Do filmmakers peak like athletes?

Yes

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by Matthew S Harrison

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Good Film Good Film, My Kingdom For A Good Film

As in any profession, one can stagnate. This day in age, it seems as though all of Hollywood has done so. The pride is gone. The formula is all that matters to the studios. And actors-don't bother, anything for a paycheck is the motto of most of the agencies who represent us-big or small. What is the percentage of gross the actor will make, and does it have a global theatrical releasing contract-if so, the actor will act it-no matter how horrible the script!
It doesn't take a great script to make a film that sells. Look at everything Tom Cruise has made in his career, other than "Vanilla Sky". Yet we keep going to see him-well, you do. I will watch one of his films when it is on free "on demand" but that is about it. My reasoning for not watching "A Listers" anymore-stagnancy. The business has forgotten about quality. In fact, the best films of the last five years are all indies. Why, you ask? It is simple. In my 28 years as a professional actor, I have worked with some of the "great directors". But recently something is starkly obvious. They don't make great films anymore! They all peaked a long time ago. And they aren't buying or writing great scripts anymore either. In fact the studios aren't looking for them. The studios force them to peak. They get to make one maybe two great movies, and then the studios require them to make the formulaic rubbish that lines the studios' and their stock-holder's pockets.
The studios won't stray from the formula. They are sticking so close to the formula that about 10% of what they make nowadays has already been done, either under a different title, or as a remake. There is a simple reason for this. The studios are all but broke. At $10 a ticket, it is pretty hard to get people into the seats of theaters. In fact, they don't even make films directed towards a middle aged audience any longer. How many of your parents are willing to part with ten bucks for a ninety minute movie, let alone a remake that spits upon the original? Probably none of them...unless your parents are very young and very hip-they aren't going to give up ten bucks and ninety minutes of their lives to see a good title ruined, or to watch a poorly directed, poorly written film that cost $250 million to make, that has no story line, no characters and opens with a gruesome murder and then full on sex between the main characters. The studios make films for $250 million bucks and then wonder why they are broke. Paramount had to lay off 15% of their work force after the flop of Tom Cruise's last blunder-in fact they parted ways with Cruise after that one-and they have been reeling ever since(forgive the pun).
That said, it is pretty hard for an A List director to make a good film. The studios don't want them. The studios want movies that will get 18-36 year old men into the seats. Lets face it, eighteen year olds want to see naked women and explosions. There were no naked women in Casablanca (though there are rumors that Madonna's company is remaking it, starring her, so get ready to see Sam say the "F" word and rap, and for Madonna to take off her top). There were no car chases in El Cid. There wasn't an "F" word in "Its A Wonderful Life". Find three films (that aren't animated for kids), in theaters now that don't have the "F" word in them at least 10 times, and I will eat this computer!

Can you imagine how fast Orson Wells is spinning in his grave?

So, peaking is not something that is discussed in the business, but it is a stark reality. The great filmmakers who exist in the studio system are there because at one time they made great movies. But now, they are past their prime to draw the young male audience. So whether they want to admit it, they have peaked. The industry has peaked on them. Spielberg isn't remaking "Porky's" and Coppola isn't remaking "Carnal Knowledge",though the studios would probably love that to happen.
When was the last time you saw a film that did really well at the box office that wasn't riddled with foul language, explosions, and graphic sex? Can't remember? Well, the only way you did, was if you were seeing "Horton Hears A Who" or "Curious George" with your kids.
The simple fact of the matter is those of us who remember the golden era of Hollywood are dinosaurs. I am only forty years old, but I am one who misses good films. I miss great characters, like the ones created by Paul Neumann, Spencer Tracy, James Stewart, and the list goes on. I don't think we are going to see a change either. As the industry continues down a path to dumb us all down with outrageous special effects, ultra-violence, and gratuitous sex, we keep going to see the films.
The great filmmakers of today are independent producers and directors who are making films for less than a million bucks and are lucky to get a DVD deal on the pictures, because they aren't selling. The general public is so desensitized to the graphic stuff, our attention span has dwindled to nothing. Those great filmmakers will get sucked into the studio system, after one of their films gets a great review. They will be offered all kinds of money to make a studio film. They will have to allow the studio to dumb down the script, add swearing, violence and a good sex scene or two, and will make them blow some stuff up....and before those great filmmakers know it-they have just peaked. They have found how easy it is to compromise creative principals for the all mighty dollar, and will never look back.
Now you can disagree. If you are 25 or younger, you don't remember when Rocky came out. That was the first film I ever saw in a theater without my parents in tow. Friends and I went to the theater in Reston, VA on a Friday. The movie was the greatest thing I had ever seen. It was gritty. The sorrow for Rocky's family and their station in life was palpable. The characters were so real you could smell them. Burgess Meredith was brilliant. I don't remember anyone saying anything in that film that was a bad word. There was no "sex". It was the highest grossing film of that year. It is a classic for my generation. Now, Sly aint Lawrence Olivier, but the film was brilliant none the less. Look at what Sly has made since. Rambo 1-5 ? The first one was more than enough-the system-THE STUDIO SYSTEM-peaked him. They made it clear to him that money was more important than the art-and the ensuing sequels to Rocky didn't live up to the first one. The stories stunk-the characters were less than larger than life-they became automatons. They were boring-as was Rocky. He wasn't fighting for his life-he was fighting for money-get the analogy?
So, when you ask if filmmakers peak, I say yes- not only do they peak-they are forced to peak by studio greed. They are forced to peak to maintain the status quo in Hollywood-the dollar is mightier than the pen in the movie business. If you write a smart script and want a studio to make it-be ready to be disappointed.
The independent film scene will never peak. It will always be free of studio intervention. If the movie wasn't funded by a large distributor, it is probably worth the $5 you will spend at a small art-house theater with sticky floors and a 30 foot screen. But for that five bucks, you will see a film that had to be made. You will see the labor of a group of people who worked for next to nothing, who mortgaged their lives to make the film, who hoped beyond all hope that they would make enough money on the film to pay off the debt incurred making it, only to turn around and make the next script they had sitting on their desks-another smart character driven film, directed by someone who doesn't drive a Ferrari, who doesn't eat sushi at a five star restaurant every night, and who has seen all of the classics, by all of the studio directors, made before the studio system forced them to peak and compromise all the principals that made them get into making films in the first place.

Matthew S. Harrison-Actor/Indep endent Producer

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