FILM-221B: Direct and Produce Ind Film

Film-making, as almost everyone knows, has always been a hybrid form, a mixture of art and commerce, part right-brain and part left-brain. Historically, the bifurcated nature of the medium was mirrored in the two key roles on a film set: the producer is usually described as the man or woman whose job is 'handling the money' while the director 'handles the art,' so to speak. This inevitably has led to a kind of unfortunate parent-child paradigm where the producer (and, by extension, the financing entity) is cast in the role of the 'responsible adult' or parent, leaving the director to play the part of the 'brilliant but irresponsible' child who needs constant supervision. This new section of Directing 2 will attempt to create a new right-brain/left-brain paradigm for the independent film-maker, one that fundamentally rejects both of these old and outdated metaphors in favor of a true collaboration among equals. In other words, first-time directors be warned! If you don't know anything about producing, you will almost inevitably find yourself at the mercy of someone who does