Get to know yourself as an artist

Your greatest ally is self-awareness

I just sent my latest spec feature to my agents and manger (hi y'all) and for those of you keeping track at home, here's a little backstory on the timing:

I first started writing this one in May 2022. I finished the very first draft June 2022. Revised it and thought i had an actually semi-decent draft in July 2022. Another draft August 2022.

I had a couple people read it and give me conflicting notes. "It's ready," vs "it is not even close to ready." Did another big rewrite that I finished and completed in September 2022. Set the movie aside and did a bunch of other stuff until October 2023, when I wrote ANOTHER draft (for those keeping score this is draft 5).

Draft 6 was December 2023. Took another big break to work on other projects from then until fall 2024, when I tried… basically starting from scratch (draft 7).

This spring I sat down, looked at all the previous drafts, and did a lot of serious thinking about what I even want this stupid thing to be. What it all even means to me. Why I want someone to make this movie. Why I make movies in the first place. And after a lot of soul searching, I finally felt like I knew what I wanted and re-configured a new and improved "final" draft. This is draft 8.

This is... not uncommon for me. Just a couple months ago I wrote about this exact pattern: starting something, getting 85% of the way there, and then not being able to crack it and needing to set it aside, sometimes for good. I was writing specifically about my process with this script, which I'd put into holding patterns a few times because I couldn't really get it right. But it’s been a pattern in general, and I think getting to know yourself as an artist might be the only way to stay sane in this business.

After several years of development, and many many conflicting notes from other people about how to make this specific script good… it’s only ever through sitting down and getting really precise with yourself about what you want that you’re going to be able to push something that you are proud of over the finish line.

So what are some specific ways it would be good to know yourself as an artist? I have a few ideas about that.

Three very basic questions to guide you on the path to complete and total artistic enlightment.

Are you a complexity person or a simplicity person?

As we think about how to define something as indefinable as “personal taste,” I do think there are two basic categories that film/television (maybe all art but I’m not qualified to say this) fall into. And I think that knowing which you prefer is basically the key to knowing where you want to take just about any story you’re working on.

Simple Stories

There is elegance to simplicity. Simplicity is all about hewing to traditional storytelling structures. When a film follows a predictable pattern to finally result in a predictable outcome. Characters and emotions are not particularly nuanced. Good guy. Bad guy. Happy moment. Sad moment. Sometimes we want simple. A simple action movie. A simple romance. A simple coming of age story. Almost any genre can be done simply. Most simple stories tell the audience at each moment how they should be feeling.

Complex Stories

Then there’s complexity. Complexity is not about being confusing, it is about not reducing the story to black and white. The world is full of moral ambiguity. Life is full of moral ambiguity. Two emotions can coexist at the same time. Something can be funny and sad. People can be hard to pin down. We can tell a story which doesn’t indicate to the audience exactly how they should be feeling at each moment.

Neither type of story is better.

Obviously… I have a preference, I’m a high-falutin playwright turned filmmaker. I prefer to look at the world through the lens of complexity. Sometimes I’ll watch and enjoy something simple, but usually I prefer what I’m watching to have a little more going on. I like a little bit of friction as a viewer (not a lot, I’m not a true artiste, I write movies after all). But… I will say… most people are simplicity people. I almost wrote “simple people” and avoided it so as not to be labeled a coastal elite. But you get the idea.

Your average moviegoer and tv watcher is tuning in hoping for a certain amount of simplicity. Which means there will always be a diminished audience for complexity compared to simplicity. This is not a value statement, it is is simply something that you should understand about the marketplace as you make decisions, because Hollywood sits firmly at the intersection of art and commerce. This is not to say stories are binary, (remember I’m a nuance person!) as any story can tolerate a certain ratio of simplicity to complexity. I would argue Spielberg became America’s preeminent filmmaker exactly because of his command of this ratio. He can make Jaws. He can make Indiana Jones. And he can make A.I. and Bridge of Spies. He has a very wide range he can work with from film to film, and he has the ability to dial it up and down within each film.

But if we’re just trying to get to know ourselves, “which is my preference, simple or complex” is a good starting point, IMO! Knowing thyself and being able to tap in to your own internal compass is probably the critical skill for artists to have working in Hollywood. Because this is a big expensive business, there will be constant pressure to be “bigger” and “broader” and knowing whether that’s what you want is critical. Do you want the biggest broadest simplest thing? Can you tolerate that?

For me: Complexity is king. Within reason! I’m not an experimental filmmaker and I’m no David Lynch. But I do prefer some friction within stories.

Are you making art or entertainment?

I apologize for making everything a binary. Nothing really is a binary! But… either or questions tend to be a lot easier to answer for ourselves when we’re trying to get to the bottom of something. Then once you know which side of the spectrum you’re on you can get into the process of refining.

This is a good question to ask yourself in general, and a good question to ask yourself about each specific project you’re working on. Some things are made to be consumed mindlessly and some things are made to really engage the viewers. Again… no judgements here. Which are you trying to do? Is this one meant to be fun for everyone, or are we trying to mess with the form? If you are challenging any traditional element of the kind of story you’re telling, you’re probably closer to the art end of the spectrum. If you’re trying to get The Rock to be in your $200M streaming movie… you’re probably pretty far over on the entertainment side of the spectrum. If you’re casting The Rock to play a sad prizefighter in your A24 movie… art side.

For me: On the art/entertinment spectrum I would say my personal taste is probably 70% art 30% entertainment. While working I can stretch to maybe the opposite end of the spectrum, at 70 entertainment 30 art. But I don’t think I can really tolerate stretching beyond that. Which I think limits what I want to personally engage with as a writer. I don’t know that I can really do something broad broad broad if it’s not also saying something or in some way trying to mess with form.

Why are you doing this?

Serious question. And the answer can change. Is it for money? Is it for fame? Is it to reach as many people as possible? Is it to change hearts and minds? Is it to spread an important message? Is it to get to play with other artists? There is not a right answer! And there probably isn’t just one answer!

For me: I wanted to write this latest spec specifically with two goals in mind. Can I write something that is mainly fun and big and commercial, but still subverts some genre norms and has something to say. The goal was how far can I push on the Art/Entertainment spectrum. In general… while I love money (happy to take some) and also love the idea of people seeing what I’m working on, I used to write plays for theaters in basements. That’s not actually why I do this. I like stories. I like playing with other artists. And I like exploring the human condition and asking big questions. That’s ultimately more important to me than “changing the world” or “reaching as many people as possible.” Both of which are noble goals, but not my noble goals. You know?

This is hardly a comprehensive list of how to know yourself as an artist, but I do think these are sort of the three key pillars to better be able to pick projects and better know where you want them to go as you work on them. It’s easy to get lost in the weeds. And so when you do, hopefully some very basic… do I like this or this more? kind of things may be helpful to get you unstuck and back on the path to finishing your script.

Then comes the really scary part. Hearing what other people think about it.

So we’ll see what my agents and manager have to say about this one (hi guys, please say you like it) but I at least know that I like it! Which is nice to know.

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Hollyweird in the news!

I had the pleasure of chatting with

tepper

& Nic Curcio for their new podcast The Hollywood Hang and wanted to share that full thing with you here. It’s a great show (even the episodes I’m not on) featuring some very smart thoughts on breaking into Hollywood in today’s very strange marketplace, with insights from a bunch of interesting folks. Myself included.

Here’s our full ep, if you’re into video podcasts (aka crazy).

If you’re a podcast listener (aka, a normal person), here’s the audio.

Shoutout to my very prominently featured Fran Magazine mug! Thank you

Fran Hoepfner

!

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Lately on Hollyweird

You can do anything

You are the driver

Learn to tolerate disappointment

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Have other big broad “getting to know yourself as an artist” questions, I would LOVE to hear them! Drop me a note in the comments. There can never be too much woo woo enlightenment.