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Today at 10:49 AM
10:49 AM
Rajmund
 
Hi Scott, Hope you doing well. I'm your big fan, especially of the movies like the roller blade seven or frog warrior. I have quick question to you. Do you still have a plan or idea to make again a big production like previous old movies in your brilliant productions?
Today at 11:11 AM
11:11 AM
Rajmund
 
and btw happy new year
 
I received this message today on Facebook. As this is a question I so often receive, I thought I would respond to it here, in this blog, in that way providing the answer to a vastly wider audience.
 
First of all, I don’t know that I’ve ever really stopped making, “Big Production,” features. I’ve done a lot of music videos under various pseudonyms that had some large budgets. I just keep that part of my life, and the name(s) I use, on the low-low.
 
In terms of my Zen Films, I have shifted away from that style of production, however. For those of you who know me, have taken one or more of my classes, or have watched my evolution from afar, you know that many years ago now, I begin to shift my focus to the Non-Narrative Zen Film. I suppose there are many reasons for this, and I’ve spoken about them in the past, but probably at the forefront is I just wanted to shift my filmmaking in the direction of Pure Cinema, (Cinéma Pur), Pure Art; removing the human element.
 
The fact is, times changed in the indie film genre. What I did once, was and is just not as fun to do anymore. Friends and colleagues died. Others moved away from the film game. It just wasn’t appealing anymore to be the only one putting everything together, then doing the all of the everything else. With the Non-Narrative Zen Film, all of that problem has been solved. They can simply exist in their own perfection, thus being a more perfect reflection of true Zen.
 
Yeah, I know, like the films this gentleman referenced, my movies like Roller Blade Seven and Max Hell Frog Warrior, have remained on the lips of those who are into such level of filmmaking. …Much more than say my Non-Narrative Zen Films. But, to make movies at that level takes time and perhaps more importantly money. You just can’t do movies of that scale with very limited budgets anymore. And, as I never take money from people to make my films, unless a large production company would get behind me, doing another film on the level of something like Roller Bade Seven would be quite hard to accomplish. The world is just different now than it was in 1991.
 
I would suggest, if you really want to truly peer into the independent film business, with all of its trials and tribulations, and to study some of the experiences I have gone through in the film game, that you read my book, Independent Filmmaking: Secret of the Craft. There’s a lot of information in that book and I believe it can be very helpful to the budding or the experienced filmmaker, or just someone who wants to know about Scott Shaw and Zen Filmmaking. If you can’t afford a copy, you hit me up and I’ll send you a copy: physical, digital, or otherwise.
 
In closing, it's not that I would not do another character-driven film. It is just that I would need to be surround by the right circumstances.
 
For those of you who care, that’s the story.