First, let me be clear that I am not anti-Hollywood or against those who choose to relocate to Hollywood. I lived in Hollywood/LA for 3 years and did some acting work there and it is quite a fun city to live in.
However, with this article I would like to explore the alternative to going Hollywood and how it is possible to have both a critical and commercial successful film career without making The City of Angels your permanent home. Let us take a look at three successful filmmaker, who have all made some decent movies over the years while remaining outside the Golden State.
M. Night Shyamalan
Works and lives: Philadelphia
M. Night Shyamalan, is a two-time Academy Award nominated Indian filmmaker and script writer who resides and works primarily in the United States, known for making movies with contemporary supernatural plots that usually climax with a twist ending. He is also known for filming his movies (and staging his plots) in and around Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where he was raised. Shyamalan released his first film, Praying with Anger, in 1992 while he was a New York University student. His second movie, the major feature film Wide Awake, made in 1995 but not released until three years later, failed to find financial success.
Shyamalan gained international recognition when he wrote and directed 1999's The Sixth Sense, which was nominated for six Academy Awards including Best Director and Best Original Screenplay. He followed The Sixth Sense by writing and directing Unbreakable, released in 2000, which received mixed reviews. His 2002 film Signs, where he also played Ray Reddy, gained both critical and financial success, but The Village (2004) was a critical disappointment whose box office fell hard after a strong opening weekend, and Lady in the Water (2006) performed even worse. His latest film, The Happening (2008), did financially better than his previous effort but was also panned by critics; in its entire American run, it grossed only slightly more than Signs made in its opening weekend.
Guy Ritchie
Works and lives: London, U.K.
Guy Stuart Ritchie is an English screenwriter and Filmmaker. The profits that he made from directing these promos was invested into writing and making the film, The Hard Case (1995), which is a twenty minute short film that is also the prequel to his debut feature Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels (1998). Sting's wife, Trudie Styler, saw The Hard Case (1995) and invested into "Lock, Stock..." (2000), which was written and directed by Guy. Once "Lock, Stock..." (2000) was completed, the hard task of getting it distributed then came about with ten British distributors all turning it down before the film eventually got the attention of Tom Cruise. It was distributed by a North American Distributor, Columbia Tristar
His second feature film was Snatch, released in the year 2000. Originally known as Diamonds, it was another caper comedy, this time backed by a major studio following the previous success of Lock, Stock. The cast featured such Hollywood big names as Brad Pitt, Benicio del Toro and Dennis Farina, along with the returning Vinnie Jones and Statham. Similar to "Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels" in featuring a complex and inventive storyline in which the characters weave in and out of each others' lives, the film also plays with time, depicting events from various perspectives and recalling such classic crime films as Stanley Kubrick's The Killing.
David Cronenberg
Works and lives: Toronto, ON
David Paul Cronenberg is a Canadian filmmaker, screenwriter, and occasional actor. He is one of the principal originators of what is commonly known as the body horror or venereal horror genre. This style of filmmaking explores people's fears of bodily transformation and infection. In his films, the psychological is typically intertwined with the physical. In the first half of his career, he explored these themes mostly through horror and science fiction, although his work has since expanded beyond these genres.
In 1999, Cronenberg was inducted onto Canada's Walk of Fame. In 2002, he was made an Officer of the Order of Canada, and in 2006 he was awarded the Cannes Film Festival's lifetime achievement award, the Carrosse d'Or.Two of his films, Dead Ringers and Spider, were voted for in the 2002 Sight and Sound Poll.
Cronenberg has appeared on various "Greatest Director" lists. In 2004, Science Fiction magazine Strange Horizons named him the 2nd greatest director in the history of the genre, ahead of better known directors such as Steven Spielberg, James Cameron, Jean-Lu Godard and Ridley Scott. In the same year, The Guardian listed him 9th on their list of "The world's 40 best directors". In addition, in 2007, Total Film named him as the 17th greatest director of all-time.
Now that I live in Toronto I often look back to the few years a spent in Los Angeles to reflect on what I did not do right that lead to my less than successful stay in Hollywood. Three things always come to me were, I lacked vision, an action plan and stick to itness. I do not know the three above mentioned directors personally but I would be willing to bet that they all had at least three things in common that had a dramatic impact towards their success.
1. They had clear career goals
2. They were tenacious and relentless
3. 100% committed to your career
If you have these three characteristics as a filmmaker then you will enjoy a successful film career no matter where you live. Not only that but Hollywood will find you and come knocking at your door.
From my whole experience I would say move to Hollywood because you want to, not because you think you need to.
