Author: Jennica Schwartzman

For those of us that struggled for the last few months with the realities of Donald Sylvester’s 2020 Sound Editing Oscar speech, “I want to thank my wonderful wife of 34 years who gave up her editing career for me to pursue my career … ,” I’d like to take this opportunity to make sure that we all thank our child-care team and lifestyle support team for supporting our careers. There is no reason to wait for the Oscar stage, so please feel free to Copy & Paste this into your social media, retirement speeches, gala introductions, and even just…

UPDATED: “In light of current events. I encourage everyone to take a few minutes and check in with our community support systems. This four-part series of articles was written before the current epidemic, but for many people this may be an appropriate season for private reflection and may help us mitigate and recognize mixed feelings we may be having about changing our daily routines and interactions. Maybe this is the time to re-evaluate social systems in which we wish to pour ourselves into when we are free to be out in the world again.” Say Goodbye to Your Community. Now,…

UPDATED: “In light of current events. I encourage everyone to take a few minutes and check in with our community support systems. This four-part series of articles was written before the current epidemic, but for many people this may be an appropriate season for private reflection and may help us mitigate and recognize mixed feelings we may be having about changing our daily routines and interactions. Maybe this is the time to re-evaluate social systems in which we wish to pour ourselves into when we are free to be out in the world again.” Is it time to leave my…

How Do I Foster Community? Engage. By any means. Get involved, text, respond, call, email, meet/greet, serve, welcome, host, or just be present in it. Every organization is different and it can be hard to figure out how to engage. First, is your community a bounded set or centered set? From Jon Ritner, “Picture a bounded set as a shepherd in a field constructing a large, square fence to keep the sheep in the same pasture while also keeping out other animals that do not belong. Bounded organizations clearly indicate who are insiders and who are outsiders. They have a…

What is my community? Shared interest? Shared action? Shared space? Shared circumstance? Shared organization: school, religion, or workplace? Shared microsystem: family, friends, team members? Shared macro-system: culture or government? Shared identity of any kind? Shared agenda? Shared oppression? Shared sports team? We know one thing, it is shared. “Remember, George: no man is a failure who has friends.” – Clarence, It’s a Wonderful Life Finding and fostering community is important. I am speaking specifically about intentional communities, social organizations in which you choose to engage. You need community for relevant resources, social progress, to lean on in times of struggle,…

Favorite actors get cast by production teams over an over again. They do. How do you become a producer’s favorite actor? Great question. I can tell you. I’m a producer and I have favorites. I have worked with actors over and over and I have worked with actors only once (and vowed that it’ll be the last time). I have also worked with actors that are too valuable as charactery additions to my projects that I will hire them again JUST for their talent and what they bring to the screen. But let’s pretend that everyone in a film is…

I have produced over 10 film projects in my first 15 years in Hollywood and I terminated my first distribution agreement recently. I have had many unfortunate distribution events that were easily mended with immediate action, apologies, and intentionally keeping bridges from burning. But sometimes the best course of action is to move on if both parties cannot solve certain types of issues. My 15-year agreement was cut short to just our 2 years together and I gotta say the most painful part is having my feature PULLED from all of our outlets/platforms. We stand to lose every rate, review, view…

Yep, we’re actually gonna talk about this thing that no one is ever willing to talk about and if they are willing, they just don’t have the time. I’m not gonna post my original 6,000 word essay that I started with, I’m just gonna put DEFINITIONS, two SAMPLES, and RESOURCES… ‘cause I just don’t have the time to go into it all. Ha! DEFINITIONS What are “Back End Points”? On a Reddit thread I found “cdb03b” explain it perfectly: “Most of the time an actor gets a flat fee for their work. Taking points on the back end means that…

Today, a male colleague sent me photo of his kid to ‘motivate’ me into productivity using his kiddos’ cuteness like a meme. A sweet chubby baby girl with fabulous sassy energy came up on my phone with the caption: “*Shirley* can’t wait to watch the screener with me, she’s a harsh critic though: only 2 stars for peanut butter. I’m hoping you can top peanut butter!” Yes, it works, those kids are super cute and now I’m thinking about delivering our work a little sooner. But would this male colleague send these to my husband if Ryan were the primary…

Great question. Congrats on submitting your film to an acquisitions department and getting interest back on your film. You’re ready to talk specifics, but this is your first time working with a traditional licensor and you may not know what to ask at first. That’s ok. Hopefully someone has given you some great advice, I’m gonna give you *supplementary* advice. Get your main advice elsewhere, here is just a short list of questions you can ask a distributor to get negotiations started: Does your licensing agreement cover domestic or worldwide territories? How long are the terms of your licensing agreements?…

Distribution Overview What do you want to do with your film? What are the goals? A writer’s calling card? A director’s festival baby? Exposure for your leading actress? Establishing a financially successful production company? There are 100 different goals for 100 different films (and sometimes those goals butt heads between the main producers, so establish goals before pre-production begins). Whatever your MAIN 3 goals are, that is how you decide to shop for a distributor OR do a festival run OR distribute the film yourself. If you decide to distribute your film through a traditional domestic licensing deal with a…

“Purpose Pictures” is the company name under which my husband Ryan and I make movies. We write as a team and produce as a team, but sometimes we help produce on other people’s films as a producing team as well. Our main focus has always been acting, but we definitely have more stories to tell than just what we are working on for other people. Purpose Pictures isn’t a limited genre or limited team. We are a filmmaking team that works on projects chosen on a case-by-case basis. But one thing we feel strongly about is education. We make sure…

I know several of you. I see you. I see how hard you work. I also have no idea how you do it. But, no matter what, you have my heart. I will freely give you any resource, any contact, and recommendation, any amount of time to give my thoughts/advice/support. I have your back. Forever. A working parent is valuable beyond the surface education/talent/perspective/personality they bring to the table, all of which they have honed and fostered through years of experience, education, money money money, and focused commitment. A working parent brings life skills that cannot be learned under any…

One of my special skills on my resume is ‘crying.’ I am an emotional person and I brim on the edge like Joey Tribbiani. And that skill has booked me some jobs, for reals. You DON’T have to be a crier to be emotionally available and vulnerable in your acting work, it is not even the most interesting type of vulnerable experience to watch on film. BUT if you brim at the top, authentically, you may still need this reminder on how to maintain your work while at work. Set culture and set operations are both counter intuitive to emotional…