I recently shot a short film that I wrote, directed, and produced myself (and will also edit) nothing fancy -- just a film about 6.5 or 7 minutes long. With no budget and a cast of three, one of which turned into a crew member after her scene was wrapped. I was working with an amateur actress with great potential and an actor who has some experience, but kept on talking about how much his girlfriend was not pleased with the kissing scenes in the script. The shoot was fun and I loved working on my first sole project -- what I didn't enjoy was dealing with someone who kept on talking about who he'd met (while working as a paparazzi photographer in LA) and how I should organize my next short film, as well as what he had to do to reassure his gf that he wasn't going to fall for the actress he was working with. I know I'm a novice in this area, being a journalist who is making the crossover to filmmaker, however, I think I have a grasp on what professionalism, organization, and bullsh!tters is...so, how do you guys deal with these sort of people?
Anything Goes : How to deal by LaShawn Pagán
How to deal
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Hello La Shawn, I haven’t been in the movie business all that long, but I have been in the business world for over 20 years and have learned to deal with many situations. However, from what I can tell – making a movie is a lot like running a business project. Sometimes you have to deal with people full of themselves, sometimes they tell you how “they” would run the project, or what “they” would do if this or that, I would say (and have said) to them “well, you are not running this project, are you, maybe you should think about that” That usually shuts them up for me, on a business end anyway. In your situation though, maybe an “Interesting, you should do that on your next project and let me know how it works out” or a variation of some sort if they keep doing it, but eventually you would need to shut this down with something more straight forward, not everyone gets subtlety. ;o) The one thing you need to remember is, you are in charge. You don’t have to be monster about the power, but you need a velvet glove covering your iron fist. How you deal with these situations determines how they interact with you going forward. It’s a delicate balance, there is no doubt, on one hand you don’t wish to alienate them and make them leave your project, but on the other you don’t want them consistently challenging your authority. The first time the actor brought up his gf situation perhaps the slight suggestion of getting someone else so he can deal with his personal problems might have shut him down. This is a nice way to tell him you care about his personal situation, but you also don’t want to hear about it anymore and he needs to deal with it, or move on. Maybe that wasn’t an option for you, and perhaps I don’t know the true “idea” behind film making, but on any business project goals, ground rules, and a clear chain of command needs be set early in order to get moving, and sometimes, even though it may be difficult, the person in charge has to be willing to cut people loose, but only if it is for the greater good. However, there are times where you just have to smile, nod your head, listen, and while this is happening you can gently herd them the way you want them to go. Sometimes, a simple “oh hey, I don’t mean to change the subject but”….if done well, and at the right moment most don’t even know it, and the ones that do, get the message. Dealing with the situations you mention takes experience, and practice. Everyone is different, and needs to be handled differently. I believe you’ll get there, but the key ingredient to dealing, is patience – a lot of it. ;o)
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Thanks for sharing your pain La Shawn! I recently went through the same thing, except the actress was the "boss", lol. In my case, I chose to discontinue the project because my tolerance was too low for such bossiness. I got feedback from several producer mentors who are all much older than I am and have significantly more experience than I do. They felt I should have been more patient, but also understood my reasoning that one person cannot be allowed to disrupt the aspirations of other people. Looking back, I would have confronted her rather than discontinue the project but hindsight is always 20/20. You will deal with this kind of thing over and over and over. All you can do is develop a personal style, maintain your standards, and keep pressing on. You sound very mature so I wish you all the best!
thank you all for commenting as well as sharing some tips on how to deal with it and sharing your own personal stories. At the time I wasn't able to get another actor to fill that role, and it had been "pushed back" for filming three times already, I just wanted to get things done. When my cousin (who is also an actress) suggested him to me along with sending me his head shot and IMDB profile link I reacted with a "let's get this done, he's a professional!" little did I know that I had more of a professional mindset than he did...lol I instructed him on what his character stood for and what I wanted to make sure he translated on screen, as well as what he was supposed to represent for the contrasting leading lady. Also, whenever I spoke he did remain quiet because I was the boss. There was the constant gf thing that was driving me nuts, I did say something like "well, you might need a new gf" at some point. But I guess you're all right, I will have to deal with people like this, and probably even worse during my career as a writer/director - booo them! lol