Matt Howe is an uber-talented cinematographer who has worked in indie film for years. A talented storyteller whose fiction has been published in Hadrosaur tales, Crossroads, Cthulhu Sex, Electric Spec, and Darkfire Fiction, he's also written an even 10 documentaries for The Discovery Channel and The History Channel. This week, Matt's new book, Film Is Hell comes out with Laurelton Media.The subtitle is How I Sold My Soul to Make the Crappiest Movies in History. How's that for foreshadowing? Below is my interview with the man who has seen it all. He knows where the bodies (and the outtakes) are buried!
JD: Matt, filmmaking is for the rugged and the strong, and your discipline in particular is legendary. Could you tell us frail prose writers what your writing process and practice are like?
MH: I'm a busy freelance cameraman, so writing has to be worked around my often chaotic "day job." That said, I was utterly committed to this book. I wrote much of it on airplanes and in hotel rooms while traveling for work. Any spare few hours I had in the day I would work on the book. Fortunately, I've gotten very good at writing in short bursts.
In the last to years, I've refined my process and now require an output of at least 500 words a day, no matter how hectic, crazy and long that day is. Thank God for laptops! I can't tell you how many times I've done my daily writing exercise in the cab of a grip truck, or sitting in a corner of a soundstage during lunch break.
JD: How long did it take you to write this book? And what were your biggest obstacles? Greatest rewards?
MH: The book took about 18 months to write. The first drafts were mostly anecdote-driven. It was a funny book, but lacked a real spine. The book needed my personal journey to be a stronger element, an arc that would guide the reader through the madness. That led to the hardest part of the whole process, finding the guts to open up and tell my story without flinching from any ugly truths. It wasn't easy to confront my true feelings about those days, and was even harder to reveal them to the world. But honestly confronting those feelings taught me a lot about myself. I learned about my strengths, (bullheaded determination for example,) and my failings (not standing up for myself).
JD: For you, how is writing different from working on films?
MH: One of the reasons I like to write is it allows me more control and creative expression. Film is a collaboration and a constant compromise. Even when writing a screenplay, you don't get the same charge out of it as you do a book You know a director is going to change things, actors are going to change things, and (in the low budget world) you never have time to get things exactly right.Writing a book allows you the freedom of taking as long as you want, getting every detail right, and telling the story you want to tell the way you want to tell it. Of course, inevitably, you have to make compromises as well - publishing is a business - but the creative high that comes from writing a book is much stronger than you get writing a movie, shooting a movie, or worse, shooting a lame-ass infomercial.
JD: Your book is SO funny. I've read your horror stories and they are often quite spooky/serious in tone. How did you find the voice for Film is Hell? And did fury over some of the real life situations ever cloud your sense of humor?
MH: Good question. When I'm writing, I hear the voice of the piece in my head. It varies depending on what I'm writing. Each thing I write seems to demand its own voice and finding that voice is a big step toward getting the thing written. Sometimes that voice is spooky and serious, sometimes it's profane and funny. The voice for Film is Hell is an amped up version of the way I talk to people. I wanted an intimate, "you are there" feel to the book, like we were all sitting around and I was just telling a story. This is the reason I wrote it in present tense, which is something I rarely do. My fury did cloud my judgment a couple of times, but I tried to work those issues through in later drafts. Once I had it written the way I wanted it, I tried as much as possible to disconnect it from my emotions, but I don't know if I was always successful.
JD: Well, having read your book, I think he did a Hellishly great job!
What about you folks out there --in writing from real life do you immerse yourself in the fury, and all the emotions, and then take a step back in later drafts? What works for you?
And as always, drop by http://www.bangthekeys.com for more writing related regalia. And you can find out more about Film is Hell, and Matthew Howe at http://www.shotmonster.com. And please check out my new book, a writing workshop in a book!
And if you are interested in being interviewed for this column, drop me a line at Jill@JillDearman.com. Peace out!
