Producing : 5 Lessons from Sharknado by Bill Mackie

Unless you live under a social media rock you have heard plenty of chatter about the Syfy Channel movie Sharknado. Both loathed and loved for its epic B Movie "so bad it is good" cheesiness -- indie auteurs might easily dismiss it. Meanwhile Sharknado is reaping huge rewards for the Burbank based studio The Asylum. Wired.com reports that they expect total revenues in 2013 of upwards of 19 million dollars - http://www.wired.com/business/2013/07/asylum-business-boom/. So before you go all SNARKnado on me... what can the indie community take away from this hot mess of a movie? Lesson 1: Don't take yourself too seriously. The roots of the film industry are firmly planted in Vaudeville. Maybe your next indie film won't include a bearded lady or "little people" but it wouldn't hurt to keep in mind that you are making entertainment -- so consider lightening up and having a little fun. Go ahead. Laugh at yourself. It won't hurt (too much). Lesson 2: Never underestimate the value of a "high concept." According to AbsoluteWrite.com a high concept is a script with a premise that is, "universal; has a fresh twist; involves an empathetic hero who is dealing with a BIG problem; and can be summed up in a 25-word logline that gives a good picture of the entire movie." http://www.absolutewrite.com/screenwriting/high_concept.htm Sure Sharknado is dumb. But almost everyone fears or is fascinated by sharks, and no one has ever made a movie combining sharks and tornadoes. All you have to do is hear the title and you get it and therein is the secret sauce of high concept. In a 142 character or less Twitter-verse high concept is king. Lesson 3: CGI Fx can be a great equalizer. The cost of these Fx is becoming more and more affordable. So take note. What one of us has not had to toss out a great script idea because you really wanted to see your movie get made, and budget issues made it a non-starter? Well, maybe if you make the right kind of friends with CGI skills and Adobe Creative Suite you can pull off an idea that you could not otherwise afford. Personally I love the economy of lo-fi but no matter how bad of a car you drive wrecking it so you can shoot that chase scene is quite a sacrifice. Sure the Sharknado Fx are ridiculous but they also prove a point. You can do a lot more on an indie budget today than you could even just 10 years ago. Lesson 4: Sometimes one bad famous actor is worth two (or three) unknown indie ones. I know. I know. I'm going to get flamed by the actors on Stage32.com for this one. I'm not de-valuing great acting chops or disrespecting the "craft." But if you put ten amazing indie actors no one knows in a film it may not ever get seen outside of the indie circle. Toss in one Tara Reid and it may become the talk of millions and help launch the careers of your amazing actor friends in the process. Personally I think the trick here (unless you are going for full-on camp) is to find a "B level" actor who really has chops and a cult following. They are not as hard to employ as you might imagine. They need the work just as much as your friends and you might lean a thing or two from an old pro. Lesson 5: There's more to life (and death) than zombies. Maybe this one is more of a personal obsession but I can't resist taking a shot at the zombie indie ghetto. Indie film making, if nothing else, should be about coming up with new ideas. Sharks in a tornado is not going to take home any Oscars but at least it isn't the same idea 1,000 other indie film makers are currently shooting. Be bold and try something different. And I don't mean you should make "SwineNado." So those are my SharkNado thoughts. What do you think?