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If
you can name a movie director off the top of your head, chances
are it's a member of the Hollywood elite who earns massive sums
of money. Yet for every Steven Spielberg or James Cameron there
are hordes of lesser-known artists, happily hammering away at their
craft. There are all kinds of movie makers, just as there are all
kinds of movies - major motion pictures, independent films, cable
movies, documentaries, sitcoms, TV dramas, and more. Some directors
make excellent livings while others just scrape by, hoping for a
lucky break.
In
reality, making it as a director has much more to do with hard work
and talent than with luck. Take George. In 1994, when he was 25
years old, he made his writing and directing debut with a dark comedy
about the inner workings of Hollywood. In the movie industry, this
is a monumental victory for someone so young, but while success
came early for George, it didn't come easy. It took seven years
slogging away in the film industry before he seized his chance to
direct.
A native
Californian, George caught the film bug early, and by the time he
was 18 he was interning for some of the major studios in Los Angeles.
"Basically I was doing full-time work for free," he said with a
laugh, "but I stuck around and worked hard, so eventually they had
to start paying me.
After
several years of paying his dues, George became an assistant among
several high-profile producers and studio executives. The connections
and experience he developed there, as well as the encouragement
of a fellow up-and-coming director, eventually got him behind the
camera. "It was tough," he said. "No one wants to just give a first-time
director a movie, but I wanted to tell this story."
Raising
independent financing through various means, he got to do just that.
"My first film was made with little money. I earned nothing, but
it was an investment in my career. Thankfully the film turned out
well." While his debut feature didn't score big at the box office,
he received widespread critical acclaim which gave him the credibility
he lives up to today.
Now
32, George has directed two feature films, a TV pilot, and guest
spots on episodic TV shows. Which should mean he's rolling in the
proverbial dough. Or maybe not. "One of the toughest parts of the
job is the financial instability," George said matter-of-factly.
"You don't know what you'll be making year to year." In 1998, he
cleared a whopping mid-six figures. Last year, however, he only
made $10,000. "It all depends. You could be making $50,000 a week
on one show, then the next you're doing for free because you really
want to do the project. The philosophy is, if you keep doing what
you love, eventually it will pay off."
Few
film directors, including George, are in the business for the money.
"It's this tremendous sense of accomplishment. This thing outlives
you. Long after you're gone, there will still be this piece of work
people can look at and hopefully appreciate."
The
majority of directors in Hollywood work outside the classic notion
of big-studio filmmaking with hundred-million-dollar budgets and
six months to shoot in some exotic location. A typical cable movie,
for example, costs $3-$4 million. That translates into a grueling
four weeks of pre-production, four weeks of shooting, and four weeks
to edit the pieces together. "Actually shooting the film is the
toughest," said one veteran film maker whose credits used to include
big-budget feature films but now hover in the cable movie zone.
"You
wake up each day knowing that there are only so many hours to cover
so many scenes, and even if all the technical aspects hold up, the
camera angles, the lighting, the sets, wardrobe, hair, make-up,
the actors…, you can't anticipate the kind of absurd thing that
could grind the entire production to a halt."
Such
as? "I've had to stop shooting for anything from hurricanes, to
a food-poisoned crew, to a lead actor getting hideous cold sores.
The fun part is trying to explain this stuff to the executives."
From
the moment a film goes into production it is the director's job
to oversee all the technical, and creative details, while still
holding firm to the story he or she wants to tell. For every director,
seeing the finished project on screen is the ultimate high. "The
best feeling in the world is sitting in the back of the movie theater
and having the audience laugh at something you've created," George
said, then added, "hopefully laughing with it, not at it."
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Audrey Arkins, Salary.com Contributor
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