Blog
Last nights meeting was a good one. I had hoped to be out by around 9pm, so I could get home and pack for my trip to LA. I finally got home at 11pm. Delayed, once again. But, true to form, worth very minute. At the heart of our “post-script” discussion was a number of topics dealing a variety of issues. Some which we’ve all been feeling, some that Clayton and I have been struggling with for a while.
Right now ReCinema is a purely volunteer endeavor. Its not a business, and no one makes any money. Given that there a certain hard costs associated with ReCinema, and while very small (rent, website hosting, domain names, Celtx accounts, Vimeo accounts, etc.), ReCinema still runs in the red.
We’ve struggled with finding a commitment from people in a number of areas. I believe, while there is a real draw for writers and directors to collaborate and develop projects in a quid-pro-quo environment, there has been a lot of resistance from others to commit to contributing to the effort. I believe this is a result of collaborators wanting to commit to their own projects, rather than someone elses. Understandable. But how then do you find the collaborators necessary to move projects forward, projects which may not be their own. It takes a special kind of people. People who believe not in a particular project, but rather believe in the concept and the ideas that ReCinema represents. People must believe in ReCinema, and the desire to see any and all projects that are developed within the ReCinema model succeed. I could go on and on about our discussions regarding finding collaborators, but I think I’ll let Clayton cover that one… ;-)
These two seemingly disparate thoughts, for me, conclude at the same point: Sustainability and Cash-Flow.
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Walt’s path is becoming more apparent in meeting with ReCinema. He has ventured down several roads, but the right path is revealing itself more clearly with every meeting. I have re-worked this outline several times, and as I do so I become more enveloped in the story and the character, and as I chip away at this block of stone the structure of it becomes clear. I started with one picture in mind, and as I become more involved in this tedious, yet somehow rewarding process, I find that the story I began with is not the story that Walt wants told. After much trial and error, I finally feel that the story has some trajectory. It is imperative to have a group to ask the tough questions, and people to ‘beat’ the answers out of you. So, thankfully, I am amongst very opinionated, yet lovable, people.
Avengerella has been spending a couple months in treatment. After facing down some mediocre super villains, however, stronger ones have started rearing their ugly noggins, forcing the super heroine to make her move. She seeks the approval of all who witness her but will settle for worship instead, if that’s the only other option.
After months of discussion, review and collaboration on more than a dozen concepts, three have risen above the rest. Each driven by an individual writer, these three stories have been the primary focus of our attention. Click on any of the titles to read more about the story, the process, and its progress.
AVENGERELLA IN REAL LIFE: When Jimmy, a nearly-thirties-something man-child obsessed with the local celebrity super-hero, Avengerella, is thrust into the world he’s admired for most of his life, he discovers that there is more to life than school-boy infatuations, and finds that the real hero’s aren’t the ones he expected.
RECO: While crossing the plains on horseback on a trip to fetch her aging adoptive grandmother and return her to the family ranch, Sadie steads in an old, familiar ranch-house along the route, only to discover a distant past nearly forgotten.
WHISPERS: Diagnosed as PTSD, and living in recluse, Walter has been plagued with confusing flashbacks, and lucid dream-like states ever since the war, more than 40 years ago. Sparked by his new neighbor, Ava, events begin to unravel and Walter sees there is much more to his altered mental state than anyone ever imagined.
So, what is ReCinema, you ask? No, well, let’s pretend you did.
In short – it’s a collaboration of filmmakers working to evaluate, and hopefully evolve the way film stories are both created and connected with their audiences. Our goal is to yield a working group of practices and people that can produce uniquely compelling films as Cinema enters her next 100 years.
The longer version goes something like this –
Like an increasing number of others, our heads have been reeling at the day and age we live in as filmmakers. Cinema is a medium that has barely crested its 1st century of existence and what future it may hold in both means and form is exhilarating. What Cinema truly is and can be as it breaks free from the technology and conventions that created it is anyone’s guess, but we certainly stand at a unique juncture.
Looking forward, which then of our existing filmmaking practices and conventions still contribute meaningfully and which are dead-weight? Which are core to the medium itself and which need to be re-imagined into something altogether new to meet the opportunities currently at the doorstep?
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