I just wanted to share my latest article on The Story Department will all my Marglish readers.
Technology Making Better Television – By Margaret M. MacDonald
I already feel professionally obligated to watch movies, not that it’s a burden or anything. Looks like I’m also becoming professionally obligated to watch television. Poor me. :-)
Today I decided to go back to a topic I have already blogged about twice before. But this topic, like an itchy rash, refuses to go away. This week in particular, through several conversations with Aussie screenwriters and filmmakers, this topic came oozing back full force, seeping through the cracks of my life like a toxic gas. I am referring to the mental condition that seems to be slowly eating the Australian film industry.
I have talked before about the Aussie tendency to self-deprecate, and the tall poppy syndrome that leads them to chop down anyone who achieves international celebrity status. It also makes Aussies tear apart their own films before they are ever even released, occasionally while they are still only screenplays. It leads to the countless questions I get as to why I, a hopeful filmmaker, would rather be here than in LA. And it keeps Aussies from seeing the huge filmmaking advantages they have right at their fingertips.
One of those advantages is government support. People might not agree with all the decisions the state and countrywide film commissions make. They might see favoritism triumph over quality in the films they choose to support, but that is no different than what you will find in Hollywood funding. Favors and mutual back scratching are rife in the film industry, regardless of country. But to have the country itself support filmmakers, is a rare gift. Unfortunately, the Australian film commissions suffer from the same itchy rash that all their filmmakers do.
I’ve heard enough now to be sure that almost every development grant, almost every program created to support up and coming Australian filmmakers, sees at least some, if not all of its money to go the film industry in LA. Script assessors in LA are hired over Australian ones to consult on development. American filmmakers are flown out to give short talks at a cost that would probably support several Australian filmmakers for week long seminars. And high priced internships are set-up to send young filmmakers to LA to learn the “tricks of the trade.” No one seems to realize the detrimental message this is sending to Aussie filmmakers countrywide. The government itself is practically shouting at the top of its lungs; “We’re just not good enough!”
That message is so deeply ingrained into minds of the filmmakers who would be receiving those grants, that most of the conversations I had this week sounded something like this:
Me – “The Australian government is basically paying to support California’s dying economy.”
Aussie – “Maybe the idea is to come back with all the knowledge from working in LA and apply it to Australian film.”
Me – “$50,000 for six months in LA! Who are they kidding? You’re never coming back!”
Aussie – “Probably not.”
Or this gem:
Me – “The government shouldn’t be giving away loads of money to spend overseas.”
Aussie – “No, it would be better spent paying the experts to come here.”
Me – “What! That’s still spending money somewhere else. That’s still saying that LA has something that you can’t get here.”
Aussie – “The government would probably spend more money here, if Australian films weren’t so bloody bad.”
Me – “You don’t think a bad film has ever been made in LA? GAH!”
(There may have been a few drinks involved with that conversation)
LA may be where the film industry started, but that is by no means where it ended. Film is an international art, reaching audiences worldwide. And in places like India, China, Korea, Europe and the UK, filmmakers function in entirely autonomous filmmaking communities. Sure, some French filmmakers probably want an Oscar as much as everyone else does, but do you think the French would ever say “better learn how to make movies in the US, they’re better at it.”
The vision, the passion, the talent and the money to make the world’s best movies, all exist in Australia. The only thing holding Australian filmmakers back, is themselves. The best thing they can learn from Los Angelinos is the self-important attitude that makes reality TV stars think they’ve accomplished feats worthy of a Nobel peace prize. If Australians do go to LA, it shouldn’t be to learn, but to teach Los Angelinos what humility actually means, and how to just generally tone it down.
I am watching Baz Luhrmann’s Australia as I write this. I won’t argue that it’s filmmaking genius, and it’s certainly not to everyone’s taste, but no one would disagree that it’s a sumptuous film of epic proportions. It’s undeniable evidence that Australian filmmakers can go so far beyond believing “we’re just not good enough” that they gain the ability to say “I can make any film I bloody well please.” It’s about time Aussies start approaching film as they do sport, with voracious attitude and no fear of losing a few teeth. I know they can do it, and if they don’t believe me, maybe they’ll believe Oprah. Thanks for visiting Queen O. Here’s hoping you inspired a few other people to aim to light up the harbor bridge one of these days. I know I will, after all, I’m an egocentric American girl from LA.
As the rest of the world well knows by now, a surprising amount of Australia was under water last week. It’s been called a 1 in 100 year flood, and will change the course of social, economic, political and natural history in the country for many years to come. I’ve often found myself adjacent to historic events of disastrous proportions. Throughout my childhood I saw all four seasons in California: fires, floods, earthquakes and riots. I watched the faces of great cities change as houses slid into the ocean, highways collapsed on themselves and two of the worlds tallest buildings crumbled to the ground.
Though I’m not one to glue myself to the news, I’ve watched enough coverage of the floods now to see a few differences between the Aussie and American responses to disaster. For one thing, the Australians are just as bad at producing maps of disaster areas as they are at making weather maps. To say Queensland is large is a bit of an understatement. In my many attempts to find a map of the affected area I simply came up with map after map of the entire state, blocked out in one solid color, with a few useless dots here and there. Had a flood of these epic proportions happened in California, news stations would have probably presented viewers with a constantly updating map, covered in an animated blue slime that crept along engulfing towns in real time.
The newscasters themselves also presented a decidedly calm face to the events they were reporting. They were appropriately urgent with the warnings, appropriately somber with the statistics, but overall they were always quite calm. On most news stations in the States, I believe we would have been presented with a much more manic reporting style, supported by a constant ticker of updates, shouted phone-ins from reporters on the verge of being swept away, and then lively debates about the flood’s impact on our economics. And it wasn’t just the news reporters but also the flooded out residents who were restrained in their response. There were tears and frustrations, mourning and fear, but all surrounded with an air of “It’s nature. We can’t do anything about it.” Relief centers were generally so well prepared that the beds were all made before anyone arrived, volunteer numbers were well suited to those of the displaced, and entertainers came to sing to the children.
The floods were also another chance for Aussies to show the world their strong spirit of resilience, wrapped in wet blankets of humility. Queensland premier Anna Bligh was right when she said Australians (not just Queenslanders) are the people they “breed tough.” They are also the people that take things in stride, and won’t accept too much praise for their strengths. All last week, people helped each other build sandbag barriers into the night, rescued animals by boat and did it all without extra flair for the news cameras. Some quick thinking tugboat drivers even saved major infrastructure from damage, by guiding an estate sized piece of rubble away from a bridge. But to the tugboat driver it was just his job and “couldn’t have been done any better.” I wonder if good ol’ “Sully” Sullenberger said the same thing when he safely landed his plane in the Hudson river.
That’s Australians for you, calm, collected, accepting and understated, even when underwater. Perhaps part of the attitude came from the fact that this disaster occurred in a warm country at the beginning of summer. With the calming effect of the season in full swing, everyone might have been thinking, “I may up to me waist in water, but no worries, I had thongs and swimmers on anyway.” Here’s hoping they can maintain that attitude during the lengthy rebuilding process. In the meantime, keep your fingers crossed for blue skies and sunshine in Queensland. And don’t forget to make your donations to the relief fund. Much appreciated, Mate!