Filmmaker relives his ‘Hell’-ish experiences in latest book

Matthew Howe is a warrior of the film industry with a harrowing survivor’s tale.

His outrageous adventures working on D-list films in New York are recounted in his recently released book, Film Is Hell: How I Sold My Soul to Make the Crappiest Movies in History. The book is a must-read for anyone interested in breaking into the ruthless world of filmmaking, as well as an entertaining and light comedic read for anyone who has ever felt like an underdog.

Howe was first attracted to the rush of filmmaking when he was 7 years old. He and his older brother wanted a camera so they could make movies, but they did not have any money to buy one. His solution was to write to the manufacturers and ask them to send him a broken Super-8 camera so he could repair it at a much lower cost.

After his plan succeeded, Howe’s thirst for filmmaking blossomed into an obsession.

“There was a side of me that was addicted to the whole crazy guerilla filmmaking thing,” Howe said.

He attended film school at Purchase College in Westchester County, NY, where his go-getter filmmaking attitude was cemented. The school is known for throwing its graduates out into the real world without any guidance, so the students adopted a devil-may-care attitude for their approach to filmmaking.

Howe, like most recent college graduates who have no idea what they are doing with their lives, struggled to find his place immediately after leaving Purchase. He was torn apart by the fear of failing, of becoming yet another starving artist.

But Howe’s love of film and drive to pursue his dreams finally lead him to join up with Sultan Film Productions Inc., the dreadfully disorganized independent production company that is the basis of his book. Sultan, based in New York, was populated with Purchase graduates.

“[I worked as] a major participant in the worst films in the history of the world,” Howe said, adding that the work drove himself to physical and emotional exhaustion.

His book follows the Sultan crew’s reckless escapades as they “scam their way on board nuclear submarines, hang precariously out of biplanes, get run over by tanks, brave cattle stampedes and infiltrate Navy SEAL exercises.”

Howe endured 20-hour workdays, received little or no pay and reaped no critical rewards. But he could not walk away.

When asked why he stayed even though he was so miserable, Howe replied, “I was a coward.”

Howe looks back on his experiences with Sultan with a mixture of relief and disdain.

“The only thing I got out of it was a book and some very hard life lessons,” he said.

The idea for putting his experiences on paper came slowly, but he felt like it was the natural step to take in sorting through the regrets of his past.

“What [Sultan] had done to me was just chewing at me,” Howe explained.

After leaving the company, he would frequently recount his Sultan adventures to co-workers on other film sets and found that people reacted strongly to his experiences because they were so unbelievable and hilariously extreme.

After tossing around the idea of writing his story for a while, a friend told him to “just do it,” and he finally buckled down and wrote his first book. Film Is Hell has been steadily garnering attention, especially among filmmakers who identify with his honesty and humor.

Now, Howe is happily writing novels, has had his short stories published in magazines, has sold a feature-length screenplay and is working as a cinematographer for television networks such as the Discovery Channel, TLC and The History Channel. He also photographs rock concerts for leisure, which he regularly posts on his website, shotmonster.com.

As he pointed out, “You gotta have something you do for love.”

Howe also offers advice for students and aspiring filmmakers.

“Your movie is your script and your actors,” he said. “And [as a filmmaker] you always have to be thinking three shots ahead.”

Finally, Howe believes filmmaking requires a great deal of flexibility. If a problem arises, Howe insists you must “find a way to work around it.”

As for writing, Howe has disciplined himself into writing at least 500 words a day, every day, even if the inspiration is lacking.

“If you do it every day, stuff gets done,” he said.

Although he may regret some of his past career decisions, Howe is remarkably upbeat and full of good humor. The fire that drew him to the crazy world of guerilla filmmaking may have been dampened by his experiences at Sultan, but it has certainly not dissipated altogether.

The life of a freelance filmmaker can be incredibly frustrating: There is no stability, and it is impossible to know whether or not the next month will be good or bad. But filmmakers like Howe have to stay true to their passions.

“I would go insane if I had a nine-to-five job,” he said.

The theme Howe discovered in writing his book is that every experience has two sides to it. You must take your struggles and use them, as Howe has done, to bring joy and insight to others.