As mentioned previously, Kevin and I have decided to take a step back to better educate ourselves on the producing front, before resuming work on the second draft of the script. This new timeline structure reflects what we've learned in Suzanne's workshop, with our own personal touch. Her workshop helped tremendously, especially after going back and looking at our previous timeline of events. Extremely ass-backwards! We'll begin to fill in sections of our timeline in more detail once we actually hit each phase. But, for now, a few things to note:
First, once we finish our final draft we'll consult with a line producer to help verify that our budget is doable, based upon what we are attempting to accomplish on paper. We'll then amend the script according to his numbers (if need be), until we are absolutely certain we have a $200,000 film.
We've also worked in a Marketing section into our timeline. I wrote previously about the transmedia model, and how we are going to leverage other mediums to help raise awareness for our film, even before cameras start rolling. We are going to establish an on-line presence by launching our website with exclusive content for fans. Our ideas will start to take life, as we brand our film in preparation for soliciting investors.
So, here is our new working timeline. I can now visual what 2012 will look like, and it is rapidly approaching!
Educate / Research / Network
March 2010 – May 2010
· Workshops
· SAG Guidelines
· Legal Contracts
· Distribution Models
· Financing Methods
· Marketing
Develop Final Script
June 2010 – Aug. 2010
· Conceptualize Villain
· Consult with Line Producer
Marketing
September 2010
· Launch Website
· Develop Marketing Initiatives
· Merchandising
· Fan Club
· Hire Concept Artist
· Write Comic Book series
· Hire Illustrator
· Hire Web Designer
· Social Media (Facebook, Myspace)
· Launch Website
Business Plan
Nov. 2010 – Dec. 2010
· Create Business Plan
· Hire Graphic Designer
· Create Investor Website
· Consult with Sales Agent
Form LLC
January 2011
Financing
January-June 2011
· Refine PPM
· Consult with lawyer re: PPM/SEC rules/risk language in packets
· Sales Presentations
Hire Line Producer / Discuss Budget & Schedule
Mid-June 2011
Soft Prep
July-Mid August 2011
Breakdown Services/Casting/Contracts
August 2011
Pre-Production
September 2011
Principal Photography
October 1-25 2011 (20 days total)
Post-Production
Nov. 2011 – Jan. 2012
- Mike
Showing posts with label TImeline. Show all posts
Showing posts with label TImeline. Show all posts
Friday, March 26, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Too Many Hats Can Weigh You Down
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One of the toughest things about juggling tons of different roles while making an independent film is being able to mentally separate duties and responsibilities. If you're just staring into the closet, looking at all the hats you'll eventually have to wear, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. The strongest impulse is to curl up into a little ball and get nothing done.
As the writer of Nitecrawlers, there are certain benchmarks that I need to hit in order to keep pushing our timeline forward. Once the wheels get going, it's crucial to keep moving; if you stop to worry about the myriad unknowns that pop up during the production of a feature film, you risk the wheels all coming off the cart.
One of my greatest strengths as a producer is also one of my greatest weaknesses as a writer. I'm incredibly business-minded and process-oriented (I'm currently wrapping up my MBA). The screenwriting process of an independent film is, for me, unbearably complicated by the fears of future business and legal quandaries. It's all too easy to sit down, write a page, and then think, "Well, wait...how are we going to handle funding for this film? Aren't there SEC rules for soliciting investors? Don't we need Private Placement Memorandums?"...and on and on into tangential hell.
These and other mental roadblocks have been stalling the re-write process for the past month or two. If I'm constantly worrying, I can't devote the unadulterated attention to refining our (great) script and concept. That's why Mike and I decided to take the financial plunge and attend Suzanne Lyons' Indie Film Producing workshop out in LA in mid-March. For those not in the know, Suzanne is a successful indie film producer who has made several horror films under the SAG Ultra-Low contract (and received distribution through companies like LionsGate and Sony Screen Gems).
I'm hoping the workshop will accomplish several things. First, Suzanne's knowledge should help illuminate many of the process and "which should we do first?" questions that I have about our new film endeavor, freeing my mind to focus on refining and locking the script. Second, the cost (roughly $600, plus flight, hotel and car) will serve to help convince Mike and I that we're truly committed to this new project and venture.
- K
As the writer of Nitecrawlers, there are certain benchmarks that I need to hit in order to keep pushing our timeline forward. Once the wheels get going, it's crucial to keep moving; if you stop to worry about the myriad unknowns that pop up during the production of a feature film, you risk the wheels all coming off the cart.
One of my greatest strengths as a producer is also one of my greatest weaknesses as a writer. I'm incredibly business-minded and process-oriented (I'm currently wrapping up my MBA). The screenwriting process of an independent film is, for me, unbearably complicated by the fears of future business and legal quandaries. It's all too easy to sit down, write a page, and then think, "Well, wait...how are we going to handle funding for this film? Aren't there SEC rules for soliciting investors? Don't we need Private Placement Memorandums?"...and on and on into tangential hell.
These and other mental roadblocks have been stalling the re-write process for the past month or two. If I'm constantly worrying, I can't devote the unadulterated attention to refining our (great) script and concept. That's why Mike and I decided to take the financial plunge and attend Suzanne Lyons' Indie Film Producing workshop out in LA in mid-March. For those not in the know, Suzanne is a successful indie film producer who has made several horror films under the SAG Ultra-Low contract (and received distribution through companies like LionsGate and Sony Screen Gems).
I'm hoping the workshop will accomplish several things. First, Suzanne's knowledge should help illuminate many of the process and "which should we do first?" questions that I have about our new film endeavor, freeing my mind to focus on refining and locking the script. Second, the cost (roughly $600, plus flight, hotel and car) will serve to help convince Mike and I that we're truly committed to this new project and venture.
- K
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Finding a Film/Work/Life Balance
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Mike already touched on this in his last post, but I'll say it again: we're delaying the production of Nitecrawlers until Fall 2011.
Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. I think it's just something that's necessitated by the complications and demands of everyday life. With Nitecrawlers, Mike and I are a little locked in to shooting in the Fall/Autumn by certain aesthetic desires for the film. The film will be all the better for shooting during the season we're trying to portray, so not getting to the film in Fall 2010 means we need to push production a whole year.
However, let's make one thing clear; by "production", we mean principal photography. In reality, the Nitecrawlers train has already left the station (or rather, left quite some time ago), and will roll steadily on all through 2010. We both firmly believe that the extended Pre-Production phase that the film will enjoy will really allow us to hone not only our approach to the film but also our approach to its marketing. In this era of independent filmmaking, with the current economic stresses and the traditional sales venues like AFM and Cannes suffering the one-two punch of oversaturation and lack of buyers, having a consistent and innovative marketing approach will be the difference between 20,000 people seeing your film and 2 people seeing your film.
Back on the subject of the post, though. A large reason for the delay was my desire to finish my grad school MBA in December before diving fully into this project. Up until several weeks ago, I kept trying to convince myself that I'd be able to juggle work, school at night, and still find adequate time to devote to all aspects of the film. Problem was, 2010 was here and we still hadn't locked the script, begun the financing phase, formed the LLC, or any of the other steps that we really needed to start taking if we were going to realize our Fall 2010 production date. Finally, I admitted to myself that I couldn't do everything; instead, the new plan is to finish school, lock the Nitecrawlers script, and soft-prep the film throughout 2010. Mike and I will be releasing a new timeline for the film on this blog in the coming month or so, so watch out for that.
Our problem was not unique. The economic reality of independent filmmaking is that the vast majority of filmmakers must find a sustainable and satisfying balance between their jobs, their passion, and any other life responsibilities they have. Mike and I were lucky enough to recoup our budget and profit off of Plasterhead, our first film. That said, we won't be running out to buy a yacht anytime soon. The economic realities are harsher for other filmmakers whose films don't get distribution. Suddenly, your passion project becomes a $20,000+ sinkhole, and that's not including the countless man-hours you and others have devoted to the project. There are no two ways about it: in terms of both time and money, filmmaking is an incredibly expensive "hobby."
That, truth be told, is why most independent films never leave their creators' heads. I'm always amazed when someone gets a film off the ground, let alone finished, let alone distributed. For Mike and I, filmmaking has never been an "all or nothing" enterprise. We're not pinning the entirety of our career hopes and aspirations on the success of failure of our films. We keep doing it because we're able to extract enough joy and value from the experience, the exercise. This allows us to walk away satisfied with our own work as filmmakers, regardless of the financial result. But in order for us to be able to do that, we have to remain focused on our "day jobs" and furthering our professional skills and relationships to the point where our expensive hobby becomes sustainable. Thus the MBA, the grad school, the 9-to-5 grind. It's a stark reality of the path we have chosen, and sometimes, it requires some serious thought and juggling of time. Hence, our decision to shoot in 2011.
- K
Is this a bad thing? I don't think so. I think it's just something that's necessitated by the complications and demands of everyday life. With Nitecrawlers, Mike and I are a little locked in to shooting in the Fall/Autumn by certain aesthetic desires for the film. The film will be all the better for shooting during the season we're trying to portray, so not getting to the film in Fall 2010 means we need to push production a whole year.
However, let's make one thing clear; by "production", we mean principal photography. In reality, the Nitecrawlers train has already left the station (or rather, left quite some time ago), and will roll steadily on all through 2010. We both firmly believe that the extended Pre-Production phase that the film will enjoy will really allow us to hone not only our approach to the film but also our approach to its marketing. In this era of independent filmmaking, with the current economic stresses and the traditional sales venues like AFM and Cannes suffering the one-two punch of oversaturation and lack of buyers, having a consistent and innovative marketing approach will be the difference between 20,000 people seeing your film and 2 people seeing your film.
Back on the subject of the post, though. A large reason for the delay was my desire to finish my grad school MBA in December before diving fully into this project. Up until several weeks ago, I kept trying to convince myself that I'd be able to juggle work, school at night, and still find adequate time to devote to all aspects of the film. Problem was, 2010 was here and we still hadn't locked the script, begun the financing phase, formed the LLC, or any of the other steps that we really needed to start taking if we were going to realize our Fall 2010 production date. Finally, I admitted to myself that I couldn't do everything; instead, the new plan is to finish school, lock the Nitecrawlers script, and soft-prep the film throughout 2010. Mike and I will be releasing a new timeline for the film on this blog in the coming month or so, so watch out for that.
Our problem was not unique. The economic reality of independent filmmaking is that the vast majority of filmmakers must find a sustainable and satisfying balance between their jobs, their passion, and any other life responsibilities they have. Mike and I were lucky enough to recoup our budget and profit off of Plasterhead, our first film. That said, we won't be running out to buy a yacht anytime soon. The economic realities are harsher for other filmmakers whose films don't get distribution. Suddenly, your passion project becomes a $20,000+ sinkhole, and that's not including the countless man-hours you and others have devoted to the project. There are no two ways about it: in terms of both time and money, filmmaking is an incredibly expensive "hobby."
That, truth be told, is why most independent films never leave their creators' heads. I'm always amazed when someone gets a film off the ground, let alone finished, let alone distributed. For Mike and I, filmmaking has never been an "all or nothing" enterprise. We're not pinning the entirety of our career hopes and aspirations on the success of failure of our films. We keep doing it because we're able to extract enough joy and value from the experience, the exercise. This allows us to walk away satisfied with our own work as filmmakers, regardless of the financial result. But in order for us to be able to do that, we have to remain focused on our "day jobs" and furthering our professional skills and relationships to the point where our expensive hobby becomes sustainable. Thus the MBA, the grad school, the 9-to-5 grind. It's a stark reality of the path we have chosen, and sometimes, it requires some serious thought and juggling of time. Hence, our decision to shoot in 2011.
- K
Monday, February 15, 2010
1 Step Back, 2 Steps Forward
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For the past month, Kevin and I have been juggling other responsibilities in life, while simultaneously trying to move the film forward. Unfortunately, there's been several weeks where the film hasn't been given the attention it deserves. I think this is something every independent filmmaker can relate to, as the reality is, we don't have the luxury of working full-time on the film. A majority of independent filmmakers lead double lives, trying to pay bills and find the time to work on their films. So, while this blog primarily exists to document the development of our film, I think it's equally as important to focus on us, as individuals from time to time. After all, making a film affects every aspect of one's life.
Last year, I came down with the travel bug, and ended up traveling for over fourth months. At the end of the year, I gave up my apartment to spend two months in Australia and New Zealand, while Kevin started writing content for this blog. Upon my return, I attempted to get my 'professional' life back in order and start making money again so I can support myself and pay bills.
So, due to other passions, responsibilities, and most importantly, having a desire to become better producer's, Kevin and I have made the decision to push our production date back to Fall 2011, which in my opinion, is extremely beneficial. Time must not be seen as the enemy, but rather, a tool to help us prepare for the future.
One of our biggest regrets with our last film, was not spending enough time in development. We felt like time was working against us, and in return, we rushed into production, under prepared, both from a business and creative standpoint. As naive, ambitious twenty-two year olds, we learned the only way we knew how; in the moment and through hindsight.
Moreover, backlash and lawsuits ultimately come back to the producer, especially if one does not understand the intricacies of soliciting outside investors, filing the correct paperwork and working within the confines of SAG's Ultra-Low Budget Agreement. As producers, we are 100% responsible for our actions, and one misinformed decision can be costly, so we asked ourselves, do we know everything we need to know to be able to move forward? The answer was no.
We aren't putting this film on our credit card, like last time. We now have a responsibility to recoup and turn a profit off our investors' money. Ultimately, investors are investing in not just the film, but also the individuals making the film, so put yourself in their shoes: would you invest in yourself?
With that said, we've won a membership to the website Film Specific, run by Stacey Parks, an expert in the area of Film & TV distribution, which has proven to be an invaluable resource to us. Kevin and I will also be flying out to L.A for a producer's workshop in March, that we are really looking forward to. We'll be sure report back!
- Mike
Last year, I came down with the travel bug, and ended up traveling for over fourth months. At the end of the year, I gave up my apartment to spend two months in Australia and New Zealand, while Kevin started writing content for this blog. Upon my return, I attempted to get my 'professional' life back in order and start making money again so I can support myself and pay bills.
So, due to other passions, responsibilities, and most importantly, having a desire to become better producer's, Kevin and I have made the decision to push our production date back to Fall 2011, which in my opinion, is extremely beneficial. Time must not be seen as the enemy, but rather, a tool to help us prepare for the future.
One of our biggest regrets with our last film, was not spending enough time in development. We felt like time was working against us, and in return, we rushed into production, under prepared, both from a business and creative standpoint. As naive, ambitious twenty-two year olds, we learned the only way we knew how; in the moment and through hindsight.
Moreover, backlash and lawsuits ultimately come back to the producer, especially if one does not understand the intricacies of soliciting outside investors, filing the correct paperwork and working within the confines of SAG's Ultra-Low Budget Agreement. As producers, we are 100% responsible for our actions, and one misinformed decision can be costly, so we asked ourselves, do we know everything we need to know to be able to move forward? The answer was no.
We aren't putting this film on our credit card, like last time. We now have a responsibility to recoup and turn a profit off our investors' money. Ultimately, investors are investing in not just the film, but also the individuals making the film, so put yourself in their shoes: would you invest in yourself?
With that said, we've won a membership to the website Film Specific, run by Stacey Parks, an expert in the area of Film & TV distribution, which has proven to be an invaluable resource to us. Kevin and I will also be flying out to L.A for a producer's workshop in March, that we are really looking forward to. We'll be sure report back!
- Mike
Sunday, January 3, 2010
Welcome 2010.
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I've been absent from this blog the past couple of months because I have been traveling overseas. Kevin's been doing a great job in the meanwhile. Here are some initial thoughts as we prepare to fully dive into this project in the new year.
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
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
Monday, November 30, 2009
Getting Back on the Horse
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A lot of first-time filmmakers don't realize how draining the process of making a feature film can be.
When Mike and I started to make our first feature in the Summer of 2005, we were both only 22, both fresh out of film school. We had no idea about the sheer gargantuan nature of what we were taking on. Form an LLC? Prepare early for deliverables? What? Nobody had ever taught us the business end of making a film, and I think that's a common thought that most recently graduated film students experience when they set out to do what we did.
What we didn't realize at the time was that the entire process of making our first feature (from the formation of the LLC and the writing of the script all the way through to seeing the film released in foreign countries like Russia and Japan) was nearly a 3 year process. Even to this day, some 4 years later, parts of the process still drag on. I still have to close the LLC from that film before the year's end.
It was incredibly emotionally draining for both of us. At one point during post-production, we stepped away from the edit completely for 6 weeks. We were just burned out, plain and simple. And once the film achieved distribution and we were finding it in places like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, it was easy to sit back and ride the coattails of that success for a long time.
But you can't milk the success of one film forever, and the creative juices always come rushing back. When you've made a $20,000 film, there are inevitably many things that make you say "Man, next time around, when we have more money, I'm going to do X, Y and Z so much better."
But making a new film is a great risk...financially, legally, emotionally, when you make a film, you open yourself up for a lot of hurt. Especially now, when the economy ain't that great, the pressures are amplified.
I've thought long and hard about how enticing the path of least resistance seems: hang it up after one film and walk around risk-free for the rest of my life saying, "Hey, when I was 22, I made a movie that was in Wal-Mart, that was on Netflix." But I think they call that living in the past.
And so here we are, getting back on the horse once more.
- K
When Mike and I started to make our first feature in the Summer of 2005, we were both only 22, both fresh out of film school. We had no idea about the sheer gargantuan nature of what we were taking on. Form an LLC? Prepare early for deliverables? What? Nobody had ever taught us the business end of making a film, and I think that's a common thought that most recently graduated film students experience when they set out to do what we did.
What we didn't realize at the time was that the entire process of making our first feature (from the formation of the LLC and the writing of the script all the way through to seeing the film released in foreign countries like Russia and Japan) was nearly a 3 year process. Even to this day, some 4 years later, parts of the process still drag on. I still have to close the LLC from that film before the year's end.
It was incredibly emotionally draining for both of us. At one point during post-production, we stepped away from the edit completely for 6 weeks. We were just burned out, plain and simple. And once the film achieved distribution and we were finding it in places like Wal-Mart and Best Buy, it was easy to sit back and ride the coattails of that success for a long time.
But you can't milk the success of one film forever, and the creative juices always come rushing back. When you've made a $20,000 film, there are inevitably many things that make you say "Man, next time around, when we have more money, I'm going to do X, Y and Z so much better."
But making a new film is a great risk...financially, legally, emotionally, when you make a film, you open yourself up for a lot of hurt. Especially now, when the economy ain't that great, the pressures are amplified.
I've thought long and hard about how enticing the path of least resistance seems: hang it up after one film and walk around risk-free for the rest of my life saying, "Hey, when I was 22, I made a movie that was in Wal-Mart, that was on Netflix." But I think they call that living in the past.
And so here we are, getting back on the horse once more.
- K
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Welcome to Our Journey
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Welcome to the official Nitecrawlers production blog.
One of my greatest regrets while making our first feature film was that we did next to nothing to document the (nightmarishly) rewarding process we went through during its production and subsequent distribution. I'm not going to make that mistake again.
So who are we, what is Nitecrawlers, and why is this worth reading? Let me explain.
My name is Kevin, and I'll be writing this blog with my fellow producing partner Mike. We're 26-year old filmmakers about to embark on our 2nd feature film. Our first feature film (which I'll discuss in more detail in a later entry) was a little $20,000 horror movie with no stars (funded entirely out of our own pockets). Our goal was simple, to recoup our investment and to get our film distributed direct-to-dvd. We ended up doing that and more, with the being released nationwide on DVD by Warner-Elektra-Atlantic and worldwide in Russia, Germany, Japan and Singapore. How well did we do financially? Well, let's just say we did well enough that we're back for more punishment, but as any indie filmmaker can confirm, it ain't about the money.
Nitecrawlers is our long-awaited 2nd feature film. We're billing it as a "coming-of-age horror tale," but I don't think the movie knows exactly what it wants to be just yet. Since we shot our first feature for $20k, we're looking to make what we consider to be a sizeable jump up to a $200,000 budget. What's more, we are hoping to use the SAG Ultra-Low Budget Agreement, which hopefully will mean access to some "names."
So what can you expect to find on this blog? Well, in short, lots of stuff. When Mike and I were 22-year-old newbies setting out to make our first feature on a wing and a prayer, we would have killed for an all-inclusive resource from a fellow independent filmmaker who had walked down the production and distribution path before us, and so that's what I hope to accomplish with this blog. There are some specific things that I'd like to touch on, including:
- Script Development
- Creating Concept Art
- Soliciting Investors
- Writing Business Plans
- Forming an LLC
In short, all the trials and tribulations an independent filmmaker will have to endure. We've done it once, and we're ready to do it again, this time on a somewhat grander scale. Once we secure funding for the film, this blog will hopefully re-direct to our official website, where we will continue to blog from pre-production through distribution.
So hop onboard, subscribe to the blog, and follow our progress in our quest to raise $200,000 and get this film made!
- K
One of my greatest regrets while making our first feature film was that we did next to nothing to document the (nightmarishly) rewarding process we went through during its production and subsequent distribution. I'm not going to make that mistake again.
So who are we, what is Nitecrawlers, and why is this worth reading? Let me explain.
My name is Kevin, and I'll be writing this blog with my fellow producing partner Mike. We're 26-year old filmmakers about to embark on our 2nd feature film. Our first feature film (which I'll discuss in more detail in a later entry) was a little $20,000 horror movie with no stars (funded entirely out of our own pockets). Our goal was simple, to recoup our investment and to get our film distributed direct-to-dvd. We ended up doing that and more, with the being released nationwide on DVD by Warner-Elektra-Atlantic and worldwide in Russia, Germany, Japan and Singapore. How well did we do financially? Well, let's just say we did well enough that we're back for more punishment, but as any indie filmmaker can confirm, it ain't about the money.
Nitecrawlers is our long-awaited 2nd feature film. We're billing it as a "coming-of-age horror tale," but I don't think the movie knows exactly what it wants to be just yet. Since we shot our first feature for $20k, we're looking to make what we consider to be a sizeable jump up to a $200,000 budget. What's more, we are hoping to use the SAG Ultra-Low Budget Agreement, which hopefully will mean access to some "names."
So what can you expect to find on this blog? Well, in short, lots of stuff. When Mike and I were 22-year-old newbies setting out to make our first feature on a wing and a prayer, we would have killed for an all-inclusive resource from a fellow independent filmmaker who had walked down the production and distribution path before us, and so that's what I hope to accomplish with this blog. There are some specific things that I'd like to touch on, including:
- Script Development
- Creating Concept Art
- Soliciting Investors
- Writing Business Plans
- Forming an LLC
In short, all the trials and tribulations an independent filmmaker will have to endure. We've done it once, and we're ready to do it again, this time on a somewhat grander scale. Once we secure funding for the film, this blog will hopefully re-direct to our official website, where we will continue to blog from pre-production through distribution.
So hop onboard, subscribe to the blog, and follow our progress in our quest to raise $200,000 and get this film made!
- K
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