Numbers of features

[pixelated]

This will probably need to go over to the Business/Post area eventually but thought I'd throw it in here first.

Our local (central Oregon) film support group is co-sponsoring a seminar next week on getting distribution. Part of the flyer included this . . .

[FONT=verdana,lucida sans,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]"The marketplace is saturated with several thousand or more newly-completed features each year," says Lyla Foggia, a Portland-based marketing consultant who spent a decade on studio staff in Los Angeles.

As an example of the competition films face today, Foggia says that veteran producer's rep Mark Litwak recently told her: "Nowadays, distributors are inundated with indie films. The top distributors receive wheelbarrows full of films each week. If they can immediately see how to market a film, they will be interested. Otherwise, if they can't figure it out in ten minutes, it's onto the next title."[/FONT]

THOUSANDS per year?? And the theatres are still full of c*&p ?? WTF? I gotta admit, the numbers really threw me - shorts maybe - but features???? And not just backyard specials, ones that actually got cut to DVD and marketed to distributors. And they're implying these are completed works, not treatments, trailers etc...

There's obviously a whole competitive side of this indie thing I just didn't get.
I'm getting a clearer understanding of Prodigi and Taormina's harping (no offense) about how you've gotta have a name actor to have a prayer.

Is all this suprising anybody else ????

 

[Barry_Green]

THOUSANDS per year?? And the theatres are still full of c*&p ?? WTF?

The c*&p in the theaters is sooooooooooooooooooo much better than 97% of what's in those wheelbarrows full of indie films.

Spend some time at some of the lesser festivals, it's truly shocking what people are turning out. So many people have bought into the "don't go to school, just spend that money making a movie" nonsense, and the net result is a staggering mountain of unwatchable dreck.

To give you a direct example, watch the American Idol auditions. Each year something like 120,000 people try out. And about 117 get through the first round. Those numbers are probably about accurate to the indie film ratios.

And the saddest part is, now you've got all these horrible unsellable products, and the people who made them (our brothers and sisters, the dreamers, the aspiring filmmakers) are now saddled with $3,000 to $100,000 of debt.

The indie shorts are, on average, much better than the indie features. Much, much, much better.

 

[pixelated]

a staggering mountain of unwatchable dreck.

You always manage to put things so eloquently yet precise.

Get your drift even though I've never been able to bring myself to watch any of the idol/survivor/gladiator type drivel.

I've figured with all the advances in technology, the opening of hundreds of channels to every box, that there'd be this incredible demand for content, making this one of the hottest growth industries of all time. What I missed was that there's been no corresponding growth in marketing dollars, so the broadcasters want the same $$ to fill exponentially more space, driving budgets through the floor. Going to be real interesting to see where this goes.

On another note, been a Jodie Foster fan for years so snuck out to see Nim's Island this afternoon. Acting was great but some things are just beyond help. Sooo sad. Sometimes even great names can't save you.

 

[Barry_Green]

Here's the thing: I'm not discounting people's dreams, aspirations, drive, or sincerity. All that is intact, and admirable.

But if you want to be a musician, you've got to learn how to play the instrument, right? People aren't doing that with film and video. They're buying into this insane notion that "I've watched a lot of movies, and I just KNOW I could do better, let's go buy a video camera and shoot our own." The results are about the same as if someone said "I've listened to a ton of pop songs, they're awful, I know I could do better, let's go buy a guitar and make our own album."

What's missing there? The years and years and years of practice and study and work. What's missing in the filmmaker's plan? The years and years and years of practice and study and work.

We all start out as acorns. It takes years before we're oak trees.

What kind of years of practice and study and work am I talking about? What kind of schooling or study do you need before you can elevate yourself above the "unwatchable"? I can only speak from my own experience. I've made two piles of unwatchable dreck, every bit as bad as what everyone else makes. And boy, did we think they were awesome when we'd done 'em -- we were convinced we had something fantastic, we sent 'em to festivals worldwide, went to distributors, everything.

And yeah, we were lumped into the wheelbarrow of dreck.

It was a long hard awakening to look at my own films the way the dispassionate neutral observer saw them, and when I did finally open my eyes... Oy.

After doing so, I committed that my next picture would be good. I'd learn everything I need to know. And I set some goals: I wanted to win some awards at national contests, to show that I had learned the requisite info. I wanted to win a national screenwriting contest before putting one of my scripts in development.

It's taken about 8 years to learn enough to the point where I'm about ready to try again. Doesn't mean I know everything, but I'm now confident that I'd make something far better than an "unwatchable pile of dreck." I won an Emmy and got four nominations, and have brought home trophies from a dozen different contests. Haven't won a national screenwriting contest yet, but I did take second place in one, and one of my emmy nominations was for writing (spot), so I'm about ready to fudge on that goal and just go for it. I know a lot of others won't have the patience to go through this process, but I urge every filmmaker to refine their skills to the point where they can bring home trophies at national contests before they put themselves through the incredible effort and incredible debt that comes with trying to make their own films.

No, you don't have to go to a "film school". But you do have to learn everything, read dozens and dozens of books, study hundreds of films, make dozens and dozens of films, refine and learn and grow and go through the whole process. A good film school (NYU, USC, UCLA, AFI) offers a structured way to do that, but you can do it on your own if you're disciplined.

Last words here: do what Rodriguez did, not what he says. Read "Rebel Without A Crew" and you'll see that his approach is largely the same as mine was (he's where I got the idea, actually). Ignore his "10 minute film school" on his DVDs where he talks about "just go make a film", but do what he says he did in his book. He said that to learn the guitar you have to practice until your fingers bleed, and that's exactly what he did with his filmmaking, making dozens and dozens of short films, refining his craft to the point that he was bringing home the top awards at national film festivals. Only then did he feel confident to go forward in trying to make a feature.

And for the record, a "feature film" is not something that's 90 minutes long. A "pile of dreck" is 90 minutes long. A "feature film" is something that people will pay $10 to see in a theater, the headline item, the "feature".

Don't be a dreckmaker. I've been a dreckmaker. It's not a good thing to do, and the day your eyes are opened is a very painful day. Avoid dreck. Make short little works of dreck as you practice your craft. Never believe a thing your friends and family say. Talent and three dollars might get you a cup of coffee, but talent plus years of hard work will turn you into a filmmaker. Don't be a dreckmaker. Rise above. Spend the time. Learn the craft, polish your art, hone it to a fine edge before you go into battle. Don't end up in the wheelbarrow of dreck.

 

[Anhar_Miah]

"dreck" , I shall now add that to my offical Indie filmmaker lingo.

In a nutshell, if you want to make a boat learn from a boatmaker...

 

[Brandon Rice]

Barry, that was an inspiring post! And very true!