Where to live? (for producing/directing indie)

Randall_Oelerich

Randall_Oelerich

Veteran
Any thoughts on how 'mandatory' (or not) it is to live near a filmmaking community for producing/directing and indie feature film? I live in Duluth MN, not the place to be at all for casting, finding crew and such. I am planning on producing and indie horror feature with principle photography in autumn 2013, maybe direct it or maybe hire a director. If I were to move, I am thinking western suburbs of Chicago; Chicago has lots of talent, crew, directors, etc. BUT I am wondering, really, now important is it to live there to produce a film? Could casting and hiring be done from wherever, perhaps a trip to Chicago and/or LA for a week for casting auditions, use of webcam interviews, telephone, and then when the time comes to shoot of course be at whatever location the film takes place at for the 4 weeks or so of shooting? The film location could end up being somewhere other than where I move of course. So how important is it to be in a filmmaking area as regards production, pre-production? Thoughts?
R
 
The idea of living near a filmmaking community is for networking. I grew up in the Southwestern burbs, but that was many years ago. Right now I am in NYC burbs. The best locations for Indies is NYC, studios, LA. I am sure there are plenty of crew in Chitown area, but that is not where you want feature material. Either coast would suit you.
 
Well... All things being equal, of course, either NYC or LA would be the place to be. However, ALL THINGS are not equal. I recently relocated back to Detroit, from Virgina, specifically for the advantages Detroit offers for independent film making. Now, I have a producer partner that lives in LA, and is exploiting the advantages of that, but we are definitely going to exploit the advantages Detroit offers when it comes to production. Those advantages are costs. A town like Detroit, or, I would imagine Chicago, has a professional film making infrastructure that is well placed, but whose bread and butter is corporate oriented. What I have found, in Detroit at least, that in a film making infrastructure like that, there are quit a few pro folks that will still work with guerrilla fictional narrative productions for the change of pace, or the chance to experiment, at lower rates then they charge to make cars look good, or what ever. Now, I understand that there is an argument to be made for being in NYC or LA just due to the large pool of available talent, technical and creative. There is where the ALL THINGS not being equal come into the calculation. Here in the Detroit suburbs, I share a 1100 square foot (First level) house, with a finished basement and a finished attic loft/bedroom, with one roommate (A costume designer, which is real handy). She and I have a nice yard and garage, and our rent is $400.00 a month each. Try to find that in NYC or LA. If you are looking to make your first feature, try to find a place that has a film making infrastructure you can tap into and that is place you can live without costing an arm and leg. If living expenses are not an issue, then head to NYC or LA.
 
John August made a good point in his podcast that if you move to LA and help out on other folks' movies, you'll get to know people. Then as they move up, they will help you, and it will bring more to the party. He mentioned an actress that he knew from a no-name shoot, and then she got successful. He ran into her at Starbucks and pitched a short film idea. She agreed to star in it for no money, because they had worked together before. August made the point that this kind of situation can only happen when you live in L.A.
 
I'm moved to Hollywood in 2005, and there is no way I would be where I am today if I hadn't done so. (Lived in Seattle before that.)
 
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