Making Indie Films

Success at Sundance is almost necessary for today’s indie filmmaker. How does it happen? It takes dilligence, and patience. If you make a high quality film, then you have as much of a chance as anyone else to succeed. Remember when you get there, talk to EVERYONE.

So everyone (yes, including you) has trouble getting the word out about their films. There are dreams of multi-million dollar contracts, and working with A-List stars, but the fact of the matter is those don’t come easily. It takes a lot of work and posturing to get those contracts lined up. Here’s where YouTube (www.youtube.com) comes in.

YouTube fills in that little area of filmmakers that haven’t been accepted into film festivals, and don’t already have distribution deals. YouTube allows you to freely promote your videos to the millions of people that visit YouTube daily. Here’s my ultimatum if you have a short film in the can take it right now and upload it to YouTube. Put the link in your email signature and spam the internet with it. I guarantee you you will be happy with the results.

Do you use a matte box when you shoot? If so, go ahead and post your favorites in the comments.

I have had my eye on the RedRock Micro (www.redrockmicro.com) Matte Box, but at $599 for the basic bundle, it is getting up there.

It is a beauty though…

Little Miss Sunshine is a perfect example of a Fan Favorite. It is charming, funny, and easily accessible. The question becomes, how do you make your film like this? Generally the fan favorite deals with light subject matter in many different subjects so that everyone in the audience can feel like they have lived part of the film. Also, the fan favorite tens to have many main characters for the same reason, so each person in the audience can identify with a character.

The dialogue in these films tends to be witty, kind of like the group of characters against the world…

It helps to make the film family friendly because if any indie film has a chance of making in big it is the fan favorite, and you don’t want to do anything to hamper that potential success.

Begging your friends and family and offering them nothing in return is not always the best idea. Family can get mad and things will never be the same between you when they realize that your film isn’t starring Tom Cruise (oops…). The best way to safeguard against anger on the part of your family is to offer investments, or shares of your film. Darren Aronofsky () funded his film Pi by asking his family and friends for $100 dollar donations, and if the film made a certain amount of profit, they would get their $100 back, plus $50 interest. This may seem like a bad idea right now considering that you have no idea of how much your movie will make, or even if it will make money. Just remember, if your film doesn’t make money then you don’t need to return the $100. There’s a bright side to everything!

Next time we will be looking at fundraising.

There is varying opinion as to which screenwriting software is the best. There is Movie Magic, Montage, Final Draft, etc.

Which one do you use?

(Personally it is a combination of Final Draft and Zhura (www.zhura.com))

If Final Draft is too expensive for you (about $200) or you are looking for something a little more…portable, Zhura is probably your thing. I use it any time I am away from the desktop that I write my screenplays on. It allows you to upload your script from Final Draft, or start your own script. From there you are able to write it, annotate it, and share it with others. The sharing works fairly well, but is really only useful if you are part of a screenwriting team, as people in our situation (poor) won’t have the need to send the script for review by the studio bosses.

Zhura is in constant development, so if its missing a feature you absolutely need, you should contact them with your proposal. Or you could just buy Final Draft, but that would take all the fun away…

Zhura

Keifer

One of the major problems that plagues independent film makers is raising money for their films. In order to make the money to make El Mariachi Robert Rodriguez enrolled himself as a guinea pig for one month. He made $7,000. The budget of his film, $7,000.

Many filmmakers have cooked up hair brained schemes to raise the money, from selling body parts (not really…hopefully) to opening lemonade stands. How will you raise yours?

The first, and most commonly used plan is asking. If you tell your family and friends that you are making a film, they will go into a trance, pull out their wallets, and fill your hands full of cash. It pretty much works like that. You need to have a few copies of your screenplay at hand so you can let them read it before they decide to take the plunge, if they are so inclined. After you tell your friends, and they tell their friends, you should be prepared to start your film.

This works best on budgets under $20,000, unless you have a rich uncle.

Keifer

RED’s newest addition is the Scarlet, which will be released in early 2009. It has the amazing resolution of 3K (to put that in perspective, most HD tvs project at maybe 1080i). It will have up to 120FPS shooting with a 180FPS burst. AND a built in LCD. Amazing, right. It gets even more amazing, the price is expected to be under $3,000.

Wowzers.

There are a few drawbacks, the lens for example (no interchangable lens). But this camera will undoubtedly be a boon to thousands of filmmakers around the world. Start planning your projects now, as it is expected to be released in early 2009.

Keifer

This is sort of the grand re-opening of makingindiefilms.com. We are a part of the 451 Press blogging network. If you look at some of the past posts, you will see that they were full of unsavory images that had nothing to do with film making. I do not have the ability to delete the images, but rest assured, there will be none of that going on if I have anything to say about it.

MIF is a blog about all aspects of making movies from screenwriting to casting, to choosing a camera, to shooting the actual film. Also, we will be profiling upcoming indie films, and talking about some ways they made the best of their small budgets and time constraints. If I’m lucky, we will be able to get an interview with some people in the indie film business, so stick around. We have a great ride ahead of us.

Keifer

As a filmmaker or writer it is important to make good work, but it is equally, if not more important, to get that work read or seen. If nobody reads or sees your work then the quality will go unnoticed and your skills will pass without recognition. No - I’m not saying prepare your Academy Award speech or get ready to collect a trophy at Sundance - I’m just saying do the diligence to get your work seen or read.

There are many ways to send out work or get it seen. Obviously for completed works there are the obvious festival routes and screenplay contests. However, there are also more offbeat ways to get your work noticed. Perhaps you have friends in the business or other filmmakers that you kick-around-with… Well, there is never any harm in getting them to read your script or you can perhaps even organize an impromptu screening for other filmmakers in your home or at a small local venue. The key is to generate interest and put your work out in the world. Building a website with your trailer and clips or posting on YouTube is another way to generate interest and have people looking at your stuff.

When it all comes down to it, perhaps you just have to start sending out emails to engage with people. You can send pitch letters or introductions or even the tried and trusted screenwriter query letter. The unfortunate fact is, your success will be more about your level of diligence than your level of skill. Remember - the indie film business is built on hard work and tenacity. Now repeat after me - I WILL GET MY WORK SEEN - I WILL GET MY SCREENPLAY READ! Say it 100 times. Say it until you believe it and then start sending out those emails!

Below is the trailer for 30 DAYS OF NIGHT… Not sure if it’s a Halloween winner or Halloween whiner…

One of the hardest parts of being an independent filmmaker or writer is keeping body and soul together while you do it. What I mean by this is simple stuff, like writing or shooting and paying the rent at the same time. Oftentimes it will be tough - almost impossible. You have worked hard, but are seeing limited cash returns on what you have made or written. This is nature of doing things creative. If you prefer the regular paycheck - then go work in a bank. Still, life isn’t always about money - sometimes it’s just about making work that you believe in. If you can somehow just keep-on keeping on, then I promise that you will ultimately get the recognition and pay-off that you seek. Meanwhile, try to find ways to use your skills to make ancillary cash. There is often unusual paid work out there for filmmakers and writers if you just do the diligence and seek it out.

Aside from cash money, I really enjoyed the trailer for BE KIND, REWIND - the latest from kooky frenchman, Michel Gondry…

I’m not sure if technically LARS AND THE REAL GIRL is an indie movie. Sure, it stars top notch indie thespian Ryan Gosling. Still, with a veteran commercials director like Craig Gillespie at the helm and a script from a SIX FEET UNDER series writer, you might imagine that any indie allusions end there. However, the reason that I have singled out Lars and The Real Girl is because of its independent spirit and more importantly the fact that if somebody WILL bankroll this kind of project then there is hope for all of us.

L-A-T-R-G concerns a lonely man, who for reasons of mental dysfunction, buys something that approximates a Real Doll off the internet and parades it around town to friends and relatives as his girlfriend. Yes! This film is about a man who buys a live size sex-doll (for what of a better word) and treats it as a real person. It looks funny from the trailer - however, this is still a movie whose central prop is a live size sex doll. It’s not something off HBO late night, but a real movie schedule to be in theaters at the weekend. It’s being released by MGM no less.

While Wes Anderson is quirky (yes quirky - don’t you hate that word?) and held-up by many as the doyen of indie cross-over. I say that this movie about a Real Doll is much more independent and subversive. I think it shows us that we can be different and contemporary and at the same time deal with more marginal issues or cultural artifacts. I found L-A-T-R-G to be quite an inspiration in some respects. It actually made me more confident in sending out the latest draft of my script.

Today’s exercise is simple. Find yourself a movie (about to be released) that inspires you - a movie that gives you a sense of possibility and makes your own project seem plausible. Savor the sense that you can and will be inspired to succeed.

Meanwhile here’s the L-A-T-R-G trailer for your edification…

Much the same as painting or creating any work of art, your script or your movie will never be finished to your sense of perfection. There will be things wrong with it, scenes you still want to tinker with, shots that you hate, dialogue glitches that you just can’t edit out. Still, despite those errors (that seem gigantic to you), there will come a point where you have to abandon the creative process. YES! Abandon the project and MOVE ON. I don’t mean leave it half-finished - NO! I just mean finish it to the best of your ability and get it out there…

If it’s a script, clean it up and start showing it to actors or money. If it’s a movie, stick the head and end credits on that sucker and start sending it to festivals. All of your work is completely useless unless you put it out there in the world. So, what I’m suggesting, whether you’re near to finishing or just stuck - finish the thing up and start getting feedback - at the very least. Remember this truly isn’t rocket science or the cure for cancer. You will not be totally judged on this piece of work, anyway - but it will be viewed more as a building block in a body of work. YES! A body of work. You can have that, but first you need to finish what you’re working on right now and get it out there.

That is my mission for the next 48 hours. To finish up and to get stuff out in the world. You need to do the same… Meanwhile, here’s a nice little interview with Wes Anderson and Adrian Brody about THE DARJEELING LIMITED…

Today is my Birthday, hence no post yesterday and only this today. My Wichita thing STILL isn’t finished - still, I’m taking the day off for R-AND-R. Hopefully this weekend it will be done, as it looks like I’ve just been hired to write a silly action romp… The trailer below might give you a few clues…