Walt Stillman

There's a great little interview done by Josh Horowitz with Whit Stillman about what Mr. Stillman has been up to since 1998. You may remember Stillman as the director of "Metropolitan" & "The Last Days of Disco". Apparently Mr. Stillman has been living in Paris, and is writing. I always wondered what had happened to Stillman, and now know.

It has always been my plan to create NOT just one film, but a body of work. I don't think I can create a film that would ever break out and create a feeding frenzy among distributors, but I do believe I have it within myself to create a body of work that has certain themes running through them. Of course this becomes harder and harder since a lot of my time is involved in ordinary mundane things as family and work. I say mundane with a wink and a nod because both have their complexity and their uniqueness. How does an artist find time to do his or her art when life keeps getting in the way. You certainly can't put your life on hold and wait for your artistic expressions to take off. You would miss most of life, and what it has to offer, so you do the time management thing, and see if it works. There are days where you cannot manage to do anything creative because most of the day has sapped you're creative output, and then there are the days where creativity is brimming forth, and you cannot stop the flow of it. So how does the artist do it? How does she or he manage his or her time? I find it hard to work when I force myself to try and be creative. It usually never works, and the results are mediocre at best. I try and find a balance, and work on things when the spirit moves me. I always have a notebook handy, and I have stopped and managed to jot down ideas and thoughts in my private journal where I later pick up on the idea I had. It works most times, and sometimes it gives me time to work on the idea in my head. When I finally sit down and write the ideas come forth, and either work out or don't. I also try to carry a camera with me where ever possible. Nothing fancy. Just a simple small digital camera which can be used as a simple point & shoot type of camera.

All in all it's hard to be creative and I guess that's why I found the Walt Witmann interview interesting. Surly someone as creative and talented as Stillmann would not have a problem getting another film made, but it seems he does. We all have lulls, and I think it's a good thing. These lulls helps us digest what we've learned so far from our artistic endeavors, and makes us a better artists. I just hope my next expression is better, and not too far off in the distance.