Less Fart, More Midget
For anyone who’s tried to make a living in independent film, you quickly realize how important a money job can be. For me, that’s been editing commercials and trailers.
Even after selling my first film Groove at Sundance, it was clear I’d still have to dip into paid work to continue pursuing the films I loved. But I wondered: Will it be possible to deny the pull of the steady paycheck and keep focused on pushing my passion projects up the very long and arduous hill to production?
That’s when a box arrived in the mail from a good friend who was starting his own business. Inside was a beautiful stainless steel Waterman pen, with the words “Less Fart, More Midget” engraved on it in script. This phrase was a verbatim note I received once from an executive giving feedback on a particularly broad comedy trailer I was editing. My friend and I would often invoke this phrase when we’d become frustrated with our personal projects, as a way to renew our commitment.
I’ve used the pen to sign every deal memo or script deal since. This pen is a reminder that, while you sometimes have to do what you have to do to survive, that doesn’t mean you have to give up your personal vision.
I thought this entry would be a be good way to kick of this blog, where I hope to tell stories of finding a way, in an independent film scene that’s increasingly harrowing both creatively and financially, to still do work you care about.
