OTHER: Drawing With Chalk Feature Film Trailer

Hey Todd,

I just stumbled across your trailer. Great job! When I sold you my HVX, I had no idea you'd be putting it to this good of use. Well now the games begin my friend. Good news is that with a budget of $116,000, you'll be able to get your money back. The bigger challenge is parlaying this film into the next one. Every move you make has to be shrewd like a chess game.

If you need anything, feel free to reach out. I'm proud of you my friend. And not to sound shallow, but man that actress was pretty.

Darryl
 
roberts321 said:
Hey Todd,

I just stumbled across your trailer. Great job! When I sold you my HVX, I had no idea you'd be putting it to this good of use. Well now the games begin my friend. Good news is that with a budget of $116,000, you'll be able to get your money back. The bigger challenge is parlaying this film into the next one. Every move you make has to be shrewd like a chess game.

If you need anything, feel free to reach out. I'm proud of you my friend. And not to sound shallow, but man that actress was pretty.

Darryl
Click to expand...

Thanks Darryl,

Yeah, the games do begin. I just have to sell this one and hopefully generate interest to shoot another film. I really have to work on my business skills (I read your emails religiously). You've shown that you can make it happen.

The film is almost finished (I'm just doing the final music mixes now) and we have a few private screening coming up. I know I'll be picking your brain as the days go on.

You're right, the actress (Pooja Kumar) is pretty, and a real great person to work with!

Todd
 
Bravo! Very inspiring! It's amazing what talent and determination can put together. Great job guys, look forward to hearing more about it! Good luck with the festivals!
 
I have to see this movie... This is My Life Story and I want to know how its going to end...
 
Thanks Quato33 and NC17z,

We've decided to start submitting to many smaller festivals instead of holding out for that 'big' one (hell with the 'World Premiere' requirement). I don't really think this is a festival film (not in the eyes of the big ones anyway). I think many of the smaller festivals will jump on this film and our best bet at this time is to get as many people to see it as possible. Of course we will still submit to all of the major festivals, but why sit on our thumbs waiting for the email (or with hope, the phone call).

I guess the reality of seeing what films get into these top tier festivals (and I'm not taking anything away from anyone who has found success with the big guys; I congratulate them all the way) tells me that I need to look in other venues. This film is just a simple story that a very large group of people can relate to.

I have a screening of the film at the Tribeca Theater this coming Saturday (a private screening for cast/crew/etc.) and I'll let everyone here know how it went (of course the audience is biased, but it'll still be good to see the reaction it'll get). And if anyone is in the upstate NY area, we are having another screening at Alfred University (another local cast/crew screening; but I'd love any dvxuser's to attend as well). That screening is on Feb. 7th at 8pm. You can email for more info. Of course, admission is free and this is still considered a private screening (just in case any of those big festival screening programmers check out this site :) )

All the best.

Todd
 
Todd you have been quite. How are ya?

I really like this movie! Any plans to send it to a rep for distribution? I'd think you'd recoupe in 6 months and have profit's for 3 + years.

Loved it! Tomorrow night I'm going on a bachelor party, I stole a couple lines from your movie about our destination. Sorry, had too :)

Looks realy good. Congrats!

Chip
 
Congrats Todd!

You know I'm your biggest fan! I think you'll sell, but I think it's wise the way you are going about the festival route. It's better to start small. Film Festivals have unfortunately turned into places for big names to push their "small" projects. And not a place for small indies to show the world what they can do.

I'm definately routing for you. I can't wait until I can go rent the movie from my local blockbuster. :-)
 
ChipG said:
Todd you have been quite. How are ya?

I really like this movie! Any plans to send it to a rep for distribution? I'd think you'd recoupe in 6 months and have profit's for 3 + years.

Loved it! Tomorrow night I'm going on a bachelor party, I stole a couple lines from your movie about our destination. Sorry, had too :)

Looks realy good. Congrats!

Chip
Click to expand...

Hey Chip,

I've been good. I've spent the last several weeks mixing/mastering the music (and since it plays an important role in the film I had to get everything just right). I also decided to re-color correct the film to a more natural hue. And now I just finished the final touches this morning (of course I like to cut it down to the wire since our first screening is in a few days). We are definitely going to send it out for reps. We already sent it to Cinetic Media (they turned us down 3 hours after Sundance made their selections). We will start pursuing producer's reps and/or sales agents now. BTW, Chip has seen the film (he's one of only a few people outside of my small group to have seen it).

Enjoy the bachelor party (and keep using the lines :) ). Let me guess... ass factory?

I will try to keep a blog about the 'business' side of this project (I wish I had started one when I began the film). Hopefully others will learn from my success/mistakes/failures etc. I've already gained a lot of insight from this forum and I hope to add to it as well.


jls4,

Yeah, the festivals do tend to go the route of the big 'little' indie film. Funny, Robert Redford recently had comments about the direction even his festival has gone (and he's not too pleased and stated that it's gone off the path he had intended). Without a name, my film has little chance of striking gold with a big festival. I figure I'll start off small and perhaps with some possible wins or reviews, maybe then we'll have a leg to stand on.


Todd
 
Hey All,

Just letting you all know that we had a private screening on Saturday at the Tribeca Cinema and the response was fantastic. Also the image on the screen was stunning (they shown the film in native 2.35:1 masked and I couldn't have been more happy with the image. It shows what is capable of the HVX200 when 'blown-up'. Again, I shot in 720 24pN and the image still held it's own.

The audience was engaged and responded honestly. We never felt we were getting 'courtesy' re-actions (the theater was at 99% capacity- 125 seats). But again, on a big screen the film looked great. I had been used to viewing on my own home theater on a 90" screen but to see the film on a 30 foot 2.35:1 screen was a treat. I had shown the film in 1280x720 24p (Blu-Ray).

Hopefully the film will make its rounds with the festivals and more people will get to see it in the same manner.

Todd

ps, I will post pictures from the screening soon (hopefully). Also, a great thanks out to the folks over at Tribeca Cinema, they are fantastic!
 
Oh, one last thing...

We did have a film critic in the audience, so hopefully we'll get a review soon.
 
DCP said:
The audience was engaged and responded honestly. We never felt we were getting 'courtesy' re-actions (the theater was at 99% capacity- 125 seats). But again, on a big screen the film looked great. I had been used to viewing on my own home theater on a 90" screen but to see the film on a 30 foot 2.35:1 screen was a treat. I had shown the film in 1280x720 24p (Blu-Ray).
Click to expand...

I bet there's no chance in buying a Blu-ray version of your movie right now? I'd love to see the images on a High Def screen. Unfortunately I only know one person with a blu-ray player, but I'm sure he'd love to see it because he's thinking of what camera to upgrade to. He's currently in Mini-DV world looking for the HD push. I shot V1U (HDV to Cineform HD) and I don't have a blu-ray burner, so I've been debating if I should buy one. So I'd love to get a copy of DWC and just check out the quality. (I also want to see the movie - I admit)

A little fundraiser couldn't hurt right?
 
DCP said:
Hey All,

Just letting you all know that we had a private screening on Saturday at the Tribeca Cinema and the response was fantastic. Also the image on the screen was stunning (they shown the film in native 2.35:1 masked and I couldn't have been more happy with the image. It shows what is capable of the HVX200 when 'blown-up'. Again, I shot in 720 24pN and the image still held it's own.

The audience was engaged and responded honestly. We never felt we were getting 'courtesy' re-actions (the theater was at 99% capacity- 125 seats). But again, on a big screen the film looked great. I had been used to viewing on my own home theater on a 90" screen but to see the film on a 30 foot 2.35:1 screen was a treat. I had shown the film in 1280x720 24p (Blu-Ray).

Hopefully the film will make its rounds with the festivals and more people will get to see it in the same manner.

Todd

ps, I will post pictures from the screening soon (hopefully). Also, a great thanks out to the folks over at Tribeca Cinema, they are fantastic!
Click to expand...
Sent you a PM on this
 
OT: 1 minute Festival Rant

OT: 1 minute Festival Rant

OK, I have to vent a little...

I knew going in this film would be a hard pitch for a major festival:

1. No name actors
2. Straight forward drama
3. No quirky or revolutionary shooting style
4. No sexual explorations
5. Long film (2 hours)

I can accept the above marks against the film lessen my chances of getting in (and btw, I know someone who screens films for a festival here in good old NYC and he gave me the real low down on the process: all films they get are put into piles depending on running length and then given 15 min, 10 min, or maybe 5 min viewing times with the shorter films getting the longest amount of time. And the films hitting the 2 hour mark are set aside last and given the least amount of time or attention. The comments that all films are seen in their entirety is mostly false. Now this is a festival he works for so I'm not speaking for ALL of them).

This person was at my screening on Saturday and loved the film (and came right out and said I had to cut 20 min. just to get a chance for a festival to REALLY SEE the film). Damn.

Now for the real rant:

I can understand not getting in with the odds against us. What bothers me is the latest rejection letter we received last night from SXSW. In the letter, and I quote, "'Drawing With Chalk' was given every consideration. We received over 3,500 submissions... It's highly competitive, not unlike applying to college." No offense, but I'm a 40 year old man who graduated from college nearly 19 years ago. Using that analogy says something about the age of the person who wrote it and the age of the person it was intended for. At least have two generic rejection forms available so at least the insult isn't so... insulting.

Alright, venting over as of 3... 2.... 1.

Now, back to work!

Todd:beer:
 
DCP said:
OK, I have to vent a little...

I knew going in this film would be a hard pitch for a major festival:

1. No name actors
2. Straight forward drama
3. No quirky or revolutionary shooting style
4. No sexual explorations
5. Long film (2 hours)

...
Now for the real rant:

I can understand not getting in with the odds against us. What bothers me is the latest rejection letter we received last night from SXSW. In the letter, and I quote, "'Drawing With Chalk' was given every consideration. We received over 3,500 submissions... It's highly competitive, not unlike applying to college." No offense, but I'm a 40 year old man who graduated from college nearly 19 years ago. Using that analogy says something about the age of the person who wrote it and the age of the person it was intended for. At least have two generic rejection forms available so at least the insult isn't so... insulting.
Click to expand...

This is why I say skip the large festivals. What I've learned is that all festivals are political. If you knew the owner you rmovie would be in. If you said "Danny DeVito" exec produced your movie, you'd be in. Festivals get like above say 3,500 submissions x $40 fee = $140,000 and they don't even watch all of them. I've heard from people who've bene over fests that they tend to make over 70% of their decisions by the time the Early Bird status is over.

Smaller startups in their first 5 years are much better, because they don't have a name themselves. Sure they WANT the big movies, but they generally don't get them.

As for the quote - it's just generic, I wouldn't read too much into it. They have to tell you something - they can't say "Hey thanks for the $40 we only watched 10 minutes of your movie - we prefer movies that will make us money - thanks for the cash!" :Drogar-Love(DBG):
 
jls4 said:
As for the quote - it's just generic, I wouldn't read too much into it. They have to tell you something - they can't say "Hey thanks for the $40 we only watched 10 minutes of your movie - we prefer movies that will make us money - thanks for the cash!" :Drogar-Love(DBG):
Click to expand...

Funny, being a straight shooter myself I would at least prefer the honesty (and perhaps would get a chuckle out of a rejection letter like that. But then again, DID they REALLY watch all 10 minutes?)

Small festivals are the way of the indie future (at least until they get too big themselves and go the commercial way).
 
shutterspeedfilms said:
Can someone provide a link or Cliffs Notes as to how the budget was spent for this film?
Click to expand...

Basically about $25,000 went to crew/cast (we had a SAG Ultra-Low Budget Agreement) and we had shot for nearly 20 days (some days only included my DP and myself). Approximately $70,000 went to equipment purchases (Camera, Cranes, Dolly, Sound, Editing Suite, Recording, Hard Drives,), the remaining covered expenses such as food, travel, lodging, legal, etc.

Granted, I've sold most of my equipment and recouped some costs so the actual cost of the film is lower than the estimated $116,000. I'd say a more accurate estimate would be closer to the $90,000 mark.

I do have an Excel report showing the Above-THe-Line/ Below-The-Line itemized costs but I have to be sure I can release that info with my partner first.

I could have probably rented the equipment but in the end the expense would have probably been higher since my shooting schedule lasted nearly 10 months at random times (some days where spontaneous).

Todd
 
awesome trailer my friend. Can't wait to see the movie. You should plan a screening here in utah. I think the film will get a good response here in town.
 
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