Surviving Hollywood

Fourth in the "life after film school" series (here are episodes 1, 2 and 3), Aris talks about the dysfunctional dynamics of the movie business in LA.

In spite of the overt hostility of this creative environment, Aris co-wrote and produced an independent feature film in 2005/6 which is currently at an advanced stage of post-production. The story of that particular project is told in more detail in an upcoming episode featuring the film's director, Ethan.

About eleven minutes long. Filmed in Los Angeles in May of 2006.

New Home

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Soon it'll be repainted and full of my furniture, but there's something special about a brand new, empty apartment, before you move in and make it your own. Minneapolis, in January of 2007.

Yellow Leaves

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I needed a break from winter.

A beautiful, gloomy morning in the Tuileries in Paris, in November of 2006.

Fresh Snow

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Outside my dad's house in Golden Valley, Minnesota in January of 2007.

Gas Station, Snowy Night

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Gas stations have always fascinated me, especially at night, and especially in the snow. Something about the way the cars navigate the space, and the people emerge and shiver for a few minutes, breath condensing into frosty clouds, while they pump gas. It feels like a nature documentary somehow, doesn't it?

Filmed in Minneapolis in January of 2007.

Where I Am

I don't usually use this blog to talk about myself, but it makes a certain amount of sense to give a brief update here - and it has some bearing on the videos I'll be posting in the future, I suppose.

I spent the second half of 2006 in Paris, and until recently I thought I was going back for at least the first half of 2007. Everything was in place for my return - I had an apartment lined up, a job, many friends, and an easy route to a Carte de Sejour.

When I talk to people about this, they generally say, "why on earth would you choose NOT to go back to Paris?"

I love it there, but after six months, I was starting to feel strangely uncreative. Though Paris has a lot to offer in terms of beautiful art and wonderful people, I realized that my inspiration as a writer and a filmmaker is here, in the US. And specifically, for the moment anyway, in Minnesota.

I have a lot of issues with the US, with the way Americans live and the way we see the world. But it is my home, and I'm stuck with it. Anything interesting that I can do artistically has to exist, I think, in the context of my culture and in my reaction to it.

Elsewhere, unless I were to actually commit to staying, and investing and integrating over a period of years, I can't avoid being a tourist, on some level. Even in a place I know as well, and feel as strongly about, as France.

So for now, I'm in Minnesota. This'll last at least six months, while I work on several projects here that are important to me. After that no doubt I'll hear the siren song of the Pacific, once again... and we'll see if it's strong enough this time to draw me back.

I was worried that if I left the density and visual richness of Paris, I'd soon run out of video haiku material - but then I rediscovered the weather, the seasons here. I have several beautiful snowy scenes coming up - and it'll be spring soon. And I'm collaborating with some fascinating actors on a project right now. And my cousin's getting married in New Jersey in March, and my sister's getting married in LA in June. And hopefully some Eurotrash friends will be flying over for a lengthy and convoluted road trip this summer.

I'm realizing that there will always be plenty of things for me to point a video camera at, wherever I end up. Which is an incredibly reassuring thought.

Modern Art

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An elaborate cave-sculpture made primarily of cardboard and packing tape, at the Walker Art Center in Minneapolis, in December of 2006. Hmm.

Note: the large and small video files should be compatible with the video iPod, from now on.

Sparrows

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Kind of rough, and heavily compressed, but appropriate for its subjects I think, with all of their frenetic energy.

When I was initially creating this blog, a quote by Werner Herzog, in the narration of "Grizzly Man," stuck in my head. He talks briefly, over one of the scenes with the fox cubs, about how some moments in the guy's video footage have a rare beauty that could never be captured by a conventional film crew, no matter how much money they had.

And that's part of the point of this site, for me. It's not a question of talent or skill so much as just having a very small camera with me all the time, and trying to keep my eyes open, so I don't miss little scenes like this, discovered in a vacant lot in Minneapolis, on New Year's Day of 2007.

Suburban Tundra

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West of Minneapolis, in December of 2006.

Moving Mara

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Helping a good friend move, in South Minneapolis in January of 2007.

Paris Metro 2

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A companion to my previous Paris Metro video haiku, which involved another form of mechanized locomotion, and a cousin to my video from the tunnels of New York. There's something intrinsically visually interesting about trains, which is no doubt why they've been a recurring theme in cinema ever since these guys made an early Parisian audience jump out of their chairs (according to popular myth, anyway) in 1896.

Shot in Paris in November of 2006.