Film Courage: We interviewed a gentleman who
said a lot of Hollywood work is like temp work, you are kind of swinging from one temp
job to another and that it’s never where you are really landing in one spot? On the flip side you can say there are a lot
of people who have corporate jobs where they were just given a severance package and pushed
out the door. So nothing is really guaranteed? Andy Rydzewski, Cinematographer: Absolutely,
yes. It’s true. I think the nature of most film work or at
least the film work that I do there just isn’t stability and there won’t be. I remember years ago, this probably would
have been 20 years ago I saw an interview with Kevin Bacon and he is married to Kyra
Sedgwick and it was then and Kevin Bacon who has been around since I was a kid and he said
that after every project when it goes quiet he gets very nervous and he’s like “Oh
no, am I ever going to work again?” I remember that sticking out to me like wait
- Kevin Bacon is worried about getting work? And now that I’ve been in the industry for
a little while - Oh right, you have no idea if you will be, even if you’re on top of
the world two years from now maybe no one remembers your name or you shoot a project
that bombs or whatever it is, it’s such a competitive world and I don’t think it’s
a good industry to base your life on if you want to build a healthy family and I hate
saying that because it’s an industry that I love so dearly. But having a relationship when you’re going
80 hours a week and you come home and you’re…I don’t know…you have to have a special
partnership to make that work. I think it’s very stressful on all your
relationships (romantic, friend, all of that). I think that mostly I like to put that out
there. It doesn’t - nothing is good or bad it just
is and that’s like a fact of our industry and I think it’s important for people to
realize that because I think there are a lot of romantic ideas going in but the reality
of it - and especially now - I don’t know, will movie theaters open back up period? I’m sure they’re going to open up in some
capacity but our world is changing. And streaming is now huge. I mean there are more TV shows being made
than ever in the history Hollywood but there are no more residuals (almost entirely gone)
and that’s how a lot of writers and directors and actors maintain a career is that you were
getting residuals from old projects but they don’t have residuals on any of the streaming
services. So the future of our industry is very uncertain. But the flip-side is if you just look at the
art of making and between YouTube and all these shows on Netflix and Hulu and Amazon
and all of these, there is more work and creation being done than ever before it’s just the
money is the trick but money is always the trick I suppose. Film Courage: When you look at your IMDB and
your body of work, I’m surprise to hear you question that but I think this is healthy
questioning though, just being realistic. Andy: I think that not taking it for granted
and never assuming that the future is going to be what the present is because it probably
won’t be and you know I’ve only shot one project that anyone has ever heard of and
I think I’ve shot 10 seasons of TV and one was a hit to some capacity at least for its
size [PEN15 on Hulu]. Nobody has ever heard of the features I’ve
shot. You never know what is going to go in what
direction and so for me it’s really important that I love the work (the craft) which I do
because you have no control over the other elements that of it and so I try to when I
can pay attention to who am I working with. The people make a real difference just in
terms of quality of life day to day. But you never know what’s going to work
or what’s not going to work or what anybody will find. I shot (I don’t remember now) four or five
series for go90 which was a Verizon streaming service which doesn’t exist anymore so even
the full streaming service (the channel) just ceased to exist let alone those shows. But I love the work and I’m proud of the
work we did on a lot of those shows. I hope they find themselves a home because
some of them are really good shows but again I have no control over that so learning to
let go helps because you just control what you can which is on set (on the day) you do
as good a job as you can, be pleasant to work with, enjoy it because that’s still your
life day to day there. It’s weird, it’s very strange, it’s
depressing when I think about the realities of the industry, I tend to get pretty discouraged
because I would like to put some roots down, buy a house on day or whatever that might
look like and I don’t know when or if or how that will go? But for now I still love the work. Like I get excited, I just read a script this
week or a feature film that may or may not happen in the New Year and it’s like Oh
Yeah! How would I shoot this shot? What’s the look of this? I still get really excited about that so I
let that lead me but I’m in my 40’s… Film Courage: Oh, you are? I did not know that. I thought you were much younger. You’ve been sleeping well! Andy: Yes, I’ve been sleep well. It’s a pandemic. Film Courage: Okay, well I’ll give you that…I’m
sure there are other folks out there who are in a similar boat they are looking for work,
they’re ready for work but it’s not there or whatever the case may be. How do you keep yourself in check? You’ve said you have a meditation practice. Andy: Yes, so I know myself well enough at
this point and I’m still learning. I haven’t figured out all of my quirks but
I know that if I don’t go for walks I will start to go crazy. Going to the movie theater has always been
a big thing for me. I always feel very at peace in a movie theater
but that is not an option these days. I have not gotten myself out to nature enough
but I know that a few days of camping will usually reset me but how I eat and making
sure there is some exercise in my life and I almost take it like medicine, it has nothing
to day with “Oh, today is a good day to exercise” or “I feel like exercising,”
no - no - no - I have to because I will lose my mind otherwise and so a part of it is really
just being able to have the discipline I guess which for me feels strange to say because
I don’t think of myself as a disciplined person but for anything regarding filmmaking
I’ve always been able to convince myself to do something for the greater good. So keeping myself healthy for my own life
maybe doesn’t work but to keep myself healthy so that I’m a better filmmaker, so that
hour 13 I’m still energetic that’s some how always been a way that I’ve been able
to keep myself happy and healthy to some degree and I’ve always struggled with anxiety and
so I have these little things that I know I need to do or I could lose a handle and
who knows just go crazy. Film Courage: Here’s Johnny! Andy: Here’s Johnny, exactly. Film Courage: I make light of it but we’re
all there in some way because this is uncharted territory and we thought we’d seen the worst
with The Great Recession and this has been a very trying year in so many ways. Andy: For sure and I will say gratitude - that’s
something I’m really trying to practice is just being thankful for. I mean the fact that I shot a show that found
an audience and that people like, I am so grateful for that after years of just grinding
and it felt like I was banging my head against the wall and then Oh! People like this! That’s great and it feels good but it’s
also like that’s already gone and so just to be grateful that something like that - grateful
for my health. Anything that you can be grateful for I think
it goes a long way. I think it’s easy to spiral in a global
pandemic, in a country that is pretty divided and a lot of anger and frustration, I think
- you know it’s dangerous, you don’t want to ignore anything but it’s finding the
things that bring you some sort of peace and even joy I think is so important to remember
why do you want to live this life? Why? Oh yeah, right. Like hugging, I remember hugging. Hugging is pretty good. I’m assuming we’ll do that one day so
yes, trying to be grateful for as much as you and when I moved into my new house I bought
myself a really nice TV and I was like Oh this is really expensive. I don’t know if I should but I did knowing
that I had a show coming and I was like Okay I can rationalize the cost but now in the
pandemic I love that I have this huge TV and I’m watching all manner of things and it’s
a nice little treat and I can’t go to a movie theater but I have a nice set-up at
home which I didn’t have forever so you now I am thankful for that. Gratitude I think is a good, good tool. Hard to exercise but yeah… Film Courage: What’s your favorite thing
to watch on this new TV now? Andy: You know what, I am all over the place
but I love watching a movie from the 70’s or 80’s where it has this like beautiful
film grain and I love watching the grain because the TV is really nice and the blacks go really
black so if you watch somebody like Gordon Willis a legendary cinematographer his work
- he really leaned into - people called him ‘The Prince of Darkness,’ and you watch
these images that are really dark but they have this grain dancing through it - film
grain - I have such like a romantic, nostalgic reaction to it so it makes me really happy
to watch films with a ton of grain - dirt. It’s funny, I have this clean TV and my
favorite things are the dirty images, I love those. Film Courage: That’s awesome. I love sometimes watching 80’s or 90’s
talk shows. I loved Phil Donahue, Jenny Jones, there is
just something very romantic about it. It’s so nostalgic, Phil Donahue and the
hair styles. Andy: Totally, nostalgia is a superpower. Question For The Viewers: Is your view of
the film industry realistic or romantic?
