Film Courage: What if someone feels like they're not ready to pursue the film business?
Alok Mishra, Producer: Look, I mean you hopefully you know yourself better than anybody else. I
mean if you haven't had enough...if you haven't studied it enough, it depends on what you want
to do. If you're a producer, work for another producer, become an assistant. If you want to
do development for example, if you want to be an actor, well you need to take probably a lot of
classes and and be confident that you can hit the marks do this do that or whatever you need to you
need to get in a space where you're comfortable and confident enough to be able to to do whatever
job it is you want to do in this industry and I think a lot of that comes from doing and learning
I mean you may need to work as a PA or whatever like look lurking if you want to learn all the
jobs in production working in a PA is a great job you don't get paid anything but you get to see
and learn a lot of things and if you're on certain Productions if you take interest in certain things
people may take interest in you and you may become oh wow I'm interested in sound well come here look
learn how this works and they'll help you out and then hey I need an assistant next time why don't
you you'll be the boom guy and then you go and you do that you can wear a lot of different hats being
in PA and you can learn and kind of figure out maybe what who your tribe is if that makes sense
even extra work and you get fed and you get paid yeah you want to see how like how it works right
understand it I mean it's there's there's lots of ways to learn and get paid a little bit at least
how does a filmmaker know they have something to offer a story worth telling
it's a great great question the
I always like to say if it's original that's one thing if it's some or it's something you haven't
seen in a long time that's another thing too I think that you learn of it's original by watching
by like learning and reading and watching a lot of different movies to understand the landscape
or the genre even let's say for example of what you're trying to like do I I think that if it's
if it's not just watching the films it's reading it's understanding story it's understanding what
other stories are out there like this is there a book that's exactly like this what I'm trying to
write right here is there another movie that like from here to Sundance that was about a guy living
in iron lung or something like this whatever you're trying to do there might be something
similar to it so check beforehand make sure it's somewhat original and then ask yourself there's
an audience for this like should going back should this movie be made is there an audience for this
who's going to watch this film who's going to pay to see this film right because people want their
money back at the end of the day you can only you can only do so much with investors you get one
chance with certain investors you never make that money back yeah you might not get a second chance
what if the story is about the writer director producer and it's their story and they're just
convinced everyone wants to see it they may people may want to see that but is there a
delusion sometimes when people have their own story I think there's absolutely a delusion
I think unfortunately people are very they're very what's the word ah they they really do
believe that their story is the most important Story Ever Told probably right and it's the most
interesting story ever told and sometimes it's not sometimes it's just not I think that you have
to have other people that that's what producers do producers will read your script and tell you
oh listen I think that there is something here like so there's other people's opinions that sort
of matter I don't think it's just in a vacuum a writer director coming up with something that's
just going to be brilliant I think there's always people that are going to help that project along
and actually even tell you look I I'm encyclopedic with my knowledge of horror for example like I can
tell you that movie I've seen it 10 years ago and it wasn't done very well then so this movie
may actually work or this movie there's a movie that came out just like it like last year and it
was done really well I had a couple friends that had like there's this has been the year of like
cannibalism for some reason right and like for me years past there was no cannibalism movies
right and all of a sudden this year there's like three different ones four different ones that are
actually mainstream films that like hit whatever these poor guys are just pulling their hair out
because they're just like ah we thought we were making something new and just luck of the draw
I guess just so happens but I guess the question I guess was what was the question it was if how
do I tell something's original sorry oh no how does the filmmaker know they have something worth
telling I mean because you love the Fablemen's but that's because Steven Spielberg has this long
fascinating story and a track record yeah but or Sam Mendes he did Empire of light as sort of an
Ode to his his life as well but these are people that have already been out there where there's
someone that's just the writer director producer and it's their first one and it's about them
how how does someone know that it's worth telling look I think that you have a team around you that
in addition to yourself you should have some experienced people around you to say yeah listen I
haven't seen that before or yes I can see how this could be a very Niche thing and we could probably
get into Sundance or we could get into some place like this and get you awareness and awareness is
key because even like on this very personal story you still have to sell it and actually make money
off of it and like how are they gonna do this there are so many movies that play at Sundance
now that a don't get sold and B like even if they even if they did get sold to somebody at Sundance
they scratch their heads as to how they're going to Market this film and it comes out in
two theaters and then dies to slow death someplace you never hear about it again and that goes back
to the idea like how are we going to Market this film and who is this movie for right again I think
that the answer to the question is I think you should surround yourself with enough people who
are experienced people they can kind of help and guide you to kind of maybe let whether this is
experience this is something that should be made or not or even like this is something we have seen
or not seen or do we think it's marketable in some way to somebody right I think those that's the
answer to the question you should you should try to get advice and surround yourself with people
the more the more you can mentors whatever what have you that can probably kind of maybe guide
and is that also because maybe there's a curse with Sundance because these are all autors these
are all people that love Cinema but whereas what's really going to sell is Middle America where maybe
people won't want to see these Art House films or maybe they will I mean look even in the horror
community we like we had our 1BR film debuted at Fantasia which is like arguably like there's
two huge genre festivals in the world and one of them is that and the other one's stitches in Spain
and we got pulled aside we didn't win anything we got pulled aside by one of the judges and
she's like listen you didn't win anything but I'm gonna tell you I think you're going to be
the most successful movie out of here this this this particular year because there is something
that's very mainstream about the film and I think that people are going to want to see it and true
enough between like ourselves and this other movie The Wretched and swallow we were the top probably
the top three films in terms of how we produced in the actual Marketplace so even though we weren't
the artsiest or most original in some way we still were able to do something in an interesting regard
where does your confidence come from, I think I'm just old. I mean I just turned 50 this year and
I think I've seen a lot of stuff and I think the other part of it is that I just don't care anymore
like I mean like I care and I'm strategic and political right but at a certain point I'm I'm
with age I've become less fearful right and once I figured out that like we did one movie and I
have contemporaries and you become friends with other filmmakers and you see they're doing it
and they did this and you can do this you get confidence from from meeting other filmmakers
and and and having made at least one film to the point where you don't feel fearful about
you don't have as much fear as you usually had when you hadn't you had made a film when you
made one at least it's under your belt you can kind of move on to other things
but I hope that answers the question I get I guess going back to it I think mine is
I I I've I'm fairly I'm a fairly confident person but I've been more fearful in life but now I'm
less fearful with age I guess to say that makes sense what was the fear about was it that you
didn't want to come out of failure or disappoint someone sure I mean I think that's I mean that's
that's universal with anyone I mean I think that I'm not saying I'm high high functioning
or something like that oh God I'm a normal person but I think that like I'm a very prideful person
in certain regards too and like I tested movies for 18 years I'm gonna make a like piece of crap
movie like that that would kill me that would kill me that like I had done that on a personal
level like you've been able to help other people with their films you can't help yourself with your
own film that kind of thing so there is sort of a sense of Pride and and Pride base of Prior career
let's call it that that's in the mix but like look I mean I think the other part of it is that
we all have something holding us back I mean sometimes we hold ourselves back like oh this
script isn't good enough or this this this money is not enough money right whereas if you just went
out there and jumped in the pool you'd be much better off you learn how to swim a lot faster
rather than sitting on the side of the pool and like waiting for is this the right time
I should jump since I do it now should I did it just jump in that's what I would tell you.