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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 :)

Co-Production?

Well, I was born at night, but not last night...
Rob Gardner
 
So anyone can buy credits on IMDB now for as low as $250?

Humm...

"Location: Atlantic City, New" There are some nice casino too.

True Hollywood Over Night Success Story, from PA to (Director / Executive Producer)
IMDB
Andrew McCarrick was born September 11th, 1988, in Somers Point, New Jersey. In December of 2003 he transferred from Egg Harbor Township High School to Charter Tech High School for the Performing Arts, where he is majoring in TV/Film Production. In his freshman year he produced/directed a short 8 minute film entitled, "Roswell Crash: Case Closed," which he had to shoot in two days. Through his four year career at school he has learned more from David Roehm, than can ever be learned in a college level film production class. Andrew has filmed more than ten projects in the past four years while still attending regular high school classes. He knows the ins and outs of the production process, from pre-production to post.
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Miscellaneous Crew:

* In Production
* 2000s

1. The Quiet Ones (2009) (completed) (production assistant)
... aka It's Always the Quiet Ones (USA: informal alternative title)

2. Mortal Sin (2009) (production assistant)
3. Mort (2005) (production assistant)

Camera and Electrical Department:

1. Shoot Out of Luck (2009) (camera technical advisor)
2. The Intern (2006) (key grip)
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Tek
 
Andrew McCarrick said:
I really don't get what peoples problems are with this...
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I think people were being polite not responding because they weren't interested. Here are some of your basic problems...

1) Everyone here wants you to invest in THEIR film.

2) See #1 but remember that a lot of people here already have the camera gear.

3) Reduser isn't populated by producers and investors. See #1.

4) Anyone in this business has been asked 50 times for money this year and half of those ideas promised a nude actress sitting on the investors lap (in or out of the movie - take your pick).

5) You're going to need to direct a $5k or $20K movie and do it very well before some producer you don't know will raise $400k for you to direct. You'd be better off raising $5K and directing a couple intense scenes or a short from this movie to prove you can tell a story and direct actors.

6) Enter the script in some of the better screenwriting competitions to see if you've really got something. Put the script on Inktip.com and see if you get bites from any producers there. Doesn't mean you have to sell but it'll at least get you talking with production companies.
 
mail4joeg said:
Other than all that, I wasn't all that interested in your story. A band rebuilds after an accident -- so what?

That seems like the first act of a larger story. Who's the main character? Why do I care?

Good luck. You're gonna need it.
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This. This is your FIRST problem. If you don't have an exciting story, no ones going to care about ANYTHING else (budget, gear, location, stunts, music). Then you've just wasted a sinful amount of money and everyone's time. Life's too short as it is. Did a screenwriter write it? They sure didn't write the synopsis.

Unless you can get Britney Spears in a thong as the lead singer. Then you could shoot it with bad lighting in SD and still get foreign pre-sales. Not that I'd pay to see it.
 
Joel Kaye said:
4) Anyone in this business has been asked 50 times for money this year and half of those ideas promised a nude actress sitting on the investors lap (in or out of the movie - take your pick).
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Hey I have only been asked this twice.....I feel so cheated.

I don't have any money, equipment or time for you Andrew, just encouragement

Clerks was not made for much, neither was hollywood shuffle, which was produced using credit cards, but those movies launched major careers.
 
Can't judge a film or story off a simple synopsis. I think Joel gives some good advice and makes some valid points above. You should take a small sum, like $5K, and create a really nice short to showcase your abilities. That would help a lot to market you as a potential investment.

As for the investment or co-production thing. The biggest questions you will have from potential investors (other than wanting to see a sample of what you can do) is a performance guaranty of some sorts.

In other words, if I were to consider providing money, equipment, etc.. What guaranty do I get that I will see some return on that investment? Do you have a business plan? A schedule? Can you get bonded / insured? How would you structure investing or co-producing buy-ins? Do all participants become member / owners of an LLC to cover the production, or will it be treated as stock shares in the production or do you just take the money and say "if the movie makes money, you receive x% of the profit based on the % of the initial investment. If it fails or doesn't earn a profit, you're fooked.."

Just wondering...
 
This is exactly why we had to "invest" $250,000 of our own money into our first film, "Works in Progress." Without any sort of a track record (and I mean nothing!), we figured it would be pretty hard to convince people to take a shot, especially in this economy! (But God bless those few believers who invested $30,000 anyway.) Now, as it happens, it is turning out to be a very nice little film. Next year, with "Works" firmly under our belts, it's going to be a whole lot easier to fund "Terminal."

Good luck.

Stephen
 
Jeff Kilgroe said:
Can't judge a film or story off a simple synopsis. I think Joel gives some good advice and makes some valid points above. You should take a small sum, like $5K, and create a really nice short to showcase your abilities. That would help a lot to market you as a potential investment.

As for the investment or co-production thing. The biggest questions you will have from potential investors (other than wanting to see a sample of what you can do) is a performance guaranty of some sorts.

In other words, if I were to consider providing money, equipment, etc.. What guaranty do I get that I will see some return on that investment? Do you have a business plan? A schedule? Can you get bonded / insured? How would you structure investing or co-producing buy-ins? Do all participants become member / owners of an LLC to cover the production, or will it be treated as stock shares in the production or do you just take the money and say "if the movie makes money, you receive x% of the profit based on the % of the initial investment. If it fails or doesn't earn a profit, you're fooked.."

Just wondering...
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100% Agreed...even down here we have to do like Jeff's telling.
You have to work in some arguing.

BUsiness is business...first of all:beatdeadhorse:
 
Andrew, in short, you need a track record.

On your site I saw no evidence that you know how to make a movie. Words that you write do not count.

I suggest that you produce some shorts and have those for viewing on your website. It's very difficult to convince people with words why they should give you money to make something visual. You need a visual resume to do that.
 
When I started in film, I worked in Locations for like 8 years, :crying:, and learned a few tricks for schools and business's that I always kept hidden up my sleeve.
Every single school I approach to shoot a film or vid in, I offer to make a donation to a particular school fund. And the donations I make are ALWAYS minimal (around $250/ each day of shooting), and I find 90% of the time, they are more than willing, especially when you let them know how small of a production it is.
The bigger the production looks, the more money they will want. Period. If all you're doing is shooting a short, in a certain space, with minimal invasiveness, then that should do the trick.
I did 2 shorts before Christmas last year, in 2 different schools, after school hours. They cost me $250 each per day, and each production was between 5-7 days. That's cheap for a 5 day location.
Maybe the rules are different in the US, but here in Canada, it works like a charm!:thumbsup:

OR

Maybe you could even swing a deal with the Principle in exchange for the space and equipment?? Space and gear in exchange for x% of profits for the school?



Just a couple of thoughts. Good luck!:)
 
Points...

Points...

1) Can you take your script and "Pre-visualization" (Previz) (animatics) to make an animated version of your whole movie including sound full length so investors etc. can watch it?

http://digitalcontentproducer.com/dcc/revfeat/digital_deja_vu/

http://www.google.com/search?client...ion+software&sourceid=opera&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8


2) Can you make a full detailed budget so that knowledgeable persons can look it over and strike out whatever can be. A penny saved is a penny earned.


3) Can you ask yourself, "if I did not make this film would I go see it/watch it?" If not then, maybe the script needs more thought. You should consult the books by Fredrick Palmer on screenwriting, in particular the "Photoplay Plot Encyclopedia" (?).


4) To better understand editing you should purchase a hand counter and rent the Star Wars, Indiana Jones, Alfred Hitchcock films, Them! (1954), and run them so that you start a stopwatch at fade in, count the number of cuts with the counter and write down the total at each five minite point. After you get all the totals subtract to find the number of cuts in each five minute block period of the film. Replay the DVD and note what is hapening in each of the five minute blocks. It may be best to watch for the cuts with the sound off so you do not miss any of them. Plot the shots per five minutes on a graph paper as a bar graph. Find the average of all five minute periods and draw a line through the graph so you can see what periods are above and below the average. Find the average shot length for the whole film. The values from several films can help you better understand how to figure the values your own projects would require to be similar. You can study other films, but the ones listed should make nice graphs with clear peaks spaced, you will learn quite a bit doing this if you are open minded.
 
Either You're in or You're in the Way

Either You're in or You're in the Way

Get used to hearing "no" or "hell no" and then figure out how to do it anyway.

Although there's only so much reading you can do before you have to start making something happen, I highly recommend a book I just read (in one sitting), about two brothers with no money and no track record who willed their way to a multi-million dollar indie starring Ed Harris:

LINK

Of course, they had a great story to tell. That helps.
 
I dont want to discourage though, so here is my advise:

Show people that you can turn a profit, and you'll find that it is easy to find funding. If you tell a great story for 50k, but it only makes 5k, you're a lot less likely to get money for your next project than someone who makes a bad film for 20k, but sells it for 40k.

Start small, and turn a profit.
 
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