Week 6 Homework

This is the first draft of my personal filmmaking manifesto.  It is not meant to be an objective statement about what filmmaking should be to filmmakers in general.  Instead, its purpose is to remind myself about what filmmaking should be to me.  Hopefully it’s okay that I borrowed some of these from Sally Potter’s manifesto, which I loved.  Many of these statements derive from my learning experience on 15 Minutes of Faye.  (I might have only realized a third of these prior to making the film.)



The belief that it’s all been done before is a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Make movies cheap enough that you and your collaborators can have complete creative control.  No need for financiers.

Only work on something you believe in.  Life is too short to practice insincerity.

You must love your story enough to marry it for the following four years (at least).

Film is communication, so always keep your audience in mind.

BUT, make every film first and foremost for yourself.  Success is internal; not external.

Be very receptive to others’ input, but unless they are your direct collaborators, give them no control whatsoever of your film.  (This applies equally to real-world control, and also to mental/emotional control over the ideas in your mind.)

Bigger isn’t better.  Smaller isn’t better.  Better is better.

Film is not always the best medium for your story, so only make a film if your story can only be told (or can be told best) on screen.

You can’t always choose what happens while you are making a film, but you can choose your point of view about what happens.

Be bold.

Choose your team carefully and honor them.  Never speak negatively about your colleagues.

Avoid negative people.

Work with people who genuinely love what they do, and not just what it does for their professional career.

The love of money is the root of all creative mediocrity.

The people who believe an outside-the-box idea will work before it’s been proven to work are the best people in the world.  Keep them around.

Personable is always better than professional.

Quality is always more important than quantity.

If other people discourage you, remember: Most people who say they could do it better have never done it at all.

When in doubt, project yourself ten years into the future and look back – what will you be proud of having done?  Indecision is a lack of the longer view or wider perspective.

Vision without action is a daydream.  Action without vision is a nightmare.

Do not let procedure or “the way movies are supposed to be made” influence you or your collaborators.  Think and act outside the box.

Be very careful who you trust to handle your money.

Anticipate every possible problem and plan accordingly.

Edit quickly, but edit right.  Do not sacrifice quality for speed.

Always remember your ultimate goals for the film, and how those fit with your ultimate goals for your life.

For any number of stupid reasons, people will tell you you can’t do it.  You can.  (Whether you should is another important question that only you can answer for yourself.)