CREATIVITY vs BUSINESS - How Filmmakers Have To Change With The Times

When I first started writing and directing films The Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles were the pop culture obsession, Dances With Wolves pretty much swept the Oscars, a little animated cartoon series called The Simpsons was just getting going and a guy called Vanilla Ice was making me and many others wish we were deaf.

Outside of the entertainment world, Saddam Hussein announced his plans to invade Kuwait, Margaret Thatcher announced her resignation as PM, Microsoft released Windows 3.0 and Pioneer sold the very first in-car satellite navigation system.

Back then, this is what a mobile phone looked like:

The above phone cost $1999 (seems the iphone 5 is a BARGAIN!) in addition to calls costing 40 cents per minute on top of a monthly rental fee. Oh, and this incredible piece of technology could only make and receive calls...  Nothing else. No camera for pictures and video, no texting, no email, no updating your Facebook (Mark Zuckerburg was 6yrs old) and no Angry Birds. Yeah, we had it tough back in the lame year known as 1990...

The first "movie" I was ever involved with was shot on VHS and was an adult comedy about Care Bears because my friends and I had access to the costumes thanks to a children's show being put on at the local theater. I had a blast making it with my friends in that Summer and despite only 6 people or so ever seeing it, the experience was enough to convince me that this new filmmaking lark needed to be explored a lot more. So I saved up my pennies from my first job out of school and bought this beauty:

The Sony V5000 shot on cute little Hi8 cassette tapes, cost less than Radio Shacks awesome mobile phone and got me shooting my first couple of movies. Playing around with this amazing camera was one of the things that convinced me that I wanted to be a filmmaker and a couple of years later I was jetting across the Atlantic to begin my Canadian adventure as a student at the Vancouver Film School.

Back in the early 1990s most people agreed that the best way to watch a movie was somewhere like this:

Look at how happy all those folks are!

Over the next couple of years, TV screens got bigger (along with the LazyBoy chairs in front of them), they got cheaper and- hold your breath now and prepare to "ooooooh..." -they were were HIGH DEFINITION! This meant we could now enjoy our movies like this:

Theater chains, movie studios and filmmakers were suddenly forced to find new ways to get those Lays chip-bloated bums back in movie seats. Bigger "event" movies filled with bigger explosions and slo-mo mayhem was the new model for success! Better storytelling? Who needs that when you can have thousands of CGI aliens and trolls blowing and smashing things up! Oh, that's not enough to engage you, well fine, how about CGI aliens, robots and trolls blowing and smashing things up in slow motion AND in 3D?!

And so now we're at this point. Twice the number of frames per second (48 is double 24 so it has to be better, right?) at twice the ticket price.

Look at how happy and engaged they all are with this marvelous shared experience we call Going To The Movies... Take that black and white people of days past. You can keep your happy-go-lucky laughs and shared experiences because we've got Twitter and Android and big-ass robots running from explosions in slow motion!

But wait, we are also going down another path. More and more eyeballs are gravitating away from those dusty HD behemoths in the corner of our living rooms and are instead watching those awesome retro 1990 re-runs of The Simpsons and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles on our present day versions of that giant Radio Shack monstrosity. So now you can watch this:

On this...

Some might argue that its much better for your health to watch Vanilla Ice on a tiny little screen with low-grade audio, but that's beside the point. As a filmmaker, as a storyteller, as a Digital Content Creator, which is what folks like me are now called, I have to go where the eyeballs are going and that means changing. It would seem more and more of the folks who dole out the money to creators are also thinking the same thing. Youtube recently opened a fully-kitted out studio for their top creators who can use it for free. Youtube are also planning on launching a subscription service in the next few months for their top-rated channels. Netflix, meanwhile, just premiered Kevin Spacey's House of Cards TV series and chose to release every episode at once. The times they are a changing, folks...

It's a little daunting in many respects but it's also incredibly exciting. I first dipped my toes into the online content world last year through the webseries Libelle that I directed. I can't say I did it because I felt like I needed to keep up with trends. I did it because I was asked, because I thought it would be fun and because I had nothing else going on at the time. In the last few months I've done a lot more than dip my toes into the webseries world - I've plunged head first into it by co-creating, writing, directing, shooting, editing and doing a whole ton of social media, self-distribution etc. with Fools For Hire.

Two things have surprised me about this in the last few weeks as I've taken stock of where I'm at, where the things I've created are at and what I should do next.

Firstly, upon looking at the analytics that Youtube kindly provided me on our Fools For Hire channel, I saw that the show is being watched on almost as many mobile devices as it is on computer screens. Secondly, totaling up the number of views Libelle and Fools For Hire have so far received, I was forced to acknowledge something... In 17yrs of filmmaking covering over a dozen short films, more people have seen the two webseries I've directed in the last couple of years than have seen everything else I've ever directed.

I didn't get into filmmaking for the glamor and the fame and fortune. I got into it because it was a medium that spoke to me and in which I wanted to tell my stories. My family and friends watching my films is cool and everything but that's not nearly enough - I want as many people as possible to experience what I labor on creating. Webseries production is making it possible for me to tell stories longer than just a short film and get it out into the world without needing to wait anxiously on the whims of a distributor or broadcaster. Am I making money at it? Hell no! But that may not be the case in the coming few years.

The writing is clearly on the wall. Viewing habits are changing quickly. How and where people enjoy their entertainment is shifting. Wherever audiences go the advertisers will follow and as new content creation tools and delivery systems create new paradigm shifts it's vital that content creators like myself are ready and able to make the most of the new opportunities.

It's hard sometimes keeping up with shifts in technology, trends etc. but one thing will always be consistent and that's peoples desire to view great entertainment and experience wonderful storytelling.

Until next time, thanks for reading folks.

Getting Foolish With The FOOLS FOR HIRE!

Where on earth has this year gone? Talk about a whirlwind!

I've let things lapse around here the last few months but it was with good reason - I've been busy as hell creating new content and some of it just launched on the "internets" in the form of the comedy webseries FOOLS FOR HIRE.

Way back in July I briefly mentioned a new project I was about to go into pre-production on. The series in question is very different from my last web adventure, Libelle, although one probably would not have existed were it not for the other.

I first heard about the concept for Fools For Hire back in the summer of 2011 when Nick Harrison, who was my Assistant Director/Stunt Coordinator/Actor on Libelle, told me about some of his crazy experiences over the years working as a corporate entertainer. At first I didn't believe half the stories he told me but I was nonetheless intrigued enough by his idea to take some of those exploits and develop it into a comedy webseries.

Almost a year later, schedules finally lined up and Nick introduced me to Mike Cavers, fellow actor and victim of corporate entertainment and just like that we were off making the webseries!

Nick and Mike had a gig coming up at the annual Lonsdale Quay summer festival where they would be playing their pirate characters and we all agreed that it would make the perfect backdrop for the first 2 episodes. Given the theme of piracy, we also thought it would be a great way to introduce the show's villain who ended up being played by Eric Breker in another cool Libelle connection.

Eric Breker filling in on slating duties at Lonsdale Quay

The scripts for Episodes 1-4 came together incredibly quickly as did the cast and crew - it helped that our crew was well... Minimal.

Hey! Isn't that sound guy one of the Fools For Hire?

On most days it was pretty much just me and the camera and a different volunteer doing sound each day of shooting with other roles being filled as needed by whoever wasn't in front of the camera for a particular shot.

Shooting the first 4 episodes was a great learning experience, it was a lot of work and it was a ton of fun. Portions of each of the episodes were only loosely scripted and relied upon the cast to improvise but since many of them were experienced in theater sports this came easy. There were a lot of takes that ended with me having to cut simply because I couldn't stop shaking the camera from laughing.

The real work however, was still to come. With almost 1TB of video files on my hard drive there was a LOT of footage to sift through. In addition, we were going to have to learn how to self-distribute our work and though I've dabbled plenty in social media etc. even I was surprised at just how much work this would end up being. I'll write a separate post on the distribution and branding side of things at a later date.

Here for your viewing pleasure is Episode 1 of Fools For Hire.



And here's Episode 2 of Fools For Hire.



Over the next little while I'll be sharing lots more on my experiences with getting Fools For Hire out into the world as well as what our plans may be for the future of the show. A lot of people have put a lot of work into making Fools For Hire possible and it's all for nothing if nobody sees it so please, please check out our Youtube Channel here and don't forget to click the "Like" button, comment and let us know what you think and "Subscribe" for more episodes! Also, please come and visit our official Facebook page here or find us on Twitter here.

As 2012 comes to an end I'm already thinking that perhaps my first New Years resolution should be to pay more attention to this little corner of my world and blog with more frequency. If you're still with me and checking back here from time to time, thank you! With any luck I'll have lots more to share over the coming 12 months.

Merry Christmas to you all and a very Happy New Year!

And The Winner Is...

...ME!

Yesterday I got the fantastic news from Julia Dordel, actor/producer/creator of "Libelle - The Series" that I had won the award for Best Director of a TV Pilot at the Los Angeles Film, TV & Webisode Film Festival.

A wonderful surprise, a great honor and an excellent motivator that couldn't have come at a better time. "Motivator...?" you say? Yes, even someone like me who always has something on the go needs the occasional boost or professional validation that essentially says, "Don't give up!"

The vagaries of the film and television industry make it next to impossible  for those of us who are a ways from "A-List" to make a solid living doing only one thing. Though I've directed a bunch of short films etc. I'm still not getting paid for most of it so a lot of my time is spent doing the writing and story consulting work that pays the bills and the directing is relegated to more of a hobby.

Directing takes a lot more time, energy and commitment than a lot of hobbies out there and so after awhile one starts to ask questions like:

• "What am I doing here?"
• "Is this worth it?"
• "Have I got what it takes?"
• "Am I EVER going to make a living at this?!"

With age comes experience, grey hairs and introspection. Priorities shift. Dreams transform and sometimes even fade away. When I started out on this crazy film and tv adventure I was barely an adult, I had bags of optimism and wide-eyed wonder, I'd sacrifice anything and everything for a break and most importantly, I was completely naive. If I'd had any massive success back then it would have been mostly luck and I would have probably messed up any opportunities that came my way simply because I was too dumb to even know that they were opportunities.

I've had my struggles along the way but I've also had enough amazing experiences to keep cynicism at bay and to continue kicking the wheels on the film and tv jalopy.

Which is why winning the recognition of ones peers is so important. It's not enough to have friends and family tell us "Well done! Keep making films!" We need Likes, Shares, Re-Tweets and yes, even official accolades, to let us know that we're still headed in the right direction and all these things are best when they come from complete strangers who have no obligation to Like, Share and Re-Tweet.

So to that end, check out Episode 4 and 5 of "Libelle" (and if you've yet to see them, Episodes 1, 2 and 3 as well!).





As for the directing award and what it means to me, I'm choosing to take a moment to pat myself on the back and thank all of the amazing people who helped me along the way. You know who you are!

I'm also going to turn the award into some positive momentum to work harder, write better and take the directing work to the next level starting with my next webseries project "Fools For Hire". Stay tuned for more on this coming soon.

Until next time folks, keep fighting the good fight.

Libelle The Series: Episode 3

Episode 3 of the webseries I directed last year launched today.



A big chunk of this episode was shot at Thunderbird Stadium at UBC. This was also our first day of shooting and since it had been awhile since I'd done any directing work I was feeling a little nervous. Thankfully, (at least on this particular day) directing turned out to be like riding a bike - once you've done it, you never forget how to do it.

It helped me a lot that I had a wonderful cast, some of whom I'd worked with before such as Michael Teigen who starred in my short film Say Yes. It was my first time working with John Marshall Jones and Adrian Holmes who played Commissioner Steele and Detective Zet. There's always a little bit of a "getting to know you" dance when working with an actor you haven't worked with before but thankfully both John and Adrian were quick to pick up on my take for the scene.

The first half of our day was spent shooting the stadium interiors with Michael followed by a chunk of the big scene out front. By the time we got to shooting the coverage on series leads Anita and Eric everyone was extremely comfortable with the scene... Which can be very dangerous as the intensity and the emotional stakes can lose some of their dramatic oomph.

Realizing that the scene needed to be re-energized I pulled what can be a risky directing move...

Eric and Anita were getting too comfortable in their reactions so I pulled aside John (Commissioner Steele) and told him to go "off-book" and improvise off the script. "Give it to them", I said. "Tear a strip off of them!"

And tear a strip off them he did. Throwing a stream of insults at poor Eric and Anita.

This could have gone horribly wrong. A surprise like this can give a director a reaction from the actors that is totally wrong for the scene or, worse, damage the trust between actor and director. Thankfully in this case, the actors trusted me and gave me what I needed.

I hope you enjoyed the episode. The next chapter of Libelle: The Series will be launching next week.

Until next time folks.

Camping At Nahatlatch Lake

Last week I had the good fortune to get out of the city for a few days. Along with a couple of good friends, we hit Hwy 1 and headed East past Hope and up Hwy 7 past Hell's Gate to Boston Bar. From there we took a left across the Fraser River onto what soon became a winding, dusty, gravel road.

Twenty minutes later we arrived here... Nahatlatch Lake!

What a gorgeous, quiet and private spot this is. The campsite had enough room for our three tents, there was a fire pit and across the road, our very own outhouse.

This was our home for the next few nights.

This was our view from the campsite as the sun set on Day 1 of camping...

And this was our dinner on Night 1! Mmmm gourmet burgers cooked to perfection!

Between dinner and dessert (Smores!), Mel even managed to get in a few Yoga poses.

Okay, so maybe those aren't 100% authentic Yoga poses, but hey, full marks for effort! Is it just me or is there a silhouetted moose head in this next one?

I've been wanting to get away somewhere far from the city for awhile, not just for my sanity, but for the opportunity to get some decent, starry-night-sky-long-exposure-pictures. Preferably ones that weren't polluted with the sodium-light-orange of high-density populated city and suburbs.

I have to say, I'm really happy with how these turned out.

Behold! The Milky Way!

These were taken on a 30 second exposure, ISO 1000, with a 10-20mm lens at f/4.  The only post processing done was a little de-noising and a tweak to the color.

When we were camping we were at the tail end of the annual Perseid meteor shower so not only was I delighted to see more shooting stars than normal but I was shocked to see the surprise cameo appearance entering the frame of this next picture!

I always wake up early when camping. This was the view from our lakeshore campsite at 6.15am. Like the night shots, this is also a long exposure (about 5 seconds) which is why the water looks so ghostly.

I'm thinking I should get up at dawn more often because the light was absolutely stunning. Then again, being surrounded by mountains, lakes and forests definitely helps create a picturesque scene...

These pictures were all taken about a 10 minute walk along the shore from where our tents were.

After a day of relaxation floating around on the lake and when it got too hot, swimming in the glacial water, I grabbed these next pictures.

The mist is actually dust kicked up by an ATV that passed by our campsite. It took almost twenty minutes for the dust to slowly drift across the lake.

After a fantastic meal of steak and talapia (thanks Derek for the mad campsite cooking skills!) it was time to relax by the fire for another night of stargazing and long exposure fun.

I love the glowing trails from the embers drifting up into the air.

On this night the lake was so calm I managed to get stars reflected in it. The smudgy column running down the middle of the picture is the Milky Way.

Here's the view directly over our heads above our campsite earlier in the evening (also showing the Milky Way). The dark orange at the bottom of the frame is the light from our campfire.

If you're looking for a beautiful, quiet and private camping spot, head up to Nahatlatch Lake (its about a 4 hour drive from Vancouver) - you won't regret it.

Until next time folks.