The weekend's Film Independent Forum began with a keynote Q&A in which the special guest speaker said that independent film doesn’t exist, and then slammed one of the forum's chief sponsors.
That's what they get for inviting Werner Herzog.
The passionate and prolific German director was typically colorful and outspoken on Saturday morning in a Q&A that launched the two-day series of discussions on the art and business of independent film -- just as Film Independent no doubt knew he would be when they invited him to their seventh annual event.
One of his main points was that truly independent film is a myth – that once a movie gets beyond the level of a backyard home video, it's "dependent on money, on distribution systems.”
But he still had lots of advice for the aspiring filmmakers in attendance, from the type of jobs they should take (he suggested a maximum security prison or a sex club) to the speed at which they should shoot and edit (fast and faster).
Herzog often narrates his own films and occasionally takes acting jobs, recently finishing a role as the bad guy in "One Shot," a movie directed by Christopher McQuarrie and starring Tom Cruise. And at one point in his talk, he took aim at the Screen Actors Guild, saying that he'd like to launch his own acting union as an alternative to what he said are SAG's draconian rules.
The problem, he said, is that a friend of his is currently making a film, and Herzog planned to do a couple of lines of voiceover for free, as a favor to his friend. But those plans prompted a nasty letter from SAG -- which pointed out that as a member, he was not allowed to do it without being paid.
"I'm thinking of starting my own acting union," he said, after criticizing the guild whose SAGIndie division was one of the chief sponsors of the Film Independent Forum. "If any of you know how to do that, let me know."
Later, when the floor was opened up to questions form the audience, the first person to speak did just that, telling Herzog that he was a lawyer and could help out.
"Well, I'm not going to do it right now," demurred Herzog. "But if it ever comes up again … "
Elsewhere at the weekend forum, an array of panelists grappled with the mutating beast that indie film has become.
Documentary filmmaker Arthur Dong, for instance, talked about forming an advisory board of high-profile leaders before he even makes his movies, involving them in every step of production and then often enlisting them and their organizations to help in marketing efforts once the films are completed.
A panel of film festivals talked about ways to take fullest advantage of the festival experience, and also how to get your film noticed in the submission process -- though the most notable example, a horror film that was submitted to festivals a few years ago in a package that also included a bloody baseball bat, was not held up as an example to follow.
