Best genre to start in?

[Ted Spencer]

I'm reading your comments more as an extension or other point of view on mine, so don't take this as a defense of them. I just wanted to point out a few things about NYNY:

-It was critically well received in general if not raved about (63% on the Tomatometer, which loosely translates to "recommended")
-It spawned a major Frank Sinatra standard by the same name, which has been played umpteen gazillion times, and will live forever.
-If Scorsese was so upset by the film's poor earnings that he went into a drug-fueled depression (which is of course a terrible shame), it nonetheless speaks directly to a key part of my earlier point - that he cares *so profoundly* about his work and its success. And if his eventual response to that 'crisis' (we should all be so lucky to have such problems) was to pick himself up and revert to a 'stick to the knitting' approach as they say (do what you do best), then he did what smart artists do: learn from your mistakes, make adjustments, and carry on. And boy, did he...

So yes - for an artist, knowing what you're good at is key. But much more importantly, do whatever it takes to make sure you actually *are* good at it : )

But he also made "New York, New York"(1977)... and this is what is reported from the wiki article...

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Made after Scorsese's successful Taxi Driver, the film was a box-office failure. Its budget was $14 million, a large figure at the time, but it grossed only $13 million at the box-office and the disappointing reception drove Scorsese into depression and drugs.[1]

In his introduction to the DVD edition of the film, released in 2005, Scorsese explains that he intended the film as a break from the gritty realism that he had become famous for, and sees it as an homage to the musical films of Classical Hollywood.

For this reason, he designed the film's sets and storyline to be deliberately artificial-looking. He acknowledges that it is an experiment that did not please everyone.
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That this may suggest is 'know what you are good at'... gritty realism... or fantasy fakery... which may be a better rule...

I don't do comedy... I'm pretty sure I can do cynical irony... whether there is a market for that... don't know yet...

 

[XPeter]

I don't think theirs one clear gener. In depends largly on where/who you are. For instance, if you have horses and live in the American west, than doing a Western would be more accesable than doing a court film. But, if your day job is a lawyer, then its the opposite.

 

[seanmcleod]

Without ruffling any feathers, as that's not the intention, but the reason established directors continue to make good, profitable movies is they are telling great stories... genre is pretty much inconsequential... they have names, which gets awareness, and they tell great stories, which gets butts in the seats. They've done stinkers and they don't fair so well. I think genre plays a part, but not as much as people are giving it credit... STORY STORY STORY! There are exceptions to the rule, but most people don't go see every sci-fi cause they love sci-fi, it's a sci-fi story they love.

Here's a few examples that I think support my opinion. District 9, no one was making alien invasion movies at the time, which is a sub-genre, and now in the past year after it's success how many are there? Attack on LA (or something like that) Cowboys and Aliens, Skyline... studios chase hit films like that an end up churning a bunch of junk (some of these might be good but they're chasing the brass ring) True Grit? How many westerns have done well in the past years, off the top of my head probably nothing since 3:10 to Yuma? Okay yeah No Country is a modern day western, but I'm talking genre western. I would guess there's at least three westerns about to go into production now.

My point is if your chasing hit genres, chances are by the time your film is ready for eyes it's too late and the market's saturated and people are kind of like "so what?" Be the one who starts the trend, not the one who kills it. Mumblecore is another example.

I think Kevin Smith is hackey and has an overblown opinion of his contribution to film history, but he does quote Gretzkys dad all the time and I think it applies "Don't go where the puck is, go where it's going to be"