I had the opportunity to pitch my Iraq wartime friendship story to a few producers. I got some awesome feedback on the pitch. One of them said that his company is drawn to scripts that are very high concept. He said that pitching my script as "straight drama" is a hard sell. I found this tidbit to b...
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This is my contribution to the Sacramento International Film Festival's 48-hour film competition. All productions are required to adhere to social distancing guidelines - thus my directorial debut was via zoom meeting.
New press on my documentary film project. The doc is an appetizer for the scripted project.
https://www.newsreview.com/sacramento/right-to-dance-at/content?oid=28138343
I break down the Sacramento strip club indecency case that wrote the rules for exotic dance in this interview about my documentary "Do the Dance."
https://youtu.be/3E_OS1g9-zE
This wild indecency trial fought in 1969 wrote the rules for exotic dance. Learn more at our new website:
http://dothedance.net/
Excited about the interest in my #documentary project "Do the Dance" from players at American Film Market. Find out what happens here: http://bit.ly/2OId8qP #AFM2018
Journalist makes abrupt leap into filmmaking
http://www.perpetualf.com/single-post/2018/10/04/Walking-tightrope-to-film-success
"Do the Dance" explores a wild and pivotal 1969 indecency trial to tell a larger story about the limits of sexual free expression 50 years later.
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Interesting Ed but I think it needs more. Perhaps the identification of a protagonist, a villain and their journey, struggles triumphs etc. Good luck
Exciting new from our week in Los Angeles
http://www.perpetualf.com/single-post/2018/07/18/Returning-from-LA-as-filmmakers
My project partner and I have been spending some quality time in Los Angeles preparing a mid-project tease for our documentary film "Do the Dance."
I just made my first spec commercial, posted it online (here, instagram, Vimeo, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, even LinkedIn). I’m not sure where to go from here. The main reason I made the spec commercial was because I came up with an idea for an Oreo cookie jingle.
Sam, I’ve been trying to find musicians to do this more professionally, I finally decided to just shoot something, even EXTREMELY low budget just to show the general idea with hopes that if there was...
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Ed, it’s actually doing really well on instagram
My main idea was for the jingle.
Preview trailer for the forthcoming documentary "Do the Dance.'
The preview trailer for our documentary "Do the Dance" just missed being named a finalist in the Film Maker Magazine's "Global Trailer Film Festival."
We're now looking to attach known talent to do the voice-over and engage acquisitions people with national premium television outlets.
Any tips, idea...
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Has anyone tried crowdfunding recently? Which platform did you use? Was it successful?
You can try Slated as well. https://www.slated.com/ (please note... I earn nothing off you clicking the link or signing up (which is free!)) You sign up, list projects (for a fee) and people find you...
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Glad I haven't put anything up on slated, then.
-G.R.B.
I am in the middle of an ig campaign and having problems getting tech support around a formatting issue. May have to extend it to the 40 day max to meet my goal. It's a learning exp fer sure. https://...
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After failing for the last two years to sell my big-budget screenplay, I have decided to try my hand at indie movie making. I have learned a lot from the various webinars here on Stage 32, read books written by other indie filmmakers, and done some internet research, so I think I'm pretty well-prepa...
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I'm hoping you get some good answers. This forum is kinda crickets. I've recently redirected my energy from doing based on true story feature film to doing a documentary on the same subject.
Hello Toby! I can get you $500,000 or more for your movie project. But your film production company or any kind of business you have must generate an income of at least $10,000 per month.
Hello everyone! I finished my drama feature script earlier this year and my goal is to produce the film myself (as opposed to selling the script). Of course there's that eternal chicken-and-egg question, as to whether to try to get financing first to attract actors and a director, or whether to try...
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Hello Ruth I can get you $500,000 or more for your movie project. But your film production company or any kind of business you have must generate an income of at least $10,000 per month.
A suggestion as a fellow screenwriter. The book "BANKROLL"--How to finance your independent film by Tom Malloy.
Hello everyone, sorry it's been ages since I signed in to Stage 32 but for some reason I didn't get notifications that people have answered my questions so pardon the lack of response on my part. Well...
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I just wondered if you could post them directly or if that's frowned upon. I was tempted to post mine but I have to work on the rewards first. Also, anyone used patreon? Or seed and spark? If so, which one do you reccommend more?
-G.R.B.
Any promotion (self-promotion, crowdfunding campaign, etc) is posted in "Your Stage" or on your profile wall. The craft and business forums are for topic discussion. I hope that helps. ;) Best to you!
Okay, its been awhile since I've been on the forums and I wondered. That was all. Thanks!
-G.R.B.
It might be worth it to get feedback before the launch, but your audience is out there, not in here.
I'm looking for advice and thoughts on my next steps on producing my documentary. We've raised seed money on indiegogo ($10k) now it's time to look for equity investors to finish the project. We have a preview trailer and more in the can, but the money will run out before so it's time to start thinking about how to raise the remaining budget.
Why didn't you go for the whole budget through crowdfunding?
Because I don't think I would have reached that goal. The first step in crowdfunding is determining the potential yield of your network. Not the friends you hope you'll make while the campaign is active, but the friends and supporters you have now.
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Write the kind of movies you pay to see every week at the cinema... And if you look at the top 5 films every weekend, you'll have an idea of what kind of movies get made... and what kind of movies the...
Expand commentWrite the kind of movies you pay to see every week at the cinema... And if you look at the top 5 films every weekend, you'll have an idea of what kind of movies get made... and what kind of movies the people who buy tickets want to see. Not much straight drama in there until we hit Oscar season - and still probably not much in the top 5 films. But maybe in the top 10 or 20 films right before Oscars. If you are going to the cinema every week - you've noticed that. But every film (okay, most films) is Drama Plus. A drama at its core, wearing the clothes of some genre. I'm working on a book on the BOURNE movies, now - and the first film is an action packed thriller... with a drama at its core. This guy has amnesia, and in his quest to find out who he is, begins to discover that he is not a nice guy. He needs to know who he is, but every new piece of information makes him dislike himself more... and struggles with that. So we end up with a dramatic story where a character realizes they may be a bad person and wants to change that... with car chases and hand-to-hand fight scenes. It's Drama Plus. The key is to not just be drama, but add the plus element. The plus element is what sells the tickets, and the drama is what makes us care and feel and maybe even cry. You aren't just going to write one script, you're going to write a huge stack of scripts... so if they're telling you that this one is a hard sell... just write a bunch more which aren't.
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All of the above information is true, but you might also want to adjust whom you're pitching to. Look for producers who are looking for what you're selling (i.e. produced a drama).
Thanx y'all. I'll keep at it. Got a request to read the script which is cool so I'm finishing up a polish before sending it out. Anxious to look for other opportunities to pitch it and get cracking on my next idea.