07 March 2010

Decathlon

When I was 20 I wanted to be the next Orson Welles. Only without doing wine adverts or acting in any movie that came along just to make enough money to finance movies. The first rule they teach you in school is to never spend your own money. Welles broke that rule many times. But he saw little choice. He was respected and called the greatest filmmaker during his lifetime but few people wanted to work with him. He publicly complained that Steven Spielberg was willing to pay a record setting price for one of the Rosebud sleds but would not give him a dime to make a movie.

5 comments:

Bill said...

It sounds like editors are the bass players of film making - a fundamental part of the work, but not something anyone aspires to.

Alissa Grosso said...

I've always wanted to write and I love movies. So, I thought being a screenwriter would be a no-brainer, but the reality is that finding success as a screenwriter is such a long shot that I'm better off writing books, which are more fun to write than movies anyway.

I like that you are sort of living your dream, and I hope that in 10 years (or even before then) you get to the point where you are really living your dreams.

Sheila (Bookjourney) said...

A fun post and I love that you wanted to be like Orson Wells. I have never heard anyone say that before.

I love all the possibilities you share here and your world is still so open :)

Mia said...

Bill, that's probably a fair comparison but I think editors are more like drummers, setting the pace and timing.

Alissa, I'd never let intense competition keep me from doing what I want. It's usually more rewarding when it's harder. It's my lack of talent that's kept me back.

Sheila, everybody in film school wants to be Orson Welles or Steven Spielberg. The 2 groups can be divided into those who want to be artists and those who want to be rich and powerful.

Sasha said...

10 years from now I want to have more money and looks if that is possible.