I have been asked a few times if SCREEN could have a sequel if the first one done well. I'm not a big fan of sequels, simply because most are obviously made to milk the audience for more cash. However, there has been some great sequels. The Godfather 2 and Aliens are the first Hollywood one's that come to mind. I'm also a big fan of serials, because I like how you can expand on stories and character developments. In a movie, you have a short window to wrap a big story up.
As we know, most horror films have sequels if they do reasonably well. SCREEN does have a bigger story beyond the one movie. I think that's quite clear after you watch it, but it could end on this one film too. I do have another two solid treatments written, so there's is plenty of scope for this to continue to a second and third.
SCREEN has been made for a very tiny budget, but a sequel could let me tell a bigger story, and I could expand on the effects. Which was what I originally intended when I got a budget and then lost it. If the first SCREEN done reasonably well, it could then justify a sequel. A cult audience is a small audience in global terms, but a bigger sequel could take it to another level, and it's still a fresh concept to most of the planet.
The budget on this would be bigger, and I would also do all the various spin off videos that I could not afford to do on the first one. So in a way, a sequel could get a bigger audience and it would turn the first one into a prequel. Which in turn means, people could then go back to the first one too. That's my pattern of thinking on how I also build an audience. I don't need to have the next "Blair Witch" for this story to do well.
The answer to the question, if a company wanted to fund a sequel, yes I would do it. But like I said recently, my goal is this new project CITY OF SIN. I have no desire to try and get other features made anymore, but if a company, sales agency, distributor offered me a sequel budget, I would go and do it fast. AFTER the first slate of stories on CITY OF SIN. Or I would possibly crowd fund a sequel from potential fans in the near future.
At this time, all my focus is on getting SCREEN released soon, and getting CITY OF SIN into production before the end of the year. SCREEN has been submitted for the Toronto Film Festival. I don't like film festivals, but I was advised to do this by a sales agency who is interested.
There's some mistakes that you are going to make, and you KNOW you are going to make them. But you do the math on it, and it calculates that it's still worth making the mistakes for the bigger picture. Ever since I came up with the concept of SCREEN, it had the dozens of found footage phone videos of all the dead people in front of the screen. Those videos were then going to be released before the film to help expand the story, and promote. Like dozens of micro teasers.
However, to do them properly would have cost me double my production budget, or more. Should I have tried to get more money before I decided to go with the movie? Well I did, and it almost killed my spirit for years. Making things happen is so important! My experience has taught me that it's better to give yourself a time frame to raise the budget for a film, then just go and make it! Don't dream of your budget masterpiece in your head.
When you move your spirit gets stronger, you become a doer, you get out of a comfort zone, and it's easier to get the next projects rolling. You also get to practise at being a filmmaker. Something most filmmakers forget. Guys like Ridley Scott shot thousands of commercials before he made his first feature. Today, we can practise very cheaply and we learn to develop new skills with the hands on challenges that come our way.
If I decided to wait until everything was just right, I know I would be still be trying to raise the money to do the film and these videos. That also means I am not learning to become a better filmmaker. Thats why there's so many bad films in the world too. Lots of filmmakers spend years trying to raise a budget. That's time wasted where you could be learning to be good. The canvas is cheaper now, it's better to do, learn, evolve, and build supporters fast. In the next project, I then take it to the next level.
Like I said, the biggest thing I learned on SCREEN was something I already knew. But when you actually do this shit, instead of just coming up with theories, you learn 100% what works and what does not. So I did come to the conclusion for 100% that the key is not only the main content, but all the content that you can SURROUND your main story with the better.
It's SO important to have video and pictures to post several times a week to the release of your film. And I don't mean just mean "The making of content", because that really only interests other filmmakers, not your target market. Unless it's a universal theme doc of your life. Story extended content is the best. You do need some extra cash outside your main budget to do them right, but not a huge amount.
The Ridley Scott film Prometheus has been helped with their viral like content, but with some creative thinking, indies can also make these types of videos. In CITY OF SIN, I will be making enough videos and pictures to support each monthly story. This means I can release a few video and picture teasers every week until the episode is released. It's an exciting new world if we really start to use all the tools available to us properly.
I am done making features for a while, but if SCREEN done well, then I do have a really great script for a sequel. So I would do that later if people wanted it, but this time, all this spin off content I talked about would also be made for a sequel. This in turns also fuels interest for the original SCREEN too.
If you want to follow the progress of my next project, CITY OF SIN, join the mail list or "Like" the FB page. My goal is not only to make stuff, but to really evolve as a story teller. You can also keep up to date with SCREEN via the FB here. The film has just been submitted to the Toronto film festival
CITY OF SIN will be a universe that I set my crime/horror stories in. A branded destination that I want to establish for my work. These stories will be original character driven genre tales around 30-45 mins each. This won't be a web series, as I don't want to stay with the same characters in a fixed world. These will be like mini movies under the CITY OF SIN branded universe. This means they can be made in many other cities too, then placed into this CITY OF SIN site.
These stories will be kind of like "The Twilight Zone" meets "Pulp Fiction". Some will be pure crime stories, some horror, some mixed. Most characters will come and go in the one story, and some will cross platform into other stories too. The goal is to shoot at least 12-18 of these over a six month period, then release them every month on the web and mobile devices for free. The more eyeballs, the more potential fans I create for my work.
I will also have supporting video content for each story that will help market each episode every month. Marketing is the wrong word, it will be extra content that fleshes out the story before it's released. If done well, it will naturally market the episode too. I will also have a lot of pictures taken to help promote each story via plaforms like instagram. These will all have the CITY OF SIN brand on them. I learned from my previous film how important it is to have all this other type of content.
LONG TERM PLAN
The first set of stories will be in Las Vegas, then I move to other cities with new stories. If I raise more money than my target, then I will also shoot one story in other cities in the first slate of stories, but most of them will kick off in Las Vegas. If the community grows for the stories, then obviously the key is to keep it rolling with new content. I intend to shoot for 4-6 months, so that I have enough content to cover 1 year. If an audience likes the stories, I will continue to do all my stories for as long as people want them. This is what I want to do with my life now. Make cool shit and share it 100% direct to potential fans.
The film industry has been a corporate lazy business for many years. I want to make cool edgy shit we don't get. If people like it, they throw me a few bucks to make more, or support via many other long term revenue sources. I'm not anti Hollywood, I just want to make the stories that I don't see being made anymore. I'm a character driven writer that likes to do personal genre stories.
If people like one story in CITY OF SIN, they don't have to wait a year or two for the next. They wait a month or a couple of weeks, and they also get a lot of weekly story content before that. If the CITY OF SIN destination brand is established, and the content is regular, the community will build for all the other stories. If the community really builds over the years, then we all know its now possible now to raise finance online. Providing you have really built that community with great content and patience.
If that happens, then I will aim to build my own studio in the US in the future. I could expand to a bigger canvas, but unlike Hollywood, I don't need to dumb shit down or think about the doll or burger box if I have a direct access to people. I can continue to make original content. I could work with a bigger canvas and shoot a sci fi movie in a studio, or I would also love to make and broadcast live classic plays in a studio in the future. The possibilities are endless in this new world.
If CITY OF SIN did do well, then naturally I would also be open to new talent to make stories for this in all the major cities all over the world too. But first, I need to establish myself with the content for this world first. At least in the first year. I'm not starting with the goal of building some big platform. I'm just working towards this because it's the way I want to make stories. If I end up with just a few thousands supporters, cool. I will die a happy man being creative. I don't give a shit about money, but I do eventually need to make money too if I want to paint with a bigger canvas.
As for making money from it, like all web platform businesses, it's a marathon, not a sprint. If people love what you do, we all know they support. There would be many spin off revenue sources. Many of these will also be "experiences" where you can be a part of this universe. In the first few years though, "Community Build" is the goal, not making lots of money. However, I need a kickstart to get it rolling, but after that, its all about making great work.
On a whole, I have humble ambitions with it at the moment. I am a very prolific writer. I have over 200 treatments and 50 scripts in my hard drive. These were written over the last seven years, and I get at least one new story every day I file away. I had no idea what I was going to do with all these stories, but I then realised recently, this is what I am supposed to do.
This ticks all the boxes for me, and hopefully people want to see this type of work. I want to bring a little rock and roll filmmaking and story telling into this stiff corp like biz. Whatever way we make films or get to our audience, I think the whole industry would benefit from being burnt to the ground and start over again. Well I can't do that and I have no desire to, but I can do it with my approach to story telling and involving my supporters. I want to make cool, fun, gritty, sexy, original stories. Hollywood can have the PG13 market for blockbusters! I want adults!
FILM MAKING PLATFORM
This is not a "Model". I have no desire to predict suggestions to the film community. I might crash and burn with my way, but that's part of the exciting challenge of it all. I won't even be part of the conventional film industry. I will just make the best work I can make, and get it direct to people who like it. I am just sharing my path to attract potential supporters for my next project from all walks of life. Not just finance, but partnerships, locations etc.
There is no model in the film community. I think many people were looking for the "Model" because people want a recipe to success. But I think we all clearly see, there's many routes to personal success in this business. Whatever route you take, it always comes back to the one thing. Make good shit and build your fans! Whatever way you do it. Ohh, and 90% of the rest of the recipe? SWEAT EQUITY!
There's no one route. I makes no differance what new social media or video platforms emerge. I can now clearly see the people that will do well are those that just make create content, and build their communities. It's as simple as that regardless of any more technology changes in production, post, and marketing and distribution.
FUNDING THIS
I will have a kickstarter campaign in the months ahead. In the meantime, I need to connect with all sorts of people across the web that believe in what I am doing. In return, I have many unique incentives to give back. Some of them will include appearing in casino and party scenes in the first story in Las Vegas.
When I get enough people on my mail list that can help me get a good start, then I will launch a campaign. I'm also attracting interest from brands, sponsors in Vegas, and web platforms, but I don't want my site and content saturated with advertising. It's a fine balance.
As for casting and other partnerships, I will be talking more about that in vlog posts from next week. I am approachiing a few names and new talent. I will have a new contact address on the website for this, but please wait until I post a video about my approaching to casting, crewing.
Thanks for reading and many thanks to all those people who have supported me over the last couple of years. I released a blog post about SCREEN here if you have not seen it.
Just a brief update for those who have been following my projects, supporting me.
I don't have a great deal more news about SCREEN since my last post. It can sometimes take months to get word back from sales agents, distributors. I got some feedback, but they need more time to decide. It's all part of the territory.
The only reason I am even trying the conventional route-hybrid deal, is simply because It's the last time I will deal with sales agents and distributors. After SCREEN, I am taking a new path in this biz. Which I talked about here. The world has changed, so I'm changing with it. More importantly, its a more exciting way ahead for me personally. On a creative, biz, and control level. Story telling is story telling to me, so I just want to produce my work and get it to the world in this new way.
As for SCREEN, we all make films for different reasons. The route to a career is different for everybody. There's no right or wrong way, its only what is right for you. If you have spent a lot of money on your film, have investors, then you need a big plan to get your film out there, and you better be prepared to spend two years of your life doing that. I spent 18 months on my first film plugging it all over the UK and at festivals to make the investors their money back, and I did. It made a profit for the companies, but it killed me because I hated the film. It killed my creative spirit dead for years! I was a shell after it.
But with SCREEN and my previous film, I purposely made them so cheap so that I could practise being a filmmaker again. It was not about making a lot of money. It's about making good work first, then building an audience. And sure if I had to do a little tour if I could raise the money, was cool with that. But during the period of 2011, I realised there's another way to build the audience without having to tour the world for a year. Changes in our biz and the technology also influenced me to open my mind more. It's also dumb to spend nothing on the film, then you raise $100,000 to tour it. If I can raise $100,000 now, that will be used to kickstart "CITY OF SIN", as that has huge potential to grow over the years. It's not one single risky film.
To raise and spend a lot of money on my previous films, would then mean I might have had to spend 90% of my time on biz stuff making investors a profit. And making investors a profit on a single indie film is very difficult to pull off these days. I would rather practise cheaply, build an audience, then grow with budgets as a fan base begins to emerge. I keep saying it, but budding filmmakers today should be shooting films on phones today to FALL IN LOVE with the art form, then share it, instead of thinking of making it big when you don't have any REAL experience yet. Building those supporters, potential fans over a period of time is the key for me.
It makes no sense at my level to spend a lot of money, especially when I am not after the attention of the industry. Don't get me wrong, I was looking to get noticed by the industry from last year, but I woke up one day and realised I can be much more happier making the type of work the industry does not do. If I eventually got on the industry radar, I would fight with them for control at every level.
I had to do that on my first film and that was only a $500,000 budget. Why fight when I can just do what I want to do today! I don't want to build big explosive rollercoaster rides. I want to build my own direct audience with cool genre stories. Earning from my work in many other areas of revenue can come later. I also wanted to make sure that I REALLY wanted to do this work for a living. That might sound odd after three films, but I am sure many filmmakers out there have these thoughts today. It's a risky life. Nobody wants to be a penniless artist with a cap all their life, but if you get good, I think we can see today it can work. This in turn his fired my spirit for the work itself too.
I learned so much making SCREEN. About myself, what I want from the future, what I don't want. I also learned a ton of news skills, and it helped me to get out of the comfort zone that many of us get stuck in. Your spirit is alive when you are "doing" It dies when you are waiting for that break around the corner! And if you do get that break, you will be a puppet for others. I can't work that way. I do it my way 100% from now on.
I could not have tackled the next HUGE project without doing SCREEN. Now of course, dealing with all the marketing and distribution is the other half that has to be learned. Thats exactly why I came up with the concept for drive-in screenings for SCREEN years ago. I was already thinking of that. But times have changed. You can either tour, or you can also get to your audience by producing a lot of content on a regular basis. Exciting fresh content. Touring my projects won't be the way for me in the future. I will be making content in various cities, so I can also get to my audience in that way, but I will be making work as I travel. When you are giving your content for free, it opens up a whole new path to do it.
The daily, weekly, monthly video and picture content also becomes the marketing itself on my next project. The talent that will be a part of it will also bring their social media presence to it, so we all market each other. I will also have online brand partners in some form, but no distributors as such, as all my video content will be free to build the global community, then I have many revenue areas where I can potentially earn from it too.
I will operate and market in the same way online businesses do. Almost like the way the porn business markets (I'm not making porn) Give me 5 years with my plan before I have to resort to 3D TITS! 1, 2, 3, and 4! No seriously, Hollywood is after the PG 13 market for their blockbusters. I will simply cater for adults that are ignored. Hardcore original wild intelligent genre stories.
My point is, it makes no sense for me to try and raise $100,000 on kickstarter to get SCREEN out there. Especially when I raised all the money from supporters, not investors. They gave me the money because they beleived in me, to push, get better, go for the dream. Well, I'm still on that journey and I am going to take it to the next level with the experience I got from SCREEN. SCREEN is not the dream. CITY OF SIN is the dream. I have been working towards this all my life, but I never even knew it until recently. The 200 stories I put in my old hard drive over the years, might just come alive with this new path.
It's not bright to try and raise a lot of money to take this current film around the world, so I can then try and make enough money over a year or two to do the next project. It's better to get on with the next project too, and get SCREEN to as many eyeballs as I can. Build more supporters for the next project. It's all about the next projects, my goal to have my own online and offline US studio over the next 5-7 years. Thats the dream, and with hard work I will do it.
Thats probably why I am holding out for these sales agents, distributors. If they take SCREEN, then I don't need a lot of money back for it. Most distributors are not even paying advances to films that cost 100 times the cost of my film. My goal is just to get as much exposure to an audience with SCREEN as possible. I want people to see it, and I want the people that worked on it to get seen, so I will do my best
If it does not get picked up by a distributors, sales agents, I won't just be throwing it online for free without some well thought out launch. I still have the possiblity of these drive-in screenings, but they have to be done in a way that does not cost me. I have connected with a guy who has a network of diy drive-ins all across the US. Around 20,000 people. For a small cost, he will get it to them.
I could potentially get these people to stage their own screenings via this diy drive-in network. That's what they do with other films. I then get them to plug it on social media, and also leverage media from that to promote a VOD release etc. I also have a potential sponsor looking at a proposal for a weeks worth of portable drive-in screenings across the UK. I have many options I am looking at. Either way, I will get it out there this year. Thats my goal with all my work, even if I have to give it for free and paid to every platform.
It might be later in the year it's released, as I have a couple of distributors interested for a Halloween release. If they fuck me about, if the deal is bad, then I will simply give SCREEN to the world myself. The more people that get to see your work, the more potential for supporters or fans to be created. Then people will obviously buy other stuff from you. Donations, products, and experiences. I think SCREEN will be a good word of mouth film.
In the mean time, I am also preparing "CITY OF SIN" for a kickstarer launch later in the year. I'm also connecting with potential partners in many areas. This is my new life, so the quicker I get it rolling the better. It could also help SCREEN, because the stories I create will be crime and horror. There's a seperate blog post about CITY OF SIN on the way.
Thanks for reading and for all the support. I think I will go back to video vlogs after this. Its faster for me to do, and quicker for people to get the message.
David
PS. I was due to have a test screening next week, but I have cancelled it for the moment because the projecter could not present the film in the best light. I will do this in a few weeks in a city centre cinema. I will get the feedback from the audience on video from them, and share that online.
They say the creatures who evolve will survive. It's time for me to do a 360 with my life.
As well as working hard at getting SCREEN out there, I have also started work on another project side by side. Juggling another project keeps me sane in this biz, especially when there's a lot of waiting that is outside your control. And that's part of the reason I'm deciding to take more control from now on. Life years is far more precious to me than money.
I have a LOT of paintings in me, but so far I have only done three! (Feature films) It's time to create a lot more, and faster. It's how I enjoy working. It's what keeps me healthy mentally. Up until this point, I have not enjoyed the slow pace of the film biz. I have came to the conclusion, that I really want to evolve in the way that all the tools and platforms can let me.
I have to make drastic changes to work the way I personally want to work. It's not the way I think the indie film biz should go, it's a very personal route that is right for me. So this is not a preachy post to the indie film community. I don't give out opinions of how we should make and distribute our work. We are all very different, so I am only sharing my personal route to supporters or followers.
The next project I do won't be a feature film or a web series, It would be like a universe for content. A universe that can potentially fulfil my need to create a lot of content most of the year. It can also help me build a branded destination for my creativity. In fact, deciding to pursue this project is probably the biggest decision in my life. I'm unlikely to make another feature film for several years for many reasons. I don't enjoy that type of story telling anymore.
That's not because I think there won't be demand for movies. The public will ALWAYS want great stories in various lengths. I can't see that ever changing. I do believe if indie filmmakers get good at what they do, and build their own communities, they can make a decent living from their work. Features, shorts, whatever. That's a route that is doable with hard work. I want to do the same, but I just want to take a different approach to it for the next few years.
If am successful with my plan, then I will bring that audience to feature length projects too. But it's going to take me about 3-5 years to make it happen, so I have to start today. The changes in this content industry are moving even faster than I thought. I can see where it will be in 5 years. I personally have no time to waist anymore.
Regardless of what new social media or other platforms we have in the years ahead, "Community building" will obviously still be the key to success of a creative. The people that will be successful will have the best content, and lots of it. Also, a good interactiion with that community is clearly the key. I don't mean spending 12 hours a day online chatting, I mean interactive, regular updates, offering fun "experiences", and creative story based marketing will be the key. We have all the tools to do that.
The film business is obviously a very slow business. if you wanted to make a movie a few years ago, it could take you years to raise the cash. It took me four years to raise the budget for my first film ten years ago. Then another year to make and post, then a year with the distributor and global sales agency.
It was 6 years for a 90 minute dvd of content! That was a waist of my life on the planet! For a film that I basically used as a film school! If you have the heart of an artist that just wants to paint fast and be prolific, and get good at what you do, then making movies was not the profession to do it. Cut to 2012.
Now you can now make a movie on your phone or a cheap HD-DSLR. It probably won't get picked up by Hollywood or a distributor, but that should not be your goal in the first instance anyway. If you really do NEED to create, just like you NEED to eat, breath, and drink, then you can create fast, cheaply, and on a regular basis.
You can then release your work to the world instantly online for free to build a following. If you are good, and you should be if you commit your life to this, people will want more. OK the problem has been how do we monetise. Well, if we can't see how we can monetise from FREE now, we never will. Every successful web start up today has focussed on building community first before they make any money.
It's clear to me how others do it in the biz and other sections of the creative community. It will be harder if you are not good of course, but that should motivate you to get better at what you do in every area. I do believe the key to success is making cool shit and sharing. And getting REALLY entrepreneurial with monetising from that built community.
If I decide to stick with the traditional route, it can still be very slow. If you have made a movie pretty fast, it can still take a year out of your life to get it out there. For 80 mins of content! And in a world that is full of content and blockbusters!
If you are happy with making only a handful of films at the end of your life, cool! Nothing wrong in that. Some filmmakers like to drip out one film over years and bring in money that way. They like touring festivals, traveling the world with promotion. Cool! That's not a bad life compared to a lot of the planet's jobs. It's not for me personally. My personal DNA demands less traveling, more creation. Most greats have not been that prolific, but they didn't have to be, because one films wage could keep their lives well funded for years.
The low cost portability of the production and post tools means we have got to the level where story telling really can be an art form now. We could be like a painter with a lot of canvasses to work on. We can be spontaneous and prolific, but in a way we are still slowed down because of marketing and distribution.
Whether we are doing global deals, or we are building that audience direct one at a time. Trying to monetise before you are even in demand or people know your work, can be counterproductive. It can take years off your life. I can clearly see the benefits of sharing your work unlocked, and lots of it, then people are willing to support because they are now a fan.
We all still have to market and distribute but I think there is a way where the time I spend on the creative side can produce a lot more than 90 mins of content a year. A way where a LOT of content and spin of content can ALSO be your marketing. You deliver straight to your audience when you finish in post. No fucking about.
I personally need to forget about monetising for a while and focus on community building with my next project. After all, some of the richest people on the planet do that. My new plan is to make content most of the year, then release on a monthly basis. This also becomes my marketng tool to the branded destination. If you are fairly good at what you do, and can package yourself, It has been proved you can also monetize from many revenue streams with time.
$1 from a lot of people on the global web can add up to a better life than most people who hate their 9-5 jobs. A lot of youtubers are more successful than filmmakers with that route. Why? They have no desire for Hollywood or festival circuit success. They just grab their camera and shoot shit for FUN. In fact, they look like they are having more fun than most of us filmmakers because of it.
They are pumping out content weekly! OK, most of it is crap, real reality crap!, but several of them have took that community they have built to kickstarter and funded to their better projects from it. If talented content creators also start to really embrace this route, there's no reason why it can't work for them too. Instagram and almost every free platform we use daily has proved that FREE can be big business.
I have no desire to make crap youtube snack content, but I think I have personally found a way to make a lot of story based content I could enjoy making, and i am sure an audience would love it. It also gets delivered to them every week. And it continues for years without any long gaps. Its not a model for the indie community, it's a very personal route. I think the only advice for a recipe to any model is make good shit, and build the community. It's not rocket science.
The industry has evolved, but I am not evolving with it fast enough. I have made enough mistakes to realise where I have went wrong. Maybe it's partly because our motivations are still based on the Hollywood or the Sundance dream. I can understand that. I used to have those motivations. They are completely gone now as I don't like the corporate machine anymore, and I don't care about industry acceptance. It's a spolied fat business that churns out the same shit because their model can't take risks. It's all very dull.
I just want a potential audience that digs the work I make for them. If I REALLY grow, then sure I will do feature content too with names. I would like my own studio one day. Maybe with some cool sci fi project that will look as if cost a hundred million, but with content thats much more interesting than most Hollywood content. One button push and it gets delivered to a built fanbase who pre-funded it.
But for now, I am cool with making smaller exciting character genre stories that can be within my reach at this time. Exciting, provocative, subversive, exciting, gritty, sexy, dangerous genre content. In fact, this excites me more than anything, as I will break the rules at every angle with them.
I simply want to make the work that I am not seeing today. The type of work that some of our 90's indies promised, before they got seduced by Hollywood. If the audience like it, then I will trust them to let me keep doing it. If they don't, it means I am not good enough, or inspiring enough, so I will happily spend the rest of my life in some other area. Probably in a nut house if I can't create!
I literally have hundreds of original stories, and I function better as a creative and human being when I create fast. So the plan I have for the next project that I am currently developing, will solely focus on a model that could tick all my boxes. A prolific output of original content, and shared for free. All wrapped in a platform that also has other potential revenue streams and incentives that can give "exciting experiences" to supporters who help me kickstart this ambitious project.
I am currently seeing potential investors, but already one hinted at trying to monetise right away, so he didn't get it! This means kickstarter might be my best route to retain control of every decision. I need to partner with supporters that could help bring traffic to kickstarter before I launch it.
More details will be up in the weeks ahead for those that might be interested in being part of this universe I aim to create. You can also have the chance to appear in it. If you can get to Las Vegas for a weekend!
All the content will be shot in the USA over 5 months (Las Vegas) If you want to be the first to hear about this new project, follow me on the links below.
If I don't get the right investor deal, the campaign will be launched this summer. A website will be up next month.
I will still get SCREEN to an audience. It's currently with a few sales agents, distributors. Nothing has changed there.
Thanks to my supporters for reading this long post. Future posts will be MUCH shorter.
I just wanted to fill out a few more details about my marketing and distribution route for SCREEN that I never mentioned in my last post. This is mainly for the people that helped make the project happen for me.
I never really detailed in the last post that the film is currently being watched by a few top sales agencies, and a couple of top US distributors. It was also submitted for the Kevin Smith project who is in partnerhsip with Phase 4 films. Phase 4 got back to me after I sent them a link to my website. They are currently watching "SCREEN" If they want it, 4 filmmakers go on a live tour with Smith to promote their films.
I'm not waiting of course as there's a lot of films submitted. I',m not one bit excited or even think about it, because I am not a very excitable person. Probably because I have lived in the real world all my life! On top of this, I am a stubborn and single minded prick. So even if they wanted my film, I would only go with it if it ticked all my boxes. However, I don't dismiss how much this potential partnership could help get my film out there. I'm not going to be an idiot about it if they liked it.
SALES AGENTS AND DISTRIBUTORS
For those who don't know who sales agents are, they sell your film to global distributors. They take a percentage of the sales to cover their expenses. There's a good chance you never see any money, so it's a gamble. But if you're film does well, then that same sales agent can fund other projects for you. Especially if the distributors done well with the film and come back and ask for a sequel, or another project from the filmmaker.
I know this by experience because I had a top global sales agent on my first film who funded it, and offered me another budget. However, I left the business for years because it was not for me at that time. I didn't enjoy the experience of making a film by comittee. I made my mind up if I go back to it, it will be with more control in production, marketing and distribution.
My previous film MISSION X got offered a deal by a few sales agents, but I never went with them because I wanted the freedom to experiment with the film. It was a glorified youtube film with a limited global market, so I was happy to keep hold of it and share for free. Which was right, because it's building a global mail list because of free downloads. If it builds a big enough mail list over the next 2-3 three years, then I will try and crowd fund the bigger remake. A very wild reality action movie that will be shot in 8 cities all over the world. Passion and patience is the key!
Anyway, my point is, we all have our own individual paths that are right for us. The web is saturated with people that tell you not to go this route, go that route, you're a fucking idiot if you try the industry, you are a twat if you try diy alone. I don't respect talkers that spew out their theories and wisdom all day long online. I respect the people that are willing to make the mistakes and push their way through that minefield the hard way. Even if it takes them years to get through it.
There's too many people pushing for careers online that are screaming for the attention of filmmakers. There's just as much jostling for control going on in the indie communities and platforms, as there is in Hollywood. I listen to none of that crap and do my own thing. Right or wrong. You have to find your own route in this new world, and whatever route you take, it is going to be a bumpy ride. But you have to be in the drivers seat.
If you are not the boss of your own path as a filmmaker, you're a fucking wimp that will get chewed up and spat out! You have to be tough as nails, but also keep your warm sensitive spirit. All the successfull directors on the planet wouldnt listen to most of the shit you hear online. It's paramount we are learning from doers, case studies, doing, and listening to your own gut instincts.
My instincts told me I could pull off a cool little horror movie on the other side of the world with a camera and a few dollars in my pocket. If I shared my plan with others on how I would make SCREEN, it would have looked stupid and the wrong thing to do. My path in marketing and distribution might be naive and stupid, but I believe in a long term method to the madness. If I pull off my plan, it will take me 3-5 years to get a good foot hold.
I have learned enough in the last three years to see that community building is the way. That's so clear to see. I mean REAL community buiding like youtube content creators do. Not talking pish on twitter! (Hey, I love twitter, and many people there, but there is a lot of BS there too!) My top priority is content creation that is 100% controlled in production, and direct to my audience via a branded comapny website. Content that is produced all year long with no long release patterns. Any profits I make from SCREEN, private investment, or crown fund campaigns, will help to create this unique company from the end of this year.
However, I am also open to freelance gigs that help fund all this, and which can also help grow my audience for my hardcore genre platform. Thats why I try the industry too. I have no real desire for Hollywood or Sundance. I don't want to be an indie darling! I would rather be known as a pimp or a drug dealer than Hollywood or Indie. I just try every opportunity and hustle angle that is open to me. I will do my best to make sure SCREEN kickstarts this. Whatever route I take with this.
My filmmaker friend Oklahoma Ward is also showing his film CRAWL to industry figures. If he does not get the deal that is right for him, then there's a chance that we will both team up again and take SCREEN and CRAWL across the US on a double feature tour to help promote our films. If we take this route, it can also be in partnership with some global distributors. We will both know in the next 14 days the route we are taking with our films.
Thanks for all your support. I hope to connect with many of you if I take this film on the road.
I have just finished my main bulk of post production for SCREEN.
SCREEN was crowd funded and crowd sourced last year. It was a challenge to get it funded, shot in the states, and then posted with almost no money (I am from the UK) However, that challenge was NOTHING, I mean NOTHING to the challenge that lies ahead.
I'm not afraid of it, I like the fact that if people don't believe in me or my work, then I won't survive. That's the way it should be, because it forces us creatives to be our own mini studios now. Just because we all can "make" stuff now, does not mean we should. I like the fact that seriously dedicated people that push to do good work, evolve, and build a community are the only one's that will survive and prosper. I am determined to be one of them.
On top of this, the long term challenges are not just making a movie, then marketing and distribution. The REAL challenge is being prolific, and evolving with the times. Making one little movie a year is a recipe for disaster for me personally. I can see the real community builders are pumping content out on a regular basis. This is also my goal with all future projects that have 90, 60, 30, 15, 5, and 1 minute content streams. I have a bigger plan for a direct to market company. SCREEN is hopefully the spark to help me kickstart this.
SCREEN SCREENINGS
I placed a section on my website about potential screenings of SCREEN. I have rarely plugged it in the last few months. I realised that I better make sure I have a good enough movie, before I invest a lot of time and money into the marketing and distribution. I knew I had a decent film from the rushes, but I wanted to make sure I had a good enough film to really push it out there. The film is now complete and it is good enough to invest more money and time into it, so I have my other hat on now.
In reality, I have also been building a database to find my audience. Contacting drive-in owners across the US, and companies that provide portable screens. I then find communities in those areas that might watch my film. When I get enough people, I could then direct them towards a kickstarter campaign where they can pre-buy a ticket for the screening in their area this year. All this helps to then promote the VOD release too. That's what I am working on at the moment.
I have learned enough from my own mistakes and other case studies, that you don't just set up your campaign then plug your twitter feed. Other filmmakers ask me for funding several times a week. You obviously have to go and find your "precise market" for your film, or people that have some spare cash that believe in you. I don't want filmmakers funding me, as they should be using every spare bit of cash to shoot their content.
I had a film filmmaker email last month who wanted to send me some money via paypal. He said he would rather give it to me because he didn't have enough to make his own movie. Now although I was touched by this, I was also angry that he gave up on himself so easy. I asked him if he had an iphone. He did, so I told him to go shoot his movie on that, use the £100 for a cheap edit package online, then share the film for free online to build a community.
We don't have any excuses today. Filmmakers are the last people I would target in the world, unless your film is about filmmaking. I don't have money to fund other films, I run on fumes. I recently had to sell half of the stuff in my house to finish the post on SCREEN. Any cash I have left, means I can eat! I have zero regrets about the path I have choosen in life though. It's tough but no complaints!
My documentary that got me to the states was different, my market was "filmmakers". But my main market for SCREEN is not, so I have been scanning all over the web for my potential market, or routes to my audience for months before I start a campaign. I'm not just looking for my audience for SCREEN, it's people that will believe in the slate of projects I intend to start making at the end of this year. Talent, crowd sourcing resources, funding, partners etc. I don't get excited at all by one film. SCREEN will be yesterdays news soon, but it could also live on as as franchise that could help with my company and other original projects I want to make.
I have learned there is no one right or wrong way to do it in this biz. However, I think we can all see now that it's not rocket science. If you do less talking, make good shit on a regular basis, evolve, community build, then you have a chance at doing this for a living direct to market and some freelance. That's my take on it. The only wrong way is not doing anything and thinking you are an undiscovered talent. I have learned over the years, talent alone means very very little. You have to be a "package", you're own studio. It's taken me this time to wake up to that, but now I'm moving.
I intend to do several blog posts a week now. Very fast short and sweet posts about SCREEN, filmmaking, and any shit that I feel is worth sharing. I never put out theories and predictions, I will strictly be sharing my journey through the minefield of marketing, distribution, and my ambition to build my own brand. It won't all be about "Me" though. If you can't share valuable experience, then blogging is pointless.
I am done with long posts like this, as I know we are all saturared with content daily. I want to keep these to almost 1-2 paragraphs every couple of days. Almost like double sized tweets. It's more enjoyable to write and hopefully for people to read fast. I will share my experiences as I go through the minefield of marketing and distribution.
Many thanks to everybody that has supported me so far. If you want to see how I do with all this, follow this blog. I will also be starting my videos soon at Hustle Shoot Share. I also want to give a big shout to my filmmaker friends site. Oklahoma Ward And Nicole Alonso for their film CRAWL. I could not have made SCREEN without their generous help in Tulsa.
This is a brief shout for my friends Oklahoma Ward & Nicole Alonso. Many of you will know about their film, but new followers won't.
Oklahoma is a filmmaker, Nicole is an actress/singer/songwriter. She was also responsble for producing CRAWL with Oak. I connected with them online just under two years ago. I saw them testing out the 5D cameras in preperation to make their film CRAWL
We have a lot in common, even though we come from opposites sides of the world. I am in Scotland, they were in LA at the time. We both disliked our first features and wanted to move on from them. We realised those films were our film schools that took us to the next level. Yes, making films to even just practise is so important. But doing it very cheaply is the key
We also realised we are filmmakers that are into making personal films, but that route can lead to a life of poverty if you try to build your foundations from pure art. Many of the greats started of with the Roger Corman route to prove they could make money first, get some profile. Plus, genre film making is just so much damm fun too! Fun is allowed!
I have always had two sides to me, the desire to make personal films, but I also have the capacity to make very simple high concept genre movies. Both of us have taken that approach with SCREEN and CRAWL The king of American indies used to have that approach. John Cassavettes woiuld act in movies like The Dirty Dozen, then shoot his indie flicks from that money and profile he created.
Anyway, Oak and Nicole packed up their lives in LA and moved to Oak's parents in Tulsa to prepare to shoot CRAWL. They had a studio built in the back yard late 2011. This was financed from a small amount of investment they raised, then the plan was to build the tunnels inside the studio. Almost 100% of the film would be shot in there.
During our many skype conversations they suggested I should come and shoot my horror film SCREEN there. There's many abandoned drive-in's in Oklahoma, and I could use Oak's shooting kit. He also seen my last film MISSION X and wanted me for a role in CRAWL.
To cut a long story short, they helped me to get based in Tulsa via a kickstarter campaign we all done. Once I got based in Tulsa, I raised some more cash to fund the shoot of SCREEN. This happened in the summer of 2011.
SCREEN and CRAWL are now almost complete, and we are ready to get the films out there.
Below is test footage they shot in one of the tunnels. The whole studio has rooms, and tunnels in various sizes. Large spaces and incredibly small and tight tunnels If small spaces leave you short of breath, freak you, then watch this film! I know, I'm sick!
You can watch all their other videos at their youtube channel, and follow their film on the links below. I follow doers, not talkers. Or at least people that are trying their best to make their creative ambitions happen. I suggest you follow them too if you like people that are tunring their dreams into reality.
This blog post is to update the people that are interested in my film SCREEN, and for those who helped me get it made.
MY ROUTE TO MARKET-SCHEDULE
Micro budget horrors have been doing especially well recently, so it's a good time to take one out to the world. However, I don't care how original or well made your film is, you still need a serious marketing plan to get it out there. If you don't have one, it will die a horrible death like many of the victims in these films.
Its very foolish to think your going to do well because of great feedback from your small social media presence. There hasn't been a micro budget horror hit yet that has not had the weight of a major distributor behind it.
I like to keep things in perspective though, as I don't need a major hit when the budget was so low. If you have a film that cost almost nothing to make, you don't need to be the next "Paranormal Activity" to continue to be a filmmaker. Studios obviously need to make multi millions because they are putting their weight behind a film, but micro budget filmmakers only need modest profits to keep moving.
"Time" is much more precious to me than money, so if you spend years of your life making and distributing one micro budget film, you don't value your life much! I do, so I plan to move fast from now on. It's not smart to be too precious about genre movies. Unless you are spending millions. When I get a little money behind me, I could shoot and post two small movies a year, and make other web serial like content.
INDUSTRY ROUTE-HYBRID
The post for SCREEN will be complete by the 7th of March. Copies of the film will then be sent to various sales agents that like the pitch, and trailer. (Sales Agents sell films to global distributors) If the deals from sales agents are decent, and they want to help distribute the film around the world, I go with the best deal.
This is where making the film for so little can help me here. I don't need to recoup a lot of money for investors because the film was crowd funded. The top priority is to get the film out to the world and industry to get better budgets, offers. This could be a SCREEN sequel or MISSION X remake budget.
I could also possibly hold on to the rights to sell downloads and VOD from my website to keep me running. If I secure a top sales agent, the film will go to Cannes and market festivals like Toronto, AFM. The film gets sold to global distributors at these markets. These distributors then decide when they will release the film in each territory.
100% DIY ROUTE
If nobody offers me the deal I want, I go 100% DIY. Not the smart route in my view. Unless you already have a large audience built. Which means you would get a good deal anyway from partners. I don't care what anybody tells you, going 100% diy when you have no money behind you, teams, significant audience, can kill your spirit over time.
Just placing your film on a website and major distribution platforms is not "Marketing" your film. You have to find ways to get millions of eyeballs to know your film exists on these plaforms. Unless you are fine making a few hundred sales. But thats a very expensive and time consuming hobby!
People talk about the Kevin Smith, Ed Burns route, but those guys have brought real fans and marketing weight from that traditional world too. They can get on top TV shows in the US to plug their small films release. Unknown filmmakers can gather an audience over time, and I am cool with that, but I also like to use every route I can to get my work out there.
I will know around April what route SCREEN will take. Either way, building an audience online for the film is still the goal. If I decide in April it's 100% DIY for me, then I need to launch a major kickstarter campaign to make these promo screenings happen. I will connect with a lot of horror and drive-in fans for weeks before I launch it. This is where I will set a target and try to pre-sell tickets all over the UK and US
I need a marketing campaign like this that has the potential to viral. That can obviously help build the audience for the VOD release. Whatever the deal, this should be the route, as sales agents and distributors also want inventive marketing campaigns.
Thanks so much for following and supporting my project
