I had a conversation with a friend of mine today who just validated why my conscience does not bother me in regards to pointing out the stupidities of what goes on in the movie business. She is working on an independent film and is extremely capable. One of those folks that will get the job done no matter what you throw at her.
She’s on a movie shoot which is still in it’s embryonic stages, and related to me the massive amounts of ego, incredible rudeness, and total disregard for anyone who is below (in the pecking order) the people in question on the set of this film. People barking orders in a disdainful manner, as if they’re talking to idiots who most likely won’t get the job done, instead treating everyone like a colleague.
Bad, angry attitudes everywhere, yelling, screaming, and just all around vile behavior that you wouldn’t tolerate at your dinner table from your four year old, coming from the various department heads.
And I thought only the executives were boneheads.
It now makes much more sense to me how a train wreck of a film makes it to the local movie theater. The people in charge are so full of themselves that they can’t imagine anything they’d produce could possibly suck.
Vanity and pride personified.
How very sad.
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5 Comments
That’s not surprising, but it is disappointing. Anyone who has watched Project Greenlight has seen a classic example of this. Matt Damon and Ben Affleck originally created that show to give the “little guy” a chance in the cold, cruel world of showbiz, but all they ended up doing was prove that if you throw idealistic writers and directors to the Hollywood wolves, the results will be predictably disastrous.
As a general rule, friendly and caring people don’t make it very far in Hollywood. There are a few exceptions here and there, but they exist only to confirm the general rule. To survive the constant rejection and disrespectful treatment that is inherent to Hollywood, you need a skin so thick that logic, reason and human decency can’t even get through it. In your quest to keep your self-esteem somewhere north of the gutter, you run the risk of becoming self-absorbed and narcissistic. Even the lucky few who succeed are in for major frustration, because they have to deal with people who only care about themselves and their own agendas. The thick skin they developed all those years ago doesn’t just go away, and the end result is a bunch of jerks who only show respect to the Hollywood suits who can help them reach their career goals. (And some of them can’t even be bothered to do that.)
Brian
Brian,
Nicely said.
Vic
“The people in charge are so full of themselves that they can’t imagine anything they’d produce could possibly suck.”
That sums it up right there. I’ve worked in TV production for the last 3 years, there is nothing but egos in that field too. Everyone of them justifies their abuse as “you have to pay your dues.”. Bull—-.
The whole “you have to pay your dues” bit makes as much sense to me as a father who physically abuses his kids to make sure their childhood is as tough as his was.
Brian
Zipper,
Thanks, nice to have validation from yet another source, although it still stinks.
Vic