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Interviews

Here you find feature Interviews of both the accomplished and rising film industry community. Writers, Directors, Actors, Producers...and more. Interviewed by our IIE staff and also contributing writers. If you have an article or submission.

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January 2007

Rick Schmidt Interview
by Jacob Sanders

IIE - What point in your life did you decide that you wanted to become an author and a filmmaker?

RS - I was attending graduate school in sculpture in 1970 at California College of the Arts (CCA) in Oakland California when a teacher named Phil Makanna offered me a seat in his new video art class. He had just obtained a couple of the new Sony Porta-Pack 1/2" video cameras and wanted to get people from fine arts to give it a try. Deciding to become an author happened about 16 years later when, deeply in debt at the film processing lab. I started writing my how-to Feature Filmmaking at Used-Car Price s on an electric typewriter, trying not to affixiate myself on white-out before finishing it, getting it published (ha, ha! Didn't know that the odds were about 1 in 12,000 for submitting to a slush pile at a major publishing house like Viking Penguin that ultimately took it!).

IIE - Was there a defying turning point that helped you make this transition?

RS - At first I gave my seat away to another student, thinking I wanted nothing to do with such an introspective artform (hot lights blaring down… as lenses examine me… and others…)

And actually I watched as the replacement walked off toward the main registrar offices to sign up. But for some reason I called out "Wait!" and changed my mind. In the class were there were several others who went on to features, such as William Farley (his Of Men and Angels and my Morgan's Cake both played in the same Sundance Dramatic Competition), Wayne Wang (Joy Luck Club, Smoke, Chan is Missing who became my roommate and with whom I made our first feature A Man, a Woman, and a Killer , Willie Boy Walker (actor in several of my movies, including 1988-the Remake, Morgan's Cake, American Orpheus.

IIE - What was the first film project you worked on?

RS - The first actual film project was a movie I made in 16mm after I graduated. I was desperate to shoot film and it had been 6 months since I had done anything. I was at a flea market and spotted a bunch of magazines from the 1930's in a box. I made a pledge to myself that I'd grab one of them, throw it open to a page and shoot that story just to break the ice. What I came to was something called " What Flirting Cost Me" (Willie Boy Walker was the star). He and my then current girlfriend played the two star-crossed lovers in that '30s melodrama and I taught myself how to shoot and edit a 1/2 hour long color film.

IIE - How did that come about?

RS - Although I had graduated already, the two "film equipment room" work study guys were my friends (Wayne Wang and George Chang…) George went on to big budget movies in China I've heard, while Wayne is a top Hollywood director. Anyway, they helped me check out the 16mm camera, sound gear, lights almost every other weekend for months while I shot. When I was busted by the head of the film department (Rick, are you enrolled here?) Willie, who was still a grad student at the time was standing near me and was asked if he was part of the production. Since he was, the teacher let me finish up the last shoot-day.

IIE - What did you learn from that experience that helped you with your next project?

RS - I mainly learned how to edit a long-form movie, adding music, getting it sound mixed and printed properly after some good color balancing at the lab. I had shot on a luscious color stock that's no longer available because there was too much good silver in it I guess (had a nice thick emulsion…), to make the reds super-red like in the 1930's Technicolor epics.

IIE - What was it like to make it into Sundance with Morgan's Cake?

RS - Actually the thrill that year was that my film had been selected to New Directors/New Films in New York City -- one of my goals in life! Sundance didn't mean a thing to me since I hadn't been paying attention to festivals during the production. I took me 16 years to find out at www.imdb.com that Morgan's Cake had been nominated for a Grand Jury Prize there.

IIE - Tell me about you book, "Feature Filmmaking At Used Car Prices." I have read it, and found it very helpful.

RS - Thanks for the compliment. The best thing about my book for me has been that I could shovel everything I learned through my many features into chapters that hopefully helped others (while occasionally bailing me out of lab/production debts!). I was nice to know that any troubles (or successes) I had making movies would become good antidotes for a book revision up the road.

IIE - That book seemed to really pave the way for some great films and acting. For instance, Kevin Smith gave you credit by saying that Clerks may not of been possible without your book. How does it make you feel when you see your ideas accomplished and brought to life?

RS - Makes me feel extremely good! It's what we artists live for, why we can go through so much shit in our daily lives to keep working!

IIE - Usually, when I interview people such as yourself, I tend to ask them about each individual project that they've done. However, with you, I see something different. I would really like for my readers to take something more from this. Something that they couldn't normally find on a website somewhere. It almost seems to me that you have spent a large part of your career not just trying to make movies and such, but to help teach others on how to create the best possible piece they can. And you clearly have. Where did that come from? Was it intentional?

RS - To be honest I think my work-ethic is what has inadvertently accomplished that for others (not the Mother Theresa in me :>)). When I was a grad student at CCA in Oakland, getting paid as a TA in the foundry, I told other students that I'd be happy to pour their bronze works when I did my own and that I'd be pouring my own stuff almost every week. Later I heard from another teacher that two students had said I'd been their best teacher there. Wow. I couldn't even remember teaching anyone anything. So maybe that's a clue. People just need to have their dreams facilitated and teachers mainly need to get out of the way and let that happen, whether for a bronze sculpture or helping some student try to make her feature-length movie in DV with school equipment and editing software. Schools seem to frown on such ambitious students, even punishing them when they push past the rigid curriculum.

IIE - When you are writing or making a film, how do you prepare yourself?

RS - Since I often write during the making of my DV movies (see my 2004 book Extreme DV for this process…),the preparation is mainly to get physically healthy, gearing up for a sustained week of shooting, and to alleviate the fear of failure. If I work hard and fast there is virtually no time to be afraid of anything. Under pressure of shooting your own movie while telling actors what to say (or encouraging their own improv riffs) and making sure I create good cut-points, record clean sound, have good content for editing later, there's no room for doubt.

The main thing for making movies is to have the willingness to jump into the mysteries of life, knowing you're actually proving that miracles are all around us by recording them on DV or film. Of course this isn't the HOLLYWOOD STYLE I'm talking about. The real INDIE moviemaking is where you make the work for yourself (and occasionally have to pay for gas and lunches out of your own pocket!). Forget trying to make a calling card flick. Someday all these little scraggly indie features no one has heard of, that aren't understood by friends, parents or the festivals, will be the PICASSOS, MONETS, VAN GOGHS that future generations embrace, works that were made through hardships and personal fortitude.

IIE - Congratulations. I heard that you recently received the lifetime achievement award. Can you tell me about that? What was that like?

RS - Fun and scary, to have people talking about me on stage while I sat in the audience not expecting it. Kevin Smith sent a lovely DVD with him giving a speech about me (to me… …as in,"Hi Rick, congratulations on getting an award, thanks again for your book, looking forward to Morgan's Cake II , etc.…) So that was a thrill. He's such an amazingly down-to-earth nice guy (and talent). Anyway I told the audience that I was so happy I could now quit, hang it up, stop all the hard work and just retire. After my imprompto crazy speech a woman came up and asked me please not to quit since a movie of mine she had seen the previous year there (at RIFF festival) had been one of her favorites, had loved it above many others. She was referring to out DV feature Mirage, made with my Feature Workshops that I've been having in Santa Fe, where participants signup online and join me for the 10-day shoot/edit. So one of the rewards of the evening was forcing that out of an audience member!

IIE - What else would you like to accomplish in film, or in life?

RS - I'd like to do a movie that took all that I've learned along the way (strong composition, good performances by non-actors and actors, strong real-life storytelling, sharp editing and control over sound/original music, and dish out something special. That and maybe write one more book on HD indie moviemaking (waiting for the low-budget equipment to get dependable and become real HD!).

IIE - What do you think you'd be doing if writing and directing weren't in your life?

RS - Hopefully pouring some bronze to create intriguing art works.

IIE - What is one thing that you will never forget while working on a project? Something that will stick with you forever?

RS - Production miracles happen ONLY after you take the risk of actually starting to shoot a movie. No one can convince you of this until you learn it for yourself.

IIE - Well, Rick, thanks for sharing everything with us. I know you will be a special guest speaker at the Ruff Cutz Festival in Boston , so I am very excited to say that I'll see you there and look forward to hearing from you. Thanks again.

RS -Thanks and see you there!