Looking for A DP: A Wild Hope

[ALevinso]

Hi all. I was talking with Ted Schilowitz the other day about the possibility of finding a DP with a RED Cam for a film I'm working on. He seemed (unreasonably) optimistic about the possibility, and pointed me in this direction.

So here goes.

I am a film student at USC, currently directing an IML Thesis Film. It's a 5-7 minute short with a great Douglas Adams-esque story which I'm personally very excited about. The script — about which I'm getting some great input from an award-winning Broadway playwright — has attracted a fantastic cast, and as a USC film, we have the full resources of USC behind us.

And the budget is what I pull out of my wallet.

So here it is. I am hoping against hope that there is a DP or Camera Op or both with a Red who would be willing to work basically for free for a couple of weekends in late March/April. Of course, we're including copy, credit, warm meals, and eternal gratitude, as well as some pretty incredible material for your reel (For instance, we'll be shooting some green-screen material for aerial shots, so perhaps you could see as a plus the fact that you'll get fantastic looking clips of flying along side an airplane at 25,000 feet without the stroke-inducing anxiety of mounting your Red to the outside of an airplane!).

If you think you might be interested. I'd love to talk schedule and give you more detail about the story. Feel free to call me at 610-733-5163

If you're interested in seeing some of my work, my reel is available here:
http://www.leonid-studios.com/DemoReel07.mov

All of the clips save the last ones are from films I directed. On the last clips I was the visual effects supervisor (can't yet afford Josh Hartnett for my own films).

I look forward to hearing from you soon.

All the Best,
Ari Levinson

 

[Peter McCully]

Good luck with your project Ari, it sounds cool.
I would respectfully suggest you pay something. Even if it sounds insultingly little. You will value the contributions of professionals a lot more if you have had to dig something out for them.

 

[Alexander Nikishin]

No pay, no play. :clown2:

Barter deals work well though.

 

[ALevinso]

Peter, you're absolutely right. By "basically for free," I suppose I meant "sufficiently below the usual rate for a DP of your caliber that the pay is not likely to be much of an incentive".

I will be happy to discuss compensation once I get a hold of someone who is interested. I intend to pay as much as I can. The added quality that this collaboration will bring to the film is well worth bankrupting myself for!

Incidentally, I forgot to mention a few things. Because this film is being supported by USC, it will look very much unlike any film made on a comparable budget.

For a start, we have access to a tremendous supply of lights and grip equipment, and a special agreement with Keno for those which we don't have. So you'll be able to get whatever lighting equipment you need for free.

We also have the full muscle of USC's Festivals and Distribution office behind these films, and they have tons of experience with the short-film festival circuit. As a result our film will get significantly more travel than a comparable picture.

There are lots of other special USC agreements, such as with SAG, E&O insurance, FilmLA, studio sets, makeup schools, stunt coordinators, the list goes on, which stretches our budget into a production worth 10 or 20 times what we pay for it.

I'm hoping to make something that everyone involved will be able to take pride in and use to advance their own goals as reel material.

 

[donatello b]

"currently directing an IML Thesis Film"

what's a IML ? ...

this being a student film ...
i've always felt students should be in key positions on student projects and anybody from the industry should be consultants/teachers ...

are there any student DP's at USC ?
why not get a experienced DP to be a consultant - they can be on set advising camera crew & director ...

 

[BigLu]

If anyone does this project for free...
Let me know Id love to have a Free working owner operator work for me.

 

[Davis]

Best wishes to Arri Levinson, If the script is as good as you say then feel confident that someone from the community will see this as an opportunity.

I do like the title "A wild Hope"

Arri, do you think you rent/borrow some lenses? It may be more difficult to find someone with a red AND a nice set of lenses.

 

[ALevinso]

Davis, I'm definitely prepared to cover the lens rentals. From the looks of it, the prices at places like IndieRentals are quite reasonable.