In the spirit of, Straight Out of Compton, an origin story that matches the magnitude of the Summer time super hero blockbusters, I thought it would be best to talk about the origin of MINDPLATE.tv. I have been getting a lot of questions concerning finance and distribution of independent film, and I will be covering that kind of information on this blog. But, before I can talk about all of the business stuff, I want to talk about “why.” Why am I doing this in the first place? Why did I take a distribution deal from Lionsgate and use the profits of the film to launch a website that helps indie filmmakers make money and find an audience for their movies? Why do I even make independent films? The answers to these questions have informed my entire approach to the industry, as a whole. I also attribute much of my success to the answer of this question, “why.”
I was a young musician living in Tempe, Arizona, under a
bush in a park that is now known as Tempe Beach Park. The park was often
visited by other traveling folk who would bring food, beverage and drugs to
share. One night, I was gifted some Chinese food from a beautiful girl with
dreadlocks. As I finished up, I cracked open my fortune cookie and found a
quote said by Pablo Picasso. It read, “Art is a lie that makes us see the
truth.” I still have it to this day, stored away in an old suitcase my Grandma
Gene gave me. This idea has guided me through my career and it’s advice came in
handy more than once.
I have been on a journey looking for the truth ever since
that night. It is a tricky thing to find, but there is no mistaking it when you
do. It feels different. It is undeniable and when it happens everyone in the
room is aware of its presence. I first felt it on stage as a guitar player and
singer in a band. When you are standing in front of a crowd of people and you
are stripped down to your most vulnerable state, honesty is the only saving
grace you have. As a director of cinema, I am constantly searching for the
truth. It is your job to articulate this truth to your cast and crew. Inspire
them to know when they are seeing it and feeling it. Like I said, it is
undeniable when it happens.
As a film professor, I got the opportunity to explore the
pursuit of the truth through cinema in a very collaborative learning environment.
I would always say, we first need to know why
we are telling this story or making a decision before we need to know how are we going to capture it in a
camera or what specific film technique will we employ. I called this the “why”
before the “how.” It was a way to force the students into telling the truth
rather than just do cool shit with the camera. But what I discovered was how
many different “truths” there are in the world. The most valuable aspect to every
filmmaker on the planet is their unique perspective and original voice. My one
problem I had with being a film production teacher was that I knew I was
sending my students into an industry that did not value truth as much as
profit. But let me take this moment and say I do not blame the studios for
prioritizing the profits of their business. That is their job and they do it
well. No one can fault them for that. But, it does make for a tough environment
to find truth.
This was the inspiration behind MINDPLATE.tv. Bertolt Brecht
said, “ Art is not a mirror held up to reality but a hammer with which to shape
it.” I knew I had to take out a hammer and shape a new reality, a reality where
value was placed on a film’s originality and told from a unique perspective. I cannot shape this on my own because it
is not mine to shape. This place needs films and those films need to be
watched. I attribute my success to date to my dedication to telling the
truth with my work. I believe if MINDPLATE.tv supports a community of
filmmakers that are dedicated to the same pursuit, than we will all benefit.
Roze
