Stephen Wood's Lounge Discussions

Hey Karen! Congrats on getting to picture lock on your film. To answer your question I have not delved into other forms of merchandizing or cross platform marketing like books, comic, etc. I sort of just stay in the lane of making movies only. I am sure I am missing out on something there. When it comes to ROI and I always try to make sure I have a domestic option for distribution to cover at least the negative cost of the film so that whatever we make in foreign sales is really gravy (profit). That is what I shoot for in respect to ROI.

In respect to my 1st feature back in 2003 I did run into issues being a first time director, especially with a location. That is weird. Did this happen to you in LA or somewhere where there is a lot of filming? I am guessing many people have filmed at their location and a 1st time filmmaker almost "BURNED" the location for them. The biggest issues I see 1st time filmmakers run into more often than not is the confidence that this director can move fast enough to make their days and keep the show out of overtime. But there really is no way to show them that without having previous experience to show them. As a director coming in as a pre-pared as possible with shortlists, overhead drawing, storyboards, etc and show people you are serious and prepared. That is really the best you can do the 1st time to win their trust.

When it comes to building a film family (crew) who will work with you over and over again it comes to making them feel like you care about them. Feed them well if you can't pay great rates. Be respectful. Let them know you appreciate them everyday. DO NOT YELL ON SET! Make set fun and SAFE. Do your best to not have overtime... or if you do apologize and try to keep it to a minimum. And pay people on time. If they can clearly see you are honest and fun to work with they'll keep coming back.

Interesting article. Thanks for sharing it with me. Good ideas and insight for sure!

When it comes to switching hats between being a director really is not thinking off them as two different things but rather that both or serving the story. I look at mostly every question and situation from both aspects. How will this decision help us achieve the creative objective and also be done in a way that keeps us in budget and on schedule. A lot of directors can not do both and they make choices that don't yield a good ROI. For example a director may like one location more than the other. Which makes sense, BUT if there favorite location is really on 5% better than their 2nd choice and costs twice as much, takes a long time to get to and has hard dates to work around is it really worth it? NO. But they don't think about he ramifications of getting the slightly better location. That is where a PRODUCER / DIRECTOR can step back and say "Guys for all the extra money and hassle for something that is 5% better it is not worth it. Let's save the money and put that into something better, something where we are getting more of that money (production value) on the screen. That is why being a double or triple threat is great, because you can step back and see it from different perspectives and make a BETTER decision than if you only had one skill set. I rambled there a bit. LOL. Hope that answers your great question. Thanks for asking.

I wish you the BEST on your future projects. Sending good filmmaking vibes your way. CHEERS!

What an informative AMA! Thanks Ryan Little!

Exactly Ryan!

Nice talking to you thanks for sharing and success with your work

Thanks for the response and info Ryan! I agree recommendations and word of mouth are the most fruitful ways to get work. It's how I've gotten most of my work in film scoring (and most of all other music and non-musical work). And yes, there are soooooo many composers out there!!! But, like many other saturated fields, there are less composers who are reliable and have thorough compositional abilities in many genres. And even less need for composers with the continual inundation of sample packs, so-called "royalty-free" library subscriptions, and now A.I. But I digress from all that. It's up to us as composers to move with the times and figure out how to continue being relevant.

So my follow-up question, do you have any advice on making the move from no budget indie short films to actual films with music and composing budgets? How can I utilize my current short film credits and indie filmmaker recommendations into "word-of-mouth" work in funded films?

Hi Ryan, did you do the camera work on "War Pigs"? That was a great looking flick.