02.11.09
Indies Light Up the Box Office!
Yeah, I know, we’ve been gone for a long time.
We’ve been busy. It’s been cold. The economy has, um, shifted.
John Carroll Lynch is in a movie right now. Gran Torino. His co-star, Clint Eastwood, was also its director. It was Eastwood’s second movie out this year. How does he do that? We’re still trying to make just this one.
And despite the fact that John looks uninspired by the company he keeps, nothing could be farther from the truth. Coming off the heels of being directed by Martin Scorsese (that film is not yet in theaters), John calls his workload “an embarrassment of riches.” The rest of us here in the bunker at Remember Minnesota (now also known as Crew), call it “an excursion on coattails.”
Okay, that’s not actually true. None of us are riding John’s coattails. In our dynamic partnership of many, each of us takes a turn as the lead dog. At the moment, Diane Nabatoff is pulling our sled. Sports references aside, she has injected us with momentum, as well as a significant amount of investment capital. At the moment, reaching the final phase of our budget goals is the only thing keeping us from “Ready, Set, Action.”
What Mr. Eastwood is actually pointing to are some rather head-turning articles…
Indies Light Up the Box Office for Another Year (December 2008, The Film Entrepreneur)
“The film business has traditionally been ‘recession-proof.’ …Independent films finished 2008 with a $3.5B share of the North American box office — 3% ahead of its 2007 total.”
Suddenly, Hollywood Seems a Conservative Investment (January 25, 2009, New York Times)
“Wall Street, real estate, the art market — all of those other supposedly stable investment areas — are now such a mess that Hollywood is one of the safer places you can park money.”
Teamwork, Then and Now (January 31, 2009, New York Times)
William McNabb: “Rowing is analogous to business. It takes a tremendous amount of endurance, and you have to train a long period for an event. The sport attracts driven, competitive people, but team members must be willing to let their egos be subservient to the boat. It’s the same in business, where a company can accomplish so much more if everyone works together.”
