It seems there are countless ways for a filmmaker to trip themselves up on their first film.  That’s not to say that producers with one or more films already behind them don’t still make mistakes…but the big ones you learn from and you don’t repeat.   I often say I made a 1000 mistakes on my first film, but I only made 900 on my second.   Although I’ll never get it right, and I suspect no one does, the mistakes we make as filmmakers get smaller and less frequent.  The problem is, there is no one resource that lays all of these potential pitfalls out for the newbie producer/director, so I’ll continue to write about mistakes that should and can be avoided when entering this minefield known as indy filmmaking.

I recently lost a deal on a film I was repping because the filmmaker hadn’t disclosed to me that he had put the film on Amazon.com for sale.  This had been a while ago and only for a few months, but the buyer found out it had been for sale “anywhere” and lost interest.  It didn’t matter that the filmmaker had sold less then 30 DVDs this way and that it had not been available anywhere else.  The point is, the film felt “old” to the buyer.  Selling your film yourself, directly to consumers, should only take place when you’ve given up on every other option.  The reality is, it’s a tiny, tiny market anyway.  Filmmakers figure they’ll sell at a least a few hundred copies because the actors and the crew and their friends and family will all buy a copy.  It sounds good in theory – you sell a few hundred DVDs at $20 a piece and you clear maybe $5000.  Hear this now – it doesn’t happen.  If you’re not giving away copies to the people involved (which is the norm unless they’ve been reasonably well paid for their work, and often even in that case), you’ll be surprised at how few actually pony up the dough to buy one.  Yes, as a last resort, there’s no reason to not throw it up on Amazon or sell it directly from your site, but know that doing so will be the final death throe of your picture.  That’s all you’ll get…but sometimes something is better than nothing.  It’s better to be the dog getting the table scraps than the be the scraps themselves…

Lesson number two for today is about putting your film on IMDB.  This is another area where filmmaker do themselves harm (translation – “fuck themselves”).  This was less of an issue in the past, but you need to face the fact that your film will not be completed when you project.  In fact, if you add 3-6 months to that date…your film still won’t be done.  If you add 2 or 3 years, that might be a bit closer to the mark.  The exception is if you’re willing to sacrifice quality which most filmmakers are not.  The most definitive truth in filmmaking is “You can have it good, fast and cheap…but only 2 of the 3.”  Most new filmmakers want it good.  Cheap is generally non-negotiable unless you have a rich uncle funding your project who has opened his checkbook to you (or you’re like me and can make thousands a night as a gigolo to help fund your post production).  That leaves fast which, sadly, isn’t going to happen.  Where this is going is that too many films have release dates on IMDB that are WAY off.  Sometimes these dates are hard or impossible to change.  As IMDB has become a behemoth, like many big companies, they’ve become impersonal and forgotten about the little guy.  I’ve heard over and over from filmmakers who put up a projected date for their film which posted as the actual release date and when the film was finally done two years later, they couldn’t get it changed.  Either they can’t get someone at IMDB to make the switch, or they film showed as a rough cut in a film festival two years ago and IMDB is considering that the release date, or some other complication.  One of the first places distributors and sales agents look is the IMDB.  If they see a date older than year, many will automatically pass.  They don’t consider that the film took longer to finish than originally expected, they just assume the film has been floating around unsold for a long time and if not one else wanted it….

Our third and final lesson for the day is also about the IMDB.  NEVER put your budget on the IMDB until you’re done trying to sell it.  Once your film is sold or passed off to your distributor or sales agent, talk to him or her about adding this if it’s important to you.  Don’t take this upon yourself.  There is a game that’s played in the industry and, for the most part, that game is – always inflate the budget of your picture.  Everyone knows this happens to some degree as prices are usually based on reported budget.  The buyers know it, the distributors know it and the sales agents know it.  It’s the first time filmmakers who don’t know it and screw themselves.  Far too many fools remember the Robert Rodriquez story of “El Mariachi” and how he made the film for “$7000″.  Yes, Sony was impressed by how little he spent, but that was a different era.  What most people also don’t seem to know is that he spent that money in Mexico which is probably closer to having $40k-$50k and that’s not to mention the $200,000-$300,000 Sony put into the audio remastering of the film.  There is NO original audio in that movie; it was all redone in post.  The days of “El Mariachi” are gone and have been for decades.  If you brag about how cheaply you made your film it’s tantamount to saying “I have no business sense, offer me as little money as possible because I’m a moron.”  The more a buyer or distributor thinks you spent, the more they feel they’ll have to pay to make a deal.  The hard part is when you’re asked outright how much the film cost.  It’s kind of like asking a woman if her boobs are real – it’s kind of classless to ask it, but that doesn’t stop some people.  If you’re foolish enough to answer….

Just more Filmmaking 101

PS. And before someone bring up “Paranormal Activity”, know that Paramount didn’t buy the film BECAUSE it was made for $15k, they bought it in spite of that fact.  At some point, the filmmakers were probably asked how much the movie was and if it was before the deal was inked, they may have hurt themselves a bit on the deal.  No buyer offers MORE money when the film was made for less than they expected.  Best case is, they don’t reduce their offer.

Three years ago was a turning point in my life.  My business partner and I sold one of our domain names for our biggest sale to date.  As is usually the case in big domain deals, a non-disclosure agreement was part of the deal, so I can’t give specifics, but the purchase price was in the millions.  Now, things had been going well with the business for many years, but this cash fall was significant and unexpected, so we spent a few months deciding how best to handle it.  We’d been talking for a few years about expanding our films business and even getting into distribution, so we decided to allocate a set amount of the new found wealth for that – hence the launching of Robin Hood Films as a distributor in addition to a production company.

We also committed a nice chunk of money to in-house productions and co-productions (the Danny Trejo film, “Counterpunch” which I sold to Lionsgate was one of these).  With the new film fund, I knew I’d be doing one of my own projects, that I’d be writing and directing myself (which later became “Dirty Dealing 3D”), but I was also looking for other talents to partner with.  One of the people that came to mind was John Fiorella.  John made a fan film about 10 years ago featuring D.C. comic heroes like Superman, Wonder Woman, Green Lantern, The Joker and the director as Dick Grayson (aka “Robin”).  It plays like a 5-minute trailer for what would have been by all indications, an awesome film.  It’s incredibly well done and has had millions of views.  John struck as one of those talented guys who just needed to be given the chance.

So it was around this time, with the coffers overflowing, that I called John about the idea of funding his first feature project.  It wouldn’t be anything huge, probably under $500,000, but I’d be open to anything he wanted to do as long as it was a marketable genre.  Surprisingly, the conversation didn’t last long.  It seems John was already talking to someone whom he believed was going to fund his first feature.  That being said, he didn’t want to spend much energy talking to me.  He had a bigger, better deal in the works.  Good for him.  I was looking forward to seeing it.  I really think this guy has potential.

Let’s fast forward 3 years.  I was having a discussion about superheroes (as geeks like myself are prone to do) and “Grayson” came to mind.  So I decided to see just what project(s) John had ended up making.  As of today, nothing.  No feature at all.  Nothing in “preproduction” or even “development” on IMDB.  Three years with no notable progress to report.  Who knows what happened with that other backer.  Anyone who knows the business knows that talk is cheap and most deals just don’t happen….and that’s even true on the studio level where on only 1 in 4 scripts purchased ever get into development and only 1 in 3 of those gets made.

The point of all this?  Why would someone spend all this time and money to put something so solid together and than have no follow-through?  Perhaps it’s just a lack of the most basic business acumen.  The painful truth is, I don’t care if John was 99% sure his money was coming, why would he NOT at least keep me on the line?  I don’t care if he had 5 investors all promising to give him money, keep all those lines in the water to see who is serious enough to bite first.

He and I both lost out on this deal; him more than myself.  If he doesn’t ever realize his dream, and some day he’s thinking back asking “Why didn’t I ever get my shot?  I was good!”, he’ll certainly never remember the brush off he gave me and missed opportunity I put in front of him.  On that day it’s probably better for him that he doesn’t remember our conversation at all.  But maybe others can learn from his misstep.

There is a sad, often unspoken, reality in the world of low-budget filmmaking…and I am aware that I now defy all expected conventions in revealing this coveted truth – your poster and your trailer are actually more important than the movie itself.

As myself and the rest of the Robin Hood Films team gears up for the upcoming American Film Market, a large portion of our energies, as expected, are being spent on putting a shine on otherwise mediocre trailers and creating new artwork and, in some cases, new titles for films that might otherwise suffer for their lack of marketability.  (For those who don’t know, The American Film Market is an annual event which takes place in Santa Monica, CA where buyers from all over the world can meet with distributors and sales agents with product to license.  Along side the big studios and notable independent labels are many smaller players in the game, such as myself.  And just like in the U.S., there are buyers for dozens of territories around the world looking for big, medium and small feature films to take to theaters, TV, DVD, VOD and any other outlet they feel they can turn a profit in their territory.  This is the biggest event of it’s kind in the Western Hemisphere.)

At the show, buyers will be inundated with hundreds of films they’ve never heard of and trying to fill a quote for their company.  This might be as simple as “1 drama, 3 horror, 3 sci-fi, 2 comedy, all $1m-$3m budgets”.  If that is their agenda, and I have a horror film available, it’s my intention to make my film more desirable than my competition.  Now, of course, I can’t compete with Lionsgate shopping around “The Cabin in the Woods”, and fortunately I don’t have to.  Anyone looking for an A-list title like that has no interest in my little zombie film.  Of course, a buyer for Germany wanting “Cabin in the Woods” might have to pay $750k for those rights (probably not the best example as the really big films will actually get released in that country by the studio or the distributor they have a relationship with…but you get the point).  A small film like “Broken Springs: Shine of the Undead Zombie Bastards” might only cost $40k for all rights in Germany.

Now, I’m not sure if you caught it since I tried to slide it past you in the previous sentence, but the title of the film is “Broken Springs: Shine of the Undead Zombie Bastards”.  Or should I say the title “was”…..

Fortunately, the filmmaker, Neeley, has proven himself a pragmatic businessperson in that he’s deferred to my suggestion/advice/genius (people always get high marks for this!) and agreed to change the title and the poster.  The previous poster falls squarely into my previously posted concerns about bad posters (see below).  It was terrible, but as is often the case, resources were limited and the team knew whoever picked up the film would rework the artwork anyway. 

So what you see here is the new poster we commissioned from a very talented artist we’re happy to have on our team.   Continue reading →

It is a fascinating business we’re a part of and perhaps one of the most intriguing parts is the vast diversity among the players involved.  People of every conceivable type seem to be drawn to this business for a plethora of reasons (the main ones being money and sex…oh, yeah, and “desire for creative expression”…all three certainly interest me, but I’m pleading the 5th on the order!).   And due to the vast disparity among this motley crew, there is likewise a set of completely varying thoughts, beliefs, opinions and preconceived notions….all of which is a nice way of saying plenty of these people have their heads up their asses.

And this is the point…no scratch that, as usual I have no  point….this is the TOPIC of today’s ramblings.

I’m not sure why, but today I recalled a filmmaker I met more than 10 years ago who wanted some help with his film.  I remembered it being an odd story and felt it was worth sharing because, as is often the case, there is a lessen to be learned.

This story took place around 2000.  I know the call I received was precipitated by a showing of my first film “Impact” of which there were two Vegas showings around this time.  A local man had attended a screening of “Impact” and had a movie of his own that he wanted help with.  We talked for a bit and he invited me by.  Since these were the days before Craig’s List and I was still green and naive, it never crossed my mind that this man may have had ulterior motives like having seen me at the screening, his beautiful daughter had immediately fallen in love with me and convinced her father to kidnap and drug me until I consented to marry her and take over their estate in the South or France.   Fortunately, that was not the case and the guy was actually a filmmaker.

Continue reading →

I have a friend, we’ll call him Nate (not his real name), who is a filmmaker.  Nate made an low budget horror film that he’s been trying to sell.  I gave it a look and he did a decent job for the his limited budget.  Not a great job, but a good job.  No stars, obviously, and nothing terribly original, but he chose the horror genre and an equally marketable sub-genre.  Is it sellable?  That’s what he wants to know.  Well…maybe.  He’s not going to get Lionsgate or Miramax to pick it up, but he can probably get a smaller company to take it.  Will they get it into Redbox or Walmart?  Probably not, but there can be life in video on demand – and that’s a big enough arena where he could possibly see a profit (if the distributor doesn’t screw him over).

So, what was the biggest drawback with his film, he wanted to know?  Keep in mind I’m big on constructive criticism, here.  I don’t go to a filmmaker with a complete picture and say “I wish you’d gone this direction with the story….”  If there are little changes that I think are possible, I’ll thrown them out.  I’ll point out issues with the audio that need fixing.  I have no problem with berating bad titles.  I have no problem telling a filmmaker he really needs to cut 20 minutes from the picture to make it tighter.   This is a surprisingly common issue among first-time filmmakers…they spend all this time writing, then all this time shooting, then all this time editing a scene and have so much invested at that point they can’t bring themselves to cut it.  But I digress…there are plenty of problems with virtually all indy films, but only a handful are even worth mentioning since the vast majority are beyond repair.  Nate’s biggest problem was, fortunately, an easy one – his poster sucks balls!  It’s terrible.  The thing that bothers me the most is that there’s no way any person wouldn’t know this…but I see it ALL the time. Continue reading →

A filmmaker wrote me a few days ago.  The producer (a first-timer, I’m sure) emailed me with an inquiry in regards to her film which was just completed.  I followed the link to the website to learn a bit more about the project.

The site looked slick, sharp and professionally done.  Always a good start.  It’s amazing how many filmmakers fuck this up right out of the gate.  It shouldn’t be hard to fathom that most people are going to equate “shitty website = shitty film”.  Most websites suck and were put together by a filmmaker with no graphic artist skills who spent a few hours reading up on Wed Design 101 – and it shows.   Last week another producer wrote me about another film.  His site was set up like a novel where you click to flip through the pages.  Each page (actually 2 since it was like a book) was accompanied by the sound effect of pages turning and a sound byte from the movie.  Very annoying actually and not easily navigatable.  The visitor had to view the pages in the order the web designer set them up whether he wanted to or not.  The problem…it was a 52 page “book”.  I didn’t even make it half way.  Why does your film need 52 pages to get a distributor hooked?  I don’t want to see 300 stills from the film.

This latest filmmaker had a nice looking site, so their first check was in the positive box.  Their first BIG negative was their title.  As I’m always careful not to throw people under the bus, I won’t tell you the actual name of the film, but there was a equal sign and a squared sign in the title.  Yes, in the fucking title.  As an example (not the actual title), it was something like Lovers = (Friends)2…  I don’t even know how to type a squared symbol in my blog program! Continue reading →

A filmmaker, Joel (not his real name) approached me this week about this project.  This happens often and I’m always willing to hear people out.  If you’ve been following my posts, this is the guy who shot a film about 5 years ago that still isn’t finished…seems they’ve been working on audio forever.  It took Wagner 26 years to complete his The Ring cycle of operas, so maybe 5 years to finish post on a film isn’t so bad.

Joel has three projects he’s pushing.  The main one is a comedy set to be shot in Canada.  One the surface, it looks pretty good, aside from being a comedy…  With a $2.5m budget, taking advantage of Canadian tax credits and incentives, only $900k is actually needed to make the film.  Not bad.  The script is by Harland Williams.  Don’t be embarrassed if you don’t know the name, but you’d recognize him as a comedian and character actor.  I recognize him from my days as a blackjack dealer at the Hard Rock where the cheap bastard played at my table for 2 hours, won over $800 and tipped me $1.50.  That’s right – $1.50.  What a piece of shit.  Like all areas of life, we remember the great and the shitty, the big tippers (Ben Affleck, Matt Damon, Keifer Sutherland) as well as the cheap bastards and assholes (Louis Gossett Jr, Jennifer Lopez, Tiger Woods, Harland Williams).  But I digress… Continue reading →

I just got an email from Henry, the indy filmmaker going into production in a few weeks.  Just when I thought his cast couldn’t get any more impressive with Traci Lords and James Franco’s mom (see below), he’s locked down…wait for it…Karen Black!  No shit!  How you land Karen Black on a film without a studio budget is a puzzlement to me…but exactly the opposite.

Now, he did point out that she’s an Academy Award nominee.  He didn’t have to remind me that her nomination took place before I was born.  Please know, I’m not trying to demean Karen Black in any way; she was in some great films a long time ago.  I just have to shake my head that a producer/director can think that getting an actress that has been out of the spotlight for decades is a big deal…or even a medium deal.  In fact, how can he think it’s anything but a small deal.  Actually, is there a smaller word for “deal” itself so I can accurately describe my thoughts on this?

So, I’m sure it’s surprising to him, but I’m still no impressed enough with the cast to put money into his project.  Now, maybe, if he writes me next week that he’s locked down Bob Saget’s gardener…

Surprisingly, it seems I do have at least one friend who appreciates my advice and the fact that I’ve been involved in this industry for a while.  Perhaps he’s the only one, but he’s surprisingly willing to admit that I know something of what I’m talking about when it comes to filmmaking and selling films.  (How I fooled him, I don’t know…)

This friend, Randy (not his real name), has made one film to date.  Actually, he’s made one very good film to date.  For having a very small budget, he did a wonderful job.  I’m impressed and I don’t give out that accolade lightly.  He put together a hell of a cast and crew and delivered a project that’s solid in every respect.  Recently finished, I have no doubt he’ll get it out there…I’d even be very surprised if it didn’t turn a profit…I just hope the distributor he’s working with doesn’t screw him.

So, he’s developing a new project and wanted some advice.  Actually, now that I think about, maybe he didn’t want advise at all, maybe he just wanted to share with me his ideas for the new project, but it ended up in advice from me.  Lots of it, in fact.  He’s stepping up his budget and wants to do a comedy for the next project.  Right out of the gate, I warned him that, all things being equal, not the best genre to start with.  Comedy is very tough to pull off.  Everything thinks they have a sense of humor and are funny; very few people actually are.  Even those who are often fall on their faces when it comes to making a film.  But Randy wasn’t remotely deterred.  ”We have an amazing script!”  Okay, I told him I’d take a look. Continue reading →

I received  a call a couple of weeks ago from a local actor who is trying to put a film together.  His name is Tommy (not his real name) and he’s one of the stars of a local film that’s been wallowing in post production for years.  The thing is, I saw a trailer for the film he’s in probably three years ago or more.  It looked like they did a very nice job with a limited budget.  Shot on the Red camera, it seemed slick and impressive.  Of course…the more years that pass, the less impressive it seems it has to be.  I recently reached out to the producer.  I wanted to know if the film would be done in time for the 2012 American Film Market.  I mean, since he missed 2011, 2010, 2009 and 2008 market, I thought he might be inspired to hit the 5 anniversary show celebrating the wrap of this picture.  I also figured, maybe, I could get a look at the film to see if it is something my company could handle.  His response was “We’re still working on sound”.  Yep, that was the same reason (does “excuse” sound too negative?) I’ve been hearing for years.  It probably doesn’t matter to me, because first time filmmakers, be it producers, directors or actors, are living in a fantasy land of sorts.  I can say that, because when I was a first time filmmaker I was guilty of exactly the same thing.  The reality is, this producer, I’m sure, is still adamant that he’s going to sell his film for more than they have into it.  Whether that’s an advance against even more obscene profits the film is sure to bring, or an outright sale putting them comfortably in the black, he is no doubt convinced this is going to be his foray into successful filmmaking and open all kinds of doors.  Again, I know, I was there.  Now, granted, I haven’t seen the film, but the reality is, I don’t have to.  I mean, not really.  I know roughly what they have into the film, probably around $200k.  And I know what they might, MIGHT get out of a distribution deal.  If someone will advance them $50k, they should take the money, but if an offer along those lines comes in early, I assure the producer will hold out a few months until he realized “it aint’ gettin’ any better”.  At that point, maybe that deal will still be there, maybe it won’t.  Of course, the odds of getting even that $50k deal are slim, but maybe they slowing playing (and I mean REALLY slow playing) a greay indy film.  Of course, odds are against that as well.  Regardless of the deal, I hope they talk to some people who have been through the process or their contract will ensure they get fucked over as that’s the rule, not the exception in this game.  My guess is, egos will prevails and producers will be convinced they’re smart enough to decipher the contract themselves.  Good luck with that… Continue reading →