by Jeremy Doyle

The Question.

A couple of weeks ago Julie and Jessica threw out a simple question (on the King is a Fink facebook fan page) that really intrigued me.  It was a question that has many implications and the answers are completely subjective.  It effects everyone that watches movies.  Their question: PG-13?  That was it, a simple rating with a question mark.  My answer at that time was, "I have a lot to say about it.  Maybe I should make it a blog post."  Welcome to that post.

Now at this point I could go into a whole description of the rating process and the history of ratings, but that information is already out there, so I'll just point you in that direction if you want to read more about it: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mpaa_ratings

There is also a tremendous documentary that I would highly recommend that goes pretty in depth as well.  Its title is "This Film Not Yet Rated".  Not only does it cover ratings, it also goes into some piracy issues which are very interesting.

For the sake of this post, I'm just going to list the current ratings and their definition.

G - General Audiences

All ages admitted

PG - Parental Guidance Suggested

Some material may not be suitable for children

PG-13 - Parents Strongly Cautioned

Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13

R - Restricted

Under 17 requires accompanying by a parent or adult guardian

NC-17 - No One 17 and Under Admitted

Here is my take on the ratings system:

 It sucks.  It's good intentioned, but it doesn't work.  Much like the television and video game rating systems, the MPAA is a self-governed committee.  They are putting ratings on films as a way to self-police, and there is no standard for giving a film a rating.

Now as we watch films we can start to guess at the formula.   Generally, in my observation, if you have male full-frontal nudity, you are going to get an "R" rating.  On the contrary, if you have female frontal nudity, (by female frontal nudity I mean breasts and / or vagina) it's going to depend on the length of the shot.  Take, for instance, one of the first PG-13 movies, "The Woman in Red", which has a scene of a woman's dress being blown up.  Guess what?  No underwear.  What?  Why is that? How come the double standard?

If you use the "F" word more than twice, you'll pretty much be guaranteed a "R".  I guess other profanities are less vile, as they don't earn an "R".  Seriously?  Why?  This is language most people hear everyday.

Language is such an objective, culture-based thing.  I don't use "profane" language much myself for the simple fact that I don't find it polite.  But it doesn't take much looking around to see that even politeness changes. "Pissed off" is something that I regularly say.  It's common language now days.  However, I'm thinking it wasn't that long ago that that phrase seemed pretty vulgar.

Most people are either familiar with or have heard of The Ten Commandments.  At one point in time this was a moral code.  Are they relevant for today?  Not according to the ratings system.  There is not a single one of them that, if broken in a film, would give it more than a PG rating.  So where do we derive our moral code from?  How is that translated into our films?  What is the compass the ratings board uses to judge things?

Clearly, in my opinion, the ratings system is broken. 

Back to the original question...

PG-13?  Yes, I believe there needs to be something between PG and R.  A couple years ago a change was made that was much needed and has improved an imperfect, broken system.  Underneath the rating is a box that lists the potentially objectionable content that was used to determine the film's rating.  For me, especially now as a parent, this is helpful.  I know what my child is being exposed to.  Don't get me wrong, I will still see the majority of movies before my children do in their formative years, but it could (and should) be a big help to lazy parents.  The short of it is, you can't un-see something.  Whether it be in real life or at the movies, it will be filed in your memory.  And, as parents, it's important to pay attention to what's going into our kids' heads.

In the end, I believe that the ratings system a broken system, but it's something that needs to be in place.  

This is a big, big topic.  I didn't even get into violence or how ratings effect box office ticket sales.  Feel free to add your comments. 

• What are your thoughts about the rating system? 
• Can you think of an alternative?
• And I'll ask again: PG-13? 

BTW Tilt, if rated at this point, would be  "PG-13" "R" for Language, Violence, Some Drug Use. Of course, the script's only 2/3's done, so maybe that will change and we can still hit "NC-17"...

The Man. The Myth. The Legend.  Here it is.  The one you've all been waiting for.... I think.

Watch out!

Today's Video Blog features Tilt writer Julie Keck.

Here is a video blog Phil did after watching the Oscars. Yes, he's all into it. So go ahead and watch the sleep deprived ramblings of an Oscar nut.

by Julie Keck & Jessica King

What’s the TILT / Twitter connection? TILT was initially conceived 5 years ago by Phil Holbrook in a dream (see where the magic happened here), but it was actually born this winter on Twitter. A sterile environment? Not exactly. More like a petri dish where lots of wonderful things can thrive, as well as some grody ones. We hope that in the end our experiment in feature film ends up resembling penicillin more than streptococcus.

So what exactly happened on Twitter? We joined Twitter late in the summer of 2009. Soon after, we bumped into Phil. We can’t remember exactly how we all hooked up, although we suspect it had something to do with either Gary King, Film Snobbery Live or both. What we know for sure is that we were instantly tickled by Phil’s humorous and intelligent tweets as well as his genuine interest in what we were doing. (Never forget: flattery will get you everywhere, and this applies to getting people to follow you and share helpful hints on Twitter.)

As a result of our positive Twitter interactions, Phil checked out our work; we checked out his. Eventually we submitted some shorts to his film festival (EgoFest), and then we made plans to meet each other face-to-face. Later, once we started discussing TILT, we were introduced to Phil’s longtime friend and collaborator Jeremy Doyle. And the Tilt team was complete.

Can you really know what someone’s like by their Twitter demeanor? I’m sure there are some cases in which someone’s real life personality is different from their Twitter persona, but, in Phil’s case, the carpet matched the drapes. Er...that’s not quite the right metaphor. What we mean is that when we finally met Phil in person, he was just as funny, smart, and charismatic as his Twitterfeed had led us to believe. No bad blind date stories here.

Do we expect that most folks who seem fun and supportive on Twitter to be fun and supportive in real life? Our experience points to yes. Maybe there’s something intrinsically kind about Twitter. It takes just as much time to type “You rock!” as it does to type “You suck!” And, to our delight, we see WAY more of the former than the latter. Maybe it’s sort of like how it takes more muscles to frown than it does to smile...

Does this mean that Twitter always bring the best out in people? Not necessarily. We’ve seen a few negative, ego-driven, downer posts on Twitter, but everyone’s allowed to have bad days. However, when we see that someone we follow is incredibly negative on a regular basis, we unfollow. Why? Because Twitterlife is too short for that sort of bad juju.

What does Twitter have to offer TILT? Lots, we think.

• Encouragement & support: Phil has described the indie film group that we interact with as a family, and we think he’s spot on. Filmmaker Gary King, for example, is the Twitter equivalent of the brother who’ll always let us borrow his car. Multi-hyphenate Tyler Weaver and filmmaker Travis Legge are the fun cousins who’ll bail us out of jail without any questions. Producer Maria Lokken and marketing and publicity consultant Sheri Candler will undoubtedly be the sensible aunts who’ll slap some sense into us if they see us fall in with the wrong crowd. Writers Jeanne V. Bowerman and Karen Quah are the cool sisters who’ll tell us about the birds and the bees (the REAL story). And our New York / New Jersey crew - Eren Gulfidan, John Trigonis, Marinell Montales, Matt Shea, Jerry Cavallero, Kim Garland, Alain Aguilar, Raffi Asdourian, and more - well, they’ll probably come to crash on the TILT couch and raid the TILT fridge, but they’ll make us laugh the whole time to earn their keep. These are just a few of our valued Twitter friends, people who make our Twitter lives (and our real lives) more rich. When we have questions about time management, contracts, how to find agents, etc, everyone has an opinion - a valuable opinion. And when we hit low points where we doubt our trajectory or talent, they boost us up and remind us of what we’ve accomplished so far.

• Honest feedback: Just because our Twitter friends support us does not mean that they blow sunshine up our hoo-has. None of us on the TILT team wants empty compliments. We want to interact people who will push us, challenge us, and help us make the best decisions (and films) we can.

• Examples of what to do on Twitter: We’re lucky to follow many hardworking indie filmmakers at various stages of their production, marketing, and distribution journeys. Many help us by sharing their mistakes and successes. Some share helpful articles. Some just share their dreams and ideas about of they hope to do someday. All inspire us.

• Examples of what not to do: Sometimes we come across people who promote their wares in ways that feel unsavory to us. This includes people who use Twitter only to promote their movies or to ask for money as well as people who ceaselessly naysay or criticize other people’s ideas. We take note, learn lessons, and move on.

Ultimately, TILT owes a lot to Twitter. It brought our team together, taught us how to move forward with our feature project, and, hopefully, will help us build an audience that will make it a success.

The Tilt gang meets up for the first time. Was it weird? You bet!  Watch the video below to see our first face to face Tilt meeting where we reveal a brief synopsis, discuss who our audience is, and chat about locations. 

Finally, some info on Tilt!

By Julie & Jessica of King is a Fink

Pre-Party Jitters (or, "What if Phil hates us?") On Friday, 2/19, we made the 10 hour trek from Chicago to Brainerd, Minnesota.

The purpose of our trip was two-fold: first, we wanted to attend the EgoFest Short Film Festival, which was kind enough to screen 2 of our shorts (Snow Bunny & Libidoland); second, it was time to meet Phil Holbrook and Jeremy Doyle, the director and cinematographer for TILT.

The drive flew by and the scenery was beautiful, but when we got to Brainerd, we were nervous.  What if we don't click with Phil and Jeremy? And, if that happens, how to we proceed with TILT?

Our worries were for naught.  As soon as we stepped into the E Squared Cafe for the EgoFest pre-party and saw Phil at the bar, we knew we were in the right place.  His handshake was firm; his smile, genuine.  This was the same guy we'd interacted with so well on Twitter and Skype.  Jeremy Doyle joined the party.  We all immediately started sharing juicy secrets.  All was right with the world. 

EgoFest, Baby, EgoFest! (Or "Who thought 40 movies in 12 hours was a good idea?") The day of EgoFest was awesome.  Phil was the consummate festival organizer, making sure that all of the filmmakers present (and those checking in via Twitter from afar) got the most out of their festival experience.

 

TILT prep took a backseat for the day, but that didn't mean that this wasn't an important day for our new crew.  We all got a chance to check out each others' films, assess each others skills, and even see each other market themselves and speak in public (Phil, of course, addressed the EgoFest crowd numerous times; the rest of us participated in Q&A sessions after select shorts). 

After the awards ceremony, we all headed back to E Squared for the after-party to relax a little and discuss the shorts.  An excellent ending to an inspiring day. 

 

Down to Business! (Or, "Are we seriously doing this TILT-thingy?") Sunday morning we met bright and early at the Sawmill Cafe for the best business breakfast ever.  (Anyone who's never planned their future over cinnamon streusel is really missing out.) 

 

We did a bit of planning for a video blog idea we'd discussed prior to the trip, then headed out to pick up equipment and shoot.  (As of today, we're planning to post this video on Thursday, 2/25.)  The vlog will explore: our real first meeting; what TILT is all about; and who our audience is.  Don't miss it!

So, where did the idea for Tilt come from?  Easy question.  A dream.  I dreamt it.  It was right about this time four years ago.  I remember because it was right before my daughter's first birthday.  I love being a dad, but sleep had been kind of rough on me that first year she was born.  I would wake up from nightmares about having forgotten her places, or that she had quit breathing during the night.  It wasn't uncommon for me to check on her a couple times, even after she had started sleeping, for the most part, through the night.

That's right, this is a picture of the bed where the magic happened.  The bed Tilt was conceived in.








The night the magic happened, the nightmare was a little bit different.  My little girl was all grown up. It was so surreal that when I finally woke with my teeth clenched tight, drenched in panic, I knew instantly that it had only been a dream.  The very next thought that popped into my head was to grab a pen and my notebook, so I could write it down.


My Notebooks

I have what my wife affectionately calls "the hurt brain".  An illness, I believe, that may be common in husbands.  Symptoms include... forgetting to take out the trash, forgetting to pick up milk on the way home, and sometimes the lack of fine motor skills that keep laundry from making it into the basket.  My wife has given me a prescription of notes.  These notes "save" me.

Having spent a youth (that lasted until I was almost 30) with the motto "you never know how much is enough, until you know how much is too much", I have thought, maybe my wife is right about this "hurt brain" stuff.  There have been times when, what I thought was a great idea, has flown out the door, because I didn't write it down.  Well, those days are done.

I use notebooks for all my ideas, stories, scenes, witty lines, and complete garbage that I come up with.  I've tried many different kinds, but my favorite are the small moleskins.  And no, I am not being paid with cash or free product to say that.  They are handy, small, and I use them all the time.

Why yes, I did write in this one with a green sparkle pen. When genius strikes, you go with what's available.





Just think, had I not jumped up in the middle of the night to write down an idea that scared the hell out of me, I may not have been able to pass it on to Julie and Jessica (@kingisafink) to write a script.  It may have been just another idea that popped into my head and disappeared like any other bad dream with the morning light.

Being Born

Four years have passed since that night.  My little girl is almost five, and the story is now in Julie and Jessica's capable hands.  Things are really starting to come together.  This idea/nightmare from long ago is finally being born with the help and collaboration of others.  I never would have thought that writing down a simple paragraph in the middle of the night would lead to working on my very first feature film, but here we are.  I hope you will find this process as interesting and fun as I do and perhaps follow along with us while Tilt is in the process of being born.

• What is TILT? A feature-length dramatic thriller we're making in 2010

• Who's involved? Phil Holbrook (directing & producing), Jessica King (writing & producing), Julie Keck (writing), Jeremy Doyle (cinematography), everyone else (TBA)

• What's it about? A father, a daughter, a tragedy, and some revenge. Not necessarily listed in order of appearance.

• When is the movie going to be finished? Phil first approached us about the collaboration in January. We plan to deliver the 1st 30 pages to Phil before they head up to meet him (and Jeremy) at EgoFest on 2/19. Projected finish date for the screenplay = March. Shooting planned for late summer / early fall.

• Where will TILT be shot? Lovely Brainerd, Minnesota

• Have any of you made a feature-length movie before? Nope

• Does that scare you? Yep.

• Why do you think now’s the time to try it? We’ve all produced our own shorts; check out Phil's Honest Work, Julie & Jessica's shorts, and Jeremy's work. Also, we’re all driven. We’re inspired by the other amazing filmmakers we know taking a shot and making it happen. We’re all ready. And we all know that 4 heads (and sets of hands) are better than one.

• Who’s in charge? Everyone. We communicate regularly through email, Twitter & GoogleWave. We meet weekly via Skype. All tasks are discussed, assigned, and followed-up on in a friendly and respectful manner. And when things get done, Jessica puts cool scratch-and-sniff stickers on our reinforcement poster. (Phil has the most stickers...for now.)

• How are you going to engage your audience? We’re going to buy a whole bunch of diamond rings, then take our audience out for a romantic dinner, get down on one knee... no, wait. Scratch that.
• We hope to engage our friends and our fans by sharing every single step of this filmmaking journey via blog, vlog, Twitter, etc. We all have all of the passwords to all of the TILT accounts (Twitter, the blog, the email, etc.), so we'll all have equal opportunity to ask questions, vent, or share information. Maybe Phil will post videos when he’s in the midst of casting or scouting for locations. Maybe Julie will vent via vlog when she’s up all night and having trouble with a scene. Maybe Jeremy will blog about how he can't believe Julie wrote a spaceship into the middle of a dramatic thriller...maybe not.
• But we're not only going to share our successes and frustrations with you. We're also going to ask for your input. From time to time, we're going to post questions or ask for your opinions about how to do something or which way to go. Why? Because YOU, friends and fans, are our best resource.
  

• So far, who’s the hardest person to work with? Phil. Two words: Di. va.

• Who’s the easiest...? Julie, definitely.

• Um ... easiest to WORK WITH? Oh...um, Jessica & Jeremy are probably tied on that one. (Awkward...)

We hope this gives you a little better idea about where we started and where we're headed. We plan to post updates on Mondays and Thursdays, at the very least, so subscribe to the site to make sure you catch everything. Also, you can keep up with us on Twitter (@TILTtheMovie) for additional updates. Follow us individually on Twitter to get extra tidbits and a ringside seat to our collaboration: Phil (@philotilt), Jeremy (@jerdoyle), Julie & Jessica (@kingisafink).

What's Coming Next? A post from Jeremy Doyle about equipment he plans to use + a vlog from King is a Fink