09.28.08
Greg Yaitanes Accepting the Emmy
I ran across this clip of Greg Yaitanes going up on stage to accept his Emmy award. Check it out if you missed watching the Emmy’s.
09.26.08
And the Emmy Goes to…
…Greg Yaitanes! Yep, the former Invisible Man director has won an Emmy for best director of a drama series. The series is House and the episode he directed is entitled “House’s Head.”
There are a couple of versions of a story going around that when it came time to go to the press tent after the awards ceremony, none of the reporters had a question for Greg. Strange. You would think the reporters would be better prepared, after all, this is the Emmy’s.
Here’s the LA Times version of what happened:
Greg Yaitanes, one of the directors of “House,” won an Emmy for his work on the first part of last season’s finale. But when he walked into the press tent, no one jumped at a chance to ask him a question. Just as the director was going to leave, one reporter jumped up (out of pity?).
Before she asked her question, Yaitanes said, “Wouldn’t it have been better and more uncomfortable if I didn’t answer any questions?”
The reporter asked, anyway: “It seems House becomes more and more unlikable as the seasons go on. Do you think there’s going to be redemption for him this season?”
Yaitanes said, “I am not a writer. I’m a director.”
The reporter tried to ask the question again in a different way but then just gave up.
“It’s OK,” Yaitanes said. He left the stage.
Hollywood Today had a slightly different version of what happened:
Greg Yaitanes director of ‘House’ won for best director of a drama series. Unfortunately when Yaitanes came to the stage there were no questions until one clueless reporter asked him what it was like to win as the writer in the series. “I’m not the writer I’m the director,” Yaitanes said scolding the reporter. He abruptly walked out of the press tent.
Well, that was awkward. Too bad none of the reporters asked him a question about the actual directing of the episode.
Also, which version do you believe? This reminds me of something I learned many years ago: Don’t believe everything you read in the press. You’d be amazed how frequently reporters get their facts wrong. Now I’m not trying to paint reporters as evil or incompetent, although I’m sure there are some in the bunch. But I’ve known a few reporters in my life and even briefly worked in an ABC newsroom many, many years ago; and I’ve got to say I really liked the reporters I’ve known. But the nature of the job is so deadline driven that it is often difficult to find the time to make sure the facts are precise. The above is a good example of this. We have two different versions of the same event and, because of the way they are worded, we have one that paints Greg in a more flattering light than the other.
Anyways, if you haven’t seen the House episode that won Greg the Emmy, you can watch it below. It’s a complex episode filled with numerous flashbacks and dream sequences. I can see why Greg won for this episode. He definitely deserved it.
09.21.08
Craigslist Crew Gig Definitions
This is both funny and true. Someone posted this list defining terms from Craigslist advertisements for film crews.
Definitions of Common Crew Gigs Terms
09.20.08
Coming Up for Air
Well, folks, I apologize for being away so long. My screenwriting class sucked up all my time and I was forced to put my nose to the grindstone to catch up and get my homework and outline done. The good news is that I now have a complete first draft of my outline done! I also got an A in the class.
In addition to the outline, I have the first 15 pages written. The teacher had us outline one act of the story and then write a few pages of the script each week (starting with week four). So an unexpected bonus is to have a first draft of the first 15 pages done. I found that alternating between writing the outline and the script is a great way to develop a story. They feed off each other and it really helps the process. And the cool thing is that if this is the story we end up developing, I can just hand over the pages I’ve already written to the writer and she can take it from there.
I was interested to see what kind of reactions I would get from people who had no idea that I was writing for a specific cast and project. Nope, I didn’t divulge that info to them. I just went in as a student with a story I wanted to get outlined. I wanted to see if the story would stand on its own terms. The story is still a bit rough, but the overall response I got was good. One classmate in particular was very enthusiastic about it.
So I’m feeling pretty good about the story. However, it’s only the first draft. I need to continue working on it, but I’m going to take a break from it for now and tend to other pressing matters.
I’m still negotiating an agreement with the writer. Yep, still. We would have been finished with it by now if her lawyer hadn’t been called to jury duty and then immediately following that took off on vacation. But we’re back working on it and it looks like we’re getting close to wrapping it up. In addition, I have unanswered emails that are piling up. If you’re reading this and I haven’t answered your email yet, I apologize. I’m working my way through them and hope to get caught up soon. I also have story submissions from two other writers that I really need to give feedback on. And now I can finally get back to blogging regularly. I’ve got a bunch of news that is piling up.
Stay tuned.
08.22.08
Random Thoughts on Financing and Distribution
I just got back from a lecture on independent filmmaking this evening. The speakers were a husband and wife. She runs a local film festival and he runs a local film production studio and is the son of a very famous football coach. It was really interesting to hear about their jobs, how they got into the film industry, how they met, and the projects they have worked on.
One interesting story he told was of a film that he had invested in. It had been a real attention getter at Sundance and had been nominated for two Academy Awards. You would think that with credentials like that they would make a real nice profit on this film, but the highest price a distributor was willing to pay was only a third of the film’s budget. Needless to say, he and all the other investors lost money on that film.
This is the kind of story I’ve heard over and over again. Most people think that producers who get their films picked up by major distributors make a lot of money, right? Wrong. In most cases it’s the distributors who make the money. And who ends up getting screwed? The investors. So why would anyone want to sell their film to a major distributor? Well, because the opportunity to get the kind of exposure that comes with a wide release is very tempting to a producer. It means that they will become known and that could give them more clout in future negotiations which lead to greater profits for subsequent films.
There’s only one problem with that: you’ve screwed your investors. Why in the world would anyone want to invest in a film where they knew they would lose money? Now some investors love film or believe in a specific project and just want to be a part of it so they’re willing to take the risk. But most are in it to make money. It’s an investment and they want to see a return on their money. I can’t blame them for that.
Some producers justify accepting these distributor deals by saying that their investors are rich and can afford to lose the money. Yes, they do have to have a certain amount of wealth to qualify as an accredited investor. But does that justify taking their money knowing full well they will never see a return on it? My view on this is no. I find it unconscionable that producers would screw the very people that helped to make their film possible. I may get labeled idealistic or naive for this viewpoint. Fine. But I won’t compromise my integrity for anything or anyone.
I strongly believe that producers have a fiduciary responsibility to their investors. It’s not only the job of the producer to make a quality film that is appealing to the audience, but it is also the producer’s job to try to the best of their ability to make a profit on the film and, at the very least, pay back the investors’ money.
Getting a distribution deal with a major distributor is every producer’s dream and I’m by no means against it if they are willing to offer a fair deal. But the more I hear about how tough it is to get a fair deal, the more I have begun to explore other options. I’ve heard that sometimes a smaller distributor will offer a more equitable deal and it’s something I want to look into further.
A question I asked the producer tonight was whether he thought that self distribution was the way to go. He said yes, but he said to be sure to team up with someone who has done it. Self distribution is something I definitely want to explore. From everything I’ve heard it’s a huge amount of work. But if you are going to spend huge amounts of time and effort to get your film made, why woudn’t you spend the effort to make sure your film gets distributed and makes money? It’s what any business in any other industry would do.
In every other industry out there businesses make sure that they have a plan and work that plan for getting their products distributed. But in the film industry I’ve seen filmmakers shrug in defeat when they say they couldn’t get their film picked up by a distributor. Seriously? My jaw drops whenever I hear this. This is a business! Treat it like a business!
The film industry is the only business I’ve seen where many people give all their attention to making the product and no thought to distributing and marketing it. Granted, if you’ve got a bad product, you’re just not going to find many customers who will want to buy it. But that’s no excuse for not trying.
I do want to qualify what I just said and emphasize that not all filmmakers drop the ball when it comes to distribution. There are many savvy producers out there who do know how to maximize profits on their films. Unfortunately, there also seem to be a lot who don’t.