41 and done?
So I was reading this article on pitching a film to a studio. It seems that a Michael Davis a 44 year old director of straight to video films has gotten a deal at New Line Cinema to direct a film called "Shoot'em Up". In the article it says that studios in Hollywood don't look at people over 40, and usually stick with young talent. Well I think I know why Hollywood has been loosing some of it's audience. It's the age factor. Hollywood is notorious for it's short sidedness, and it's attraction to youth. All one has to do is look under plastic surgeons and one will find a plethora of doctors all located in the Los Angeles area. But I digress, and this is all nothing new, so why the anachromony? Because I don't think it's over for me. Maybe call me a dreamer, or a hopeful romantic, but I in no way feel like I'm done, and that I'm toast. The old battle cry "I have not yet begun to fight" comes to mind, and I like it. Davis did his homework, and showed the studio what was important. NO hype, just good storytelling ideas, and a plan.
You see Hollywood is scared. The box office is down, budgets are up, salaries are sky high, and the movie going public is voting with their pocketbooks. Some say the DVD revolution is to blame, but that isn't it. They said that about the video cassette in the 80's and here it is 2005 and we still have theaters, and the public still enjoys going to a GOOD movie. Seeing a film in the privacy of ones home is great, but the experience of seeing it with an enthusiastic audience is even better. Movies are communal type things, and like amusement rides people seem to enjoy the emotions one goes through when watching a GOOD movie. Notice I said good movie. The key word in that phrase is GOOD. Which brings me back to the age thing. The 40 and over mentality needs to be dropped. Right now there are several directors who are way over 40, and who are much better filmmakers now then they were in their younger days. They say youth is wasted on the young, and that is sometimes true. The Hollywood model just doesn't work, and it knows it. The world is opening up, and audiences are getting more selective. It costs more to go out and see a movie now, and Hollywood is aiming at the spectacle market. The amusement ride is what Hollywood is interested in, and it's franchise. Good story telling has suffered, and we need a renaissance of good movies to show Hollywood that it's about the story stupid. 40 and over indeed! I think not.
You see Hollywood is scared. The box office is down, budgets are up, salaries are sky high, and the movie going public is voting with their pocketbooks. Some say the DVD revolution is to blame, but that isn't it. They said that about the video cassette in the 80's and here it is 2005 and we still have theaters, and the public still enjoys going to a GOOD movie. Seeing a film in the privacy of ones home is great, but the experience of seeing it with an enthusiastic audience is even better. Movies are communal type things, and like amusement rides people seem to enjoy the emotions one goes through when watching a GOOD movie. Notice I said good movie. The key word in that phrase is GOOD. Which brings me back to the age thing. The 40 and over mentality needs to be dropped. Right now there are several directors who are way over 40, and who are much better filmmakers now then they were in their younger days. They say youth is wasted on the young, and that is sometimes true. The Hollywood model just doesn't work, and it knows it. The world is opening up, and audiences are getting more selective. It costs more to go out and see a movie now, and Hollywood is aiming at the spectacle market. The amusement ride is what Hollywood is interested in, and it's franchise. Good story telling has suffered, and we need a renaissance of good movies to show Hollywood that it's about the story stupid. 40 and over indeed! I think not.
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