Metamorphosis Filmmaker
by Keith Aronowitz
My name is Keith Aronowitz and I am one of those insane people
that decided to fund their own film. Okay, maybe not insane,
but it was just something I decided to do, or rather felt I
had to.
Let me back up to give you some history. I have been
professionally involved in the film and television industry
for over 20 years, mostly as an editor working in network TV
for companies like ABC News, MTV, Sony, Disney, etc. Having
worked in TV for all these years, I have also had the
misfortune of working on some pretty mindless stuff, i.e.
reality shows and infomercials.
In 2006 I had pretty much decided I had had enough, and I
started exploring other opportunities that were far removed
from the industry. I decided I was going to go to Vietnam and
train there to become a master diver and then move on to some
idyllic location in the South Pacific where I would live out
my days taking people scuba diving when I wasn’t relaxing on
the beach.
Before I was to make this journey, however, I decided to go
down to Peru to try something called Ayahuasca which I had
read about in National Geographic Adventure Magazine. I won’t
go into too many details here, but Ayahuasca is a medicinal
plant that has been used by Shamans for thousands of years to
heal people of all sorts of ailments.
Long story short, I go down to the jungle, where I participate
in 5 incredible (and sometimes harrowing) ceremonies that had
a profound effect on me. I also happened to take my camcorder
and interviewed some people and recorded some of the process.
I did this only because I had my camera and it was something
to do.
When I get back to the states, I quickly put my footage
together and send out the mini-doc to the other participants
that I had met while drinking Ayahuasca.
This is where it starts to get interesting.
I start getting back some really positive responses to what I
filmed and the wheels start spinning. I swear I’m finished
with the business, but maybe before I head out the door I
should give it one more shot and produce a full-fledged
documentary on Ayahuasca. I feel this way because of the
response and the fact that I feel this is a fascinating
subject and would make a great story, one that hadn’t really
been told before.
I also quickly realize, being somewhat unconventional, that I
would never take the practical route of trying to secure
finances because I don’t have grant writing experience, etc.,
I don’t have the patience, and I don’t want to wait for a few
years in hopes that I might get some kind of funding.
So I dive right in, and after convincing (and a little
begging) the Shaman who I worked with in the Amazon to allow
me to come down for a few months to shoot, I start making
plans.
As I mentioned, I have worked in the industry for 20 plus
years, but as far as documentaries, I have cut one feature
documentary and that’s it. So early in 2007, before I was to
return to the Amazon to film, I decided to immerse myself in a
crash course on doc filmmaking.
Over the next few months, I read anything and everything I
could on how to make a proper doc. (For example, don’t fund it
yourself, good advice like that.) I also watched about 50
docs, including all the major award winners from the last 10
years or so. I wanted to immerse myself in that world to
figure out what docs resonated with me and worked for me from
a storytelling sense.
I came to the conclusion that I wanted to tell a character
driven story while also explaining the process of an Ayahuasca
ceremony which can be a little complex.
After purchasing about 15 grand worth of equipment and
fighting off the nagging, doubting voices in my head that were
screaming “what the hell are you doing, we were on our way to
paradise, this is a pipe dream!” I was headed back down to
Peru in May of 2007.
After somehow weaseling my way past customs, explaining that I
have all this equipment and over 100 tapes because I “really
like to shoot stuff in the jungle.” I was on my way.
As far as the shooting itself went, there were minor
challenges here and there, but considering I was in a somewhat
unforgiving environment (i.e., extremely humid) things went
pretty well. (Except for when I tried to kill two birds with
one stone and drank Ayahuasca, which kind of makes your limbs
somewhat useless, and then tried to film.)
It took a few months of filming, but I felt confident that I
had captured the story and all the elements needed to tell it.
One quick word of advice for those who want to film in the
rainforest – wear long sleeves and plenty of insect repellent,
it sucks when you’re trying to do that cool slow pan of a
jungle vista and 30 mosquitos are snacking on the side of your
face.
Jump ahead to the present.
After a few more trips to the jungle for a little more
shooting and about 15 rough cuts, here I am. It took about
half a year to really flesh out a coherent, compelling story
and another few months to cut it down to a good running time.
(95 minutes)
I am glad I decided to follow my heart and my passion because
this is one of the most difficult things I have ever done.
I’ve put myself in the position where I have risked everything
financially but I wouldn’t have done it any other way, because
I wanted creative control and didn’t want to compromise my
vision.
I have also learned a great deal about independent filmmaking,
including how to overcome the problems and challenges that
will come your way when you are basically a one-man band in
the wilderness (literally and figuratively). I have had to
wear many hats, from the obvious ones like director and
cinematographer to the less obvious (to me, anyway), like
accountant and press agent. (not to mention my own P.A.)
I am now in the process of submitting to festivals and
preparing for self-distribution, which has been a whole new
learning process in itself.
I actually had a distribution deal, but decided that since
this project is so close to my heart, that I have to see it
through to the end. (Plus I ‘ve heard too many stories of
distribution deals where the filmmaker never sees a dime, even
if there’s a profit, and that scares me.)
Up to this point, I have had several private screenings, and
the response has been very encouraging, which helps a great
deal, because this is such a long road, and it never hurts to
get a little validation for all your hard work.
I have also been invited to screen the film at the 5th
International Amazonian Shamanic Conference in Iquitos, Peru
this July, which I plan on doing since the Amazon is the
birthplace of this medicine, and it feels fitting that the
film should premiere there.
After that, I hope that it has a decent festival run in the
states and if I’m lucky, sell a few dvd’s.
I doubt that I’ll be able to re-coup what I’ve invested in the
film, in that I’ve worked on it exclusively for the past 2 +
years, but I will have lived a dream in that I got to make a
film in the Amazon and learned a great deal about true
independent filmmaking and myself.
How many people can say that?
By the way, the name of the film is “METAMORPHOSIS”.
http://metamorphosisfilm.com
Copyright (c) 2009 Peter D. Marshall / All Rights Reserved
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