It All Starts Here

I directed my first feature film in January of 2007 and, nearly two years later, I am almost done with it.  I currently have the film being reviewed by some distributors and, if all goes well, will have it released sometime around January 2009.  So while making features is somewhat new to me I have at least successfully completed one and am working on the next project.

The process of making the film, Bounty, has taught me a lot regarding filmmaking and has peaked my curiosity to try some of these learns out.  When I first decided to try directing my first feature film I only had three scripts to choose from: an action comedy, a Greek tragedy that was set in 400 B.C., and a western.  My initial thought was budget, so I made the decision based on what I thought would be the cheapest movie to make.  When I was making short films the hardest part for me was finding locations to shoot the films, so it was an obvious conclusion to go with the western I had written -- took place in one western town...in the first draft.  I also thought that if I was to stand out from all the other first time directors I had to make a movie that was unusual and  I had to incorporate a style that screamed my own style.  So I went with the western for cost reasons and because I did not know of many people who were making westerns, plus it happened to be my favorite genre.

Enter the next movie.  Even with the slow moving process of the first film I saw some of the success from my initial thoughts, westerns were becoming a hot commodity and I was able to find interest from distributors in the early stages of production.  So the next movie had to be unique, scream my own style and simple locations and not get boring...and The Celsius Effect was born.

I have a first draft of the script and a plan of action that I will try to discuss as the process unfolds.  I have always wondered how people are able to get money for films and always received the same answer even while in film school.  Guest speakers would come in and share about their movie experiences and I would ask them, "how did you get the funding for the movie?" Strange or not, I got the same answer from everybody I asked, even when I heard big time Hollywood producers speak.  The answer usually ended up being, "I sold my Porche," or "That wasn't my role on the film."

The one that I thought to be the most shocking that put the clinch on it for me was when I heard some ask a producer from the movie The Pursuit of Happiness where he got his money from.  I turned to my brother who was with me and told him exactly how I thought the guy was going to answer and was spot on.  He response was, "I'm just the creative guy, I don't deal with the money."

So if no one knows how to get funding for movies than how do you get your hands on the cash.  The last film I made on credit cards, bad idea - I probably contributed to the need for the U.S. $700 billion dollar by out.  I am going to share my ideas or things I've learned, if they work or if they don't and hopefully put together a system that will work for raising funds for a low budget indie feature.

Enjoy and comment often as this will be a learning process for me as it will be for you.