While not being a "genre film," this is a film any filmmaker could watch and enjoy. The film is a very faithful representation of the roles and potential personality clashes on a typical indie film set. What is so great about the film is that it is a series of dreams in the minds of the tormented cast/crew of the film, accurately depicting the fact that sometimes filmmaking is a dream and other times a nightmare. It is funny that Buschemi's NICK seems to have his greatest directing moment when he appears to capture something "by accident" of his mother entering the frame and tackling the role of the nightmare apple holder.
It is true because film directors often are forced to compromise and the art of it is in how you both manage to hold firm to your vision for the film while rapidly adapting to unexpected circumstances (both good and bad) that inevitably occur on a film set. Collaboration, capitulation and dictatorship are a fine balance for a director and Nick struggles with it the whole film in a way anyone can understand and appreciate, this should be shown to young filmmakers as a "day in the life of directing." It may also work to help young people decide their path.