If you could control the culture or the government, which would you choose?

It’s kind of a trick question. Because if you control the culture, the government will follow. (And no, the converse is not true – unless your government is a totalitarian state and your tastes run toward socialist realism.)

Anybody who believes movies and TV shows have no impact on our behavior ought to go tell the $800 billion advertising industry, because they’re just wasting their clients’ money.

For too long, supporters of a freer society have done little but grouse about the messages infused in our entertainment, while Hollywood has just calmly gone about its business, making the culture we all consume.

Well, if you want to influence the culture, you’ve got to create it. Nobody should understand that more than those who champion free markets and individual liberty.

“It is not the critic who counts,” Teddy Roosevelt said. “The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood…, who does actually strive to do the deeds.”

Last August, about two dozen young, up-and-coming filmmakers from all over the U.S., some from prominent film schools like Columbia and USC, strode into the arena we call The Filmmakers Workshop. There was very little sweat, and no blood to speak of.

But the students weren’t given much time to just kick back and listen (or nap). They dove right in, participating in a series of rigorous interactive sessions that roughly simulated the experience of working as a Hollywood filmmaker.

The focus wasn’t on woolly-headed theory but on practical, hard-nosed coaching, covering the gamut from concept development to distribution, dished by experienced professionals taking a brief respite from the trenches of Hollywood.

The workshop was organized by the Taliesin Nexus, a new nonprofit organization dedicated to increasing the diversity of Hollywood – diversity of thought, that is.

Classes took place on the UCLA campus, and students stayed in dorms and ate on campus. Add up tuition, room and board, plus travel expenses, and how much did it cost each student? Not one ruddy cent.

I can see you sitting there, thinking: “That sounds really fantastic, Mr. Leigh. I’m an aspiring filmmaker who has a short film or a screenplay under my proverbial belt, who also has a passion for liberty. How does this affect me?”

Well, today is your lucky day, my proverbial friend. This year we are opening the application process to the public. Read to the end and find out how you can apply.

Our faculty last year featured 18 experienced professionals including:

Daisy Gardner: Screenwriter and producer whose credits include South Park, Californication, and 30 Rock (for which she earned a WGA Award).

Josh Rader: Development executive at MPower Pictures which is founded by Stephen McEveety, who has produced such great films as Braveheart, The Passion of the Christ and Immortal Beloved.

Jennifer Simpson: Producer who headed up Reese Witherspoon’s production company and prior to that helped to develop many terrific films including The Sixth Sense and The Royal Tenenbaums.

David Steinberg: Writer and director who penned American Pie II and the upcoming Puss in Boots (a Shrek spinoff), is writing Howard Stern’s reboot of Porky’s, and recently directed the comedy feature Miss Dial.

Craig Titley: Screenwriter whose credits include Percy Jackson & The Olympians, Cheaper by the Dozen (with Steve Martin), and Star Wars: The Clone Wars.

A few other faculty:

Ted Balaker and Paul Feine, who produce documentaries for Reason.TV, home of the Drew Carey Project and “free minds and free markets.”

Paul Guay, whose writing credits include Liar, Liar (starring Jim Carrey) and Hearbreakers (Sigourney Weaver).

Big Hollywood’s own Leigh Scott (no relation), who has directed 17 movies to date, including Transmorphers, The Dunwich Horror, and his latest opus, The Witches of Oz.

(For a complete list of last year’s faculty and schedule, go here.)

A major benefit of this kind of event is the networking, so Friday and Saturday nights of the workshop weekend were each capped with a party (or “conviviality,” as my co-director Patrick Reasonover likes to call them) where the students got to mingle with their colleagues, faculty, and other invited industry pros.

So what are we looking for in an applicant? You should be able to demonstrate a genuine commitment and aptitude for a career in filmmaking. (“Filmmaking” to us subsumes movies, TV, documentaries, video – any motion picture medium.)

You must have a film-related creative sample you can share with us, whether it be a short film, screenplay, documentary, or even a YouTube video. You don’t have to be a film school student or graduate, though it helps. It’s also advantageous to have worked in a creative field, either now or in the past.

So how do you apply, you ask? Simple: just go here and follow the instructions.

Good luck. And welcome to the arena.