New Jack Artists

Filmmakers need to take a musician to lunch.

In the 1960s, top British rock band The Who wrote a popular song called "Won't Get Fooled Again" (I think it's the theme to CSI: Albuquerque, or some such). The opening line is: "Meet the new boss, same as the old boss." That sentiment was never truer than in today's entertainment business.

Give Away the Music, Sell the T-shirt
Back in the day, bands like mine were always trying to score a major label record deal. That was the brass ring for us. By 1990, the shine was wearing off, and many musicians saw that recording and releasing their own record was a better way to go: they had complete artistic freedom, and kept all the profits. Of course, they had to become distributors, accountants, PR pros and salesmen, too, but those were the trade-offs. Once Napster rocked the industry, veteran musicians realized that music would be free, whether they liked it or not, and that they better concentrate on touring and at-the-gig merch sales. "Give away the music and sell the T-shirt" (or $120 concert ticket) was no longer a joke; it was the preferred business model.

Slow Cousins
I'm a professional film and TV actor. It's amazing to me to see filmmakers who aren't hip to the lessons of the music industry. Austin is a great filmmaking community, but most all of the new jack filmmakers I meet are all about making their "calling card" short films and music videos, even micro-budget indie features, so that they can submit to Sundance, package them up as DVDs, and wait for the Hollywood offers to start pouring in.

Guess what?

Ain't gonna happen. Oh, maybe once in a while. Heck, even a blind squirrel finds a nut now and then. But not often enough to be a good business strategy anymore. In the 1970s and 1980s, this was viable. The barriers to entry for filmmaking were high, just as they were with music in the 1960s and 1970s. But not anymore. Now, any 8-year old with a cell phone can make a movie. And they do. And when they post it to YouTube, more people will likely see it than your MFA thesis film, or your self-important, talking heads, character-driven dramedy.

No, what you and I need is a way to differentiate ourselves, set us apart from the herd. We need a strong competitive advantage, as they say in corporate boardrooms. We need a unique position.

The "Safe" Position
Filmmakers using other people's money (OPM) try to minimize risk by hiring the biggest stars they can afford, and sticking to "safe" genre films, with formulaic stories. This at least gives them a position that is a cut above your average student fare. But it lumps them right in with 5,000 other films each year doing the exact same thing- mediocre premise, stilted writing, C-list actors, first-time directors, and no real marketing or distribution budget.

The Best Position
The best position is always to have great writing. Personally, I'd rather have the filmmaking credit for Little Miss Sunshine than Transformers. Each did well at the box office, but only LMS received critical praise and Oscar nods, even though Transformers did do well with the kiddos at the box office. Don't forget, though, that Transformers already had a strong, established position: the multi-million dollar toy and cartoons franchise on which the movie was based. You and I, Mr. New Jack Filmmaker, do not have that. We must prosper on the strength of our content.

How can we do that? Good writing.

But, I hear you ask, what about the latest HD camera, DOF adapters and lenses, newest non-linear editors, color correctors, FX generators, lighting kits, most powerful multi-core computers? Forget about it. All you need to do is get out of the way.

Get out of the way of your story, and you'll be amazed at how little equipment and crew you need. "Production value!", you scream. The audience will forgive most anything as long as it doesn't get in the way of the story. 24p film-look? Don't need it. Ultra-professional multi-layered sound? Not necessary. $10,000 lighting rig? Eh. Just give it enough production value to tell the story in a way that doesn't distract or detract from the story, and you'll be fine.

But if your script sucks, well... you're S.O.L. Don't believe me? Watch (the new) Posiedon Adventure, or Star Wars Episodes I-III. If you have good writing, good production value is a bonus. But if you have crappy writing, then good production value is sort of like polishing a turd.

And if you're an aspiring director, you don't have to write scripts yourself. Network with some screenwriting groups and find writers who want to get their projects made. That trick alone could not only drastically improve the quality of your projects, but also shave months or years off your production timeline.

So give yourself the best possible position by focusing on improving or acquiring good writing.