Multi-Hyphenate
I am what They-in-the-Industry euphemistically refer to as a multi-hyphenate. This term is brought about by the unwieldy number of hyphens strewn throughout my adopted title, i.e. Writer-Producer-Actor-Director-Editor-Carpenter-Chef-Jedi-Beanpole. This aggravates the common misperception that a) a person can actually do all these things at once, which implies b) such a person must possess some kind of superhuman abilities, leading to the idea that c) said multi-hyphenate is a serious workaholic that dedicates way too much time to his career, or more likely d)he is really full of himself, and finally e) why can’t he just pick one job and stick with it for crying out loud?
Fair enough. A lot of it has to do with being greedy or pretentious or just plain wishy-washy. Everybody has a screenplay. Everybody wants to be a director, especially writers, and even more especially actors. Nobody really knows what a producer does, but everybody needs one, and everybody says they are one. If you’re a director, you need to know all the other tools of the trade to some degree. And actors? Well, the best just want to be great actors. Unfortunately, most want to be Stars. Still, any halfway decent actor knows you’re only as good as your material (unless you’re Morgan Freeman–the man could be reading the phone book for two hours and I’d watch), so why not write a vehicle for yourself. Darn it, it’s tough being an artistic-type. You always have to keep your options open.
Let’s face it; no one can really do all of these things at once, not really. The lines separating these jobs are constantly being blurred, but you have to keep them separate. Writer-director is the easiest one to combine, especially since those lovely Frenchmen came up with their Auteur Theory, but you still have to write that script before you can direct it. There are always exceptions, but even Cassavetes didn’t just roll the camera and let everyone go, though we can thank him for blurring the line even more.
So why all the multi-hyphenates? I suppose a lot of it does stem from our insecurities and our need to succeed as artists (a word I use with tongue firmly planted in cheek). We all have the need to be in control of our own destiny. Sure, some of us are pretentious control freaks. Some of us are first-rate screw-ups. Some of us just don’t know what we want. Some of us are simply hedging our bets. Some of it is almost demanded of us as well as by us. We all want to see if there are any true Renaissance Men left. An unreasonable demand, perhaps, but it is a nice thought.
And as for me, where do I fit into this multi-hyphenate world? The hardest thing about this business we’ve chosen is the fear of being labeled. None of us want to be boxed into being just one thing. The problem is this rationale is both wishy-washy and pretentious. I certainly hope that I am neither. So what am I? An actor? Occasionally. A director? When I can be. A writer? Yeah. I’m working on it.