Inspiration from Francis Ford Coppola

I just read a really good interview with Francis Ford Coppola and he had this nugget of sage wisdom:

"How does an aspiring artist bridge the gap between distribution and commerce?

We have to be very clever about those things. You have to remember that it’s only a few hundred years, if that much, that artists are working with money. Artists never got money. Artists had a patron, either the leader of the state or the duke of Weimar or somewhere, or the church, the pope. Or they had another job. I have another job. I make films. No one tells me what to do. But I make the money in the wine industry. You work another job and get up at five in the morning and write your script.

This idea of Metallica or some rock n’ roll singer being rich, that’s not necessarily going to happen anymore. Because, as we enter into a new age, maybe art will be free. Maybe the students are right. They should be able to download music and movies. I’m going to be shot for saying this. But who said art has to cost money? And therefore, who says artists have to make money?

In the old days, 200 years ago, if you were a composer, the only way you could make money was to travel with the orchestra and be the conductor, because then you’d be paid as a musician. There was no recording. There were no record royalties. So I would say, “Try to disconnect the idea of cinema with the idea of making a living and money.” Because there are ways around it."

I urge you to read the entire article here.

And on a side note, thanks to everyone for the great feedback on The Pig Farmer! It's rewarding to know that after all the hard work, people got some enjoyment out of it.

Thanks!!!

The Pig Farmer

After ten months in production, and exactly a year since I started making it, here is my latest film, The Pig Farmer.

The Pig Farmer from Nick Cross on Vimeo.

I just want to thank all those kind individuals that helped to make this film happen by generously donating money during my funding drive early last year. This was my initial experiment in the world of crowdsourcing and I wanted to test whether a microfinancing model was workable. I think that it just might be and I will be doing it again on my next film (to be announced shortly).

Anyway, I hope you enjoy the film!