Producing

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The black hole numbers surrounding Captain America: Brave New World are alarming. After another failed test screening, re-edits or re-shoots have been ordered up bringing the price tag close to $400M with an estimated marketing budget off $100M (With all the bad press from YouTube critics, you don't have to spend anymore money. Everyone knows it's coming.) If the movie clocks in at 2.5 hours, that means this production cost $3.3M per minute and it'll have to bring in $1.25B just to break even. Of course this movie was sold to investors with "bankable" talent and international "pre-sales" whatever mystical numbers those turned out to be and even all the tax rebates in the world won't come close to recouping crap. This has to make independent filmmakers livid. It sure grinds my gears.

Now let's say that you, like me, have a film project that has world recognized talent waiting for a budget to sign on and your budget, like mine, is only $1.5M for the whole movie. At a 90 minute runtime, that comes out to $12K/minute. On top of that, marketing these days is not that tough especially if your smart, you can cut the cost of promotion down to literally 10's of thousands of dollars. The less distribution has to do to make the public aware of your film, the less areas they can apply creative Hollywood accounting to overinflate the costs of P&A.

Now, of course, none of this matters if you can't make a film that is destined to be a classic and know that composition, framing and lighting can be the difference between Oscar worthy images and a student project, but if you have the artistic eye and a great story, like I feel that I have both in abundance, you can always begin negotiations with investors with the basic logistics of the project first. Granted, they should know these numbers, but given the track record of the films of 2024, I'm not so sure they are getting it. As business men, they seem to be getting the business instead of making any.

The main goal of filmmaking is making the best use of your resources to create universally entertaining content that will last throughout the life of a majority of movie lovers. It's a delicate balance but it's a test to see if you possess the skills to walk the high wire of artistic expression. Step lively but carefully. It's not a fall you can quickly recover from and there are a lot of people cheering you on while flicking the wire at the same time.

You got to love the business logic of filmmaking!

Mr. Spock would have a brain aneurysm.

Hey y'all - please join us for an exclusive FREE Virtual Film & TV Production Summit right here on Stage 32 where top producers, film commissioners and film & TV production executives from all around the world converge to discuss the current state of production and the entertainment industry to get...

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Maurice Vaughan

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1 person likes this
- Ashley Renee Smith
4 months ago

Thanks for sharing the interview, Sam Sokolow. It was fun reading the war stories! Charles Roven said, "Well, for sure, one of the most challenging was the first one, because it’s the first one." I tr...

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Ashley Renee Smith

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2 people like this
- Sam Sokolow
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

If anyone missed the Community Wrap-Up live, you can watch the full video for FREE here: https://www.instagram.com/reel/DDP8G2hS2zI/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&......

Sam Sokolow

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

Thanks for letting us know were we can watch, Ashley Renee Smith.

4 months ago

Hi, Laurie Ashbourne. The link is taking me to the rip/mood reel for Barbarian.

Laurie Ashbourne

Maurice Vaughan it's fixed. Thanks

You're welcome, Laurie Ashbourne. Thank you.

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- Laurie Ashbourne
4 months ago

This is an incredible model, Laurie Ashbourne! Everyone puts time and effort into making a movie. I think they all deserve a piece of the profits based on what they did on the project. Glad to hear th...

On the film side, I've seen I Saw the TV Glow, The Substance, and Cuckoo, Sam Sokolow. They all deserve nominations. Some of the other films are on my watch list. I've been watching more and more indi...

I'm not surprised to see Shogun leading the series noms considering they swept the Emmys this year. It's exciting and well-deserved!

Amanda Toney

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4 people like this
4 months ago

This is awesome. I've met some incredibly talented filmmakers on Stage 32 from Egypt.

It's all about international co-pros and thinking globally with your projects. FIlms and shows follow distributuon and there is only one territory now - the whole world. And everyone wants to play in...

Richard "RB" Botto

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3 people like this
4 months ago

"there is only one territory now - the whole world" - That should be pinned to every creative and pro's wall, Sam Sokolow. No bigger truth than that right now.

Arthur Charpentier

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2 people like this
- Sam Sokolow
- Amanda Toney
4 months ago

It's naive not to understand what's going on at Disney. Do you really think that there are people working there who don't know how to make successful films and cartoons?

Many people know that Disney m...

Rebecca James

well the good news is... they are looking for scripts and willing to pay a motza for crap. Imagine what they are willing to pay for a great work! My mind boggles, my mouth waters...

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5 people like this
4 months ago

Rebecca James - you are 100% right, we are seeing the re-birth of true indie character-driven storytelling! It's exciting times for people outside the studio.

Philip David Lee

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2 people like this
- Ana Marie Castillo
- Arthur Charpentier
4 months ago

Arthur Charpentier Hey Arthur, I get that creative Hollywood accounting is firmly in place to get them out from paying back end deals, but between Snow White and Cap 4, you're looking at a loss in the...

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1 person likes this
- Ana Marie Castillo
4 months ago

Disney still has a lot of money from parks and toys. And movies and TV shows are long and expensive commercials. In general, the Disney movie business makes a profit, but this is not their main goal. Their goal is to promote parks and toys.

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2 people like this
- Ashley Renee Smith
- Maurice Vaughan
4 months ago

Thanks for sharing, Maurice Vaughan. I love this line by RB: "pendulum isn’t just swinging back, it very well might snap back." Excited for all the creative work that will find its way in 2025 and bey...

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2 people like this
- Ashley Renee Smith
- Sam Sokolow
4 months ago

You're welcome, Sam Sokolow. I'm excited too! And I'm getting projects ready for 2025!

As you should, Maurice Vaughan - fortune favors the brave!

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1 person likes this
- Sam Sokolow
4 months ago

Hi, Valerie Quade. Great to meet you. You could post an ad on the Job Board (www.stage32.com/find-jobs). You could also search the Browse Members section (www.stage32.com/people)....

Valerie Quade

Thanks.

You're welcome, Valerie Quade.

Hi Valerie Quade - I shared the post with someone in the Bay Area. They'll chime in if interested.

I love documentaries! Can you share what the film is about?...

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