讀後心得

Sean Baker gives a voice to society's marginalized through his works. His third feature film, "The Florida Project," had a budget of $46,000 and tells the story of an African immigrant selling goods in New York. Despite spending $100,000 on promotions and only earning back $28,000, Sean Baker was nominated for the Independent Spirit Awards due to the film receiving critical acclaim, and ultimately received a $250,000 investment to produce his new film "Lady Bird." This film earned him the Independent Spirit Award, with American supermodel Dree Hemingway as the lead. Although Sean Baker has faced career lows, he later encountered new opportunities.

Sean Baker often voices the concerns of marginalized people in society through his work.

His third feature film, "The Florida Project," had a budget of $46,000 and tells the story of an African Ghanaian immigrant selling goods on the streets of New York. After completing the shoot, Sean Baker decided to go all in, investing the remaining $100,000 into promotion and distribution, but ultimately only recouped $28,000. Faced with financial pressure, he felt anxious, and it seemed like his directing career might come to an end; however, fate opened a door for him. Although "The Florida Project" performed poorly at the box office, it received critical acclaim and was even nominated for the John Cassavetes Award at the Film Independent Spirit Awards, which is given to works with budgets under $1 million. That same year, "Take Out" was also nominated for the award, bringing double happiness to him.

This time, Sean Baker finally did not have to finance the project out of pocket, receiving an investment of $250,000 for filming "Starlet," which won him an Independent Spirit Award. The film starred American supermodel Dree Hemingway, the great-granddaughter of American literary giant Ernest Hemingway. Dree was willing to participate in the project because her agent facilitated the collaboration after seeing "The Florida Project."

In the film, Dree plays a young adult film star who, after coming into a windfall, develops a friendship with a reclusive and irritable elderly woman. Dree combines charm and appeal, and with the release of the movie, she became a highly anticipated rising star.

Sean Baker stated that although the box office failure of "The Florida Project" left him empty-handed, feeling down, and even starting to doubt life, he initially thought his directing career would end there. However, he did not expect that in some ways, this became his starting point. Even though his distribution investment did not recoup its costs, it provided the film with greater visibility: reviews were written discussing the film, there were opportunities to enter various film awards, and some investors were able to watch the film to assess the director's talent. This can be seen as a blessing in disguise.