Category Film Maker Interviews

This week we wanted to share our experience participating in a video contest. These types of contests are generally open to the public and can be a great way to test your production skills in number of areas such as budget, schedule, cinematography and creativity. Incentives for participating in these types of contests include cash prizes, merchandise and of course bragging rights. To see a full list of video contests available at any time visit onlinevideocontests.com.

While we’ve participated in competitions before, this was our first video contest that carried a $10,000 grand prize. One of our hurdles  was that we didn’t find out about it until 2 weeks prior to the submission date. If two weeks sounds like a lot of time, it isn’t. Think about making a video for $10,000, how much time would you need to plan, shoot and edit that video?

The good news for us is that we’ve been working as a team for years so dividing up tasks and streamlining our process. Our reasons to participate in this contest were not just about the possibility of winning a prize. We do them to sharpen our skill set or push us to do something more creativity and adhering to parameters like you would if you were doing commercial video production for a client.

Genie Garage Door Video Contest Submission

The video was submitted on February 4th, 2018 and we’d love feedback from other filmmakers. What would you have done? How could you improve this video? Leave us feedback in the comments.

The Parameters

While some may feel like parameters are a hindrance to creativity, I would suggest that parameters spawn creativity by making you think clearly about achieving certain objectives or goals. Here are the requirements for the Genie Garage Door video contest we entered.

ENTRY, VIDEO AND FINALIST VIDEO REQUIREMENTS & CONDITIONS: All Entries, Videos and Finalist Videos must comply with the following minimum guidelines to be eligible: (this is just a summary, there were 25 conditions that had to be met)

• Video and Finalist Videos must feature or describe a Genie Garage Door Opener and/or its features or capabilities.
• Video and Finalist Videos must include a standard size single or double residential garage door that is compatible with any Genie Garage Door Opener models
• Entrant must have express written permission from the owner of the garage to use the owner’s property in the Video/Finalist Video.
• Individuals other than the entrant may not appear in the Video or Finalist Video, without express written permission.
• The maximum file size is 150MB for videos submitted to the Contest Website. Video/Finalist Video must not exceed 90 seconds in length.
• Entry and Video/Finalist Video cannot contain or depict visible phone numbers, website links, street addresses, e-mail addresses or license plate numbers.

Discussion Highlights

• Pre-Production including scripts
• Casting for the role quickly
• Selecting a location
• Three different set designs
• Creating a shot list
• Getting voice over work completed
• Editing and throwing out the script
• Submitting a completed video

Special Thanks

• Actress Rand Sloane – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm7249700/
• Voice Over Actor Todd Myers – https://www.quadrant904.com

Tom Jennings is an award winning documentary filmmaker and journalist. Tom has written, directed and produced more than 400 hours of programming on a variety of topics including politics, religion, history, crime and sports to name a few. His documentaries have been seen on channels like National Geographic and The History Channel.

The best way to sum up our interview with Tom was that it was like taking a masterclass in documentary film making. We reached out Tom’s production company 1895 Films to talk about his latest release on Netflix, Diana: In Her Own Words that was produced for the 20th anniversary of Princess Diana’s passing. The journey of producing a documentary of this magnitude is a true test in problem solving and ingenuity that every filmmaker should take notes on.

Tom stresses you need to love what you do to be a documentary filmmaker. There are growing numbers of documentary television programming but Tom think it’s probably easier to sell a reality show. Don’t ever give up. If one network doesn’t want your story, maybe you can tailor for someone else. Sometimes you just have to step up and figure out how to make things work the best you can.

Keep Up with Tom Jennings Online

Website: http://1895films.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/1895filmsCA/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/1895films

Tom Jennings Interview Highlights

Life as a Journalist

• Before becoming a filmmaker, Tom Jennings was a journalist in Washington D.C.
• Having moved to Los Angeles, Tom ended up covering the O.J. Simpson criminal trial and got burned out
• Cable television networks were taking off and needed writers to write non-fiction television with Discovery and History
• Writing led into producing which led to directing
• Tom sold his first project in 2004 to the Discovery Channel and had his own company since then

Learning to Make Documentaries On His Own

• Tom didn’t go to film school and had no film background
• His education came from being in the field and learning from the crew
• “People like to talk about what they do if you show a genuine interest in what they do.”
• This is how he learned how to put non-fiction documentary television together
• Tom admits he would have failed film theory classes but he knows how to get the right material in the can to make for a good documentary

Selling His First Documentary About Roanoke Island

• Tom’s first project was for the History Channel about the lost colony of Roanoke Island
• This was at the time when networks like History were interested in cool stories
• Today, having a cool story doesn’t cut it. There has to be something new, information that was never known before
• By complete luck, every year in the town of Roanoke Island actors recreate the story in a play
• Tom was able to get the actors to participate in the documentary and the rest is history…pun intended
• Tom also notes, recreations can be poorly done if you’re not careful
• For his first film, Tom had interviews, a great mystery and on top of it these great images to go with it

Diana: In Her Own Words

• This film commissioned by National Graphic is now available on Netflix
• It’s a difficult type of programming to do in film making because there are no interviews or narrator
• Archival footage and audio was the only content used to make Diana: In Her Own Words
• The archive they got for the Diana story was from author Andrew Morton who wrote Diana: Her True Story
• It consisted of private interviews of Princess Diana through tapes that were made for Andrew Morton through a mutual friend
• When they approached Andrew Morton about the tapes Andrew’s response was get in line
• Tom explained this would be a film about Diana, narrated by Diana which was something that had never been done before
• There were many rules put in place by Tom and his team to in regards to the use of imagery when talking about particular time periods

Watch Diana: In Her Words

Telling A Story With Archival Footage

• Depending on the source material available, every production is different
• For Diana: In Her Own Words, there were 7 hours of audio that they mapped out as storyboards
• They listed all of the story beats she talked about at length or momentary asides
• There were 140 story cards stuck on a board at that time
• Tom and his team knew they had to tell the broad strokes of the story people knew about Princess Di
• Then they found the stories they knew people had not heard before
• The story works so well because Tom purposely chose story beats where they could find footage of the event

Winning an Emmy for Best Documentary Research

• Whether its a feature film or a documentary, filmmakers always need to think outside the box
• The Challenger story had been told many times before but not in this way
• Tom received 30 beta tapes from the NASA archive and having gone through 28 of them they found gold of Christa McAuliffe rehearsing her lesson plans aboard The Challenger
• When they called NASA to tell them what they had found, NASA had no idea that footage existed because nobody else had gone through the tapes before
• Remembering Christa McAuliffe was from New Hampshire, Tom called a local radio station who had kept all the footage of her training and their news director was actually on the launch pad broadcasting live
• All of this added to the most unique coverage of the events of the Challenger disaster in decades which ended up winning an Emmy for Best Documentary Research

The Lost Tapes Series

• Watch the Lost Tapes Series on The Smithsonian Channel
  • The Lost Tapes: Malcom X
  • The Lost Tapes: Patty Hearst
  • The Lost Tapes: Son of Sam
  • The Lost Tapes: LA Riots
  • The Lost Tapes: Pearl Harbor
  • Challenger Disaster: Lost Tapes
• Tom goes in depth on making the series from production schedule to business of running a production company
• When you have a small production you have to go from concept to delivery
• The networks know what they want and when they want it. If you want to keep working with them you have to deliver

Getting Around Licensing for the King of Pop

• Tom produced a show for Investigation Discovery on the death of Michael Jackson
• It’s difficult on a budget to license images or music of Michael Jackson
• It’s frustrating to know you’d only get the same content as everyone else
• They shot interviews and b-roll of locations but they wanted more
• Tom hired a Michael Jackson impersonator and shot them for hours in shadow to beef up the footage

Landing a Job with Robert Redford

• Tom was fascinated by the Lincoln assassination and John Wilkes Booth when he was a journalist
• Most people don’t know the story stretches over 12 days where John Wilkes Booth was on the run
• He pitched the story to the History Channel and it was created in HD with a ton of reenactments
• 2 years later he received a call from Rober Redford’s production company about a movie called The Conspirator
• He was asked to make the documentary version for the DVD The Conspirator: Mary Surratt and the Plot to Kill Lincoln

Today’s guest is Robert Sciglimpaglia, an actor and accomplished voice over artist who is also a practicing attorney has been producing his own feature films as an Executive Producer. the past few years. We had the pleasure of meeting Robert at the American Film Market in 2017 where we spoke about film funding and film distribution. What we learn in today’s interview is that there is a delicate balance between financing, casting and distribution that may lead to the success of your next independent film.

In the early days, Robert hosted a local radio program back in the mid 1990’s called “The Law Show”, and more recently, hosted a radio show called “Ask the Lawyer.” Robert’s first venture into the acting field was a show called “American Experience: Hijacked!” which aired nationally on PBS-TV and was narrated by Campbell Scott. Since that time, he has appeared in numerous national projects with many big name stars, both in acting and voice overs. His latest project in post-production is an independent feature film, called One, featuring Lance Henriksen.

Follow Robert Sciglimpaglia’s Independent Film Projects

• IMDB – http://www.imdb.com/name/nm2215197/
• Website – http://www.robpaglia.com
• Twitter – https://twitter.com/robscig
• YouTube – https://www.youtube.com/user/robscig

Breaking into The Film Industry

• After working hard as a lawyer Robert, started doing voice over work about 12 years ago
• He took an adult education class for voice over acting to see if he even liked it
• From commercial work to animation, Robert has tons of street cred as a voice over actor
• Within 6 months of doing voice over work, he was doing on camera work as an actor
• Robert started taking acting classes and still takes classes to this day to perfect his craft
• From there Robert started producing his own films

Landing a Super Bowl Commercial

• Getting a phone call on the golf course led to his role in the Chevy Superbowl ad
• It was originally meant to be a spec ad for the London Film Festival but Chevy liked the ad so much they pulled it for the superbowl
• The commercial was voted as the #21 Superbowl ad in history!
• Robert’s big takeaway from the ad was “Whenever I do a job, I do it 100%. It doesn’t matter what kind of job it is…I want to work those people again.”
• Robert’s 2nd takeaway was “You never know where your project is going to go.”

Selling a Film at AFM (The American Film Market)

• One, a film recently produced by Robert for $50k was brought to AFM to find distribution and he succeeded
• The film features actor Lance Henriksen (Alien, The Terminator)
• Evan Evans also agreed to do compose the film score
• As an attorney, Robert advises filmmakers regularly
• “Figure out where you want the film to go and work backwards”
• Whether its to get financing, distribution or even go to festival know what your goals for the film are
• Anything you can do to generate buzz from getting a named actor for cameos or a composer to score the film
• Genre is something you should research to see what types of films are selling

Getting Film Distribution Contacts

• The most important thing a filmmaker can do is put their project up on IMDB even before you make
• Adler and Associates Entertainment, distributors for Robert’s movie One, found his project because actor Lance Henriksen was attached
• Lance is popular in foreign sales and sci-fi and Robert had worked with Lance before
• Making contacts is more about what you can do for them
• While at AFM Robert also found funding for a second film through Bitcoin Film Funding

Have more questions for Robert Sciglimpaglia? Leave em in the comments and we’ll make sure he gets back to you!

This week’s guest on the Imperfect Podcast is Director, Fran Strine who created the music documentary Hired Gun now available on Netflix. Fran captures the stories of the music industries elite musicians who are only “20 feet from stardom” yet rarely receive credit for their work. Featured in the documentary are Alice Cooper, Rob Zombie, Liberty DeVitto (Billy Joel), Ray Parker Jr. (Ghostbusters), Rudy Sarzo (Quiet Riot), Jason Newsted (Metallica) and dozens more.

Fran Strine talks with us about his passion for music and why telling this story was important. As a touring music photographer for bands like Staind, Nickelback, Shinedown & Seether he lived alongside some of the greatest musicians in the world. From finding investors to shooting 2 years of footage to having the music produced at Skywalker Ranch this interview is both inspiring and educational for filmmakers looking to break into the documentary world.

Hired Gun worked so well as a documentary because someone like Fran was so passionate and dedicated to the story and seeing the vision through to completion. There is no substitute for hard work when it comes to making a documentary of this magnitude and with the caliber of talent that was involved on and off screen.

Watch Hired Gun

Fran Strine Interview Highlights

The Motivation for Filming Hired Gun

• Fran Strine was a touring music photographer for years
• After being on the road for 20 years and ready to take a break, Five Finger Death Punch made him an offer he couldn’t refuse
• When the tour wrapped, Fran was about to turn 50 years old and he decided to take his chances and make a film
• He had no formal training as a photographer or videographer, just a lot of hard work and dedication

Getting started in Film

• Fran was the photographer for the Tattoo the Earth tour in 2000 with a bunch of metal bands
• He happened to bring a video camera with him and started shooting the bands live
• While in Atlanta with Sevendust the head of A&R approached him about doing a Bonus DVD for the making of the album
• Fran took the upfront money they gave him, bought a camera, a Mac and Final Cut for Dummies which is how he launched his film career
• That led to more music videos

Battlefield of the Mind

• In 2012 Fran filmed Battlefield of the Mind
• A documentary focusing on homeless Veterans that suffer from PTSD.
• How can this happen in the wealthiest country in the world?
• What can we do as citizens?
• That’s what this film explores.

Hired Gun: Concept to Production

• Fran had seen 20 feet from stardom and it really touched him
• He knew there was another story there and was aware of the “hired gun” from touring with musicians for 2 decades
• After making a sizzle reel, he found an investor who was a good friend he met through Battlefield of the Mind
• The budget was less than $1 Million
• Production on Hired Gun lasted 2 years while waiting for musicians to come off the road

How Do You Tell A Cohesive Story With So Much Footage

• Fran’s goal was to get the best stories from everyone involved
• The first musician he reached out to was Liberty Devitto because he couldn’t believe his story as Billy Joel’s drummer was real
• After interviewing Rudy Sarzo Fran knew he’d be a big part of the documentary
• In total, 65 musicians were interviewed to make Hired Gun
• Gavin Fisher was the editor on almost 90% of the film

Music Licensing for Hired Gun

• Julie Glaze Houlihan was the music supervisor responsible for clearing the music
• There are two sides to licensing a song
  • Publishing rights that belong to the song writer
  • Master recording that belongs to the record label
• Donald Fagan and Walter Becker gave us permission to use a Steely Dan song however the record label denied us
• Jay Gradon was brought in to re-record the guitar solo from Peg just for the documentary on the same guitar and amps used on the original recording

Assembling the Ultimate Jam Band

• Everyone in the band was interviewed for Hired Gun
• All of the musicians happened to be in town for NAMM that weekend
• One day of rehearsals and 3 days at the studio
• It was a nightmare to assemble but there were no egos and watching it live gave Fran chills

Distributing a Music Documentary

• We didn’t have a distributor going into the world premiere at SXSW
• Vision Films setup Hired Gun a screening at over 300 theaters nationwide
• In August of 2017 we launched on VOD and then received worldwide distribution working with Sony
• The Netflix deal came early on after a screening at the SOHO House

Mixing Audio at Skywalker Ranch

• Spending two weeks in Los Angeles to mix the film was not appealing
• On a whim, Fran sent an unsolicited email to Skywalker Ranch with the sizzle reel and synopsis
• The response from Skywalker Ranch was “Can we submit a bid?” which shows how much they believed in the project

For Fran Strine, he accomplished everything he had hoped for Hired Gun elevating his career to the next level. We wish Fran much success in his future endeavors. Have more questions for Fran? Leave them in the comments and we’ll make sure answers them.

A critically acclaimed actor, Tom Malloy wowed Hollywood with his stunning turn in the indie-cult favorite Gravesend in 1998, which was produced by Oliver Stone. Tom became a trend setter as one of the first successful triple-hyphenate Actor/Writer/Producers and made it his business to learn as much about the filmmaking industry as possible. Over the years, Tom has raised more than $25 million in private equity from independent financiers and has written, produced and starred or co-starred in nearly all the films that his company Trick Candle Productions has made.

Tom Malloy is the author of the book Bankroll that is a must read for filmmakers, actors and producers that want to finance their independent feature films. Tom has now turned Bankroll into a video course for filmmakers as a new approach financing feature films. Get the Course. In our interview you can hear Tom talk about his experiences financing films and the great stories he has to share from behind and in front of the camera.

Keep up with Tom Malloy Online

Website: http://tommalloy.com
Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/TommyMalloy
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Tom-Malloy/69665101522
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/tommalloy/

Tom Malloy Interview Highlights

Background

• We discuss the Long Island connection
• Tom wanted to be an actor and thought that’s what he wanted to pursue
• He was cast for the movie Gravesend in 1998 that was filmed in Brooklyn
• Gravesend was picked up by Oliver Stone he thought he’d made it
• When he didn’t become an overnight success he started learning every other aspect of the business
• Tom Malloy has now produced 15 movies and written over 20 screenplays
• The book Bankroll is considered the gold standard for film financing that he wrote in 2009

Being a Dancer

• If you can do martial arts you can be a dancer
• It’s similar to martial arts in learning patters, forms and moves
• Tom took a job as a ballroom dancer when he was preparing for the movie Love N Dancing with co-star Amy Smart
• Dancing is something he thinks anyone can do

Becoming a Producer

• Producing became a means to an end
• Tom discovered he was good at raising money by persistence and motivation
• It took 6 movies before he was confident enough to produce
• “If you do it long enough people start to trust you.”

How Do You Raise Money For Film

• Network with people that are outside of the movie business
• Act as a conduit for them to get into the movie business
• Everyone wants to be part of the movie business.
• They want to have celebrity friends. If you can be the person to bring that to the investor you’re in great shape.

The book Bankroll had two editions and Tom didn’t want to write a third.  Working with Jason Brubaker, their video course contains 85 videos on funding a feature film.  Get the Course. In this course Tom is giving away all of his secrets about how he personally raised $25 million to finance feature films.

Read the book Bankroll

This week’s guest is Jon Foley from the Las Cruces Film Office in New Mexico. We met Jon at the American Film Market in 2017 and decided to pick his brain on why filmmakers should contact a film office for their next movie. Many filmmakers don’t realize the benefits working with a local film office can have including incentives, locations and a local crew.  Filming in a location like Las Cruces may surprise with its vast landscapes, mountains, deserts and miles of pecan trees.

Jon Foley began his journey into film & video production at the age of 11 in Las Cruces, New Mexico. His path has had many detours; Digital Video Content Manager for an online ethical hacking university, video production company owner, 1 feature and countless smaller projects as a Director of Photography, Producer of short films premiering at festivals like Festival de Cannes, Brussels Short Film Festival, and Hollyshorts, viral content creation (5+ million views across the web), landscape photographer, and the list goes on. Currently, he is the Film Liaison for Las Cruces and has his full attention on bringing more film and television productions to his area.

Have an interesting story about working with your local film office or film commission? Share it with us in the comments

Film Las Cruces Links:

http://www.filmlascruces.com
https://www.facebook.com/filmlc

Keep in Touch with Jon Foley

https://www.instagram.com/jonathon_foley/
https://www.facebook.com/offroadnewmexico/videos/1782038265362262/

What is the Las Cruces Film Office?

• The Las Cruces Film Office is about to be certified to become a film commission
• Jon’s job is to market the city of Las Cruces New Mexico film producers, location scouts and anyone looking to shoot television, film, commercial work or anything video related that will get local crew members work and the area seen.
• The film office also helps with permits, facilitating locations or working with local departments such fire and police.

 What are the benefits of filming in Las Cruces?

• One major benefit is not having to pay for permits and Jon usually turns them around in 1 to 2 days.
• If you’re doing a non-union shoot, Jon has access to over 60 local crew members ready to work including camera operators, grips and production assistants.
• Las Cruces has an abandoned court house / prison you can shoot at for free for the next year! Dona Ana Detention Center
• Visit Film Las Cruces to see their database of locations available.

What are the qualifications for shooting in Las Cruces?

• Jon helps everyone from the micro budget indie film to Hollywood sized budgets.
• There is no minimum spend as long as you are willing to fill out the paperwork.
• There is a 25% film rebate as long as you keep track of the money spent.

How does the film rebate work?

• The rebate is processed through the New Mexico Tax & Revenue department.
• As a filmmaker you’ll be buying the lumber, paying for locations, food, gas and transportation.
• In 2016 there was $505 million spent on TV & Film in the state of New Mexico.

How do you acquire locations?

• Jon drives around taking pictures of city property to add to the database regularly.
• Who you know and how you get to know helps in acquiring private property.
• Find locations across the United States using LocationsHub powered by Reel-Scout.

Fun Fact: The car crash in “Due Date” was filmed in Las Cruces

What has been filmed in New Mexico recently?

• Look for Godless on Netflix

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mMUiRYoc76A

How did you get the job as a film liaison?

• I went to a Film Las Cruces board meeting and they announced they were hiring.
• I threw my ring in the hat and I became the assistant to the person who was hired.
• When he left I became the film liaison.

 Jon’s Film Career

• Hear Jon’s journey from corporate training videos to real estate photography
• Jon helped finance a short film that went to Cannes and also worked on a short that premiered at Brussells Short Film Festival & Hollyshorts
• https://www.facebook.com/wolffslawshortfilm/videos/1564437833810947/

Facebook Groups for Marketing

• Download or Stream the episode to hear how Jon continues to organically grow Facebook pages like NewMexi.co

Gavin Michael Booth is a producer, editor and director who’s known for his indie horror film The Scarehouse. “The Scarehouse” was distributed by NBC/Universal (USA) and D Films (Canada) in early 2015 with international releasing starting August 2015. The Scarehouse was funded in part by Telefilm Canada and the film won Best Feature at the New York City Horror Film Festival in 2014.

Booth has worked with some of the top entertainers in the music industry including Music Videos and documentary projects for Eminem’s D-12, Third Eye Blind, The Tea Party, Our Lady Peace, Vanessa Carlton and The Afters.

In our interview Gavin talks about his extensive career and how he used to sneak into concerts that led to a career in music videos, feature films and more. He’s insightful, creative and has a ton of experience. Future filmmakers won’t want to miss this interview.

Keep up with Gavin Michael Booth online:

Director Reel: http://gavinmichaelbooth.com/
IMDB: http://www.imdb.me/gavinmichaelbooth

Gavin’s Childhood & Background

• Born and raised in Ontario near the border of Detroit Michigan
• Joe throws Gavin a curve ball when he asks about a childhood film “Indiana Jones & The Lost Remote Control”
• Gavin talks about delivering newspapers to save up for his first camera so he can shoot movies with his friends
• All of us reminisce over old school gear like Gavin’s first Fisher Price camera
• Although he wanted to attend film school he couldn’t afford to come to the United States and ended up at WalMart to save up
• After getting a hernia on the job, he started doing wedding videos and commercial work which took off and never looked back

Learning from Your First Film

• “Leaving Town” was co-written and co-directed by Gavin with another amateur filmmaker
• “Your first film might not be the best thing, it might not even be a watchable thing but it’s a thing you finished.”
• He learned how to work with the different personalities and crew on set, what it means to be a director and be a producer.
• After that first film you realize if you want to be a filmmaker or if you want to just dream about being a filmmaker.

“There are people that want to make films and there are people that want to be filmmakers.”

Check out Gavin’s recommended video called “I made a movie. It stunk.” by filmmaker Austin Mcconnell.

Making Music Videos Was His Big Break

• Gavin has an intimate history with bands like Third Eye Blind
• Living on the border of Detroit, they had all the good rock concerts
• He’d make a fake media card and say he was part of the local media
• Sometimes he’d be allowed to film the first three songs and sometimes he’d work up the courage to ask for an interview
• That started the trend of breaking into more performances
• Third Eye Blind never found out until years later but they loved his work nonetheless which led to more opportunities in the music business
• Gavin produced the documentary for Vanessa Carlton on the making of her latest album

[bctt tweet=”If you’re not really breaking the law, if you’re not really causing anybody trouble the worst they can do is say no.” username=”hecklerkaneinc”]

Gavin’s latest music video, Where’s My Love for Syml has almost 8 million views!!

Shooting the World’s First Live Movie

• Anyone with a cell phone can be their own broadcast network
• Gavin had an idea for a found footage live event using Periscope and never tell the audience its fake
• Fifteen is about a serial killer who is using Periscope video streaming app to film his grizzly murders live
• The idea was to do something fun that was never done before
• It was produced in cooperation with Jason Blum at Blumhouse Productions

The Scarehouse

• When the sisters of a sorority arrive at a Halloween fun house on Devil’s Night they are confronted by their past as the night spins out of control
• After another script of his was stopped his distribution company asked for a different script
• Pitched as a cross between Saw and Mean Girls, “The Scarehouse” was born
• The original shoot did not contain any found footage but the studio suggested adding a prologue
• Gavin coordinated a re-shoot and it was the only time all of the girls were together
• It was the first feature film he worked with his wife Sarah Booth

Film Making Words of Advice

• Keep creating content.  Learn from your mistakes and evolve
• Whatever camera  you have, whatever script you have don’t fall into the excuse of waiting til you have some piece of film gear
• If you sit and wait, life passes you by and you will never reach your goals
• You don’t even know how many opportunities you’re missing by not putting yourself into that creative realm and network of people
• If create content you will instantly become a leader
• Nothing tops experience

We are back from the American Film Market in sunny Santa Monica, California where we spent three days learning, pitching and meeting the film industries biggest players from around the world. The American Film Market hosts one of the industries biggest events for film makers, screenwriters and distributors.  We also interviewed 8 film industry heavy hitters.

Our #1 tip for success at the American Film Market is preparation. Setup your meetings in advance, don’t wait for the last minute to schedule them because the likelihood of getting into a meeting without an appointment is very low. Even if you have an appointment the odds of it being on time may dwindle the later you wait to make that meeting. Not only do you have to prepared to schedule meetings with buyers and distributors, you have to be prepared with your pitch. You need to be professional and have a plan and understand why your film may be saleable and even more importantly what aspects of your film may not be saleable.

Tip #2 for success at the American Film Market is having a completed project. Nobody wants to hear about your concept or idea. Everyone has ideas. Distributors won’t even touch you if you don’t have a completed production. Screenwriters need completed scripts. Networking and building relationships take time. If you’re a first time filmmaker, nobody is going to hand you a check after a 15 minute pitch meeting. If they do, we’d love to hear about it on our podcast!

Interviews at the American Film Market

Pilar Alessandra

Creator of On The Page Script Consultation Company. Pilar  is the director of the screenwriting and TV writing program On the Page®, host of the popular On the Page Podcast and author of the top-selling book “The Coffee Break Screenwriter. She was at AFM as the moderator of the Pitch Conference for the 2nd year in a row. The Pitch Conference at AFM was eye opening to us. If you’re a screenwriter her podcast is invaluable.

We submitted our pitch for Seymour the Unfortunate Vampire and while we weren’t selected to pitch live, we learned how to craft and deliver a pitch for the meetings we were about to take.

Alex Ferrari

Filmmaker and Creator of Indie Film Hustle. Alex shares what he’s learned over the years as a writer, director, producer and post production/VFX supervisor. We were excited to finally meet Alex in person after having him as a guest on our podcast. Alex was more than generous with his time and shared a ton of insights with us. Look for his interview with AFM Director Jonathan Wolf on Indie Film Hustle.

Check out our interview with Alex: Making Money From Your Micro Budget Film with Alex Ferrari 

Jason Brubaker

Jason is a Los Angeles based movie distribution executive specializing in direct to consumer distribution strategies. He is the Vice President of Worldwide Sales at Distribber. Jason is also the founder of Filmmaking Stuff, a professional resource for independent filmmakers and provides tips on screenwriting, producing, crowdfunding, directing, movie marketing and film distribution.

Branscombe Richmond

A Native American actor, stuntman and singer most known for his role in Renegade with Lorenzo Lamas. Branscombe stands at 6′ 3″ and has been on the receiving end of the fists of Arnold Schwarzenegger in Commando (1985), gotten pummeled by Carl Weathers in Action Jackson (1988) and tangled with Steven Seagal in Hard to Kill (1990). At the American Film Market we saw a different while he was there to represent the Southern Kentucky Film Commission.

The most fun about meeting Branscombe is that he is long time friends with Marshall Teague who was on our show as well. Check out our Interview with Marshall Teague.

Susan Yang

General Manager of Shanghai Pusheng Translation Co. Susan was there as a translator helping a producer navigate the film market.

Paul Ayre

Paul has been writing and creating comedy for 15 years now and has worked with some of the biggest names in comedy – including Jeff Goldblum, SketchShe and toured with The Umbilical Brothers through Germany, Denmark, Austria, Slovenia and Sweden. He won the biggest prize in webseries history: $70,000 for The Justice Lease in which he acted, wrote and produced. We caught up with Paul at the pitch conference where he delivered one of the most animated pitches at the AFM. Check out his work at http://severecomedy.com

Sean Crayne

Sean was another dynamic presenter at the AFM Pitch Conference where he asked the audience “Would you kill for fame?” For more on Sean and his film Twisted check out https://www.twistedthefilm.com/home. Sean also organized an indie horror filmmaker meetup on Saturday night which was a great place to meet other like minded filmmakers.

Mike Lippert

Michael Lippert is an Ontario-based Writer/Director/Producer.  He was at the AFM shopping his debut feature film called Expecting. Mike had a great story to share about how managed to get Lloyd Kaufman to do a cameo in his film.

Mark Belasco

Mark is the Vice President of Sales & Acquisition at Adler & Associates Entertainment. They pride themselves on being a true indie company, one with a risk-taking spirit and an unbiased eye for new talent from around the globe. If you’re an indie filmmaker looking for distribution and a true partner we recommend a conversation with Adler & Associates Entertainment.

Share Your American Film Market Experiences

If you’ve attended the American Film Market and want to share your story, tell us in the comments. If you have questions about AFM and whether or not its right for you give us a shout on Twitter or Facebook and we will answer anything you want to know!

Have a question for our guests on this episode of the Imperfect Podcast? Leave it in the comments and we’ll make sure they answer it for you.

Cupids is the latest comedy short film from Angelo Calarco. Cupids is currently on its festival run and was recently featured at the Soho International Film Festival and will be in New York again at the Gold Coast Film Festival. We discuss the challenges of filming dialogue with 4 people on screen and how to not make it feel boring. Angelo has a unique perspective using visuals and sound,  crossing from fantasy to reality to keep the audience engaged.

Angelo Calarco is an Italian freelance Producer/Director living in London operating under the name of Beware Of The Dog Films.  His career started as a comedy writer and an award winning stand-up comedian. Angelo moved to London in 2010 and learned the art of filmmaking by working as a Production Assistant, Marketing Assistant, Assistant Producer and Assistant Script Editor for several Film Production companies in London such as JetSet Films, Wo-Ho! Productions and One Eyed Dog Films while also experimenting with his own passion projects.

Watch Cupids on Amazon

Cupids Short Film Cast & Crew

• Director: Angelo Calarco
• Writer: Nick Grills
• Starring Jenny Delisle, Tiernan Douieb, Michelle Fahrenheim & Daniel Knight
• Logline: Two cupids must team up to face one of the greatest challenges of modern times: getting two strangers to talk to each other!

Interview Highlights with Angelo Calarco

Angelo’s Background

• Angelo moved to London specifically to learn how to read and write English to gain an international audience.
• He was writing scripts before making films until he opened his own production company.
• After 10 years of stand-up comedy, filmmaking has always been the end goal of his artistic dreams.
• Angelo’s idols include comedic filmmakers Mel Brooks and Woody Allen.

Producing Cupids The Short Film

• Angelo contacted writer Nick Grills after originally hearing the idea 3 years prior at a script writing meeting.
• The script was still available and they adapted the script to Angelo’s point of view and went from there
• “I respect so much the work of a writer and I didn’t want to make big changes.”

Directing Cupids – The Challenge

• The story was written as a very static scene.
• The dialogue rotates around the table with 4 characters that speak a lot.
• Most of the comedy comes from the dialogue and the problem was how to make it visually interesting.
• Angelo studied the genre of the film including comedy and fantasy.
• Using cinematography and sound, Angelo created two worlds in the same place.
• Jumping between the two worlds is what makes the scene dynamic.

Look for Cupids at the Gold Coast Film Festival November 11^th at 4:30pm EST

This week’s guest is your humble host, Alex Ferrari, known for his film making blog and podcast Indie Film Hustle. With his 20 years of experience in the industry Alex dishes the straight line on making it in the film business. He shared his experiences with us as a film maker, making the rounds at every film festival imaginable and why film festivals may or may not be a good idea for film makers. This year he put his money where is his mouth is and shot the micro budget feature film This is Meg starring Jill-Michelle Melean who also co-wrote the film with Alex.

Indie Film Hustle Roots And Why Alex Started the Popular Film Making Blog

• Alex talks about escaping Miami to Hollywood and cutting his teeth as an editor. Remember what cutting ¾” tape was like?
• He talks about running garage sales as early as the age of 10 and walking around with a wad of cash
• Listening, watching, reading for a year Alex studied the business of an online business, creating content and SEO
• His rise was quick his content on Indie Film Hustle was resonating because Alex wasn’t afraid to tell filmmakers the truth.
• Providing value is his number 1 priority because he was tired of seeing filmmakers get beat up and ripped off in the film industry.

Where do You Find Time To Create That Much Content?

• Alex admits he has 150 unpublished blog articles and 50 videos just waiting!
• “There’s a lot of time in the day”
• Over the course of 2 years he’s learned how to process all of the content efficiently. Alex says he can put together a podcast in 2 to 2.5 hours.
• If he didn’t have a family, Indie Film Hustle might be even be bigger.
• Alex puts in 10 to 12 hours a day and rarely works weekends. When he does work, Alex says he’s efficient. He stops every day at 6:30.
• Ask most high achieving entrepreneurs and they’ll admit what Alex did to us. He says, “I feel like I’m a slacker, I feel like I’m not doing enough. I feel like I could do better, like I could do more.”

How Do You Feel About Film Festivals For Film Makers?

• Alex has been to every film festival you can imagine totally upwards of 500 festivals including Sundance.
• Quote: “If you’ve never gone through the experience, it’s magical. The first time you go to a festival and see your film projected, it’s the most amazing thing ever.”
• When do you that 500 times and spend a lot of money you realize what its worth.
• Alex doesn’t like the cost to many film festivals and feels like they are ripping off the film makers.
• After spending $1000 on 35 film festivals he learned how to get into festivals for free and his movie Broken ended up in 150.
• If you live in a small town, do it every year because it’s the only place you are going to connect with other local filmmakers, producers & investors.

Watch the Interview with Alex Ferrari on YouTube:

Sundance Film Festival: Alex recounts his experience

• His first time at Sundance he had just finished Broken and walked around with a laptop asking people if they wanted to watch a movie
• Sundance was like Disneyland. He would just take pictures with every celebrity he could.
• Name dropping time!!

What is your opinion of The American Film Market?

• This is Meg is going to be screened at The American Film Market
• Alex has been to AFM once before but this is the first time he’s heading upstairs with the big boys.
• Right now AFM is still the way to do international sales. It’s all about relationships.
• Quote: “You can sense that energy when somebody comes up to you and they just want to take and suck from you.”
• The bottom line is give more than you get.

Where did the concept for your feature film This is Meg start?

• Watch This is Meg on Amazon
• Find out what a scriptment is and why film makers use them.
• Alex was tired of waiting for permission to make his first feature film.
• He called his co-producer Jill-Michelle Melean and said, “I wanna make a movie and we are gonna do it this way and this is story I want to tell. I wanna tell your story as a comic and actress who is not 21 anymore and who’s been a little famous but is not a household name and what it’s like for you.”
• 1 week later Jill had a scriptment for This is Meg, 3 days later they locked up the cast and were shooting a few weeks later. This is Meg was shot in 8 days total over 6 weeks.
• Alex talks about how much he loved the process because he put absolutely no pressure on himself about the outcome of the film. And never even shot more than 6 to 8 hours.
• This is Meg was the most effortless project he’s ever been involved in.

What the trailer for This Is Meg

What was the distribution plan for This is Meg?

• Alex admits This is Meg is a dramedy that’s may not be for everyone.
• We have wonderful actors that you’ll recognize but we have no bankable stars.
• I created a lot of content around the process of making it so I’d be able to sell it to my audience which brings in revenue.
• I made a relationship with Distribber to be able to self-distribute the film which can now be seen on Hulu, iTunes, Amazon, YouTube, Google Play & Vudu.
• Oddly enough, it sold to China, South Africa and have a pending UK deal. Little by little it’s made some money and was a great proof of concept.
• If you don’t have an audience there’s no point in self-distributing with something like Distribber.
• Alex made a movie within the resources that he had. A lot of filmmakers become too ambitious too early.

What did you shoot This is Meg on?

• Blackmagic Cinema 2.5k https://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/855879-REG/Blackmagic_Design_BMD_CINECAM26KEF_Cinema_Camera.html
• Mastered in 1080p (you do not need to master in 4k)
• Edited on Davinci Resolve https://www.blackmagicdesign.com/products/davinciresolve/

Indie Film Hustle Episode Recommendations

• Making a Micro Budget Film That Cracks iTunes’s Top 3 with Julian Galea
• Watch Love to Paradise on Amazon
• How to Make 250K Indie Film Look Like $25 Million Blockbuster with Gaelan Connell
• Watch Blood Sand and Gold on Amazon

Watch The Director’s Series on YouTube

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jtBderQpMjs&list=PLHw-MoPtkleeOcuaZAXVNHOh5M5EfWLaW