Film Courage: About a year and a half ago Shane you wrote a book entitled What You Don't Learn
in Film School. If we proposed a sequel to this book maybe What They Don't Teach
You After 20 Years in the Film Industry, what would be the main crux of that book?
Shane Stanley, Filmmaker/Author/Instructor: That's a great question. Wow
I think as I talk about in the book every day I learn something new. Every day and
I’ve been producing for over 30 years and I’ve been in this industry 49 of them
and every day I learned something new and I think what's most important is whether you're
on the executive side or you're on the artistic side I think you have to be open to change. You
have to be open to learning from your mistakes and owning them. I think I don't think enough people
own their mistakes and I think we grow from our mistakes instead of burying them and
having a fall guy or a scapegoat I think the biggest thing that I see is people not learning
I think I think it goes back to putting your pride aside you know i've come from a very humble
educational documentary film beginning and then was very fortunate to to run a company that did
a lot of studio films and you know ultimately doing gridiron gang and working with networks
and I have I have come back to being an indie guy and and it's by choice I mean I don't know
maybe nobody wants me in Hollywood proper but I didn't give them the chance to say they didn't I
just decided to go back to what I love but what I see in a lot of the people that I
that I come in contact with or I work with that are trying to find their way is
I think they're more concerned about public perception about what they do
and how they come off than actually doing the work I find more people spend most of their
time trying to gloat about what they're doing on social media and hey I get it it drives drives
projects for some people a lot of people are more interested in having you know fake it to you make
it or perception is everything I get that I don't I don't endorse it but I understand it and I think
what what I find interesting is there's some of these filmmakers that I that I personally know
will absorb a lot of information whether it's from me or other people that you've had on film courage
or other filmmakers that they know that have been through the good the bad and the ugly and they
love taking the meetings but they don't apply it and i'm just as guilty of it i'm not saying that
you know I have all the answers because I clearly don't but I one thing I don't do is i'm you know I
learned to sing when I was in high school is it even a dumb dog doesn't look a hot stove twice
I try not to do that in what I do I try to learn and make the next better you know even if it's
just from a production standpoint last time we were together I was getting ready to do a film
in the heat of covid you know we shot that in november december october november and december
of last year in 2020 when other projects were getting shut down we we took over 400 coveted
tests we didn't have one positive we we had so much fun we had I always worked with a small crew
anyway they gave us you know with the mandates from the union we we couldn't have more than
20 people on a set including cast and crew it was the most fun I ever had making a movie in my life
and moving forward i've learned to take that experience and how I can make the next project
better for for everybody and it wasn't just about having a smaller crew or being
stuck doing three tests a week for covid it was it was about I think there was a lot of
it was people were so happy to be back out working and interacting with each other
but it reminded me again of the respect that we need to have for one another how blessed we are
to be in this industry whether you're making a 500 film or a 50 million dollar film we are equally as
blessed where we get to do something we love and just trying to remind ourselves it's only a movie
I learned something from martin sheen 100 years ago we were doing a film together
and it shot over over the holidays and god god bless him he he for some reason he didn't go back
for one of the holidays when everybody else broke so it was it was adam kane martin sheen myself and
and I think it was susan mcguire our a.d and the four of us went out to a holiday dinner in arizona
we were making a film and he told the story of his heart attack on apocalypse now you know which
everybody's heard different versions of it I heard it directly from him and i'm not going to relay
the story I wouldn't want to waste everybody's time on that you can research it but the one thing
mr sheen said is he was being wheeled into the hospital for his surgery after having his heart
attack was his wife jan leaned over and looked at him and said it's only a [ __ ] movie martin
and here at that time they didn't know it was going to be one of the most iconic films
in Hollywood history but when when he said that I never forgot it because what we do
is special to us and hopefully the people that our work touches and people that see it but in
the grand scheme of life it's only a movie and I try to remember that I try to remember that
when we go on set every day you know we're blessed to be there have a smile you're not
sitting in a cubicle trying to raise money to make a movie you're out making a movie
and I and again it's it's just I think the next book going back to your question of an hour and
a half ago karen I think is it's bringing a sense of of joy and and feeling blessed regardless of
what it is you're doing we all want to do bigger better things at a bigger scale and get paid more
for it but it's not about that be in the moment love the moment and realize that you know people
only go go to the moon once usually I don't think there's many people have been to the moon twice
and and I look at every opportunity to shoot a film is going to the moon and just enjoy the
moment build those relationships treat people that you the way you want to be treated because
the day's going to come or that pa on your set is going to be the guy running hbo or you know
three arts entertainment or something and and you know it's it's mind-blowing how going back to what
we talked about with suits and artists it's the way people treat each other especially in this
business it's not always favorable and I know i'm not perfect and i've i've raised my voice and been
upset with people and I i'd like to think I go back and make it right but I think what i'd like
to see people do is is build more relationships and build more of a family within their core
not just look to get through tuesday get the film done on time on budget move on I think you look at
some of the most successful filmmakers that that have come through and especially in the old days
and there was a there was a family you know when hitchcock made his films people all stepped up and
helped each other there wasn't a divide you know when he was making psycho and he was sick and was
out for a week or two you know the ad directed the film his wife stepped in and did some directing
I mean you know that's that's a family atmosphere and I wish there would be more
of that in our industry and people weren't just interested in me me me I think it's it's about us
stronger together you think too so if we if we took the first book film school and everyone's
about going out there making their mark and when you're younger it's definitely more about
competition and wanting to prove yourself and then maybe life has different knocks and
different things happen and it becomes more about meaning and so maybe that's also something that's
you know after 30 years it's more about what does this project mean to me and and am I doing what I
want to be doing I think that's a big part of it I think that if we can grow from everything we do
you know I think that's the key is growth and and trying to build something special so the next one
is better and bigger it doesn't mean it's going to be financially bigger or financially better
but the experience and I think when you have an atmosphere on a set that people feel a part of
regardless of the guys coming in once a week to empty the toilets or the start of the show if
people feel a part of something I think it really shows on screen you know we talk about that a lot
in the book is temperament respect on a set and how it ultimately is going to affect your actors
you know they are such sensitive beings their their antennas are way out they're picking up
on every nuance of mood the director and DP are pissed off at each other an ad is upset or snippy
they they they pick up on that and you know I just I think what I was trying to say earlier
is that I think I think everybody is truly in our industry it's every man for themselves but
I think it it shows too much I think people need to remember that it it takes a village it takes
it takes a unit you know we don't we don't storm countries or going to war thinking about one or
two people we go in as a unit you know and I just would like to see more of that in our industry.
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