Well, I say good for you, Blake. At least you're getting something sorted.
Is there anything more I could possibly add?
Well, one thing (groan!). I do think another complication with student films is age gaps. While some of the people using this site are, no doubt, hardly ancients themselves, I find that the majority are aged anything from late 20's onwards. With (very rare) exceptions, most undergraduate students are 18 - 21 and that's pretty young.
For this reason, I think it's common to find a student director getting intimdated by the simple fact that you are, in fact, several years older than they are. They also seem to get intimidated by the fact that you have a real job (that must be a first for people who meet actors!). And, really, if they're intimidated, even if they are potentially the next Spielberg (which they probably aren't), you'd be hard pressed to get much out of them. They won't make proper eye contact with you, sometimes, don't like to discuss 'real world' things like equity rates, and all too often have absolutely no desire to direct you in any way, not because they've got the scene nailed just so, but because they're underconfident in their own abilities. If putting the phone down on you because you've rung them during a lecture seems a bit of a childish reaction...well, I think you've guessed my point. The other alternative (which may be even worse) is a 19 year old who thinks they know everything there is to know about film - making. They may prove insufferable to work with, because they'll ride roughshod over any contribution you'd like to make, as they haven't yet learnt the benefits of compromise.
Not that working with some antiquated director is necessarily better, of course (those guys tend to be very stubborn and set in their ways), but experience always gets enriched with age, for better or worse. (Probably better in the case of directing).
Equally, I tend to think student flm themes are often a bit ropey because of this age thing. The better ones may be well written, basic domestic dramas, though they don't have much grasp on the sort of relationships that, well, your average 20 year old wouldn't understand. (Lots written about affairs and unwanted pregnancies, not many on divorce - write what you know). Other stuff includes the ones which are 'ambiguous' - where you're never told who the woman and the man really are, where their encounter takes place, why etc. This is probably meant to come over as all noirish and clever, but, frankly, is impossible to act as there's no meat to the actual story. Then there are the ones which include things like a transvestite dressed as a nun daubed in paint undergoing a frontal lobotomy because it's supposed to be giving out a message that is unconventional and challenging. To under 21's, at least.
Again, perhaps problems that journeymen writers of any age could make with their scripts, but not, I think, the sort of thing that turns up in the work of a writer who has had plays put on, garnered critical reception for a screenplay etc.
So to sum up, Blake, if you feel like a harsh bastard, I say it's because these guys are behaving like kids! They're allowing you to boss them around because they'd rather not take responsibility for themselves. Don't feel bad about it.
