Sean Staples: Music composer in Los Angeles, California.

Hello fellow composers. I am interested to know if you prefer to write directly to film or do you take the more Mark Isham type approach of absorbing the film and then writing away from film and then applying back what your written. Personally i've done both methods and I find that sometimes it is easier to write directly to film and others the Isham process has better results. I would say (for me) i've found that writing away form film lock gets be a better result and some of my best work is accomplished in that process simply by knowing the story well and using screen caps to write to. What about you?

Ok so I've been working on a project recently and it got me thinking.

Most people would say that I'm a pretty easy going person and usually don't have a problem compromising when people want to do one thing or another even though I might have an opinion or I'd like something most of the time I try to find compromises so that everyone is happy.

Sometimes this might not be the best thing as I have been accused of being indecisive by people.

But not when it comes to filmmaking.

As I am also a control freak whenever we have a project I like to take care of stuff that I know that is essential to the project.

I also have a great team on my hands whom I trust and love working with and sometimes new people come to the team and usually don't have a problem working with them. I've even had producers walk up to me after finishing a project telling me how great I run my team and that it's a spit and polish operation and they can't believe that we actually stick to time plans and make everything happen.

But on the other hand we had a new crew member join a few projects ago and one of the producers who is a good friend of mine asked him how everything was and he said that it was great but he had the feeling that I was in a bad mood and looked really pissed off. This got me thinking because I wasn't in a bad mood or pissed off at anyone I was just really concentrated on the shoot and everything that I had to do as a director. Then I asked a few more people and they all agreed with the guy and also said that they could have mistaken a bad mood for being really focused on what I was doing.

I even realized that when on set if people walk up to me and start talking if it's something having to do with what we're doing I automatically listen and speak with them but if it's something that isn't directly connected to what we're doing I kind of just filter the conversation out of my head and get rid of the person as in give them something to do.

Anyway recently my team and I started working with some other productions that might not be as well organized as we are or I'd like them to be and I've noticed that at times I'm getting really frustrated with people who should be doing their job but aren't.

To the point that I've had a conversation with them if they feel they are qualified to the the work when I have to explain things how and why they should be done that way. I mean I surprised myself because I acted like a real jerk.

So it got me thinking does filmmaking make a person a little more resiliente having to deal with all the road blocks on every corner and then having to deal with people on the other side that might not be suited to do the job you need them to do on your end. Of course not to mention your own focus that you have when working on a project that you are passionate about and want to complete to the best possible outcome.

Does all of this and compounded with not having the patience to deal with every Tom, Dick and Harry that might not be worth your time make you look like a jerk even though you might not be.

Does this kind of thing make successful filmmakers look like jerks sometimes when all they are trying to do is just make the best whatever they are doing as possible.

What do you think guys?

What's you're experience with successful filmmakers that come of as jerks?

What's you're experience with yourself when you're working on something important to you?

Does a filmmaker need to be a jerk sometimes to make it in this industry or can they be a friendly filmmaker?

I'm interested in other peoples opinions.

Best regards to all.

Directors & Producers....How do you prefer that composers looking to work for you on your films establish contact? Do you get dozens (possibly hundreds) of composers calling and emailing you looking to work for you and lobbying you to let them be a part of your production? How do you prefer that composers engage you to become part of your production?

As a composer, I've worked with a few directors who like to have me write music from the script that they can then use on-set during shooting. Do you do this? If you do, have you found this helpful to help with 'vibe' for actors and crew?

Hi Sean. I'm RB, Founder and CEO of Stage 32. As a screenwriter, producer, actor and filmmaker, I know first-hand the challenges all creatives face finding work, landing representation, launching projects, securing funding and simply making the connections that will make a difference in their careers. That's why I created Stage 32. Since our launch in September of 2011, the community has grown to 1,000,000+ members representing every country on the planet making Stage 32 the social network uniquely populated with the most creative people on Earth.

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Hello Sean -

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