Our firm are film enthusiasts, so what better way to start our 2015 blog post by discussing the 87th Academy Awards that are being held next month. There were a lot of great films in 2014 including some amazing performances – some that did and did not receive Oscar nominations. Best individual performance – Eddie Redmayne from The Theory of Everything – we walked out of that movie utterly impressed with his acting – we will not be surprised if he wins better actor. Reese Witherspoon in Wild – her performance was ok, but the story was really interesting – something to add to the bucket list – the Pacific Crest Trail. As for best movie, we really liked Grand Budapest Hotel – if you have not seen it, we highly recommend it. Of course, we’re Wes Andersen fans and consider his first movie Bottle Rocket, to be a classic – another must see. Wes always does a great job with creating these unique characters, then using them to tell a story. All these films were great, but were they that “innovative” to the film industry?
Our favorite movie in 2014 is Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. We’ve been Linklater’s fans since his 1993 film Dazed and Confused, simple, yet a well written independent film that follows the lives of students during their last day of high school. Several of the actors in Dazed have gone on to be successful movie stars. Boyhood has no special effects or major movie stars in the movie, the acting is ok – nothing significantly amazing, however, the concept was ground breaking for the movie industry – truly innovative. 13 years ago, Linklater came up with this idea to make a film, using the same actors and watching them grow over a 12 year period – filming about 5 days a year. He approached several investors for start-up funding and I’m sure many of them responded – “are you crazy?” Well, one investor took a chance and gave Linklater $200,000 (they later received additional funding for a total of approximately $4M) to start his 12 year project. About a year ago, Boyhood premiered at the Park City, Utah, Sundance Film Festival to rave reviews and what do you, its a front runner to win best picture at the Oscars next month. The film has been lauded as a ground breaking film (for reasons we don’t need to explain) – similar to Pulp Fiction (remember the non-linear story?).
When we saw this film, we couldn’t help but compare it to your average company start-up. A founder(s) come up with an idea that they believe will solve a problem or change the way we do things. Many will question and doubt the idea, but all it takes is that one believer to take a risk and provide minimum funding to get that idea off the ground. Also, during the film, saw the importance of perseverance and execution to make it work. Sure, Linklater had a creative idea – using the same real life actors for 12 years in a row – but those actors believed in Linklater. Think of Linklater as the founder/CEO of a start-up. In your start-up, you’ll have employees looking up to you as the leader and visionary. Linklater kept his team focused and on track to make a successful project.
If you haven’t seen Boyhood, we highly recommend it. As you watch it, keep in mind that your average movie takes between 2 months to 6 months to direct, produce, edit and take to market. Boyhood took at least 144 months.