why I don't respond to constructive criticism that well and my dilemma

I'm with Steve, I don't quite understand the question.

It seems you have found success in your country, and that's a wonderful thing. I congratulate you for that success.

I don't see why you would need to equate your success with USA's Hollywood. I don't think any writer at AW would involve themselves in that cesspool if it wasn't for the money. We all hate the crap they put out, and how the ruin great scripts with their push for mediocrity.

Rise above it, and make your success where you can. If you do it well, you can bypass the Hollywood crap completely.

aceinc1 said:

Why I don’t respond well to constructive criticism?

I don’t want to encourage Negative thoughts.

I had a conversation with my friend who is a line producer in Mumbai and has been for 4 years now and said it is highly impossible as far as prodcuing and breaking in to produce and direct movies out here in Mumbai was concerned.

he also wrnt on to say, there has been not a single newcomer star who is not a second generation or third generation player.

I totally agreed to him as that was true.

But filming would be impossible was something I didn’t agree and so without telling him I went ahead and completed the 4 films.

He’s happy now that I’ve done it and wants to take a look at my work. Same with you people at www.absolutewrite.com. I know one of the admins told me it was not the right attitude but if I get my mind onto something there is no question of whether it is a possibility or not.

I act on temptations.


Act on temptations, you never know what you’ll achieve – Bernard Shaw



I still have a question to you guys though. Now I am in a situation. I need to clear a business visitor visa to got o AFM 2009 to sell these 4 produced indie films. I’ll be making my two (for visa) attempts by May 2009.



I wanna know what you would do if you had 21 screenplays that were waiting for coverage or a chance to make a direct and produce a trilogy and one more film?



I’m thinking totally 50-50. so I need your take. Here is the situation, you have come off 4 films and they have been as good as you’ve expected and there is some level of professionalism in the work here by actors except for a one or two.

On the whole the shoot has been satisfactory and if you send to coverage then there is a PROBABILITY you may score “consider” on at least 3 scripts out of 21 which will be networked around Hollywood.

.
Regards,
Ace.Inc1

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Ace,

If these are the scripts that you've been showing around here, then I have to tell you -- any thought that any of these scripts would get close to a consider is totally unrealistic. Your English isn't good enough by a a score of miles. The level of your writing, likewise, isn't good enough.

There just isn't any other way to put it. If you have actually finished four films that are releasable in your native country -- then release them there and start to build a career as a professional filmmaker there.

If they (and you) are very successful there that, more than anything else, will give you substantial credibility in securing some kind of international release for them.

But if these movies cannot find a theatrical release in your native country, what would make you think that you would be able to find a market for them in the U.S., where the market is orders of magnitude more competitive -- especially for non-English language films?

NMS

I think you've confused all criticism with negativity.

There is such a thing called constructive criticism. For most people it's extremely difficult if not impossible to objectively look at our own work. The point of recieving outside constructive criticism is so we can see a removed point of view to see the flaws. This has nothing to do with fostering negativity. If applied correctly criticism can be a writer's best friend. It's the only way we grow and get better. Because trust me, no one starts out a perfect writer.

It takes time, a lot of effort, and a heavy dose of criticism to keep our feet on the ground and help us to learn. There's only so much a writer can learn and improve without the ability of taking a good honest look at their work, stripping it down, seeing the flaws, and then building it up to be better than ever was or ever could have been with the beginning material.

Imagine a five year old building a little house out of popcicle sticks. It might be the cutest thing he's ever done, but it's no where near a professional level. Would it be then be better for him to believe that his project is perfect and set him loose to build real houses with those same skills as he had as a five year old, or would he need to refine the craft?

Every job/craft requires learning, refinement, and yes even criticism so we can then get better. Why do you feel writing is the exception?

You must criticize your work harder than any one else.

Edison tried to make a light bulb 10,000 times before he succeeded.

I appreciate your Shaw quote; here's another you might consider: "Consistency requires you to be as ignorant today as you were a year ago," Bernard Berenson said.

aceinc1 said:

Here is the situation, you have come off 4 films ... there is some level of professionalism in the work here by actors except for a one or two.

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Does this mean that you don't think that the film is mind-blowingly good?

Do you think that quality is good enough, when it is competing with other films that are mind blowingly good?

Looking for things to improve in your work isn't being negative.

People telling you that your work needs to be improved isn't negative.

Mac

John Woo said it's better to start elsewhere --outside of the USA. It's better to become a big fish in a small pond first, and THEN come to Hollywood after having already achieved success in a foriegn nation.

So become a huge hit in your nation first, and then come to Hollywood with a full portfolio of foriegn films. That'll open doors.

Ace,

Regarding negativity, I don't know if it's a religious thing for you, but I'm at a loss of how to respond to that central question. I'm the pessimist who lives to enjoy the surprise of things turning out right once in a while. So as a writer, I just assume I'm deluded to think I'm doing something right and I'm in for a rude awakening. It must be hard thinking the opposite way.
I think of negative thoughts as a valued ally. It keeps me working hard and alert to danger.

Anyway, congratulations. Four features filmed?! Are you for real?! It's good that you want to do this AFM 2009 thing, but really, first get them to every film festival you can. The contest links in the Sticky section has a good lineup; withoutabox.com is essential for looking at what's good and what's hot. This is key to getting a distributor.
And while you're at it, get as many DVDs to as many video stores as possible. I don't know how you would get them into Netflix, but it's worth calling their corporate offices.
Roger Corman, look out.

and...

Joe270,
damn!
This is true. Whatever films came out of Hollywood this year that are watchable are from former indie guys (the Coen Brothers, Chris Nolan) or international talent (be it Jackie Chan, or Mira Nair, or Guy Ritchie). Lillian Gish called Hollywood the "emotional Detroit", and indeed it seems to resemble GM: out of ideas, choking on bureaucracy and desperately angling for the revenue it knows it doesn't deserve. But we did that thread elsewhere.

aceinc1 said:

if you compare my movies with other releases (including some with star actor/directors). my movies WILL hold their ground on any given friday

the only thing is I should get some distribs to look at it.

regards,
Ace.Inc1

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I have nothing to add except to say I *can't wait* to see your films, ace.

mario_c said:

I'm the pessimist who lives to enjoy the surprise of things turning out right once in a while. So as a writer, I just assume I'm deluded to think I'm doing something right and I'm in for a rude awakening. It must be hard thinking the opposite way.
I think of negative thoughts as a valued ally. It keeps me working hard and alert to danger.

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*Applaud* That was beautiful. I really get what you're saying.

And Ace-- if you're that bound and determined and passionate, then God love ya! I wish you the best of luck.

I suspect you will find developing a more critical eye for your work may help improve it.

However, I think I've said everything I can.

Good Luck !

Mac

I think it's probably useful for you to go to US festivals, etc., so that you can get a sense of how radically different the US film industry is from the film industry in your home country.

Have you read some of the books aimed at giving independent US filmmakers information about how to advance in the industry? I hear good things, for instance, about Mark Steven Bosko's The Complete Independent Movie Marketing Handbook and The Independent Film Producer's Survival Guide by Gunnar Erickson et al. Both are available from Amazon.

Thanks, Gophergrrrl!

Ace,

Why not post a link to the trailers for your four films?

You DO have marketing trailers and websites, right?

We could give you some positive feedback from there.