DVXuser.com Feature movie??

I never declared myself "leader" people called me that. I can't blame them...but I was just the guy w/ the idea...and not ready for this big of a project. I was asked for a suggestion on who I thought and I gave my 2 cents, cant help it the exchange rate is different, that some people think my 2 cents is worth more (lol totally jk)


I never wwanted it...people said since i started this whole thing that I should do it....ummmm not!!

Dustin Rogan
 
I think this ship is free sailing at the moment and in desperate need of a leader to get things done. Chapel - As an idea, i know you said you didnt want to take charge of the overall project, but maybe take over at the beggining, take this to the places where it needs to go, etc, etc. Untill someone is appointed by vote.

Just a thought
 
spa_edwards said:
I think this ship is free sailing at the moment and in desperate need of a leader to get things done. Chapel - As an idea, i know you said you didnt want to take charge of the overall project, but maybe take over at the beggining, take this to the places where it needs to go, etc, etc. Untill someone is appointed by vote.

Just a thought
Click to expand...

How would everyone feel about this?

Probably the job of any 'leader' at this point is to do a few simple things. First, lay out some organization as to what needs to be done, and in what order.

Second, help the group come up with a solid storyline, so the writing team can begin working on it.

Then, help find the best possible candidate to take over the reins as the main producer, and let that person take it from there.

What do you guys think?
 
Also, just to clarify -- I didn't say I didn't want to take over the project. I just said I thought the majority of folks here might be more comfortable with a leader whose vision of the project more closely matches their own. :)

One more thing -- I meant to say 'Heard of Cows Productions' before. It comes from an old joke I heard as a child.

BUCK: Clem! Clem! I just seen a bunch of cows headin' this way!

CLEM: Herd.

BUCK: What???

CLEM: HERD of cows.

BUCK: Well of COURSE I've heard of cows! I just SEEN a bunch of 'em headin' this way!!!

:)
 
David et al

From an outsider looking in. The role of any leader is to have a clear understanding of what the goal is, a mission statement, From that develop a organizational structure and plan that can satisfy that mission. Clearly and concisely communicate that mission. Provide the people, who come on board, with whatever they need from you to complete their tasks in the pursuit of that goal.

From my understanding the original intent of this thread was for the members of this forum to make a movie. If we can agree on that it is a start.

Unfortunately the discussions have evolved on how to accomplish the goal without having a true understanding of what the goal is. The original thought did not have any mention of "to profit by" making a movie, or to get MY story made into a movie .. ad infinitum.

A leader leads, it is not done by consensus, but by vision. The easy way to think of it is (and we would literaly do this on a blackboad)

What is the goal?
What barriers are stopping us from reaching that goal?
What do we have to do to remove those barriers?

Perform each task that removes a barrier, the barrier is gone, the goal is reached.

David I commend you and Penquin for stepping forward and showing us that there are people here willing to commit.
 
Guys, If Barry et al are interested in getting this done by having a ScriptFest and a following DVXFest to tie all of this together then nothing further needs to be decided at this point. It will happen.

The scripts will be written based on a VERY specific criteria and the parts needed will be shot. The best of the best will be chosen and hopefully one kick ass editor will make it seamless.

Now, if they are not looking to take this idea to the next level then we definitely need to move in a new direction here.

I personally am going to PM Barry and wait for a decision since it seems like there has been some interest in making this happen.

Cheers,

Mike
 
Absolutely. I wasn't pointing fingers when I stated that we need to work first to discover what type of project this is going to be.

One person stating that the DVXUser feature is going to be "this" or have a particular style or attribute does not best honor the collaborative concept. If you want to monopolize and dictate, I feel very strongly that DVXUser isn't the proper outlet for your perceived project. Mainstream Hollywood and independent film already exist for this model.

:)

I'm more resistant to the "shut up and go do it" line than anything else. Go do what exactly? Write what? A multi-city feature to be produced by several teams? A collection of speculative, individually-penned stories that might be selected by whom? Who is going to produce this? What are their qualifications? Where is the business plan?

The concept of an "organic process" works well during the writing process - especially if there is a positive, symbiotic relationship - but will not likely lend itself to the business and physical production side of the equation.

I'm not completely sold on the idea of a central writing team at this point. I think the project could benefit extensively from a bespoke Feature ScriptFest leading to production. Why? Well, it encourages organized group participation. If you want to collaborate, or work best with a writing partner (as I do), then do so. Then submit your work for the community to recommend or pass on. This is more in keeping with a "studio" model of filmmaking anyway.
  • Launch FeatureFest with a specific mandate based on a premise voted on by users.
    • FeatureFest scripts must not be longer than 12 - 15 pages each. The scripts selected by the members of the community will go on to be produced by a regional team.
    • FeatureFest scripts must be self-contained, close-ended in nature. However, a transitional device or scene can be included in each one.
  • People who wish to act as a Unit Producer should submit their names and qualifications to the community for review. Members or the mods should select the Unit Producers.
  • Begin a fundraising campaign from members. It is a donation, but everyone who donates becomes an "investor" in the project. They may choose to be silent in the overall process, but it encourages involvement. The budget, as Barry suggested, shouldn't exceed $3k - $5k per unit. Keeping a cap on each unit encourages volunteerism, but covers hard costs. The Unit Producer is charged with keeping the books.
A production is going to keep me from moving this forward any further right now, but it is a start for anyone who would like to continue a discussion for how this can be a community without anarchy project.

If there is one person on the boards who might best head the preliminary organization, it would be the mods. We could easily get past these early format / infrastructure questions and onto the creative.

My input.

e
 
"I say we take off and nuke the entire site from orbit. It's the only way to be sure."

Nuke it with creativity that is!
 
Michael Anthony Horrigan said:
Guys, If Barry et al are interested in getting this done by having a ScriptFest and a following DVXFest to tie all of this together then nothing further needs to be decided at this point. It will happen.

The scripts will be written based on a VERY specific criteria and the parts needed will be shot. The best of the best will be chosen and hopefully one kick ass editor will make it seamless.

Now, if they are not looking to take this idea to the next level then we definitely need to move in a new direction here.

I personally am going to PM Barry and wait for a decision since it seems like there has been some interest in making this happen.

Cheers,

Mike
Click to expand...

Well said. I was wondering why more people weren't talking about Barry's post. If it does go in the direction he hinted at, a lot of the other discussion is moot. Direct support from the site and the mods would be huge and would really give this a chance to work.
 
Jared Meyer said:
Well said. I was wondering why more people weren't talking about Barry's post. If it does go in the direction he hinted at, a lot of the other discussion is moot. Direct support from the site and the mods would be huge and would really give this a chance to work.
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this is true, I will be pleased if what started off as an idea for me then put into thread form would come to life! I love the idea of script/film fest combo!
 
Barry said that this had been tried before. The project was called Two More Tomorrows. Here is a link to at least one group's output. It might be worth looking at so you can avoid the same pitfalls.

And this is still up.
 
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Alright. I am okay with the fest idea, my only problem was a misunderstanding. If we submit scripts to be voted on that would be cool. My understanding is we would shoot our own too, and that brought up all kinds of issues in my mind.

What we need is someone to take the lead (even temporarily) like a mod or even someone who is determined. This person needs to understand it is a DVXUSER.COM project. That means everyone's input counts. We would go with the majority, I think. GO DEMOCRAZY!* Then we can decide what way we want to go about this.






*Meant to put DEMOCRACY but it was waaaaay too cool with the mistake to change it.
 
Blaine said:
Barry said that this had been tried before. The project was called Two More Tomorrows. Here is a link to at least one group's output. It might be worth looking at so you can avoid the same pitfalls.

And this is still up.
Click to expand...

Woah, just got around to reading those links. They had the same basic idea we did. Something crashes on earth emmiting a vapor which causes a virus. CRAZY!
 
Okay, again, from the peanut gallery:

Perhaps there are two projects here? If there are people set and determined to make a conventional feature, that would be Group One. If there are people who want to do a collaborative fest-based independent production-unit-based picture, they could be Group Two.

Those two groups don't have anything to do with each other, really -- they're pretty much mutually exclusive. Seems like Group One wants to try do do a conventional independent film and all that that entails, but hire DVXUser crew. That's a fantastic and commendable goal. I'd love to support it, but I'm already currently producing two such features for DVXUsers and am considering launching a third, so my plate for that is rather full. I do strongly encourage folks to go after that goal though, that would be the ultimate thing that this site could do.

As for Group Two, I think that's where the party's at. Something that could only be done by a site like this. A film that stretches across the country and around the globe. One that's brought together by a common thread and a common group, the DVXUser group. That's one that I would be interested in jumping on board with. I keep thinking about this idea, and how it could be made, and maybe made affordably (because, frankly, if it's me and Jarred writing the checks, it's gonna HAVE to be done mega-affordably!) :thumbsup: What if we get one of our DVXUser actors, maybe Kimko, and send him on the road or around the globe, with individual units in each city crewing his story. That way all the segments could be totally integrated, it could appear as a completely "conventional" narrative feature (instead of an anthology) and with just one lead actor who would hint, hint, be willing to live on the road and drive town to town etc. for the glory of being the star of a much-talked-about hopefully-great little indie film, well... just maybe we could do it.

Okay, so here's another left-field idea: instead of doing shorts and scripts, how about PitchFest or PremiseFest? The subject is: pitch an idea that can be shot super-cheap, with one main character who travels to various locations and could be produced by crews around the world. Any genre, any theme, main thing is to explore your creativity to come up with an idea suitable for production based on this general idea: one actor, multiple towns or even countries.

Once we get that pitch, and the site decides that yeah, we could afford to do this and want to do it etc., then we put together a writing team. By the time the script is done, hopefully my slate will have opened up and I can take a much more active role in shepherding the production.

I'm not saying this is THE way to go, but I can see a heck of a project coming from this and it'd be something to talk about for years to come. Not to dissuade Group A, you guys go right ahead and please succeed. But for those who want to play in a different sandbox, the Group B folks, what do you think of this type of idea?
 
It might work but I think there will have to be something that holds it all together. I reason why this guy is going to all these places.
 
I like the idea of a PitchFest. It makes more sense to me to settle on a basic storyline for each script, rather than having a lot of people writing and submitting stuff, most of which won't be used.

I feel like a writing team should write the scripts themselves so the we ensure a good, solid overall movie, with different storylines appealing to different emotions in the audience, but with a smooth flow between and among them. I think it would be hard to get this kind of smooth, cohesive structure from scripts written by completely different people who have no knowledge of the other scripts/characters/themes/etc. that their script will need to be blended with.

I could be wrong about that, it's just my opinion.

The PitchFest would need a basic theme, though. I'm not sure we've settled on one.

End of the world, with no hope of survival?

End of the world, but a struggle to prevent it?

Or something not quite so globally catastrophic?

Can we get a vote?
 
chapelgrovefilms said:
The PitchFest would need a basic theme, though. I'm not sure we've settled on one.
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I think the idea being PitchFest is to come up with your own theme.

Barry_Green said:
Okay, so here's another left-field idea: instead of doing shorts and scripts, how about PitchFest or PremiseFest? The subject is: pitch an idea that can be shot super-cheap, with one main character who travels to various locations and could be produced by crews around the world. Any genre, any theme, main thing is to explore your creativity to come up with an idea suitable for production based on this general idea: one actor, multiple towns or even countries.

Once we get that pitch, and the site decides that yeah, we could afford to do this and want to do it etc., then we put together a writing team.
Click to expand...
 
Why "one actor, multiple towns"? I know that was suggested at one point, but I didn't know it had been locked in. That would certainly increase the cost, especially if the towns are international.
 
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