Art v. Commerce

I've wanted to shoot a feature with the Flip and came close a couple summers ago, an adaptation of my play Waitresses (optioned for several years in the 80s and, at one time, "a done deal" according to the producer -- yeah, right), which requires only 3 major roles. Lost my actress and it didn't happen. Now my friend MM, an older and more experienced filmmaker than I, has become a Flip enthusiast and wants to do the same. Might we then combine our interests and make a feature together, maybe even starring ourselves, two old men? Certainly intriguing and certainly possible.

However, we differ in our early discussion on one thing: he thinks we could make a movie we could sell, and I think No Way! His optimism fascinates me because he's had more dead-end experiences in the industry than I have. I think we could make a hell of an art film and put it online -- but sell to HBO or some cable company? Fat chance. So the discussion continues.

The art v. commerce conflict permeates the arts in our culture. Digital technology, which gives artists in all forms more power to do their thing than ever, is a double-edged sword. Writers, for example, now can self-publish early on rather than suffer through the "school of hard knocks." But there's a problem here. Ego. Not all young writers have honed their critical skills and they can over-value their work. The advantage of the old school was, is, that you have to satisfy strangers and face competition to get something published or produced. I spent a year of very hard work before I cracked the literary magazines and newspapers to begin publishing (in the former case) and selling (in  the latter) with some regularity. I think my work improved because of this work and challenge. If I had simply published myself on the net or with print on demand in the beginning, I would not have produced my best work. In other words, digital technology offers the opportunity of artistic laziness. So I have mixed feelings about how everything has changed.

At the same time, I think digital technology is a blessing for older artists, those who have already made whatever mark they've made in the traditional marketplace. Or even none at all. One of the more interesting literary blogs of late is by TS, Round Bend Press, an older writer with limited visibility until now. It's a blessing to have new and easy access to his work and political mind. An old fart like myself, or MM, now can do "art for art's sake," bringing all our experience to a project and not having to worry about "success" or "collaboration" in terms beyond what we accept. I love the new technology as a result. I love shooting on the Flip. I especially love editing.

I hope MM and I find common ground down the road and do something. I am very intrigued by his notion of music first, images second, in film development. But this is not a commercial concept. This is an art film concept. You don't make money this way.