The glitz. The glamour. Riding in mile-long limousines and working with
movie stars. Actually, directing is hard work, persistence and more than a
dash of old-fashioned good luck. And the hardest thing about directing is
getting the job.
"After that, it's very hard physically. You work long hours -- 16-hour
days for seven days a week. It's mentally and physically exhausting, but it's
the most fun job in the world," says director David Schmoeller. And he should
know -- he's been a director for over 20 years.
If directing is so exhausting, why does Schmoeller like it? "Because making
movies is like getting to play with the most fun toys in town, and they belong
to you. You get to decide who can play with you, and how long they can play.
You're the king kid and it's a great kick."
And he's quick to encourage newcomers into the directing arena. "I teach
an acting class and a directing class, and I always encourage everyone to
act or direct. I have lots of wisdom, but the only thing that's ultimately
important is [that] you have to be obsessed if you want to be a director.
You have to want to direct more than anything. And nothing will stop you."
Schmoeller recently shot a children's film in Romania called The Secret
Kingdom. Most of his films have been shot in Los Angeles and out of the country.
He's been working on the children's film every day for six months now.
"During shooting, you eat and sleep the movie. There's no other life."
Peg Campbell is a film director and a film production teacher. She says
there are two ways to get into film -- get an education or work your way up
through the union over the years.
"The problem is, if you want to direct, how do you get to direct? The main
thing is just to go and do it," says Campbell. However, film institutes provide
the necessary experience to break into the business. "If you have a vision,
and you pull a team together around you who all believe in that vision, then
you'll do fine."
The hardest part of being a director is getting enough money to pull together
a project. "I teach in order to supplement my filmmaking."
"If you want to direct, direct!" says director Joe Thornton. "Coerce your
friends and intimidate the weak into helping you.
"That finished film is the measure that will be used by others to determine
if you really do have what it takes to be a filmmaker."
Directing is an addiction to Thornton, and he cautions anyone entering
the field to be very wary of that aspect of the career.
"You get a high from working in this business, and when you hit downtimes
and no more adrenaline flows, it can be really hard on those people you're
involved with....You have to be a person who believes in the dream and never
stops until that dream is accomplished."