jls4
Veteran
Your Plan pt 4 : Random Concepts
Wow! I’m really happy with all of the positive feedback this thread has created. I’ve been busy for a while, but it seems if I leave this thread alone long enough someone comes back and asks to keep it going. I guess I should thank all of you for encouraging me to finish. It definitely gets difficult at times and with some of the drama that goes on in other threads, sometimes it makes me rethink. LOL Anyway back to basics.
OK, so it’s been almost two years and I personally don’t have 3 movies. Well I sort of have 2. If you’ve kept up with this thread and the “VOICES” (Coming Correct) thread then you know we kinda shot two movies in one. I personally recognized that it’s difficult for me not to want to do my best each time. I’m starting to wish I could change the title to the Five Year Diary from the 24 (months) Diary. Five years is much more doable. My current average time per movie is more like 18 months than 8. Every time I get into post production, I always spend extra time to get everything right – which I’m not ashamed of what so ever. At the indie level, you can’t have big movie mistakes. You have to be better than average.
About two weeks ago through a long complicated episode of random goodness – I’ve decided to pick up the baton again. Coming Correct is coming to a close. The movie is 98% Edited, 90% Color Corrected, 60% Audio Mixed/Cleaned. I plan on skipping next week and just working on it for about 3 weeks straight and finally finish it up and have a premiere in Atlanta in late August. Next week I’ll be working on a new screenplay based off of a concept that we came up with two weeks ago. Basically a romantic off-the-wall type comedy. I plan on meeting with investors this week and hopefully securing some cash. (YAY!)
If you need to, you can go back and familiarize yourself with Chapter 2 pt 3 . At this point in the game that’s where I am. The upgrading of Voices to Coming Correct, plus my first movie that was distributed has pushed me beyond the first 2 movies of the 24 Diary. So now it’s time to go after some heavy hitters. My plan as outlined in Chapter 2 pt 3 is exactly the same. It’s important that no matter what your plan is, that you see it through to the end. Remember allow no one to distract you from your goals, not wife, girlfriend, mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, etc. Many think they are helping you, but you must thank them for their concern, but press forward. I think it’s the hardest for wives/husbands because their financial future is wrapped up into you. But you have to assure them that everything will be okay, while being smart about your decisions.
Pardon me while I go back briefly to the business side for a quick note. I’ve a Hollywood theory which is based on is the differences between both sides of the “movie business” model. The movie side per se, is filled primarily with artists and the business side is primarily filled with, what else, business people. Many times these sides don’t get along. The artists seem to feel like this idea/concept/masterpiece needs ABC, while the business side thinks the work needs XYZ in order to sell. I encourage you to think more about XYZ instead of ABC. But if nothing else model your thoughts to stay in the center around LMNOP (LOL). I won’t go too much further into it than that, just remember those that are into XYZ: Steven Spielberg, Robert Rodriguez, George Lucas. All these guys come up with ideas, produce those ideas, budget for the big and small of those ideas, and rarely have a failure.
Back to the point; the plan in movie 3 is simple. Get as much money as the movie can easily make back + some kind of profit. You need at least 2 to 3 supporting cast members with a credible name. The name will change depending on your genre and what your ultimate goals are. Personally my goals are to become the next Steven Spielberg. I set my goals high. I’m looking for television actors, or an actor who has been in many notable roles in feature films who doesn’t have their own “film yet”, or maybe someone who hasn’t worked in a while. If you stay with the niche markets (Lesbian/Gay, African-American, Latino, Christian) you also have access to more people who may not be working, but who these genres recognize as major actors. I’ve been surprised at who I’ve seen show up in movies that cost around $500K or under. (Opinion: I guess fundamentally we all want to work.) – Also note this is some of the same advice that Justin gave for ALPFD; both ALPFD and Corrado had offers being PM’d to them once the movies were in post-production.
Wow! I’m really happy with all of the positive feedback this thread has created. I’ve been busy for a while, but it seems if I leave this thread alone long enough someone comes back and asks to keep it going. I guess I should thank all of you for encouraging me to finish. It definitely gets difficult at times and with some of the drama that goes on in other threads, sometimes it makes me rethink. LOL Anyway back to basics.
OK, so it’s been almost two years and I personally don’t have 3 movies. Well I sort of have 2. If you’ve kept up with this thread and the “VOICES” (Coming Correct) thread then you know we kinda shot two movies in one. I personally recognized that it’s difficult for me not to want to do my best each time. I’m starting to wish I could change the title to the Five Year Diary from the 24 (months) Diary. Five years is much more doable. My current average time per movie is more like 18 months than 8. Every time I get into post production, I always spend extra time to get everything right – which I’m not ashamed of what so ever. At the indie level, you can’t have big movie mistakes. You have to be better than average.
About two weeks ago through a long complicated episode of random goodness – I’ve decided to pick up the baton again. Coming Correct is coming to a close. The movie is 98% Edited, 90% Color Corrected, 60% Audio Mixed/Cleaned. I plan on skipping next week and just working on it for about 3 weeks straight and finally finish it up and have a premiere in Atlanta in late August. Next week I’ll be working on a new screenplay based off of a concept that we came up with two weeks ago. Basically a romantic off-the-wall type comedy. I plan on meeting with investors this week and hopefully securing some cash. (YAY!)
If you need to, you can go back and familiarize yourself with Chapter 2 pt 3 . At this point in the game that’s where I am. The upgrading of Voices to Coming Correct, plus my first movie that was distributed has pushed me beyond the first 2 movies of the 24 Diary. So now it’s time to go after some heavy hitters. My plan as outlined in Chapter 2 pt 3 is exactly the same. It’s important that no matter what your plan is, that you see it through to the end. Remember allow no one to distract you from your goals, not wife, girlfriend, mother, father, brother, sister, best friend, etc. Many think they are helping you, but you must thank them for their concern, but press forward. I think it’s the hardest for wives/husbands because their financial future is wrapped up into you. But you have to assure them that everything will be okay, while being smart about your decisions.
Pardon me while I go back briefly to the business side for a quick note. I’ve a Hollywood theory which is based on is the differences between both sides of the “movie business” model. The movie side per se, is filled primarily with artists and the business side is primarily filled with, what else, business people. Many times these sides don’t get along. The artists seem to feel like this idea/concept/masterpiece needs ABC, while the business side thinks the work needs XYZ in order to sell. I encourage you to think more about XYZ instead of ABC. But if nothing else model your thoughts to stay in the center around LMNOP (LOL). I won’t go too much further into it than that, just remember those that are into XYZ: Steven Spielberg, Robert Rodriguez, George Lucas. All these guys come up with ideas, produce those ideas, budget for the big and small of those ideas, and rarely have a failure.
Back to the point; the plan in movie 3 is simple. Get as much money as the movie can easily make back + some kind of profit. You need at least 2 to 3 supporting cast members with a credible name. The name will change depending on your genre and what your ultimate goals are. Personally my goals are to become the next Steven Spielberg. I set my goals high. I’m looking for television actors, or an actor who has been in many notable roles in feature films who doesn’t have their own “film yet”, or maybe someone who hasn’t worked in a while. If you stay with the niche markets (Lesbian/Gay, African-American, Latino, Christian) you also have access to more people who may not be working, but who these genres recognize as major actors. I’ve been surprised at who I’ve seen show up in movies that cost around $500K or under. (Opinion: I guess fundamentally we all want to work.) – Also note this is some of the same advice that Justin gave for ALPFD; both ALPFD and Corrado had offers being PM’d to them once the movies were in post-production.
