As I enter the second quarter of my life and inch towards my thirties, Kevin and I have made the conscious decision to make a new film. We feel like we owe it to ourselves to see what we are capable of. It's comforting to know that whatever I risk materially, can be regained over the course of my life (along with my sanity). If there is nothing risked there is nothing gained.
First, anything is possible. Even raising $200,000 for a film. Sure, it sounds ambitious, but the more we educate ourselves, the smaller the gap becomes between the impossible and the possible.
I think of it this way--If you would have told a younger version of myself that a film of mine would be available in Japan, Russia, Singapore and Germany, I would have never believed you. If you told me I'd be on an airplane flying across the world by myself to travel for months on end, I would've thought you were crazy. If you told the 13 year old version of myself that a small record label would put out my band's CD, I wouldn't have believed that either.
Secondly, you need to build everything from the ground up. Block by block. You make a $200,000 film by making a $20,000 film. You make a $2 million dollar film by making a $200,000 one. You get the point.
I've grown up with a DIY mindset since I was young. I've seen friends start bands in their garages, get in vans, drive across America and develop a following one fan at a time. Those who inspire me are my very own friends.
The world will fail us if we give it a chance. The longer we spend being led, the more we forget how to lead. Whatever you want out of life you need to create for yourself, rather than sitting and waiting for a life that's already passed you by.
Another precept that we prescribe to is-- do everything better. Just by reviewing other filmmakers business proposals, I know Kevin and I can improve upon what they've done. Research, identify and leverage the shortcoming of others to your advantage. Set the bar higher.
If you look at films within our previous films budget range, I'd like to think that ours is better than the majority. That's not to say that our previous film didn't have problems. We were young (22) and there were many aspects about the film that were rushed. When we started it, I don't think we really believed thousands of people would be viewing it. Perhaps we weren't ready for our work to be put under a microscope. We know the film's weaknesses better than anyone. We lived and breathed it everyday for two years.
I'm a realist and I don't expect anything to be handed to me. Failure is frighteningly real. One of the hardest lessons to learn is; just because you work hard, doesn't mean you are entitled to anything... praise, success, respect. Hard work doesn't guarantee people will like what you do. Don't take it personally. Be open to criticism. Brush things off quickly and move on (aka when your film leaks and you get your first negative review on IMDB, hole yourself up in your apartment and drink heavily).
It's an interesting time for film. The classic distribution model is broken and in return, filmmakers are thinking outside the box. They are offering their audiences much more than the typical experience. Filmmakers can now tell their story across a wide range of mediums and multi-platforms. We are no longer bound by just the movie screen. Filmmakers are creating entire worlds out of their ideas and allowing the audience to take part in their creations.
Kevin and I have some exciting ideas we'd like to pursue with this film; we are looking into different mediums that will help us offer more depth to the film's backstory. We are exploring different ways to develop our characters off screen. An important question to ask is; what will make this film better than the thousands of others that are currently being made? What separates us from the rest?
This blog may seem a bit pre-mature to a few and it's easy to say we are going to do this and that, but until we have a final draft, invest the first thousand dollars, create investor materials and open our LLC all this is just talk. This is us thinking out loud from the beginning. Follow us as we make this a reality.
- Mike
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