Collaborate or perish

Happy times...this is a few of us aglow after the pitching session. Well, not exactly. I admit this is many hours later, after the stress of the day was diluted with a little Emerson's.

PEOPLE CALL CINEMA the 7th art. I believe that. Great films can be great art. When I used to study and practice fine art, it was a pretty lonely process. Of course I shared studio space with my classmates, and we gave each other valuable feedback. But at 1 o'clock in the morning, with a deadline looming , it was just me, the paint and the canvas. Filmmaking is quite a different beast. The nature of cinema is that it takes so many instruments to compose a melody that a team is helpful. You can't shoot, direct actors, edit, and create the music all by yourself and expect it to have perfect craftmanship and carry the message. Of course some creators do the one-man-band-thing. And are successful. But it must be a long and lonesome journey. And, in the end, who do you share the kudos with? There's no sound when you make a champagne toast with just one glass.
Luckily, the course I am undertaking makes filmmaking in pairs mandatory. So last week, my colleagues and I pitched our hearts out to each other and a committee of veteran filmmakers. Everyone had a viable story idea. In fact, the ideas were so well cultivated and passionately delivered, that it makes this next step very hard. Students must pair up and make only 6 of those 12 films. A delicate dance has begun. Negotiations are in progress. Feelings may be inadvertently pinched. It's not exactly Project Runway, but close; there's some of that vibe in the air. Tomorrow we are supposed to announce our partnerships. The big question is, will we strike the lonesome path to 'art' or will be be able to supress hubris and nurture fruitful cinematic collaboration? To be continued...