Whatever It Takes Daniel Thornton & Lindy Boustedt

In this episode Lindy & Dan go to the dark side of the process. What does it take to make a project succeed when the goal seems elusive? Are partnerships necessary for the process to succeed? Can a filmmaker go it alone? Which is better?
Dan shares his experience being an American filmmaker in a UK perspective. What is lost in translation when navigating a foreign system you don’t understand? When is it over? How does an independent filmmaker need to present themselves to their team? What is the importance of having a clear vision? How do filmmakers develop partnerships? Where are the boundaries in relationships? Do independent filmmakers have to have skin in the game? Filmmaking is a high-stakes game. Who should have the highest stakes?

Lindy and Dan discuss their unique approaches to storytelling. Filmmakers often start their process by defining how they see the story. How is the process different between Narrative vs. Documentary filmmaking? Does personal bias influence how important a filmmaker wants the story to be? Some of this bias may come from how filmmakers want to be perceived by other artists. Does a filmmaker’s identity affect how they implement their process? What are examples of filmmakers being precious? Requesting NDAs. Lack of Transparency. Unwillingness to be open to new ideas. How can filmmakers better support each other? Does where you work and who you work with impact the final result? Do filmmakers in Seattle look out for each other? How do you manage difficult conversations?

Lindy and Dan debate the perceptions that independent filmmakers have of themselves. Films start with an inspiration and then the pressure sets in. Money, equipment, a team have to typically be gathered on the fly. Funding is often the key challenge that can make or break an idea for a story. Where will the money come from to bring the story to life? Traditional funding sources differ by geography but what should be the future be like? Is the rise of crowdfunding democratizing film production? Should the United States have more public funding of the arts? Is it right to align funding to distribution? Is film unique to other forms of art? Should filmmakers recognize that they have more in common with working people? What can filmmakers do to raise awareness for the marginalized in our own communities?

In this episode Dan shares his current project about the artist Keith Salmon a visually impaired artist based in Irvine, Scotland. Keith lost his vision due to diabetic retinopathy in his early thirties. Though Keith is now legally blind he continues to paint landscapes based on his personal experiences hill walking throughout Scotland and the British Isles. Keith’s abstract style captures a unique perspective of light, shapes and movement. See Keith's art: http://www.keithsalmon.org View the short “Walking with Keith” at http://alibipictures.com/film

This is our premier episode. Hello!
How are our identities shaped by our experiences? Dan shares the inspiration for his work on visual impairment in movies as a Keasby Memorial Scholar at the University of Edinburgh. “Movies for blind people” seems to be an oxymoronic statement. Dan’s work led to a thesis for the Edinburgh Film Festival on how producers and directors need to be more aware of the needs of visually impaired people. WHO estimates over 285 million people have visual impairments including 39 million who are blind. Audio description was first used in live theater performances to help visually impaired patrons to participate in the performance. WGBH experimented with audio description in the mid-80s but only over the past decade has the service become available for limited programming on broadcast TV and some movies as an alternate audio channel. Just this year in April 2015 Netflix began to offer audio description for their new series Marvel’s Daredevil. However audio commentary is typically developed without the involvement of the creative team. Should this be the norm? What are the opportunities for audio commentary as an integral component of the story?