| Disorganized Hollywood Rant |
[Feb. 18th, 2005|02:53 pm] |
Some old recyclables within to emphasize my points.
I was at dinner with some friends the other night. All of us being involved with the entertainment industry in one form or another, the conversation was naturally concentrated on the projects we did, are doing, want to do, lost out on, etc. But I steadily got pissed off. After every sentence, somebody would say something like, "Well, that's good money" or "Hey, if they pay me I'll do it" or "He got paid, didn't he?" or "You gotta make that money, man" or "As long as it pays" or "The important thing is, you making money". Swear, every variation on those phrases was said. And they didn't NEED to be said. It was like the table was compelled to keep saying these things by some transparent marketing spirit that was phasing through their bodies. At one point during all this god damned nonstop business talk, I had to try to change the subject and yelled, "Jesus, can we talk about LOVE? Or ART or fucking MUSIC? Can we all go break into the fucking Getty and look at all the priceless stuff we're not supposed to touch?" Man was I serious. I just didn't want people to keep bantering on about the same shit. They thought I was joking, of course.
None of them were talking about making something GOOD. They were all talking about making money. That's it. "See this here is a stupid idea, but if you put in these elements, it'll sell. Worst concept in the world, but with the right marketing, it'll sell." Sell, sell, sell. This is exactly what's fucking wrong here, why I can't stay here for much longer. NOBODY CARES ABOUT QUALITY. JUST PROFIT. I hate Hollywood man, I fuckin' hate it. Get together for fucking dinner and it's still "Here's my card you call me no email me and we'll talk about yeah sounds good okay thanks I'll keep in touch let me know."
Virtually every person in the business will tell you more or less what you want to hear instead of being direct. I THRIVE on being bluntly honest like a shotgun to the face, which is one of my least pleasant/most recognizable characteristics. Ask me to my face and I won't lie to you. Buttering up, beating around the bush, false promises to temporarily pacify the issues, FUCK THAT SHIT. Jesus, every day I hope I'll meet somebody who will be direct instead of waffling and double-faced. People here lie so much, they eventually believe they're telling the truth. Then it becomes second nature and their personalities change. Few people seem to notice this alteration. It gets to the point where I have no fucking clue whether or not someone's actually being sincere or only artifically emoting in the effort to sell something. Defending something moronic for the sake of making money, I will NEVER respect that. Showing weakness/making mistakes is something that is just not a fucking option to these aspiring uber-professional dingbats and they'll fight to prove their selling point despite all common sense arguments against it. It leads to impossible hair-pulling situations.
Something about the business makes people retarded. Unbelievable amount of idiots here that'll kill themselves trying to look good to a producer or coordinator. "Can you do this?" "I can try!" "Can you DO IT?" "I can try!" *GETS KILLED* At the fucking gym, people I have never talked to a day in my life will suddenly be my best friend and ask what I'm working on, what I'm doing, do I know any coordinators' numbers, I'm all "I DON'T FUCKING KNOW YOU ASSHOLE, STOP HUSTLING ME! WHO ARE YOU??"
Jesus Christ I just want to make something GOOD! Something always gets in the way, people telling me how it SHOULD be done. Well hey thanks for the advice on adding strippers and explosions, but FUCK YOU. All the advice I've gotten from folks who make a good living here is frighteningly similar. It all equates to either being a whore or an asshole. (Or both.) People are only concerned with working, not morality. No fucking artists. I started making films because I wanted to do my own thing. But Hollywood says more tits, more blood, more CG zombies & vampires. Less this, more that, can you get to this faster, it'll sell better, no this is what producers want and look for, you can't have it your way it's not good because it doesn't sell. It's all business and no art. Connections, networking, cards, demos, 24/7. No more emphasis on originality or creativity. Fire's out, doused, FFT. Just WORK WORK WORK! I mean you can FEEL this pressure bearing down on you, you can literally feel it, it wants you to change this idea or that idea to match it to shallow industry expectations.
After I get my fucking movie done (which will be made independent like a motherfucker but it'll be FUCKING GOOD, god damn you world, because I KNOW I will make something quality that people will enjoy without me following your stifling rules and unions), if nothing comes of it, I am moving back to Berkeley where I can at least have a conversation where nobody will ask for someone's FUCKING CARD at dinner. I can't remember the last substantial conversation I had which didn't include stunts, movies, industry politics, what stuntguy sucks and why, and all the other bullshit that makes me an angrier man with each progressing day.
I WANT A HUG BUT ALL THE WOMEN HERE ARE INSANE |
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can't touch this
argh
mad as fuck
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morose
