Filmmaker Jay Beck

Jay Beck is currently a graduate student in film at Columbia College Chicago. He has been directing short films since 2003. He is primarily concerned with themes of alienation and displacement and how this affects the individual and their psychology. His goal is to create cinema that combines the issues and depth of art films and the accessibility of Hollywood movies, such as the works of Jean-Pierre Melville and Wes Anderson.

What is the current project you are working on?

Man on Mars, which is about one of the first men to Mar’s return home.  It’s based on a feature I want to do, and has been challenging figuring out how to make it work as a short.

How do you measure success?

I try to think of success in terms of what I can control.  Fame and fortune would be great, but there are better ways to go about it than filmmaking, so I try to keep this definition in terms of why I chose movies.  So first off it’s getting to make the movies I want to make.  Second, taking risks and challenging myself and learning and developing.  Third, collaborating with people that challenge and engage me.  Fourth, helping others achieve their visions.

How do you handle rejection?

Very poorly.  I have gotten better over the years, but I have a sensitive personality type so I shut down easily or internally justify myself by thinking "oh they don't understand my work" or "their jealous."  This is rarely the case, but often when people critique my work they can tell something is not working but can’t put their finger on it.  Outright rejection is easier to bear because you don’t know the terms.

Did you always want to be a filmmaker?

Not by a long shot.  I wanted to be a farmer and then a policeman and then a basketball player, from middle school on I wanted to be a playwright, and then around the time of college an architect or a computer programmer.

What inspired you to become filmmaker?

When I was 20, I was really searching for what I was passionate about and had started studying graphic design.  A lot of graphic design’s language comes from cinema so I started watching a lot of movies.  I took a digital cinema class and tried to replicate the shot from Amelie where she is skipping stones.  There was something about how the cinematography, music, and color all came together in that moment in the movie that made me realize I wanted to be filmmaker.

What is the best thing about being one?

Films are kind of like music, society should be able to live without them but somehow it gives life purpose and contributes to our experience.  To put it into words, at least for me is how Bruno Schulz described the Age of Genius in Sanitarium Under the Sign of the Hourglass, “There are things that cannot ever occur with any precision.  They are too big and too magnificent to be contained in mere facts…they quickly withdraw, fearing to lose their integrity in the frailty of realization.”

So now that I’ve given you my esoteric answer, I think it’s that film contains all the arts and can’t be done alone.  I get to explore all mediums without having to have mastered them.  So I can I work with a musician and have insight and ideas but don’t have to know how to play an instrument.  You also have a community fighting for the same end, and from that common struggle an honest and deep intimacy emerges.

What is the worst thing about being one?

Films are kind of like music…just kidding.

I think one of the biggest struggles is making what you are saying compelling to others.  So what makes the medium great also makes it daunting.

Also money and time, most of the people I work with are okay with not getting paid but it’s always in the back of your mind that they are doing this for free.  I always tend to feel like I am asking to much of people, but then you have to remember that they are just as committed to the project as you are, or at least you hope so.  It also gets really difficult to schedule everything around other people’s work and life schedules.

Who is your favorite filmmaker?

Andrei Tarkovsky

Bela Tarr

Jean Pierre Melville

Hiroshi Teshigahara

Alexander Dovzhenko

How has your life changed since you became a filmmaker?

Hectic and anxious, filmmaking is really tough and a struggle, but so is anything worth doing.  Also writing is really hard because you come up against yourself, I always bang head on walls while trying to knock out a script.  There’s always the fear that people will think your best efforts are crap.

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

I don’t know about making it in the movie business, but I always encourage people to watch movies and make movies.

A lot of people have hard time with the more obscure and slower films like Tarkovsky and Bergman, but you really have to learn to appreciate them.  It can be a real challenge on your patience and focus, but I tell people not to worry about getting it just keep watching them, because it eventually starts making sense.  When I first started watching a lot of stuff I couldn’t see why the critics praised certain stuff as masterpieces or why they were so important, but eventually starts to make sense.  So I really encourage people to challenge themselves with what they watch and seek out a lot international and more obscure work.

I also encourage my friends to make the movies only they can make it instead of making good movies.  I think it’s most important to find what you have to say and how to say it, the craft and technical stuff comes later and develops while your making stuff.  The best way to break out with limited resources and money is to be unique.  Hollywood can do Hollywood better because their better equipped for that, so do something different.  The independent breakthroughs generally offer something Hollywood doesn’t and even often times have many flaws.  Flaws can be overlooked if the story and characters are engaging.

What do you like to do besides filmmaking?

I have three cats so I try to spend some time with them.  I also watch a lot of movies and spend a lot of time reading stuff that can influence my filmmaking.  My life is pretty centered on making films so most everything I do is somehow geared toward that.  I am also really interested in film history and theory, so I spend a lot of time reading about that when I get a chance.

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

Unfortunately, I’m not really an employed at as a filmmaker yet, so I work at Whole Foods in the bakery.  I’ve worked there in several positions off an on while I’ve been in grad school.  I finish taking classes for my MFA this spring, so then I will be teaching at Columbia College Chicago and trying to put my thesis film together.

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

Umm, Houseguest…You’ll have to forgive me for being indulgent because there are so many good ones.

My favorite childhood film was The Neverending Story, because it just haunted and enchanted me.

The Usual Suspects:  Annie Hall, The Graduate, Harold and Maude, The Royal Tenenbaums, The Life Aquatic, Edward Scissorhands, It’s a Wonderful Life, The Godfather, Casablanca, Bicycle Thieves, The Virgin Suicides, Lost In Translation, Memento, Amelie, Rebel Without a Cause, Breathless, The Big Sleep, North by Northwest, Vertigo, 2001, The Shining, Dr. Strangelove, Seven Samurai, The Shawshank Redemption, Eternal Sunshine, The Cabinet of Dr. Caligari

Independents:  David and Lisa, The Lost Skelton of Cadavra, Man on Wire, La Jetee, Primer, Moon

International:  Ali Zoua – Morocco, Avalon – Poland, Battle Royal, Takeshis’, Kikujiro  – Japan, Yi Yi – Taiwan, The Host and Old Boy – Korea, The Power of One – South Aftrica, The Lonliness of the Long Distance Runner – Great Britain, The Cremator – Czechoslovakia, The Return – Russia, Touchez Pas Au Grisbi and The Red Balloon – France, 13 Tzameti – Georgia, Tuvalu and Dead Snow – Germany, Infernal Affairs and Intial D – Hong Kong, The Band’s Visit – Israel, The Cow – Iran, Apu Trilogy – India (Bengal), Insomnia and The Bothersome Man – Norway, The Celebration and Reconstruction – Denmark, Werkmeister Harmonies – Hungary

Masters: Hour of the Wolf – Bergman, The Conformist – Bertolucci, Viridiana and The Exterminating Angel – Bunuel, The Great Dictator, The Goldrush, and City Lights – Chaplin, A Nous La Liberte – Clair, Diabolique and The Wages of Fear – Clouzot, Orpheus – Cocteau, The Conversation – Coppola, Joan of Arc – Dreyer, 81/2 – Fellini, The Grapes of Wrath – Ford, The Fireman’s Ball – Forman, Alphaville and Band of Outsiders – Godard, Ball of Fire – Hawks, Encounters at the End of the World – Herzog, The Asphalt Jungle – Huston, The General – Keaton, Three Colors Trilogy – Kieslowski, Dr. Mabuse, Spiones, and Woman on the Moon – Lang, Duck, You Sucker – Leone, Eraserhead and Lost Highway – Lynch, Le Doulos – Melville, Sunrise and Nosferatu – Murnau, Rosemary’s Baby and Chinatown – Polanski, Grand Illusion and Rules of the Game – Renoir, Rome, Open City – Rossellini, Earth and Arsenal – Dovezchenko, Stalker and Solaris - Tarkovsky

The U.S:  The Bourne Identity, Quiz Show, Awakenings, The Chocolate War, Explorers, The Princess Bride, You Can’t Take it with You, The Party, Searching for Bobby Fischer, Where The Wild Things Are, Sweet Smell of Success, Kronos

TV:  The Adventures of Pete and Pete

I’ll stop, but there’s so many great movies out there.

How would you describe your film education?

I received my Bachelors of Science in film and television from the University of Texas and am getting my MFA in Writing and Directing from Columbia College Chicago, but I’d have to say I learned the most from watching and making movies.  I made a few shorts between undergrad and grad school, which weren’t very good, but I learned a lot.  From making these shorts I learned how to pull together resources like how to find actors, seeking out friends that were musicians, getting or stealing locations, etc.  You really have to learn how to ask for favors as an independent filmmaker.

How would you describe the film "scene" where you live?

Chicago is mostly commercials with some big stuff coming through from time to time, although there is a developing independent scene and a lot of stuff from Columbia College.

I really love Chicago though for the plethora a strong actors.  There is such a big theatre scene here that there is plenty of talent.

How has social media changed the independent film industry?

I think we are beginning to see the collapse of Hollywood.  They will hold out for a quite a while longer, but filmmakers can directly reach their audiences much easier now.  Especially Facebook has been amazing for a lot of this stuff.  Streaming has been really problematic for a lot of the industry and I think will level the playing field for independents.

What's your opinion on crowdfunding?

It’s really great because it gives you access to your audience before you begin making your movie.  It also allows you to begin marketing before you have even shot a frame of the film.  It also gives audiences a say in what they want to see.

How does independent film differ from the mainstream?

This is becoming more and more of a grey area with Focus Features, Fox Searchlight and many of the other off shoot companies.  A movie with a budget of 20 million or less is now often considered “independent.”  I think true independent film focuses on producing movies on smarter budgets and are more creative about constraints.  There is also less concern about the commercial success so there is more freedom.  I really believe people just want to see new and engaging work and this is where independent film is really finding its success.  Hollywood really doesn’t know what people want anymore and even though they still have a large hold the market you can see it beginning to slip.  It really doesn’t make sense to put 50 to a 100 million dollars into one movie.

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

The Rules of the Game or Grand Illusion by Renoir, there is just a great energy that you feel from the cast.  Even though work isn’t always fun or happy the creative commitment of everyone was captured on the screen.

What's your favorite movie quote and why?

“You don't like my rice? What's wrong with with it? It's beautiful to me, but to you, rice is nothing... to us, it's just like my father and mother. Don't fuck with my family. If you have any dignity, apologize to the rice RIGHT NOW!” – Ken, A Better Tomorrow II

I don’t know why, I just think its really funny to make a gangster thug apologize to his rice.

What is your opinion on movie remakes and sequels?

It irritates me that there are so many great films internationally that are remade to be marketed to American audiences.

If you dig into film history you also find that a lot of recent movies are just remakes, and not nearly as good as the original.  I’m not against remakes if they have their own merit, but if they don’t contribute something new and fall short of the original then what’s the point.  Although there are some remakes that take a good idea and execute it better, such as Quarantine was better then [Rec] and the Soderberg’s Oceans 11 was far superior to the original.

Sequels are fine but I think often suffer from trying to explain the ambiguities of the first movie.  This has a tendency to ruin the first because it’s the questions that are left that can the film powerful.  A lot of movies are afraid to ask questions or leave questions unanswered which is actually ruining cinema.  The best kind of storytelling engages the audience through questions.

What is your opinion on book to movie adaptions?

Cinema has a rich history of drawing from literature.  All of Kubrick’s stories came from books.  Although I think the idea of transposing a book to screen just so we can see it play out visually with real people is a bad idea.  The novel and movies are two totally different mediums and have different requirements, so to stay true to the book I think you have to actually steer away from it to some extent.  I don’t like it when people say, “that wasn’t in the book” or “they skipped or cut out all this stuff.”  The book has to be the beginning and then the movie needs to seek out its own requirements.

Is there anything else you would like to add?

Nope, except for keep an eye out for Americanitis, which is my first feature that I have in development.