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Category: Life

Sep182009

Virtual Travel: Production Management 101

So, it appears I have travelled virtually through my books to more countries than I have gone in person! How cool!

Between “Production Management 101” and “Surviving Production“, my books are in bookstores and libraries in at least 20 countries, including: Australia, Canada, China, Germany, Greece, Israel, Italy, Japan, Lebanon, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Singapore, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, Thailand, UK, and the USA! I especially love the Amazon Japan site – seeing my book in English whereas the rest of the screen text in Japanese.

Bit of a shame I don’t have any travel memories from this virtual travel. I guess I’ve got a few plane rides to catch in order to catch up…

Cheers,
Deb

Aug142009

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… My Grandmother

Life can teach you about filmmaking even when you’re not making films… here are 3 things I learned from my Grandmother… a unique fireball of a woman who knew nothing about the film industry:

1. If you can’t do it, keep trying
My grandmother didn’t have much education – nor access to education. She was a single mother when social norms looked down on such a situation, and though she was far from being a good cook, she spend most of her life making a living from cooking. She learned by doing, and never gave up. No education? No excuses. That’s a work ethic worth importing into a film career.

2. Make and eat dessert
Though she couldn’t really cook, my grandmother sure could bake. She collected a veritable ton of dessert recipes and her desserts were fabulous. Cooking was survival to her, but baking was colour of life. May we remember to taste the dessert of life as we slog through the survival of a film career.

3. Always wear clean underwear
She never lived to see blogs and Facebook, but her insistance of always wearing clean underwear is a good reminder for today’s e-world. Whatever we post on the web, or say to each other on the set is remembered for a long time, often searchable, and sometimes poorly interpretted. Make it clean. Don’t air any dirty laundry that could embarrass you later in your career.

Tasty desserts and a good shoot to you!

Cheers,
Deb

Jul172009

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Horseback Riding

Life can teach you about filmmaking even when you’re not making films… here are 3 things I learned from horseback riding:

1. Get back on when you fall
It’s not “if” you fall, but rather “when”. As with horseriding, a career in the film industry is full of ups and downs. Keep trying. Especially try to learn from your mistakes – though this is a harder concept than it sounds. Your persistence will pay off in the long run as you become a seasoned professional.

2. Relax; your stress is being communicated
Horses KNOW when you are stressed as you sit on their back, and they will echo back your frame of mind. Horseriding then becomes harder and harder you fight their reaction and your rising stress level. Once relaxed, the job is easier, more pleasant, magical. Film crews can feel your stress level too. Find a way to relax (but stay focussed) and see the production atmosphere around you echo back a more pleasant, more functional environment. 

3. The shovelling and the cleaning is all part of it
The image of riding off into the sunset on a perfect, warm summer evening may attract you to horseriding as the glamour may attract you to working in the film industry. You still have the clean and feed the horse, shovel and sweep the barn… small payment for the reward of a perfect day of horseriding. In film, there is payment for the glamour too… all those small, seemingly insignificant jobs that contribute the bigger picture – right down to cleaning garbage cans on set. Be prepared for these jobs, they are the payment.

Happy trails and a good shoot to you!

Cheers,
Deb

Jun122009

3 Things I Learned About Filmmaking from… Racing Sailboats

Life can teach you about filmmaking even when you’re not making films… here are 3 things I learned from racing sailboats:

1. Hire the right team & rely on them
The right team on a racing sailboat is made up of people with differing skills and specialities. With the right folk on the bow, mast, jib trim, main & traveller, winches, helm, navigating, and so on, the boat races efficiently… creating magic as it harnesses the power of the wind. The crew rely on each other – maybe taking input from each other – but each specialist has a responsibility to their job in order to support the entire crew. Sounds familar to a set and film crew?

2. Food is essential
Long distance sailboat racing reveals how critical good food is to the crew and therefore to the boat. With 4-hour watches, a racing member’s waking hours revolves around sailing the boat, taking care of nature and eating. That’s a lot of focus on very few topics for a very long time. After 3 days sailing the Mackinaw race, you’ll hear the various crews in the bar minutes after the race one-upping each other about what they ate during the race, just as much as you’ll hear them brag about winning tactics and manoeuvres. Set crews need good food and craft service just as much to keep their focus.

3. If you always follow the leader… you will never be the leader
If you can see the back end of the boat in front of you, you’ll never pass it; the other boat has the clean air. You have to try different wind, different tactics. Not just to be different – you still have to put thought into your “different” strategy. But only then may you have the chance to pass the leader and win the race. In film you can copy what’s already been done, or you can try something new… not for the sake of being new, but with thought, forge a new path that is uniquely you. That’s has to be a winning strategy no matter what happens – you’ll be true to yourself.

Fair winds and a good shoot to you!

Cheers,
Deb

May12009

Recharging Through Travel – Belize

I’m not sure how I got the travel bug, but I have to admit that travel after completing a production is one of my best ways of recharging the ol’ batteries. Either international travel and spontaneous travel tie as my favorites.

On a 4-day shoot, a friend of my asked me on set where I was travelling to next. I told her “no way.” I mean, it was only a 4-day shoot! Then that night another friend tempted me with the travel section of the newspaper. Sigh. By next morning our flights were booked and 3 days later we were off to the jungle in Belize. A place where they turn off the generator that runs the electricity at 10pm… oil lamps in the room. Fireflies off the deck of the bar/restaurant. What a recharge trip that was! Spontaneous AND international! Oh yeah!

Hmm… where do you go?

Cheers,
Deb