Filmmaker Michael Bekemeyer

Michael Bekemeyer is a writer/filmmaker living in Orlando, Florida and will spend most of his time talking about movies, going to see them, or thinking about making them. His newest short film, GUSH is currently in post production.

What is the current project(s) you are working on?

Well, the project I am working on is a film called GUSH. It's a really short film about a crime of passion. I'm using it as a way to immerse myself back into filmmaking after a long time away from it. Not that I haven't been filmmaking, but have been concentrating on writing a lot and I've been doing some experimental things, but nothing truly narrative in a few years. I have missed it and with this, I feel like I am back where I belong, in a big way.

What does success mean to you?

Success means a lot of different things to me. There is money, which is nice. There are awards and accolades and those are really good too. There are basic, everyday successes too. Things like getting out of bed in the morning, eating right and exercising. Then, for me there is the success of focus and working on something you created and pushing through until it's finished. So, you can actually be successful in your bedroom writing a script on your laptop. Anyone can be successful it just depends on their perspective and outlook on life.

My most successful moment as a filmmaker was the first time something I directed moved an audience member emotionally. It was such a foreign thing to me and it is obviously something I want my stories to do. But, when I first heard that something I made had had moved someone to tears and think about their life. I was equally moved by the person's experience. It was in that moment I knew what it felt like to be a good filmmaker.

Not that I became good in that moment, because I feel like I have a lot more to accomplish before I describe myself as a good filmmaker. But it gave me a taste of what good directors must feel like when they go to work in the morning. It's an addictive feeling that I have experienced a couple times in my career. I equate it to what comedians, or musicians must feel like when they get on stage in front of an audience and give the performance of a lifetime.

How do you handle rejection?

Rejection is awesome! Don't you think so? Just kidding.

Rejection is tricky because it's inevitable and in a way it's a right of passage for all creatives. You get rejected and it's a fact of life. Maybe your script is bad and it really needs to be rejected because you need to go back to work on it and go back through it with a fine toothed comb. And in that case, I hate to say it, but you have earned that rejection. We have all been there. I have done that and it doesn't feel good, but if you take it for what it is, as feedback from the universe you can turn it into a positive.

But, you have to take rejection with a grain of salt because it is also very subjective. It depends on the perspective and personal tastes of the person reviewing your material. Maybe your script or film is a sexually charged drama and the person reading it is not as enthusiastic about sexual content as you are. That person is Pre-disposed to not liking your script. It could be brilliant, the best thing ever, but that person is not going to like it no matter what.

So much of this stuff is up in the air and relies on people's personal likes and dislikes, that it's hard to know when your material is being rejected because it truly isn't ready for prime time, or if it is rejected because it doesn't fit the personal tastes of the person whose desk it landed on. My advice is to take rejection lightly until you start hearing the same feedback from multiple sources. Then, it's something to really consider.

Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

No. I started out as a musician. I played trumpet and it was my first love. But one day a friend of mine called and asked me to help him out on a film project he had going. It was all downhill from there. Though, I had always been a kind of writer and have always lived in some unreal dreamland, where my imagination wanders and wants to be in charge. It had never articulated itself in that way. I have always had a great love for movies, all the way back to when I was a kid.

 What inspired you to become filmmaker?

I remember the first movie I saw that went beyond me just liking movies. It was the Martin Scorsese remake of Cape Fear. Something about watching that movie made me want to make movies. I had to be a part of it and I wanted to be Martin Scorsese so bad. He's the first director I wanted to be like when I grew up.

 What is the best thing about being one?

Working with other brilliant people. Since it's a collaborative culture, you get to work with people who are awesome at what they do and in turn they loan their abilities and expertise to your project. It's an honor and a blessing to be the guy who gets be a part of a scenario that affords people from all different kinds of skills and educations and experiences to come together as one unified front to tell a story.

People like the composers, the cinematographers, actors, editors, make-up artists, special effects, they all are brilliant geniuses in their chosen paths and part of the fun for me is the synergy that comes with having the right person in the right position at the exact right time. When you have synergy, instead of 1 + 1 = 2, you get 1 + 1 = 3. It compounds in a way that any one person by themselves would never be able to accomplish in an eternity of trying.

The director gets a lot of undue criticism in my opinion, but I also think that the director gets a lot of undue praise. I think what makes a good director is not being the genius with all the answers. What makes a great director is someone who recognizes the genius in others and surrounds them self with as many other brilliant people as possible.

You're the director. We get it. But the mind that feeds on itself goes undernourished. You can learn so much from sitting and talking with people about what they dream about, what they are passionate about, what they are good at and I feel like I'd be a fool to run things as a dictatorship. I prefer a utopia of creativity. That's how I like to direct. I wasn't always good at doing that. I used to guard my ideas like sunken treasure. The film suffers for it, I think.

Too many people think director means you get to tell people what to do, which is a part of directing. But an even bigger part of directing is knowing when to shut up and get out of the way. Take actors, for instance. If you've done your job and cast the right actors for the roles you had to fill, directing them is easy. In fact, I've realized that the more patient I have been in casting the right actors over the years, the better a director I have become. It's experience, sure. But, it is also holding out and waiting until you find the right person for the gig.

Hopefully you cast people that were right for the part because of their skill set, sensibility and understanding of the character. They already get it. So your job as the director turns into fine tuning and keeping and eye on the overall big picture. Your job as the director is NOT to give line readings and control every aspect of the picture, scene, performance as if you are the only one who knows what they are doing.

 What is the worst thing about being one?

It's so damn expensive. That and time. I get these overwhelming creative bursts where I have an idea and want to make it right now. And part of becoming a better filmmaker has been me learning to really consider the projects I want to take on as a director. Because to do them right, you have to live with them for a while and that's a good thing because you don't move in with your mistress, that cute little project that you think about every now and then. You move in with the project you want to dedicate your life to.

That's hard and I think the digital revolution has been amazing at making it easier for people like me to get things made and to experiment and tell stories. But, it has also been not so good, because I can just grab a camera, go out there and start shooting stuff without having taken the time to consider even why I am making the thing. Normally, when I have rushed into something, I have realized later that it was just to make myself feel better, a digital masturbation of sorts.

So, time in that regard is a good thing. But, the amount of time it takes us to gather the troops, figure out the budget and get the band back together is very frustrating because once you do figure out the project you want to marry yourself to, you want to move on with that as quickly as possible. But things take time to grow and develop.

What is the estimated number of projects you have worked on?

A few short films, an unfinished feature film that I'm still working through the editing process, a short documentary, an experimental documentary series called :60 of Life that I used as a way to get back into expressing myself visually. And we have GUSH, that we're working on now, another short film in the early writing stages and sometime next year we're planning another feature film, currently titled The Spiraling.

Haha. So how many projects is that? I lost count.

 Who is your favorite filmmaker?

Tough question... I have a hard time picking a favorite because I love a lot of movies and a lot of filmmakers. I see a movie I like and there is an instant respect for that filmmaker. But, if I got pushed into a corner and was forced to answer, I'd say my top three are Martin Scorsese, Paul Tomas Anderson and Quentin Tarantino. All masters of their craft, but in different ways, with different, totally unique perspectives on the world and that makes all of their movies fantastic works of art that I feel are a must see.

 How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?

Well, my life is totally different than it was when I set out to make movies 20 years ago. There are the regular developments of being married, having kids, then divorce and all of that miserable, angst life stuff that will eventually and probably already has crept into my writing and perspective on the world.

Filmmaking has made me the person I am today. It has forced me to come out of my shell and read and learn and research different topics and know as much as I can about the world and human nature too. I have had to force myself to be comfortable with asking people for help, money and resources. The person sitting here and answering these questions didn't even exist 15-20 years ago, 5-10 years ago, or perhaps even yesterday. We are different today because of yesterday. Hopefully that means we are growing, but only time will tell.

What is one piece of advice you can give to someone who also wants to make it in the movie business?

To be an artist, you have to be willing to reveal yourself to an audience and be unflinching about it. You can't be worried about what they might think of you, or if they are going to like you or your work. In many ways, Shakespeare said it best when he said, to thine own self be true. You just can't get caught up with what people think you should do with your films, or try to be anyone other than yourself.

The other thing I always tell people is that you can't compare yourself to the genius masters that you admire. If I sat around comparing myself to Martin Scorsese, I'd never make anything, because in my mind there is no way, I'll ever live up to him and his movies. I cannot make a Martin Scorsese picture because I am not Martin Scorsese. I can only be myself and I can only make a Michael Bekemeyer film. And in turn, Martin Scorsese could never make a Michael Bekemeyer film. Nor would he want to because he is Martin Scorsese. If you want to know how to be great...be yourself. No one else can bring the perspective to a story, project or film that you can. They have their own unique brilliance inside of them, I have mine and you have yours.

Work hard to be the best you can be at what it is you want to do. Trust your own unique  insight into a story. Grab a camera, get a crew, cast some good actors and make something new. And do it over and over again until you get it right. So much easier said then done. Isn't it?

What do you like to do besides filmmaking?

I talk to people. I like to hear people talk about their own passions and gifts. It inform as my writing, but ultimately just feels good to hear someone else's view on the world.

Also, I have a daughter and I am slowly turning her into the perfect movie buddy. I'm teaching her how to appreciate movies and trips to the theater.

Have you had any other jobs before you decided to become a filmmaker?

Well, I've done all kinds of things outside of the industry. But inside the industry I've worked mostly as a video editor and a creative. Writing, producing, shooting and editing things for video and television. Sometimes with a big crew, sometimes all by myself.

Outside of the industry, I've delivered pizza, worked in asphalt, Blockbuster Video. I sent a couple of years teaching TV and video production. But for the most part, I've been lucky to work professionally in the industry for a good chunk of the 17 years I've been pursuing it as a career. Nothing has quite reached the tip-top for me, which would be working and being paid to be a writer and a director of motion pictures.

 What are some of your favorite American films? Foreign films? Television shows?

I'm horrible at picking which are my favorites of anything. But here are a few off the top of my head... American films: It's A Wonderful Life, Forrest Gump, Pulp Fiction, Raging Bull, The Usual Suspects, Casablanca, Chinatown, The Maltese Falcon.

Foreign films: Battle Royale, Truffaut's, Jules and Jim, John Woo's Hard Boiled, The Diving Bell and the Butterfly.

TV shows range from The X-Files, Lost, (the new) Battlestar Galactica, Mad Men, Breaking Bad, Seinfeld, Modern Family. All in all, I watch way too much television.

 How would you describe your film education?

I went to school to learn production and it was there I learned the basics, like how to turn a camera on and off, how to edit and light a set. But, my film education is all in the films I have made. And from the DVD director commentaries I have listened to, the screenwriting books I have read and from learning what not to do from the insurmountable number of mistakes I have made along the way. So, I guess you could say that it's been a melting pot of information and everything in my life has brought me to this one moment. You can't really put a finger on it.

 How has social media changed the independent film industry?

Social media has completely changed filmmaking for me. James Pero, the producer of my current film and next two projects is someone I met on Twitter. I raised awareness and funding for GUSH through building awareness on Twitter and Facebook. The composer Rob Gokee is someone else I met on Twitter and have actually never met him in person. Since I don't live in LA, I have been able to make connections and expose myself to people of like minds all around the world. And that means a lot to me because it's a community of people I would otherwise never have the luxury of meeting.

What's your opinion on crowdfunding?

Crowdfuning is awesome! We raised $1,050 for GUSH in about 6 days. That helped pay for food and gas for the cast and crew and took a huge load of of me. Because in DIY filmmaking and short films, often times the financial weight of the film falls on the director.

 How does independent film differ from the mainstream?

Hopefully the difference is that the people who make independent films can tell stories that have not been filtered through corporate America. The is absolutely nothing wrong with being a big business and trying to make money off of your chosen line of work. But, if you're making something independently and outside of the corporate structure, hopefully you are bringing something new and unique to your film and not just trying to make something that wants to be something that it isn't.

 You could go back in time and see any classic film being made. Which film would it be and why?

Man, that's a tough one. You have to say Citizen Kane, don't you? So many of the things we do today were basically invented on that film. Things that had never been done before. Hopefully I would have been on the side of Orson Welles and supported his vision as a director, but I wonder if I would have just decided he was a crazed lunatic, like everybody else. So, it would be that, or one of the Hitchcock movies, like Vertigo.

 What's your favorite movie quote and why?

I don't know... Let's just say pretty much anything from The Big Lebowski, from Joel and Ethan Coen. Brilliant dialogue.

 What is your opinion on movie remakes and sequels?

I am not 100% opposed to them, by any means. But, I think that there are so many things that you cannot put your finger on when a movie is good, or becomes a classic. My rule of thumb is that if you think a movie is worth re-making just don't, because there was something special about that film in the first place and you are most likely about to ruin it.

One of the few re-makes I have ever seen and liked as much as the original was Cape Fear and that was Martin Scorsese. If you're not Martin Scorsese, don't try a re-make. That's a decent rule of thumb in my book. Just because a movie was popular 20 years ago does not mean it needs to be made again. Please leave it alone.

What is your opinion on book to movie adaptions?

I think novels are incredibly difficult to adapt. Sometimes they can be done well and sometimes they aren't. It depends an awful lot on the screenwriter's ability to invent scenarios within someone else's universe. To be able to make things up in the spirit of the book, while brining their own voice to the script as well as serving as an interpreter of sorts. Not easy. Much respect goes out to the filmmakers that have done that kind of work well.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Go forth. Be fruitful and make a movie. Be yourself and tell good stories. This of course, is the task at hand every single time you step behind the camera. It's much easier said than done, nut very very rewarding.