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It was a long time coming, I worked in the film industry for 15 years in New York before I went to film school and learned directing/writing for the big screen and cinematography. I have written a lot of screenplays since the 90's, but none were ever produced. Now I have the knowledge, equipment and time to make it happen but I'm missing the hardest thing to get, the money.
Now what? I thought about it for a few days and then it dawned on me, over the past few years I participated in the Colorado 48 hour Shoot out. If you've never heard of it, it's an event that happens all around the world in every country and every state in America. The mission is, you have 48 hours to write, produce, edit and get your film into the judges hands before the clock runs out. If you've never done it before, I strongly suggest you try it (every film needs production assistants) and see what the production of script to film is like. It is the most grueling thing I've ever done, very little sleep and lots of high pressure to finish on time. Every year I swear I'd never do it again and then there I am doing it again, I think I'm an adrenaline junky. (When it's over you're tired, sleepy and maybe a little frazzled, but it will change the way you write screenplay's. You will be an insider and it will open a consciences that you didn't know you had.)
So I'm thinking, if I can produce a film short in 48 hours with little to no money, then I should be able to do the same thing with $500 or $1000. And to my surprise I did it and it worked. I know your asking, so what does this have to do with this forum, you're talking about film production? Patience Watson, all will be revealed in time.
Remember when I said I need money to shoot my screenplays? Well I didn't have the money to do a film shoot, but I do have the equipment and the software. So it darned on me, why not convert my screenplay's into illustrated audio eBooks? I can use the profits to fund my films. Wholly Crap! Why didn't I think of that sooner! So for the past 6 months I used my skills in 3D animation, editing, writing and voice direction to create my first script to eBook conversion.
Now finished, I submitted some samples to a few agents and AR' YOU FREAKIN' KIDDIN' ME! I got hits! Now I'm getting calls about my work. It's not published yet, the plan was to self publish, but now I'm in talks. Who knew! I'm saying all this because it took me over 20 years to finally hit pay dirt and it was a long, twisting and struggling road. I've made a lot of mistakes and some bad decisions along the way to get here. You're a screen writer, you like me have lots of work piling up in a corner somewhere and your thinking is it worth it? Yes, it is.
I'm going to give you the secret to getting your screenplays produced. It's all about the script, right now I know you have these award winning numbers, but either no one is interested or they cost to much to produce. That's the problem. You wrote something that costs more than the construction budget of the Titanic and you know what happened to that?
Rule One, don't write something that cost more than you can afford to produce yourself. That means a few locations, preferably one location like a house, schoolyard, car or restaurant to name a few.
Did you see Quentin Tarantino's movie, The Hateful Eight"? It was shoot in Colorado on a limited budget and the whole thing only has two or three locations with the bulk of it shot in and around a snowed in cabin in the Rocky mountains. This movie is a recent and perfect example of how to make do with what you have. (In this case the budget. I learned that lesson in the military.)
Rule two, keep your characters to a minimum. All of the scripts I've written in the past three years do not have more than four main characters. (The less, the better.) Scripts I'm writing right now have just two main characters. Wanna' see what's in-development right now? www.denverpicturesllc.com All of them except for "Guitar Betty and Anne" and "King In The Rock" are shorts. Why? You will not believe how hungry the market is for 22, 30 and 40 minute shorts. It seems shorts is the new orange. My eBook was produced from a 12 page short.
Rule three, keep your locations down to a few spots. An example is writing the whole thing to be shot inside and outside of a building, basketball court, airport or mall. My script, "The Tea Party" is a sci-fi/paranormal short that takes place in one location, a house. Total cost $500. This is how I'm doing it, the house is also where we prep the actors, store and fix the meals to feed cast and crew and sleep over if needed. Logistics and location is one of the keys to a low budget successful shoot. Get the idea?
Writing your screenplay to purposely keep the cost down, makes it real easy to get funding, even if you fund it yourself. In the end your script gets produced, goes to festivals, you may get distribution and now you get noticed. And all you spent was the lose change you found in the back of your couch. Imagine that.
And lastly, Rule four. Never give up on your dreams, but don't wait for it to come to you, sometimes you have to go and get it. Think outside the box, try what you haven't tried yet. "Life is like riding a wild bull in a china shop. You can't stop it and you sure as heck can't control it. All you can do is hold on and enjoy the ride." Let me know if I've been of some help. Rick James co-owner Denver Pictures
The eBook is an illustrated audio book, all the frames are stills, but I can link to a test animation I'm working on for another script. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z173X8YUjGc