The overtly promotional making-of documentaries that often appear on DVDs supposedly provide a "behind-the-scenes look" at how movies are made. But if you want to see how the process really works, spend some time with "Film School" ($29.95), the IFC series debuting on disc today.
The 10 episodes of this little-seen 2004 reality series follow four NYU film students as they work on the 10-minute movies they plan to submit to the school's First Run Film Festival. Noted directors like Spike Lee, Oliver Stone, Marc Forster and Amy Heckerling appear in brief interviews throughout the show, but the real focus is on the filmmaking foursome and the often excruciating process they must go through to complete their mini-movies.
"Film School" wouldn't be a reality show without some interpersonal drama, and there's plenty of it, particularly between 34-year-old Italian student Vincenzo Tripodo and his pair of flaky producers, Jennifer and Parker. When the couple heads to L.A. to raise money for Vincenzo's "Heart of Spider," the aspiring director naively expects them to collect thousands of dollars from their Hollywood contacts. Instead they come back with $100 from Gil Cates, Jr. and some cash from Henry Winkler, who generously donated all the money in his wallet when the producers approached him on the set of "Arrested Development." (The sum total of that contribution from Fonzie: 20 bucks.)
Drumming up money isn't the only problem that dogs these filmmakers. Tight deadlines, lack of permits, legal issues surrounding the use of minors as actors: All of these issues create a perfect storm of tension as the students race to complete their projects. As TV, it makes for compelling entertainment. But for anyone who ever considered going to film school, the show should be required viewing.
Sadly, Docurama has included no extras on this three-disc set. The completed 10-minute movies certainly would have been a natural fit, but rights issues may have made it impossible to include them. (Leah Meyerhoff's "Twitch" is still showing at film festivals around the country, including one that takes place in Washington, D.C. this September.) At bare minimum, featurettes that provide an update on the filmmakers' careers should have been part of the package. Adding decent bonus material to a DVD ... kind of seems like a lesson from Film School 101, no?
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PHOTOS: 'Film School' - Docurama
