KAM: In $30 Film School, you mentioned that you got a lot of valuable insight and education into the legal side of filmmaking through your experience temping at legal firms. What are some other resources or tools that DIY filmmakers can utilize to make sure that they have all of their legal bases covered?
MWD: Well, only a lawyer can legally give legal advice, so I must preface this with “This is what I do” rather than “This is what you should do.” But there are a lot of good books out there. Nolo Press publishes some great ones, written by lawyers, on everything from starting your own limited liability corporation to copyright & trademark law to running a rock band. I’d recommend filmmakers read the Nolo book “Music Law: How to Run Your Band's Business” by the very smart Richard Stim, because in a lot of ways, running a film crew is a lot like running a rock band.
I’m a member of the Film Arts Foundation (http://www.filmarts.org) in San Francisco (even though I live in Los Angeles). I joined FAF five years ago when I lived in San Francisco, and have kept my membership active because they’re such great people and a great resource. One of the many perks is that membership allows you to occasionally ask a free question or two via e-mail of an entertainment lawyer who does work with them. I’ve availed myself of that several times.
And I would say regarding contracts: Treat a contract like a conversation, not a statement. Everything is negotiable, especially if you are confident but not cocky. Discuss, don’t demand, unless the thing you’re demanding is a total deal breaker. And even then, don’t be a dick.
KAM: Good point. Well, in DIY or Die there is a lot of discussion of staying true to your artistic vision. Is it possible for artists (specifically filmmakers) to be true to their art and become popular without “selling out”, and if so, how?
MWD: Yes, it is possible.
The term “selling out” means a lot of different things to different people. To me, it means compromising your own vision, or compromising another person, for money (or attention.) I don’t do this. That said, I am sometimes very poor. Lol…..But I sleep well at night (when I don’t have insomnia because I’m excited about a project), and most people I’ve dealt with still return my calls.
To some people, “selling out” means dealing with major corporations in any way. When I was touring with “DIY or DIE” in Europe, I even had some anarchist squatters tell me I was a sellout because I had a copyright notice in my movie, or because I was running Windows rather than Linux on my laptop. I think these people may have their heart in the right place, but have a very narrow, very black-and-white view of the world.
I sometimes deal with large corporations to get something I’ve worked on out of my house and out into other people’s houses. Major corporations are very good at selling things. They tend to be not so good at creating things. So my approach is to make the thing in my bedroom, then “Go to the mountain” when it’s time to sell it. That seems like the best balance to me.
I came from a punk rock world, where often, all corporations are considered satanic. And corporate structure has a bad rap, in general and with a lot of people, because there are some damn evil corporations out there. But I’ve found that a lot of them, especially a lot of medium-sized media companies, are just people going about their jobs, in their place of business. They don’t start each business day by drinking the blood of children and invoking The Dark Overlord. They just get things done, and put out cool stuff, in a very systematic and professional fashion.
I also do some projects and sell copies to the end user myself, without involving a corporation. I’ve done that a lot in the past, and it allows you to keep complete control, but you end up not “pushing as many units.” And also, it’s a bitch running a small record label (publishing company, film studio, etc.) I’ve done all three of those, and don’t really want to do it again. I’d rather spend my time making something than standing in line at the post office.
