FLOWER a flyin' monkey films production

"Passport to HELL" coming to a theatre near you.... That has a nice ring to it.
 
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This isn't like you Puck...I mean Vic... I mean Rodney. Where are all the updates? I'm worried, ever since you changed your name...you're...different somehow? You seem to have grown more hair & your breath smells of kibble?

...or wait a minute...was that you or Jessica?
 
I have made my return to the madness...bring me a brew my minions!!!

And I'm slightly disturbed by all the bobbleheads...

Rogan
 
Warning: this is a rant

Warning: this is a rant

This is the response from one warehouse advertizing for movies to rent his space. He refuses to consider going lower at all. Micro-Budget films do not exist in his universe. If we're making a movie then there's got to be money somewhere and he wants his.

Are you a small feature? If not your fees are $1500.00 prep days and $3000.00 shoot days.
If you are a small budget . I will want $1000.00 prep and $2000.00 shoot days.
Click to expand...

This kind of mentality is actually quite endemic of my movie making experience in Toronto. They say Toronto is a great city for movies, but they really mean for STUDIO movies. So many people depend on the whole studio structure it's astounding when anybody wants to get anything done. Most of the response is to throw money at the problem and it will fix it. A lot of the DIY Independent spirit is dead, extinct, gone the way of the dodo... ground under the heel of the studios.

It's to the point where when you hire an "indie gaffer" he doesnt even own any gear but comes along with a $350 fee and a list of equipment you need to rent. Oh you're not a studio picture? You don't have all of this money for a 1 Ton Grip truck (as low as $700/day!). 1 Ton Grip Truck in ATL is $200/day.

One year later and I'm still reeling from these costs when in most cities I've worked in Stateside, there actually is a sense of a true independent community and you can get a gaffer plus equipment for anywhere from $350/day to $650/day. But that's the guys who own their gear and they make more from it working for 2-3 days straight than sitting there all week gathering dust. In Toronto, nobody owns anything.

Moving there I was actually really glad for the first time that I did own my own gear. That way I could get out and shoot things instead of sitting around talking about what we COULD be doing.

</rant>

Robert has a location guy. Lets see what he comes up with.
 
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Man, that's ridiculous! I think you're right about when they say it's cheap to film there for "studio" films. That's the one thing I really like about Oklahoma (though I will have to leave here soon) is that it is so inexpensive to film here. People are so nice and definitely don't see movies shot everyday, which means most of the time you can get the location for free. If they do charge, it will be little or nothing and well worth the money. Here you just have to get out and go ask. It's not like other places where people film at some of their locations so much, they already have a set fee. I always try and write (for the time being) based on locations I already have in mind (that I've seen or can easily find) and have a pretty good possiblity of getting before I even start. I've written in (in my scripts) some very nice locals before, only to be stuck, because I couldn't find the type of location I had written. Don't worry though - something will come up and it'll be better than what'd you'd hoped for. Things have a funny way of working themselves out for us indies.
 
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Toronto is nuts. That's way overpriced. In NYC, I can get a white cyc or a green screen sound stage (38 x 34 feet) for $1000/day flat with lighting and grip equip.
 
Wow.
You guys think that's a pain in the ass?....Try showing auditioning 3 times for some guy. Then you show up for the shoot and all he's got is a bunch of his lacky friends and a camcorder...Gotta learn to screen these jackasses properly...yeesh. It gets worse...try rehearsing for 3 months for a film then you shoot one day and he decides he doesn't like any of the footage, so he scraps the 3 months worth of rehearsing 14 hours of shooting, didn't pay anyone, then I show up for the second day of shooting, he decides he doesn't want to shoot anymore, then I find the exact same ad on Craigslist for the part that I previously had, with no phone call, no email, no explanation as to what happened and never heard from the guy again....Toronto is NO cup of tea. Everyone here fancies themselves 'filmmakers' but very few have any idea how to conduct themselves...it's infuriating for actors.

The industry here has become (as Rodney said) good for studio movies. If you have the cash it's great, but if you are just starting out...it's damn near impossible.

Thats my rant...thanks for comin' out.
 
I have to say, I came to Northern Ontario with my profession, but filmmaking is my hobby, and I was looking forward to starting something here, in the semi-pro to professional level, depending on the talent I found for crew... I havn't really heard of anything up here, just what's down in Toronto. It is a major shock, as filmmaking is everywhere in Britain, especially at amateur level. I am going to have to step up my search and really scour the area.
 
I don't know what it's like in Northern Ontario. I know Cinevate is based there and they work with Still Motion, so there's got to be some kind of independent scene going on somewhere. Maybe out there far away from the studio money and ways of thinking, filmmakers have been able to foster some kind of goodwill in the community and work together. That far out from all of the big rental houses maybe people own more gear and believe it or that fact they they own their gear helps the independent film spirit. A lot more tit for tat and relationship building going on.
 
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