I don't miss Hollywood but boy, do I miss Hollywood money. I billed more for last week's work than I'd make in a month and a half in Bako. Not that I'm going to see any of it for weeks or months, but still.
It was a bit of a mindfuck, actually. I'd finally gotten to a space where I could leave the past behind and make peace with my new life in Bako (up to a point). And then to be slammed head first back into my former life and all the woulda/coulda/shoulda baggage that comes with it was more than a little jarring. But it's not like it's going to last. I'm under no allusions that I'm now suddenly back in demand. If anything it was just freakish good timing on my part, something I've never ben accused of having before. And even if it were an unexpected renaissance, I'm still playing beat-the-clock. The only thing more predictable than the product Hollywood spews out is the calendar, and once we pass Halloween this weekend everything will start winding down for the holidays. Come Thanksgiving week, Hollywood will be a ghost town until the new year. C'est la Vie
The one thing I'd forgotten about, or had mentally blocked out for my own psychological well being, was the aggressive stupidity of entertainment marketing. In particular, the Golden Rule of selling movies and TV shows -
Whatever your show is about, for God's sake, don't show it.
It's been a constant throughout my career and the best example was a few years ago when I was hired to work on "Mad Men". I was thrilled at the prospect because I like the show and, more importantly, I love the graphics of the era. Here was a chance to really play with it and do an homage to all the great mid-60's ads and graphics. And then I got my direction...
"Whatever you do, don't do anything that looks 60's."
Well, of course not. Why would we do that? Just because it's a huge part of the charm of the show, and without it it would be nothing but a retread of "Thirtysomething", we wouldn't want to show that.
Around the same time I was hired to design a commemorative box set of all Clint Eastwood's spaghetti westerns, but all the work was rejected. Why?
"You made them look like Westerns..."
And before that, my work on "Return of the King" was killed because "We don't want to sell it as a fantasy film..." I hate to be the one to break it to anyone, but the minute you put a wizard and elves in your film, you have a fantasy film whether you like it or not. Not to mention it was the third film in a hugely successful trilogy, so I doubt very much you were going to be able to fool anyone.
The reason given for avoiding the obvious is always the same. Genre films, be it a western, or a period drama, or a science fiction film "TURN PEOPLE OFF". That's what the studios believe. Which begs the obvious question... THEN WHY DID YOU MAKE THE FUCKING FILM? But that would be biting the hand that feeds you, so the question goes unasked. The solution is usually to strip out any reference to the actually film, crop a headshot of the star so as not to see the period costume (or armor or corset or elf ears) and just cash the check. Which is what I intend to do.
So today is spent working on my last Hollywood project., a futuristic science fiction film in which I'm forbidden to show "anything tech-y or futuristic". Which actually seems perfect for me. If you need someone without a clue about the future, I'm your man.
