Raising the bar of filmmaking in Arizona

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Permalink Reply by SHANE DEAN A.K.A. SHARK on March 27, 2009 at 10:46pm

HEY FOLKS. I DON'T OFTEN RESPOND TO THESE THINGS BUT I COULDN'T RESIST THIS ONE.

"RAISING THE BAR."

ACTORS...NEED TO BUILD THEIR SKILLS IN AS MANY WAYS POSSIBLE. I SEE A LOT OF "ACTORS" OUT THERE "ACTING". STOP ACTING DAMN IT! BE REAL. IN THE MOMENT. TAKE CLASSES. I SUGGEST WORKING WITH ONLY THE BEST. ELAYNE STEIN. IF YOU AS AN ACTOR HAVE NOT WORKED WITH HER YOU SHOULD. SHE WILL BREAK YOU OF LITTLE THINGS THAT ARE BAD HABITS. SHE WILL BE TOUGH AND HONEST YET LOVING, GIVING, AND INSIGHTFUL. BUILD YOUR RESUME WITH MORE THAN JUST EXTRA WORK. LOOK FOR ROLES YOU FIT. WHAT ROLES DO YOU FIT? BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF. GET A GOOD HEAD SHOT. MARKET YOURSELVES. DO A THEATER SHOW. THATS A GREAT WAY FOR THOSE THAT CAN'T AFFORD CLASSES TO DEVELOP SOME ACTING "CHOPS". BEING SURROUNDED BY MORE SEASONED ACTORS IS GOOD BECAUSE YOU CAN PICK UP SOME GREAT STUFF IF YOU PAY ATTENTION. AND ACTING ISN'T ALL ABOUT TALKING. THE BEST ACTORS ARE GREAT LISTENERS. DO YOU HAVE ANY MONOLOGUES MEMORIZED YET? WHY NOT!?! DO YOU HAVE AN AGENT? YOU SHOULD. IF YOU ARE ONE OF THOSE PEOPLE WHO REFUSE TO GET AN AGENT THEN YOU MAY BE MISSING OUT ON THOSE LARGER PROJECTS WITH THE HIGHER END ACTING JOBS. OH! AND IF YOU WANT AN AGENT YOU SHOULD DO THE THINGS THAT I MENTIONED ABOVE. IT'S NOT WHO YOU KNOW, IT'S WHO KNOWS YOU. YOU GET OUT OF THIS BUSINESS WHAT YOU PUT IN TO THIS BUSINESS. IF YOU DON'T THINK SO...LET'S COMPARE RESUMES SOME TIME. BREAK A LEG!!!

MOVIE MAKERS...THE MORE PRE-PRODUCTION YOU DO THE SMOOTHER YOUR SHOOT WILL BE. TREATING YOUR ACTORS WELL AND MAKING THEM FEEL COMFORTABLE WILL MAKE THEIR JOB EASIER BECAUSE OF SUCH. THAT'S WHAT YOU WANT RIGHT? DOING SHORTS IS FUN BUT THEY'RE ONLY GOING TO GET YOU SO FAR. UNLESS IT IS SOMETHING REALLY SPECTACULAR. SHORTS ARE A GOOD WARM UP FOR THE FEATURE. OH! AND HOLLYWOOD BUYS FEATURES NOT SHORTS. $$$$! DID I MENTION TAKE BETTER CARE OF YOUR ACTORS?

EVERYONE...THINK BIGGER!

LET'S GET IT ON!!!!!!!

SHANE DEAN
AKA SHARK

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harrelson on March 28, 2009 at 11:57am

Good Point Claude, Pooling is An Optimum Arrangement,However, as Greed Creeps in Little Gets Done,so most people just do their best to do what they can,with what they have,financing their own projects with little cash and lots of help from their friends,remembering also that untried writers like untried actors are a Risk,And The BIG Movies Like To Stack The Deck And Eliminate Risk, thats why year after year the same names get the awards,and once in a while someone breaks out ie slum dog but the Director wasnt an Unknown,his earlier film Trainspotting was a Small Indie Film That Became a Cult Classic,Same With Robert Rodriguez And El Mariachi which was Filmed For 6K Us. and it certainly opened doors for him, it certainly became big.But Then He Did It All ,I Loved His Book" Rebel Without a Crew"Very Insightful For Actors Film Makers And Writers. Making Shorts is a Great Way To Expose Your Work To Producers, and people who might invest,It Takes away Some Of The Unknown,because They are Now Familiar.Anyway Lets All Hone Our Crafts And Grow,I'd Rather Make a Film Than Talk About It,The State Of Film Making in Arizona is Growing Everyday,And The Bar Gets Raised About Every Six Months,Lets Try To Grow With It-Michael

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harrelson on March 28, 2009 at 11:34am

I was Reading Shanes Response And I Concur,I See a Lot Of People "Acting" instead Of Being............The Key To Remember is If You Dont Believe it Why Would Anyone Else?Now.I Am Not Exempting My Self From This I Look Back at Old Clips And Can Spot it in my Own Work,If You Want To Raise The Bar,Dont Except "Good Enough"because it Rarely Is,Push Yourself, reach inside Find That Character,and remember its about craft not personality and more importantly Get Out There,Do the Work Then Study it,Get Past The Fact You Have Face Time,What Could Have Been Better? what was Weak?And Take Those Lessons To The Next Project,Did You Share The Scene or were You Too Wrapped Up in You,To Notice What Your Screen Partner was Doing? And Never Forget That as an Artist we Are Works in Progress Too-Michael

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Permalink Reply by Kate on March 28, 2009 at 1:18pm

Blaming lack of money is a cop out. Feature films are NOT the only film making opportunities in the world. In fact, that is the LEAST lucrative, most expensive way to go. Why aren't we creating world class cable television shows? Why aren't we creating top notch web series? What about the commercials? Top notch scripts that get sold? Original plays? Etc? Etc. If you love your craft, you should be open to all these things.
On top of that, why aren't we all out there buying tickets and supporting each other, proving to the different venues, both film and theater, that there IS a market out here for experimentation?
Lack of money is not the issue, guys. . .to blame that is an easy way out. Where's the passion?

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Permalink Reply by Kimber Leigh on March 28, 2009 at 2:52pm

I like Claude's comment as well. We need to pull together. What I have seen happening in Arizona is that is seems like there are to many small groups of people that will only work within that small group. If you are not part of that "smalll" group, then there is no room for your money to invest, your talent to provide, or your ability to make Arizona a large community of serious filmmakers, actors, producers.

So stop thinking small. Stop making small films. Become a community who is just that, ONE. How to do that will take some thinking outside the box. If it is money we need, raise it. How to do that is maybe when running these festivals, take some of that revenue and bank it. When a filmmaker wants to make a film, show that film short then. Was the short award winning? Did it contain award winning talent? Only then can the filmmaker withdraw from the film bank and make a full feature length film, so that they can pay themselves and the talent.

So the first thing on the agenda, is stop the small thinking. Stop being a big fish in a little pond. Be as creative as you can be to raise money, raise the bar for the talent. When running festivals, start using local talent to be the judges, ie, News Personalities, Players from the Phoenix Suns, Cardinals, ect...get the entire Phoenix community involved in putting us on the map, instead of being recognized as a place where people go to retire, and vacation.

And in closing, I agree with Kate...where is the passion. I see alot of ego, and no passion. If you have passion for the art of filmmaking then lets see it. Because as a community lets be a passionate group of talent who do it for that reason...and then...believe this....the money will be the reward!!!!

Kimber Leigh

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harrelson on March 28, 2009 at 3:26pm

Yes,Where Is The Passion? I Must Have Left it in The Car After Working 12 Hours To Run To a Set That Ill Spend another 12 Hours On.I'm Kidding ! I Can See The Passion In Many Of My Fellow Actors,Kimber And I Have Both Put Our Hearts And Souls Into Work That Not Only Didnt Pay us Anything But Cost Us In Lost Earnings To Do ,Now Obviously Money wasnt The Motivation, Passion was,Love For The Art Certainly And Sometimes Just Repaying a Friend Who Can Not Pay You. But Wants You On His Project, Now Dont Misunderstand, I most Often Do Get Paid Something,But Thats Not The Issue,But If Its Passion You Want Then Go To The A3F,Ipf,Film Challenges, ItsThere in Abundance. as For Me,I Do This Because I Love It, I Live For This! Money isnt Always An Issue For Producing Either,The Money Jon Bonnell Put into The Abduction ,was Mostly His Own, But I Think The Film Validates Him as a Director, Now To Me Me Jon Didnt Need Validation,Ive Worked With Him Enough To Know His Talent,But This Film Will Expose Jon To Many New Opportunities,As Its in Distribution, Jon Can Show You How To do a Lot With a Little, and his rising tide lifts all boats,Jon ,To His Credit Works With New People All The Time,Same is True Of Marco Santiago Whose Films 86 and How To Cope With Urban Stress Show Tremendious Potential, And I'm Betting They Do Well At Sundance,When Submitted,He Also Has Passion ! Good Things Are Coming Out Of Phoenix,Watch For Them

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Permalink Reply by Kimber Leigh on March 28, 2009 at 4:37pm

Michael,You are right, there is alot of good films, talent, and individuals coming out of Phoenix. But the question is not, is there enough passion, is there enough money, is there enough great individuals or is there enough time in the day to get it all done....The question is How, How How to do it. And if enough people risk putting their thoughts and suggestions out there, then maybe the combination of all the ideas can be implemented to make the recipe taste good.

The original question was what are the obstacles,now the question should be, how do we overcome them. Because we need to all come together and become that great talent. TOGETHER! The simply fact that we have all been doing this for over a decade for many shows the passion and the love. But you will never stop growing as an actor, director or producer, ever. You will learn with each project and grow in your art and keep perfecting it for decades on end. You have to be a visionary to see where you see Arizona in the film industry 3-5 to ten years from now, and then make the plan happen. Create a group of like minded people and brain storm....

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Permalink Reply by SHANE DEAN A.K.A. SHARK on March 28, 2009 at 6:07pm

tust me i'm having visions!

stay close team.

let's all just keep kicking ass in our own special ways and something is about to break for on of us.

oh! by the way...a movie i have the lead in, "the death factory bloodletting" got picked up by "time warner" and will not only be on blockbuster shelves and red box but will also be broadcast on cable channels like showtime, cinemax, and stars. sweet!

anyway. it's been an interresting day of discussion. i love it. break a leg all!

luv,

shark

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harrelson on March 29, 2009 at 4:48pm

Now Thats What I'm Talkin About! The Bar is About To Be Raised a Little I Just Got Back From The Table Read For"Sickle" As Always Happy To Run into Jose Rosete And Shane Stevens, Two Phoenix Actors I Have Worked With And Respect a Great Deal But Thats Not Whats Raising the Bar,What Is Raising the Bar Is That Its Use Of Hollywood Actors And Phoenix Actors Not in Extra Roles! ive often thought the blending would be the next step, names to sell it local actors to carry it,like Like Danny Trejo in Cowboy Dreams Or Bill Mosely In Graves,names walmart and blockbuster know Getting Our Product Seen is Half The Battle, on shelves,on cable,in public venues. now its not raising the bar much, but inches count

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Permalink Reply by Michael Harrelson on March 30, 2009 at 6:29am

Thank You Claude,But I'm Not The Lead To Keep The Record Straight Im a Supporting Character Actor,But Its a Very Good Role I Play a Russian Nite Club Owner So Lets Hope I Can do the role Justice,I'm Just Psyched To Be In a Film That Will Get Some National ExposureLike I Said The Bar Will be Raised a Little,but we Have a Long Way To Go-Michael

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