Big fish in a small pond or move to LA?

When people think of making movies, there is the misconception to move to Los Angeles and to a lesser extent, New York City. While big cities like these do provide a networking capability beyond anyone's imagination(imagine ordering a cafe latte' right behind Hugh Jackman), there are options and good choices of living where you are right now. OK, maybe not everywhere is a good location, but for me, living in San Jose is a great option because its an hour drive(with traffic) to San Francisco for beautiful scenery, or an hour flight to the city of lost angels...and for the folks afraid of flight, its a five hour drive to Los Angeles too.

Now, my story is a little different. I was born and raised in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The film community is backed by a great set of minds and storytellers. They are no different than us in the bay area. Why I left was because it was frustrating to find enough creative people to get it all together to make a movie that would be taken seriously. Let's leave the politically correct environment behind us for a moment... OK, are they gone? Good. Now who the hell would care if a movie was made in Oklahoma? Not me. I realized this at the age of 18. By 25 I made up my mind to leave my home and mortgage to go live in a stuffy apartment that is thrice the cost.

I made the move to be near more creative types, and as odd as San Jose might be as a place to be, it really works. Not because it's San Jose though. It is because San Jose connects to Oakland, to Mountain View, which goes north to "the city". Need more inspiration? Go south a little and hit the Santa Cruz mountains and Carmel are.

So truth be told: Yes, you can make it anywhere in the world if you have the drive and talent. But, if you really want to be in the business you need to surround yourself with folks that support you. Even if everyone around you is struggling to sell their screenplay.

Los Angeles is great for writers. Oh, and they make movies there too in a little downtown tourist trap called Hollywood. Where you pursue your talent can be a defining factor. So if you decide to stay in Silicon Valley, is that considered big fish in small pond? Or is it close enough that we can be collective as lovers of cinema?