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October 1995, Week 4

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Subject:
From:
Susan Denker <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Film and TV Studies Discussion List <[log in to unmask]>
Date:
Tue, 24 Oct 1995 00:57:44 -0400
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 Randy's last remark:
>So is it only the tough, wealthy and
>sleep disordered kids that will make it through the culling here and else
>where - or the ones who bypass this process altogether?
 
 Well, the same question could be asked of students in law school, med
school, architecture school, and in the first professional years called
"associate", "intern" or whatever. I've heard that corporations now
routinely put their young execs-in-training through sleep deprivation
"stress seminars" to test their endurance. More and more, it seems that
commercial filmmaking resembles these professions in demanding mental,
physical, economic and emotional sacrifice of one's life and humanity as a
prerequisite to success. So I guess the road to success is travelled by
disordered yuppies.
 But is this the only road to making film?
 I'd be interested to know if the alternative is old-style artistic
bohemianism. It seems to me that every success story of young filmmaker
manages to get first film to Sundance is NOT a yuppie story, but rather a
story of a relatively poor young person who just hustled
aggressively and imaginatively to raise money to get his/her film made.
Hustled relatives, friends, neighbors, grant organizations, other
filmmakers, whatever. In other words, they work the minimum waitress
hours to survive and spend every other waking hour trying to get the film
made. This is kinda old-fashioned. Reminds me of Griffith going door to
door to raise money to finish Birth of a Nation, or of a fundraiser I
attended for a young black filmmaker who was trying to raise money from
the black community in every city in America. Independent filmmaking is
still the alternative; same hours but on your own, with vision intact.
 ??????
 
 Susan Denker
 Tufts Univ./Museum School
 
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