Choosing the Director

I sent the script to some friends interested in Producing.  Three out of five of them agreed to come onboard.  Together, my team has a combined producing experience of zero years.  But we are all good friends, nice people, and let's face it - working for free. Having signed on the producers, I was surprised when one of them immediately took it upon himself to convince me not to direct.  Another one immediately set to work convincing me to abandon the one take concept.  I spent uncomfortable hours watching the reels of other completely unknown directors, and hearing pleading arguments for why I should just add cuts to my movie to make it more "normal."

After hours of argument, I think I am getting to direct my microbudget movie myself while protecting my script from my volunteer producers!

The Decision to Direct

I'll grant that I have never directed a feature film before.  I'll also grant that every director, at some point in their career, had never directed a feature film before.

I'll grant that there are many movies I am not qualified to direct.  If you gave me $100 million tomorrow to direct the next Hollywood action-thriller, I would almost certainly botch something up.

But a microbudget comedy I wrote for fun?  With no stunts or special effects?  It's like directing a play, or directing sketch comedy.  And that's something I've done hundreds of times.  The whole point of writing The Last Hurrah was to write something I could make myself.