Director's statements: how to write them, what they're for

In many stages along your film's path you will be asked to write a "Director's Statement." This article will hopefully help as you navigate these waters.

First off, there are different reasons that you will be asked to write a Director's Statement, and each of them will have different needs and requirements. The main two circumstances, generally, will be before the movie is made (development) and after the film is made (distribution).

Before the film is made, your purpose is to describe why the film should actually be made. You may write your Director's Statement for a grant application or maybe in a business plan. Your purpose is to get funded, or maybe to get a job making the film. You're selling your vision of the film - and you're making people see that your vision is the only way the film should be told.

Andrew Mack, editor for Screen Anarchy, says: "A director's statement is about what inspires someone to make a movie and what they desire to convey with their audience... The director wants to, in this statement, express their inspirations and ambitions - generate some excitement about this potential project."

Development

In development the key things you should consider including are:

• The genesis of the project (where the idea came from; its circumstances and history)
• Why the project is important (will it have social impact; will it make people laugh)
• Why you're the only one who can tell this story (what do you bring to the table that is unique and especially pertinent to this project)
• Your cinematic inspiration and influences (this helps the reader see the vision of the film)
• Visual and technical approaches you intend to take that will make the film unique and successful
• Your hopes for the audience's response (what will the audience get out of it)

You don't have to include all of these things, but they all should be alluded to in some way. Remember, you're a storyteller, so this is just another form of storytelling. Make it entertaining. Bring the reader along with you.

Marketing

For marketing (once the film is done), you will include a Director's Statement in application material for festivals, or in press material for the film's marketing. It's important to remember that no one will choose to program your movie in a festival, review it in their paper, or distribute it because of your winning Director's Statement. If you're film doesn't appeal to them, they're not going to change your mind because of your Statement. However, once they decide to program/review/distribute your film they will look at the Director's Statement to help them market it. From a journalist's/film critic's stand point, a good Director's Statement saves them the hassle of having to interview you.

In marketing the key things you should consider including are:

• The genesis of the project
• Why the project is important
• Why you're the only one who could have told this story
• Your cinematic inspiration and influences
• Production and Post-production discoveries (what happened during the process of making the film that shaped the film's final state)
• Your hopes for the audience's response

Thus, the two types of Director's Statements are very similar, except in one you're discussing what you hope will happen, and in the other you're explaining what did happen.

Remember: Your Director's Statement needs to exist outside of the film they're discussing, in other words, don't assume the reader will have already seen your film, or even has any intention of seeing it. It needs to make them want to see it, just like a development Director's Statement should make them want to see it made.

Do people read them? My film Superpowerless was recently reviewed by Variety. I know the reviewer had come to the screening (at my invitation), and had given me a smile on his way out during the credits, but he had also told me that he would see about thirty films at the festival and review around five, so I wasn't holding my breath... at all. When the review came out he concluded it with some information that he would have got only by reading the Director's Statement included in the press material.

My friend Maggie Mackay, executive director of Vidiots, says "When I was programming festivals, Director Statements and other supplemental materials didn't play into my programming process. Once we programmed a film, those materials were useful, but they didn't have any influence on my selection process. On the other hand, when I was the Director of Nominations at the Spirit Awards, and we required Director Statements for the grant awards, not only did they get read, but they were a HUGE part of the submission. My biggest recommendation to filmmakers submitting required statements is that they really read and stick to the instructions from each organization or festival."

Length

You will be given instructions in regards to length. Do not go over, and do not be too brief. Make it quick and easy to read no matter its assigned length. This is not the time to write a scholarly paper.

Attitude

This is always the same, no matter what aspect of your filmmaking career you're in; or no matter what stage of the filmmaking process you're in:

• Be grateful / humble (don't come off as pompous or like God's-Gift to the filmmaking world)
• Take your movie seriously, but don't take yourself seriously (you've made an important, awesome movie, but you're grateful for the opportunity and for all the people who helped you along the way).

These two attitudes, which are intertwined, will help you in all stages of your career. And, by the way, if you are sincere about these two attitudes, and apply them to the rest of your life, you'll be happier.

Project of the Week, Please vote for Superpowerless

Please go to IndieWire and vote for my film Superpowerless as the project of the week. This requires voting, entering your email, then going to your email and confirming your vote (my confirmation email went to Spam, so you may have to check it). Being project of the week is Super for publicity, and street cred. Plus we get a distribution consultation from SnagFilms. Please do this now and share with all of your friends. Please spread the word!!!

http://www.indiewire.com/article/vote-for-project-of-the-week-will-it-be-cecil-superpowerless-the-pamoja-project-or-zunn-showgirls-of-pakistan-20150306

Josiah Polhemus stars in Superpowerless, directed by Duane Andersen

I know it's been a long time since I wrote, and I've seen several people have sent me some messages on my Facebook page which I haven't been keeping up with. I apologize. I have been busy with things. Since my last post I shot my first film as a director and have been hired to teach film production at Utah Valley University. So, needless to say, things have been crazy. 

I am excited to post again though, seeing how this blog has stayed alive and active without me.

How to be a great production assistant

You've been hired as a Production Assistant (or more likely you've volunteered your services). Great. Welcome to the wonderful, grueling, demanding world that is the bottom-of-the-ladder on a film set. You will learn a lot. You will meet some awesome people. You will work very, very hard.

I've often said that some people show up on set their first day and just seem to get it. Instinctively they seem to know what needs to get done, and the best way to do it. They are immediately wanted by every department to be part of their team, and are hired back again and again. Others, just don't seem to have a clue. They are in the way, they have to be explained things over and over. The production moves slower because they are involved. I was one of the latter. I just didn't get it. In fact I had to stop doing movies, and come back making my own in order to learn what was needed, and WHY it was needed. I had to view things from the top down to get it.

I've often wondered what the difference between these two types are, and while I think it's mostly innate, there are a few philosophies you can espouse that will help you.

1) Remember, you are not there to be creative. That is not your function EVER. You are there to serve the creative people who have been hired to be creative. It's not that you're not creative, or that people don't think you are. It's just not your job to be creative... yet. When telling this to someone recently, he asked if he made just one suggestion a day, would it be out of line (he meant to the director on our super micro set)? I said one suggestion a month would be out of line. You think that your director, who has directed five feature films, is going to want to be given ideas from some kid on his very first shoot? Don't ever, EVER think of yourself as a creative.

Yet there will be important ways to be creative: How to creatively get six coffee cups in a container that holds four; how to get your car from point A to point B the fastest without getting a ticket; how to get pedestrians to walk around the set in a way that won't make them upset or disrupt the crew. These are your creative concerns. If you do your job creatively you'll be well liked, if you try to suggest thoughts or opinions about what the Creative team is doing you will be fired.

2) You are there to WORK. Don't ever forget that your job is to kick butt. Don't ever feel like you're being ill used for being told to work... even if the work seems pointless. Don't ever allow yourself to be standing around with no purpose. A lot of times you will find yourself with nothing to do. Do something. Ask someone if you can help them. Ask people if they need anything. Bring your immediate supervisor a water. Pick up garbage in the street. Get a wet-wipe and clean cables. NEVER stand and watch. When you're told to hold up pedestrians, face the directions the pedestrians are coming, don't face the production. You will not see someone coming and they will slip past you. Do YOUR job well.

3) Some crews require PAs to be standing up always. I don't make that a requirement. BUT if I see a PA sitting I wonder why they're sitting. Don't sit. Stand. Expect to stand for 12 hours. If your AD or Production Manager says you can sit while doing something, then you can do it. If you don't like that, get a job in post (you'll be dying to stand).

4) Don't worry that you don't know what a Half Apple or a C-47 are. You'll learn. Tell people, this is my first movie, so I don't know what that means. Once you are told, NEVER forget. You don't want to have to be told twice. Be sure to ask questions, to the people that you are working with directly. Buy the book STRIKE THE BABY AND KILL THE BLONDE, an imperfect reference book of film terms. It will get you started. When I was on my first shoot the DP told me to "86 that rug." I sat there blinking, trying with all my might to figure out what 86 means. He simply said, "It means move it." I quickly moved it saying, "Sorry, first movie." No worries. I never had to be told what it meant again.

5) You will work 12-16 hour days. Expect it. Anything less is a gift. Don't check your watch and let it eat you up. Don't tell your friends you'll meet them at 8, then worry about having to cancel. Just face the fact you will have no family or social life during the duration of the production. If you have a boyfriend or a girlfriend, you might want to just break up before a long shoot. You might meet someone on set anyway. A great movie to watch for many reasons is Truffaut's Day For Night. There's a great line it: I would leave a boy for a movie, but I'd never leave a movie for a boy.

Follow these simple directions and you should do fine. You may not have the innate skill that some of the Naturals have, but you should make it through without getting fired, and may even be asked to come back again.

One of the naturals I've had the pleasure to work with was Drew Sugimoto. Drew showed up to work for free on the set of our film Surrogate Valentine in 2010, invited by his friend and fellow PA Minore Nishime. Drew only worked a few days, but he was clearly a smart guy and a hard worker, and someone I wanted to keep hanging out with.

Drew Sugimoto (left), lead actor of Surrogate Valentine Goh Nakamura (center),  Minore Nishime (right) in  2010

Three years, and six films later, in three different states, I'm still hiring him whenever I can - for more and more challenging duties.  So what can you learn from Drew? Work hard and be a good person, and you'll be the sort of person people want to have back.

On the set of An Honest Liar, Drew Sugimoto (left), Bill Nye the Science Guy (center), Duane Andersen (right) in 2013