"Corrado" - A production blog

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chris f said:
I definitely don't want to burn any bridges here because I personally don't know more than 2 people on these forums and would love to meet and work with anyone on dvxuser. Also, let me preface this by saying that I have found this thread to be incredibly informative and priceless and will probably check in from time to time on the new Corrado blog. However, comments like this make it sound as if you are talking down to the rest of us readers and I'm not going to lie, it's a huge turn off.

Are we just mere citizens that just sit around and talk? I'd venture to say that almost all of us are fellow filmmakers who may be on the brink of our own Corrado or we may be just starting off making our first "d*ckhead zombie hunter 5 short" (and I'll go ahead and give you the benefit of the doubt that that has no reference to Brandon Rice's new "Scorpion 5" thread, because even though I don't know Brandon personally, his participation and support among these forums are exactly the type of thing that keeps DVXUSER going and I can't imagine you would talk trash on that). Regardless of where we are in our career everyone in the user films section wants the same thing: promotion for their film and to receive and offer help and DVXUSER has graciously offered that to EVERYONE who registers with the site.

I don't want to go overboard in my ranting, but I doubt your blog would get 2,300 replies and 170,776 views without the generous and free help of DVXUSER.
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I have to agree with Chris, I appreciate you sharing your experience 100% its been a great learning experience and i dont want my following comments to take away from how much i respect what you have done and how much i appreciate you sharing all of this but I do think at times you display an over sized ego and this may be a great benefit for you in being successful in your career, but you just outright dissed the films in the user film section, and you clearly think your film is far superior to anyone elses work, which im sure everyone thinks that about there own project but for you to vocalize that rubs me and im sure alot of others the wrong way.

Your thread here is not the only one packed with beneficial info, yes you have a great deal of information and this may be the most popular thread ever but that dosent mean you have right to diss other peoples projects.

With all that said i will continue to check in on your blog to see how distribution for Corrado goes, but if you think your going to have anywhere near the amount of readers as you had here on DVXuser you are very mistaken.
 
Everything comes to an end, and a thread can't go forever :)

The last piece of the puzzle was: the recoupment of the investment.

Corrado started out with a stated budget of $300,000.

When Adam negotiated successfully the name talent through the agents -- the greatest achievement of the project as far as its benefit to me personally: learning how to get through to the agents without showing them the money, and securing the services of the actors -- the budget went up to $600,000.

The investors stepped in and put up the rest of the money (or approved the increase in the budget).

Now that upped the ante. I asked the question at the time this happened: would the distributors advance the money on delivery of the movie? The answer was: "Yes." Okay, I'd never seen this before, someone getting all their budget back from the distributors on signing the contract or delivering the movie. I'd heard about it, but never knew someone personally so close to getting it.

Any producer in Hollywood can make a movie given $100,000,000. He hires the best in every department (even Oscar winners) and oversees the production. But making a viable movie that distributors will pick up and pay the filmmaker the budget back plus a percentage, that's what takes a lot of skill and, I grant you, talent.

Although I haven't seen a single frame of Corrado, I wanted to see this movie get to that stage, because this thread has been so well-written and so popular. This thread has become a rallying point for many filmmakers here.

So I'm saddened to see it come to an end a few weeks before the distribution deal was struck.

It was great seeing No Greater Love find distribution; but the movie wasn't as well documented and it was not a first time feature. Moreover, we don't know what the advance was. Without knowing the budget and the advance, I haven't learned the essential part of what makes a successful movie.

I've been making movies for four decades. I've made movies all over the world. I've been a cinematographer and editor on many feature films, I've been to the foreign markets, and I've made my own personal films; but the hardest thing is not just surviving but succeeding according to the measure of Hollywood. And Corrado was going to be and might still be the only film that I followed -- as if it were my own production -- that would make it to a theatrical distribution. If not that then, ok, a DVD deal that guaranteed the $600,000 recoupment to the investors.

Then I could go to my investors and say, "Adam did it. He made his first feature and because he did it right, the movie has been picked up."

But unfortunately it wasn't to happen here, because by nature these threads become inundated with extraneous questions, such as digital vs. 35mm -- oops, that was me. LOL
 
filmman said:
the budget went up to $600,000.
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I must have missed this... my understanding that it went up an extra $50k only... the $600k number was what he would have put into it if he was paid as a producer, writer, director, prepping the sound... so on and so on...


filmman said:
But unfortunately it wasn't to happen here, because by nature these threads become inundated with extraneous questions, such as digital vs. 35mm -- oops, that was me. LOL
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Who knows maybe that's why I missed the above... : )
 
I don't believe Adam said how much money was committed when he called the first agent. He said he had the money to do the movie himself even if there were no outside investors involved. I believe him.

But when he filled all the roles and signed the SAG contract, he had committed himself to the $600,000. That was the budget figure, and it's reasonable.

There are certain standards that have to be adhered to when someone does a professional movie in Hollywood, and Corrado appears to be 100% professional.
 
My guess is that having traffic on his site to keep reading the blog is something that cold be an asset to him for sales marketing purposes. If it's on his site, he'll have hard numbers to show to distributors.
Creating the thread in the first place was a fantastic gift to those of us who want to follow in his foot steps, and finishing it on his own site is his choice that he has a right to make.
It's not like we can't know what happens, just read it over there instead.

Thanks for sharing Adam!

Chris
 
dougspice said:
Okay. I haven't heavily researched this list, so maybe I'm actually wrong about some of them. Feel free to let me know. But here off the top of my head are some visually stylish films from the past few years that originated on film.

The Spiderman trilogy
The Lord of the Rings trilogy
The Bourne trilogy
Amelie
Black Hawk Down
2046
Band of Brothers
The Matrix
Children of Men
Fight Club
Munich

I think you'll agree that all of these films were heavily treated in post, and none of them were visually limited by the shooting format!

And with regards to a point John brought up: sometimes productions shoot 35mm specifically because the camera bodies are smaller and easier to work with in tight spaces! Scenes that take place in cars, for instance.
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Actually for VFX films you would want to shoot on Film. Dynamic range is very important to good VFX work, and having the latitude of Film can make te difference between a crappy VFX shot and a great one. Digital can be great for Green screen in a low contrast lighting setup, but if the shot/plate needs a lot of contrast, like an exterior sunny day, with bright skies and sunlight Digital is probably going to bite you in the ass.
While the Phantom and Red have a pretty good dynamic range, and give you a rock steady image, if you are going to shoot pyro, you have to shoot film or it will clip like crazy. It looks awful when this happens.
I'll take a Mitchell with some Vision 2 stock over digital any day of the week for VFX work.
 
best of luck, Adam. I will definitely be subscribing to your blog's RSS feed. I recommend others do the same if you want to continue following the Corrado journey.
 
I was offered a Red Giant Magic Bullet V.2 unopened program for $50. I'm mainly interested in giving my digital no budget features the "film look" without having to spend $25,000 on the 7:1 ratio film and developing expenses. I think Adam is also planning to shoot 35mm on Hangar 14.

I was wondering if that's too old? Compatibility issues?

I have FCP 5.04 studio and the G5. What's the latest version of Magic Bullet and what new programs I won't have if I buy an old one?
 
J.R. Hudson said:
The thread was unstuck due to no other films in this section having this luxury. We just want a fair approach to the showcase and pimping of user's films.

It is nothing personal but only in the best interest of the forum and its guidleines.

This thread will not suddenly go away and be buried. It is quite popular with a huge fan base and interest, and that is what should drive a thread in this section.

Thanks for the understanding.

Okay, back on topic please.
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Well, now that he's gone, it will go away an be buried, and then the single most helpful thread *EVER* on this site will be lost.
 
There is a compromise solution. Perhaps use the edited PDF files of the blog as a locked sticky. It cleaner and easier to read than the thread. Everyone gets the info and if they want to chat with Adam they can do so at his blog.

Would that work for everyone?
 
We can keep it going until Corrado has been picked up for distribution. After that a search in this website will turn it up for anybody that want's to read something that was discussed.

Also, anybody that wants to use the Corrado thread as a reference, should simply copy it and print it out for personal use.
 
We were keeping this thread open so that whoever wanted to keep discussing the film and the process could do so.

But let's not start making personal attacks on anyone here or elsewhere.
And please do not drag drama from another board or site onto this one.


So, please think twice before you add to this thread.
If it is about anything other than the film itself or the process of making it - it probably doesn't belong in here.

Thanks for keeping it clean and civil.
 
well, not much to discuss since he's gone, lol. i just bookmark it and reference it whenever i may need to in the future.

oh well...he seemed like a cool guy, i sure did learn a lot, it's damn near impossible to find fellow filmmakers that open about their process and give that much details....everybody else has the "i'd rather not say" or "buy my book and find out" type of attitude.
 
metro2307 said:
There is a compromise solution. Perhaps use the edited PDF files of the blog as a locked sticky. It cleaner and easier to read than the thread. Everyone gets the info and if they want to chat with Adam they can do so at his blog.

Would that work for everyone?
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that'd be cool, but it'd still be kinda promoting his film over others in this section which i think it what they're trying to avoid...and i can understand that.

the only compromise is to just visit the guy's blog if you want updates, etc. personally i was a little surprised that taking his thread off as a sticky ticked him off so bad....as many people that are subscribed to the thread it wouldn't have died anytime soon, and if it did it would have probably been long form now when he's damn near finished his next film.
 
Before some of the drama started happening, this thread was originally stuck b/c it had some great information in it about how to go out and get a movie deal, etc, etc. It was (originally) a fine example of the types of threads we like to see here on dvxuser... But, when comments began not being 100% positive some people did not take it well and that created drama. And, some people did not post their non-glowing critiques of the trailer in very appropriate or helpful ways and there was some bad tact from both the original thread starter, other members, and (yes) even some who are charged with maintaining a productive and positive atmosphere here on the site. So, while the information herein still remains very valuable, the example that we hoped this thread would be was getting lost in behavior that I don't feel it appropriate to endorse (again from all sides of the fence) on this site.

It was bad timing about the unsticking of this thread and I can certainly see where the perception has come from with some folks that there was some kind of personal reasoning behind it. This, however could not be further from the truth.

Contrary to the misconceptions, wrong perceptions, misconducts, etc, here was the plain and simple reasoning behind the choice to unstick, which has now become such an issue with some:

The user films section remains a place where people (for free) can discuss their process, they get a bit of promotion out of it (while in production) and can benefit (if they so choose) from the feedback they receive, as well as the rest of the members benefit from the sharing of information on the production process that one goes through.

However, in the interest of fairness the user films section should not have individual film threads that are stuck here. There are some people that pay for the privilege of promoting their films in the user films section once it has moved past production and into release. It is not fair to them. It is also not fair to all of the rest of the people who post their production journals here to (potentially) feel marginalized or less important, etc. It would kind of be like sticking a film thread in Twilight Fest just b/c we thought it was a valuable thread, or a popular one, etc. A thread in this section should be popular b/c of it's content, not b/c of any kind of endorsement by this site. And, that is the reason this thread was so popular. Not b/c of the fact that it was stuck, but b/c of the fact that the original content provided herein was valuable to the members. The content should stand on it's own.

As such, official dvxuser policy (while there was never really a precedent until now) is now that NO user film thread will be stuck.

I would hope that people can move past some of the sillyness that happened here, as well as any misconceived notion about the motivations of management due to happenings and bad timing of a few in this thread and move forward with respect and still view this thread for the reason it was originally stuck. A thread with valuable information, that was (originally) a good example of behavior we wanted to promote here on the site.

I would also hope that folks would keep in mind the large amount of free promotion that they received when they chose to take the audience they have gained here as a result of that with them, and keep that in mind as they continue discussion elsewhere.

So, I won't single out individual behaviors or name specific examples. I will say that I hope people can still gain benefit from this thread. I hope that people see the good information that is here. I hope that other people can learn to take criticisms (even those not worded well or thoughtfully) in stride and respond to them in a more positive way in the future. If for no other reason than promoting a contributory, positive atmosphere on a site that is meant to be a community. Not a soapbox, or platform. I will also apologize for any behavior that may have occurred in this thread by anyone associated with the charge of management of this site that has lent to the perception of there being some personal reasoning behind the actions taken here. Know that all are human, and all have our own quirks and personalities, and all make mistakes.

Now, in the interest of stopping the drama here on this site, I think it best to close this thread now. I'm sorry it has come to this. What people choose to do elsewhere is up to them, but I don't want to have it here. I can certainly understand how some may have felt slighted, but it was never personal and to my understanding that should be quite clear by now to those who needed to know it. Continuing this kind of stuff is becoming nonsensical.

Again, I apologize for conduct of a few in this thread, and personality conflicts that have inaccurately created an issue with some. This is an issue that was blown completely out of proportion by some, and the conduct of others did not help the situation at all.

Later,
Jason
 
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