SAGIndie

Anyone who’s ever seen a so-called “reality show” being made knows that reality has nothing to do with these productions. They were taping one in my neighborhood this week and as I walked by the set it was funny to hear the director feeding lines to the “real” person starring in the show.

That’s why I was particularly pleased to hear about the Writers Guild’s organizing campaign against the producers of reality television. I was even more excited when I heard about their suit against Fox Broadcasting and the producers of several popular reality shows.

The suit alleges that writers were forced to work overtime without compensation and were forced to falsify time cards.

I have a reputation for “giving away the store” when it comes to low budget, indie producers who are just trying to get their films made, but I have no sympathy for multimillionaires who get where they are on the backs of working people.

How rich does any one person or company have to be?

Plus, it’s nice to see a labor union doing the one thing that truly has an impact on the lives of workers, but that most unions refuse to do: Organize.

Good luck, WGAw!

Stick it to the man!

There is a story in today’s Los Angeles Times about States with progressive tax incentives designed to keep production in the United States.

Programs like those in Louisiana, Illinois, and New Mexico are making a positive impact on the industry and, if nothing else, keeping producers from filming overseas.

SAGIndie is a national program, and we support the actions of these States and hope others will do the same.

California owes much of its success to the film industry, as does our Governor, and we hope the powers-that-be will do what it takes to keep the film industry viable and vibrant.

Sorry it’s taken so long to post.

I ate those mushrooms I found growing in the forest in Utah and the next thing I know I was talking to Sundance Film Festival Director Geoff Gilmore and he started turning into a psychedelic honey badger. I woke up in the middle of Zion National Park the next day wearing a loincloth made from the skin of an Osmond Brother, a tattoo of the Grateful Dead Bears on my chest, and the taste of lizard on my breath.

Anyway, I made it back to the Sundance Village in time for our presentation to the Conference Participants. SAG New York Manager of Television and Theatrical Contracts, Ron Bennett and I explained the new Low Budget Agreements. Then I asked our friends Jon Larson and Kay Schaber from the DGA and WGA to talk about their organizations’ low budget incentives.

Every time I go to this conference I meet people that I invariably meet again when their projects hit the festival circuit. This year was no exception, and I look forward to seeing some of these projects finished.

Well, I’d better go before I have another flashback and try to invade the AFTRA offices again…

I’m in Utah again for the Sundance Producers Conference.

As you may recall, I was here a month ago and it was snowing. Now the temp is in the ’80s…

There are about 100 producers and industry representatives participating in panels and networking.

It’s a really impressive group of participants. Some of these "neophyte" producers have credits that are as impressive as the panelists.

Tomorrow we’ll be doing a presentation on the new low budget agreements. I’ll try to post some pictures later.

I don’t know if I’ll have much debauchery to report, as Utah has some pretty unusual liquor laws.

Maybe I’ll just try these mushrooms…

Okay, this post isn’t about independent film… but it is about film.

I just feel bad about not posting more often, so I hope you’ll forgive this indulgence.

Everyone always says that movies adaptations are never as good as the books on which they’re based, but I can think of two exceptions:

Francis Ford Coppolla’s The Godfather and John Huston’s Moby-Dick.

I think both of these adaptations are superior to the books, but for completely opposite reasons;

Mario Puzo’s book is a pretty typical pulp gangster story, but Coppola made a masterpiece of a film by adding mythic elements and powerful themes that weren’t in the original source.

In the case of Moby-Dick, Huston took what is great about Melville’s book; mythic elements and powerful themes, and placed them in an action-packed two-hour movie (Melville was a great writer… but man, he needed an editor…).

In fairness to both authors, neither of these films would have existed if the books hadn’t been written (and the screenwriters, Puzo himself and Ray Bradbury, deserve credit too). But I think it’s wrong to automatically assume that a movie will never be as good as the book. Sometimes a story lends itself better to one medium than another.

Then again, I’m still waiting to see a movie adaptation of an old TV show that’s better than the original.

Maybe The Dukes of Hazzard will take care of that.

Oh, wait… that show sucked.