Project:

Doug Blush

// Los Angeles, United States

"It was my dream after watching films for so long to go to Hollywood”

"Where I live now in Silverlake, there are people working in attics and 'basement' type editing suites all over town. In this part of LA, people invite you to premier screenings at their home! We do that all the time here. When I finally put my own projector in our basement, we must have done at least 10 rough cut or premier screenings of documentaries. In fact, one of this year's Sundance winners, Kirby Dick's new film The Invisible War, had one of its first rough screenings in my basement."

"Here in LA, we have become the "other" Hollywood. We are the other side of Hollywood in so many different ways. For example, there are the giant glass buildings (the ones I can see from my back yard) with their humungous edit bays charging $1000 per hour. Whereas, on my side of LA, we are crafting whole films for the same amount as their food service budgets - it's incredible, isn't it?"

Doug believes independence in filmmaking is something that makes Hollywood more creative these days. The growing collaboration between filmmakers, gives the entire independent scene a critical mass it has never had before.

"This literally couldn't have happened at this scale, even 10 years ago, and certainly not 20 years ago. There was no great community support for this type of filmmaking back then. Now that the tools are there, fortunately the wall of resistance is so low that you can actually go and prove your mettle. Instead of saying, 'I wish I could… well now you can.' It's a great time to be a filmmaker in this industry. That’s my favorite thing about having caught this particular wave - I feel very lucky to be doing what I am doing now."

In the connected, winding Los Angeles neighborhoods of Silverlake, Echo Park, Los Feliz and Atwater, there is a thriving community of independent thinking that’s changing the face of filmmaking. Doug's contribution to this world includes Of Two Minds, These Amazing Shadows, Wordplay, IOUSA, Dumbstruck, Beer Wars, Outrage, Superhereos and Freakonomics.

"We are like digital barber-shops these days and have these little store fronts where we do our own thing. All these tiny little 'shops' with these incredible ideas that come from seeds of creativity. It's been the greatest democratization ever of the film industry."

With so many filmmaking communities growing all over LA, directors and creatives alike are finding support for experimental cinema from within their own ranks. Not only has the 'community' become much larger, but as more independent films succeed commercially, it’s becoming financially stronger. The 'community' is now becoming a source of self-funding, production and even marketing resources for directors such as Doug.

"My group of friends are so passionate and inspirational. There are so many people who would love to have the many conversations about their motivations and dreams that we have. Even experimental stuff - we are all playing around with things in different corners. This is something, I really love to do! I think my deep love for experimental stuff comes out of my early passion for photography."

Looking back at his career, Doug underscores the most important time for him. "Well, my own career is interesting, because it just seemed like the course of a 'Pachinko ball' where you sort of bounce off different pins, and you don't really know where you are going to end up! And then I look back at all things, as I did, and it seems like there was an inevitable path."

"When I was in my early twenties, nobody really knows where they are going, right? For me, I wanted to experiment and mess around first. At this age having freedom is far more important than having money, I think. I teach a fair amount and do guest lectures, so I always tell people: 'Your twenties are a very, very, special time that you don't want to waste. You really need to experiment with your life during that time and go try things. You know, it's so easy get onto the career train and then find you can't get off.' "

"It was my dream after watching films for so long to go to Hollywood, where I could make movies. So when I got accepted into the University of Southern California, I experienced a sort of vertigo and thought; "Where am I and what is this all about?" It was one of those sudden left turns that just changes everything. I think the best thing for me, about film school, is that I discovered not only what I loved about film, but what I didn't like about film too.”

"Somewhere in the midst of all that, I discovered not only experimental filmmaking, but also documentary filmmaking. Somewhere in the mid part of college, I really got hooked into documentaries and started working on a few. Everything started to shift for me from that point on.”

"Filmmaking for me, is by it very nature, communal. We would always loan each other cameras, lighting, sound and anything else needed to make things. Our group from was kind of a prototype of what we now call 'cinema sports' where people are getting together and doing 24 hour cinema weekends. I think it's a great movement, but I really think we were the ones who invented that stuff after we left USC.”

“I have so many brothers and sisters who came out of that, and we are still all bonded today as independent filmmakers. We didn't know why we were doing it, we just kinda had too! I treasure that, and I am always happy when I hear a friend has a new documentary or feature, or exhibit, or something. Because I know that it all goes back to that crazy time we had in our twenties!"

'Playfulism' remains the most important ingredient for Doug. Collaborating creatively is what matters most, and being able to leave a legacy of experimentation is high on his 'bucket list' for the future.