Rule # 18: Working with kids or animals? Realize they're in charge…you're not.
The CityKids Foundation joined the Jim Henson Company to produce a television series for ABC TV. With great stories and music videos,...
Rule # 17: Be wary of trying anything new…then try it anyway
Most every tricky movie shot has been done before. But each new trick requires something never exactly done before. The opening scene in...
Rul # 16: No matter what the media says about you, be satisfied they spell you name correctly.
I have the dubious distinction of having directed music videos that Al Gore’s ex-wife,Tipper Gore, used to demonstrate to Congress the...
Rule # 15: Humility is a highly over rated virtue
Fans of movie and television celebrities would like to believe that their favorite artist is someone down to earth—someone a fan could...
Rule # 14: Never play/show to an empty house
Charles Champlin, former critic for the L.A. Times, chose my first feature film, KGOD (aka Pray TV) as his entry into the USA film...
Rule # 13: No six people laugh at the same joke
I directed six pilot episodes of a VH1 TV series called Shoot the Band, which was patterned on the popular cable show Mystery Science...
Rule # 12: Book your next job before the star or studio suit croaks
Cocaine came to Hollywood like a monsoon to Mumbai. After my first feature film, KGOD aka PRAY TV, was finished shooting, my agent,...
Rule 11: If you craft it well, they will come
Although there is great pain in casting, there is also joy. We had refined, acted, and knew every scene of the movie KGOD, a.k.a. (later...
Rule # 10: Do anything to finance your dream
With the increasingly sophisticated and less expensive high definition cameras and editing equipment available to us today, making a...
Rule # 9: Never get your hopes up higher than the lowest drawer in your desk
Poet Alexander Pope’s quote “Hope springs eternal . . .” sounds like something a poet would believe. Is there any craft more obscure and...