Johnny Blue's Lounge Discussions

Hi everyone my name is Peter Butler. First off I want to say how much I love Stage32, it's great to be able to connect directly with such talented people within the industry which is one of the reason I'm posting this here. If you're wondering why the strange title for my post it's because I'm in a situation that has responsibility on one side and dreams on the other. I've written a little bit of a back story as I feel I need to let you know how I've got to where I am but if you want you can always follow Tim Bisley's advice from the TV series Spaced and "Skip to the end". I've always loved storytelling from the moment I picked up my parents JVC video camera in 1982 at the age of 7, I knew I wanted to make movies. I spent years shooting films with friends and family learning everything I could about the art of movie making. I decided in order to make movies, I needed to know everything there was to know, from directing to special effects (foolish I know). At the age of 18 I worked for an editing company in London. Unfortunately that company closed down and at the age of 20 I found another job, this time in the computer games industry. I'd always had an interest in CG and so I felt this would be a great way to learn VFX, which it was. Problem was, real life got in the way, meaning paying bills, mortgages and all the other crap that life throws at you. And so the small stint in the games industry became a career. Now I'm not complaining, after all working in games isn't exactly a terrible career path. But my heart was never completely in it. I missed the thrill of film making, the buzz of working with a crew and actors. The thrill of getting that perfect shot after two dozen retakes. The satisfaction of seeing all the hard work coming to life in the edit. And so after being made redundant in 2011 I decided it was the time to get back to following my dream. I decided the first thing was to test the water by creating an animated short film. After all I'd spent 11 years of my life learning computer graphics so I might as well use it. After 6 months I finished my first animated short Baggage, which if you like, you can view below. It's only 3 minutes long. https://vimeo.com/46352661 Baggage went on to win at a number of film festivals and has given me the confidence to believe in myself again, something I'd lost while working within the games industry. And since then I've also started up a film club/concept called 22 days later where by I have to make a film from to script to screen within 22 days using suggestions from Youtube users You can view my blog all about it here www.22dayslater.com and the first (silly) film here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wl5tTvcOIJA Second movie trailer here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=y6yAHSsAjEM The problem is as I'm sure you all know, there's not much money in short films and so I begun shooting corporate work where ever I could find it. It was ok, because although I didn't have a lot of money coming in I still had enough to just keep afloat and also have the time in between work to carry on working on shorts. Freelance work has dried up and I've realised that to really get my foot on the career ladder in the film industry I need to find a permanent position, even if it means starting near the bottom. And this is where my big dilemma comes in and where I'd love your help. I've just been offered a job, a very well paid job too. Problem is it's back in the gaming industry, the area I was trying to get out of. It's also 240 miles away from everyone I know. There's an added issue too. I have a one year old son, he lives with his mother, we split up 4 months ago. So I've got two options. If I take the job it will obviously solve my money problems but everything else about it feels wrong. If I don't take the job then I can continue my dream but still have massive pressure of finding that open door into the industry I love. To sum up. I feel that if I take the job I'm going up a ladder but it's the wrong ladder. I'd rather step off that ladder and start from the bottom of the right one even if it's for a lot less money. But then morally should I just forget my dream and just think of the extra money I could give my son on top of the normal amount I give? I just feel I need to find that break, is Stage 32 the first step? Thanks for taking the time to read all my waffle. Peter

I was about to introduce myself as a filmmaker, but that wouldn't be accurate. Currently I'm more of a filmpusher - a filmmaker on hold. I finished making my latest film SEDONA over a year ago and since have been navigating this crazy, unpredictible new world of DIY distribution, where nobody really knows anything and every minute of every day is learning, experimenting and discovering what works and what doesn't (I glady accept advice and tips). I spend most of my time trying to figure out how to convince people out there to fork over a tiny piece of their hard earned money for the "privilege" of watching my "masterpiece", working toward the necessary recoupment so that I may get the chance to do it all over again and once again be a filmmaker. :)

Check out a low budget gig shoot I shot and edited. I'm very surprised at the response so far. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DAZZAoS2EY8

Hello Stage32 Folk, Id really appreciate it if you could take 2mins to have a look at my latest VFX Lighting Showreel for 2012. Most of the work was created for TV commercials and Film whilst working at The Moving Picture Company (MPC) and Aardman Animations, including recent work done on "The Pirates! - In an Adventure with Scientists". VFX Lighting Reel: https://vimeo.com/38643282 Please also take a look at my Blog & Portfolio: http://www.alidixon.com Here Ive added some of my personal DSLR videography work along with all the commercials and film projects Ive worked on to date. Please give my home page a "like" to help my website gain some popularity and recognition. I really appreciate your time. Many thanks, Ali