A couple years ago I was driving in LA and an intern who was working with our company was in the car with me. He was fresh out of film school and was all excited about starting out in the film business. He took the opportunity as we drove down Santa Monica Boulevard in Hollywood to ask me if I could give any advice to an aspiring filmmaker like himself.
I liked the guy. He had grown up gay in a very religious home, and he had done some short films that were interesting and challenging. He seemed responsible and hard working. I turned to him and gave him my simple answer, "turn back now".
It wasn't what he wanted to hear. And it wasn't what I wanted to tell him. He was creative and had drive, so working in film and television should be a perfect way to make a decent living and get to express oneself at the same time. This young guy looked at me as someone successful. I have my own business with my brother, I've had many shows on TV, we've gotten some awards. But from my perspective, I couldn't bullshit him and give him all sorts of happy stories.
I told him, it's hard as hell to first find an agent and then to sell a show, period. But to try to sell a show that you believe in and where they let you craft it in a meaningful way--that is extremely rare. And then, even if you are lucky enough to get to that point, you still won't get any ownership of your project. So your deal will be that you get a salary to work on your film or TV show, plus some mythical back end that you will never see a penny from. And at the end of the day, you will have worked your ass off to make a very moderate amount of money, and they will own your project so there is no upside. So you better get a huge thrill from just working in this industry.
While you're young and single, that thrill is probably all that matters to you. All you care about is getting the chance to produce something, make something, prove yourself. And the companies you pitch to will take advantage of that enthusiasm. Eventually, your lack of upside, your lack of ownership in your work, will become frustrating. If you have to create because it's in your blood, then you'll stay in the business. Otherwise, you'll find a line of work that will reward you somewhat fairly for your time, energy and creativity.
I've spent thirty years making my art. And please pardon me if I indulge myself by using that word... art. The first eight years I was writing and photographing, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live in Paris and to exhibit my photographs at the Georges Pompidou Center, the Vienna Museum of Modern Art and the Munich State Museum, and to publish a non-fiction book on the first generation of children growing up in openly gay homes in the United States, entitled Whose Child Cries.
I loved living in Paris. I loved the architecture on every corner, I loved the way people hung out and talked to each other, and I loved the way men and women flirted over there. But after awhile I grew to dislike the side of the art world where you have to cultivate rich people to collect your work. And I was not doing artwork that was traditionally beautiful or decorative, so it was a hard sell for the galleries that were representing me.
I moved back to the US and I began making documentary films with my brother Harry. We've been doing that for 20 years now. Fuck, that is a looong time. I've always hated that song, but I think that 'we did it our way' (if you cue that song in your head, please play the Sex Pistols version). What I mean by that, is that Harry and I only pitched ideas that we believed in, and we would stick with an idea for years never giving up until we could somehow get it made.
Most producers in this town are like pitch machines; they need to be since they get no ownership. If they want to make a decent living they feel they have no choice but to go for volume. We brought our overhead down by living and working in the Valley, owning our own equipment, and working with a small staff. We've managed to make a living while we made films and TV shows that we really cared about. We didn't get rich, which wasn't our objective, and we worked harder than almost anybody else I know, which hasn't always been fun, especially when you have a family.
The fact is, to sell a show that is innovative, meaningful or provocative is very difficult to do in this advertiser-dominated, corporate world we work in. And to get some real ownership and financial upside in the process is next to impossible. But that's why we started CrushedPlanet, to try to make that happen. CrushedPlanet is about making the most amazing, out there, powerful, artistic, intimate or surprising shit imaginable. And then it's about giving the artist or producer a fair piece of their own creative pie. So they can afford to make their next project and to raise a family if they so choose. And we plan to do that --or try anyway-- with a little support from viewers who want to see something that really moves them.
So, as serious as I was when I told the intern to "turn back now", I was perhaps being a bit overly cynical. Eventually there's a chance that there may be a way out of this tunnel of no ownership and the TV mentality of doing the same shit over and over again... and it will probably be due to the Internet. We at CrushedPlanet plan to put our little spin on that dual concept-- the artist retaining ownership and the distribution of innovative content. We are making a go of this! And now I'm getting excited to see how it all unfolds...
I liked the guy. He had grown up gay in a very religious home, and he had done some short films that were interesting and challenging. He seemed responsible and hard working. I turned to him and gave him my simple answer, "turn back now".
It wasn't what he wanted to hear. And it wasn't what I wanted to tell him. He was creative and had drive, so working in film and television should be a perfect way to make a decent living and get to express oneself at the same time. This young guy looked at me as someone successful. I have my own business with my brother, I've had many shows on TV, we've gotten some awards. But from my perspective, I couldn't bullshit him and give him all sorts of happy stories.
I told him, it's hard as hell to first find an agent and then to sell a show, period. But to try to sell a show that you believe in and where they let you craft it in a meaningful way--that is extremely rare. And then, even if you are lucky enough to get to that point, you still won't get any ownership of your project. So your deal will be that you get a salary to work on your film or TV show, plus some mythical back end that you will never see a penny from. And at the end of the day, you will have worked your ass off to make a very moderate amount of money, and they will own your project so there is no upside. So you better get a huge thrill from just working in this industry.
While you're young and single, that thrill is probably all that matters to you. All you care about is getting the chance to produce something, make something, prove yourself. And the companies you pitch to will take advantage of that enthusiasm. Eventually, your lack of upside, your lack of ownership in your work, will become frustrating. If you have to create because it's in your blood, then you'll stay in the business. Otherwise, you'll find a line of work that will reward you somewhat fairly for your time, energy and creativity.
I've spent thirty years making my art. And please pardon me if I indulge myself by using that word... art. The first eight years I was writing and photographing, and I was fortunate to have the opportunity to live in Paris and to exhibit my photographs at the Georges Pompidou Center, the Vienna Museum of Modern Art and the Munich State Museum, and to publish a non-fiction book on the first generation of children growing up in openly gay homes in the United States, entitled Whose Child Cries.
I loved living in Paris. I loved the architecture on every corner, I loved the way people hung out and talked to each other, and I loved the way men and women flirted over there. But after awhile I grew to dislike the side of the art world where you have to cultivate rich people to collect your work. And I was not doing artwork that was traditionally beautiful or decorative, so it was a hard sell for the galleries that were representing me.
I moved back to the US and I began making documentary films with my brother Harry. We've been doing that for 20 years now. Fuck, that is a looong time. I've always hated that song, but I think that 'we did it our way' (if you cue that song in your head, please play the Sex Pistols version). What I mean by that, is that Harry and I only pitched ideas that we believed in, and we would stick with an idea for years never giving up until we could somehow get it made.
Most producers in this town are like pitch machines; they need to be since they get no ownership. If they want to make a decent living they feel they have no choice but to go for volume. We brought our overhead down by living and working in the Valley, owning our own equipment, and working with a small staff. We've managed to make a living while we made films and TV shows that we really cared about. We didn't get rich, which wasn't our objective, and we worked harder than almost anybody else I know, which hasn't always been fun, especially when you have a family.
The fact is, to sell a show that is innovative, meaningful or provocative is very difficult to do in this advertiser-dominated, corporate world we work in. And to get some real ownership and financial upside in the process is next to impossible. But that's why we started CrushedPlanet, to try to make that happen. CrushedPlanet is about making the most amazing, out there, powerful, artistic, intimate or surprising shit imaginable. And then it's about giving the artist or producer a fair piece of their own creative pie. So they can afford to make their next project and to raise a family if they so choose. And we plan to do that --or try anyway-- with a little support from viewers who want to see something that really moves them.
So, as serious as I was when I told the intern to "turn back now", I was perhaps being a bit overly cynical. Eventually there's a chance that there may be a way out of this tunnel of no ownership and the TV mentality of doing the same shit over and over again... and it will probably be due to the Internet. We at CrushedPlanet plan to put our little spin on that dual concept-- the artist retaining ownership and the distribution of innovative content. We are making a go of this! And now I'm getting excited to see how it all unfolds...
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