Moviemaker – Winter 2019

MOVIEMAKER.COM WINTER 2019 51

ways it still is. And that’s how it should be.

Lots of careers have linear paths. Direct-

ing is not one of them. I’ve participated in

panel discussions on “breaking into the

industry.” The topic never gets old because

the answers are forever changing and there

is no one way to do it. Yet I’ve noticed that

a lot of the time these discussions leave the

audience feeling confused and deflated. The

advice is often not practical and the anec-

dotes aren’t realistic.

When I was a fledgling director, I at-

tended a panel where a moviemaker, in the

most nonchalant way, said, “I wrote a script

and sent it to a company, which financed

my first feature and then it got accepted

into Sundance, so I got signed by CAA and

now I’m directing the next Marvel movie.”

Really?! And I paid money to listen to this? I

don’t believe that was the full story. If it was,

then it was by sheer luck. I don’t care how

talented you are — this is a highly competi-

tive industry, and talent is just not enough.

Even though this MovieMaker article is

about “making it,” from what I can tell, I

don’t think anyone actually feels like they’ve

“made it.” If you’re ambitious, every time you

hit a goal, you tend to make a new one. And

this industry fluctuates a lot. A good part of

“making it” involves sticking it out for the

long game, riding the lows and not letting

the highs delude you. I’m going to take an

honest look at what success actually takes.

And by success, I mean making a living from

making movies... getting to a place where it’s

no longer a hobby or occasional job, it’s a ca-

reer. I’m going to share my own experience

as well as those of other moviemakers, and

I’ll do my best to cut through the bullshit of

how we got here and offer up some truth.

THE BIG PICTURE

As for any career in the arts, the work

alone is not enough. We all know someone

can make a shitty film and still book the next

job. So what does it take?

Ry Russo-Young, director of Before I Fall

(2017) and The Sun Is Also a Star (2019),

shared her experiences: “Most of all, it’s sur-

viving the moments of uncertainty,” Russo-

Young says. “There have been many ups and

downs in my filmmaking career. There were

moments I didn’t think I’d be able to get

another film financed, moments where I felt

like no one cared about anything I had to

say, and times where the commercial aspects

of cinema felt crushing. And yet, my love of

what I do kept me strong and on track, it

kept me motivated. Being a moviemaker is

hard and unpredictable, so a love of what

you do and perseverance to keep doing it is

absolutely necessary.”

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve

thought about giving up—evaluating the

pros and cons of other career paths I could

take, debating a full life change. I’m gonna

leave the city, work in a farm, dedicate my

life to picking blueberries. Rejection after re-

jection, you start to wonder, Should I really

be doing this? But doing anything else feels

wrong. Moviemaking is the only job that

will never feel like a job, because you love

it so much. So you breathe through it and

keep going. You read articles like this and

remember that you are not alone. Rejection

is the norm, get used to it.

For Jen McGowan, whose recent feature

Rust Creek hit theaters in January 2019, the

key lies in toughness, and in having a point

of view. “The director’s job can be basically

boiled down to figuring out and communi-

cating what you want and what you need,”

McGowan explains. “So if you don’t know

either of those things, you’re pretty screwed.

Then, once you express your point of view

someone’s going to tell you that you suck. It’s

about resilience, and it can take an insane

amount of grit to keep you going. Part of that

grit must come from your own actual desire,

belief in the ideas you have, and that they

must get out there... now. Whether you’re

writing your own stories or pitching on open

directing assignments, your point of view bet-

ter be specific and unique; otherwise, why are

you here? You must have internal confidence,

know how to convince people of your point of

view, be personable, and persevere.

As you’re taking each step, riding each

wave up and down, take the time to learn

and grow. After I wrap a shoot, I like to write

down in a separate journal what worked and

what didn’t. This is my way of keeping track

of where I left off in the trajectory of my

growth. When I set out to make my first fea-

ture, I reached out to a bunch of other mov-

iemakers to ask them for advice. I wanted

to know what they learned, what tips they

could share. This was incredibly helpful, and

I encourage more of the same.

TRUST YOUR GUT

You have a story. You put together a pitch

deck, a script, or treatment. This is where

you begin. You feel like the story might be

ready to share with producers. But how do

you know that your idea is worth spending

all your free time and money, pulling in all

your favors, for what may be years to come?

I get told repeatedly that my idea is too

niche. I’ve tried to get projects off the ground

that were turned down because someone

holding the money thought there wasn’t a

big enough audience for it. I had a manager

once tell me that my work was “too queer”

and therefore it wasn’t marketable enough,

{ }

“EVERYONE NEEDS TO START

SOMEWHERE & YOU CAN’T CALL

YOURSELF A MOVIEMAKER IF YOU ARE

NOT MAKING MOVIES. IT’S A CATCH-22.”

UP A CREEK: RUST CREEK DP MICHELLE LAWLER (L) WORKS ALONGSIDE WRITER-DIRECTOR JEN MCGOWAN (R),
TOP LEFT: COURTESY OF NATALIA LEITE; BOTTOM RIGHT: PHOTOGRAPH BY ALEXANDRA JENSEN, COURTESY OF LUNACY WHO PREACHES PERSEVERANCE IN MOVIEMAKING CAREER PURSUITS