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A friend of mine recently posted the link to an article by THR titled “Alex Karpovsky, Lena Dunham and a New Generation of Indie Filmmakers” and I found the it interesting. The comments Karpovsky made on bartering and working with your friends.
Read the excerpt:
“No one’s employed, and financing is virtually nonexistent,” [Karpovsky] cracks, joking about the shoestring budgets and humble beginnings of his indie-scene collaborators. He is tall and lanky, with thick dark hair, and is on this day twisted into a chair in the downtown offices of Tribeca Cinemas, which is putting out both of his new movies.
“We all know each other, we all see each other at the same festivals every year. Making movies isn’t necessarily cheap, and you need to rely on favors and friends to help you through the process. Many times I’ve helped boom people’s movies in order to get a free camera from them or for them to act in my movie for a day. I acted in a guy’s movie who did the sound for Rubberneck for basically free. It’s a barter system … And it’s also, they’re your friends, and when your friends ask you to be in movies, you show up.“
Working with and supporting your friends? This something I’ve seen firsthand in the indie film scene here in North Carolina. I’ve also heard award-winning filmmakers recommend it: work with your friends, repay favors, and have fun working together. It creates a fun, collaborative, and energetic atmosphere — which I have witness countless times.
I feel very lucky to be doing this indie filmmaking thing right now. It is such an exciting time. There’s very little funding to do what we really want to do, but we’re having fun making films together anyway. We’re learning how to make our movies and stretching ourselves to improve our craft each step of the way. I am totally in love with that. I find myself feeling incredibly grateful to be working with my friends to make something and I’m anxious to start the process all over again.
In the meantime … I’m editing Trophy, a short comedy we shot in January. I’m also in pre-production on a new documentary film. It’s going to be incredible. And I’m writing another short narrative film that can be shot in one weekend with my friends. That’ll be a lot of fun, too.
Conclusion? Life is busy — but so sweet. It’s great to see coverage by THR confirm that I’m on — what I feel — is the right path for this little love of mine: filmmaking. Making your own film is really, really rewarding!