FAT MONSTER FILMS presents "O2" ... Every. Breath. Counts.

A quick question for Mr. Mark Johnson...a few posts back you were talking about how well you and Tim match up as far as a Directing/Producing/creative team. I've got some creative types I work well with but really have not found "The One"...you know, the person that is my perfect counterpart. The person that wants to schmooze and talk and negotiate and get things lined up and arranged and organized...and...and...yeah.

Anyway, I was curious as to how you guys got hooked up initially. What it was that made you each realize it could be a good partnership. And finally, how you guys proceeded towards actually forming a company and working together.

Any insight would be helpful! Hope this isn't too off topic.

Thanks!
 
pia12254 said:
A quick question for Mr. Mark Johnson...a few posts back you were talking about how well you and Tim match up as far as a Directing/Producing/creative team. I've got some creative types I work well with but really have not found "The One"...you know, the person that is my perfect counterpart. The person that wants to schmooze and talk and negotiate and get things lined up and arranged and organized...and...and...yeah.

Anyway, I was curious as to how you guys got hooked up initially. What it was that made you each realize it could be a good partnership. And finally, how you guys proceeded towards actually forming a company and working together.

Any insight would be helpful! Hope this isn't too off topic.

Thanks!
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Mark or Tim will elaborate but in the interim ...
  1. They hooked up making shorts
    "hey you wanna make a short" kind of thing and worked on other people's shorts together
  2. They made a few that had more than a little room for improvement.
  3. They got serious and began kicking ass.
  4. Their personalities and strengths are a great fit for one another.
  5. They are a company: "Fat Monster" - They have a cool living / working space. Their studio opens out onto a commercial office and mall area. But enter the building from the other side and it's a 3 story town home.
 
Alright folks,

I am shooting something this weekend with the fat monster/dvxuser crew and I need extras for Saturday, business attire. I can promise one quite surreal experience and food. If you are in the LA area and would like to participate, please PM me.

Thanks

Jim
 
pia12254 said:
A quick question for Mr. Mark Johnson...a few posts back you were talking about how well you and Tim match up as far as a Directing/Producing/creative team. I've got some creative types I work well with but really have not found "The One"...you know, the person that is my perfect counterpart. The person that wants to schmooze and talk and negotiate and get things lined up and arranged and organized...and...and...yeah.

Anyway, I was curious as to how you guys got hooked up initially. What it was that made you each realize it could be a good partnership. And finally, how you guys proceeded towards actually forming a company and working together.

Any insight would be helpful! Hope this isn't too off topic.

Thanks!
Click to expand...

I appreciate your asking as I think it's an important issue for a lot of people. Back when I was practicing law I formed a couple small law partnerships and learned a lot about working with partners.

In my opinion, the most important issue is to learn what kind of person you can best work with and that means understanding yourself. For me, it requires finding someone whose talents are primarily different than my own. If you can imagine a Venn diagram, my circle would include writing, schmoozing, VFX and promotion. Tim's circle would include directing, editing, concept development and lighting. Where our circles overlap basically is in the area of business planning. We spend long hours discussing where we want Fat Monster to be in the next several years and generally agree on strategizing.

Because our creative sides are so distinctly independent we have a clear understanding of who is calling the shots and who is providing notes and suggestions at all times. Tim gives great script notes but always trusts me to have final say. Similarly, Tim encourages me to discuss any shots or setups with him on set or to comment on performances. However, we do so in private conversations and I always try to respect his authority as director on set.

This sort of understanding comes from knowing someone well enough and long enough to figure this stuff out. Its a lot like a marriage. You have a better shot if you've been with your prospective spouse long enough to understand her quirks and qualities under real life conditions.

Tim and I worked for several months together on a project and then holed up for a month in the same house while I did VFX and he worked on an edit. We then worked on a couple music videos together and a skateboard shop commercial so that we had a good understanding of our respective interests and aptitudes.

In addition to the talent stuff, we found we genuinely enjoyed hanging out. We also both agreed that we wanted to focus on filmmaking and neither of us had relationships or commitments. Getting an apartment together was essential because we knew we'd have to live and breath making films if we were going to really leverage our efforts. We often work late into the night on projects and even when we aren't working we're usually watching films on the big screen or discussing books on film.

I think it was important for us to work together on multiple projects and actually live together doing an edit/VFX project to have the confidence to put this together.

I don't think I could do this with someone whose interest is becoming a writer. I don't think it would work if we tried to share or alternate directing duties. We've carved out the areas that are our "own" and respect each other.

Finally, the bottom line is that we both believe the other has real talent. You don't want to do this unless you can go to sleep really believing your partner is your peer and equal. Otherwise, you will have to develop an alpha/beta arrangement. Notice that a lot of the filmmaking duos are brothers (Cohens, Polish brothers, Wachkowskis). They have natural peerage. I think the fact that Tim and I see each other as equals is a bit unusual because of our age differences. A lot of guys who mature have difficulty accepting younger associates as peers due to ego or authority issues. It just seems to work for us because we have such independent areas of interest/talent and because our personalities just seem to mesh.

It is hard to find "the One" for sure. However, I think that if you find someone with complimentary skills and who you can honestly consider an "equal" then you've got a shot.
 
Mark

I'd love to find that one person who can support my directing while taking on other responsibilities

You two are lucky stoked
 
Mark and Tim are a very powerful team. They fit each other like a glove. These guys have come a long way in such a short period of time. I'm most impressed...

I think another good piece of the puzzle is Blaine. He's an excellent producer and things always run quite smoothly as we've seen in the past, especially on the O2 set.

I think the important thing is these Monsters truly love movie making and in the end, that's what really counts, isn't it?
 
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We should all be so lucky to find a counter part like Mark and Tim. I think a large part of the puzzle is the rest of the crew. Especially when you are at a stage where you can't pay people. As an outsider, visiting the O2 set I saw something that I haven't seen since I started out in films... happy people working their butts off for something they were passionate about. They were not there for the paycheck, they weren't there for the groupies or status. It was refreshing to be around that kind of passion.
 
Mike Insane said:
We should all be so lucky to find a counter part like Mark and Tim. I think a large part of the puzzle is the rest of the crew. Especially when you are at a stage where you can't pay people. As an outsider, visiting the O2 set I saw something that I haven't seen since I started out in films... happy people working their butts off for something they were passionate about. They were not there for the paycheck, they weren't there for the groupies or status. It was refreshing to be around that kind of passion.
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Mike, thanks so much for your observations. We're getting together what is going to be a totally smashing screening party that will really rock with you spinning tunes (Mike is a big-dog DJ here in Hollywood and has offered to make the L.A. TimeFest screening party a real one-of-a-kind event).

We are so grateful to have so many friends and to have made so many new ones. We are counting on you to be on the next shoot, bro! And just let us know when we can help you out, ok?
 
Mike Insane said:
We should all be so lucky to find a counter part like Mark and Tim. I think a large part of the puzzle is the rest of the crew. Especially when you are at a stage where you can't pay people. As an outsider, visiting the O2 set I saw something that I haven't seen since I started out in films... happy people working their butts off for something they were passionate about. They were not there for the paycheck, they weren't there for the groupies or status. It was refreshing to be around that kind of passion.
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I was there for the groupies... I figured there's be at LEAST one girl in a Hooter's outfit...
 
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