The Triumphant Independent
an interview with John R. Dilworth
(continued from page 4)
"One experience I had was working with
an artist that did not 'plus' the material that we gave him. And
that's a bad thing, if you can't be inspired to take something further.
Most of the time, though, the artists were able to see other things
that they were able to add.
"Drawing is such an intuitive thing, anyway. When I expressed
the idea of feeling a drawing, it's like being so receptive as to
have your own drawing what you put down on paper reflect back to
you in a sort of energy, that you're able to determine. Working
on a long-form property requires you do somebody else's style, but
I still think it applies. You're making a conscious decision on
the lines that you make, so that they best reflect the style and
design that you're imitating."
The Grand Payoff
To those who want to be successful independent filmmakers, what
advice would Dilworth offer? "I've always said, I want to make
this film, and I've just found a way to do it," the director
says. "I do it by making commercials or working for somebody
else, making money to produce it. Over a period of time, if the
work that you're doing is of any merit, opportunities sort of come
about. They materialize. And you have to decide if it's something
that you have to get involved in. And then you have to nurture relationships
with people that have similar minds, you know, that think alike.
The rest is up to your own personal judgment. Who do you want to
get involved with? And what do you want to do in terms of project
to project?
"Obviously I'm not a great politician. I don't really play
the game of patting somebody on the back and giving them a big grin
and all is well. I have real trouble with that. I tend to be more
honest. I think lately I've been more honest, but withholding that
honesty for a later time. It's that sort of judgment that you have
to employ.
"If I decided not to get involved in the commercial aspect
of doing a series or something like that, and instead just doing
independent films, the issue would be, how does one finance that?
There are certainly many artists who are much older, more advanced
and more successful than I who can tell you how they did it. They
teach. They work for others. They freelance commercials. Some that
are luckier get grants. Some get hired in a larger studio like the
National Film Board of Canada and they get work through there. Maybe
others get an inheritance.
"It really becomes a matter of a moral decision that you have
to make with yourself. How much compromise are you willing to take?
How much are you willing to dilute in terms of your ability to create
something that's totally unique?"
In summing up the nature of his work, John Dilworth confides, "My
problem is that I think cinematically. I don't think for the television.
I don't think for a specific medium. I want it to be the biggest
experience that I could possibly give. Maybe because in life you
can't get that in your own life. I just like to make people laugh.
"My biggest, most rewarding experience was being in a festival
in Bilbao, Spain, soon after The Dirdy Birdy was finished.
Bilbao is a really beautiful city. They had the most extraordinary
theater. It was so ornate. Gold-gilded and everything. It was a
very large theater. It was packed. And they played The Dirdy
Birdy. I left the theater because I can't see a film that I've
made; I can't be in a room and watch. When a film is done, that's
it. I'm no longer responsible for it, other than it being the messenger.
"But when I left the theater, I heard the sound of that place,
laughing and laughing and laughing, and then when they came out,
and people would have big grins on their faces, that was it. I couldn't
be more happy in my whole life. I couldn't think of anything else.
I had no other problems. That was it. It was a tremendous high.
It wasn't that I was thinking, 'Oh, wow, I did something great,'
I was thinking, 'I made all these people happy.' They were laughing.
It's what I wanted to do.
"The thing is, I want to make people feel good for the moment
that they get."
Bob Miller is an animation professional who has written extensively
about the industry for Starlog, Comics Scene, Animation Magazine,
Animato!, Animation Planet, Comics Buyer's Guide, and APATOONS.
He served on the first season of Courage, the Cowardly Dog
as storyboard supervisor and is currently working at Film Roman
storyboarding episodes of The Simpsons.
