Scott L Semer: 5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker
Be prepared for everyone to hate you. If you aren’t pushing people past their comfort zone, you are not getting their best work. Unfortunately, to do so requires that you tolerate them hating you. For “I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL” I pushed everyone to heights they never thought imaginable, from performances, choreography, songwriting, camerawork, set design, editing, and nearly every other aspect of filmmaking. Yet nearly every one of them hated me at one point or another. Some of them wouldn’t even talk to me on set. You just have to learn to accept it and trust in yourself.
As a part of our series called “5 Things I Wish Someone Told Me When I First Became A Filmmaker”, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Scott L Semer.
Scott L. Semer (Writer, Director, Producer) makes his feature film directorial debut with I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL. Scott received his BFA in film and television from New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. He also graduated from Columbia Law School and attended the graduate screenwriting program at UCLA. Scott grew up working at the local cinema, driving his life-long love of film.
Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Our readers would love to get to know you a bit better. Can you tell us a bit of the ‘backstory’ of how you grew up?
One of my jobs growing up was working as an usher at one of the last single-screen movie theaters in the state. Since only one movie played at a time, there wasn’t much to do after collecting the tickets, so I would often times stand at the back of the theater watching the same movie over and over. To this day, there are films that I’ve seen about a hundred times but still haven’t seen the first or last ten minutes. I learned that movies are almost always much better without them.
Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?
How many people like both Dark Star and Singing in the Rain? The Muppet Movie and All the Jazz? Scarface and Woodstock? When the pandemic hit, I had a moment to myself and realized that Kermit the Frog was right. Life is like a movie. Write your own ending. Keep believing, keep pretending. You’ll do just what you set out to do.
Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that occurred to you in the course of your filmmaking career?
While I was in film school we had a Russian film professor who absolutely terrified everyone. He would constantly let me know that I didn’t know what I was doing and one day when I was making my student movie, I realized he was right. It took me three decades to realize he was wrong before I finally directed a movie. Remember, they don’t know you.
Who are some of the most interesting people you have interacted with? What was that like? Do you have any stories?
Well my dad, he was a cardiologist. There was one time, he got into a disagreement with a new doctor at his practice about treating a certain patient. The new doctor refused to listen to my dad and instead carried on with his own advice. I asked my dad what happened next and unfortunately, the patient passed away. I realized then, what is there in making a movie to get stressed over compared to that?
None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?
My grandfather, who was the Head of Motion Picture Advertising and Promotions at FOX in the 1940s, would inspire me with fascinating stories from his day. I recall him telling me that Daryl Zanuck had a policy where nobody was allowed to say hello to him on the studio lot because he didn’t want people to read into whose names he could remember and who he couldn’t.
Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?
In the words of Jedi Master Yoda himself, “Try not. Do. Or do not, There is no try.”
I am very interested in diversity in the entertainment industry. Can you share three reasons with our readers about why you think it’s important to have diversity represented in film and television? How can that potentially affect our culture?
It’s important for all voices to be heard and represented in our society, no matter their background, race, or sexuality. Everyone has a story worth telling. Just look at what our lead, Sydney James Harcourt, was able to do in “I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL.” I mean, who else could pull that off? Look at what Alan Mingo Jr. did in the film. There’s never been a psychiatrist with Dr. Maxi’s background on the screen. They both are a major part of the film and you can’t look away from either of them and the impact that they bring to the film and industry.
What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?
One of my most exciting projects hitting streaming services on April 11th is I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL, which is about a compulsive MMA fighter who moves to Fire Island and pretends to be gay in order to buy the house of his dreams and exorcise his demons. It’s a really great film that I hope to bring to Broadway as well. I’m also working on a western musical and the ultimate post-apocalyptic fantasy. A TV show about a teenage girl who solves crimes with the help of her police detective father’s ghost.
Which aspect of your work makes you most proud? Can you explain or give a story?
Listening to the soundtrack of I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL allows me to reflect on the film and makes me feel so proud to have created a project like this. Take a listen for yourself and try not to smile, the songs are available on Spotify.
Ok super. Here is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 things I wish someone told me when I first started” and why. Please share a story or example for each.
- Include some name actors to play a role in the movie, even if it means spending half your budget for a small role that can be shot in one day. Doing this can make distribution and marketing a lot easier.
- The process of making a movie is one of the most exhilarating feelings that you can ever imagine, so be prepared after the film for everything in life to feel dull in comparison. It’s really hard when the grip team packs up all the lights and camera equipment onto the trucks to take them to the next movie that isn’t yours. I still haven’t recovered and won’t until I see those trucks returning and unloading equipment for another of my films.
- Be prepared for everyone to hate you. If you aren’t pushing people past their comfort zone, you are not getting their best work. Unfortunately, to do so requires that you tolerate them hating you. For “I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL” I pushed everyone to heights they never thought imaginable, from performances, choreography, songwriting, camerawork, set design, editing, and nearly every other aspect of filmmaking. Yet nearly every one of them hated me at one point or another. Some of them wouldn’t even talk to me on set. You just have to learn to accept it and trust in yourself.
- If you have a vision, it’s easy, just focus on making that vision a reality. We built a set out of yellow cellophane and everyone thought I was crazy until they saw the end result and absolutely loved it.
- Improvise. We shot most of the movie in a warehouse studio in upstate New York and I had to re-write parts of the script, on the spot, to better fit the setting. I even re-wrote scenes that took place before others that we had already shot, sometimes you just have to figure out how to make it work. A good writer should be able to do anything the director asks.
When you create a film, which stakeholders have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices you make? Is it the viewers, the critics, the financiers, or your own personal artistic vision? Can you share a story with us or give an example about what you mean?
It really all depends on the different types of stakeholders you have or whether the film is self-financed or not. In the case of “I’M NOT GAY A MUSICAL” the film was self-financed, which allowed my team and I to have the greatest impact on the artistic and cinematic choices for the film.
You are a person of great influence. If you could start a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)
I’d start a new movie studio for musicals–the modern version of 1940s MGM.
We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might see this. :-)
I would love to have a private lunch with Oprah Winfrey, she’s produced some amazing films and I’d love to work alongside her.
How can our readers further follow you online?
Readers can follow me at the below.
Instagram/Twitter: @ingamusical
This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!
