Have you ever turned down a directing job? If so why?

john threat

john threat

Carbonite Member
Have you ever turned down a directing job?

I have. It's not usually about money tho.

Would say I have turned down more DP jobs, because they were looking for someone to DP , light it and edit it , like a one man show, while they direct.

Which the few times I did that I felt weird doing that.
 
I dropped out of one project where I was approached to direct... The girl actually wanted me to to produce AND direct, which would have been fine, but on top of that, her script was particularly awful and she was resistant to what I felt like were plausible changes.
I am too busy with other projects that I am passionate about than to spend a lot putting a lot time into an awful project.

I could have lived with any one/two of the issues (producing/awful script/stubbornness) if I wasn't otherwise busy.

Lee
 
I once got out of a project because I felt that the writer/producer was not taking it seriously. I don't consider myself a super serious person, but when it comes to working on a project I think you should give it your all.
 
Directing, imho, means taking responsibility for the complete movie - for all aspects of it. If there is one aspect that has the possibility to derail the movie and you will not have real control over it then you should think twice about directing it.

I have turned down jobs when I had the feeling that either I would not have the "space" to move freely or that the movie was connected to people - mostly actors or producers - I thought I could not work with.
 
well for me the money was good but the project sucked and the guy who wanted me to DP was a total DICK and i just could'nt sell myself out and compromise my integrity like that.
 
Integrity

Integrity

I just recently turned down a script due to content. I know the script would make money for myself and the person who wrote it, but as I read the script I grew more and more uncomfortable with the content.

There was horrible violence towards women,(rape), racist language and just a general negative vibe I got from reading it. I kept hoping that it would lead to something at the ending, but it never did.

i thought about it all weekend and wondered, "who I am to pretend I'm the moral champion of the world, I watch this kind of thing in the news everyday", but what I concluded was it goes against everything I am in my core. And isn't making art an extension of who we are? God knows I need the money, but is it worth compromising my beliefs just to make a buck?

I'm sure most would say, get over yourself and shut the **&(Y*& up and I hear you. I know we all have to eat, but at what price do we as a society stand by and watch and not do something to try and make things better?

I've done a lot of non-profit work and I've seen first hand what it does to kids and others and without giving these folks hope, you are encouraging the behavior that did that to them.

I like to show violence if it leads to something, like a means to an end. My case in point. Two of my favorite movies, Schindler's List and Unforgiven. Both movies show horrific violence, but humanity at the same time. That is the type of script I would welcome. Not just violence for the sake of violence.

Are we who we say we are or is it just talk?
 
Chris S. Alexander said:
I once got out of a project because I felt that the writer/producer was not taking it seriously. I don't consider myself a super serious person, but when it comes to working on a project I think you should give it your all.
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As a student film maker this is THE TOP reason I have turned down jobs. Maybe "seriously" isnt the word I would use, they just half ass everything. I think alot of students want to "do this little project" while they wait for the film gods on high to anoint them with a $100 million feature.
 
I'm not at a stage of directing where I'm turning down feature films or high budget projects, mainly stuff at the student/indie level. But even at this stage, I have turned down directing jobs, some of which were paid. If you direct something and your name is on the project, it's often the director who will get the credit for whether something is good or bad. You'll have to deal with that so if I'm not feeling a project, the budget isn't high enough, or I'm working with people who won't cooperate with me at all, then I won't be around. I turned down a music video for a somewhat well known singer who I've done a few videos with before because the song they wanted to do was, frankly, shitty and knowing the artist like I do, unbearable cheesiness would follow. He did the video with another director friend of mine and the exact thing I feared ended up happening. Unbearably cheesey, self indulgent, and felt like it would never end. It would've paid but not a ton, not enough to endure it
 
yrpfilms said:
As a student film maker this is THE TOP reason I have turned down jobs. Maybe "seriously" isnt the word I would use, they just half ass everything. I think alot of students want to "do this little project" while they wait for the film gods on high to anoint them with a $100 million feature.
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I totally agree. As a student director. There is two things that would make me drop out or turn down a project.

Firstly, it's the aforementioned lack of seriousness or professionalism towards the project. Whilst I understand that we're all just students, and are having a good time (Mind you, By Students, I mean High School Students) enjoying a subject. But I would still like my crew to behave and not take everything for a joke as some do.

Secondly, it's the script. I really dislike scripts which have a tendency to be insulting to different cultures, races, genders etc. As a Director, I am doing Visual Storytelling that can hopefully influence others. I have a Moral Responsibility to make sure what I tell is morally right... To a certain degree.
 
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