Film Directing: Final Cut Privilege

Every director wants final cut privilege. What this means is: they have control, the final say.

There is no certain way to make sure you have it unless you produce and fund your own work, otherwise, it's a struggle.

If you're a new and upcoming film director, the concern of producers will be that, due to your inexperience, they need to have the rights to the final edit in case you mess up or don't deliver a strong ending.

Paradoxically, the more financially successful you are as a director, the bigger the budget, the more responsibilities you carry. A studio won't want to spend a hundred million dollars and then let the director have complete freedom.

It's not uncommon to see extremely great debut feature films from writer/director's, who then go on to do uninspired big budget studio films. Often, this is because they have lost the freedom, the control. The decisions are made by producers, studio heads and focus group data.

Because who should control a film? Easy for us to say "the director!". But it's the producer who gets sued if the film doesn't get delivered. It's the investors who lose out if the film is unwatchable. Even when you give a great director the final cut, he won't always make 'Annie Hall'. Sometimes you'll get 'Cassandra's Dream'.

That's why the new crop of director's cut their teeth on low-budget short films. They learn the craft and build up a body of work to prove they know what they're doing. It's a producer's job to know what sells but it's a director's job to know what resonates. You just need to decide what kind of project yours is.

If you're directing a small independent film, you need to do everything you can to ensure you have the final cut privileges. It's your attempt at telling a story, it's your vision. No producer or investor could ever know how to nail your vision. You need to hold onto it at all costs and get it in the contract. That's why the festivals and awards and YouTube 'likes' are important, they prove your talent, your understanding, your ability.

You need to build a reputation as an artist. Never go over budget, and confidently stand by your vision, otherwise you'll get eaten. Then again, the truth is that the vast majority of films aren't art, they're product. If that's where you're going, then don't worry about final cut, you'll certainly have an easier time getting hired. But you may never get to make 'Annie Hall'.

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The Dark Knight Rises Exclusive!

I'm excited about the new Batman film. Who isn't? For some reason though, I'd yet to see the teaser trailer.

So a few days ago I went onto YouTube and started the video. It wasn't what I expected; some guy was driving a Volvo and talking about comfort and I realised this was going to be a terrible sequel. Then a button popped up asking me if I wanted to skip, which I did (in the garden), before returning to watch the rest of the video.

The trailer started making more sense after that because the smiley family in the Volvo were gone and instead everything was darker and people looked more grumpy.

It looked magnificent and I was totally excited, even more so when suddenly something at the bottom of the frame popped up offering me business class flights to Dubai. It said "Hurry up! Offer ends soon!" which immediately made me panic, as the video was ending in 19 seconds. Is this an interactive movie?

I snapped into action: I booked business class flights to Dubai. I had to save The Dark Knight.

This is what I love about movies. They're getting so realistic! I packed my bags and readied myself for the flight. I decided to return to YouTube one last time, just to check my mission again. To my surprise, I was given a new directive.

Get groceries delivered to my home? Was The Dark Knight going to deliver my order of chicken breast fillets? To be honest, I don't know, and have been baffled ever since.

Any advice on how to proceed would be warmly welcomed.

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Tops

Best films? Personal favourites? I don't know what the criteria is, I just want you to join in. Use the comments section to share your five's, which I'm sure will be different to mine.

Hanks 5

1. Forrest Gump
2. Cast Away
3. Punchline
4. Saving Private Ryan
5. Apollo 13

Spielberg 5

1. Jaws
2. E.T.
3. Jurassic Park
4. Duel
5. Schindler's List

Sandler 5

1. Punch Drunk Love
2. Reign Over Me
3. Happy Gilmore
4. Big Daddy
5. Just Go With It

Your turn.

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Later On Won't Work No More

As artists I think we often get offended when people think of us as lightweights who don't do any work. Sure, society sees work as 9-5 and full of stress, but we put the work in too, in other ways, more than people realise.

But then again, sometimes we don't. The task for the day is as simple as "re-write two scenes and email the make-up artist", and somehow instead of doing that we spend the whole day reading news articles and tweeting self-help quotes about productivity.

The crazy thing is that, when I'm in a productive state of mind I knock those scenes and emails out before 8am, and then the productivity flows for the rest of the day. Days can end with half a screenplay written, an article published, two new blog posts, a freelance camera gig secured and in the evening I can read half of an inspiring book.

But most days aren't like that. At least they haven't been recently.

We all get discouraged. 99% of filmmaking is seeing your dreams fall apart. The energy is shrugging it off, getting up and striving forward. But you have to do it yourself.

Hard work is so important. But so often we're not doing hard work so much as we're folding under the strain of complacency and comfort and failure.

But you need an entrepreneurial spirit to succeed. You need goals each day and you need to make sure you knock 'em out the park. And it's a simple thing: I succeed more when I write than don't write, when I return business calls rather than 'like' Donna's new pictures on Facebook.

It's so obvious, I know, but somehow it's so easy to get lost in the lostness, when apathy and the internet and the Xbox rule.

I am acutely aware that life is short, but often I let the days pass by as if I'll live forever. And that won't do. Time is limited, I have work to do, a career to build further.

"Later on won't work no more."
-Tom Petty

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Nesvatbov (Matchmaking Mayor)

'Matchmaking Mayor' is a documentary by Czech director Erika Hníková, about a small community in Zemplínske Hámre, Slovakia. Jozef Gajdoš, the village-Mayor, is obsessed, to the point of near psychotic obsession, with the fact that the village is dying out because the residents are not marrying and having children. He takes things into his own hands, by preaching to the residents over the public PA system and by offering generous cash incentives for all couples who marry and have babies.

The plot is crazy, impossible to believe - which is all the more mad because it's completely true. In many ways, the film is wildly hilarious -- yet, underneath the humour and strangeness is a sadness. The characters in the film are alone. As much as the mayor tries to bring them together, the film is punctuated by shots of men and women choosing to not interact with each other. Perhaps the characters are fearful, perhaps they're content -- it's hard to say. The interesting thing is that, behind the fascinating characters and unusual social rituals, there are universal themes and patterns that nearly all of us can relate to.

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