Professionalism Isn't a Lost Art

We started the weekend with unexpected auditions for a new sci-fi series pilot with a local indie film writer and producer. Local. Indie. I wasn't expecting much but figured the audition would be good experience for my little actress who wants to make the leap from stage to film just like her momma.
    From the start, though, this producer caught me by surprise. Instead of the usual "home studio" you often see with indie film around Houston, he had a real office. It wasn't much, but it was clear he and his partners took their business seriously. Yes, there was even a name plate on the door and a small reception area. So what if he was the one who came out to greet us? Presentation counts.
    Even more surprising, he had actually bothered checking out our IMDB pages before we arrived. He had sides ready and a plan. He was careful to ensure my under-age daughter or the friend she brought along were never alone with him or his partners who were also there. He sat down with my daughter and I before we auditioned and went over what he wanted from each of us. Once he put us through our hoops, he sat down with us again and "sold" his plan for the series, explaining exactly where he was in the development process (still writing the initial episodes) and what he planned to do next. He asked relevant questions and, though he said he was excited, never crossed that bridge of inappropriate language or TMI that so often happens in the film world.
    I'll admit, I'm usually reticent to work with personal unknowns in the indie world. Especially when it comes to projects I allow my daughter to participate in. But this producer/writer excites me, not only because he has a clear vision and the passion and means to get his projects done, but because he was very professional.
    Let's step back a bit to explain why this is important. For the last several months I've been stalled on what looked to be a promising, maybe even awards-worthy feature project with an established, if not small, studio. Despite the high level of interest from backers and other industry pros, this project has really never gotten out of the gate. It's not for lack of creative effort nor for lack of an amazing story, but it is definitely due to an intermittent lack of professionalism. In this case, one that involves too much alcohol (not on my part).
    I've noticed a lot of people who seem to try very hard end up failing despite mounds of talent. Often it is because their professionalism fails behind drinking too much, getting high, making inappropriate sexual advances or treating their project as a dating service, speaking like a high schooler, ("LOL" is not a word, youngsters), unpreparedness/unplanned, film-ignorance, egoism, obstinance or just plain acting the diva.
    It just brings to light how important it is to ALWAYS BE PROFESSIONAL. No matter how creative, smart, experienced or passionate you are, your professionalism will make the difference in whether actors, producers, CDs, DPs, editors, or any other potential crew member will want to commit their time to working with you. You can have a casual look, be unique, and still be professional. You just need to have a plan, be respectful, and behave like an adult. This will bring credibility to both your project and your name. Without it, well, good luck getting anything off the ground.

Featured Talent: Maya Clarady, tween quadruple threat

Maya Clarady

Maya Clarady
Actress, Dancer, Model, Singer, V.O., Host
Age range: Tween (pre-teen/young teen)
http://www.imdb.me/MayaClarady
bookmaya@outlook.com
832-859-8299
What we love about Maya:
Incredible acting range, from comedy to drama and sci-fi without blinking.

Memorization skills exceed most her age whether it's her lines, lyrics or choreography. Give her a day and she's got it!

Easy to work with - directors & choreographers just love working with Maya thanks to her great personality and willingness to follow direction.

 Loves to snorkel and fish, especially on the Caribbean Sea

Dreams of landing her own Disney series.

 Trains in 5 styles of dance, but Hip Hop is her favorite.

Has seven pets, including a ball python and a 125lb dog.

Got her first fashion model feature spot at three, for a children's boutique.


NEXT: Will be shooting a sci-fi TV series' pilot episodes, in a lead role.



To submit your profile or favorite artist, use the comments below or message @FracturedMom on Twitter. Be sure and include why you think your artist should be featured and how to reach you for more information.

Not Every Film Should be a Platform

I'm a big Star Wars fan. Anyone who knows me even moderately knows that about me. Star Wars Episode IV had a material impact on my life at a very young age. Seeing Princess Leia running the Rebellion when I was seven years old taught me women could be strong and could be leaders. I also wanted to be Han Solo. I was really grossed out when he and Leia kissed.
     One thing I always appreciated about the Lucas-driven Star Wars franchise was that it was SAFE. Safe for parents looking to escape the stresses of every day life. Safe for kids seeking new ways to expand their imaginations and dream of worlds far, far away. Safe from all the pressures modern society puts upon us. Safe from all the sex that invades almost every other form of entertainment.
     So when I saw ScreenCrushes' article about Star Wars Celebration Europe, well, I was crushed. When did our world become so agenda-driven that even JJ Abrams has succumbed to the pressure to use our precious, safe Star Wars as a platform? You see, ScreenCrushes' writer pressured Abrams about including a gay character in the next episode and he said "Of course!"
     Wait! What??? Star Wars has NEVER been about sex. It's never been about the agenda du jour. It rises above our petty differences by NOT talking about things that would make a seven-year-old go "Blech!" Let's face it, when Anakin and Amidala got all mushy in Episode II, the target audience got the heebie jeebies. I mean, there was KISSING! How the heck is any character's sexual preference and/or gender identity supposed to fit into the Star Wars universe without alienating the biggest part of its dedicated audience? (Hint to Disney: you didn't buy it because the target audience was Starbuck's swilling 20-30 somethings with identity issues. You bought it because it appeals to the PG-aged set who also happen to buy tons of tie-in merchandise. Let's face it, if you're selling tie-ins at Toys R Us or the Disney Store, you're marketing it to kids despite MPAA ratings saying it's for 13+. You bought a franchise long marketed to 7+.)
     Here's another tip: 7-12 is NOT the appropriate age group to target gender identity or sexual preference messaging. At that age, kids are barely conscious of the fact that boys and girls have different equipment, and they're still convinced the other sex has cooties.
     Dear Hollywood, please don't destroy childhood innocence with your need to conform to every agenda out there. Star Wars and other child-friendly fare just isn't the place to talk about sex, and sexual preference is too mature a topic for kids under the age of 12. It is an excellent place to continue to show diversity by placing characters of varying race and species in close proximity. But let's not up the gross factor by making sexual preference a big deal where a simple kiss between opposite gender adults is barely more than kids can stomach. By forcing this into family-targeted films, you may be "including" 2% of the U.S. population, but you'll be excluding 80% of your current audience by forcing conscientious parents of elementary school cootie-believers to skip the next film. (Not because of the gay aspect, but because of the forced focus on topics too mature for younger brains.)
     Yes, there is a right place for including LGBT. Star Wars, which has long been marketed to kids regardless of rating, or anything rated G or PG is simply not that place. Disney, families trusted when you bought the property from Lucas you'd keep it kid-friendly. Don't break that trust, please.
     Filmmakers, I've said it before and I'll say it over and over again: KNOW YOUR AUDIENCE. That includes understanding who's going to see your film based on how you're going to market it BEFORE you decide to toss in your agenda messaging. I don't care if you're talking about racism, sexuality, violence or whatever - any film that attracts kids is simply not the place. Change your marketing or create a new franchise, but don't "message" kids. Ever.

Killing Credibility with Casting

Sometimes it's the screenwriter's fault, but usually not. Let's face it, as a filmmaker/ producer/ director, you have the final word on casting choices made for your film. This used to be a no-brainer kind of job since all women were young and pretty and all men were dashing and attractive by Old Hollywood standards. Age only mattered if the part called for a woman and it was once perfectly okay to restrict all female roles to 18-30 age group. By okay, I mean "accepted practice."
     I've said it before and will probably say it a million times: filmmakers need to take their casting choices more seriously with today's sophisticated audiences. Women now buy as many, if not more tickets than men do. More women make household buying decisions than men, buy a ration of 2:1. Your market is no longer Ward Cleaver, folks.
     If you want to be taken seriously as a filmmaker, you need to demonstrate that you can make good choices casting. Here are some of the more recent casting missteps that have left audiences fuming and actors befuddled:

• Casting men over 50 with 20-something romantic interests. (This is male fantasy, not reality.)
• For that matter: any decade+ age gaps between the male & female romantic leads.
• Casting 20-somethings as high schoolers. Audiences aren't buying it anymore.
• Casting white people as minorities. We can see the make-up and don't buy the CGI, folks.
• Casting minorities as the wrong nationality. (Asians are NOT Native Americans. Not all Asians are Chinese or Japanese. Native Americans are not Hispanics. Native Americans are not Indians or Arabic. Need I go on?)
• One of my favorites: impossible parent castings. My daughter was recently called to audition for a film that was looking for a female child 11-16 and the mother - yes, biological - to be 21-25. Wait, what? Um, idiots: You do realize that mom would have been at MOST 10 years old when giving birth in that case, right? No one is going to buy that and I pulled my kid from the audition because the filmmaker obviously had a screw loose.
• Casting women 40-50 only in grandparent and elderly roles. Really?
• Everyone in the cast is blond or red-headed. I mean, everyone.
• All unlikable characters are minorities. Racist much?
• All dumb people are blond <> All blond people are dumb.
• All smart people are Asian.
• All rich people are white & speak with a British or "Harvard" accent. (Ever met Bill Gates?)
• All Asian people are martial arts experts.
• All gay men are flamboyant or pansies.
• Lesbians all look like men or supermodels.
• Police & military all look like body builders or NFL linebackers. (Tip: Navy SEALS are usually under 6' tall. Same with AirForce pilots.)
• Family members who share no visible genetic similarities. (I.e. if both parents have brown hair and brown eyes, kids probably should, too.)
• The funny/obnoxious fat person.
• The giant-boobed rocket scientist.
• The forced interracial couple.

In case this is confusing for you, here are some basic, simple rules to follow when casting in 2016:

• Your top priorities should be acting ability and character fit. Always screen test.
• Get the race/nationality right, or at least as close as humanly possible if it matters to the character.
• Avoid cliché stereotypes. (Dumb blonds, smart Asians, mean brunettes, black/Hispanic villains.)
• Use actors who are ACTUALLY the right age for the character. (Hint: most women CAN'T give birth before they're 12-15 years old, most are over 20 when they have their first child.) If the screenplay calls for a middle-aged woman, cast someone OVER 35. Duh.
• Reflect the real world.
• Most of your cast should be average looking, not twigs & supermodels.
• Pay attention to chemistry. Young, beautiful women aren't REALLY attracted to older, ugly men. Everyone outside of Hollywood seems to grasp this concept - so should you.
• If you must cast that talentless family member or person you hope to sleep with later, put them in a crowd of extras, PLEASE.

Review: The Secret Life of Pets

I'll admit I've been looking forward to this one since I first saw the trailer back at Christmas. I know, I know, I'm a mom and it's a kids' film and I want to see it as badly as I want to see "Star Trek: Beyond..." Sue me.
     All I have to say is GO SEE IT. Fans of the old Bugs Bunny methods of slapstick humor and inside jokes meant for grown-ups are going to love this film. I took two twelve-year-old girls and could hear them laughing constantly. And snorting. It's a good film when the self-absorbed tweens snort.
    If you happen to have been living in a box and missed all the trailers for this film, the run down is this "tiny dog" with the highly original name of Max is living the happy, spoiled life of a Manhattan pet in the typical hipster walk-up. Just as he's done bragging about how close he and his owner are, she shows up with Duke, I giant fur ball with an attitude, and presents him as Max's new "brother." Max is not pleased. Duke is a bully. Chaos ensues.
     Each of the characters is both a sketch of a prototypical comedy persona and a dead on impression of at least one of the pets living in my house today. Even the evil villain bunny is adorable and unstable in that psycho way every fluffy bunny owner secretly believes their little long-eared friend must be. People are barely character sketches in this film, which leans on a formula that only Disney seems to have pulled of successfully in the past.
     Unlike its competition, this film makes almost no attempt to pull at the heartstrings. There's a split-second hint of bittersweet, but seriously, only for a moment. This one is pure end-to-end movie fun, with or without the 3D aspect. (You don't need it to enjoy this one.) It was incredibly refreshing to just sit back and enjoy a kids' film that didn't slap me in the face with a "message." Sure, there's the typical theme of loyalty and friendship you find in most family films, but it's subtle and done so smartly as to be almost invisible. The "Secret Life of Pets" was also glaringly devoid of the usual brainless fart jokes and bathroom humor lazy writers lean on when it comes to most formulaic kid crap released lately.
     Fair warning - the "scary" aspects will probably be too much for the average feint-hearted four year old. There is definitely a lot of cartoon violence and some frightening creatures run with the bad bunny. There are car chases, massive accidents and some bad-a** poodle ninja action. Grade school and junior high kids will find it hilarious, pre-schoolers will probably cry, hence the PG rating. Oh, and grandpa won't fall asleep and snore like the old guy we sat next to earlier this year. (It was a G movie.)
     So, buy your tickets early - even the previews are selling out and for good reason. "The Secret Life of Pets" opens nationwide tomorrow, July 8th.
    

"The BFG" - Big Failure?

Yeah, yeah - the headlines have already declared Stephen Spielberg's "The BFG" a box office bomb. It's taken in over $26M this holiday weekend in US gross alone, which is not too shabby for a fairy-tale film. So why declare it a failure right out the gate? Sadly, the current pace shows this kid-friendly summer fare will fail to earn back the $140M Disney sank into it.

The real question is, why the dismal returns given the big names involved? Has Spielberg lost his mojo? Are current generations just unfamiliar or apathetic toward the works of Dahl? Did marketing fail to get the word out?

     More than likely, it's the film itself. Here's a few of the problems I see up front:

• For a big budget summer release - this feature lacks any recognizable faces. The Disney audience (think 5-12 year-olds) is used to seeing their favorite stars lead Disney pictures when live action is involved. This one boasts a newcomer (the adorable Ruby Barnhill) and no familiar characters like its oceanic competition.
• It's dated, but not appealingly so. For some inexplicable reason, this one seems to be set in the 1980's, but only referentially via a "Nancy & Ron" reference. Today's kids are, well, self-centered. If you're going to set a film in the past, it has to hit them on the heads with it or focus on a timeline they recognize.
• The pacing is slow. Painfully slow at times. The film is, as expected, beautifully shot and filled with gorgeous FX, but someone must've fallen asleep in the editing room. The timing is just...off.
• There's little to no humor. This film is bittersweet and somewhat sad. There's very little funny involved, with the exception of a couple of scenes. Kids today aren't attracted to bittersweet.
• The story itself doesn't speak to modern audiences. In a world where people are fighting for acceptance for all kinds, this story misses the opportunity to highlight common struggles, glossing over the conflict sure to arise when the BFG first reveals himself to the "human beans." Even the anti-bullying message is lost in all the FX gloss.
• It's too long for it's target audience. This film is rated PG, (which explains all the missed opportunities within the story), automatically targeting the 5 to 12 age group. At 1:57 running time, no sane adult is going to bring a young child to see it in the theaters. Let's face it, anything over 85 minutes is straying into meltdown territory for younger kids, and guarantees you're going to miss at least 5 minutes running to the bathroom mid-show.
• Timing - Disney is splitting it's own audiences by opening during the "Finding Dory" run. With most kid-oriented films enjoying 6-8 week theater runs lately, it hardly makes sense to launch "The BFG" two weeks after the much-anticipated "Finding Dory," which targets the EXACT SAME AUDIENCE. I think this film would have fared much better around the winter holiday season or early fall, when fewer family films are available and the story of an orphan finding a home feels more significant than the mid-summer popcorn and explosions season.

All that being said, I enjoyed the film. Mostly because the CGI "BFG" looked and acted an awful lot like my long-since-passed beloved grandfather. Okay, and the story is sweet and Ruby Barnhill was adorable. Plus, I'm a Roald Dahl fan and could watch "James and the Giant Peach" over and over again. My 12-year-old indie fan of a daughter also enjoyed the film, but it merited only slightly above the "Meh" rating for her.

What can aspiring filmmakers do to avoid similar financial quagmires like "The BFG?" It's simple:

1. Know your target audience. If you're targeting kids, keep it short and funny.
2. Remember even classical adaptations need to "speak" to modern movie-goers.
3. Edit, edit, edit. Even big budget films could use a good trim before release.
4. Watch your release dates! Especially when the competition is your own studio.