Caving, slaying, going to film school?!
Yes, I desire the environment to formally experiment, learn and develop. NO I didn’t have another option :)
Welcome to the newsletter! This week:
A personal update of creative trajectory
NEW Great Creation shout out
Letterboxd reviews that tickled me
I spent the bulk of last year covertly preparing two applications. One to NYU and one to Columbia. I spent that summer, and change, prior to the application deadline in New York. I was there for an internship with, now institutionally depraved, Skydance Media, which swallowed Paramount (aptly) upon my exit and soon after opened its jaws to Warner Bros in another ruthless effort of cost-cutting and human-forsaking.
Some of my favorite industry publications covering calamitous mergers like these and more:
And if you’re into the robust and very necessary anti-film school attestation →
I decided around that time that New York City was where I had to be and (thankfully) that decision has been reinforced by a smorgasbord of fortuitous revelations like a) Every comedic genius I happen upon, love and adore lives in Brooklyn or b) this crazy good bakery I can’t get enough of is in Sunnyside Queens. And of course, a thriving cascade of yoked fellow filmmakers on the prowl… not to mention learning about the tried-and-true savant faculty belonging to each school.
I hit the submit button in December and what followed was a slow drip of copium.
Studying film in undergrad, I became privy to the overwhelming improbability of acceptance to one of the BIG 3 (NYU, USC, AFI_ _ _ Columbia) and while I believed it couldn’t be any more “improbable” than carving a momentous career out of the dust, I still couldn’t help but cozy up under the blanket of doubt. So I researched. I convinced myself of the many existing avenues toward a career as an independent writer/director beyond that of the film school pipeline. But none were as accessible to me as a applying, which would offer me the chance to do again what I got to do in undergrad, except on a much more dedicated, macro level: Make films, develop a gutsy slant on the form, and subsequently express the snowballing pile of thoughts I have about the world, expanding farther with every ounce of humanity stripped from those who need it most. Maybe it’s naivety, maybe it’s impatience, but as anyone keeping up with the industry knows, nothing is set in stone, everything is up for the capitalist slaughter and community is never as important as it will be tomorrow. Film school will never be a fast-track to a flourishing career. But for me it’s a dunk tank to a sprinkler… and I’d like to get drenched in the quickest way I can.
So I got into both NYU and Columbia! dubs in chat
As far as which school I will do such drenching in: TO BE DETERMINED. I’ll throw an update on this post by next week when I decide and I’ll “substack tweet” aka write a note on the SL page.
FINAL UPDATE - I’ve chosen NYU
On the plane to see apartments and campuses in the city, I finished a book I haven’t found the slightest urge to put down since I started it.
Luster is about a black woman living in NYC, working a mostly dead end job and getting swept up in an unprecedented relationship that causes a hemorrhage in every corner of her life, which does stretch itself far enough to include a literal medical hemorrhage. But even considering this and its many other magnetic events, what makes it a knock out is the sometimes depressing, sometimes spirited, always surprising ways she assesses it all, good, bad, trivial, monstrous disaster. That is to say, Edie, the protagonist, couldn’t bore you with a single thought, even if she watched paint dry for an entire chapter. A vibrancy owed to none other than Raven’s masterful incision, breathing life to the parts of young adulthood, artistry and love that are easiest to coast through.
Letterboxd thrives at the intersection of dribbling intellectualism and irony-pilled proclamation, but reviews as of late rarely throw their darts down the middle, at least according to my feed. On that note, and in lieu of a movie meditation this week, I’ve rounded up some of my recent favs, mostly teetering toward one end of the pole. Better assembly to come? For now:
Next week
A brand new edition of the recently debuted dialogue meta of the Movie Meditation
Film school selection final update
First Bonus edition VIDEO post?
And more…