Overall I felt that there is one consistent feeling for the filmmaker attending the Conference — you’re always walking the line of optimism/pessimism. Being wrapped in the climate of this independent world feels empowering. Hearing people speak about projects, running into colleagues. It’s an energy boost for the individual who feels tapped out, disconnected or just temporarily lacking in creative drive. Its a place for intelligent swapping of ideas and an open dialogue.

The downside, we’re all broke. We’re all in the same boat, pushing our projects, saving our pennies and jonesing to make the next or first film. Now with more product, choice and options for exhibition the real estate for new films is harder and harder to attain. Fighting through the clutter has become more of a challenge. It’s a long haul. The obvious thought on everyone’s mind is the validity of internet and how is it going to serve us.

So these are some fast and loose notes regarding the panels I attended. You can refer to the Conference link above for more information on each panel. The panelists listed on the site aren’t all accurate, some speakers were subbed out for others. Like the title says Filmmaker Conference, the following information deals with the world of producing films independently. That word has many different meanings but I think one theme that everyone who attended this Conference agrees upon is we are the driving force, the inertia that will get our films made. Do It Yourself.

There’s a lot of information here and I encourage those who are reading this post and/or attended the Conference to leave comments about what these speakers had to say and/or how it reflects your own experience as a filmmaker. Also, go to the Filmmaker Magazine Blog and CinemaTech and search for more coverage of this event.

Making Your First Feature

Sunday, September 16th, 2007

Getting Started

• Get the script around, let everyone read it. Producers pass on projects all the time but everyone knows everyone so if it’s not right for them it might be right for a producer they know.
• Find a hungry producer but get someone in this position who has some experience doing this and knows the ins and outs of the industry.
• In the beginning especially, the writer/director needs to be the driving force of the project until other principals are brought on board.
• Create three budgets: no, low and the dream.
• Look to possibly altering the screenplay – location, cast, crew if it means getting your film made. Can this film be made in Washington instead of say, Boston?
• If you absolutely need a name actor to be in your film then wait for that to happen, just remember you might be waiting a long time to get the right one. If not, go out and make your film without the name.
• Stay credible in the industry by not allowing your project to get kicked around too long. When a project has been making the rounds amongst producers and companies for 2-3 years and no one is budging it might turn people off asking, why hasn’t anyone bit yet?
• Do your homework – know the film you are making inside and out so you can articulate it succinctly to people you want to get excited. Always be prepared about the facts of your film to anyone you think needs to know.
• Make a smart secure, business plan that is realistic and honest with all parties involved. Don’t promise what you can’t deliver.
• Look at fiscal sponsorship if you think your film can get that kind of support.

Production and Post-Production

• Inertia will get you through production.
• Keep investors in the loop when it comes to finance. Don’t treat them poorly by cashing their check and keeping them out of the loop. They are financing your dreams — treat them with respect. You’re also trying to build a relationship.
• If your project has any SFX of any kind, get those key people involved early.
• DI [Digital Intermediate] – understand it.
• Budget – get the prep correct.
• When making your first feature, trust yourself and your instincts.
• Surround yourself with honest, trusted people. Yes, they are out there.
• Let everyone in on the process (Cronenberg sets up numerous monitors all over the set so everyone can see the action — this is a choice, it’s not for everyone).
• As a director know your strengths and weaknesses and be honest with your key crew members.

Festival/Marketplace

• If you are thinking about getting a sales rep get them in early like right after you complete photography.
• Don’t show anyone anything until the last possible minute.
• Create an exclusivity of your film screening.
• Build a network core.
• Festivals – home field advantage is a plus.
• Don’t forget publicity – photographs from the set, behind the scenes video, blog.
• Find an iconic image that represents your film and use it for poster or press photo.
• Big fish, small pond or small fish in a big pond. What do you want to be?
• Don’t oversell the film to the wrong buyer.

Finding Your Audience

• Many new ways to promote and get your work out there:
• Wholphin DVD – DVD magazine of film content.
• Spout – Online film community.
• Rooftop Films
• If you are a director, theater owners will treat you like shit – create an alter ego of a booking agent and you will be taken seriously (from Guatemalan Handshake director Todd Rohal).
• Have stock of DVD’s ready for sale at your screenings.

John Sayles/Maggie Renzie

• 4 Week shooting schedule for new film Honeydripper.
• Schedule – shooting out of sequence – prioritize what scenes you shoot.
• Give big scenes more time for inexperienced actors.
• Know your locations and the geography – light, time of day etc.
• Planning is everything.
• Bio’s for characters are a good idea for actors and department heads.
• Storyboards.
• Every day write down the scene you are shooting – ask yourself how important the scene is.
• Be careful when a DP makes suggestions about how to shoot the scene – new ideas.
• Weather consistency for scenes.
• Do not get caught up in your coverage. Masters can eat up time and energy.
• Edit on the set – know what you need in post.
• Kill a scene that day of shooting if its not gelling. Take some time to rethink it. It may cost you but if it’s a priority scene you need to redo it.
• Don’t fall in love with the master.
• Give an actor a chance to do their thing – don’t put your actors under pressure about time.
• Using 2 cameras for coverage gives actors more time.
• Ask for actors to tell a story about themselves if they’re new or auditioning.
• Give new actors something to do physically when on screen.
• More from from this panel on Filmmaker Magazine Blog.

Filmmaking 2.0

Monday, September 17th 2007

Turning Your Viewer On

• IndieGoGo

Tony Liano/Crackle [owned by Sony]

• The web is a good place for targeting content.
• Episodic. Comedy. Small. Low cost. Low risk.
• Get involved as a producer. Very DIY.
• No revenue with Crackle as of now.
• 20 million unique users with Crackle.

State of U.S Film Festivals

• Sundance – looking for emerging talent. Demand to be the World Premier for the film to be in competition.
• Tribeca – Same.
• Find what festival fits the needs of your film.
• Big fish, small pond or small fish, big pond.
• Sundance flies in and houses filmmakers.

The Global Market

Tuesday, September 18th, 2007

Producing Films for The Global Market

• Don’t get so obsessed with making a film that you forget to make a good film.
• Understand the market you are focusing on.
• Certain genres sell better overseas.
• Casting is very important. Each country has its own star system.
• Skip the flyers and the postcards and pay a publicist to push the film ($10k is the standard rate).

The Real Deal on Deals

Wednesday, September 19th, 2007

• Casting – have your team together. Th casting director is not your producer.
• Have the right people behind you – serious, organized – financing in place.
• Get a line producer to create a serious budget.
• First money in is the riskiest.
• Look to cast within a month or two before principal photography. Actors schedules change all the time.
• Agencies don’t package films coming in from casting directors.
• Know who you are casting; make sure they know they are in for the long haul.
• Because of the upcoming strike a lot of actors are going for big paydays.
• Meet the assistants to the producers – get them interested in your projects.
• Increase the pedigree of your project. Get into the Sundance Lab, Bluecat etc.
• Partner up with a solid producer who will see your project through to the end.
• Agents and managers are hungry for good material.
• Three reasons why an actor will get attached to a project:
  • Financing is in place
  • A solid team
  • An offer

John Kilik

• IMDb credits
• Exploit the studio distribution system.
• Can’t make a self-serving film that speaks to no one. The audience needs to be considered.
• Define the time when you are going to start shooting and let that be your inertia.

Niche Marketing

• Figure out how to position your film with your sales agent.
• Not everyone needs to love your film.
• The film needs to be an antidote to the big Hollywood monster.
• Get as much press as you can.
• Media outlets are shrinking because of the internet. Print media is in crisis.
• No guarantee of reviews on day of opening.
• Less theaters.
• Create buzz and sustain buzz.
• Don’t let too much lag time exist from release to press to DVD/VOD availability.
• Filmmakers should be out selling films at live events, speaking engagements, screenings to sell film.
• Case study: Teeth. Tough film to sell because of subject matter.
• The internet has created a huge glut for product but you must find a way to rise above the noise.
• Gus Van Zandt used MySpace to cast his new film, Paranoid Park.
• Product placement? Use a product to finance and market.
• Find ways of getting people to write and talk about your film.
• Filmmaker’s diary (blog) like [This Savage Art] for example.
• Be careful how you present your film to the world for the first time.

Digital Download

• Jaman – 30% of gross go to the filmmaker.
• Amazon Unbox is a 50/50 split.
• Juiced – has pledged to own ALL content out there one day.
• Reframe
• Ejunkie as a storefront for downloading for filmmakers.
• Case study – 10 MPH – 4,000 DVD’s sold.
• iTunes will open up the market significantly.
• Sell DVD’s at festival screenings – get e-mail addresses/zip codes of purchasers to build a base.
• Case study: Four Eyed Monsters has built an audience distributors would die for even though they have given it away for free.
• Give away the first five minutes of the film on your website to get people interested in buying screening tickets/download/DVDs.
• Wholphin DVD compilation.

Show Me The Money

• Made in New York Tax Credit – 15% tax break if production meets criteria:
  • Build and shoot on a stage for one day.
  • 75% of location days are within the five boroughs.
• Renew Media – Organization that finds artists and gives them money – artists can’t apply – they find you.
• Grants – Jerome Foundation – Creative Capital.
• Axiom – payroll services has a database of each states film commissions and tax credit situation on their website.
• Individual theater release – Film Forum and IFC Center. Must play for a week to get any real press coverage.
• Foundationcenter.com

The State of Independents

• 600 prints or less is a real definition of an independent.
• People are consuming films in very different ways.
• A lot more films are being released each week which is making it more of a challenge to stay alive and get noticed.
• Is a good film, not a great film, a problem?
• Penetrating an audience has gotten more difficult because of sheer volume of product.
• A film needs to hold onto screens for as long as possible.
• For a distribution company its about packaging the right film, price weekend.
• Screenings at festivals can fail miserably or get lots of attention but its not an indication of what films will do in the market.
• How important is a film festival? Shouldn’t distributors buy the film before it screens at festivals then premier it?
• Filmmakers still need the pedigree of a film festival’s attention.

Part Two:

Pre-production: What were some of the things you learned at that stage of the game? You had to deal with SAG paperwork, workers comp, insurance. A lot of paper.

Yeah. Lots of paper. I think what I walked away with was the real need to have a great team and that they really want to see it happen. The ones that don’t can really throw a wrench in the works.

You also had to deal with very unique personalities. Even in the very early stages, I felt like our characters were coming out. Joe Reider (the production designer) was very passionate and hyper. Dave Castillo (the cinematographer) was incredibly busy with his Canon stuff and sometimes difficult to pin down. Would you have done anything differently during that pre-production time if you had it to do over again?

That’s filmmaking and it’s part of being a good director. Knowing how to capitalize on those personalities and make them all work for you and the film.

Differently..sure. Any filmmaker that says they wouldn’t change something about their film or the process of making it is lying.

How many times did we go out for location scouting?

We probably went out about 4, maybe 5 times.

Do you remember anything in particular from those scouts?

I just remember being frustrated because there were shots I wanted and there wasn’t enough light. I would explain to Dave (cinematographer) that I wanted to get a shot of the car coming off this bridge and he would say “Can’t do it”. There was a lot of that.

Our first day of shooting was in that pay-by-the-hour hotel, right?

Yes. Ohh yeah. That place was a trip. There was another one I really wanted in the Bronx right of the Hutchinson River Parkway but they said no way.

It felt like you had already rehearsed with the actors quite a bit. That was the one part of the evening that seemed to go right. I remember several things about that night. First, I remember we kept jumping back and forth from one side of the room to the other, so Dave and Steve would light an area, then break everything down and light another area, then break everything down and re-light the first area. I finally said we had to shoot out one side of the room entirely, then shoot out the other part of the room, because we were wasting lots of time. I remember you, me and Dave had our first intense pow-wow when we were filming an improvisation scene.

Doing it that way was all wrong. It was poor planning. That was frustrating as hell and really set the tone in my mind.

I still think the improv idea might have worked if we had conceived it differently — like a two-shot of the guys talking or maybe a hand-held going back and forth. I like those kinds of scenes because they feel fresh and can tap into something emotionally true. But our team wasn’t equipped for that kind of spontaneity, and as it was we had a hell of a time covering the script pages without improv.

The first day is tough enough and when you are not communicating with your DP it makes it even tougher. I wanted the whole motel scene to be handheld, that was original conception.

How did your nerves hold up that night? You didn’t lose your temper like Dave and I did sometimes but you looked like a slow burn. How far did the project move from your original conception? I don’t mean the finished film being different than the script, or the scenes we did not get to shoot. I mean how far did the scenes we shot move from your original idea of how you wanted them?

Not as a whole but elements changed out of necessity. I really wanted certain shots that we just couldn’t or didn’t get. Not to mention scenes that didn’t even get shot.

How long were we in that motel? 18 hours?

18 hours. I felt the tension at the end to. Another thing we didn’t get was the scene when Cicci is devastated after he sees his friend dead. I wanted to allow Jack Caruso time to find that moment.

Was that because we were rushed and tired at the end of the night?
Or, I should say, the dawn?

Yeah, I knew everyone was dying. It was about 120 degrees with the lights. I couldn’t push more than I did already. I felt like a total failure. I knew everyone was chomping at the bit to get out of there.

One thing we should talk about is the bathroom scene where John decides to shoot himself. I remember Joe splattering blood and fake brains and hair and all sorts of shit all over the wall. Dave had to shoot in there and was getting physically ill. It was like he could barely stand up. If I remember correctly, you asked Joe to make it less bloody in there because it was looking like The Texas Chainsaw Massacre and shit.

Looking back it’s hilarious but at the time Joe was just a little too into his job. I didn’t want it to be graphic but it turned into the end of The Wild Bunch.

What was the second night of shooting? Outside the Irish-American bar?

That was pretty crazy too. Really got the tone of the neighborhood. Babies screaming in the street at 11:00 at night. That was something we just captured in some off moment and when I was editing I found it and dropped it in under the opening tracking shot.

Did we have the cops there helping us on that day? I don’t remember if we closed down the street or not. All I remember are the local drunks who wanted to be in the movie. And the crazy alcoholic women hanging off of our Production Assistants and flirting with them.

“We” closed the streets down not the Mayor’s Office cops. We couldn’t get them that day for some reason and I was paranoid that we were going to get shut down. We got some of the local talent in that opening shot but that was it. Again, if the production could have handled the improve moments it would have worked for us. I think one of the PA’s actually took the train up and started drinking with the regulars before we started shooting.

This is like DVD commentary without the DVD.

What about all the hardships you had getting that car? Didn’t you get the car from some Trustafarian kid?

That was insane. This guy got in touch with me from craigslist and it sounded cool but it became harder and harder as time went on. I always paid the guy but i think he saw that he had me because we shot all this footage. He had the balls to give me shit because his lighter was missing from this huge, 25 year old boat. He said we broke his seat. There were so many problems with that car to begin with.

I remember we went over schedule that night. Man, that was a tough one.

I think at one point we were looking to grab another day and he wanted $400. I told him to fuck off.

Was it the third day of shooting where we got rained out? We had a torrential storm coming down. That was the day when I thought to myself, “What did Billy do in his past life to deserve this?” It was like your production was the Book of Job!

That was actually going to be the first night. Dave was concerned with the lights and the electricity.

The next night, Dave showed some can-do ingenuity by putting up the tent.

All I have to say is every film from here on out better be a cake walk…

1. Use SAG talent (if you can) – If the budget can take the hit go for people who have experience and know how to conduct themselves on a set, rehearse, etc. It will save you time and aggravation in the end. The last thing you want to do is teach someone how to act while your making your film. If you can’t go this way, get non-union but make sure all the talent is non-union. If you have a cast of ten actors and one actor is SAG then you still have to become a SAG signatory. An audience can forgive a scene that’s shot a little too dark but they will never believe a film that has poor acting.
2. Cast with a pro – Again, if you can afford it, cast with a casting agent. It definitely doesn’t have to go this way but if you are going union get someone who has a pipeline to that water supply.
3. Date the DP – When looking for a DP look at it like you are searching for the perfect mate. Can you agree on a similar style of filmmaking? Bring them into your world. Show them the script, storyboards, photography, art books that reflect what you’re trying to capture. Is this a person you can confide in for the next X amount of weeks. If a DP says you can’t do that shot and doesn’t give you an alternative, get rid of him/her. The last thing you want is someone who is going to shoot down your ideas. Know what you want and bring as much information to the table to see what the DP thinks of your ideas.
4. Let someone else supervise the script – You have enough on your mind, you shouldn’t be worrying about continuity.
5. Snap, Crackle, Pop – Make sure the sound person checks and field-test the equipment before using it for your film. If there is something wrong you really don’t want to find this out when you’ve wrapped and you are looking and “listening” to the footage.
6. Timetables and momentum – When you are prepping for your shoot arrange to have it done within a period of time. Meaning, people get busy and if you have them locked up for three consecutive weekends for your film try with all your power to finish it within those three weekends. Cast and crew are already setting up their next job when they are done with yours so if you don’t get it within your timetable the next time will be within ALL of theirs.
7. Psychology rules – Try to understand everyone before you go into your project. There are so many personalities on a film set, if time allows take the time to find out who you are working with. Is this person upbeat? Is this person cranky? In the 25th hour do you really want someone who is petty or incompetent?
8. Call in back up – For every choice you make whether it is location, an actor or a camera have two other go to choices in an emergency.
9. A man’s got to know his limitations – You can’t exploit your resources if you don’t know what they are. If you are limited by budget understand fully what that means for your film.
10. Finish the film – Find a way to make this happen no matter what.

bonus!

11. The script isn’t the only thing made out of paper – When writing your short script write it to budget. If you have $500 to make a film don’t write a scene with car interiors, twenty SAG extras and a trained llama.
12. Time is of the essence – Time is not just money, it is gold.
13. The three r’s – Read, research, review. Be the absolute expert on making your film before you even buy film/video stock. It’s an overwhelming task but the more you know the better off you are. Read articles on filmmaking. Ask those who have done what you are about to do. Go over it all and use what applies to your film.
14. Signs are everywhere – On a limited budget you might have to make compromises with some crew members but don’t hire if you have second thoughts. If they show up an hour late or not at all without a courtesy call, bad sign no matter how good they are. This behavior will continue in one form or another through out your production. Make sure they are serious about working on your film. Let them know up front what they are in for with regards to money or other challenges. There are hundreds of talented people working on films, get the best you can afford on yours.
15. Thanks are in order – Filmmaking is hard on everyone especially during production. Tempers can run high and patience can become a luxury. Delegate with authority but respect is key in all situations. Thank your cast and crew for being part of your dream especially in the case where money is thin which is always. They are doing the unthinkable for you.