These three questions are very good questions and at the same time the frustrate me at the same time, I will answer them in this blog as I always do because I believe in 100% transparency with fans and supporters in addition I will try to explain why they frustrate me.
Explaining my ambition : My ambition is something that people often want to discuss with me people say "You never stop working" or "You are always thinking of new ideas or ways to make things better" someone actually complimented me on my frequency of blogs and that is was refreshing to have a film maker that actually interacts with fans on a public forum and keeps people up to date on things. My ambition comes from wanting to make things happen and making movies for fans to either love or hate them. I'm not the type of person to get caught up in people opinions (too much) I do care what people think (to a point) but my vision is my vision and simply put not everyone is going to see it.
Another thing people have to understand about me is I make B Movies and I know this and I'm okay with it, I talked about this in another blog I'm happy to make B Movies and there's a place for them. Now if Lionsgate, Paramount etc offered me $100,000 dollars to make a movie I would do it but I'm also VERY happy to make B Movies for people who enjoy them. The frustration with this question is with those that say I'm too ambitious, I'm the founder / owner of a production company, I write , direct, act and do makeup FX for my films, I run two websites, three facebook pages, three twitter accounts, a linkedIn page, an instagram page, I write for 6-10 hours a day. sleep and I are no longer friends, so I think for doing all of this ALONE I think my ambition level has to stay high to make it all happen .
The Fast Pace Of Film Making : This is a very fast paced business from writing ( I wrote the Sins of Man Trilogy in less then 30 days) to getting through pre production to starting production all the way through production. I KNOW I rushed through shooting Sins of Man Rise of Mortis, it wasn't very well organized etc. but it was my first film and I learned a LIFETIME of things on set that I will bring to the process of Sins of Man II in Spring 2016. I think this shoot will be slower and better thought out with what I have learned on set which will result in a better film which in turn will result in a better movie experience for you the fans. I don't want to make bad movies I want to make good films that are well written, well planned out with good actors etc.
This question frustrates me because people feel like they know something about making a movie when they haven't done it for even a minute of their life. I want people to know what we go through when we make a film but just because I blog about an issue during production it doesn't mean you understand what happened or what we went through to fix the issue. in the information age we can all get online and look things up Hell it's how I became a film maker / make up artist etc. I didn't go to film school I watched videos on you tube on how to make movies, how to do makeup and all that stuff.
I went into production on Sins of Man not knowing ALOT and I freely admit it. everyone has to start somewhere and I started on set of my first movie learning about camera angles, lighting, sound design etc. and I got a lifetime of learning on set. I will take what I have learned and apply it to Sins of Man II in April 2016. I figure with every film I complete I will continue to get better as a film maker. Everything takes time to learn, Babe Ruth did hit a home run the first time he picked up a bat. Joe Montana didn't throw a touchdown pass the first time he threw a football, you get the point.
How do you handle the Competition with other indie film makers : This is the question that frustrates me the most and here is why, I know indie film making (Like any other business) is about making money and I understand that but I'm NOT competing with any other Indie film makers. I want my movie to be successful but I'm NOT going to trash other companies, film makers etc. to get ahead in this game, I'm simply not that type of person.
I think Indie film makers should help each other if we can with advice, finding actors, prop makers what ever it may be. Think about it for a moment how it would be if we helped each other thus helping the indie film business instead of tearing each other down, the sky would be the limit of how successful WE could ALL be !
I'm slowly starting to make friends in the industry, I have friends that are film makers, actors, writers, prop makers, makeup artists, website owners, radio and TV hosts. I value these friendships and want to grow them as well as branch out. I have said it before but I'll say it again at this point in my career I want to focus on my work and only directing films that I have written. (I'm a bit of a control freak)
I've been helping people with their writing, how they set up their scenes how to write action sequences etc. my friend Raz T. Slasher said to me that we should always be willing to help others who are just starting out because someone helps us when we were just starting out. I agree and always help someone when they ask my thoughts on something.
One final thought for you and this doesn't just go for film making but what ever your dream is... No one BELIEVES in YOU more then YOU believe in YOURSELF, Don't ever let anyone tell you can't do something because if you put your mind to it NOTHING is IMPOSSIBLE.
I had people in my own family tell me I would never get Sins of Man off the page and onto the screen and here I am a few weeks away from the DVD being available to a WORLDWIDE audience.
As far as SUCCESS goes it's all in how you measure it, I look at success like this, I wanted to write a script, I did so that's success, I wanted to make a movie, I did another success, I wanted to release the movie on DVD, I'm about to on Halloween another success. when I hold the DVD in my hand that's success, when I sell the first DVD at the Release Party that is success. Measure success in small amounts and you will never fail. If you fail pick yourself up and learn from it and then move on because you only really fail when you stop trying to succeed .
Thank you ALL for your continued Support of Wicked Carnival Productions, our first film Sins of Man Rise of Mortis and all our future projects...
STAY TUNED !!