Route to Directing

JonathanLB said:
Obviously, he worked his BUTT off to get to that point, and he did know what he was doing, but he still had to have that connection where someone else said, yes, I believe in you and I think you're going to be a winner.
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This also pretty much describes how Robert Rodriguez signed a million dollar first-time film deal. He proved he knew what he was doing by showing ICM his finished feature, "El Mariachi", which they loved. His clever, award winning shorts that came before helped prove the feature wasn't a fluke. A bidding war ensued, which ICM won, causing immense consternation (and, IIRC, heads to roll) at other companies that passed. Needless to say, RR has gone on to immense success.

So I'll keep saying this, despite others' opinions (which I do respect) to the contrary:

Show someone who can pull strings that you have *genuine* talent, can consistently deliver *great* results, are serious, hardworking and professional, and...they'll help you succeed. Because when you succeed, *they* succeed. If they fail to recognize you for that but someone else does, *they lose*.

The above is quite simply the definition of a meritocracy.
 
Sad Max said:
It's true that we're all constrained by individual experience. I can only point to the last 20 years in the Los Angeles film/tv production industry. Your mileage may vary.
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It does, of course. But when I look back at the 30+ years that I've sustained a career in music and film (not trying to start a contest here - your 20 years is plenty), I'm pretty sure I know why I've outlasted most of my competitors. I'm also pretty sure I know why other folks' I've worked with's successes have come about too:

1. Talent
2. Training
3. Experience
4. Professionalism

That's what my experience has taught me, however 'constrained' it might have been.

Regarding luck, in my experience it may help someone get started, but I've seen enough people who got 'lucky breaks' go down in flames shortly thereafter because they lacked one or more things from the list above for me to spend much time thinking about it.
 
Ryan Paige said:
Sure, if Eli Mariachi sucked, ICM never would've signed him, so he had to have the skills.
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And to me, that's the only thing that really matters in the story. El Mariachi was an outstanding self-produced (near) zero-budget film, and it got recognized as such. All of the luck in the world wouldn't have made a damn bit of difference if it wasn't. People get industry "ins" like this every day of the week and end up nowhere because their films/music/novels/whatever aren't good enough. It's the (perceived) quality of the product that sells, both to the industry mucky-mucks and the ticket buyers. Meritocracy at work...

Could RR have missed that boat? Of course. Happens all the time. Would he have made it eventually? I think almost certainly. Why? Because he's *really good* at this sh*t....

The cream rises to the top...

And I guess I better stop with all of this since I seem to be repeating myself pretty relentlessly : )
 
What I mean by burning your bridges is that you shouldn´t just have filmmaking as your main hobby, but also your main work - even in times when it renders you no money.
 
I think it's funny when people talk about how tough it is to be an actor and how it's such a difficult career path. I just kind of laugh because, yes, it's a difficult career path, but honestly I envy actors by comparison to what I'm trying to do.

There are only 250 films released to mainstream theaters per year nationwide, and about 150 go wide, more than 1,000 theaters. Of those 250 let's say that 220 are by different directors, something around there. That's not very many people who can direct a film that goes to theaters. Even if you add in TV directors, commercial directors, etc. it's a small group. At least with actors, every film needs a lot of actors, like TONS of actors, some are just tiny roles others have a solid scene, whatever the case, but at least they can get work. As a beginning director good luck getting basically any work whatsoever.
 
Haven't read the whole thread. Maybe this has alread been said, and I think the previous 2 posts allude to it ...

But I think the shortest path to directing is directing.
 
lol, I have to agree. If you show what you can do, and what you are doing is better than what almost anyone else is doing, then you're going to get your chances.

That's the key, though, it's a harsh one no doubt about it. A merely good short film, for instance, may play a number of festivals, and it may do fairly well, but it's really not going to get you anywhere most likely. Even my last short, it was just a nice character sketch, a short comedy, and I did not expect it to jumpstart a directing career or anything like that. But it did give me valuable experience and some more credentials for next time. It's all about progress.

Unfortunately I'd say that becoming a paid director is about as expensive and time consuming as becoming a doctor, only with a lot fewer guarantees of anything really working out. You can easily spend several hundred thousand dollars on your reel, on equipment, etc., including a first effort at a feature film, and it could take you 5-10 years to develop that skillset, depending on your resources and dedication.
 
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