"The meetings. It's all about the meetings", he said with a light chuckle. "Ya. It is", I responded with a smile. At the time I thought I knew what the guy was talking about. How else do you complete a production if you don't meet with your core crew and cast? But a few years and a slew of meetings later I now know exactly what he was saying. For the life of me I can't remember who the guy was who said it or what the situation was but for some reason his all knowing yet humble demeanor towards meetings never left my memory.In the past 5 years my life has been nothing but a series of meetings. Meetings to network, meetings to gather crew, meetings to find the right cast, meetings to follow up, meetings with potential clients, meetings to just make a connection, meetings to find the right mesh, meetings to build the rolodex, meetings to find the right lawyer, meetings to find the right accountant, meetings with people you just plain like, meetings to plan a collaboration, meetings to ask for assistance, meetings to find the next rung on the ladder, meetings to offer assistance, and meetings to catch up with people you haven't seen in a while. Meetings, meetings, and more meetings. They are the backbone of this industry.
There have been some really awkward ones for sure. A guy looking for a production company but clearly not meshing with our personalities, a fickle indie producer acting like they knew what they were doing but having no answers, ideas, or respect for anything in the end, an actor looking to turn writer/producer but so overwhelmed they emitted fumes of stress, a scamming director claiming to have investors for a slate of films, a development producer refusing to want to find money or laugh at a joke, a director who threw out strange smiles that came and went faster than the speed of light for seemingly no reason at all, a producer/sales rep who didn't trust a word said and actually came off angry and suspicious at the first and only meeting, and a marketing guy who used such large words and threw in such random knowledge of everything it was hard to decide if he was as knowledgeable as he claimed to be. And most of the above took more than one meeting to find out the end result was not going to be good.
But then there have been some great ones. Looking for interns was one of the great series. I ran into so many excellent personalities, eager to learn, talk, listen and help. Some of those ran long and to this day we all stay in touch. Talking to a film festival marketer who raved about our short (praise is always good!) gave us the much needed boost at the time. A production company owner who came from TV offering up so much info in his quick producer speak my pen never stopped writing. A few Canadian directors and producers with great ideas and professional demeanors at the level of short film production. Getting to know a fellow alumni and studio guy over dinner and drinks that moved on to a friendship and trips to art galleries and LA hot spots. Sitting down with an editor to discuss making the impossible happen in a damn near impossible time frame...and making it all work out. A DP with clear knowledge and excellent work but very little overbearing ego over lunch and a beer. Catching up with a couple producer friends over breakfast to see if all was going well in our worlds. Meeting a San Diego man through commenting on pay vs. no pay in the entertainment industry on Craigslist that lead to referrals and a job opportunity a couple times a year. And last but not least all those company meetings with anyone interested in helping us build our foundation. What learning those meetings have accomplished!
Whether bad or good meetings are what build those very important relationships. They provide for referrals. They create new friends and collaborators. They let everyone know you exist. They reveal your personal essence. I don't care how skilled, how talented, how efficient a person may be, if they are not out there following up networking events with meetings or sitting down with people in the industry to form friendships or, as a producer/director, meeting all cast/crew who will be on a production, success will be difficult. We have a million ways to communicate these days but in the end it's the tried and true meeting that secures a trust and a bond between people. I get what that guy was saying more than ever before. It really is all about those meetings. - TKS
