HAVE A RECIPE.  I was eating at one of my favorite, small, mom-and-pop restaurants today. I eat there because they have great food. I commented to the owner that they have great recipes. She said, yes, when they first started they worked with a culinary expert for 3 years to perfect their menu and recipes.

To make great movies, you need a recipe. One of the big problems with movies, I think, is that there are a lot of inexperienced cooks, just throwing ingredients together. Once in a while they get lucky, but mostly their fare is average at best, and sometimes just downright disgusting.

A filmmaker needs to spend some time sourcing, developing and refining their recipes. There are recipes for script, for pre-production, for production, for post, and for distribution. Consider that you are making a five course meal, and if any one of the courses is deficient, the whole meal is ruined.

In making The Prankster, I definitely had a recipe for script, for building a good story, and that was the foundation for everything else. My recipes for the other aspects of filmmaking were, necessarily, part of a trial and error process. The good news is, we made it through without too many collapsed souffles. And now I have a good recipe for each course.

Coming Up: Recipe for Script!

BAJA.    Two and half years ago I formed Prankster Entertainment, with The Prankster slated as our first project.  A year later we were in production.  About 4 months after that we finished post.  And about a year after that we signed our distribution deal.  We have just finished sending off deliverables for an October, maybe September, release.  Now it’s time for Baja.

Am I going on vacation, you ask? Not exactly.  Baja is Prankster Entertainment’s next project.  In a way, it picks up where The Prankster left off, following four 22 year olds on a road trip to Mexico.  It is a comedy, with dramatic and even spiritual dimensions.  It will be a blast to film.  All we need is funding, which is not yet visible on the horizon.  No worries, I am in no hurry.  It was a great journey with The Prankster, but I could use a break.  It will be nice to be totally available for the family, to finish off some home projects, take a trip or two, clean out the garage.

But life unfolds in mysterious ways.  As J. Krishnamurti said, describing his “secret” to enlightenment: “I don’t mind what happens.”  If Baja is not now, it is to come.  If it is now, that will be fine too.  Whatever.  I don’t mind.

Don’t get me wrong – I love movies and making movies, and will fully embrace Baja, or any other project that comes my way, when it shows up.  But in the meantime, there is life in all is beauty and glory, to be lived and enjoyed.  What I am doing does not matter – it is how I am doing it that is everything.  And how is that?  Hopefully, as often as possible, with love, appreciation, gratitude and compassion.

I saw a bumper sticker today that said: Life is the school; love is the lesson.  Amen.

YOU CAN’T FOOL THE AUDIENCE.   I was attending my father’s 96th birthday party on Sunday (can you believe that?), and had a brief conversation with a gentleman who had recently attended a highly touted local indy production. The producers released theatrically in the Bay Area, and have been promoting the film in the local media, bigtime. If you would believe their advertising, their movie is the greatest thing since sliced bread.

Despite all the ballyhoo, which is obviously designed to lure people into theaters, my acquaintance/friend was decidedly unimpressed with the movie, as was the rest of the audience. My point – regardless of the marketing campaign associated with a movie, the movie has to deliver the goods. In other words, you can lead an audience into a theater, but you can’t make them like your movie, or have them give it good word of mouth, if the movie sucks.

Filmmakers, this is where knowing your craft and having a story to tell is all important. We may live in a world where we are constantly sold unnecessary and mediocre products, but when it comes to movies, quality will always win the day.  And no amount of promotion can turn a sucky movie into a good one.

Now in this blog I’ve discuseed what constitutes a good movie, and making one is no easy chore. It helps if you have a lifelong passion for cinema and have put in years learning and understanding the craft. Some people think that if they take a 2 day filmmaking bootcamp, they will be ready to make high quality box office blockbusters. That’s akin to thinking you can learn to be a brain surgeon in two days, or a top flight trial lawyer, or a fighter pilot. The absurdity of it is beneath discussion. And the fact that such a notion is offerred, and so many pay good money to hear that story, says something about our society.

But I digress. If you do all that it takes to make a truly good movie, you win, on many levels. If you merely indulge your ego and make sucky movies, you lose, no matter the short term reward.

IT’S ON!   Just Fedexed the last deliverables to Strand on Thursday. They are working on key art and trailer. It’s all starting to feel real – the movie will be coming out. Not sure yet if it will be September or October, but will keep everyone posted. As soon as we have an exact release date, I’ll let you know.

Not sure what the next step is for me or this blog.  I will definitely post once a week to keep you updated on the movie’s release and related matters.  I am also considering posting some chapters from my novel, 45 Minutes to Nowhere, to keep you entertained.  Let me know if you have interest in that.

In the meantime, it’s May, it’s beautiful, and the great outdoors and recreation is calling.  Talk soon.  T

WAS IT ALL WORTHWHILE?   There comes a time in every filmmaker’s journey, usually at the end of a project, when he/she asks that question.  One has worked so hard, for so long, it can seem a labor of folly, delusion, or ego.  Is it?

To answer that, one must consider the enterprise from a variety of perspectives.  First, on one level, making a movie is a business venture, and must be evaluated on results.  How much was spent, and how much did it make?  The criterium for “success” here is fairly straightforward.   Makes money = successful business venture.  Loses money = not so much.

Of course it would be foolish to consider so grand an undertaking as making a movie purely on monetary terms.  For the filmmaker, making a movie has the potential to provide profound personal gains.  It is a tremendous learning experience on many levels.  One learns the practical reality of making a movie, has numerous relationships with scores of people, witnesses (hopefully) the magic of the creative process.  The filmmaker also learns about themself, their abilities, their limitations, their inspiration, their ego.  It is truly a raw and blunt encounter with self.

But if it were only about money and personal experience, it wouldn’t be that special.  What is special is the opportunity to be of service, to be the leader of a team, enabling others to work with passion, to be on a journey of discovery that will inspire and enlighten others. 

When I look back at the process of making The Prankster, perhaps the most gratifying aspect was the opportunity to bring together a diverse group of human beings and take them on a journey, one that they (hopefully)remember fondly, perhaps for the rest of their lives. 

No, we did not have the perfect set – there is no such thing.  Human beings are, after all, imperfect creatures on a path of growth.  For the most part, most people got on really well.  Some didn’t.  There was even a little serious dislike going on.  But everyone learned.

Ultimately, one hopes that the honesty of the process shows in the finished product, and that the audience catches the vibe that was on the set, that was generated by example.  Films have an invisible energy.  The intention and emotion on the set as a whole is communicated in the image, months and years later.  Energy is timeless.  

All that said, in the end one must have a very heavy dose of humility, and laugh at the seriousness with which we have taken ourselves, and with which we judge our experience.  Was it all worth it?  Was breathing worth it?  Was the sunset worth watching?  Is there anything more worthwhile than this moment?

And then you get it.  Making a movie is, like everything else, just being present, just being in the now.  May your movie be profitable, personally rewarding, and of service to those who make it, and those who watch.  And may we smile when we pause to look back on it, no matter the result.

“THE MAKING OF”.  During our shoot, video producer Greg Wilker hung out on the set, and off the set, for three weeks and captured nearly 30 hours of raw footage. From this material, Greg has crafted a wonderful 18 minute featurette, which will be a bonus feature on the DVD coming out in Fall.

Greg’s genius, if I may be so bold, was to infiltrate the young cast and become privy to the arcane series of pranks that they were pulling on each other. You see, we had a core cast of 12 young actors, all brought to the Best Western Inn in Corte Madera at about the same time.

For them, it was something akin to a fabulous summer camp – being cast in a teen movie, shooting for a month in Marin, acting in a fun and funny movie.  They took it upon themselves to prank each other fiendishly off the set, mostly at the hotel.  These pranks had nothing to do with the movie.  They were, in fact, a parallel universe.  The Prankster energy had  taken them over.

I’m not kidding about that.  Kokopelli, the hump-backed flute player (the little guy you see running across the screen when you come to this site) is a Native American god of mischief.  That’s a god, folks.  The trickster is an archetype across time and cultures, something that is hard-wired into the human psyche. 

There’s something healing and liberating about humor.  The trickster teaches us not to take ourselves so seriously.  That is, holes are poked in the masks of ego.  If we are not the roles we take so very seriously, as the trickster shows us, then what are we?  Ah, that’s the question that leads to realization, and liberation.

Anyway, The Making Of The Prankster is an entertaining and fascinating work in and of itself.  We will go public with it, here on the site, as we get closer to release of the DVD.  Maybe sooner.  Who knows?  You have to stay alert, because you never know when The Prankster is going to strike!

JOURNEY’S END?   The last few days have been a mad dash to get all deliverables together in time for an April 30 deadline. It almost feels like being in production again.

And how was that? Extremely challenging. We had set the bar high, aiming to do a high quality Hollywood style feature in a very short time frame with a modest budget. I had come to the conclusion that Hollywood absurdly overspends. Their production process seemed positively glacial. As Kurt Fuller told me, on Hollywood pictures, it is quite often the case that they don’t get off a shot off before lunch.  I knew that an efficient indy team could move exponentially faster, and maintain quality.

That said, every day was like climbing the north face of the Eiger.  We’d knock off three tough scenes with full coverage before lunch, then would have to come back after and do two or three more.  By the time you get to your fifth sequence, stength and faith are beginning to flag.  Somehow we made it through, but it seemed like I was living out The Hurt Locker, walking through minefields, remaining on high alert lest the entire project get blown to smithereens.

And believe me, I had heard of and seen many indies go down in flames.  Productions that ran out of money and shut down, where emotional drama and walkoffs were commonplace.  The F word was heard often and loud.  In a word, hell.

So my concerns were not out of place.  At the same time, it was necesary to foster a creative atmosphere, which meant relaxed, confident, and open.  Still disciplined, but with freedom within that discipline.  I suppose there was a time when I got somewhat used to walking through minefields, that maybe I even got to enjoy it, and developed faith that I would make it through.

That said, with the production of deliverables, and their delivery to the distributor, the journey is coming to an end point.  I will still be aiding the distributor in whatever way possible, especially regarding marketing and promotion.  The distributor will want to tap into the actors’ fan base and get the support of the actors for the release.  I will help facilitate that.  And if any of you actors are reading this, get ready to go.

As I checked one of the final tape deliverables today, I was amazed at the quality of the image and sound.  And looking at it, I realized that each shot was the culmination of so much work, by so many people.  The movie really did take on a life of its own (which, by the way, you will soon be able to see in Greg Wilker”s “Making Of The Prankster”, just completed for delivery as a DVD extra).

It’ll all surface and go public in the Fall.  In the meantime, the journey has not really ended.  It has no beginning and no end.  And every step is a step of arrival.

THE LATEST.   We finished the mix at Skywalker on Thursday.  Now we have a final soundtrack that is second to none.  Besides having world class sound, several people at Skywalker remarked on how good the picture quality of The Prankster is – thanks again to Marty Rosenberg, our cinematographer, and Gary Coates, our color correction maven who made the already good looking hi-def image look absolutely fantastic and filmlike.

Great picture, great sound, great cast, great story, commercial genre…. hmm, does this seem like a recipe for sucess?  I am not trying to toot my own horn here folks.  In fact, believe it or not, I have largely disidentified from The Prankster.  At this point I see it as something I midwifed into existence, something that happened, and now has a life of its own.

Of course, as a proud parent, I sometimes worry about what will become of my creative offspring.  Not that that helps.  There seem to be no guarantees that even a quality project will find its audience.  One wonders if any movie can make a splash without a huge marketing campaign.  I believe The Prankster’s success will depend on word of mouth, and a grass roots, internet driven campaign.

But perhaps that’s looking at it too narrowly.  Truth be told, “there is a higher power that shapes our ends, rough hew them as we may,” said Shakespeare.  The ultimate fate of a movie, our lives, of anything, is out of our control.  I know that our culture promotes the myth of the self-made man, or woman, whose drive and indomitable will makes things happen.  That is illusion.

Nothing happens unless the universe intends it, and so it is with The Prankster.  It’s kind of like allowing your kid, once they are prepared and of age, to have their life, and not to judge it.  Of course, on a pragmatic level, a film is a business investment, and one certainly hopes it will earn its budget back plus a profit.  That is one level of success, but not the only one.

In any case, all the deliverables for domestic release are shipping off to Strand on Tuesday.  The kid is leaving home, going off to college, to have a life.  It will be interesting to see what happens next.

FILM SCHOOL B.S.   Following up on yesterday’s blog, in which I raised the eternal question, why are so many films so bad?  Perhaps a good way to understand that is a little story from film school.

When I went to a highly regarded film school many moons ago, my “class”, a group of about 45 of us who were admitted that semester, went quickly into a scramble mode to figure out what was going to fly with our profs.  You see, we were under the illusion that if we did well in film school, the red carpet would be rolled out for us by the film biz – but more about that another day.

Many of us were stumped by our profs, who on the one hand lauded the industry success of some recent grads, yet on the other hand seemed to deride the LA based industry, and said they wanted us to do work that was more “meaningful.”  At the same time, they took a “tough love” approach to us newbies, treating us like recruits who needed to be toughened up for entry into the industry.

Be that as it may, most of us tried to figure out what would gain favor with the profs.  One rather perceptive fellow, call him Randy, cast his lot with strange abstract projects, with no story line, and central images like a mattress blowing up in slow motion, in black and white.  Genius, the profs opined!

Anyway, my filmmaking partner, call him Darren, decided he would make a similarly abstract and absurd film.  Not that he wanted to, or liked that kind of thing, but he thought it would win him points.  And boy was he right.

In Darren’s film, we had strange ladders rising into black emptiness, a man running down an endless corridor, then stooping to eat crumbs off the floor.  What did it mean?  Absolutely nothing.  How did it go over?  The profs gave us A’s and entered the damn thing in festivals.

The point?  In a socio-political system like film school (microcosm) or the film industry (macrocosm) most people do what they have to, to succeed.  They shamelessly and even cynically cater to capricious powers that be.  And piece of crap movies are celebrated, even win awards.

I could go on, but a blog should be mercifully short.  This is just one  example of how and why bad movies get made.

BTW, if you are intrigued by my film school tale, you might want to check out my novel, 45 Minutes to Nowhere, in which Part I is all about the Film School Experience.  Here’s the link:  http://www.amazon.com/45-Minutes-Nowhere-Tony-Vidal/dp/0963221744/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1198101704&sr=8-1

IS QUALITY REALLY SO HARD?  Working at Skywalker, one realizes that in filmmaking we have reached a level of technical mastery. Superb quality is absolutely achievable on a technical level. So why then are so many movies so bad?

I hate to point fingers, and excuse me if you loved it, but last weekened I tried to watch Old Dogs with my daughter. We both agreed to turn it off after twenty minutes. With a mega budget and mega stars you have to ask, how did this happen, what were they thinking?

The situation in film is somewhat akin to the human predicament in general. We are able to do all these amazing high tech things, and yet we cannot achieve peace, avoid famine, eliminate homelessness. Well, we could if we really wanted to, but something is in the way…

As pertains to film, the corporate nature and values of establishment filmmaking seem to be the problem. A corporation does not have a heart or soul. It exists only to achieve profit. I recently spoke with a studio exec who spoke about a movie having a “four quadrant” audience. How’s that for putting a scientific graph on the ineffable?

Now I’m not going to be a whining artist and complain about the philistines in Hollywood. What is, is, and we have to accept it first and learn to deal with it, before it can be transcended and ultimately left behind. Is that possible?

If you lived in the 80s, and before, you remember the spectre of Soviet Communism. The Soviet State was portrayed as this huge monolithic structure, impervious to change. Then, in a few short years, it collapsed from within.  Shocking, but it happened.

We live in a time in which many egoically based structures are about to collapse (thanks to Eckhart Tolle for that insight). The advent of the Internet as a delivery system for movies heralds a watershed opportunity for quality filmmakers to have a forum, an outlet, an opportunity. Some of them will succeed with their projects in a big way, like the Loose Change documentary about 9/11 on You Tube. This is just the beginning.

Someday, there will be peace in the world and no more hunger. And quality movies on a consistent basis as well.