Love is All Around...Indeed!

I had dinner with a director friend of mine this week.  We first met a few years back when we were brought together to work on a hybrid live-action/animation project that was…um…a challenging undertaking to say the least.  We bonded instantly over the shared chaos and unexpected hilarity of the experience and we’ve remained friends ever since.

Let me take a moment, dear readers, to note that while I understand and appreciate the benefits offered by the transparency of this social networking thing, I do want to be mindful about the “real names” I mention and at what point during this process they should be discussed.  Of course, I’ll gladly embarrass friends and family with blog mentions (until they tell me to stop it – I’m talking to you, Mr. Awesome), but when it comes to writing about some of the folks who might actually work on the film, I don’t want to attach anyone prematurely.  I don’t want to presume that just because I’m friends with someone in the biz they’ll even be remotely interested in working on my movie. (Although I’d then accuse them of utter insanity since I have every intention of producing an amazing film that will be analyzed and feted throughout the cinematic ages!  But I digress…)

So, in the spirit of protecting the innocent, let’s just call my director friend Mr. Coppola for now.  Anyway, Mr. Coppola read an earlier version of my script and he liked it.  I’ve given him the latest leaner, meaner version, so he is going to peruse it and offer his thoughts.  Through the course of our dinner at Café des Artistes (no, I’m not kidding – that’s actually where we ate…and it was delicious!) we talked about films we’ve seen recently and liked (Inception for him, 500 Days of Summer for me) and discovered our shared affection for Hal Ashby’s classic, Harold and Maude.  I definitely trust Mr. Coppola’s taste-level and directing abilities.  And I admire him.  I’ve seen him in action on set and he’s energetic, decisive, and organized.  But, more importantly, he’s kind.  And fun.  The cast and crew genuinely like Mr. Coppola and have confidence in him – so things get done.  The impossible becomes possible.

Which is why I have a cast photo from The Mary Tyler Moore Show gracing this latest blog entry.   I really love The Mary Tyler Moore Show and I’m amazed at how it still holds up when you watch it.  Not only is it exceptionally funny and well-written, but it is grounded in real, accessible characters.  What also strikes me when I watch the show is the feeling of good will that permeates from each episode.  Okay, I know I’m projecting here, but I just get the sense that every person involved with that production was so grateful to be a part of it.

In the book Love is All Around: The Making of The Mary Tyler Moore Show, by Robert S. Alley & Irby B. Brown, series co-creator James L. Brooks reflects on Mary Tyler Moore’s edict about casting the show: “It was very important for Mary to cast nice people.  We kept on talking about that.  She had had that experience with The Dick Van Dyke Show and she wanted to continue it…It wasn’t on our list of priorities the way it was with Mary – that people should be nice.”

I realize that the “nice” factor is a big priority for me.  HUGE.  As I assemble the team for this movie, I recognize the responsibility that comes with it.  An independent film is automatically saddled with the pressures of shooting for long hours with a ticking clock and very little money.  We can choose to be stressed out and negative about it or we can be thankful that we even get to make a damn movie in the first place and try to have some fun doing it.  The on-set leadership establishes the tone for the entire cast and crew; if we build a production based on collaboration, respect, and good humor, then I truly believe the positive results will come.  Bottom line: I don’t think quality and compassion are mutually exclusive.  I am determined to have a NICE set.  (And one that kicks some celluloid butt, too!)

NEXT UP: Did I Mention that I’m Moving?

Business Plans 101

Working in the animation industry for the past sixteen years has been an exciting and enlightening journey that has afforded me some wonderful opportunities.  (How else would I have visited magnificent Seoul, Korea?)  Not to mention, it’s allowed me to cultivate many significant friendships with some truly cool and awe-inspiring people.  But, frankly, it hasn’t been the end of my rainbow.  I have creative aspirations.  I’ve always loved live-action films and I’ve known that I wanted to be in that world.

When I arrived at Nickelodeon in 2001, I was so inspired by the talent surrounding me (and the nurturing environment fostering it) that I started screenwriting in earnest.  I love being captivated by good stories and I was eager to bring a few of my own to fruition.  But my wordsmithing activities were extra-curricular as I continued working my “day job.”  I daydreamed about the moment when I’d be my own boss and finally get to focus on the “creative” rather than the schedules and the budgets.  Some day I’d have my own production company and tell the kinds of stories I want to tell.  I would pull together a team of lovely, talented people with whom I could collaborate to execute entertaining, impactful movies.

So now here I am doing it.  I’m ready for the creative confabs, the late-night discussions, the breakdowns, the in-depth analysis of all things cinematic as they pertain to the films I want to make.  I’m in the game now.  I’m flexing my artistic muscles!  I’m gonna make a friggin’ movie!  This is awesome!

Oh wait…

What’s that?  People aren’t just going to blindly throw money at a motivated yet-still-untested indie film producer?  I have to do what?  Put together a business plan?

<SIGH>

Luckily, I have a very pragmatic Executive Producer (aka: dear old Dad) who is balancing out his skepticism over this risky quest of mine with his complete hope to see me succeed at it.  About a week after I made this decision, Peter Brenner, Sr. sent me a book called Filmmakers and Financing: Business Plans for Independents by Louise Levison.  She happened to create the business plan for a little film called The Blair Witch Project.  You remember that one?  The $60K movie that’s made $240M?  Yeah, Louise Levison knows what she’s talking about.  So I recommend her book to any aspiring filmmaker or new founder of a production company who is trying to get their proverbial act together.  Because you need a plan, dreamers – one that’s approximately 25 pages long.

So my last week has been spent typing words like “equity investment,” “cost-effective,” and “generating revenues.”  Yeah, not exactly the language I anticipated typing as a newly-anointed master of my creative universe, but I’m realizing it’s a necessary evil to this whole indie filmmaking process.  And if the “evil” ends up funding my ultimate dream, then there’s nothing really malevolent about it, is there?  Time to get back to work!

NEXT UP: Something Less Business-y!  (This is supposed to be FUN, too!)

Sweet Inspiration

My script, Beneath the Surface, has been in development for a few years now.  (And by “in development,” I mean that I’ve rewritten it about a thousand times.)  It’s a drama that tells the story of Jessica and Bud, estranged siblings whose lives collide when the remains of their mother are discovered at the bottom of a lake twenty years after she first disappeared.  While older sister Jessica was able to escape her impoverished youth and reinvent herself as an upscale, suburban housewife, Bud was relegated to a childhood of foster homes and juvenile detention centers.  As sister and brother cope with the suspicious circumstances of their mother’s death, they are also forced to confront their own fractured relationship.

The picture above is the cover art for Arcade Fire’s album Funeral.  For those of you who don’t know about Arcade Fire, they’re an amazing indie rock band from Canada.  My brother-in-law, Jeff, describes their music (and I’m paraphrasing here) as “the most joyful angst-ridden music you’ll ever hear.”  Yep, that about sums it up.  Give them a listen and you’ll understand.  Anyway, I listened to Funeral a lot when I was writing the first draft of the script.  I listened to Philip Glass (as played by the Kronos Quartet) and Explosions in the Sky, too.   I realize that music plays a huge role in my writing process; I always need something playing in the background when I’m typing away.  Music offers inspiration that helps me shape the emotions and – wait for it – drama within my screenplays. (Deep, huh?)

This gets me thinking about the creative process in general.  What gets you inspired, dear readers?  I know there are writers, musicians, actors, artists out there in the blogosphere.  Did music inspire the latest painting?  Did a photograph inspire the novel?  Did a poem inspire the song?  Maybe none of the above?  Perhaps the smell of coffee grinds sparked your latest work of genius?  In any case, please share.  I wanna know.

What's on *your* night stand?

I have a friend and former Nickelodeon colleague, Athena Lobit, who produced an independent film with her sister, Alyssa, called The Things We Carry.  It’s a gorgeous, deeply-felt movie about two sisters coming to terms with their turbulent relationship as experienced through their crack-addicted mother.  The film has found a lot of success on the festival circuit and you can rent it on Netflix.  So go put it in your queue.  Now.

I mean it.

Anyway, The Things We Carry was accepted into the Wisconsin Film Festival, so I flew home this past April to attend the packed screening of it with my family.  At the Q & A afterwards, Alyssa said something about independent filmmaking that continues to stick with me: “It’s impossible and possible.”

Amen.

When I look at the stack of books in the photo above, I feel the weight of the impossible.  The business plan, the financing, the deal-making, the terminology…yikes!  But then I think about The Things We Carry.  Athena has been a real mentor and inspiration to me about this process because she and Alyssa set out to make a low-budget film and they did it.  THEY DID IT. Athena loaned me most of those books (okay, not the Cocktails one – that one was already in my collection), and I know the books will offer me some good schoolin’ in movie-making.  After all, educating ourselves is a pretty effective way to make the impossible possible, right?  (Knowledge is power and all that…blah blah blah…)  That’s why I am also reaching out to anyone I know who has experience or friends in film production or “the industry. “  I am a sponge…watch me learn!  And to those of you who have already offered me advice or possible resources or just plain old encouragement, I issue a huge, appreciative THANK YOU!

And for what it’s worth, I’ll also – occasionally – reference the book of cocktails during this journey because a little Maker’s Mark can make anything seem possible! 😉

NEXT UP: The Project!

Hello, indeed.  As we wrap up another 4^th of July, it seems appropriate that I, Deirdre Lynn Brenner, am declaring my creative “independence” via this newly established blog.  I recently decided to start a production company, Deliberate Productions, so that I may finally pursue my lifelong dream to produce films.  I LOVE movies and I especially love the the collective experience that comes with seeing an original and exciting piece of cinema.

The basics: I’ve written a script called Beneath the Surface and I want to produce it next summer in Wisconsin. (Ah, if only it were really that basic.)  After sixteen rewarding years in the animation industry, I know my way around production schedules and budgets; but, as I dive into this new world of limited-liability companies, business plans, branding, fundraising, marketing, distribution, etc., I realize that this is gonna be one long, strange trip – one that fills me with both excitement and terror.  (Mostly excitement, though!)

As my friends and family know, I’ve resisted this whole social networking thing for a while.  Then I attended a recent seminar at the LA Film Festival where some really bright people (including prolific indie film producer Ted Hope and super-smart filmmaker/mixed-media guru Lance Weiler) talked about the benefits these digital platforms bring in terms of raising awareness and enriching the filmmaker-audience relationship.  I have now seen the light, and it comes in the form of tweets and Facebook friends.

So, I invite you to join me on this journey.  I will use this blog to chronicle the movie-making adventure ahead and, hopefully, inspire others who may be considering a similar path; together we can figure out the process and the pitfalls.  I also think the blog will keep me focused and accountable – you’re not just valued readers, you’re my future audience.  I’d better produce something, right?  And, finally, you can expect a fair amount of chat about films, screenwriting, and creative stuff in general.  I’m lucky to know a lot of incredible writers, artists, and overall cool people, so let’s keep the conversation going in a constructive and positive way. (Which means that I will exercise my right to omit comments that might be considered offensive…or mean…or just plain dumb.  Yeah, I get to do that.)

While there are many learning experiences ahead, the one thing I know with certainty is that I can’t achieve this goal alone.  I’m extremely grateful that you’re here.

Now let’s make a movie!