Above, is a still capture from my romantic comedy short film, "A Match Made in Heaven". On the left of the image is Hitesh Jogia as Harry, and on the right is Andrew Green as Angelina. Cinematography by Lindsay George. Most of my films had me as the sole producer and writer, but with this one, I had Elena Esovolova as my producing partner, and Johnny Gingell and Don Knodel as my writing partners. So many people's creative ideas went into this one, and I was really able to focus in on my directing. We all did what we do best, and this turned out to be my most successful short film.
Whether we're an artist or not, we all have an ideal vision for ourselves. There is a person in our mind, who we either want to be, or wish we were. Some people dream of becoming rock stars, professional basketball players, brilliant inventors, or the next Martin Scorsese. We can all choose our dreams, but we can't choose our realities. We're all born with talents, but we can't choose what those talents are. Sometimes, I wish I was born with talents outside of art and science: things like business, academia, or carpentry.
I think we do our best work when we're honest with ourselves. I'm not saying people shouldn't experiment with new things – there are always new things to learn about ourselves – but sometimes, the writing is on the wall. I've produced seven short films, and I know, I'm not nearly as good a producer as some other people are. I'm not as good a salesman, and I really wish I was. I get dizzy trying to manage money. I sweat buckets asking people for stuff. The best art is created when people with different talents come together, and compliment each other's skills.
If you want to learn more about me, you can check out my website at, www.angrybearfilms.com
For too many years, I wrote screenplays for fun. Some could be produced for a reasonable budget, but many were wild sci-fi and fantasy stories that I couldn't resist writing. Many years back, I thought I'd look into finding a good illustrator for a graphic novel partnership. I attended comic conventions both in Canada, and in the States. I met so many amazing artists. Most only drew comics for hire, which makes sense, since it was their livelihood. Others illustrated their own comics for free. One thing that puzzled me, is that most of the latter had no interest in finding writers to partner with. Even though they knew their own writing skills were far below their drawing skills, they still preferred to create their own stuff solo. They weren't interested in finding the next Stan Lee, Robert Kirkman, or Alan Moore. Ultimately, I realized that if I wanted to collaborate on a project with a great artist, I'd have to fund, distribute, and market the entire thing myself, and it wouldn't be cheap; I'd still probably have to share half the profits with the artist, even if I was the sole funder. I met a lot of cool people in that world, but I decided to stick to the world of film.
I've seen some really talented people squander their talents, because they coveted a role they weren't suited for. There are a lot of talented writers, cinematographers, producers, editors, stunt people, and actors who want to be directors. Some of them also possess a talent for directing, but many don't. I've known tons of amazingly talented artists who just couldn't wrap their heads around directing. I had a friend who was a decent writer and a really good producer, but his childhood dream was to be a director. His talent for producing served him well; he was good at attracting talent, scrounging up resources, and at getting people pumped up; I envied his talents. He got some lucky breaks, but he wouldn't let go of directing. It didn't take long, and many many bad creative decisions, for him to burn all of his opportunities, opportunities most people would die for. His films had great production value, but were full of puzzling story elements.
We have an industry where the occasional great film flops, and the occasional dumpster fire rakes in the cash; careers that should soar, crash, and careers that never should have been, rise up – if but temporarily. Remove the roulette wheel that spins through our industry, and one truth holds up, and that's that most people are entertained by films built on skill, not by films built on an artist's desire to valid him/herself. Nothing in this industry is as simple or as straight forward as any of us would like, but the theme of this post is worth thinking over.
If you want to learn more about me, you can check out my website at www.angrybearfilms.com
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