my slightly younger brother and I lived less than a mile apart in the Denver area. We cooperated in raising our youngest brother.

I restarted community college in 2003 about the same time my youngest brother graduated high school. I was intent on pursuing a double major in programming and physics. I was getting ready to transfer to the Colorado School of Mines (one of the best applied sciences schools available) when I found out just how expensive it was going to be. $22,000 per semester for six or more semesters? On financial aid? Like hell! Instead I went downtown to the University of Colorado Denver, took the tour, and spoke with an admissions person. They mentioned they had a film school and I had my epiphany. Three weeks later I started my first film courses and I haven't come up for air since. Which all explains how I became a filmmaker.

Why did I become a filmmaker? Not for the money. So far becoming a filmmaker has cost me more that $50K and brought in - oh, about $1K. Certainly I'll take all the money I'll eventually be making but that doesn't apply yet.

For the fame? I'm a producer. Not a whole lot of fame there unless your initials are SS (hint: Jaws)... Besides, I want to be rich but not famous. If you're both rich and famous everybody wants a piece of you and all your money. If you're rich but unknown nobody knows to ask...

Certainly I' didn't become a filmmaker for the stability of my income. Everyone here who currently earns stable, bill-paying income from film or video please raise your hands. Nobody? Gee, who would have thought?

No, there are three main reasons I became a filmmaker: enjoyment, creativity, and variety.

Enjoyment: I love this industry, not like someone who loves their job but can't wait to get home at the end of their nine-to-five workday, but for working for the sheer fun of it. My days start at 7AM and end at 11PM at least six days a week - and I'd work more if I didn't have chores and outside commitments. I don't have to say I'd work this job even if I don't get paid - I'm NOT getting paid yet and I still enjoy being a producer immensely.

Creativity: To paraphrase Robert Heinlein, This world is a slum being run by an absentee landlord. Even the best parts of the world are worn out and starting to fail. I get to create whole new worlds to visit, worlds untouched except for those few I allow to enter but which can be vicariously enjoyed by all. Nobody other than a god has this much power, these many options. How can you not have fun creating whole new worlds?

Variety: I'll admit up front that I tend to stagnate and get bored if forced (by the need to pay bills) to perform the same tasks repetitively year after year. Producing provides an opportunity to use a specific set of skills in completely new ways with each project.  I know how unexciting this sounds but it is of vital importance to me if I am to stay happy.

What was your most recent project...?
I don't work on 'a' project. I tend to work best with half a dozen or more irons in the fire at all times. Currently, I'm:

Posting a wedding video for my cousin's daughter and her new husband (I also shot it)

In development on:

• A SciFi murder mystery (the one from That First Feature Feeling blog)
• A reality TV show
• A fantasy western
• A teen-coming-of-age SciFi spy thriller
• A SciFi action adventure
• A musical fantasy thriller
• A SciFi/western feature & TV series (combined)

Yes, I like mixing strong genres in my fiction. Well-defined target audiences with compelling characters and stories and devious mind-bending plots and sub-plots, tend to make funding easier. Not easy, no, but easier.

What was the worst thing that ever happened to you on a set...?|
Luckily it happened on a student shoot so I didn't lose money or professional credibility. It was my sophomore year in film school and I had a great student crew and cast (the film school also has a program to teach film/video acting).  Everyone knew their call times and the location... and only one person (aside from myself) in the seven-person crew showed up. We only had the location for the day and we had to show dailies the next week so we couldn't postpone and none of the other five crewmembers were answering their cell phones.

So we shot it anyway. I gaffed and worked both sound and camera. The other person both directed and script supervised. We cut all the other crew members out of the project and titles, leaving them short of the number of productions they were required to crew for the semester and, thereby, costing them their grade. Their problem, not mine.

What did I learn? Never, ever, do more than one job at a time. Yes, we got the shoot in the can and it was... presentable, I guess, but it could have been so much better had we been able to postpone the shoot or found reliable crew. This was the one shoot I have produced that ever ran over schedule - by only thirty minutes. I got a good grade but I consider this shoot to be a dismal failure in organization and human resources.

Any regrets that you became a filmmaker?
Regrets? Please! Filmmaking is as much fun as you can legally have with your clothes on. In what other profession can you fix all the world's problems in two hours with time out for commercial breaks once you go to cable?

Correction: not profession, recreation. Most people who say they love their jobs would never think of going into work on their days off - off the clock - and getting things done just to have more fun. Can anyone in this business say they spend no personal time whatsoever working on a film/video-related project without pay? I suppose there may be a few but they're very much in the minority.

The truth is that filmmaking is much more a passion than a way to pay bills. Unless you're an A-lister the money you make doesn't come close to paying for the time and effort you put in. Why, then, do we continue working? Because it's so much fun, that's why! We few who 'work' in film and video get paid to play whatever games we want according to our own rules. How can you not have fun recreating the universe in your own image at least once each year?

What projects are you doing now...?
I started my production company, Dancing Cat Productions, LLC, in December of 2005 as a platform to represent my student shoots in the business community. I also used my last few semesters at film school to do quite a lot of development work on my first feature, SecFor (I actually used the feature as my student project is three different courses that final semester - with each instructor's permission, of course).

Since graduation I've been working on funding the feature as well as developing the list of projects, above. I'm also writing several screenplays in various stages of completion intended for option and sale.

What can I say? I like to keep busy.

Which of your films is your favorite...?
'Way back in the 1960's, when I was about six and my brother five, we had a super16 home movie camera with a manual trigger and no sound at all. For those of you too younger to remember those early home movie monstrosities, once you wound the camera up (spring action, no batteries!) you could hold down the trigger to move the film normally or 'fire' it like a gun to shoot one frame at a time.

My brother and I would line up our Matchbox cars on the floor and shoot these truly terrible stop motion chase-and-crash scenes. I doubt many of these reels survived the intervening years - and I wouldn't released them if they did! - but the sheer joy of making these reels remains with me, undiminished, to this day.

Of my more - ahem! - mature work, I shot a documentary for Denver University detailing their service learning program. They had already commissioned and had produced an hour-long piece on how the program works but neglected to include any information on WHY the students should get involved. I produced a 5-minute short to answer that question. The university still shows that short doc to all incoming students, staff, and faculty. Considering it cost nothing but gas and craft services to produce and was shot in under three days using all film student labor including the editors and sound technicians), it was a very successful piece. I even received a one thousand dollar scholarship in return - my first paying job!

As for my projects in development, I'm enough of a producer to say I love them all and they're all great and wonderful projects. Always talk your projects up, right? But if I had to pick one...

I'm going to be - No, I AM - a feature producer but the reality show I'm developing has really touched a nerve since the moment the concept occurred to me. I've never gotten into the reality show craze due mostly, I think, to the artificial setting the shows all have, all the unrealistic structure behind the show: this is how you play, this is how you get cut, these are the rules you will live by... The unrealistic situations distance the shows from me as a viewer.

All I can say is that this is a very unique concept and something completely new but close enough to the reality show as it is currently known not to be rejected out of hand. Any TV reality producer who wants more information can contact me privately at DavidM @ DancingCatProds . com  and we can discuss it in private. It's just too early in development to make the concept public. I know you'll all understand.

Why did you name your company Dancing Cat Productions?
I am a cat person. To all you dog people out there who are groaning, let me just say these two things: I prefer a cat's feigned independence and the fact that, living at 6118 feet altitude, in the winter I don't have to take a dog for a walk in below-zero darkness.

When I decided to form a production company I wanted a name that, while simple, created an animated image just by being spoken. I was sitting around thinking of this when Mili, one of my cats can into the room.  She dances. No, really. Well, okay, she chases her tail but a cat's tail flicks back and forth and it makes her look like she's doing the Twist very slowly. Instead of being born, some ideas hit you in the face like a sledgehammer.

Once the name was registered and the company incorporated I noodled around in LiveType and came up with the simple yet elegant bug I still use. I've uploaded an SD version to ReelGrok so you can see what I mean. Simple, yet unique and memorable.

Why put so much work into a company name and bug? I know the fashion is to let your production company go bankrupt every few years so as to get rid of uncomfortable commitments and liabilities. Personally and professionally I think this is an affront to the concept of being a good businessman. If the commitments and liabilities are so onerous why would I agree to them at all? No, I have not the slightest intention of creating more than this one production company and if I'm going to stay with this one company I should put the effort in to make it stand out.

Producer/Director/Writer

What was your first job on a set...?

My first job in the industry was as a stagehand on the London West End's production of Annie. I was training to be an actor and I was 15. I did go on for 10 years as a fully working actor in London before moving into production.

What other jobs have you done on set...?

I think of myself as a producer and a director and wear both hats together and separately.  But I  have swept stages, glued shoes, hung drapes, run a follow spot, done backline for a band, been a grip, a set photographer, a best boy electric, an audio assistand and a stage manager.  I've been a 1st AD and a 2nd AD ( God! Being a second sucks!) and I've been that most irritating of things - a director who likes to shoot.

I like to think that I have a very wide range of technical knowledge and that has always helped me to work with departments because I've been in the trenches.

Who was your mentor...?

I can't really point to one person though I have been lucky enough through the years to have a variety of people who believed in my ability to take the step. I've had the advantage of growing up in the industry. but my family come from theatre and in many ways they never understood the business I'm in now.  But my uncle. Vivian Matalon. who is a Tony award winning Broadway director. has always been there to listen and advise.  And my mother. Elizabeth Seal/  She's a Tony winner herself.

The other pivotal characters have been Gillian Lynne. a choreographer who has always inspired me. And the acclaimed British arts photographer, Michael Ward, who has always had faith and taken utter pleasure in my efforts.  I think in many ways I have always had to be my own mentor by simply seeing something I wanted and going after it. I have crossed industries and departments several times and have always pushed myself where others may not have had such faith. The one thing I think I have done is always be ready for the opportunity and always been ambitious and yet able to show my fear. I believe strongly in surrounding myself with the strongest team possible as it's what brings out the best in me.

As I have gotten older I have often looked back with a certain amount of regret that there was not that one person who had stood behind me and been a sounding board but I have tried to put that back and turn that around by taking a keen interest and pleasure in helping those who show promise. I probably find one PA or intern every 15 months who proves themselves and every one I know has become a working member of the industry doing something else that they love.

What was your most recent project...?

That would be the completed film, Seasons in the Valley, a feature documentary.  And I just finished work as a producer on a new pilot series, Making Over America, with Trinny and Susannah. It's a fashion makeover reality show with the British talent behind the original What Not To Wear. My first episode airs on August 28th. I had never done a fashion reality show before and it was amazing fun.  I am hoping the show will get picked up for a full series later in the year. 

Reality is the strangest kind of story telling and both terrifying and exhilarating at the same time because there is pressure to deliver a story without always knowing what that story is or how you can weave it. Last year I created the pilot to a reality show called Gorehounds, which got a lot of attention at networks but never got greenlit. It opened my eyes to the possibilities in the genre. It does not all have to be a trainwreck.  I would love to do some more reality as a producer and director and continue to develop my own show ideas.

What's your next film...?

My next film depends on how fast the producers move!  Its either an action thriller called SOL which I am producing as well as directing.  Or it'll be a family film called Sparkle Serena! which I'm slated to direct.

What are you doing now...?

I'm learning how to use Photoshop and a program called Sitegrinder so I can design my own websites and get a little more sophisticated with design and graphics. What I would like to be doing is a rewrite of a script of my own called Love's A Drag. It's my next "My" film.

Which of your films is your favorite...?

My favorite film in terms of fun is Sex & Camping and then Seasons In The Valley, which was a very hard film to make but remained true to the film I wanted to make. That said, I kind of hate watching my work because there is always a myriad list of nitpicky things that drive one crazy.

What's the worst thing that ever happend  to you on a set...?

I was directing a very important project for an important corporate client.  With a brand new camera....  About three minutes before cameras were to roll, we discovered that we had bought the wrong tape.  So I concocted some sort of spectacular gizmo failure on the steadicam (with operator/DP, Aaron Medick). While we pretended to fix this unknown disaster, a PA ran uptown to buy the right tape so we could shoot.  The client never knew, but I never want to repeat that feeling again.

What advice would you give a new filmmaker...?

• Don't get caught up in the result of your work. Get caught up in your work instead. 
• If you're only thinking about success, you've aleeady shortchanged yourself.  
• If you want to direct, grab your friends and a play and direct them. 
• Take a camera and set up shots, try to recreate angles. find perspectives you like. 
• Learn the rules and then so you can break them. 
• It will take years to learn a craft - have the humility to keep learning.  
• Surround yourself with people who know more than you do. 
• Aways smile and say good morning to everyone, whether you're the PA or an executive producer.  
• Don't talk about making a film. Make a film!  
• Your first feature will never be your best - if it is you have no future.

Producer, Director, Writer & Attorney

How did you get started in film?
Through radio. 

I knew in high school that I wanted to be involved in creative media.  I did a lot of writing for the school paper and the yearbook, etc. and really enjoyed doing it.  To place all of this in perspective, this is the late 1950’s so Ed Murrow, Walter Winchell and David Susskind are still around and there was a certain romance to radio and television.  At that time the “public interest, convenience and necessity” intention of the Communications Act of 1934 were still taken quite seriously by the FCC and most broadcasters alike.  It also seemed to be an industry were you could have a hell of a good time and get paid a lot of money for having fun.  That last part turned out to be true . . . for awhile.

There was a TV personality in Washington, D.C. at the time, Milt Grant, who hosted a teen dance party show on WTTG-TV.  When that show ended he started a weekend-only radio show that was sort of a mini-network . . . maybe a half-dozen stations or so.  I called him on the phone and asked him if he needed any help.  He said okay.  I interned with the show for a couple of years until I went away to college.

Then what...?
I worked my way through school by working on radio stations as a DJ or news announcer and was from time-to-time a projectionist at a 24-hour movie house downtown.  The school had a TV studio and had a heavy schedule of televised undergraduate classes.  These weren’t the camera stuck in the classroom ceiling-type things that schools do today.  These were in-studio, multi-camera, fully scripted deals with props and graphics.

When I graduated and came back home in 1966, Milt had signed on WDCA-TV, Channel 20 in Washington, D.C.  I got a summer job in the film department as a film editor.  We edited everything: feature films, sports raw footage, commercials, syndicated shows and the one thing you learned to be was efficient and fast.  Quite often I would be madly splicing together Reel 2 of whatever while Reel 1 of whatever was running on the air.

After awhile I became a director primarily on kids’ shows and we began to film contest segments and short features for the kids.  That’s my introduction to film.

I was recently in Washington, D.C. and by happenstance heard a radio call-in show the topic of which was people who were, as kids, participants in kids’ TV shows or on-air contests.  It was amazing to hear how detailed people’s memories were about incidental things that happened some years ago.  The positive effect these little shows had on their school
spirit and personal self esteem was far beyond anything I had ever imagined.  I’ve won Ad Club and local Emmy awards but none of them would match the satisfaction I felt listening to that radio show.

What was your first job on a set?
My first job on a film set was as a director.  I know that sounds crazy to today’s up-and-comers.  Most people at that time started in film and then transitioned into television, if they transitioned at all.  TV was considered a step down from film for a long time but it was a great way to learn composition, montage and other skills that would make the transition into film quite easy.  It required a great deal of discipline because almost all of it was live and you had to learn to visualize a script and make corrections while you were on the air. 

Nobody had the time to storyboard anything and have multiple read-through sessions.  You usually had four days with one afternoon of “hot” [with cameras] rehearsal and then you just went.  A well-written history of this sort of production can be found in the various memoirs written about Your Show of Shows including the Mel Brooks movie My Favorite Year and Neil Simon’s play, Laughter on the 23rd Floor.

What other jobs have you done on film?
There are very few jobs that I haven’t done at one time or the other and with varying degrees of success.  One of the great benefits of independent production at the time was that those guys were always short-handed so I learned by volunteering and actually doing various things and finding out whether I had a knack for it.  I rigged lights, did continuity, dressed sets, loaded and unloaded film and sat at the film lab watching answer prints spool out.  I think that experience was invaluable to my skills as a director.  I knew what was possible because I had done it myself.  Those positions are usually highly unionized now and so you have a little less flexibility but there are still independents that will let you learn and experience the trades.  In my case, producing, directing and writing were my strengths and so I went with that.

Have you ever wanted to get out of the business?
Yes, every time I started a new project.

I’m kidding about that.  I did get out of the business and for reasons that I think will strike a chord with a lot of people.  To understand my mindset, you’re going to need a little bit of history.  Starting around 1980 with the Reagan Administration, the FCC came under the control of an ideologue named Mark Fowler.  In his 1958 speech to the Radio and Television News Directors’ Association, Edward R. Murrow said the following:

This instrument can teach, it can illuminate; yes, and it can even inspire. But it can do so only to the extent that humans are determined to use it to those ends. Otherwise it is merely wires and lights in a box. There is a great and perhaps decisive battle to be fought against ignorance, intolerance and indifference. This weapon of television could be useful.

Mark Fowler, on the other hand, declared the TV in the living room “no different than a toaster or any other household appliance.”  He then went on to deregulate the medium, increasing the number stations that could be owned by a single company and a whole bunch of other limitations such as the currently-controversial Fairness Doctrine, the Prime-Time Access Rule and the Financial Interest and Syndication Rules all culminating in the Communications Act of 1996 which pretty much deregulated everything else.

Well, the fast-buck artists came into broadcasting like a tsunami.  Stations and even networks were being bought and sold like property in a Monopoly game and anything that was locally produced was simply an expense to be eliminated.  I enjoy working in an environment that’s demanding and nurturing but I wound up in a series of positions where I was repeatedly teaching the very basics of the business to hot-shot entrepreneurs who could care less, made a hell of a lot more money than I did and just wanted to flip the station and then go lease boxcars or trade metal futures.  Sound familiar?

It was the day that the station owner came in with a bunch of VHS tapes that he had rented at Blockbuster.  He announced that these movies were much newer and better than the ones the station had under license and he was going to start airing them.  Why were we so stupid that we would license movies for thousand of dollars when we could just rent better ones for $3.99?  I had just started a dissertation on Copyright 101 and licensing when I was informed that I wasn’t a “team player.”  I had never experienced the phenomenon “seeing red” before but that day at that hour in that conference room I “saw red.”  I told the guy that his idea was “a wonderful approach” and I wished him and his “team” good luck in court and I walked out.  As Howard Beale said in Patty Chayefsky’s Network, “I just ran out of bull***t.” 

Whenever you work in an organization there’s always a certain amount of obsequiousness, politics, ass-kissing and the like because the bottom line is that there’s a check at the end of the week and you’ve got a spouse or family depending on you bringing home the bacon.  We all know people who excel at politics and ass-kissing and they can be very successful in organizations.  More often than not, ass-kissing is their only real skill.  At the same time, there’s the question of integrity, personal and professional, and how much can you compromise before you lose your mind.  It’s a different answer for everybody.

Incidentally, today’s aspiring movie and TV people could benefit from reading Ed Murrow’s speech of 50 years ago.  It can be found at http://www.rtnda.org/pages/media_items/edward-r.-murrow-speech998.php or you can screen George Clooney’s wonderful Good Night and Good Luck where David Strathairn plays Ed Murrow giving that speech.

I didn’t really get out of the business entirely but I went to law school at night and became a lawyer in the entertainment industry.

If you knew then what you know now, would you have stayed in film?
I don’t think it’s useful to regret decisions or play “what if” with your life.  I have made some career decisions that turned out to be painful even to this day but only because I now have the hindsight to put things into perspective.  You make the best decision you can at the time . . . and then you move on from there.  You never know, really, what’s at the end of the road not traveled.

Tell me about your mentor?
My mentor in the film business was the recently deceased John Frankenheimer.  John had a similar career track, moving from TV to film and he was a highly skilled director with a sense of humor and a man’s man.  I found him in a very odd way.  Early in my career I was being considered for a directing job by a major production company.  I was fairly young and the guy I interviewed with said he really wanted someone with more experience.  He wanted “somebody like John Frankenheimer!”  Now this job was crap and the money was peanuts.  Frankenheimer was directing features and had just finished Grand Prix with James Garner, Eva Marie Saint and Yves Montand.  This was a Super Panavision 70 movie with 70mm six-track sound and the likelihood of him being interested in the job I was up for was zero.

So, I wrote John Frankenheimer a letter and told him that this job was available and what the pay was and if he wanted the job he should contact the guy I interviewed with ‘cause the guy really wanted him.  However, if he wasn’t interested, would he please let me know?  John wrote me back a personal letter from Budapest, Hungary and said that he was already committed to film The Fixer and that I should pursue the job with his recommendation . . . or a job in comedy writing.  I did both.

One night I was driving home late and John was a guest on Larry King’s radio show.  When I got home I called in and got the opportunity to thank him publicly for all the help he had given me.  I really felt good about that.

I was quite moved recently, and not long before his death, to see a profile of him on The Directors series that runs on some obscure cable channel.  He lived seemingly a charmed life going from one big deal project to the next.  In his profile, however, he discusses very candidly his dry periods, self-doubt, professional loneliness and career misfires.  You can see the pain in his face and hear it in his voice.  A number of these profiles in this series have big-name directors recounting painful periods and bad experiences in their personal and professional life and I think it would be worthwhile for young aspiring filmmakers to screen these in order to ground themselves in reality that it’s not all cake and Chardonnay.

Any advice for the thousands of new filmmakers who graduate from film school every year?
Not really.  They’ve just been robbed!  After working with a number of recent graduates from various film schools, I truly wonder who’s teaching what in film schools today.  Not to be judgmental, but the few instructors that I’ve met in my opinion have no business teaching anybody.  The basics remain the same.  “Filmmaker” is just a fancy term for “Shanachie,” the English translation of the ancient Gaelic word for “storyteller.”  You need to know how to recognize good writing, how to motivate and inspire your cast and your crew.  You have a professional obligation to your cast, your crew and your audience to do the best you can with what you have to work with.

Now that cheap equipment lets anyone make a movie, how has the field changed?
Well, everybody can buy a pencil and a pad of paper but not everybody is Dan Brown or Steven King, if you get my drift.  The industry is always changing.  There was the studio system; then the influence of “foreign” films and the auteur theory; then the rise of the independents and so on.  Yes you can use a Panasonic high-def video camera that you can hang on your belt instead of a Mitchell 65mm with anamorphic lenses and video assist on a Chapman crane but so what?  That’s not really where the money goes, is it?  You can make small personal films that are low budget, easier to edit and can be shown on a big screen but where are you gong to show it?  The financing and distribution systems haven’t adapted to the small film. 

The real revolution will come when it becomes possible to distribute first-run through Netflix or through video streaming once the problems of compensation and anti-piracy get worked out.  Once you can bypass the gatekeepers of the theatre chains and TV networks, everything will start to match up.  Then it’s a matter of talent and, of course, luck and connections.

What was your most recent film project?
My most recent film project was a long-form music video about which the less said the better.  It turned out O.K. but it lacked any personal satisfaction because of the constant internecine off-set power struggles involved.

What’s your next project?
My next project as a producer is still under wraps.  It’s a series of short documentaries filmed on location about lifestyle changes in the 21st Century and how to cope with them.  I’m also writing a screenplay based on a short story of mine.

What was the worst thing that ever happened on a movie?
I’ve been very fortunate so far.  I would like to have back the day that a grip drove a golf cart with a lot of equipment including a six-foot tripod strapped to the back through a five-foot gate and then off a dock into a lake.  They said I would laugh about that someday but that day has yet to arrive.

Any regrets that you became a filmmaker?
Again, regret is not a very useful emotion.  My career has allowed me to meet interesting people and go to awesome places I would never have been able to do otherwise.  It has also been a source of great frustration and loss.  On the whole, I think it comes out to the positive.  I was in an industry in the right place at the right time and I was swept up in it.  Times are different now.  People are different now, too.  They’re much more cynical and self-indulgent but that’s to be expected in cynical and self-indulgent times.

Which film of yours is your favorite?
My live-to-tape production of J.B. by Archibald MacLeish.  It was my first major project and it turned out very well.

If you could do one thing over again, what would it be…?
I would take the job at Universal and I would apologize to Hal.

Music Supervisor, ReelGrok Tutor

What was your first job on a set…?
I began my career as a Producer on The Spin Cycle.  I was more like a PA doing any work that needed to be done.  Craft Services, runner, whatever.  It was an eye opening experience and very rewarding with respect to my career as a music supervisor.  Knowing how things work on set helped me understand why things take so long when shooting a film.

What other jobs have you done on set…?
I was the Producer on The Funeral Singer and music supervisor during the on-camera musical performances on Deadly Obsession.  As music supervisor, there’s not a lot of on-set responsibilities if music isn’t part of the story.

Who was your mentor…?
I  never had a mentor in the physical sense.  It was more by proxy – we never met, but I’ve followed their work for guidance.  Music Supervisors like PJ Bloom, Lindsey Wolfington, Madonna Wade-Reed and Alexandra Patsavas have been very influential to me and my career.  I’ve listened to them on panels and speaking engagements.  I’ve read interviews of them and articles about their experiences as a music supervisor.

What was your most recent project…?
I’m working on Angel Camouflaged, a feature shot in South Carolina with recording artist, Dilana.  It’s about a down-and-out female rocker who inherits a South Carolina bar.  She and her brother try to reopen it, but run into major trouble.  There’s a lot of music to clear plus on-camera performances to prep.

What’s your next project…?
I’m slated for another feature, The Last Mission.  It’s in pre-pro while the producers raise more funding.  They have an ensemble of veteran actors for this WWII reunion, including Ernest Borgnine, Lee Majors, Rance Howard, George Lindsey, Mel Tills....

What are you doing now…?
I’m supervising the music on several documentaries – Beyond The Chair, Holyrood and On The Day – plus a few feature films – The Ascent, Conflict of Interest and The Vern.  

What’s your choice of music to license. …?
Indie music.  There’s a lot of very good music out there and some of it works really well in films.  There’s also a lot of bad music,  but that’s another discussion.  The challenge comes when I have 50 or more CDs on my desk and 100 MP3’s in my e-mail inbox and I have to find that one exactly right song for a film.  I end up with maybe five to 10 that might work, then I have to narrow that list down.  Unfortunately, the majority of songs won’t fit any film I could imagine. 

If you could score any film, which would it be?
It would have to be Titanic.  I know I could never do as well as James Horner!  But I’d have loved to try.

What do you do when you’re not doing your music supervisor job?
I work so much I don’t have any time for my hobbies.  I guess TV is my guilty pleasure.  I’m a Bones and Law & Order fan.  I also watch a lot of the 48 Hours Mysteries and Forensic Files type shows.  Even then, I'm always focusing on the music.  I'm analyzing why a particular song was used over the specific scene.  if I'm really curious, I'll check IMDB for the music supervisor.

Can you think of a good show that failed because of the music?
I've heard pros and cons on good films with bad music vs. bad films with good music.  Sometimes on the same show.  As a music supervisor I always question why a song was used.  A lot of times I would have done it differently. 

One thing about the good song/bad song question is that I don’t even notice the music when it fits with the film.  The scene and music do their job of capturing me into the film.

One example where I question the use of a song over a particular scene is the opening to  Mission Impossible II in 2000.  While Tom Cruise is rock climbing, the song is a parody version of Iko-Iko called Souca Na Na.  Unless I've missed something in the first film, I can only think that the music has nothing to do with the action in the scene.  Maybe Tom Cruise had some creative input –the original song was used in 1988 in Rainman. 

Why is music so important?
Music sets the emotion for a scene.  If the scene is a tear-jerker, for example, the appropriate song complements the shot and helps the actor.  A good song over a montage will add to the key point whether it’s a character overcoming adversity or curing a broken heart or giving in to a time of mourning.  A song can lead the audience to believe and understand the emotions of the character.

Has anyone ever done the same show with two different scores?
Sometimes music gets replaced because of licensing issues.  Some of the old TV series like Ally McBeal and WKRP In Cincinnati had to change music before the DVD could be released.  The outcome was not good. 

It can happen when a director puts temp music in a film.  For months during post, ”temp love” sets in and everyone thinks that no other song that will work.  Until I get over-budget quotes from the publisher and record label.  Then the song gets replaced. 

In the long run, there's never just one song for a particular scene.  With enough creative work, several good songs can work over any given scene. 

That’s my job - finding the one perfect song.  Then finding a better replacement for it.  Tough job, but I love it.

Producer, Director, Writer

What was your first film job...?
I was a relatively late starter in the filmmaking game. After a post-college career in which my team and I used Gestalt therapy techniques to introduce at-risk kids to music and art, I went to work at KCET (PBS here in LA) in my late 20s. My first on set job was as a PA on local TV shows, running teleprompter, making lists, fetching coffee etc.

What other jobs have you done on set...?
Since then, I've mainly written, produced and directed documentaries.

Who was your mentor...?
Several people have mentored me personally and professionally. Fritz Perls, the founder of Gestalt Therapy, was a huge influence personally. As far as I know, he coined the phrase, "Lose your mind, and come to your senses." Professionally, Jim Washburn was my boss for a while at KCET and elsewhere. He taught me about perspective. When the spaghetti hit the fan, he would say, "It's just the higgly pigglies. Don't let 'em get to you."

What was your last project...?
My last project was a documentary, "Meth Inside Out - Brain and Behavior," which I wrote, produced and directed with Emily Meyers at Eyes of the World Media Group and UCLA's Integrated Substance Abuse Programs. It's target audience is primarily people in treatment from meth addiction and their families. It represents the latest in a string of projects I've been doing for the last ten years, aimed at people in recovery from addiction, or people who are incarcerated and who need help figuring out how not to come back to prison. It's rewarding work.  To see the trailer, click the DVD image.  To learn more, vist the website at www.methinsideout.com.

What's your next film...?
The next project is about domestic abuse. It's a series of short scripted scenes that depict different kinds of abuse: emotional, economic, using isolation, using children, using intimidation. These scenes will be combined with other elements and packaged as DVDs, then distributed to jails, prisons, victims and batterers groups across the country to help people learn about and recover from abuse in their own families. We are currently funding.

What other projects have you done?
I've also written a book, "Film & Video Budgets," a guide to budgeting for beginner and intermediate level filmmakers. This is the 4th edition, so it's been around for a few years now and has been adopted by quite a few film schools and independents alike. It's even available for sale at a discount right here on ReelGrok - click the book to buy it now.