DVXuser.com Feature movie??

It appears I'm volunteering to do some of the marketing. I do know how the news works.

Once we get the script together, can we get a few of the DVXfest films to show on local news. Also we need to pick our directors and film some behind the scenes of what they are working on now. Dustin, the ball is in your court. We need to decide on a premise and get the script moving along!

OK deadlines, Well lets have the premise decided upon by June 15th. Then the first draft of the script August 30th. I'll host the first draft on my website once it is registered with the WGA so our script editors can go through and critique it, also this will determine who directs it. We'll pick our directors in September. October we will finalize the shooting script and begin the hunt for funding.

By the way, in September once we decide on the directors, we will be filming all the BTS stuff for a press kit to send out to all the major news stations, as well as the news stations in the specific areas that the film will be shot. We need to plan a red carpet event in the cities it is shot in and all watch the finished film at the same time!

Sound good?
 
Rockin'. Not going to decide anything today. I didn't sleep last night and about to claw my eyes out. I'll do a read of the thread tonight after my nap.

Rogan
 
sfoster said:
I think we need to nail down which cities before we can write a decent script involving those cities. I think promoting this thing will get us the money we need from distribution. We can market it as the first movie made around the world from different teams all assembled through DVXUSER. I think even Panasonic would sponsor something like that!

SO Nail down the cities, nail down the directors in each city by Poll so no one gets too upset.

English subtitles? I guess that would depend on the script.

I would call Dustin the Executive Producer. The Producer that handles the marketing would just be a regular producer.

I also think that a fund should be set up where people can buy shares. The two with the most shares would be the Associate producer. This will get the money rolling in (hopefully) Profits should go back into this fund for future projects. (part 2's or 3's make more money because all the marketing has been done) Hopefully the money that comes back will make it so we can afford to pay everyone the second time around, just like a normal film. Once we start making a profit, we should send the profit to charity, and not just one charity, but several. I vote for something to do with cancer or leukemia. I've seen too many kids that are dying and would love to put an end to this disease!

So the first film is by volunteer and donation. If it makes a profit, use it to fund the second film. If that one makes a profit, make a third film. If that makes a profit, send the money to charity. Different directors, DP's etc. each time so we maximize the chance at launching more careers.

Any thoughts on what I said???
Click to expand...

Any profits would go to Isara, I don't want to deal with the politics of "I deserve this much" or "that guy didn't work as hard as I did" So nip it in the bud and any profits go towards Isara.

I agree that Cities should be nailed down before a script if formed, now an idea can be before that. I'll go through tonight and put a post at the top of the thread with people who have shown interest and split them into regions/teams

Until tonight
Rogan
 
I'm a little behind in this thread, so forgive me if this idea has already been tossed out. Recently, I saw the movie The Signal. It was a fun little indie horror flick with three directors. The film came about out of a little experiment they were playing -- one director would start the film, then hand it off to the next director who would write and direct the next bit, and so on. Eventually, they hit on enough ideas that they decided to consolidate some of them into a three-part film.

So how about this? What if one city started the process by writing up a 15-20 minute script. If deemed solid enough, it could then be passed onto city #2 for the next part of the story. Of course, it doesn't necessarily have to use the same characters. Say, for instance, Story 1 in New York ends with Sarah wondering how her brother is doing in LA during the crisis. Then Story 2 begins with Sarah's brother. As this process goes along, the earlier chapters in the script could be revised to add plot points and smooth out continuity issues and give a sense of an overall story arc.

Part of the reason that I like this idea is because I really think that the script should be written by the people living in the location that they will shoot. If you live in New York, you're going to know the coolest potential spots to shoot, what resources are available, and what's practical to accomplish. Plus, each segment will be all the more interesting, culturally.

Just my two cents!
 
I can jump in as an assistant director and schedule this puppy when we need to. Been looking for a feature to break down. And a person in our developing production services division loves the concept. So, that can be handled easily. :)

I think the one thing we do need to do with money is first get the production paid for before we even consider the donation. I mean, if we drop a nice some on this shoot, and donate any money we make, we are still in the red. See what I mean?

The production has to be paid for first, then we can consider donating anything after we go into the black.

-Watkajtys
 
put up a list of people I know are in, PM'd those that I wasn't for sure about. its in the first post of the thread....

Rogan
 
Alright guys, just got home. I am going to try and respond to what I remember reading above (I'll do my best).

As far as organization goes, I have been talking with Dustin and I think this is a good plan (similar to one above):

MAIN MAN: DUSTIN

WRITING TEAM: (I don't think there should be a "head" writer per say. Right now I am in charge of the writing team but I don't think I should have any higher priority as far as the script goes. Maybe if there is a plot dispute between members, I will be the one who says yay or nay. Dustin is the final yes/no guy, though.)

DIRECTOR: (ONE PER LOCATION)

CAST/CREW: (ONE PER LOCATION)

EDITING TEAM: (Small group similar to writing team who does this, unless one person wants to do the whole thing and there are no objections.)

COMPOSITION TEAM: (Obviously again like the other teams, small, that will do the score.)

MARKETING TEAM: (You get the picture where the teams are concerned.)

------------

I think if we follow that system things should stay organized. Also, I think we all need to remember that Dustin is in charge, so we can't just start spewing out orders unless he has appointed us to do so :grin:.

The first step (I think) needs to be to develop a story and a writing team. As I said above I am currently in charge of that group and am working to get some members, if you are interested PM me or visit the thread in the Screenplay Forum. Once we have a team and a plot line, we (the writers) can work out a system amongst ourselves to get the script done. While we write, the location groups will be formed so that once the final script is approved it can be sent out to the correct places and filmed. Then it goes to the writing team, composition team, etc, and it's done!

I am thinking I forgot to cover something...the profits go to Isara (although I think we should consider a log of who spends what so that they may be reinbursed, but then again that could lead to a whole bunch of crap if it flops and there is not enough, etc...)...Dustin will tell us how to system will be (if it is like mine above, or something different)...I don't think we should have people put money in a pool, each person can pay for what they do (or donate more if they want) but no one has any higher rank in that respect. Directors may decide with their group how to organize the money situation, but as a whole (like the federal government) we should not be involved...yup, I think that's it!

:beer: Cheers,
 
I think editing should be one person or a team thats in vicinity of each other... so the other knows whats going on and we don't have "different" styles of editing going on
 
Okay, I'm going to come off as a Grinch here, but what the heck...

This is a HECK of a lot of work to expect from people. To then give them no chance at all of making even a tiny amount of money from it -- that seems harsh. It's all noble and everything to want to support charities, but I just don't know if I have the time or energy to participate in something this involved where all I'm going to get out of it in the end is a screen credit and a warm fuzzy.

Don't get me wrong, I support my favorite charities all the time, and I think everyone should. But I don't see any reason why the profits from this project should all go to charity. If people are willing to work hard, pony up, and do what it takes to make this thing GREAT, then they deserve to be rewarded for their efforts. Then they can take that reward and give it to the charity of their choice, if that's what they want to do.

I also don't see why I should have to come out of pocket to make this project happen. I'm perfectly willing to take a deferred-pay deal and hope for the best. But expecting people to PAY for the privilege AND give away any possible profit -- that just seems like too much. Or maybe it's just the arbitrary approach to this that bothers me -- some people will cough up more than others. If you were going to set a standard 'donation' amount, and each person contributed the same, that would at least be relatively fair.

Even more fair would be to line up a good producer who could get the budget money. If you develop a great script and get together great teams, there is no reason why a solid producer couldn't pitch this project to investors and come up with decent budget money.

It's not that I'm not a team player, and it's not that I don't want to support my fellow filmmakers. I just don't think I can in good conscience stay on-board.

I DO wish everyone the very best on this project, and I hope it goes like gangbusters. But I don't have a year or two of my life to devote to working for 'free'. I wish I did.

Best of luck, everyone!
 
Hey Dustin, just seeing this thread....

I don't get it. Is there a page/thread or something that describes what you are intending to do?

i look at the first post and I see names, cities and sectors. But no info.

Am I missing something?

-Ted
 
David,

I'm right with you there. I made a post regarding that a little while ago. I like charity. I think we all do - but this entire production needs to be paid for before we even consider giving giving money to charity. I mean, it seems trivial at this point without a word written or a concept designed...however, it is a legitimate concern. Sure we can do this using stuff we already have. But if we want a name actor - that's a good deal of money. If we want to call this a SAG ultra-low we will need to pay actors 100 dollars a day. And worry about the contractual stuff. We have that locked until we go a cent over 200,000 dollars.

I mean, that is just one little thing to look at regarding monetary concerns. Also, since no one will be getting paid for this, that rules out working on a day to day basis. So, we go from shooting 2 to 4 weeks on a standard shoot rate. That is 6 days a week running a standard 12 hour day. To shooting weekends which will end up taking exponentially longer.

Looking at this thing, if there is no payment for us, at least a stipend - I don't think this thing can happen.

My little note.
 
Hey guys, I am not going to lie, I totally agree with you. In fact, I am pretty sure I said something about this a yesterday (although that may have been a PM) but I am too lazy to find the quote.

I, too, don't see how it will be feesable to put all this out of pocket expense up and not AT LEAST get that back. I do understand that things get complicated fast, like who gets paid how much, etc...

I propose this: we all agree beforehand to donate a certain amount of our money to chaity (maybe even a predecided one) and what we do is any and all profits we split equally. I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be the one who has to say who should get more or less than someone else.

This is a legitimate concern that we need to discuss, so don't give up on it now. We need to put some thought into this before going any further.
 
This is nothing new. A producer's job on any shoot is determining who gets paid what -- who gets more, who gets less. How is this any different?

I think the first flaw is in just opening it up to anyone who wants to participate. That sounds very democratic, but what you wind up with is too many people -- and too many in one job title, too few in another.

If you were going to open a burger joint, would you say "Okay, we're going to hire every qualified applicant who wants to work here"? No. You'd wind up with 60 people trying to run 3 cash registers. You're going to figure out how many people you'll need in each job, then hire those people.

Same here. A producer needs to be at the head of this thing. He/she needs to take ideas for the story, then find capable, qualified writer(s) to draft a great script. Then he/she needs to break the script down and figure out what people will be needed and where. Then put out the call and find those people -- all of whom, ideally, should come from DVXUser.com.

That producer should also determine how much money is needed to make the movie, including paying cast and crew. Then we can all brainstorm ideas on how to raise that money. Shoot a short or trailer to entice investors? Hold a bake sale or a film festival? You get the idea.

Raise the money, then move into pre-pro. Pay everyone who works a fair wage. Then give the profits, if there are any, to a charity that EVERYONE agrees on. I don't know a thing about Isara, but I have charities I'd like to see supported.

That's just my opinion. You guys can do whatever you think will work.
 
David, I like it. You cleared up a lot in my mind. I think the only reason no one has done this is because they don't want it to get too complicated. Run it by Dustin as he would be the one to do all of that and see what he thinks. In fact, I will do it myself to make it easier on you. I am starting to realize that this probably won't work unless we get some organization like that. Thanks.
 
Really, the legacy DVXUser fests all accomplish what you're trying to do to some extent.

It either has to be run like a real show (with everything that goes into one) or left in a very organic state with a few guidelines and everyone on-own for creative, expenses and ownership (DVXUser fests are non-exclusive in nature).

This isn't a deal-killer, but the pay-to-play nature of the current vision is going to keep a good deal of participants from getting involved.

There are a fair amount of people on the board with regular jobs. In my case, if I get called for a series or feature, I'd have to take it - unless I was being compensated otherwise.

The Isara idea is a noble one, but it really would be best relegated to the net side of any revenue allocations. First recoupment should go to the investors after any residual hard costs are paid back.

My knee-jerk reaction is that if you want to do a real feature based on the shared resource premise, it should be set-up as a commercial enterprise.

e
 
Know we're trying to get the some of the administrative details straightened out with this but just wanted to let you know that I would love to be apart of this project.
Like the End of the World idea and would be keen to be involved with shooting here in Japan even if there were a couple of seconds used to establish the entire world was in fact coming to an end. I don't know how many DVXUsers reside here though.
Will be following this thread carefully!
 
and fizzles...and fades away...

guys I'll be honest with you for a second. I was the guy that just thought it'd be cool to work together on a feature...no where did I want to take charge, I am way to inexperienced to try and even fathom trying to take something of this magnitude on and such responsibility...

I kinda got cornered b/c i was the guy that spoke up about an idea i had...call it a misstepped move on my part. I still think its a hell of an idea (that i don't want to be in charge of!!) But if this thing can go somewhere under the guidance of someone who knows what the hell to do, by all means please do so... but I can't not sleep another night...i too have a job that requires me to be up at 330am and put on a newscast every morning....I need my sleep.

I am so down for this just as the guy that helps out not makes things run...not yet anyways let me get some more films under my belt!

Rogan
 
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