“Reject the tyranny of picked. Pick yourself.” ― Seth Godin, Poke the Box
Make no mistake, I am by no means a professional filmmaker. However, as an aspiring screenwriter and a person with a minor disability, I’ve had to learn the art of letting go of doubt and moving on to the next phase if I want to truly embrace my craft.
Years ago, I attended my first Austin Film Festival, after taking a Women in Film and Video workshop about indie movie producing. It was in Austin that I heard director Frank Darabont say that if you want to write screenplays and work in the movie business, you should try to get work on a film set. This is why I decided to volunteer my services as a production assistant this past weekend.
I worked on a project at Docs in Progress that culminated in this documentary, using standard camera and audio equipment.
A few years back, I had a notion of going into film production. I was already involved in screenwriting and thought I had the organizational skills to pull it off. I started getting to know camera and sound equipment, but realized after time that all you need to be a filmmaker is an iPhone.
That’s simplifying things a bit, since quality sound is an important component of filmmaking, as are a few other matters, such as choice of lens, postproduction colorization, and editing skills.