William Keenan spent 13 years in NYC making independent films before relocating to LA in 2003. Once categorized as “the hardest working man at Sundance” by the Hollywood Reporter, Mr. Keenan was an actor, stuntman, writer and director before realizing that his greatest passion is producing. He’s been an invited participant in numerous film festivals around the world, as well as The Cannes Producers Network and The Sundance Institute Film Labs.
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November 18, 2008
Recently I sat down with Pritish Nandy, legendary global mediamaker and one heck of a charming guy. Plastered on his wall were “The 12 Commandments,” according to him. He’d come down off the mountain of moviemaking and delivered the message to his brethren: us… filmmakers. I reprint them here, with commentary.
1. Chase the big IDEA. Any moron can make a big film.
Hey, what’s the big idea? You tell me. Is it a best-selling book for tweens? A musical about a bodily organ repo-man? Is he trying to say that unless you have a “big idea,” don’t make a film? Or just don’t spend too much money on it?
2. There’s nothing called good films. Only hit films and flop films.
Well, there would seem to be millions, if not billions, of people who might disagree with this one. How many of us felt that our lives were changed by a film that wasn’t a box office hit?
3. Give orgasms to your investors, not your actresses.
OK, I like this one– though some might suggest a compromise to get the best of both worlds.
4. Awards are great, but Box Office verdicts last longer.
Here he goes again with the monetary success thing. OK, fine. I will agree that if your film is a success at the box office, it’s much easier to make another one.
5. Dream wet dreams. Don’t fund movies to make them come true.
I’m down with this one, too. Too many wanna-bes make movies for themselves (that they’d want to see) and proceed to shove ‘em down people’s throats, rather than make a film for other people (ie. the audience).
6. There’s only one “God.” He sits in the ticket sales counter.
If you can get by the blasphemy, I think what he’s trying to say here, again, is that it’s mucho importante for the film to do well and make money. (This, coming from a guy whose company is public. He’s got shareholders to answer to, after all.)
7. Don’t try to replicate reality. Challenge it.
What a concept. Ya know, as I get older (and hopefully wiser,) I seem to be falling prey to the idea that movies shouldn’t necessarily portray life as it is, but life as it should be. I guess that makes me an idealist.
8. The best critic is a dead critic. Listen to your viewers.
Dunno about the wishing death upon people, but I see his point. There’s filmmakers who make movies that they’d want to see (megalomaniacs, as mentioned above)– and filmmakers who want critical acclaim, even at the expense of an audience. And finally, there’s filmmakers who make movies for people!
9. Technology’s a dumb bitch. Stick to storytelling.
This reminds me of the old adage “we’ll fix it in post.” The lesson here is “don’t rely on technology.” Style over substance can only take you so far. If your story’s tight, who cares what it looks like. (Ok, I take that back. One should try to make the film look as good as possible, but not at the expense of story.)
10. Don’t expect professionalism. Contract it.
Which is why the lawyers now run this business. However, you can put any damn thing you want in a contract but it’s still not gonna prohibit a drug-addict actor from showing up a day late, or an egomaniac director from throwing a hissy fit.
11. There are no original stories. Only original copies.
Just ask Shakespeare. Though keep in mind, this list comes from a producer in an industry well-known for stealing ideas. Is it true there’s no original ideas, that everything’s been done before? Maybe. (And what hasn’t been done in film yet has probably already happened in real life to someone somewhere.) I forget who it was that said, “The sign of a good artist is one who borrows. The sign of a great artist is one who steals.”
12. Behind every hit director is a tough, son-of-a-bitch producer.
This is probably true. Someone should commission a study on the issue.
Anyone wanna add to the list? Strut your stuff in the comments.
November 13, 2008
“Film is an asset class that is truly in distress,” said one battle-scarred dealmaker. “Even if I had access to a billion dollars, there would be better things to do out there than expose that capital to the risks of the film business.”
Hollywood seems to be one of the only industries in America that is completely stand-alone, never having needed the government’s help throughout the years. In fact, some may argue that in the past it was the government that’s called on Hollywood for assistance — begging the studio moguls to help drive propaganda efforts during wartime and the like.
But since it looks like every other industry will be getting a bailout from the government during this economic crisis (deficit be damned!), why not throw our hats in the ring?
Film funding the past few years has relied more and more on the diverse financial products the other industries use, and since funding has dried up quite a bit in the entertainment industry… I say it’s time to make our voices heard. There’s no shame asking for a handout when everyone else is doing it, right?
Maybe some of you saw me mentioned as the lead in a story on the cover of the LA Times business section last week. (Trust me, I’d much rather be covered in the press regarding positive advancements for my projects– but alas, the point of the story was how the economic crisis is hitting independents… hard.) If only I’d been developing a film about Obama, it just might have had a chance: “Ed Norton’s Obama Documentary Draws Worldwide Interest”
OK, time for a rant: Elections Have Consequences. After 8 years of: funding without conditions an unnecessary war in Iraq, massively expanding the President’s warrantless eavesdropping powers; immunizing lawbreaking telecoms; enacting the Orwellian Patriot Act and renewing it with virtually no changes; not even bothering to mount a filibuster to stop the Military Commissions Act; refraining from pursuing any meaningful investigations of Bush lawbreaking; confirming every last extremist Bush nominee; the housing crisis, the credit crisis, torture and on and on and on… The era of constitutional abuse, cronyism, ineptitude, incompetence, theocratic aspirations, intolerance, abuse of power, abuse of privacy, etc etc etc is hopefully over–
And it seems fitting that the American people would elect a Senator (and not a Governor or “other”) for the first time since Kennedy whose first name rhymes with Iraq, whose middle name is the name of the dictator we hanged and whose last name rhymes with the name of the terrorist Bush let get away.
America elected the world’s first global President and hats off to us! The sea change in the rest of the planet’s attitude toward the U.S. is mind-boggling. They like us again! And with all the hope for change and goodwill out there right now, I look forward to the future.
In other news:
The American Film Market comes and goes…
If only “Milk” were released BEFORE the Prop 8 showdown…
Germany officially enters a recession. (Welcome to the club.)
Ratings for the 3 network entertainment magazine shows are down by 20%, yet TMZ’s continue to rise… (no link, but was passed the info from a reliable source inside one of the big 3. Seems they’re all freaking out.)
Michael Moore will give his special treatment to the sicko economy…
THIS might become the new standard for indie types to launch projects.
And maybe filmmaking isn’t your bag after all. There’s other ways to be creative and become famous.
America is depressed, so expect to see more fantasy content.
In personal news:
I got home from my trip to India and ya know what was waitin’ for me? The new G1-Phone (Google phone), and I loooove it. (Except for the lame battery life and not yet having figured out how to save incoming numbers into my contacts;)
Also: am looking for a project/script that can be done for under a Mil with a lead female role… something along the lines of a “Maria Full of Grace,” “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days,” or even a “Run, Lola, Run”… if you have or know of anything, hit me up in the comments.
November 2, 2008
I’ve really been out of it lately, and when I say out of it– I mean in the jungles of Kerala, India on the production “Hisss” I helped package.
Besides a whole host of other stuff I will not be blogging about, here’s some crucial differences between Hollywood and Bollywood that should not be overlooked before started a collaborative production:
“Extras” are called Junior Artistes (bonus pts. for knowing the alternative U.S. terms “background artists” and “actor persons.”)
In Bollywood, the ADs have names like Yogi and Swami, and PAs are named Krishna. Actually, the term used for PAs is “spot boy” and they’re more like servants. The same guy asked to dig a ditch will be serving you tea later.
Most Bollywood directors use a microphone and PA system that blasts their direction for miles around. They also seem to be responsible for some script supervising and AD duties. Essentially, directors over here run the set more, and are expected to lead more. In the West, as far as I can tell, everyone’s pretty much kosher with a director who only talks to the DP, actors and a few keys, letting the AD dept. do their job.
No matter what is happening during a shoot day in Bollywood, tea and cookies will still be served. In indie Hollywood or NYC, I guess you can always count on… pizza?
No wonder there’s runaway production in our industry, and outsourcing of US jobs! So many essentials are so much less expensive in the East. Make your 3M movie look like 5-7M or more! Amazing sets that would cost 250K in the US costs 25K here! (But although one can get more prod value for their dollar, or in this case, rupee–and maybe not for too long– with that also comes an increase in chaos, because…
There are people everywhere. (1.2 Billion to be exact.) Huge crews, huge crowds rubbernecking and unfortunately, sometimes making the job of production harder. In Hollywood or NYC, shooting is no big deal to most people; it’s just another day at the office. We’z so jaded.
Set scaffolding is built with bamboo. It’s really quite amazing, and extremely impressive– I’ve even seen large, newly designed buildings being built using bamboo scaffolding.
Of course, there’s the language differences; not just with an English-only loser like me– within India itself are a bunch of different languages. But expect to be impressed when after a few weeks you still can’t communicate verbally but somehow manage to get things accomplished.
In India, just like in Saudi Arabia, non-gay men hold hands when walking down the street. I know, sounds weird at first, but you get used to it after awhile. Gay men do it too, which makes it hard to tell which is which…
Even though India’s had a long, vibrant film history– in many ways a parallel could be made to the wild west of Hollywood’s own Golden Age. The Bollywood scene is bursting, and the filmmaking style itself is rapidly growing and branching out.
Stunts. As a former stuntman myself, I can appreciate the wild abandon of the Indian stunt guys. No pads, no pulled punches, no net! Though keep in mind, most of these people come from a tradition of reincarnation philosophy. If they die, they’ll come back soon enough.
In sum, global filmmaking is the future. Statistics say that by the year 2015, 70% of all entertainment and media revenue will come from Asia. Count me in.
October 3, 2008
How time flies. One week I’m on time with my Friday post and the very next week… Fail.
But to forgive is divine, the wise ones say, so let us never speak of it again. Kthx:)
I got a little caught up with another strike in Bollywood. Thankfully this one ended in days. (Take a note, America.)
A film I’m working on that’s currently shooting in India was effected, and a few 3AM calls threw me off my schedy due to that 13 and1/2 time difference and all… (And yes, in this day and age one CAN do business with a handy PDA from anywhere in the world. Global-mobile, baby!– Heck, I just finished a business deal in Dubai– within 5 emails. Next on the list is to produce a slate of films all via PDA while vacationing in Majorca:)
And okay, fine, I admit it. I DO have a VA (Virtual Assistant) who is halfway across the world and does all my grunt work while I’m asleep, ready for me after my morning shower. Yep-yep.
Til next week: All hail Variety’s new HAL blog (Hollywood’s Aggregated Links)!
September 25, 2008
(This week’s blog post brought to you by scenechronize, the radically useful software for the indie producer.)
Another week, more preposterousness to report:
- The meltdown continues…
- …And that includes the Emmys.
- But at least one indie production company secured financing.
- Spielberg reaches a quicker-than-anticipated deal with the Indians. My Indian sources say he caved on a few major points, all to secure funding before the US economy got even worse, which could have threatened his deal overall.
- Harvey’s distro deal with MGM gone bye-bye.
- Indie producers and filmmakers should steal a page from Apatow by making YouTube stars with millions of fans into legit Hollywood types…
- C’mon, you know you’re excited about Oliver Stone’s “W.” Long live Thandie Newton!
- The Christian film market continues to inspire.
- NY Film Fest takes its star turn, while Austin comes of Age…
- The awards race begins in earnest.
- Who can argue with Ken Burns?
- The IFP rolls out its weekend edition.
- Marcy Drogin, consultant to Mandalay, Participant and CBS films, throws her hat in the ring.
- Scott Rudin vs. Harvey Weinstein. This could get ugly.
- Yoga gets the Hollywood treatment.
- Tyler Perry continues to show us how it’s done.
- CAA is turning Japanese I really think so.
- Sarah Silverman injects herself into American-Jewish politics…
- …And College Humor gets into the feature business.
