(Read more here and watch the trailer to TENTACLE )
I Wouldn't Recommend Self-Financing a Movie, Unless it's a Question of Quitting Your Dream and Doing Something Else by John Chi of TENTACLE 8 - The film will screen at NYC’ Anthology Film Archives June 18-24, 2015
FilmCourage: Did your parents lend support toward creativity or encourage another type of career/focus?
John: My dad was an aerospace engineer and my mom was an accountant, and together they provided our family with a comfortable life. Like all parents, I think they just wanted me to be self sufficient one day. While I don't think they were unsupportive, they certainly tried to steer my career focus towards professions that provided a certain amount of financial stability. Prior to going to film school, I worked in management consulting for about 10 years. Had I not done that, I wouldn't have had the means/savings to go to film school, or had the resources to make my first feature film. So their influence had an impact.
FilmCourage: First memory of going to the movies?
John: I don't know exactly what my first movie going memory is, but I remember a very early experience, which as it turns out, had a profound influence on me as a filmmaker. I remember sitting in a theater packed full with people, watching people who were whispering, and standing in shadows. I couldn't see or hear anything very clearly, and definitely didn't understand anything that was going on. I couldn't sit still, and kept getting "shushed." It was the worst two hours of my life.
Years later, I learned this movie was All The President's Men, which was one my main inspirations behind TENTACLE 8.
FilmCourage: What were your plans after high school?
John: I wasn't an exceptional student in high school, but I did well enough. Probably the least gifted student in a class full of 5.0 over achievers. I was good at sports, in a school known for its outstanding academics. That kind of sums it up. I made my first films in French class, as part of my "class assignments." Where most kids were giving lessons on how to make croissants I was doing Siskel and Ebert parody reviews of Bruce Lee movies, in French. It was pretty ridiculous, but I had a ton of fun doing them.
I went to The University of California, Berkeley, where my dad earned his Ph.D in engineering, not really knowing what I would focus my studies on. Not engineering. I really had no strong desire to pursue anything in particular, but at that time, I didn't consider a career in the arts.
FilmCourage: If you recommend this self-fund method to other filmmakers, what also has to be present in order to take this risk?
John: Again, I wouldn't recommend self-financing, unless it's a question of quitting your dream and doing something else. If that's the decision, then you have to decide what's more important. It's reckless and foolish to think you're going to spend your retirement money and become successful enough to overcome that kind of risk. Chances are you won't. But sometimes you need to go out there without a safety net, in order to pursue something with that kind of live or die desperation and relentlessness that's necessary to succeed.
