Film Courage: What’s been the easiest year you’ve had as a filmmaker and then what
has been your toughest year?
Alex Munoz, Filmmaker and Founder of FYI Films: I think my easiest year was 2000 when I booked
my first film RIOT the Showtime film.
I was brought in under tragic circumstances.
The guy who wrote it was Joseph Vasquez.
He passed away and they were looking for a new director and it turns out that most of
the producers went to USC and there was buzz about my thesis film called Por vida and I
mean I did my first movie right when I got out of film school and I got a commercial
agent and I was doing commercials and my other film got into Sundance (it was such a year).
And yes there is some happenstance in luck…I don’t like to call it luck because someone
died but the writer/director passed away that needed someone to direct his segment and I
had to come in and change it because the way he wrote it (he was from New York, a brilliant
writer director from New York (New York Rican) and I had to make it more LA.
But that was a…I was thinking wow…how did this happen?
I’m directing a film for Showtime and I just got out of film school.
Is this really happening?
I was going to Berlin and going to all of these film festivals.
But the point of ignition was me getting that Showtime movie.
And then…the worst year was probably the year I did.
I don’t even like looking at the film because the producer were not honest.
They cut out eight core scenes and they said we’re going to shoot these scenes in LA
and I said Yes let’s shoot the scenes because if you don’t shoot these eight scenes that
story wont make sense.
We wrapped the film.
We got to LA and they said we are not shooting those scenes.
They never planned to shoot the scenes.
They did shoot some additional new scenes and I found out and I told them You can’t
do this.
I am DGA [Directors Guild of America] and I will report this to the union and my DP
said he would report it also to his union.
And they said if you go to the union we will just drag your name through the mud.
I said Go ahead.
Nothing is going to come up.
So I had to go to my union and fight just to shoot some of the new scenes.
I almost reached the point of surrender where I said to myself I worked really hard to get
into USC.
I worked really hard to come up for the money to pay you to get my master’s degree.
Why am I doing this?
Why am I going to spend six months of my life on a film only to have it re-edited and have
stuff filmed behind my back.
This is BS.
But what I did instead is I just refused to stand under the banner called victim.
I’m going to learn from this and now I am a fiercely independent filmmaker.
I’ve got to have final cut and the films that have done well for me (my most award-winning
films) are films where I had final say in the creative cut because I know what I want
and I am clear about my vision.
But it was a bad year because I wanted to claim the Alan Smithee clause which is if
you don’t like the film, if it deviates too much from your vision you don’t have
to have your name on it but if I took my name off of it I would lose all of the residuals
and I needed the money.
Not only did the film not do well it (it didn’t tank, it was just very, very lukewarm and
then I kind of got a little blacklisted for running to the union and people were…I became
a distant outpost.
No one really wanted to touch me saying this guy went to the DGA like a little baby and
people didn’t really want to talk to me or hire me.
That was a very tough year for me.
But I recovered and you know we survive, we survive and we overcome and we keep going.
My auntie used to say ‘Onward Ever, Keep Going.’
There is a Japanese proverb.
It’s Fall Down Eight Times, Get Up Nine Times.
I have that above my wall, above my desk in my office.