Don't D.I. (ALL) Y.

It's no mystery that I'm a bit of a know-it-all. I can shoot a little bit, I can edit like a mother-fucker, I have my moments as a writer, and I'm a control freak. My first film Freeze Out was completed, in a large part, by me. There is a huge DIY movement in the independent film-making community. I mean it is "independent" film right? But there are some pitfalls to doing everything yourself:

1. DON'T LIVE IN DENIAL: Most of the time I work full-time as an editor on reality TV shows. So I naturally started editing my own movie but when I got to a certain point I handed the editing reigns over to my friend Tom Gould. After I had screened my first cut to a bunch of friends I could tell that there was a bunch of stuff that I was probably too attached to. So rather than live in denial I allowed Tom free reign with the material to re-orient the story, change the style, and he managed to shave 20 minutes off the run time. Which was pretty crucial in a comedy. Then I actually went back in myself and edited even more out of it because where he had cut stuff out opened my eyes to other opportunities for good edits. I ended up with a better product because I didn't rely just on myself to make editorial decisions.

2. BE LESS HANDS ON: The more successful a director you are the less people who work for you are going to let touch your film So it's important to spend some time thinking about how you're going to articulate every aspect of your project clearly, succinctly and tactfully. From composition, acting, and lighting all the way through post-production you're going to have to tell many people what their work should evoke, appear to be, or what style touch ups it needs. Don't be a critic and tell them what's wrong. Instead, be a context provider so they can be creative. Tell them how what they're working on needs to fit into the larger whole then let them figure out how to do it.

3. TEAMING UP BUILDS EMOTIONAL INVESTMENT: One of the problems with producing my first feature is that I wrote it, produced it, and directed it. If three separate people had done those jobs there would have been 3 times more man power to get the film done. Of course, sharing responsibility requires a lot of negotiation, but in the end you'll be onto movie number two a lot quicker if you can get some other folks emotionally invested in the film. Then you don't look like a lone nutjob trying to light a scene, script supervise, look at the playback monitor, feed your actors and crew, etc. I wish I'd taken some more time on my first film to collect a core team to help me produce it and by no means am I saying I did it all myself. I just think if I'd won over a few more hearts and minds to the project before I started shooting I would have a lot more strong backs and hands to do some heavy lifting at crucial moments.

Knowing how to do something yourself doesn't mean that you should do it yourself. Just be honest and a bit producerly with yourself. Assess all your needs and think about what you really can do during your production then find as many folks as you can convince to with the highest level of expertise you can to fill every other spot. When it's all over you'll have a much better movie.