amazed at how much money you ’ ll make in a few hours . Probably more than you ’ d make waiting tables .
I ’ ve been chasing this dream for more than two decades . In all that time I ’ ve managed to dodge a “ real ” 9-5 job - at all costs - and still counting . And man , have I missed the career boat . Several times . When I was a teenager dabbling in electronics , I sent for this brochure on the kinds of careers that are available in that industry . Then I showed the brochure to my uncle , who was working as a TV repair man for Philips at the time . He thumbed through the brochure , came upon a page and said “ This is the career you should go into . This is the future .” He held the page up to me . The heading said ; “ Computer Technology .” But it sounded kinda boring . So I opted out .
Then there was the time that producer friend of mine said I should get into this new thing that ’ s about explode all over the planet , called … the Internet . Told me I should get into webpage design and production , asap . Again , not my thing . And I missed the whole dot . com boom . But what have I missed , really ? 25yrs of dodging a real job ... and what have I missed ? The insane cycle of waking up , braving 2hrs of bumperto-bumper traffic to and from a job I hate . That does not inspire me at all . Chained to a desk and enslaved to an idiot boss , eating humble pie and shit-sandwiches daily , and all this just so that I can earn enough money to walk into a shopping mall once a week and buy looots of shit that I don ’ t really need ? Did I miss all that ? Cool ! Now you suck on it , my little lemmings . You got your house , car and steady paycheck ? And looots of sparkly toys ? Suck on that 9-5 lifestyle , baby . Me ? I ’ ll be back at your house , kipping on your couch , and cleaning out your fridge and liquor cabinet . Taking the path less-travelled .
But your transition as an artist , to creative freedom and true liberation , lies in the last phase . This is where writers are born or broken . And those of you strong enough to go through and come out the other side , still standing , will find yourself … liberated . It ’ s called The Development Process . Aka Development
Limbo . Or , as David Mamet describes it ( in his book , Bambi vs Godzilla ), How to make nothing at all . He calls it “ The fig leaf of propriety covering not the genitals of artistic potential , but the empty space where they once lay .” He also points out that the development process will grind down every quirk and kink in the script that makes the story unique in the first place . Amen , Master Mamet . Amen . And yet , it was in Development Limbo that I had my epiphany … found my spiritual and creative freedom . Ironic ?
Most of the stories you hear about this daunting phase are about how it destroys writers . Not me . It liberated me . Because it was during this process , when I was privileged to draw back the celluloid curtain in one of the engine rooms of our industry and see the machines and circuitry , that I garnered a
I ’ ve managed to dodge a ‘ real ’ nine to five job , at all costs , and still counting glimpse into the reason why most films , especially ours , suck .
I was “ fortunate ” enough to secure “ Development Funding ” from one of our nations top government film fund organizations . We ’ ll call them ... uhm ... the African Film Fund & Rebates Organization ( AFFRO ). Great news , right ? For any writer . Development Funding , Riiight . You tell me . No sooner had the funding been approved , when I was told that I don ’ t actually receive any money directly . No personal funding so that I can pay the bills and focus on writing the script , no . What happens is , they fly you up to their offices for a weekend , put you up in a swanky guesthouse , and then pay a bunch of other amateurs who know less than you do about making movies to “ teach you ” how to write a screenplay . Still ... I went in there with my eyes , mind and arms wiiide open . I went there to learn . Never thought I ’ d end up feeling like I ’ m in a seminar where the lecturer is a first-year student . Yeah , my script got “ Developed ” alright . Slow roasted … over two “ workshops ”… and five years . That ’ s right … half a decade … on one script .
On the first workshop , I sat opposite a young writer who didn ’ t know how to pitch his script ( he was the only one in the room who spent about ten or fifteen minutes
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