MicroCinema Scene

In this Reviewer’s Roundtable, MicrocinemaScene’s review team discuss what it’s like to be on the other side of the of the game. By speaking from their personal experiences as writers, Gary M. Lumpp, John Oak Dalton and Jason Santo commiserate on the lonely, poverty-stricken life of the scribe and why so many find screenwriting an “easy” part of the moviemaking process.

JOHN: I wish someone could explain this to me:  why is it that when the two main complaints people have about Microcinema are that the scripts are bad and the acting worse, but people don’t want to pay for scripts or actors?

GARY: I’ve always wondered if writers had to pay a dollar for each piece of paper they used, micro producers would be more understanding and want to pay them for their supplies.  I mean, the FX person is usually the only one getting paid, and that’s to cover expenses for stage blood and fake guts.  But as it is, a person mounting a micro-budget production usually only has a few thousand dollars to cover the basics:  food for the crew, film or tape, possibly equipment rental, special effects materials, and maybe gas money.  Toss in extra for any actors who agree to appear nude for a price, and maybe a cameo by a “name” actor, and that money is eaten up pretty quickly.  But what writers and actors bring to the table isn’t as tangible - they bring talent.  Not stock, not chips, not a camera, not blood, not name recognition, and usually not bare breasts.  Instead it’s words on a page, or bringing a character to life - and those are a lot harder to put a value on.  And after all that hoity toity explanation, the answer is simple:  someone will do it for free.  There are plenty of young and up-n-coming actors desperate to get that “one big break,” and they’ll throw together a script or offer their weekends if they think the next indie epic will set them off on the road to Hollywood.  And if you can’t find someone to write or act?  Just do it yourself!  That’s the indie way.

JASON: As one who has been pretty productive over the past several years, I can speak a bit about that last point you made, Gary.  I’m definitely a D.I.Y. (do it yourself) kind of moviemaker when it comes to the storytelling. Hell, I’ve even stepped in front of the camera several times in roles that I’ve written!  Why would I put on these additional hats if I could get someone else to do it for free?  Because there are very few writers who have produced screenplays they’re willing to give over for free that truly excite me.  Sure, there’s some very good work out there, and in the two years I’ve been running MINDSCAPE PICTURES, I read a lot of spec stuff that’s interesting.  But much of it is unpolished or it lacks heart or it’s not well structured.  Not much of what I’ve read is immediately shootable and gets me excited.

Now, if we’re talking about getting someone else to write an idea that I have for a movie rather than me doing it myself, I guess I balk for the same reasons I do when I take on an acting role – I think I understand my story and characters better than someone else will.  With something like In a Sky With No Angels, I really wasn’t sure who else I knew that could pull off the role the way I wanted.  Similarly, with some of my upcoming scripts, I’ve had offers from other writers to take on the screenplays’ development and I’m just not sure I want to go there.  I simply don’t think I’ve found a writing partner who shares my sensibilities.

Finally, it’s always been my goal to produce movies with the story being the main draw for the flick.  If it is my story, I want it to come from me.  I want to put in the effort and do the writing.  It just feels like it’s the way it’s supposed to be for me.

I guess what I’m rambling about mostly is that it’s not always a case of the dollar playing the role in why moviemakers write their own work.

JOHN: I don’t have a problem if someone wants to write a script for little or no pay, but the writer should get something out of it, even if it is just a credit.  If you can live by the barter system, meaning “if I do this then I will receive credit/recognition/opportunity/whatever” then that’s fine.  I do have a problem when some director says “I just whipped out the script real quick one weekend.” That is NOTHING to be proud of, and if your next sentence in “and all my buddies will act in it” you are on the road to ruin.

JASON: John, I couldn’t disagree more.  You’re not on the road to ruin at all – you’re on the road to learning that, in time, this simply won’t cut it.  But in the meantime, these guys you’re speaking about are making a movie, going from page to completed project, and that says a lot.  Sure, chances are the movie is going to suck, but even decent writers making movies with “real” actors can make crappy flicks at the get-go.  These people you’re speaking of are just at an earlier point in the evolution of becoming a moviemaker.  Hell, at least they have a script!  When asked for advice about how one can become a moviemaker, I tell people just grab a camera and some friends and start shooting.  Save the script for later!

GARY:  I like to compare moviemaking to housebuilding.  The script is the blueprint, and while you might use shoddy material and free labor, at the very least the thing should end up looking like something resembling what you started out to make.  Even if it’s just four walls, a roof and a door, at least you’ve actually assembled what people would call a house.  But without a blueprint or a script that’s been given the proper amount of attention, there shouldn’t be any surprise that the running time on the feature is fifty five minutes and nobody cares about the characters.

JOHN: I’ll tell you what really opened my eyes about the status of screenwriters.  I was pitching some ideas to a pretty prolific b-movie producer, and he told me that he didn’t care what the script was about, he just needed a good box cover.  So where does that leave us, on the rung below a fluffer?

JASON: No.  It makes you part of the ad department.

GARY: I’ve heard the same spiel, along with the requisite “two nude scenes and something bloody every fifteen pages” for a micro horror flick.  I think there’s a real division in the micro scene right now:  producers looking to make their own movies because of a desire to make their own films, and producers looking to make money.  Most times the producers (like Jason) looking to create their own features come to the table with their own stories and ideas, and rather than trust some nobody with the script, they’ll pound it out themselves.  If something doesn’t work, fix it in post.  The producers out to make a buck seem to care most about the bottom line, and if they can get a script for free - it’s the right price.

JASON: The interesting part is, there’s almost NO money to be made doing Microcinema work.  None.  Zip.  Zero.  People selling out at this level is like a minor league baseball player trying to hunt down endorsement money from Nike.  I find it hilarious how people think a recipe of boobs, gore and action are going to score them riches.  Oh yeah… sure pal.  Your shot on DV, backyard horror opus is going to make huge money.  Is that Universal I hear calling?  Such recipes were effective in the late 70’s/early 80’s when movies shot on 35mm could be made for a few hundred thousand dollars, but not when a flick is made for $2000 on DV.  Crap in now… crap out.

JOHN: I have also been told, “somebody has to get laid or get killed every ten pages.” So as a screenwriter, what’s the thing you most hate to hear?  To me, it’s this:  “I have a great idea, but it’s all in my head.  ALL I HAVE TO DO is put it down on paper.” All you have to do?  That’s the hardest part!  It’s putting your butt to the chair and doing it.  Having it in your head is easy.

JASON: It’s definitely the hardest part, and that’s a huge irritation to me as well.  Whenever people meet me for the first time and say “Oh you’re a moviemaker,” they almost always follow it up with “You know what would be a good movie?”

GARY: I think after the spec script gold rush of the late 80s, the average American thinks it’s easy to write a script.  They are just words on paper, right?  Unfortunately, I don’t think so.  I wrote a half dozen scripts before trying to produce one of my own, and I look back and still see how I could have improved it.  But something tells me that’s not the norm.  I think it’s very telling though that so many people think it’s “easy” to write a feature length script without any training simply based on how many movies they’ve seen.  I don’t see a lot of people thinking they could be an emergency room doctor just because they watch a lot of ER.

JOHN: Exactly.  It always bugs me when people say, airily, “Oh, I’m going to take some time off to write,” like you can just pick up a pen and paper and sit under a tree in your underwear waiting for the muse.  Sure, some of it is craft.  But you would hope there’s a drive and spark there too.  I wouldn’t say, “I’m going to take some time off to be a vet.”

JASON: While you guys are definitely right about the art of writing being an educated profession as much as veterinary medicine or tax accounting, most people do think they have valid stories to tell because the one thing all writers have in common with everyone else is life experience.  But where things go wrong is the lack of respect for the process of screenwriting and the output from screenwriters.  The average reading level of an individual in the United States is fifth grade.  That means many spec scripts are being banged-out by people with a 13 year-old reading level.  While they may have interesting stories to tell, they simply aren’t equipped with the appropriate skills deliver a textured, well-written screenplay.  Many people think they’re a lot smarter than they truly are, but the final product reveals the truth.

Now when there’s not even a final product to discuss, that’s when we’re talking about DISCIPLINE, something that’s not just missing from the writing process, but also from every single part of Microcinema.  Moviemaking isn’t always fun and games.  Largely, it’s tremendous work, especially at this level when so much responsibility falls on very few people.  When a team of two or three people behind the scenes spearheads each project, they’ve got to have a good handle on what’s going on.  A movie will succeed because these people understand that along with their passion for getting a flick made, they also need a solid, disciplined work ethic.  Too many moviemakers are instead lackadaisical in their approach to putting things together.  They’d rather play PlayStation, or sit around with buddies swilling beers and watching DVD’s.  When faced with the idea that they’ll have to actually sit down and write a movie, they start losing interest fast.

GARY: I think some blame can go on a select group of up-and-coming writers who think they’re “too good” for the micro scene.  They envision trailers and starlets and craft services (which, even at the blockbuster level they’re not going to get because they’re writers), so when a producer says “hey can you write up my idea - I’ll pay you a hundred bucks” it comes across like a slap in the face instead of a golden opportunity.  Much like the actor who will only be in “film” instead of something shot on video, there’s a group of upstarts that go Hollywood before they take their first baby steps.  It’s no wonder to me then why producers and directors will just choose to do it themselves instead of dealing with some of the writers out there.

JOHN: My wife is a writer and poet in her own right and got started out being published in a couple of ‘zines.  So I told her, well, some of these Microcinema features can be thought of as ‘zines, in their own way.  And although there are plenty of corpses littered across the literary battlefield, there are those rarefied individuals who rocket to Hollywood (or the bestseller’s list) from just such inauspicious beginnings.  And I’m okay with rolling the dice.

Related Articles:

• About
• Reviewers Roundtable: Reviewers Wishlist
• Reviewing Microcinema
• Reviewer’s Roundtable: The B-12
• Reviewer’s Roundtable: No-budget Horror Movies