Have you ever seen the Old Classic Sunset Boulevard? It’s built around an aging movie star whose staff gaslit her into believing her star power is continues to shine as bright as it once did.

Why do they do this? They’ve got a sweet gig sucking off her “tit” instead of going for honest work.

They kept grooming a cultivated image they invented rather than one based on her true self. Why? The cultivated image was far more profitable.

How did they do this? Generating fake fan letters, got her to sign old pictures, and kept her isolated in her big mansion. A more recent variation on this is the Oscar nominated short “The Letter Room.” But the short affirmed that it okay to write fake letters to people in prison while Sunset Boulevard shined a bright light on the lies.

Here’s the thing… Talent has often been treated this way in the old Hollywood system. If talent has distinctive looks in anyway, the powers that be also pimp out their looks for however long they can.

But then talent having access to their own social media blew that wide open. As the old saying goes? People got to see how the sausage gets made with stars posting their opinions like regular folks. The exceptions were ones conditioned in the old ways. They kept a stiff upper lip to keep up the false front most likely out of fear.

Me? I had a meltdown in real time on X in 2024 just before I checked myself into the psych ward. This is on top of my old dumpster fire Twitter account that got me canceled from a class built around celebrating diversity. It turns out that diversity is fine if it’s not your ideas. Yup. You look the part just not be the part.

With these kinds of pressures on people… Is it any wonder that many individuals in the public eye behave so badly? After all: their value is placed on how they can be monetized rather than their intrinsic human value.

The old system is also built on coddling people in a power dynamic that serves itself rather than artists. I tried to work with actors where I gave them minimal direction to see what they would create on their own. This would help them with their craft and their confidence within it. I’ve had hit and miss success with this approach. It comes down to meeting like equals to build collectively instead of leaving everything up to me. I have no interest in overriding anyone’s expertise. And I’d love for them to challenge me to improve mine. I’m not an expert: Just have ideas.

My conclusion? I’m open to work with all walks of life with two caveats: no active addictions and you want to explore active imaginations with strong work ethics. Anything else eats your shit alive.

I’m still thinking about how to make this work in terms of cash flow. That’s honestly why I study things like breathwork and Tantra – they give me excellent tools and diverse income sources to take the pressure off of having to hit projects out of the park every single time. I know that was a huge stress factor for Richard when I started to talk about putting together my own film after MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING. He was right to voice concerns. And it was that drove me to make all those short films for microbudgets: If I can’t make anything special with no money, I’ll burn through resources once I have them.

I’ve also been chewing on the Jason Blum’s business model for features: a living wage with honored points.  This would let us go into production much sooner since costs are so front loaded. It also gives people incentives to help promote.

I’m also rethinking shoot schedules to allow for more inclusivity for people unable to work traditional schedules.

So much to sort through while I get together everything for my new indie film business model. More to follow soon.

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