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The real deal about the Tampa indie film industry by Tampa film expert C. A. Passinault
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Monday, November 24, 2008 - 7:00 PM - Tampa Indie Film Log for Filmmaker C. A. Passinault
Tampa Bay Film - Covering Old News?
Ah,
I obtained another E-mail from Paul, my number one reader. He seems to
be responding within minutes of my posts, so that in itself is interesting.
I can see it now. “Must...see.... if.... insane..... blogger
....... is ....... writing ..... about ....... meeeeeeeeeeeeeee!”
Whatever, Paul. Believe what you want. My models and actors, however,
think that you are funny. I’m glad to see that you still have your
sense of humor.
Here is what the great Paul, my new pen pal, wrote to me:
Reviews
Wow
... reviews of Quiet Place, 99 and 100 Tears ... when you're done with
them, you should review the year 1985. Figure if you're gonna reviews
things from years ago, keep with the trend. Way to be the source of indie
film news from 3 years ago. If someone goes 4 years into the future to
today, they will find your website very enlightening.
A bad review of 99 is gonna kill me ... I mean, how will I sleep when
you slam a film I did three years ago with a shoestring budget and a crew
of 6 ... Christ ... My father is totally gonna disown me and my boss may
fire me. This is gonna be awful ... I definitely have to leave town!
Oh, and Quiet Place ...NOOOOOOO .. don't slam it! Poor Damien will lose
his job as a television producer in San FRancisco!!!! Don't do it Chris!
DOn't do it!
At least your fest reviews are current ... wow, reviewing a film fest
from 2007. Way to go!
Ahem. Good points, Paul, but I have some good counter points, too.
1. Slamming
Tampa Films?
I am not about slamming people in the Tampa film scene and do not go out
of my way to attack the work of others. If you people actually made good
films, I would write positive things about them. I am not negative, am
not grinding axes, and am not working to undermine Tampa indie film. I’m
not the bad guy that have deluded yourself into thinking that I am. I
am not the Tampa indie film Antichrist.
I am simply just me, and I’m real, so I tell it how it is. You people
are so insecure about what you claim to do, that you cannot take criticism.
Instead of learning from your mistakes and working to improve what you
do, you get defensive and try to attack the credibility of those who tell
it how it is. How unprofessional, and dare I say, childish.
Well, I am grateful for one thing. I now know who people in the indie
film scene really are, and what their true motives are. I know who can
be trusted, and who cannot. It’s good that I found this out before
I started helping Tampa filmmakers, introducing revolutionary indie film
concepts, and making Tampa indie films of my own. A Tampa indie film revolution
is coming, my friend, and you fools are playing yourselves right out of
the game. How can you benefit when you attack and alienate qualified professionals
such as myself?
You people must be really bad at picking stocks and betting on horses.
You either have poor judgement, or let your emotions undermine your judgement.
You may say that I am insane, but my opinion is that you people are delusional,
and quite limited in what you do. Frankly, I am quite uninspired and bored
by much of what you do. It’s the same B.S. that you see in indie
film everywhere else, and will never be of much importance to anyone.
Don’t worry about me bringing you down. I’m not your enemy.
In my opinion, you and the Tampa indie film clique are your own worst
enemy. You will be the undoing of your own career, without any help from
what I do (not that I go out of my way to do anything against you people).
In fact, I would not be surprised if the Tampa Film Review is not around
when I finally get around to doing my monthly film festival event and
networking series, the Tampa Film Showcase. I certainly hope that you
don’t give up, because I really look forward to the competition.
Competition may actually help to stimulate the Tampa indie film market,
and could be the catalyst to a Tampa film scene finally taking the first
steps of becoming a professional Tampa indie film community. Through competition,
you would be forced to improve what you do and to become more of a professional.
You would be forced to work harder.
God, it is sad that I find myself in the position to lecture you. Well,
someone has to tell you the truth, so it may as well be me. I am looking
forward to seeing you learn more about indie film and growing. I hope
that I will serve as an inspiration to you and to help you work out of
your arrested development.
I want to see progress in Tampa indie film! Don’t you?
There is a lot wrong with Tampa indie film that you and your indie film
clique simply refuse to acknowledge the issues as you try to make real
professionals, like me, your scapegoats.
I am equally as critical of my own work, too. I did films back when I
was learning the business in the early 1990's that were pretty bad. As
a DJ, I also did some programs that sucked. I’m the first person
to point out my own faults, as well as my successes. Because I am critical
of my own work, does that mean that I have something against myself and
am out to get me? If you think that this logic is ridiculous, think about
the logic that you are using.
I am one of the best photographers in Florida. Do you think that it was
always that way? I did shoots ten years ago that sucked, with some of
the crappiest, flawed pictures that you could imagine. When I started
to date Diana, who was a fashion model and an art director, in 2000, she
would come and stay the weekends, driving in from her home in Orlando.
That first weekend, she went through my boxes of pictures (I didn’t
have a portfolio made at that time), saying that this picture sucks, that
picture sucks, and tossed them about the room. Did I hate her for it?
Did I think that she was out to slam me? Was I angry because she seemed
to be disrespecting my photography? No, I wasn’t. I was open to
her criticism, as her intentions were to be constructive. Throughout 2000,
she would stay the weekends and we’d shoot- a lot. She brought in
fashion magazines for me to study, and for a while stored racks of expensive
clothes (perhaps at least $150,000.00 worth) here for me to use in my
shoots with models. She even assisted me with shoots. I practiced what
she taught me, and she was my muse. In a single year, my photography work
advanced, and I went pro at the end on 2000. I did well doing professional
photography soon after.
I miss Diana. Like most relationships, we eventually grew apart (I think
that all the work that we did undermined any potential for much romance,
so I accept the blame there, although we did have our moments). The only
thing that I don’t miss about her is the fact that every time that
we went out, some idiot would try to hit on her. She was quite striking,
and was a dead-ringer for Angelina Jolie. Errrm.... Dating models isn’t
all that it is cracked up to be. I liked her for who she was, and the
looks were simply a bonus as well as a double-edge sword.
Oh, and
my motives as a photographer are appropriate. I did not get into the business
of photography, and do not work as a photographer, so that I can date
models. That’s never the point. It’s just that my work surrounds
me with models, and I really don’t know any women who are not models.
With Diana, she found me by reading one of my blogs somewhere (contrary
to popular belief, my blogs don’t undermine my professional credibility
in the least bit. This year alone, I booked shoots and other work because
of my blogs and my opinions, and most professionals agree with the points
that I make!), and we started talking. She just happened to be a model,
which makes sense because we shared a lot of interests. Her modeling turned
out to be a benefit for my photography career, and I feel that I personally
benefitted from having known her and spending time with her. We’ll
always have those good memories.
Anyway, because I was open to criticism and was not defensive about negative
comments, I turned it to my advantage and learned how to do it right.
I became an excellent photographer through hard work and investing a good
deal of time and money into my photography career. I earned my way and
developed my skills.
I am not out to slam you and your films. I am actually trying to help
you. 99, although it is impressive that you were able to pull off a feature
film on a shoestring, has serious flaws. I recall the lighting fading
in and out during scenes because you used reflectors which were more appropriate
for still photography rather than shooting a movie. The light moving around
destroys the illusion that you are trying to make with the film and reminds
the audience that they are watching a film. There are other examples,
too. For example, I am thinking that you people are Jimmy Buffett fans,
also known as parrotheads. The pacing of the film drags in places, and
there is this one looooooong transition with Jimmy Buffet-style music
which absolutely stalls the pacing of the film. Cut it, please. If it
were my film, I would cut it.
2. Television
Producer Job In San Francisco.
Come on, it’s not like he is directing big movies or is an entertainment
industry player like you are implying. I know a lot of television producers,
and it’s not as glamorous as you would think. Besides, you have
more to do with the way that the Quiet Place turned out than he did as
director. There isn’t much a director can do with a script that
has been crippled by line cuts. What was he supposed to do- resurrect
the lines that you cut from the exposition of the original script? I read
the original script and the one that you line-edited, and you certainly
did not do it any favors- in my humble opinion, you crippled it! With
the excellent work that you do writing your own scripts (not 99, but with
the End Is Blossoming), shouldn’t questions be asked about your
priorities, your interests, or even your motives? Could it be that the
Quiet Place was intended to fail from the very beginning so that it could
be used to discredit your competition? This is plausible, especially as
many, many different filmmakers “collaborated” on that film.
Hell, the film doesn’t have to be good when so many people, who
are your competition, have their hands with it. It could prove to be more
useful as political leverage and as a way to place blame on the shortcomings
of others rather that what is was supposed to be. You certainly did not
have of an incentive to make it a good film. If this indeed was the case,
then you certainly did not respect the time and the efforts of the others
who were sincere about making a good film. I know of several actors and
other Tampa film people who hate you, and who blame you, to this day for
the Quiet Place fiasco. Give them credit for being smarter than you thought
that they were.
I myself was the victim of a rather nasty rumor after some of you set
me up to fail, and that failed when I delivered pictures and production
stills that made the actual film footage look like garbage in comparison.
I worked my ass off to do a good job, and didn’t do anything wrong.
So much for the gratitude that I received for doing a good job. Well,
I am not the only one irate about the way that the film turned out and
the things that went on during filming. So, the lighting was bad? Why
blame the people responsible when you can blame people like Melissa? Did
you see that incredible work that Marcus did on the burn makeup? Well,
the people on the set did, and so did the people who saw my production
still photographs. People who watched the film didn’t have a clue!
The film footage of the burn makeup is never seen close-up and doesn’t
do the hard work that Marcus did justice. I could have smeared motor oil
on the body double and the film would have had the same result for all
of the detail that the film shows (actually, strike that. I wouldn’t
touch that girl with a ten foot pole, and I am not fond of her at all,
especially after learning that she was one of the ones running her mouth
during the production)!
You don’t have anyone fooled. If the intention was to obtain political
leverage from a failed film and to put the blame on others, then it failed,
and I may add, backfired. The production of The Quiet Place opened a lot
of people’s eyes to the truth of what is really going on in Tampa
indie film. Ah, but the catering was good. Thanks for feeding us some
good food, Paul!
God, I hate politics in the dysfunctional Tampa indie film scene.
Oh, by the way, he is in San Francisco? Good place for him, as I always
support people migrating so they can be with their own kind. Perhaps,
if he is so inclined, he might look up Diana. She moved there and is hosting
some television show. Then again, she may not have anything to do with
a mere television producer. Also, I am thinking that he wouldn’t
be inclined to look up one of the most beautiful women in America. He
may have other things to do.
3. Reviewing
Old Films And Old Film Festivals.
Paul, I am not a newspaper, and I am not really trying to scoop anyone.
Tampa Bay Film is a indie film resource, and it is the voice of Tampa
indie film.
I don’t buy the “new is better than old” claim. Good
is good, and bad is bad. It is what it is. I planned an event once, and
my friend wanted the latest dance music from the charts after I debated
with her and her friends about old music still being good music. When
I did the event, my DJ and I played older music, we had more requests
for the music that was supposedly outdated, and the dance floor was packed.
We proved our point.
I’m busy. I got sidetracked from doing some of those older reviews.
The Ladies
Of The Night Tampa film festival, for example, was back in June, and
I just now got around to doing the review. Just because the review was
late, does that make it bad? Not at all. There were excellent pictures,
and some great copy there. Lisa rushed to get her review of the Tampa
film festival done and up as quickly as she could, and it’s not
as good as it could have been (well, for an ass-kissing review of a film
festival, but that is her usual clique-ish style of a woman who always
wanted to be popular with someone- anyone). Compare her review with mine.
Many prefer my review, especially since it has my photographs (you should
read the emails that I received about this, even from some of your so-called
friends. Can you be sure that they are loyal to you and the Tampa indie
film clique, Paul?). I took my time and did the review the justice that
the event deserved. I did it right and didn’t do a half-assed rush
job.
I get to things when I get to them, and when I do, it is always well-worth
the wait. With me, it is never “if”, but always “when”.
Never forget that.
I never intended to review the Horror and Hotties Tampa film festival
from March 2007. I went as a guest to have fun and to get some pictures
for Tampa Bay Film. It was only recently that I considered reviewing it,
and since I had my pictures and my notes, and it is a great part of Tampa
film history, why not? I think of it more as a historical article with
a review than I consider it to be “breaking news”. Come on,
Paul. Can’t you find a better angle to criticize me on than with
that? If it’s on a good subject and, as you may be aware of, it
is a good addition to the Tampa film festival database that I am building,
why not write about it and review it so my readers can reference it and
compare it to other Tampa film festivals?
Tampa Bay Film is the best-read resource of Tampa indie film. It is a
resource. You KNOW this! Just because I do work that isn’t under
your idea of a deadline does not make it bad or outdated. People will
still read it, and most will love it; most will not have a clue that it
was never posted near the time of the film festival once it is published,
anyway. If anyone is curious about anything to do with Tampa indie film,
they can go to Tampa Bay Film and obtain the most professional, comprehensive,
qualified take on it. That, my friend, is the point, and I don’t
care how late something is as long as it gets done and is worth the wait.
Oh, and for the record, there are a lot of reviews and articles that are
published on Tampa Bay Film that are current. My review on the 2008 Halloween
Horror Picture Show Tampa film festival was published on Tampa Bay Film
first, and within days of the event. You conveniently forget things like
that, just like you and the small Tampa indie film clique refuse to admit
things like my recent television interviews, which I know you are all
aware of.
With that, I would like to organize the Tampa Film Blog, and my other
blogs, and start posting about things which are perceived to be more positive
and constructive. Keep reading, Paul. Maybe you will learn something that
will help your career. Oh, and speaking of help, if you and your brother
need any assistance coming up with another domain name for your production
web site, I offer it free of charge. I’m good at coming up with
great domain names, and I am here to help. Have a great night, and I will
be sure to check for your latest Email in a few minutes.
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