T-10 days and counting until we start filming my American/Bollywood Feature. It will be my first time directing a feature and from a script that I wrote to boot (Story by another writer and me, script my me). It's all very exciting.
I was often asked why I bothered directing my shorts. That it was so much money to spend on producing the short and then spending money on sending them off to festivals and such. Some would say it's all a big waste of time with nothing showing for it at the end.
But for me it was always worth it. Just writing feature scripts and sending them out to producers and agents and hearing back silence was never enough for me.
On a side note...
I came close to selling my first script. 5 years after writing it. I was contacted by a Producer who loved the script. I flew down to L.A. from San Francisco, had a great visit with my folks, ,then went and met the producer. We talked about the rewrite he wanted and which actor he wanted to play the lead. His lips were forming how much he wanted to pay me... Then... Then... his producing partner walked in and was annoyed (I could tell) that the other Producer had contacted me without both Producers agreeing to the meeting, let alone the script. I got a thank you and a "we'll be in touch". Then all I got was silence. Now all of these years later, that same script is in my hard drive only taken out for when I need a sample to send.
Anyway...
So I starting directing my own shorts so I could at least see something I wrote get produced and scene by the dozens of people who would show up to a festival. I would tell myself that short directing was a training ground for the dream of getting the skills to direct a feature.
I told myself this for years. 7 shorts in total. Each one I get better and better. Along the way I would meet up with local producers who were looking for a writer to develop a story, write a feature or develop outlines for a T.V. series. None of which ever took off. But I was never discouraged when the money or the enthusiasm of the producers subsided and the project fell through. I never got mad or screamed at them, as was happening in my head. I just knew my time would come one day.
As it happens, one of the Producers I had worked with and whose project had stalled was talking to a friend of his who was looking for a writer to write an American/Bollywood story. My Producer recommended me and I eventually got the gig.
Then that Producer saw my latest short, one that was the most expensive one to date, and loved it. He offered me the director gig too.
So, now a little more than a year after I got the initial phone call, I am primed to direct this bad boy. I have brought along my DP friend who did 3 of my shorts along with other crew I have worked with before. We are almost ready.
All of the indie skills we have all developed will come into play on this low budget feature.
My dream of directing is finally about to happen. After many years of writing and directing, taking classes at UCLA Online Screenwriting and taking directing classes, it is all about to pay off -- I am hoping. Directing a short is a far cry from a feature, but I am prepared.
I'm not sure I will be able to talk about the production until after the edit -- to protect the innocent and the guilty, but I will try to mentioned a few things as they happened, or did happen.
I did almost the whole casting myself and that experience alone I could write a book on.
I was often asked why I bothered directing my shorts. That it was so much money to spend on producing the short and then spending money on sending them off to festivals and such. Some would say it's all a big waste of time with nothing showing for it at the end.
But for me it was always worth it. Just writing feature scripts and sending them out to producers and agents and hearing back silence was never enough for me.
On a side note...
I came close to selling my first script. 5 years after writing it. I was contacted by a Producer who loved the script. I flew down to L.A. from San Francisco, had a great visit with my folks, ,then went and met the producer. We talked about the rewrite he wanted and which actor he wanted to play the lead. His lips were forming how much he wanted to pay me... Then... Then... his producing partner walked in and was annoyed (I could tell) that the other Producer had contacted me without both Producers agreeing to the meeting, let alone the script. I got a thank you and a "we'll be in touch". Then all I got was silence. Now all of these years later, that same script is in my hard drive only taken out for when I need a sample to send.
Anyway...
So I starting directing my own shorts so I could at least see something I wrote get produced and scene by the dozens of people who would show up to a festival. I would tell myself that short directing was a training ground for the dream of getting the skills to direct a feature.
I told myself this for years. 7 shorts in total. Each one I get better and better. Along the way I would meet up with local producers who were looking for a writer to develop a story, write a feature or develop outlines for a T.V. series. None of which ever took off. But I was never discouraged when the money or the enthusiasm of the producers subsided and the project fell through. I never got mad or screamed at them, as was happening in my head. I just knew my time would come one day.
As it happens, one of the Producers I had worked with and whose project had stalled was talking to a friend of his who was looking for a writer to write an American/Bollywood story. My Producer recommended me and I eventually got the gig.
Then that Producer saw my latest short, one that was the most expensive one to date, and loved it. He offered me the director gig too.
So, now a little more than a year after I got the initial phone call, I am primed to direct this bad boy. I have brought along my DP friend who did 3 of my shorts along with other crew I have worked with before. We are almost ready.
All of the indie skills we have all developed will come into play on this low budget feature.
My dream of directing is finally about to happen. After many years of writing and directing, taking classes at UCLA Online Screenwriting and taking directing classes, it is all about to pay off -- I am hoping. Directing a short is a far cry from a feature, but I am prepared.
I'm not sure I will be able to talk about the production until after the edit -- to protect the innocent and the guilty, but I will try to mentioned a few things as they happened, or did happen.
I did almost the whole casting myself and that experience alone I could write a book on.
So all keep the faith and don't let the naysayers creep into your head. It's always better to be a dreamer than a realist. Until the time when reality comes into play and that is why we have accountants and lawyers...
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