CUTTING DOWN & KILLING DARLINGS
Well folks…we’ve been keeping a pretty big secret from you.
If you saw the film within the last year, you’re part of a pretty elite group of people, and probably the last, to see the ‘extended’ cut of Firebird: Built to Burn. Yeah, you read that right. The documentary was previously 99 minutes, and now the duration rests around 85 minutes. That may not seem drastic, but for us, and for many filmmakers, cutting 14 minutes out of a film, while maintaining the original story, theme and essence, is a daunting task. And it was not taken lightly.
So let’s back up - why did we cut down the film?
Since our premiere last November, we’ve been around the country touring the documentary at several film festivals.These screenings were crucial to understanding what scenes, jokes and moments worked, or, unfortunately, fell flat. When you’re neck deep in a project for years with no respite, your vision or justifications for certain things can come from sentimentality or just plain exhaustion. Watching the film in several theaters instead of our offices gave us a clearer perspective.
It was hard to admit at first, but the doc was just a tad too long. Rest assured, a lot of the changes will hardly be remembered, let alone missed. Although we were given suggestions on how to cut it even shorter, we felt an obligation to stay faithful to the original edit, so it’s just a slightly accelerated version. Just as everything else goes, we have to be open to our own evolution!
But this actually isn’t the first time we’ve had to make a difficult choice on the cutting room floor. Believe it or not, there’s an entire interview we never used…and it was the father of our very own producer, Charlie. Jim Hudson worked with the Phoenixville Fire Department for nearly a decade, and we wanted a perspective of the safety aspect of the festival. It is, after all, a gigantic fire next to several neighborhoods. He had experience working with Henrik and the festival and was a long time resident of Phoenixville, itself; living through the fall and rise of the town. So it seemed to all work out quite nicely.
Until the edit.
To Jim’s credit, his interview was great, and it made it through late stages of editing. But in the end, we had far too much footage and too many threads we couldn’t properly follow and tie up nicely. His portion ended up being a darling we had to kill. There were a lot of others, but this was the most notable (Jim loved the film regardless).
I also feel bad because the crew had a lot of fun at the firehouse. Okay, maybe it was just a lot of fun for me - I got to try on a whole suit and everything!
It’s a simple truth that all filmmakers and artists know: killing your darlings is an essential part of the journey. It’s very difficult in the moment, but you just have to take a deep breath - maybe go for a walk - and remember that you are in service to the piece, not to yourself.