It’s just a nasty fact of the industry that if you want respect as a writer, you need to be a hyphenate. Most times it’s Writer / Director. Reserved for those people who want their vision to hit the screen unencumbered by everybody else’s expectations. When it works it really works, but when it doesn’t, look out. There’s a lot of Writer / Directors out there I very much admire but that’s another article. Me, I prefer the Writer / Producer hyphenate. Mostly because I like to work with Directors closely and use their skill set (and those of the DOP) to make the written work seem better than it really is. The other reason is you’re closer to the purse strings (leash) and have even greater control over your work than a Writer / Director.
On our current project slate however, I’m strictly a Producer, which means I’m the glue that keeps it all running smoothly towards a finished product. Which in this case is a music video. Now you may not think a music video is a very good way to utilize industry savvy but obviously this statement would be coming from a point of ignorance. The video we’ll be producing has a budget most independent films North or South of the border would kill for. Now I’d love to tell you all of the gory details about the ups and downs of this project but I can’t. Suffice to say it involves two very large industry labels, multiple provinces, greed, avarice and hockey (this is Canada after all)
So here we are, back on track, all of the problems of the last few weeks behind us and nothing but new horizons ahead. Not to mention my Director just pitched me a kick ass concept for the video but then she’s much smarter than me. I’m pretty sure our talent will be thrilled when we show this to them and the rest is basically the mechanics f getting any film project made. The secret however is everybody putting in their two bits but still respecting each others opinions. Too often us artistic types get all bent about our vision not being realized. When you produce music videos, you have to be very cognizant of the Director’s vision vs. the Talent’s perception. Talent being the singer or band you’re making the video of. Some singers are very easy to work with. They usually have a pretty good idea of who they are and who their fan base is and don’t mind stepping outside the box and poking fun at themselves. These videos tend to be fun to watch with a minimum of head scratching and let’s face it, we’ve all seen more than a few head scratchers.
The next thing of course is to have a very good team behind you to handle every other aspect of the production right down to your grips. You’re only as good as your script and the people working on your film. If any part of it falls apart, you’ve got nothing. I’d love to share names right now but I can’t but there will be more to come in later months.
Take care
Steve Abbott