The most successful filmmaker of our time started somewhere: XENOGENESIS.
As a guest at a recent taping of The Jay Leno Show, I heard James Cameron talk about his earliest experience in the world of film. The episode aired last night at 10.
After years as a machinist and truck driver, he claims to have maxed out his wife’s credit card to make a short film in his living room. The film was inspired by the recent release of Star Wars, in which Cameron recognized a world that reflected many of his own ideas. The short is both amateur and inspired, a machinist’s take on the sci-fi genre. Even though the human element is underdeveloped, the old-school robot fight is almost exciting, and foreshadows Cameron’s creation of THE TERMINATOR.
Xenogenesis got him “a gig” working for Roger Corman, the most prolific B-movie producer of all time. His first feature directing gig was a gem: 1989′s PIRANHA PART II: THE SPAWNING. The film was basically a JAWS ripoff involving a mutant strain of killer fish that originate from a sunken fighter ship. I recommend the article Bad Acting, Boobies and Blood… James Cameron’s First Film. Then his first script, THE TERMINATOR, was produced. And the rest is history: ALIENS, T2, TRUE LIES, TITANIC and AVATAR. Those are just the highlights.
To learn that he was at one time a very normal person encourages those of us who have big dreams and humble realities. But wouldn’t machining be fun too?
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Among the leading production companies Mandate Pictures is unique. It combines spunky, independent fare with commercially solid genre films. The company was founded in 2005 by Joseph Drake (CEO), supported by the prolific executive-producer Nathan Kahane (President), and is now under the creative guidance of Nicole Brown (SVP Production).
Since its birth the indie studio has made its business producing some of the smartest mainstream movies in decades with the likes of STRANGER THAN FICTION and JUNO. The company has hedged the inherent risk of these non-genre films with a number of solid horrors from cult-favorite Sam Raimi by pairing with his Ghost House Pictures. Among those are THE GRUDGE 2, THE MESSENGERS, THE STRANGERS and the recent DRAG ME TO HELL. Mandate has also dipped into broader fare with the family film MR. MAGORIUM’S WONDER EMPORIUM, the broad comedy HAROLD AND KUMAR 2 and the emo darling NICK AND NORA’S INFINITE PLAYLIST.
Mandate’s upcoming releases include Drew Barrymore’s directorial debut, WHIP IT, a dramedy starring indie wunderkind Ellen Page (JUNO) and THE BASTER, a neo-romcom starring Jennifer Aniston and Jason Bateman (ARRESTED DEVELOPMENT, JUNO). Mandate is currently in production with the thriller PEACOCK (another vehicle for the Oscar-nominated Ellen Page). There are also a number of noteworthy projects on the Mandate development slate, the most interesting of which are JAY AND SETH VS. THE APOCALYPSE and I’M WITH CANCER (Seth Rogan attached to both).
Mandate was acquired by Lionsgate in 2007, and since then has grown more than 500% (according to The Hollywood Reporter), helping to buoy the studio in its hour of need. Mandate is located in Santa Monica.
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Video. The combination of moving image, spoken word and music is undeniably effective in captivating our attention, transmitting a message and eliciting an emotional response. It’s the dominant art form of our century. It is flexible and powerful, and now it’s open to virtually everybody. For two thousand bucks you can have a good HD camera and a computer for editing. It’s easy to go overboard in the editing room — because it’s so cheap, so easy and fun to manipulate images and create computer generated content. It’s like being God, or a god, and messing with how reality is perceived. (Zizek has an essay about how the camera is God’s eyeball.) However, like the bad graphics from the 80′s, it’s good to remember that new technology does not result in better art. It actually poses a great temptation to go overboard.
I just saw this video at the Matador Network. It’s by some students and an emerging rap artist in New York. This little production will no doubt launch Nyle into more of a spotlight and bring some musicians and directors to the attention of deep-pocketed producers. It just goes to show what some enthusiasm, talent and coordination can do. This was done in a single take with some masterful use of lighting.
I think of M. Knight Shyamalan’s “Signs” and how not seeing the aliens is more powerful. We fear what we don’t understand. Leave it to the imagination. Probably some other good maxims to apply here, but I’m out.
So, question #1: In film and video production, is less usually more? With a limited budget, less has to equal more. But how much more can we get with how much less?
And one more question (#2): What’s the lowest (inflation adjusted) budget film to reach the big screens on at least a semi-wide release?
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