Hey Ray,

It's been a while since I dropped a line but I'm trying to keep myself busy and avoid as much of this Star Wars mania as I possibly can. Matt pointed out your small piece in the Christian Science Monitor. Three years ago I would have thought you to be a clueless, unimaginative, snob, but times change and so did I.

Three years ago I was still deeply of the belief that filmmaking was about showing the extraordinary and expressing your imagination. It was meant to give us a window into our dreams. Most of my dreams seemed to revolve around boyhood fantasies of mythological proportions. To sun things up, I was a Star Wars nut. If Matt had never introduced me to you and had I never discovered filmmakers like Cassavetes, I might be that fan camping out just to be the first in line to see the newest installments in Lucas' on going "opus"!

While many thanks are due to you and to Matt and to others who have peeled back my eye lids to a completely different side of filmmaking, I can't help but feel stuck at some weird cross-road. There are many friends of mine whom I still hold dear and whom I love and they write me ever so often, still in shock with the fact that I am no longer a Star Wars devotee, like them, but still unable to control their excitement over the high anticipated new Star Wars film. I try to be care and I pretend like I still care, but ultimately I just see these new films as two hour long commercials for action figures and anything else that can have the words "Star Wars" printed upon its surface.

I feel like a religious nut! As if, a small cult of filmmakers grabbed be, duct tapped me and threw me in a van, whisking me off to some secret camp where they brainwashed me and reprogrammed me with an entirely new mindset. However, I also feel like it was I and my friends who were brainwashed years ago when we feel under Lucas' spiel. Now, I stand slackjawed and amazed that they cannot see through this new film. It is starting to feel like either I'm in the crazy ward ranting that the people on the outside are the crazies.

You told me to embrace the ordinary and I like to think I do. However, it seems like currently the ordinary thing to do is to embrace this new film. It makes it especially hard when you were the biggest fan amongst your friends and now they feel like you abandoned them. I have even been accused of falling to "the dark side". Yet, in my mind it is Lucas who has fallen to the dark side, peddling his business deals as myth. The golden fleece has been removed from my eyes and I have seen the light...is anyone else seeing the light?

I have recently taken up a correspondence with Caveh Zahedi. With him and Matt I can discuss films that I love (thanks to many recommendations on your part) and I don't feel so alone in the world. However, when you are but three in a world of billions, it can at times seem overwhelming. Often, I try to introduce my friends to films like Faces, Hard Labour, Mikey and Nicky or Stalker. Without an ad campaign to support these films, it seems like I can barely get one of my friends to sit down and watch one of these films. They'd rather watch previews on cable for films that aren't in theaters yet or rewatch and old favorite film of theirs, an assured pleaser.

Now, I realize you can only save those who want to be saved and you can only convert those who want to be converted, but does it ever seem like we are very few? The masses line up to see computer generated ones and zeroes, they go gaga over galactic mayhem and then they give me the odd look when I suggest we watch a film about humans. Sometimes I wonder if it is even worth the energy.

I know my life is better thanks to people like Cassavetes and Leigh. I actually don't feel at odds with the world. I see people in those films; people like me, not who I want to be, but who I am often afraid to admit I am. Yet, most moviegoers that I meet, they don't want that, they want to be someone else and forget who they are. I see this people and I feel like the freak. I mean, don't they ever get as freaked out by the world as I do or don't they ever feel like they don't fit in or that there is something wrong with themselves? I feel like that all the time and it comforts me, the films I watch, they have characters like that.

I have just been recently labeled "the film snob" by friends of mine and by many other students I used to go to school with. Due to my taste for Cassavetes, Leigh, Tarkovsky, and especially Jost I have become an outcast. I feel like a rebel fighting against some huge Empire. However, they don't see it like this. I have tried to introduce them to films that I enjoy, but to no avail. Can we convince the masses to stop watching what they want and start looking for what they need? Secondly, do they need these types of films?

It seems to me that most of these people are quite happy with life. They do a far better job hiding their frustrations, if they have, than I do. Often, I think they only thing that could shake them up is if Lucas didn't get to complete this next trilogy. Even then I know that Lucas is just a substitute until the next Tarantino pops up. Ultimately, it seems to me that the majority of people don't want or need art.

I look to my parents and see no desire what so ever to embrace the arts. They are concerned more with bills and television sitcoms then art. I don't feel holier than them. I don't stop loving them because of this. I just feel odd. Like I've been cursed. My curse is art. I'm the one grappling with issues and the meaning of life and trying to find a way to express things that seem unexpressible. My younger brother likes Steve Miller, Playboy, and Chris Farley films, he studies science and gets straight A's and is full of school spirit. He is the "normal" son. He doesn't seem to have a care in the world as long as he's got food and clothing from the Gap. It all seems "too normal" at my house. All except for me, the artistic son who wrestles with issues and refuses to do things on principle alone. I fell like I'm always going against the system or the norm and not ever understanding why.

If people want digital eye-candy shouldn't I just give it to them? My parents want me to make money. They want me to be able to provide for myself and for the ones I love. They also want me to be happy. I certainly have no problems with money. I could really use some, but I feel that the films I want to make are not going to generate the kind of money people expect filmmakers to earn. The other things is, not only will my films not make this type of money or bring a certain amount of fame, but they do not really have the type of crowd appeal that is expected of a "good" film. Most of my friends whom I grew up with and the majority of people I know are not going to rush out to see my film, besides for the fact that it maybe "my" film. The subject matter is certainly not going to pack them in. So, I am stuck. Do I please those around me or do I do the selfish thing and make the types of film that I think I need to make in order to make myself happy?

Right now, I am sticking to MY guns and hoping to make films for myself. I think art is something the artist must do for themselves, not for a theatre full of strangers. This is a tough decision because I do want others to get something from my films but I do not want to simply push and peddle ideas upon them, for them to easily eat up and digest. What makes all this even harder is the fact that films are not seen as art. Everyone seems more concerned about the money.

So, is that what artists have to do? Do they have to be self serving? It seems so to me. With a majority of the population hesitant to embrace art it seems like the only point of creating art is for self expression and self exploration. To me, that seems kind of lonely and sad, doesn't it?

As much as I sometimes cursing having ever been delivered from my starstruck worship of films like Star Wars, I can't help but sit here today, when a new batch of films is about to be released upon the world, and give thanks to you and the few others who saved me from walking blindly into a false, digital utopia.

Thanks

Ryan

Ray-

Hi! Back from La-la land. It ended up being a very bitter sweet experience in Park City. I only got to meet a couple interesting people. I felt like I saw a lot of mediocre films. A couple gems (shorts) stood out. At Slamdance: Moonshine by Kelly Reily, and at Sundance King of the Jews by Jay Rosenblatt (my favorite short filmmaker ever I think—thanks for introducing me to his stuff). How are things with you?

Caveh's film was wonderful. I don't think it is as personal a work as A little Stiff, but compared to all the other terrible features I saw. It was a breath of fresh air. Greg Watkins gave one of the greatest Q and A sessions I have ever heard. What a fantastic guy!

Slamdance is a very male festival. They need some more female programmers. Their logo this year is a pre-historic figure lighting a fart on fire. I'm serious!!! Sometimes I felt like I was part of something that I didn't want to be part of. Let's see if they have the balls to program Modern Lovers next year. I'm sick of spoofs, being clever, stupid scripts, pretty cinematography etc. What about films about life? Everybody was laughing except me. Help!!! I'm not pretentious, I don't ask much, but....come on. Slamdance wants to be alternative, but in some ways they are worse than Sundance, their disease is deeper and unspoken. Anyway, I hope all is well. I'm deep into Wordsworth's Prelude. Is it the best poem ever written? I'm starting to think yes.

Lucas

Dear Prof. Carney,

I saw the web site last night. It was wonderful, and I spent a long time on it. I really loved the section on Joan of Arc. We spent so much time talking in class last year about how difficult indie film can be, but the site serves as a testament as to how much has been accomplished, and it's inspiring. I've been thinking a lot lately about indy film and things that you told us. At the time I graduated, I was really worried, but after seeing Lucas' and Ara's successes, and how many people out there really seem to want good films, and how the digital technology is developing, I'm becoming really hopeful....

I have been trying to work on some ideas about building a strong base for those students, and though a floor for a weekend isn't much, well, Rome wasn't built in a day either. My hope is that we can become a small but tight force, and help out Caveh, or Gordon Erikson, or Mark Rappaport, or any other directors you know of, giving our free time to help these directors do what they want, and also work on each other's films. If you're skeptical, that's okay, but I'd like to try it anyway.

The manuscript you sent me of the Cass book looks great. I thought it was only going to be a collection of interviews, but now I see it's much more. I've read some of Faber's other directors on directors books, but this looks so different, much more personal, not only in terms of JC, but in terms of you too. I can't wait.

The ongoing MovieMaker articles have been great too. Between looking for jobs, they keep my spirits high. Thanks. I still fight with so much of the things we talked about in class, and with the films themselves, but it's a great struggle.

I saw Milestones and Ice at MoMA last week, and though there are some things that bother me about Ice, I really liked the films a lot. Some people walked out on both, but that's their loss. Milestones really got to me, especially when the woman was giving birth, and the scenes with Grace Paley. And though I didn't like some of the acting in Ice, the leader of the group really interested me, as did the scenes where the group was arguing. Hope I can see them again soon.

There was an interview with Mike Leigh on PBS last night, and even though the interviewers were horrible (not an overstatement), Leigh said some great things, and as much as it seemed to be a chore for him, his passion still came through.

If there's anything I can do let me know. I can't wait for the books to come out. I hope your classes are going well. I miss being there, and I hope to come to Boston some time and sit in.

Robert

Dear Ray,

Thank you for the very kind words and encouraging note. I needed it. I had a pretty hard day yesterday - I attended one of those networking parties (I feel I need to do this for some reason) where one can gauge the measure of one's value by the slowness with which those with a degree of power and standing in the indie film world acknowledge one visually and/or verbally or not at all. And to put it mildly, there was no alacrity to greet me. My social standing in the indie film world seems to plummet each year, and the constantly increasing humiliation of having people I used to have lunch with regularly and socialize with barely acknowledge my presence after not having seen me for over a year gets to one after a while. It hurts. And yesterday was one of those days.

This semester I'm teaching a lecture class on "Third World Cinema," a couple of "Intro to Cinema" classes (in which I'm analyzing Citizen Kane shot by shot, a film I kind of hate), a Scorsese class, and a couple of Super-8 production classes. It's a lot, but otherwise I can't pay the bills, and as it is, I can barely pay the bills.

I hate asking for these (and, with rare exceptions, I usually hate writing them for other people), but I've decided to apply for a full-time teaching job at xxx University (right now I'm only part-time, although I'm also teaching part-time at xxx, so my course load [5 and 1/2 classes] is actually more than it would be if I were teaching full-time, not to mention that I'd make a lot more money) and I need to give them three names and addresses of references. Would it be okay if I gave them your name and address? I realize you've got a zillion other things to do, but as you can imagine, it would help me out quite a bit.

Affectionately,

(A major American independent filmmaker)

Dear Professor Carney,

I am not sure if you remember me; I took your International Masterworks course last spring semester. I usually sat towards the front. I wanted to get in touch with you for a few reasons. First, I never got to thank you for your fantastic course. You absolutely changed the way that I experience movies. I still find myself learning more from the profundity of the lessons I got in your class. So thanks. Second, I have been working since September as a personal assistant to xxx. I am in New York, and his next film starts shooting in late February. It looks like the bulk of my job on the set will be to shoot a "making of" documentary to go on the Criterion release of the DVD. I am very excited about the opportunity, but have also been feeling confused about how to make something special with the documentary, instead of the usual boring "making of" features you see on many DVDs. I watched the making of the Shining by Vivid Kubrick, and that had some interesting ideas of cutting in clips from the actual film with Kubrick directing on the set, so you really got to compare the process with the final outcome. I wanted to ask your advice on this project, both in terms of documentaries I should watch in preparation for making mine and in terms of any structural ideas you might have to make it engaging. My fear is that it will fell stagnant, and I want to find a way to give it a narrative momentum, a way to make it feel poetic outside of whatever poetic voice carries the actual movie. I hope everything is going well for you this semester, and I hope to hear from you soon.

All the best,

Alex Moore

Professor Carney-

I sent you a letter, via the postal service, about a month ago: Just wondering how everything's going, and hoping that you got my postcard from Palermo. Since I've been back my mind's been consumed with thoughts of what to do next. I want to continue writing, I need to write, but I'm also interested in theater. I know theater isn't your department at BU, but I was wondering if there was any advice or recommendations you could give me about the different programs at the university. I've checked it out on the net, but I couldn't find the information I was looking for in regards to playwriting, screenwriting, theater production, etc.

Also, soon I'll be visiting the east coast, places like Boston, New York, all the must-sees. I'm hoping to move to the east coast eventually (still not settled with work or a place to stay, but all in due time), but when I do visit, it would be an honor if I could stop by your office and say hello, and maybe sit in on a few of your lectures. Your work has been of vital importance to me. I wish I could emphasize just how much through words, but they would do my feelings little justice. Your influence, and the influence of the art you've shown and taught me, exists in my writing. I've seen my work change. I've seen it grow, and it is still growing. You've helped blow away a lot of the smoke that has blinded so many of us, all the useless inherited sentimentality, all the fantasy, all the conditioned garbage telling us what we should be and hiding us from what we are. Thank you for being such an honest voice in the world.

—K

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Ray,

What you write touches me. Tarkovsky who and Bresson who and Hawks who and meaning who and life who! It is strange how everything that is solid is quickly melting into thin air, variation on the title of a good book. Sometimes I think that people like Bush because he is the product of mass culture. I am not a sociologist and I don't give a damn about it or politics, but it seems to me that mass culture changes peoples' political attitudes. They look at TV, film, books and everything is stupid, but they don't question it and if they do think it is innocent and does not really matter. And then they get a president who sounds stupid and it all suddenly fits in within the parameters of mass culture, which they live in. This lighten up business is driving the world mad.

But what is more troubling is this. I was invited to (a major film school) after the screening of my film and the professors seemed to embrace independent film and invited me to show their support which I was grateful for. But then when I spoke about Tarr, Sokurov, and the great Bokanowski they did not show any expression or reaction except of course indifference. It seems that etiquette is etiquette. When I was a student at NYU I got so depressed because I felt that most of the professors dealt with film and academia as a professional thing, which means that they have to follow the trends of the day. There was little honesty in what they did.

Yes, it is the English language critics, but also it seems to be the case all over the world now, with varying degrees. And it is not all innocent.

Dear Ray Carney,

You've inspired me. Since my teacher read your article to my film class at my high school last year, I've been working on my first independent film. Almost a year ago today I began writing "clothes". I've since shot it and I'm currently half way through the edit. It should be 90 minutes or so.

It's about my experiences through high school. My insecurities, my confusion. After watching all my friends and nearly every teenager in the United States flock to these stupid Hollywood teenybopper piles of shit called cinema, like "10 things I hate about you" etc., I've made it my mission to make a movie about how teenager really are, at least from what I've seen and experienced. I just want to be real, tell the truth, that's all. I don't want say anything clever. I don't care if the audience liked it or anything, I just want to make a move about what I know.

From the beginning I've been pretty content for what I've done. However, just recently I reached a dilemma. I had finished a scene that included a musical montage at the end. I liked it, it looked good. Nearly everyone else who's seen it, liked it as well, except for xxxx, he thinks it's corny. That's when I asked myself, do I like it because I've seen it before. Is this just me being a hack, recreating what Spielberg or whoever else has done? Probably.

So after much thought, I got a vision. I saw my film, complete and original. No music, a messy edit. It was literally a vision. I saw my art work, my own piece of art, finally I saw "clothes". So I began recutting. I watched it again with no music, this time I wasn't to enthusiastic about it. It wasn't what I had envisioned. It lacked something.

Anyway, that was yesterday and since then I've been just thinking and thinking trying to get inspired or something so I can finish this film. I just want to tell the truth, I just want to be true to the art, that's all.

Perhaps if I made the music myself I'd be OK with it, but I didn't so should it have no music, no outside work? Then again, with the music I felt something...or did I? Was it just a cliché that I made which is why it looked so "right" to me and whoever else who saw it? I know it's my first film, but I want to start in the right direction. I want to be an artist not a hack.

The film is complete, I can see it sometimes. But, for some reason, when I start working on it, I get confused and frustrated. I'm taking a break until I come to some sort of decision. Please write back if you have the time.

Thank you for everything,

Kevin

Ray,

I guess I should say thanks, but honestly, I'm not feeling so thankful.... I'm 25 and I want to have some sort of stability in my life. Sadly, the world of filmmaking, especially independent film is not stable. That makes it harder to try and settle, down and do the whole "family" thing which is still as much a dream of mine as film ever was.

You said that, "Ideas are wonderful. Yours are. But realities are different." The reality is that I feel I can't make ends meet. That I may never be able especially if I "Work with artists. Independent spirits." as you suggest. Sadly, they may have talent but they rarely have the means to provide for themselves let alone others. Money may not be everything, but it is an ugly necessity.

I'd go help these "good directors and write these good scripts", but first I need to help myself. And that's something I'm not sure how to do. I've thought about writing about film and just submitting it, but even there you say, "But if they are really good, you won't make any money at it and you won't even get them published. If they are really, really good." Which to me says...don't try!

I don't know what other career options I have. Film seemed to be the one thing I was good at and the one thing I enjoy. But I will consider your suggestions and I hope that maybe when you get some free time you can give me some more in-depth suggestions, ones that would not only provide me with artistic happiness, but at least some financial security...just a little.

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Professor Carney,

It's about twelve thirty in the morning. I just got back from a lecture given by Abbas Kiarostami at the Meyer Auditorium here in D.C. Listening to him discuss his films, photography work, and poems, got me thinking about Cassavetes. There is an aim for objectivity in Cassavetes' work, and this attempt at clearing away judgment (if I could be so nonchalant about it) allows the "truths" or reasons that each character embodies to be presented equally, no matter how diffident they may be. And with brilliant subtlety, Cassavetes' films also convey the succinctness of truth and feeling. Kiarostami used a simile to hit these points. He said the truths that exist in his films are like footprints in snow, they're around for a while, and perhaps carry a unique meaning, but ultimately, as the seasons change, the snow melts away and the footprint is gone. He also used a simile in describing the process in which he makes his films. He said he's like a polo player, he hits the ball towards the goal, and yes, it was he who had hit the ball, but to get to the goal he must follow where the ball takes him. Again I was reminded of Cassavetes. As you know, he used many techniques in capturing the spontaneity of living, the capricious rhythms of continuous life, but it was during the editing process where he allowed the thousands of yards of uncut film to inspire him to create through an exploration of recorded ideas. I wanted to ask Kiarostami during the question and answer portion of the evening if he is familiar with Cassavetes' work, but time constraints left me hanging. To get back a bit, it seems to me the artist must allow his work, in a sense, to exist on its own. As a writer, I begin with a vague idea of what I want to write about. It is during the process of getting my ideas down on the page that I feel the motion in which the story is flowing, and I let it take me, and surprise me. Especially when I edit I begin to learn what my story is about - by that I mean, what I gather from it. What do these characters mean? What are their intentions? How do they exist as they are? How do they fit? Anyhow, I wanted you to know I'm still working, and I don't just mean my writing, I mean working in the perpetual pursuit of self-discovery, which fortunately for me is nicely tied into my art. I've been in D.C. for a week or so, but in a few more days I'm heading up north to check out New York and Boston. I was hoping it would be all right if I stopped by your office or during one of your classes. I feel your appreciation for life, and how eloquently it is reflected in you work, benefits not only the art of film, but, as Bill Hicks would say, it squeegees the third eye of all us inspired artists and makes everyday life more beautiful and fascinating.

To a friend of film:

I have spent the last three years of my life shooting, editing, and working on the release of a documentary I created called The Burning Sensation. The film is about the radical arts organization and annual celebration called Burning Man. After years of working hand-in-hand with the organization—under their supervision and guidance—Burning Man is now attempting to censor my film.

If you're a friend of mine, a fan of the film, or a true believer in radical self-expression and/or artistic freedom, please do me a huge favor and let me know it. Ten words is fine, ten sentences even better. Burning Man has received some negative feedback on my film, and I would greatly appreciate any positive comments that I can pass back to them. You can send your comments to me or to xxxx.

Their reasons are not 100% clear to me. The reasons they've stated have ranged from the appreciable ("There's an imbalance of female to male nudity in the film" — though my offers to re-edit have fallen upon deaf ears) to the sublime ("Larry's unhappy he wasn't wearing his hat in your interviews.") They've forwarded me selected criticism, and this sort of backward pressure is helping to justify their actions.

As a citizen of Black Rock, a Burning Man participant, and a obsessive moralist, I was diligent in my presentation of the phenomenon and phantasm that is Burning Man. I did not sneak into Burning Man and shoot this film on the sly (ironically, the film would be easier to release if I had).

Last October I attended a meeting with Marian Goodell, my main contact at Burning Man, and whose role in the organization is Mistress of Communications. At that meeting, she said to me "I'm going to give you everything you need to move forward. Happy?" Yes, I was. Not only had the film already been through two separate Burning Man approval processes, but top-notch indie distributor Shooting Gallery wanted the film.

(For those unfamiliar with Shooting Gallery, they've been a long-time producer of quality independent and art-house fair, beginning with "Laws of Gravity." "Sling Blade" is their biggest financial and critical success as producers, and they also produced this year's Oscar-nominated You Can Count on Me. About a year and a half ago they entered the world of distribution with Eamonn Bowles at the helm, who once again re-invented indie film distribution with the Shooting Gallery Film Series and hit an immediate home-run with Croupier.)

The realities of independent filmmaking are stark: About one out of every hundred indie films made in the U.S. ends up with any sort of theatrical distribution, and my film had several strikes against it: it was a documentary, it has an awkward length (under 80 minutes), was shot on video, and it didn't premiere at a "big" film festival (i.e. Sundance, Slamdance, Cannes, Berlin, Toronto). Not to forget all the other Burning Man documentaries vying for attention. It did have a number of things going for it: great reviews (especially from Variety), cool artists as subjects, a kind of energy rare in documentaries... for whatever reason, it seemed to touch a nerve with audiences, and it seemed to come close to capturing within a two-dimensional and linear medium the non-linear and limitless world of Burning Man.

Two months after we received the final Burning Man OK, they sent their contract. It was so restrictive that, if I signed it, would have killed any chances of distribution. After some fruitless back and forth the process concluded last week with Marian's admission that Burning Man feels the film is dangerous to the Burning Man event and they don't want to support it anymore. Shooting Gallery, who had the film booked for a June 1 release in NY & LA, has tabled the film's release.

Burning Man seems to think my film grossly misrepresents Burning Man and that people who see my film will get the wrong idea about the festival. They think that my film will attract the wrong element to Burning Man. I find this absurd. Burning Man was featured prominently this year in Time, the New York Times, and Rolling Stone. There are segments about Burning Man on E! and the Travel Channel. The event was referenced this year on The Simpsons , Jeopardy, and Survivor. Additionally, Burning Man has already given the go-ahead to four other documentaries that they're selling on their website.

In their defense, Burning Man only wants to do what it thinks is right for their event. Which is admirable. And Burning Man has censored before. They kicked out Capitalist Pig from Burning Man '99, a group that was trying to push the boundaries of free speech to the ultimate extreme; in doing so, someone engaged in the verbal sexual assault of a minor. Burning Man also shut down MTV when they wanted to air a Burning Man Special, for reasons that seem sound to me. MTV asked permission to shoot and were denied in advance because they'd become merely a lifestyle channel for suburban teen consumers. However, Burning Man bullying a three-year participant who has worked hand-in-hand with them every step of the way, who re-edited several times to their specifications, who has successfully gone through two approval processes, and has been told again and again "to move forward " is just not cool. It's the worst example of Burning Man becoming a huge corporation that now wants to renege on its agreements and capriciously quash anyone who fail to meet its immediate self-interests.

I think it's bullshit (obviously), but in the other America (i.e. not Burning Man), I'm a card-carrying ACLU member and value my 1st Amendment rights over any other (though I like the others a whole bunch as well!). At IFP/West my job for the last five years was to stick up for the starving artists of the film world, and to present points-of-view outside those of the Hollywood mainstream.

I'm calling on you to speak up. I hope this letter serves as a wake-up call that the ever present urge to censor artists has crept into America's premiere community for radical self-expression. Your voice matters. Pledge your support as a viewer, protest Burning Man hypocrisy, champion the rights of artists, or just fight for what's right.

Marion

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Dear Prof. Carney,

......Anyway, took a break to open up the new Moviemaker and I read your letter in response to Terence Malick's lackey.... I actually can't believe that VP of Production asked you that. Thanks for the good laugh.....

Still, the paragraph about losing everything..... It's funny because at this point I feel like if I sold off all my assets and destroyed my financial safety net I'd only really be able to raise 5 thousand dollars. I'm still a little reticent to buy into parts four and five of your lost secrets. Film's still a business. I'm budgeting my Super 16mm film at 150,000. While some people can't believe how little that is to make a film, I certainly don't have that much money. I guess that's the difference between me an Malick. He's an antiquated filmmaker with no trust in his audience and a lot of money and I'm a angry artist with a lot of faith in his audience and no money.....

I have to believe that there are investors out there who believe in me, the project, and my methods, and are willing to invest in that.... I'm still young and immature but I still have faith that art financiers, producers, and benefactors are great people, and should not be overlooked as an integral part of the creative process. Maybe I just miss my damn producer doing all the legal and business stuff for me so I can focus on the creative stuff....

Anyway, thanks for reading my 6:15 am ramblings. Keep on trucking. If you can have a letter that entertaining in every Moviemaker from now on I'll die a happy boy.

Tze

Ray,

I got the packet with your collected articles today. Thank you very much. I remember when I came across your 'Reel Truth' piece for the first time in a book store. And such a wave of relief came over me, that someone was actually saying these things with conviction and getting it printed for a large public audience. As a filmmaker I can say there is never enough true encouragement. It would be so easy to give in. Thanks again.

Jake

www.handcrankedfilm.com

Dear Professor Carney,

I'm in the middle of a second reading of The Films of Mike Leigh right now. I'll certainly be picking up copies of your two new works. Your work has profoundly changed and enriched my understanding of the power and potential of film. I can be counted on to thrust a copy of your 'Path of the Artist' series into the hands of any friend expressing more than the merest interest in film. Your ideas are so simple in one way, yet they seem also to sublimate so easily. They're a kind of water in the desert of the culture we find ourselves in. I find myself needing to go to the well again and again. That's okay though, because the well is an interesting place. Reading your work has given in me a kind of filter that I use constantly to bypass a lot of nonsense and better identify the rare, worthwhile experience.

I'm really looking forward to Cassavetes on Cassavetes. His ideas and work are deeply humbling and have affected my views on personal, political and aesthetic levels.... Anyway, I just want you to know that your message, and John's message, have been heard and understood. We're young and crazy and we'll fight for you both. Blast them one more time. ;)

Take care.

Steven W. Schuldt

Prof. Carney,

I bought my copy of Cassavetes on Cassavetesin London when it came out there in March or April of this year. I split my time between here in New York, Europe, the Middle-East (Kuwait and Bahrain) and India. So when I was passing through London I got a chance to get the book then. I started the book on the plane and finished it a few days later and it is a book that I will continue to go back to.

It is a unique book in the "x" on "x" Faber series because you sort of capture the collaborative/social aspect that went into the making of Cassavetes' films by drawing on all of the sources that you did draw on.

Speaking of sources, about a month ago I was at the Avignon/New York film festival here in NY and I ended up sitting next to Seymour Cassel at one of the screenings (he had a new film there with Jacqueline Bisset) and we had a good chat afterwards about all sorts of things, especially Cassavetes.

It is indeed a struggle to get something that tries to illuminate a truth accepted/produced/published — I think because to a large degree people are afraid of it. When they see/read/listen to something they don't want to be confronted with themselves. In the same way the behavior of other people that we get most upset about is something that we see them doing and recognize as something we ourselves do.

As you yourself has said Cassavetes is not a fashionable filmmaker. Though he has experienced a good deal of exposure lately here on IFC and in London and Paris with big retrospectives, due to the publication of your book—he remains too difficult for many to watch and those many are the people who don't want to confront themselves or what it means to be themselves (i.e. a human being) in this world.

At present I am working on two scripts for two different directors, one set in Nepal and the other in Portugal, where the directors are from, respectively. I am also working to get together the cast for my own film A Few Days in Early October so that I can begin individual work with each of the actors to try and re-shape what I have written and find where the actors' life experience overlaps with the what I have written, i.e. how do they behave in this and that situation and go about reworking the script based around who is in it. It is a script that I am very proud of, and actors have responded well to (also to the method of working)—My Profs. at NYU hated the script and most of my filmmaker friends are doubtful of it but I am going ahead with making the film.

It is indeed true that art is long.

Sincerely,

Narain.

Professor Carney,

Thank you for your email which both surprised and delighted me. I have read both "Cassavetes on Cassavetes" and "The Films of John Cassavetes" and also a good amount of your essays that you have on your website. Your writing has been very instrumental for me and I often go back to "Path of the Artist".

I myself am really just getting started as a filmmaker, that is to say I was recently liberated from my 4 year incarceration at NYU Tisch School screenwriting program which was a bit of a disaster and they wanted me out of there as fast as I wanted to get out of there.

That said my conception of cinema really changed a lot when I saw "Coming Apart" a couple of years ago at Cinema Village here when it was re-released for it 30 year anniversary. When the film started there were 8 people in the cinema and when it ended I was the only one left and walked home dazed and resolved that this was cinema and most of the other stuff wasn't. Since then films like "Flesh" and "Trash" and films by people like Ozu, Cassavetes, Rohmer, Noonan, Rosellini have been the films that I have gone back to and cannot get away from. Another filmmaker who's work I admire is Jon Jost whom I have gotten to know a bit via email.

In terms of filmmaking I don't think one has anything other than one's personal experience in the world and then one finds some way of communicating that experience. Once our backs are to the walls and we are stripped of all of our ideas that we have about ourselves and others all we have is what has happened to us. It is from this that I start when I write or film. That is, I try to scratch at the shifting surface that is human interaction/experience to reveal some kind of a truth underneath it. I think all these filmmakers do that and I can only hope that in my work I can do the same.

Thank you for your email and thank you also for your writings.

Dear Ray,

Happy New Year! I trust you had a safe and enjoyable holiday. I have been working, sleeping, and eating at the edit suite. But I am proud to say that the fine cut is done!!! I have shown it to a few people and they like what they see. But, I still want to make sure it's really good before I show it to yourself and Charles Burnett. You two are the people I value the most on input to cinema.

Also, it looks as if (and don't ask me how), like the film might be shown at Cannes. My producer is going with Larry Clark ("Passing Through") to the African American Retrospective. There is a slim chance that METAL might be shown there. To be honest, I'm not wild about it getting shown at Cannes. I have never respected the place. It's now the Sundance of Europe! Besides, I feel that the retrospective will involve non-filmmakers like Lee, John Singleton, F. Gary Grey et al. However, if Clark is going then I assume Charles will have something showing there as well. It would be nice to celebrate the real Black New Wave of Burnett, Clark, Gerima, Dash, Bill Gunn, Alie Shirken Larkin, Cheryl Dunnue. Marlon Riggs and the like, but God knows what is going to happen!

Well, I better run. I wanted to have your present to you early, but for obvious reasons, I had to wait. You'll see it soon enough and I hope it pleases you. All the best Ray and hope to hear from you soon!

Sincerely,

Chris

Dear Prof. Carney:

I just found and bought your Faber book on John today. Congratulations. It is magical. Seeing it at the bookshop filled me with emotion, and it is exciting to think of how many lives John's words will touch in the future.

Our film has played in a few festivals and will be going to Moscow in June. The few reviews we've had so far have been almost overwhelmingly negative. It was hard watching so many people walk out of our film at Sundance. Still, there were some who said some incredible things, and they are always the most thoughtful viewers than the naysayers. One of the most touching comments came from an auto mechanic who saw the film in Salt Lake City. Incidentally, a very nice fellow named Paul Malcolm from the LA Weekly wrote about the film and interviewed me last month. I haven't seen the piece yet, but it's supposed to run in the forthcoming Filmmaker magazine. I mentioned you quite a bit when talking to him, and I thought I'd tell you to keep an eye out for it in the next week or two.

I left my position teaching English last June to focus all my time and energy on raising money and finding film work, but it has been a long, difficult, and mostly empty year since.

I will be seeing Caveh in a couple of weeks at the LA festival. I'm very much looking forward to his "In the Bathtub of the World." I hope all is well with you, and congratulations again on such a beautiful accomplishment.

Kindest regards,

Ray,

You ruined all my plans that I had for today. And I thank you.

I woke up early, set up my desk and began my writing. I have a deadline of next Tuesday to deliver my manuscript to my publisher and as I am sure you can appreciate, am working to a deadline with too much to do in to little a time.

The book, The Director in the Classroom, is based on the workshops and presentation that I have given to educators around North America and its goal is to promote the use of filmmaking as tool for teaching and learning. There has been great pre-interest in the book, which is great, but which requires that it actually be finished!

And then somehow, I found myself on the volksmovie site, and Cassavetes' name jumped out at me.

As I said to Zale, I read it and almost started crying as I slapped my hand on my desk shouting "yes, yes, bravo. This is how I feel as well."

I have long appreciated Cassavetes' questioning and searching and the form that it took through his filmmaking. Quotes by him are tacked up on my wall and my wife, a screen writer, also finds that his words about pain, truth and investigation stimulate her own exploration as well.

I am a filmmaker who has no studio deals, lives outside of major a city, and is naïve in financing and distribution circles. But, as you say, something inside drives one to pick up a camera and explore and before you know it, your house does have another mortgage on it, your bank account is suddenly empty and your acquaintances in the film industry question your sanity in trying to make "those kind" of films.

A few years ago, I pursued funding to shoot a 16mm documentary on the rapid erosion of culture occurring in Crete (Greece). Traditional funding channels failed, and I decided to postpone the project. A few weeks later, I had a phone call from Crete that my music teacher (and one of the subjects of the documentary) was in ill health, having been discovered in his bedroom, starved from lack of food and too much pride to ask for assistance.

I thought, this is bullshit, here I am sitting waiting for funding, when what I should be doing is getting on a plane with a digital video camera and a good sound recordist and just going there. And so I did. Armed with a visa card and a micro crew, I performed my interviews, asked questions, discovered things about myself I never imagined, and grew as a filmmaker, an artist and as a citizen of this planet.

After I returned, a few months passed, the phone rang again, and with it, news that one of the musicians that I interviewed passed away. The next month, another phone call, and another musicians voice had been silenced. I thought to myself, I could still be waiting for financing, but instead, I went there, I met these people, and somehow, in some little way, have preserved their stories, music and their voices for future ears to consider.

Action versus inaction, ultimately is our choice as filmmakers, and I applaud, support and empathize with other who can not sit still, waiting, till things are just right.

So after reading your words I was unable to focus on my writing. Instead, I had to walk around my garden, look up in the sky at the clouds, play with my daughters, walk in wide circles around my land, and try to figure out what it was about your response that was driving me crazy, keeping me from my plans, and penetrating my skin.

I picked up your book, The Films Of John Cassavetes, from my shelf and leafed through it once again, pondering what it means to be a filmmaker, why it requires danger and daring, and why formulaic solutions are so distasteful.

I think it comes down to, as you said, "Do you believe in what you are doing?"

Because if you do not, where's the passion that will make the filmmaking journey bearable, the explorations honest and the ridicule from the outside ignored.

Ironically, this book I am writing is all about encouraging students to have convictions for their beliefs and to take chances with their filmmaking and in their explorations. So somehow, in the crazy circle of unrelated things, they are so interrelated.

Now, as my wife and I are about to embark on filming a dramatic feature production, we approach the logistics of production with the same naïve bravado as the documentary, because in the end, what's the use of a story and of questions if they are never asked.

I will pass on information about your upcoming book on my various web sites as well as in my book. In fact, I have quotes by many filmmakers peppered throughout and will certainly be adding some of Cassavetes and point people to your book for all the details.

I ended up spending my day thinking about what it is to be a filmmaker, how we can get started on our feature, and what questions I can start asking. Tomorrow, I'll get back to writing the book, today was an unexpected gift, a refreshing slap in the face, and reassuring voices that nudged me into action once more.

So I thank you for that beautiful gift.

Nikos

And, strictly for laughs, one final letter that came in from God knows where:

Dear Mr. Carney,

Thanks for all you have done for film. In one hundred years your ideas will be commonplace. My favorite so far on your web site is "Two Forms of Modernism." But I've got a lot more reading to do. Keep up the Good Work!