Peter Burns writes:
A first semester student, Chirae Cannon, came to me with a problem 2 days prior to her first shoot. One of her lead actors had only just let her know that she was a member of SAG (Screen Actors Guild). This happens occasionally because new SAG actors want to work but are worried that SAG will not allow them to work on non-union projects. In short, Chirae’s actor was afraid of being sued by SAG. While this might have been possible in years past, it is no longer the case. The wonderful truth is that SAG is encouraging its actor members to work with serious and mature students because they know that student filmmakers are the pro-filmmakers of the future. SAG also wants their actors to work and only get better. I knew that if available, our local San Francisco SAG/AFTRA Rep Fatna Sallak-Williams would make it work. I called Fatna on the spot with Chirae in the room - and in short, Fatna made it all possible. BUT it was also due to the responsible and diligent action of Chirae that it all got pushed through: she had to fill out and fax preliminary paperwork to SAG, go to the S.F. SAG office and pick up the Student Short Film SAG Agreement package on the same day, complete it and then have the Berkeley Digital Dean and her SAG actor sign the docs. Chirae met with Fatna again two days later to go over the final paperwork. That meeting ended up as an opportunity for Chirae to participate on a feature film project (which will be invaluable experience so early in her career). Chirae is only the third Berkeley Digital student to work through the SAG office in order to shoot one of their member actors.

Peter Burns writes:
“An Actor wants to have faith in the Director, BUT also in the Producer. An actor wants to know that all forces are being harnessed by a Producer that will support and have faith in the Director and in the actors. An Actor wants to have faith that their Producer will overcome all the hurdles and obstacles that the making of a film inevitably brings.”

- Ralph Fienes (Actor: “The English Patient”)

Peter Burns writes:
“Being a Film Producer means being a person whose primary skill is to enable other people. A good Film Producer makes another person feel as if they can do anything; He or she makes people feel that they can accomplish something they have never done before.”
- Anthony Minghella
(Director/Screenwriter: “The English Patient”)
Regarding Saul Zaentz

I try to be as organic as possible. Always adjusting my skills to the situation at hand, scaling to the project. I only play “by the book” when the situation calls for it. I believe that every project has it’s own life and it is my job to help it become what it is in the most loving and nurturing way possible. It’s like raising a dragon (YVOD knows this). Such a thing takes time, energy, knowledge and utmost care.

I try to know when a project is shifting or growing. I know that my projects are always being observed and that they are always open to criticism. I enjoy the journey and being watched is part of that journey, so I enjoy that too.

I like to say that when producing a show, “I am putting on a show for the showmakers.” The showmakers are everyone at every level that contributes to the filmmaking and sales process. I try to be aware of what who should know or feel and at which times. Patrick Kriwanek says that making a movie is like a military operation. This is true - and timing and tactics are essential to such an operation. Even though I am in film school, I try to behave in the same way I will in the industry. I want to be a player, so I train to play (well). Saul Zaentz told me once that, “You have to be tough but you can do it nice.” An advertising production manager once taught me, “to be generous with people, but stingy with time.” David Bergad followed that up by saying that producing is about making business decisions.

If, as a Producer, I want the world to see the films that I’ve so lovingly nurtured and passionately fought for to come to life, I have to make business decisions that sometimes adversely affect others. These business decisions protect my filmmaking family - the cast, the crew, the investors, the writers, the musicians. This is important because each of these people has contributed time, energy and expertise to my project. If I select them into my filmmaking family and give them an assignment, I am obligated to support them and their efforts even long after their job is done. Making a movie is essentially starting a business. I visualize, plan, research, hire, fire, create, produce, compete, innovate, etc. I have to live with the end result forever. A decent film has a reputation - and so does a bad one. That’s why refined people are more selective as time goes on. It comes down to time and energy. We only have so much of these resources. So, the better I become, the more selective and careful I should be as well - and I’ll have better, more enjoyable families who contribute to better films.

Peter Burns writes:
CAREERS AND PROFESSIONAL RELATIONSHIPS ARE LONG-TERM THINGS. TYPICALLY, YOUNG NORTH AMERICANS CAN BE BAD AT DEALING WITH THIS IN A FORMAL WAY. WE TEND TOWARD BEING REBELLIOUS, INDEPENDENT, COCKY, PRIDEFUL BECAUSE OF BELONGING TO A CULTURE STEEPED IN THESE SENSIBILITIES. OLD HANDS HAVE LEARNED HOW TO RELATIONSHIP-BUILD THE HARD WAY. IT IS IMPORTANT TO UNDERSTAND THAT ONE’S REPUTATION HAS TO BE CONSTRUCTED A BIT EVERY DAY WHICH MEANS NEVER DOING/SAYING ANYTHING THAT CAN EVENTUALLY HURT US. JUST DOING/SAYING THE RIGHT THING CONSTANTLY, AS PROFESSIONALS, CAN PAY BACK YEARS LATER WHEN LEAST EXPECTED. THIS IS NOT JUST BEING POLITICAL, IT IS SELF-PRESERVATION. MARTY PISTONE (PRODUCING INSTRUCTOR) MENTIONED SELF-PRESERVATION IN OUR FIRST SEMESTER. IF YOU HAVE A HAND TO PLAY OR A PRODUCT TO SELL, SET YOURSELF UP TO DO IT. BE COOL, BE SMART, BE STRATEGIC, SUPPORT OTHER PEOPLE’S DREAMS - REMEMBER “THE GOLDEN RULE.” YOU CAN DO ALL THESE THINGS AND STILL MAINTAIN INTEGRITY. WE ARE IN A BUSINESS WORLD AS WELL AS AN ARTISTIC WORLD. DON’T COMPROMISE YOUR VISION, BUT REMEMBER THAT THIS IS “SHOW-BIZ.” CREATE A STRONG BUZZ ABOUT YOUR BIZ OFFERINGS AND YOU CAN MAKE YOUR ART MORE EASILY. ONLY THOSE PEOPLE WHO THINK THAT THEY HAVE NOTHING TO OFFER END UP BROWN-NOSING OR RIDING ANOTHER’S COAT TAILS OR SELLING THIER SOULS IN A WAY. OR WORSE, THEY CHASTIZE THOSE OF US WHO DO BELIEVE IN OUR OWN OFFERINGS. FIND YOUR STRENGTHS AND OFFER THEM TO OTHERS OCCASIONALLY, BE EASY TO WORK WITH, LISTEN, SUPORT OTHER’S VISIONS AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. WE ALL NEED OTHER PEOPLE TO MAKE OUR OWN FILMS; WE ALL NEED OTHERS TO DISTRIBUTE OUR OWN FILMS. START BUILDING THE RELATINSHIPS, RELATIONSHIP SKILLS AND REPUTATIONS NOW WHILE IN FILM SCHOOL.

Peter Burns writes:
Patrick kriwanek’s philosophy is Zen. That is to say he teaches us to be holistic. Every discipline from Producing to Writing to Directing to Shooting and Post Production and Distribution is set up to feed into the other disciplines. With a semester left in my BDFI education, I am very confident that I have an exceptionally solid foundation. I can work professionally in TV or film and continue to add to my knowledge and hone my skills. I plan on taking additional courses in directing actors as well as film history and perhaps a bit of theory. I see a wonderful career ahead of me in my dream profession. I find it very easy to learn here and the knowledge grows exponentially. If a student can get through the “bloody” first semesters where the instructors give us what we need and let us shoot, he or she will grow rapidly and blissfully in the final two semesters. BDFI is the best-kept secret in the Bay Area! Northern California Film Karma is SACRED here at 2600 Tenth Street in Berkeley!

Peter Burns writes:
Between Screenwriting with Fred Ritzenberg (“Gospel”) and Editorial (various instructors) I am learning how to tell a story on screen. That includes movie screen, TV screen and computer screens. Cinematic storytelling methods or tools a coming into clearer focus and I see the whole job of making a movie from concept to distribution as holistic. We learned from David Bergad (Sound Production) last week that ADR for distribution to the world market should be a consideration way up front in preproduction. Dan Olmsted (ProTools) mentioned this as well last semester. I’m blessed to be surrounded by working industry professionals and not the usual professors who teach theory only and not production. We broke down an episode of a reality TV show recently and learned how to work with a Story Department to develop the spine of a show episode. Through cutting together group footage, establishing footage, talking heads and a bit more, an editor can intro A and Runner stories, develop themes and plots as well as character arcs that all lead up to climaxes. From writing to editing, there is a definite process to producing properly. I am thrilled to be learning here at BDFI!!!

Peter Burns writes:
I met an SFDigital instructor recently at a project interview. He asked me why I chose Berkeley Digital Film Institute. I said it was because of the school’s methodology and approach to teaching classic film production. But it is also because of the openness and support of the individual filmmaker’s path as well as the access we have to the seasoned industry professionals we have on site here at the Saul Zaentz Media Center. BDFI rewards us for taking risks as storytellers and teaches us how to compensate when the risks don’t pan out.

We had Patrick’s class today. We usually have it on Monday but we got Monday off cause of MLK day. Once again Patrick made Nikko more smarterful. He gave a script and location lecture, it answered ALL my questions. I also learned he got to work with WASP and Motorhead and now I’m jealous and I want to cry, Then Peter came (Senior Classmate) and talked to us and he cleared up EVERYTHING, I think it is going to be super awesome-o to do a professional casting call.

Week 2 was dope. I had an awesome time in all my classes once again. Id say within two meetings of Patricks class I quadrupled my knowledge, this is definitely the school for me. Unlike other schools, that will stay unnamed for legal reasons (poo on you other school), I actually feel like I’m a filmmaker.

So far my first project is coming along nicely, that’s right my FIRST project and it’s only the second week. The critiques I got from my screenwriting class were great I love you guys for that stuff. Only ten people are there but they’re already great friends and I only known them for a little while.

Well anyways my first project is about two friends who have a conversation about one of them tag teaming a hot chick with a ladyboy. It got a good rise out of the class so apparently I’m on the track to writing a decent comedy. I got my first editing project to do, it’s a 1 min music video with clips from a movie,

I saw that Saul Zaentz was parked in his spot, instantly I got all giddy like a school girl at a Chippendale stripper party

Peter Burns writes:
I signed a non-disclosure agreement and met with a Producer and Cinematographer. I had been asked to Production Manage a low-budget shoot. I ended up turning down the project because it did not meet the safety specs as well as many pre-production considerations outlined by Berkeley Digital Film Institute instructors. Safety is paramount and inexperienced filmmakers often overlook safety issues. I realized from this interview that BDFI was grooming me to be a responsible leader as well as a savvy filmmaker.

Peter Burns writes:
I’m ramping up to produce and direct my next project. I’ve chosen a horror/thriller/ghost genre piece. I’m not quite sure how much blood I’ll show. I’m searching for comp-images/films as I’m working on establishing a look. This project will require 3-4 shoot days to complete wih 3-4 locations. I’ve read about 30 short ghost stories from around the world in order to map out the elements that will make it a real ghost story that can be told in 5 minutes. I think that I have the necessary beats dialed in. This project will require a cast of 5 principals and 10-20 extras. I’ll be scripting, casting, location scouting and gathering test footage concurrently. I’m flirting with the idea of journalling my days on this one. I’m expecting it to take about 30-45 days in all starting tomorrow. Art direction, choreography and camera movement are my new elements. I plan to scale the crew to the project - lean and mean as usual. I’ll be using primes, a jib arm and tracks - additional lights too. This will be my lighting debut! I’ll be experiementing with projection on set as well. I forsee a classic framing and editorial style but with color pallete changes for different perspectives - an inatimate object will see through very different eyes. I’ll not be producing other student projects until I’m wrapped on this one. I’m going to try and raise a little cash to cover cost of gear and food. Kubrick’s “The Shining” might be one possible comp, but I’m still searching. Stay tuned.