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  • Hey all, just changed over the backend after 15 years I figured time to give it a bit of an update, its probably gonna be a bit weird for most of you and i am sure there is a few bugs to work out but it should kinda work the same as before... hopefully :)

DP Needed for Full Length Feature for Fall/Winter 2007 in San Antonio/Austin, TX Area

Rogelio Salinas

Rogelio Salinas

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I am still in the planning and pre-production stages of the film, but we will begin shooting later this year. I currently have a deposit for a RED One with an 18-85mm lens, but I would rather hire a DP with a RED One. I am still in the fundraising stage of production. The main reason I would rather higher a DP with a RED One due to article 181 of American Jobs Creation Act that allows sponsors and investors to write off 100% of the funds they contribute to a motion picture shooting in the US as long as 75% of the contributions are paid to the cast and crew. The length of the shoot is in the process of being determined. I was looking at originally shooting with the HD200, but RED is the way to go. The only requirements are that the DP owns and becomes familiar with shooting with a RED One, that that they have a creative eye for motion picture shooting, and that they be flexible during our shooting schedule. The position will be one of the only paid positions. Myself along with the other actors are going to be non-paid or deferred payments. They are very excited about just being part of the project.

The name of the project is SOLITAIRE and is best described as a Christian Martial Arts Drama. I would prefer not to give details on this board, but please contact me if you would like to know further details about the story and if you would be interested in working with this creative and experimental project that should truly stand out once it has been completed. This project has been in the works for many years and is finally coming into fruition. The lead roles have already been cast, several locations have already been secured with more to come, and I am in the process of storyboarding the script to help with the shoot as well. Please email me if you live in the Austin/San Antonio region and would be interested. Thanks.

Rogelio Salinas III
odysseydvd@hotmail.com
 
Rogelio Salinas said:
The lead roles have already been cast, several locations have already been secured with more to come, and I am in the process of storyboarding the script to help with the shoot as well.
Click to expand...

Thank God someone still storyboards. I can't tell you how many low-budget indy's I've worked on where the producers only had around like 100k or 200k and there were no storyboards. Every single time it's the same. They hire some half-assed "DP" with questionable credentials, get on set and figure the shots out as they go. It's unbelievable to me. Not only does it waste time on set, but as we all know time is money and money is NOT something indy's are able to waste. The most ironic thing about this is that the studio shoots I've worked on, the one's that probably COULD afford to waste a little more time, DID have storyboards. I believe this is a sign of professionalism and dedication to their craft and the story. No doubt the director's who work on huge studio projects made their way up through their own indy projects, where they probably storyboarded EVERYTHING, so it doesn't surprise me that they are the the ones who rose to the top.

I just don't understand how someone can invest that much of their livelihood into a project which is supposed to be their baby and not be fully prepared.

Anyway, just wanted to say that... :) Good luck to you and your film.
 
I really like the shoots where they have the script, they have the storyboards... Then on set they throw them away and re-invent everything as they go.
 
AppliedVisual said:
I really like the shoots where they have the script, they have the storyboards... Then on set they throw them away and re-invent everything as they go.
Click to expand...

lol... never experienced that one before... that's funny
 
Rogelio Salinas said:
I am still in the planning and pre-production stages of the film, but we will begin shooting later this year. I currently have a deposit for a RED One with an 18-85mm lens, but I would rather hire a DP with a RED One. I am still in the fundraising stage of production. The main reason I would rather higher a DP with a RED One due to article 181 of American Jobs Creation Act that allows sponsors and investors to write off 100% of the funds they contribute to a motion picture shooting in the US as long as 75% of the contributions are paid to the cast and crew. The length of the shoot is in the process of being determined. I was looking at originally shooting with the HD200, but RED is the way to go. The only requirements are that the DP owns and becomes familiar with shooting with a RED One, that that they have a creative eye for motion picture shooting, and that they be flexible during our shooting schedule. The position will be one of the only paid positions. Myself along with the other actors are going to be non-paid or deferred payments. They are very excited about just being part of the project.

The name of the project is SOLITAIRE and is best described as a Christian Martial Arts Drama. I would prefer not to give details on this board, but please contact me if you would like to know further details about the story and if you would be interested in working with this creative and experimental project that should truly stand out once it has been completed. This project has been in the works for many years and is finally coming into fruition. The lead roles have already been cast, several locations have already been secured with more to come, and I am in the process of storyboarding the script to help with the shoot as well. Please email me if you live in the Austin/San Antonio region and would be interested. Thanks.

Rogelio Salinas III
odysseydvd@hotmail.com
Click to expand...

Hey Rogelio. I have to go back and do some research, but I think Article 181 is only viable if your budget is over $1million US. Again, I haven't looked at it for a while and if you've dug deep enough to find that clause in the first place you may be more aware than me.

You may also be raising over a million, but with non-paid crew and actors, I would assume you're going well below that budget.

Anyway, best of luck and let me know if I'm wrong, so that I can adjust my brain. :)

EDIT: I just started skimming the articles that Donatello provided and nothing on a min. budget so far. THAT WOULD BE AMAZING. I will have to go back to my documents, because being able to use this for a $200k movie is MUCH more doable. Thanks for brining this up.

EDIT: I stand corrected on my earliest comment. There is nothing that states a min. budget. GREAT NEWS. thanks again Rogelio and good luck.
 
beatniq said:
lol... never experienced that one before... that's funny
Click to expand...
Only happened to me once... It was the first paying gig I landed with my brand new DVX100. It was a commercial for a local casino and I think it turned out better than what they would have had, if they had stuck to the script...
 
insanityfw said:
Hey Rogelio. I have to go back and do some research, but I think Article 181 is only viable if your budget is over $1million US. Again, I haven't looked at it for a while and if you've dug deep enough to find that clause in the first place you may be more aware than me.

You may also be raising over a million, but with non-paid crew and actors, I would assume you're going well below that budget.

Anyway, best of luck and let me know if I'm wrong, so that I can adjust my brain. :)

EDIT: I just started skimming the articles that Donatello provided and nothing on a min. budget so far. THAT WOULD BE AMAZING. I will have to go back to my documents, because being able to use this for a $200k movie is MUCH more doable. Thanks for brining this up.
Click to expand...

THE CREW WILL BE PAID. The actors (including myself) are non-paid or deferred payment.

The only budget constraint to Article 181 is that the budget can be no more than $15mil ($20mil for certain projects), but there is no minimum budget, which works great for indie filmmakers trying to raise funds for their project.
 
This article 181 thing is awesome. I didn't know about it and it definitely deserves some further exploration.
 
Rogelio Salinas said:
THE CREW WILL BE PAID. The actors (including myself) are non-paid or deferred payment.

The only budget constraint to Article 181 is that the budget can be no more than $15mil ($20mil for certain projects), but there is no minimum budget, which works great for indie filmmakers trying to raise funds for their project.
Click to expand...

yeah, that's amazing Rogelio. I keep reading the docs over and over again, just because I can't believe it. I was planning a feature last year, but I started to get nervous about the million dollar min., but now I'm going to push forward my feature at a much lower budget thanks to you. :) I guess next time i'll take more than one person's opinion before calling it law. :)

I hope you find the DP you need and can't wait to hear updates on the project.

Best of luck,
Jason
 
AppliedVisual said:
I really like the shoots where they have the script, they have the storyboards... Then on set they throw them away and re-invent everything as they go.
Click to expand...

To be honest I prefer improv over scripts any day. Most of our previous works were improv, but this project will benefit from sticking to the script, but I'll give one detail about the full length script. There is only one spoken word in the entire script.
 
I get to be the dialogue coach!
 
You are both hired. I want to ensure that this one word is spoken with as much annunciation as possible. I was actually thinking of using "ROSEBUD" or "REDONE", but I did not want to dishonor the great Orson Welles. Really though sound is going to play a very important part in the production.
 
So what is the one word? Do I get a cookie if I guess it?
 
Rogelio,

I think that you are misinterpreting the law. Section 181 says that at least 75% of the total compensation of the production must be paid for services performed in the US by actors, directors, producers, etc. This is not 75% of the production expenses, just 75% of the compensation. Therefore, my interpretation is that if you only pay $1 in compensation total, but it was to an actor in the U.S., then you can deduct the full production cost.

That's just my interpretation, and I'm not an accountant. I would welcome other people's views.

I think the last article that Donatello cited agrees with this opinion as well.

http://www.fvldlaw.com/articles/FVLD_Legal_Update_Runaway_Productions_0606.pdf
 
Sumfun said:
Rogelio,

I think that you are misinterpreting the law. Section 181 says that at least 75% of the total compensation of the production must be paid for services performed in the US by actors, directors, producers, etc. This is not 75% of the production expenses, just 75% of the compensation. Therefore, my interpretation is that if you only pay $1 in compensation total, but it was to an actor in the U.S., then you can deduct the full production cost.

That's just my interpretation, and I'm not an accountant. I would welcome other people's views.

I think the last article that Donatello cited agrees with this opinion as well.

http://www.fvldlaw.com/articles/FVLD_Legal_Update_Runaway_Productions_0606.pdf
Click to expand...

You are correct. I hope I didn't give the impression that it was 75% of the total production cost. It is basically 75% of the costs have to go toward director, producers, actors (basically cast & crew compensation). That is why I would prefer to hire a DP with a RED ONE and pay him/her directly instead of purchasing the camera, because Article 181 will only benefit our sponsors and contributors if I hire someone and pay them instead of purchasing the equipment myself. The reason for 181 was that many productions were moving to Canada and other countries, and this was one way to keep some of these runaway projects from going elsewhere. What the act is intended to do is bring more money to the US economy by hiring film crews working in the US.
 
Don't know why I'm getting involved in this one, since I am not a US resident. Maybe it's because I am putting off finishing my own tax return that needs to be filed today!

One thing that occurs to me is that Article 181 specifically said that the money must be paid "for services". Does an owner operator charging for himself with the camera count as a service? Or would it need to be split between the payment for the service and the payment for equipment rental. If this is not the case, it seems it would be too easy for a producer to set up a separate company which purchased equipment, and then rented it to the production company to qualify under the terms of the article.
 
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