Shit Rolls Downhill

(Parents, family members, other sensitive people that read my blog- please excuse the use of the word "shit." It really is appropriate in this case.)

There is a saying in colloquial American English, shit rolls downhill.

We say this a lot during the production of films, as it is very true in our case. For instance, the executive of a large studio, Mr. Smith at Amazing Studios. He is technically "overseeing" all the movies that his studio is currently producing. That means that, on average, he has about five to ten minutes each day to devote to whatever film that I happen to be working on.

In those five to ten minutes, Mr. Smith will, without knowing the entire history of the single image he is viewing, judge and make comments on whatever is put in front of him. This, in turn, trickles downhill to his minions, who must relay the information to their editorial staff and all their vendors.

One of those vendors would be whatever company I am working at. There will only be a few people (the head honchos) from my company that hear the comments that have filtered down from Mr. Smith to Mr. Johnson to Mike to Joe.

Those comments become long, verbose paragraphs by the time I get them, full of emotional jargon that must be converted into technical adjustments that can be quickly consumed and regurgitated by artists.

In essence, a five-minute once-over by Mr. Smith can lead to John the Artist working for two weeks.

Hence, shit rolls downhill.