Nothing Is Impossible for One Who Has Never Done It Before--Part 1

It’s the early ‘70s, and I’m a young actor in NY enjoying the usual young actor disappointments—an audition here, a crumby play in a storefront there, children’s theatre to get an Actor’s Equity card, and the occasional movie audition that rarely resulted in a job.  Two years of thinking about tomorrow.

Then the big break. I read for an anti-war film (remember Vietnam) about a draft -dodger hiding out in Sweden.  Apparently, Swedish girls really enjoyed draft dodgers because this character met lots of them.  Anyway—didn’t seem like an award winner, but I needed to eat, and how bad could Swedish girls be?  

Much to my surprise, I got a callback and then another, met with the director (who  had a lazy eye—which confused the hell out of me because which eye do you look at?), and finally I shot a screen test.  They tested 2 of us. A 50% chance of getting the job.  Sweden here I come.  But no—the other guy got it.  I was crushed.  (Years later I found out that, due to finance issues, Cleveland—because you can take a bus to Cleveland— doubled for Stockholm.)

It was at this moment I concluded that the life of an actor is tantamount to being a “professional strawberry.”  You are constantly waving your arms, pleading, “Pick me, pick me!”  I wanted more control. I wanted to make my own movies.  It was July, and the only breeze on E. 96 Street was the exhaust from passing buses. I wanted out of New York.

Go south, young man. Go south. 

At least the breeze was better in Miami. 

Welcome

So where did I get the name for this blog?  From Films to Film School is the trajectory of my career: thirty years of writing, producing, acting, and directing low budget independent films, kind of making it up as I went along, sometimes with considerable success, always having a fair amount of fun, and then 9 years of full-time teaching at a premiere arts conservatory. 

From now until only God really knows, I will attempt to make regular postings.  Some will be “would of”, “should of” war stories about many of my past productions.  Some will be my musings about where I think the business is going and how to confront those challenges -- indeed, we live in “interesting times.” And many others will examine, with good humor, I hope, what I’ve learned about film school and film students.

And if I get lucky, a few students from the past may weigh in on how I’ve helped or scarred them for life.  So please old students—drop me a line.  I’ll set up a special section.  Sort of a Hall of Fame or Shame!

I’ve also put up a few trailers of past work.  I must admit I’ve never been very good at saving my work.  So as I find things on the Internet (since everything seems to be there—legally or not) I’ll put them up. 

Anyway, that’s it for now.  I’ll be back in a couple of days with—“How I Produced My First Film for $20,000, Shot on Film, Got a Theatrical Release and Made Money—When I Didn’t Really Know Squat!”  Truly inspirational…wc