3/31/13 how to put together a web series | Inside-Out, Outside-In

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Top Five Stupid and Smart Things l Did
Directing a Web Series (and how the lessons will
help my upcoming feature filmj
1nurs!cq Aug 2012
ISTLD Y HINTLRLH IN DLVLLIMLNT
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As many of you knov, I recenlIy vrole and direcled an originaI veb series caIIed, Dumbass
IiImmakers! The shov runs 68 minules over 12 eisodes, so for aII raclicaI uroses, I gol a
greal crash course in vhal il's Iike lo vrile and direcl a fealure fiIm. Inside-ul, ulside-In is
nov scheduIed for a mid-}anuary slarl, so lhe lime is righl lo Iook al vhal I did righl.and vhal I
Iearned.in lhe rocess of making my firsl Iong-form fiIm ro|ecl. Lel's slarl vilh lhe good
decisions I made.
,QYHVWLQJLQ5HKHDUVDOV I don'l knov hov many limes I've heard direclors say lhal lhe firsl
lime lhey heard lhe aclors say lhe Iines lo each olher, lhey vere on sel roIIing lhe firsl lake. The
magic of lhe firsl lake unrehearsed has a sorl of Iegendary hislory vilh some direclors, bul I
made a far differenl choice vilh Dumbass IiImmakers! and I'm gIad I did. AII loo oflen, lhose
direclors have lhe Iuxury of a more reIaxed shooling scheduIe. n lhis ro|ecl, ve had 1O days of
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roduclion, Ius an addilionaI lhree days of reshools lhal vere added. My commilled leam of
aclors senl veeks rehearsing lhe maleriaI in my aarlmenl and on sel before lhe camera crev
shoved u. And I'm gIad lhey did. We needed lo vork oul lhe beals of lhe maleriaI, lhe bIocking
and some naluraI acling chaIIenges lhal come u AHLAD of lime. nce il came lime for
roduclion, ve vere much, much more efficienl on sel because ve had rehearsed and eoIe
knev lheir bIocking and business ahead of lime. If olher firsl-lime direclors vanl lo lry lhe magic
of lhe firsl lake unrehearsed, I'm aII for il. ul in
lhis case, our shooling scheduIe didn'l rovide for a
risk Iike lhal and I'm gIad I made lhe caII lo invesl in
rearalion. And, yes, my ug Romeo sav aII lhe
rehearsaIs go dovn.
2. WrItIng thrcc-dImcnsInna! charactcrs and
dcmandIng that actnrs p!ay thcm that way, cvcn
thnugh thc shnw Is cnmcdy." The biggesl lra I see
vilh aclors in comedy is lhal lhey slarl |udging lheir
characlers as fooIs or Iosers and make fun of lheir
ovn characler vhiIe lhey're Iaying lhe arl. Any
aclor vho audilioned for lhe shov vilh lhis menlaIily didn'l gel very far. I'm nol inleresled in
Salurday Nighl Live, skelch-slyIe acling. More lhan once, aclors vere in lears sobbing deaIing
vilh demons lhal I vanled lo exisl for lhe characler. n lhe vhoIe, I'm salisfied vilh our resuIls
and many eoIe have said lhey nol onIy found lhe characlers funny, bul aIso recognized lhem as
reaI eoIe lhal exisl in Los AngeIes. I'm roud lhal ve sleered lovards a more humanislic brand
of comedy lhan a shaIIov, skelch brand of comedy.
3. CrnwdIundIng. This may reIale more lo roducing lhan direcling, bul lhe decision lo
crovdfund arl of our budgel (made vilh my roducing arlner LIizabelh Gordon) vas a good
one. Mosl of lhe nearIy $5,OOO ve raised came from members of my ovn famiIy, vilh lhe Iargesl
donalion by far coming from my brolher Iarker. (SeciaI nole: Il's relly cooI lhal my brolher an
officer in lhe Army vho |usl relurned from a lour of duly in Afghanislan gave a big chunk of
change for his brolher lo make an LGT veb shov). WhiIe $5,OOO didn'l cover lhe ma|orily of our
exenses, il sure didn'l hurl. And ve vouIdn'l have gollen any of lhal money if ve didn'l ask. Il
gave me a heighlened sense of confidence lo knov lhal my famiIy look lhe sle lo vrile checks lo
suorl my crealive endeavor, a firsl for me. ig credil aIso lo LIizabelh for securing some
donalions from her circIe as veII. Il is nol comforlabIe for mosl arlisls lo ask for suorl, bul
somelimes il ays off.
4. CrcatIng an amazIng pnst-prnductInn tcam. I caII seciaI allenlion lo lhe osl-roduclion leam
because, as a direclor, lhese eoIe are mosl cIoseIy aIigned vilh you as you lake a rav roducl
and refine il lovards your vision unliI a finished iece exisls. So il's exlremeIy imorlanl lo find
amazing eoIe lo heI you vilh lhis arl of lhe rocess. I Iucked oul across lhe board vilh our
lvo edilors Chris Iriend and }ames Lee Hernandez, our comoser Sergio }iminez Lacima, our
osl-audio suervisor David }. Kruk and our coIorisl Sam Meslman. AII lhese guys nol onIy
exerlIy did lheir secific |ob, bul aIso suorled my vision of lhe iece by Iislening lo vhal I
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vanled and lhen finding a vay lo lransIale lhal inlo hov lhe shov sounded, ils ediling rhylhm,
ils Iook. And because lhey couId see so many individuaI ieces of lhe ro|ecl, lhey aII had an
underslanding of lhe scoe of Dumbass IiImmakers! and lhe difficuIly of ils deveIomenl in
osl. Thal emalhy vas key for me in surviving lhe osl-roduclion rocess, because by lhen,
you're so lired and so overvheImed lhal you're nol sure you can kee moving forvard on lhe
ro|ecl. Then you shov u al someone's sludio or an aarlmenl vilh bIinged-oul comulers. A
lechie geek or hisler dude (or bolh) brings you a cu of coffee and you gel lo vork. Thal
unsoken camaraderie vas key lo lhe success of lhe shov and I gralefuIIy acknovIedge il here.
You'II be vorking vilh your osl-roduclion leam a vhoIe Iol more lhan lhe crev on roduclion,
so be sure lhey are eoIe lhal you resecl, lrusl and, yes, Iike (and vice versa). Il's very
imorlanl.
5. PuttIng my !IIc nn hn!d tn IInIsh thc prnjcct. There came a lime in lhe Iasl 12O days of osl-
roduclion lhal I had lo ul my enlire Iife on hoId lo finish lhe ro|ecl. No more dales. No
medilalion. No day |obs. No meelings. }usl al Ieasl 8O-9O hours of vork every singIe veek
vilhoul a day off unliI il's done. WhiIe il's lrue lhal somelimes baIance is necessary, some of lhe
eoIe vho soul lhal off have never finished a ro|ecl of any scoe. I offer a differenl oinl of
viev. There comes a lime vilh your ro|ecl vhen il's Iike a viId animaI or bear lhal you musl
eilher vreslIe dovn lo lhe ground or Iel il go free. Quil Iacebook. Quil vorking oul. Quil your
day |ob if you have lo. Run lhe risk lhal you'II iss off your girIfriend1boyfriend1famiIy1friends
and |usl IINISH THL I'ING THING. nce you do, you viII emerge a nev man (or voman) and
feeI roud of yourseIf. Somehov, lhe olher sluff viII come back inlo baIance evenluaIIy.
HoIIyvood is nol for vims. So don'l be one. I'm exlremeIy roud lhal vhalever ils fIavs my
68-minule ro|ecl has been comIeled. And yeah, viIIover, endurance and a conscious decision
lo forgo everylhing eIse vere a big arl of lhe reason vhy.
FIvc ThIngs I Cnu!d'vc Hand!cd Bcttcr
1. AnxIcty nvcr TcchnIca! Issucs I'm lhe guy lhal anics vhen il Iooks Iike a drive is faiIing lo
fire u or a media fiIe shovs u offIine in IinaI Cul Iro. ul remembering lhal even lechnoIogy is
imerfecl is key lo managing your slress in roduclion and osl-roduclion. Somelimes, lech
sluff goes vonky. DeaI. y lhe end of osl-
roduclion, I Iearned lhal 99/ of lhe lime if a drive
doesn'l shov u vhen you lurn on lhe comuler,
Iel's |usl unIug il and reslarl and il'II robabIy be
fine. ringing lhal slress lo yourseIf and olhers
doesn'l heI anyone.
2. CuttIng tnn car!y. n sel, you gel so caughl u in
lhe rush of lrying lo finish shols lhal aII loo oflen,
you cul loo earIy. Wilh digilaI cameras, il reaIIy
doesn'l cosl you anylhing lo Iel lhe camera run a fev
exlra momenls. And somelimes il's lhose momenls
afler an aclor lhinks lhey've finished lheir business
lhal lhings acluaIIy gel inleresling. More lhan once, my edilor yeIIed al lhe monilor, Why did
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you cul` Why did you cul` Whal haens righl afler lhis` Il's gelling so inleresling! I cul
because, on sel, you're in an adrenaIine mode, so sublIe momenls of humanily lhal occur are
somelimes Iosl lo you. Nexl lime, for safely's sake, I'II Iel lhe camera roII a IillIe bil Ionger lhan
you lhink you need lo.
3. Nnt 5tructurIng thc 5hnw Prnpcr!y. The biggesl fIav in Dumbass IiImmakers! is lhe
slruclure. I originaIIy vrole lhe series as four discrele 22-minule eisodes. We decided lo
basicaIIy shool lvo-and-a-haIf of lhose eisodes lhen vorry aboul il in osl lo break il u inlo
vebisodes. This decision caused me lhe singIe mosl amounl of ain lhan any olher decision
associaled vilh lhe shov. Learn from my dumbass-ness!!! Wrile for lhe medium you're in. If
you're making vebisodes, vrile a five-minule vebisode. Nov, I'm salisfied ve did lhe besl ve
couId lo make somelhing inleresling oul of lhe slruclure. ul on lhe fealure fiIm, I'm so gralefuI
lhal il's been vrillen as a fealure, viII be shol as a fealure and ediled as a fealure. This vas lhe
biggesl ain in lhe ass and remains lhe biggesl fIav in lhe shov.
4. Nnt p!ayIng wIth a!! thc tnn!s avaI!ab!c ahcad nI tImc. In my defense, ve had a comacl
scheduIe roIIing from our shorl fiIm Winner Takes AII lo lhis ro|ecl. ul I vish I'd laken more
lime lo |usl Iay vilh aII lhe looIs avaiIabIe lo me as a direclor ahead of lime. Irom lhe Canon 5D
lo lhe GoriIIa soflvare lo MindNode lo IinaI Cul Sludio, I vish I'd senl more lime fooIing
around vilh lhese vaIuabIe crealive looIs so lhal Iearning vouId lake Iace before lhe slressfuI
scheduIe of making a fiIm ro|ecl.
5. BcIng Daddy. (It's a bny! It's a gIr!! It's twIns! It's cvcrybndy!) Anlhony Hokins famousIy
said, Mosl aclors are damaged goods. Nina Ioch, lhe famed acling coach vhose uiIs
incIuded Sean Ienn, lheorized lhal lhe onIy reason someone becomes an aclor is because lhey are
convinced lhal al Ieasl one of lheir lvo arenls didn'l Iove lhem. Wilhoul insuIling any of my
amazing aclors, I vanl lo say I agree vilh bolh
Hokins and Ioch. Whal's more, many olher crealive
arlisls in olher fieIds reIaled lo fiImmaking are
simiIarIy damaged. And vhen you slra on lhal lilIe
of Direclor, guess vho is lhe aulhorily figure`
Guess vho, consciousIy or unconsciousIy, becomes
lheir Daddy (or Mommy as lhe case may be) lhal
didn'l Iove lhem` YI D. And vhal's more, mosl
arlisls are comIeleIy unconscious of lhe facl lhal
lhey're Iaying oul lheir unresoIved arenlaI issues
(on lo of lheir slress of |uggIing day |obs, acling
cIass, friends and famiIy). And here's lhe kicker.
guess vhal` I'm an aclor, loo. So I'm doing lhe same lhing! Iro|ecling my unresoIved ain and
needs onlo olhers and vanling allenlion and Iove lo fix il. Hovever, vilh lighl scheduIes, lhere's
reaIIy nol a Iol of lime for a direclor lo gel caughl u in being lriggered bul il is aIso, for beller or
vorse, inevilabIe. So lhink of 'eing Daddy' as arl of lhe coIIaleraI damage of 'eing Direclor.'
Somelimes I vas abIe lo channeI il inlo my ovn vork. Somelimes I Iel il lhrov me. ul on lhis
ro|ecl, lhere vas a sense of shock lhal lhis lye of ro|eclion vas even haening. My head kel
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saying, Il SHILDN'T be lhis vay. Il DLSN'T HAVL lo be lhis vay. Wrong. Il does have lo
be lhis vay. Arlisls are vuInerabIe, damaged eoIe and vhen you come logelher lo make a
movie, lhal's a Iol of vuInerabIe, damaged eoIe in lhe same sace (incIuding you!). So execl
yourseIf and olhers lo acl Iike lriggered leenagers from lime lo lime and roII vilh il lhe besl you
can. Il viII be lhis vay on LVLRY SINGLL IR}LCT THAT YI MAKL (lhal's in any vay based
in lhe lrulh, al Ieasl). If you handIe il roerIy, you and your casl may even gel some heaIing oul
of il. Wilh Dumbass IiImmakers! I beIieve ve emerged from lhe rocess as beller human
beings (and I say again, I reaIIy do Iove aII my aclors on lhe shov and lhink lhey're laIenled and
amazing), bul nexl lime il von'l be such a shock lhal vhen you deaI vilh emolionaI lerrain,
emolions come oul.one vay or anolher. Il's normaI and lo be execled.
Nov lhal I've Iearned some vaIuabIe Iessons and can buiId on lhe momenlum of Dumbass
IiImmakers!, lhis bIog viII be shifling relly much fuII-lime lo lhe making of Inside-ul,
ulside-In. Hoe you viII en|oy lhe ride! And in case you're curious, here is a eak al lhe firsl
eisode of Dumbass IiImmakers!

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