‘The Shot’ takes aim at filmmaking frustrations

‘The Shot’ takes aim at filmmaking frustrations

Independent film has been praised, criticized for exploring
industry

By Dina Gachman

Daily Bruin Contributor

Few people have the patience and determination it takes to
write, direct, star in, promote and distribute their first feature
film.

"Making an independent film," says director Dan Bell, "it’s like
you’re constantly being kicked in the head."

He should know. He and producer, Jude Horowitz, have frantically
fought to make a success of "The Shot," their feature about the
frustrations of making movies set in Los Angeles.

Filmed in 14 days for under $40,000, "The Shot" is not typical
of what you would find in major theaters. But Bell was able to
convince the Mann in Westwood (which rarely shows independent
flims) to play his movie.

"We sent them the tape, and they called us back" he says. "They
were like, ‘What are you going to do to get behind this movie? Why
should we give you a booking?”’

Bell and Horowitz answered by putting ads in papers, going on
radio and morning news shows, and handing out over 15,000 fliers
all over Los Angeles, including the UCLA campus. Their hard work
payed off.

"The Shot" opened on Feb. 2 and was only slated to play for one
weekend. But audiences in Westwood responded so well to the film
that it was held over for another week.

The reviews of Bell’s film have been mixed, something he reacts
to with indifference.

"The underground papers and the national papers loved it," says
Bell, seated in a diner near his home in Hollywood. "And some of
the big corporate presses have slammed us unbelievably hard."

Bell sips his coffee and jokes with the waiters in the
restaurant. He knows everyone in the place – he’s a regular, and
refreshingly down-to-earth. He doesn’t shy away from admitting he’s
had it rough.

"I don’t care if I have to sweat bullets for two years, which
I’ve had to do" he says. "I want to actually work on a movie that’s
gonna get finished."

Bell accomplished this goal with "The Shot." He says the film,
which won the Best of the Festival Award at the New Orleans Film
Festival, was inspired by his own experiences in Hollywood as both
an actor ("Wayne’s World," "The Last Seduction") and a director in
local theater.

Bell invested all of the money he earned from the "Wayne’s
World" movies in "The Shot," and "called, wrote and begged" to
finance the remainder of his film. He wrote to everyone in his and
Horowitz’s families, and to actors and directors he has worked
with. Getting the money was not an easy task.

"It’s hard to get people over the fence, to actually get the
check" says Bell. "That’s a big push."

Equally difficult was Bell’s initial attempt to get his film
backed by studios. He went through the typical see-saw of negative
and positive responses from producers – one day they would want to
back his film, and the next, his script would be at the bottom of
the pile.

Bell is no stranger to the capricious ways of the movie
industry, having lived in Los Angeles for 13 years. In retrospect,
he is glad that "The Shot" is an independent, rather than a studio,
film.

"(The studios) take all the things that are quirky, and weird
and original out of the script," he says. "It has so much to do
with what’s in vogue at the moment. I just feel like they don’t
want something that’s really different."

This attitude, however, does not stop Bell from retaining future
aspirations of working with the big studios.

"I’m sure eventually I’ll work within the system" he admits.
"But starting out, I wanted to make the mistakes for myself. I
wanted to know that if things didn’t work it was my choice and not
theirs."

Bell considers the difficulties and frustrations of making his
first film a learning experience. With only 14 days to shoot the
film, Bell and his cast and crew rushed between locations in Los
Angeles, avoided being shut down for not having permits, and
basically put their blood, sweat and tears into the film.

"To me, making a movie is like pushing a huge truck up a hill
that never ends," says Bell. "It’s just one big hurdle after
another."

But now Bell can reflect on his accomplishments – he has written
and directed his first film, it is playing in a major theater, and
now he has offers to help produce future projects.

"We started with nothing, just an idea," muses the filmmaker,
"and now we have a movie playing in the theater. It’s just totally
empowering, and that’s something that no one can ever take from
you."

Despite all of this, Bell says that the work as a filmmaker is a
continuous challenge.

"There are days when it seems like it’s too hard," he says,
"like you can’t face it anymore, and you can’t call and beg
somebody else to do something for you for free. But you just get by
– you have to do it somehow."

ANDREW SCHOLER/Daily Bruin

Dan Bell advertises his movie.

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