October 8, 2005

• Lessons in Self Restraint was a link a good friend sent to me which shows pretty much my relationship with the producers of the movie. There are many times I have frustrated them with my extreme views on the movie while in return, they do the same to me in terms of keeping me on time and budget.

  Now argument between Directors and Producers are a very common thing. It happens on every set. In some sets, arguments go beyond words! But when it all boils down to it, filmmaking is all about team work and knowing who is the boss. In the end, the producer IS the boss. The producer will answer to his boss, the executive producer who in turns answers to the financiers and the list goes on.

  A lot of Directors I've met have this 'I'm Director, I'm God' mentality which is pretty bad. Ultimately, you always answer to somebody and you always have to know where you stand. After all, this is a business, and like every business, you learn to throw your ego out the door when you walk into the boss' office. The entire film set, is my boss' office, so I'm in it all the time.

  Having control of the majority of the film set doesn't make you the boss (it does create that illusion) but I see myself more like the 'supervisor'. The supervisor is on the floor making sure it happens and happens his way, but without the boss, he has no job and can be fired by him as well.

  For most productions, where the director is the producer and writer, this doesn't apply. But I think it's always good practice to work on a film set with that mentality, and to throw your ego out of the door before stepping into a film set. After all, it did take me a while to get use to 'not being the boss' since I produced all my short films. So, if you're still a producer of your films, it might not be a bad idea to start early, since at one point in your life, you're going to be making a film for someone else (big indie financer or studio).

  Just my thoughts on this, you might continue to make films even if you are a tough and asshole director to work with, but this is just how I work!

  • 9:35 pm
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