Can you do a feature like this

D

dstevens

Well-known member
I'm starting my first feature film. The story revolves around domestic abuse. The writer has done volunteer work on this area, and started calling hospitals and shelters to see if we could a: film for free in their area b: call for actors and crew

We have no budget. We're asking for charity. Perhaps due to the theme, so far we've gotten a great response.

My question is, as long as the people who own the property we film on sign a release saying we don't owe them money, indemnify, etc then we're pretty much ok, yes?

Also the actors and crew are being asked to work for free. A lot of young aspiring actors have responded, plus some rather experienced technical people.

I'm wondering if there are any big roadblocks I'm not seeing yet. It seems if we get all cast, crew, location owners to sign releases, we should be fine. I expect horror days of people not showing, not getting along, etc. I'll just deal. But if those can be negotiated, is that the biggest hurdle in getting a no-budget film done?

I have my own dvx, pc with adobe ppro 1.5, etc.

Considering how hard it's been to do my short films, this has started out pretty easy. Maybe cause it's easy to get people to say yes, harder to get them to do something?

Is the biggest danger that when you cobble a film together like this it may not look very good?

Given the subject matter, I expect it might do well in the film festival/bleeding heart liberal circles, not to make big $.

I just throw it out as a general question/let yourself ruminate....
 
I went through a similar situation and my lawyer advised me to always pay something, even if it is just $1. Apparently, there are legal reasons for this, and one strategic one which is, if you don't pay anything, someone can always claim that they thought they were GOING to be paid. But if they've been paid ($1) it pretty much settles the issue.

Maybe I was given bum advise, but it's what I was told.

Matt
 
MattC said:
I went through a similar situation and my lawyer advised me to always pay something, even if it is just $1. Apparently, there are legal reasons for this, and one strategic one which is, if you don't pay anything, someone can always claim that they thought they were GOING to be paid. But if they've been paid ($1) it pretty much settles the issue.

Maybe I was given bum advise, but it's what I was told.

Matt
Click to expand...

Excellent Point Matt
 
dstevens,

Have you read "Digital Filmmaking 101" by Dale Newton and John Gaspard? It is a really good look at low-budget filmmaking, and it's actually a pretty good, fast read. It's not a technical approach, but they address a lot of the peripheral stuff. They have a whole section on waivers and business structures. They started a non-profit so that they can accept volunteers, but otherwise there are minimum wage laws and such (and union stuff). For our first feature, we just went with a waiver, but now I think we are going to incorporate to mitigate some legal risk.
 
I echo belarussian2001. Digital Filmmaking 101 is a great resource that goes into the specifics. The only way around minimum wage laws is to do a salary structure, hence why Matt's lawyer suggested what he did. The $1 counts as a salary. Food being provided also can constitute payment. Releases must be dealt with though.
Then there is the issue of kharma.
I always have terms with my crew and cast that if the movie does anything, I mean a freaking dollar, I will give them something. I think it is important that people know that if you get rich off this, lets say you make the next blair witch, that you are going to not tell them to screw off.
The key thing is to get everything in writing, copy it, keep it in triplicate, and then also try to get them on film doing a read release.
This is the only 100% way to cover yourself, then again, if someone wants to sue you, they will.
 
I hear you. I would totally want to share the wealth, not only for fairness, but if you've got a cast and crew that makes a profitable film, wouldn't I want to work with them again?

One lawyer I spoke to suggested if I even hinted about profit sharing, then I would need a huge, complicated contract to cover how that would be done. If I just said, 'if there's money, I'll share it, bro' then I'm wide open to people saying I didn't give them enough.

Is that everyone's experience? Can anyone point to some generic sample contracts involving profit-sharing?
 
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