I Write Software - I am an actor

I write software for a living. And if you are reading this either you do too, and are here to commiserate or you have been sent this by someone who, like me is making a last desperate attempt to explain to you what we do.

Blockbuster movies

At the end of every blockbuster movie lies a uniform scene, a seemingly endless reel of names called credits. These names are displayed as a nod to all of the people involved in creating your entertainment. None of them could have made a film of this quality alone, but it also would not be possible to create a film without them.

During the course of filming each of these individuals performs the task they are best at, sometimes actors direct, sometimes the director operates the camera themselves, but most of the time each person in that list at the end of the film played a particular, pivotal role. The actors may sometimes have an idea that takes a character in a new direction that the director or producer leaves in, in fact this happens often. However the actor doesn’t patent his idea, Robert De Niro does not hold exclusive rights to “Are you talking to me?”; That’s why you don’t get a letter from his lawyers every time you quote it.

And while the actors are the stars of the show, the people you see on the posters and in all the marketing; most of the jobs involved have nothing to do with acting. Most of the people in that credit reel never walk the red carpet, even if their input made it into the final production.

Indie films

Independent films exist though, projects kicked off by small groups of people, and amongst the sea of bad, there is no denying that there are good ones, but good low budget films rarely if ever have large explosions and fancy special effects. Instead they focus on topics that they can still handle under their constraints and focus more on the story than on the wow factor.

Rare Earth makes one of the best mini documentary series I have ever seen but I doubt they would do so well if they attempted to make the next Avengers movie.

Instagram

Instagram is a large budget blockbuster, they may have written the script when they were indie but when a big studio swooped in they changed their story of a an average medieval kid, trying to make his way in life to also include scenes where a dragon swoops in and breathes fire on everything because now they can afford to do that. They provided training to the actors so that they could instead become directors and producers and then hired more actors in their place.

If you want to make a big budget movie, getting actors is the easy part. The hard part is getting a good story, a good director and producer and most importantly you need… a big budget.

I am an actor

I write software, I am an actor, the media pushes us as the heroes and loves to tell stories about indie films that got Netflix deals, and while I may have the experience now to know what it takes to make a blockbuster, first I am going to need to skill up on becoming a director. Second I’m going to have to hire people, lots of people, and for that, I need a big budget.

When you talk to a software developer that already has a job, the actor is already making a movie. They are filming every day and they need to in order to survive. The last thing they want is to be questioned about why they didn't patent that line in their last movie or hear a movie pitch from someone who has never been involved in film. We aren't being arrogant or dismissive, it's just that nobody who can afford to wants to work two jobs.