Re: Entry Fee Rereredux

From: Jason Halprin (email suppressed)
Date: Sat Mar 11 2006 - 06:41:02 PST


--- "jarrod whaley." <email suppressed> wrote:

> So you would argue that there's no difference between being an
> experimental filmmaker and being a recreational fisherman, for
> example?
>
> -->jarrod whaley.

Wow, that's a giant leap in logic. Both are hobbies, yes, but one is
fishing and one is filmmaking. I would, however, argue that
experimental filmmaking can be a very pleasuarble activity, and like
fishing, contains stretches of inactivity, anticipation, frustration,
and success.

Every hobby (as well as every vocation) is unique. I know the reasons
I make film are different than the reasons I paint, make music, play
soccer, go hiking, read travel books, or cook desserts. What they have
in common is that I don't earn any income from them, I do them because
I enjoy them. The energy I put into each activity and the possible
rewards are drastically different.

-Jason Halprin

--- "jarrod whaley." <email suppressed> wrote:

> So you would argue that there's no difference between being an
> experimental filmmaker and being a recreational fisherman, for
> example?
>
> -->jarrod whaley.
> filmmaker. videographer.
> web designer. educator.
> www.oakstreetfilms.com
> www.shakingray.com
> design.oakstreetfilms.com
>
>
>
> Jason Halprin wrote:
> > >From the Oxford American Dictionary:
> >
> > hobby - an occupation that a person does for pleasure, not as his
> main
> > business
> >
> > I never insuated that dedicating your life and energy to something
> that
> > is not financially rewarding does cannot have serious rewards. I
> just
> > mean that teaching, currating, working in a post house, working in
> the
> > film/television industry, and other jobs that many on this list do
> are
> > not making a living from your filmmaking. They are working a job,
> your
> > filmmaking is supported by this other job.
> >
> > I personally find it insulting that the extremely hard work that
> some
> > people have put in to create venues and organizations that promote
> A/G
> > work is so easily dismissed as self-serving.
> >
> > -Jason Halprin
> >
> > --- "jarrod whaley." <email suppressed> wrote:
> >
> >
> >> Jason Halprin wrote:
> >>
> >>> One of the basic facts that exists for many A/G film and video
> >>>
> >> makers
> >>
> >>> (in the US and elsewhere, though not everywhere) is that they
> will
> >>> never recoup the costs that are associated with their work, let
> >>>
> >> alone
> >>
> >>> turn it into a full-time profession. As such it is more
> accuratley
> >>> described as a hobby, and hobbies are money-losing ventures.
> >>>
> >>>
> >> Baloney. One might not accumulate riches on par with the Sultan of
>
> >> Brunei, but many "underground" or "avant-garde" filmmakers can and
> do
> >>
> >> scratch out a meager existence. It just takes a little creativity,
> >> and
> >> the willingness to realize that good work doesn't have to cost a
> >> penny,
> >> if necessary, to make.
> >>
> >> I find this "hobby" business of yours very insulting. Dedicating
> >> one's
> >> life and energy to an often financially unrewarding (but often
> >> financially "livable") form of creativity is not on the same level
> of
> >>
> >> engagement and/or social worth as collecting Star Wars action
> figures
> >> or
> >> building model planes. Be careful with that glue, it's dangerous
> >> stuff,
> >> you know.
> >>
> >>> If you are against paying fees, look for free festivals. Or
> >>>
> >> volunteer
> >>
> >>> for one so that your labor may bring down the fees for that
> >>>
> >> festival.
> >>
> >>> Write the grant proposals, talk to donors, make press releases,
> >>>
> >> pass
> >>
> >>> out flyers, get on the radio, do whatever it takes. It is
> already
> >>> difficult for most of us the share our work with people we don't
> >>> personally know, so if festivals are not a necessity, they are a
> >>>
> >> luxury
> >>
> >>> I believe is worth paying for.
> >>>
> >>>
> >> If you think it's worth paying for someone to potentially throw
> your
> >> work away and never tell you, then go ahead. Wipe your ass with
> $100
> >> bills, for all I care. I just happen to find Charmin to be much
> more
> >> cost efficient, not to mention less irritating to my sensitive
> bits.
> >>
> >> -->jarrod whaley.
> >> filmmaker. videographer.
> >> web designer. educator.
> >> www.oakstreetfilms.com
> >> www.shakingray.com
> >> design.oakstreetfilms.com
> >>
> >>
> >> __________________________________________________________________
> >> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________
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> >
> >
> > __________________________________________________________________
> > For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
> >
> >
> >
>
>
> __________________________________________________________________
> For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.
>
>

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__________________________________________________________________
For info on FrameWorks, contact Pip Chodorov at <email suppressed>.