So you say you have a burning desire to make a movie and you will do what ever it takes to get the job done? You fancy yourself an “independent” type and you want to reflect that in your art? Well, you better know what it takes before you decide to launch yourself into the…
I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately from filmmakers who haven’t gone into production yet with their films, as to whether or not it’s a good time to start thinking about distribution. My answer is always the same: it’s a great idea to start thinking about distribution even BEFORE you make your film. For example, I’m big…
Let’s face it, many people want to make films. They have dreams, they have plans, sometimes they even put a cast and a crew together, but most of these films never get completed. The primary reason for that is that most people have the expectation of their low-budget film coming out looking like a high-budget…
To do anything worthwhile in life is a process and if you put your mind to it you can do it” That’s what my dad used to say to me all the time when I was a kid. Well, turns out he was right. Everything I’ve encountered since the age of 18 from dating, going…
So you couldn’t find a distributor but you know your film has an audience? Or you haven’t tried getting a distributor and don’t feel like waiting out the time it takes and going through the process? In either case, you can take a do-it-yourself approach and release your movie on DVD or in the theaters,…
Film Distribution is the final frontier in the film production process. Many filmmakers begin production on their film without giving any thought to film distribution. For this reason, many independent films never see the light of day, and investors never get paid back. One way to practice responsible film making, is to have a film distribution plan in place…
If you want to broadcast across Hollywood that you are an amateur, pay the rental company’s published rate card amounts for your production equipment. No professional pays rate card! I don’t even know why they bother to print rate cards, except to give you an idea of the top of the price range, how high not to…
You may believe a thorough knowledge of filmmaking and the entertainment industry is enough to make you a good movie producer. While it certainly helps to know the nuts and bolts of movie production, and even the details of financing and marketing a movie, that knowledge is not enough to create a good producer. It…
The first thing any director intending work with actors on a film needs to understand is that acting for film is the most technically demanding and often least rewarding work an actor will do (not financially, but in terms of satisfaction with the actual process). To understand it helps to compare the work with an actor’s job…
I’ve gotten a lot of questions lately from filmmakers who haven’t gone into production yet with their films, as to whether or not it’s a good time to start thinking about distribution. My answer is always the same: it’s a great idea to start thinking about distribution even BEFORE you make your film. For example, I’m big…
“Mise-en-scene” is an original French word applied to the theatre, and it referred to any material component added to the choreographic composition of the stage including the actors and their performances. In filmmaking the word has been expertly applied to the criticism of movies by the renowned critic and theorist AndrĂ© Bazin (1918-1958), co-founder of…
If you are not busy making your movie, you should get busy making your movie. “How can I start,” you whine, “when I don’t have any financing?” I know it seems you can’t roll film or tape until you have some money, but your lack of funding isn’t permanent, is it? You will have money…
