Recipe for Filmmaking – Large Doses of Passion (And Funding Doesn’t Hurt)

The Kansas City Film Festival 2010 opened last week – and from the looks of the films screened and the workshops and panels offered, it has clearly come of age. This is thanks in large part to the passion of Fred Andrews. When I think about Fred — and Jerry and Tony and Patrick and Joe and all the other filmmakers I’ve known, that one word – passion – is the defining personality trait. There is no other way to make a film other than being passionate about your subject matter or passionate about making films in general.

I’m lucky enough to be in a profession that meets up with these filmmakers from time to time, usually when they are looking for funding, or equipment or color correction or special effects work or distribution help. And that’s because we have built a production infrastructure that’s all about storytelling. But it’s the kind of work that we get paid to do – by clients, brands and ad agencies. We often do television commercials and digital content for the Internet, as well as image and sales films – but we recently had the chance to move closer to the other side of storytelling – the documentary side. And what an amazing experience that was!

We teamed up with Inland Sea Productions and shot and edited a documentary about the downtown revitalization that has been going on all across America for the last decade. We used Kansas City as the Petri dish for the subject and started filming when the demolition of Kansas City’s empty and lifeless urban core began. The project was extensive. We shot for four years as the city was slowly rebuilding, with the Sprint Center, the Cordish Power & Light District, and the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts leading the way. We brought in national experts who talked about why we, as a society, routinely began deserting our downtowns in the 1950s – and why we are focused on bringing them back to life now. It was a documentary for sure – an educational exploration on urban planning and American lifestyles.

Next American Dream differed from another Kansas City based documentary, Cowtown Ballroom – Sweet Jesus , a wonderful film made by two friends, Anthony Ladesich and Joe Heyen – in one important way. Their film was borne of their passion for music and funded by them completely. The concept for our film was borne as a business venture funded by Kansas City companies and individuals who had a vested interest in showcasing Kansas City in a nationally seen documentary. As such, the funding for the Next American Dream was an investment, a marketing investment, in the Kansas City downtown, fueled by a desire for future growth and development opportunities. And in this regard, we were more fortunate than many filmmakers, as our passion was funded from the onset.

The Kansas City Star recently featured an article about the film, which is now being aired on 108 PBS stations nationwide. This result has been far and away greater than what was originally expected and the funders of the film are thrilled by the exposure. The film is slated to be shown in September at the International Economic Development Council meeting in Columbus, Ohio, and in October at the International Downtown Association meeting in Fort Worth, Texas, which will provide even greater exposure for Kansas City than originally expected.

For us – the filmmakers, having that funding was very much a blessing, since the reality is that most documentaries – most independent films have no funding, except that which comes from the pockets and talents of the filmmakers. But, having the funding created challenges of its own – like juggling the journalistic integrity of the film with the desires of those funding it – like balancing enough national content to make it interesting to the proposed national audience, while also including enough Kansas City references to satisfy the funders. It was, most definitely, a learning experience for all of us – and one we’re very fortunate to have had.

Maybe it’s more of a romantic notion to have no funding and make your own film – with no pesky investors or studios inserting their own interests – and screwing up your vision. But I am convinced our production was filled with passion as well. Passion coupled with the learning experience of juggling satisfying financial backers and still producing a documentary that is being watched and reviewed nationally. It was a wonderful learning experience and, we hope, a great piece of work. Did you see Next American Dream? If so, we would love to know your thoughts.