Rahul Menon is a LA based screenwriter, filmmaker, and film critic covering cinema through the lens of craft. He writes about writing, and filmmaking with curiosity, while developing his own stories between screenings, festivals, and film sets.
I used to fear that uncertainty while editing, but I've learned to embrace it as an essential part of the process. Where things are unresolved, there's room to explore and discover, and that's where the true rewards lie.
... the more you do it, the more you realize that you can't really control the marketplace or the people who read your work. Sometimes it's a total coincidence ... But what you can control is getting your reps in.
"Filmmaking is something you can only learn by doing. Trying, failing, experimenting, and trying it all over again. That opportunity is what making short films really afforded me."
"I became a filmmaker because of a passion and joy for making things. That is still what I tell young people: be in it for the love of the craft. If that love is unrelenting, a career will present itself from it eventually."
"If you lead with feeling, with heart, and always keep story and character at the center, that's what makes the difference."
Joe Swanberg is not interested in grand subversion. He stays in the mess. He resists clean resolutions. He allows contradictions to exist without forcing them into something tidy. That is exactly why the film works.
The second I started to adapt my work to my own taste, experiences, and worldview, that is when things started to work. Authenticity and truth. If you are writing about something you genuinely care about, it is likely that other people will care about it, too.
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