Penguin August 6th, 2008
Last friday, I had a meeting to talk about all the issues that came up from the Kyrgyzstan trip. Obviously, there’s more at stake than the 1 or 2 films that I shot in the two weeks. The crucial issue is censorship, free speech, and control.
I totally understand that being Christians in a Muslim country is difficult and dangerous. I was not above omitting certain details in order to protect the identity of those involved and even the locations. Unfortunately, this was not enough for them and they still wanted total control over the final product.
So $5,400 and 18 days spent, I was unwilling to compromise my belief in free speech. If the only course of action for me is to turn over the tapes, then so be it. Additionally, I’ve turned over the camera because I will not work for an organization that does not value free speech.
Not much changes for me. I’ve been operating independently for the last 6 years; spending my own money and time. It’ll just be a little harder to recruit people to participate. And I will have no finances because I have no income.
At least I stood up for what I believed was right and I didn’t sell my convictions. That’s got to be worth something. Right?
-Penguin
Related posts
Tags: Compromise, Convictions, Free speech, Kyrgyzstan, Thoughts
Penguin May 28th, 2008
Over the Memorial Weekend, I was asked by my church to shoot some footage for them. Specifically of two events: a field day and a family night. I also began shooting a bigger piece about the church. I thought it would be a good idea to get some b-roll footage of the worship team playing music and the congregation singing.
Not 3 minutes into the b-roll, Shirley, one of the people in charge came by and told me to stop filming. She was pretty mad. I got a few more shots and then I stopped. I can appreciate her reasoning behind not wanting me to shoot because it might be a distraction to others. Fine. But she could’ve been nicer about it.
On Monday, Shirley gave me a message through one of our pastors to not put any of the family night footage online. It baffled me because it’s not like there was anything risque or compromising in the footage. To the contrary, everyone was really looking forward to watching it. I realized the issue at hand was the censorship.
I’ve become so used to working independently, having final cut, not needing approval for anything, and just producing whatever I wanted. Now I can appreciate what it may be like in a studio system. You have producers and execs and all other sorts of people financing the project who want it done a certain way. Unfortunately, I’m not being paid for my services.
How far do you compromise to get your art made? I’m not even in a position to compromise because the option of dialogue isn’t given to me.
Luminaries in the industry can do whatever they want. But I’m nobody. I’m poor and I can barely afford DV tapes. I’m not even getting reimbursed for the tapes that I used.
I’ll do what I can to fight it, but I don’t have high expectations.
-Penguin
Related posts
Tags: Censorship, Compromise, Conflict, Filmmaking
