[NoHo Arts District, CA] – This month’s The State of Show Business: “The Obstacle is the Path.”
I recently saw an interview with the magical Greta Gerwig where she spoke of the obstacles to making a film becoming the path in which she has found herself as a director. This gave me a moment of introspection as I toiled in my endeavor 5,000 miles away from home, the film I am currently shooting in Ireland. It took a year from conception to principal photography. It seems like a quick turnaround and I suppose it is, but from the start, this film was beset by “obstacles.”
Obstacle: Distance
Distance was of course a bit of a challenge. All meetings were performed over Zoom, Google Chat, FaceTime, and good old-fashioned phone calls. Preproduction meetings are usually long, tedious chats with several people where we all assume things will be taken care of only to find out by the next meeting that they weren’t. As much as I dislike meetings, a canceled meeting sends shivers up my spine. Casting was a formidable task. I had cast my two leads, but some of the roles were yet to be cast and many of them were children. Casting kids can be a huge undertaking as you are not just dealing with the actors themselves, but also their parents. And then there is the ultimate obstacle, the script. Or writing the script, to be more precise. It would have been extremely helpful if I was able to be in Ireland for a couple of months in order to capture the full essence of this story, but I was not. Although I took several trips over the past years to lock locations and develop the story. Which leads me to…
Obstacle: Finances
Being a co-producer I knew only too well all what a small budget entails. To say I have been there before and done that is an understatement. Low budget has become my mantra. I was to be away for 28 days in Ireland leaving behind any source or sources of income for an extended amount of time. My fellow Irish producers, who were financing the other half of this production, also had to make changes in their lifestyles and pocketbooks. But, it’s a choice to make art, to put aside the understandable fears of money or the lack of. It should not and never has not prevented me from filmmaking. It’s remarkable what you can do when needs must and the passion for a project is high.
Obstacle: Inexperience
Most of my cast was first-time actors or new actors with limited experience. The crew that was assembled had only a cursory amount of training or experience. Not only was I shooting a film, but I found myself in a position of mentor and coach. Saying that, there is a lot to be said about youth, enthusiasm, and a willingness to be part of something greater.
Obstacle: Time
Who doesn’t want or think they need more time? I had a year to write the script. I traveled to Ireland three times within the year in order to secure locations, work out logistics, and do some casting. It seemed like I had a lot of time to complete everything I wanted to have ready before the first day of filming. But, like most things I find in my life, time flies and, before I knew it, I was packing for my trip without a completed screenplay and a fully cast movie. The crew would be completely unknown to me and the Irish weather was another factor to affect the film. I kept thinking, if I only had another few weeks or one month I would be okay. But there is never enough time to prepare for a film, especially when there are so many unknowns.
Conclusion: Acceptance
As far as the obstacle of distance was concerned, it really seemed to completely disappear the minute I arrived. Everything was ready for me and I was there early enough to give me plenty of time to finish the casting process and prepare the crew. Finances are either there or they are not. For us, it wasn’t much, but apparently, it was enough. The obstacle of inexperience turned into inspiration and one of the sharpest and most efficient teams I had ever worked with. What was lacking in experience became a determination to succeed and everyone showed themselves to be more than up to the challenge and I made my ‘day’ throughout the shoot. And finally, time was not a factor. Did I run out of time? Yes. Do I have a plan to get more time? I do. Chapter two of this saga begins today.