A lil bit of fun

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  • A lil bit of fun

    From the book I'm reading at the moment, Independent Film Producing, by Paul Battista :

    In making decisions regarding each and every person, good or service that you will need in making the film, look at the reality of the supply and demand for the particular item or service that you are considering. This does not mean that writers should never be paid or scripts that wash out at the Nicholl are no good, but simply, to drive the lesson home, that the little money available to a low-budget independent feature filmmaker should be reserved for the items for which there is little to or no alternative for replacement and/or will provide you with the greatest return. For example, the ten thousand dollars you might pay for a writer could rent the best High Definition camera available for a three week shoot and buy the tape stock, while one thousand dollars could buy you a full day of gun special effects or better catering for the cast and crew. Remember, a successful film is one that will look like it cost three to five times what was actually spent.

    Assuming it is the right script, what the filmmaker wants to hear from the writer before closing the deal is :"I will, right now, sign any contract giving you all of the rights in all mediums and I don't want to direct the film, and I will be available to do rewrites that are reasonably needed with no monetary demands". That is the ideal.
    In the same book, he write on how the most important people in the production are the director, the producer and.... the lawyer! You guessed it, the writer is a former lawyer. Who care about the script, when you can get a full day of gun special effects or better food!

    And don't forget that a successful film is one that will look like it cost three to five times what was actually spent!
    The question is : Do you work in the business?

  • #2
    Re: A lil bit of fun

    Douche.

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: A lil bit of fun

      Somebody needs to get Mazin to go to town on this jerk.

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: A lil bit of fun

        ^^^










        P.S. - He's probably gunning for a studio lawyer job

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: A lil bit of fun

          Aren't mediums those people who can speak with the spirit world?
          We're making a movie here, not a film! - Kit Ramsey

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: A lil bit of fun

            Holy shi...

            This bloke's an idiot. So, in his opinion, a great film isn't one that has an excellent story - because we all know that films are stories - but one that looks good.

            It's incredulous.

            Then again, the producers behind Transformers have gotten by on this belief rather well..
            Cufk, Tish, Sips.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: A lil bit of fun

              This author (the lawyer) shows the kind of cynicism that is more common than you'd like to believe - at least here in Los Angeles amongst certain circles.

              If you could construct a story arc for these kind of people, it's likely as follows:

              Once upon a time, a kid named KIM, straight out of Emerson College, lands in Los Angeles. Quotes David Foster Wallace, idolizes Terrence Malick, and dreams of Sundance (as it was).

              Then one day, Kim gets meeting at CAA for his Big Script through an assistant who was a few years his senior at Emerson. For a few months after the meeting, he lives off the fumes of hope and anticipation.

              Meanwhile, to pay the bills, he gets a job as an assistant to a production coordinator at a TMZ-like Reality Show. Life is good - his day job is in "the business" and he's inspired, writing and rewriting Big Script and Follow On Script at night.

              But fast forward 12 months. Nothing happened with CAA, but he's gotten a meeting with APA. Also, a Moderately Successful Producer wants to be attached to the Big Script. But still just meetings. Oh, and one big lunch.

              Meanwhile, in his day job, he's been promoted to production coordinator after his previous boss went to Burning Man, saw the light, and moved to Montana. The ratings on the TMZ-like Reality Show are strong. Rather than sharing a studio apartment with 3 other friends, he has now moved into a 1-bedroom.

              Now fast forward 4 years. He continues to write. He wrote and directed a short that got moderate festival play. He is still in contact with the same agents, producers, and others all this time - they love his work. He may even be repped by now. But nothing has moved. He got one writing job - a spinoff of SHARKNADO from a rival to Asylum that was enough to pay a little, but not enough to quit his day job. Maybe one deal on his *real* scripts was REALLY close, but fell through because an actor backed out. Four years went by, just like that.

              Meanwhile, in his day job, he's become a producer on another Kardashian Empire Reality Show. He's making six figures. But he hates his job. His colleagues hate their jobs too. He goes to sleep knowing that he works for the Kardashian empire.

              So in a fit of despair, he decides to quit everything and go to law school.

              Fast forward 5 years. He's 2 years out of law school, working as an entertainment attorney. He wanted to work in DC doing human rights law, but his student loans are crippling. So he takes the low hanging fruit. Plus, by now, he's in a serious relationship and they're talking houses and kids.

              But unlike the Kim we knew 10 years ago fresh out of college, this 30-something Kim that we know associates all his writing and creative energy, and that whole "dance" as youthful naivete. In his mind, it does not matter, because maybe it never mattered. He saw the Kardashian reality show he worked on succeed in spite of being the lowest common denominator. He saw his own scripts and more importantly those of his friends - some incredibly talented friends - barely make rent, becoming incredibly bitter and jaded, while working at Starbucks. Meanwhile, he sees the ex-USC fratboy douchebags he worked with at the reality show actually grew up to become responsible fathers, living in a boring suburban home in Calabasas. Maybe he had this "art" thing wrong, and these USC fratboys had it right all along, because they turned out all right.

              And in his job as an entertainment attorney, he is further and further away from the spark that inspired him to sit all day in a movie theater at age 8.

              It's just a business he tells himself. It's just a business. Selling product. If I see it as selling product, I will be okay. The story, the spark, the imagination - it never mattered anyway, because it's the business that keeps things going.

              Now, he reads the Harvard Business Review, manages trademark and licensing contracts for clients, and attends the American Film Market every year to sell his legal services to producers of Steven Segal D-grade films.
              Last edited by redturtle; 10-21-2015, 07:57 PM.

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: A lil bit of fun

                Reminds me of something I saw recently. this producer was willing to pay out a figure - less than a thousand bucks - for a screenwriter to take his 3 page idea and IN THEIR SPARE PART-TIME, deliver a first draft in two weeks.

                (Now everyone is going off the board to find out where they can apply to this gig...)

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: A lil bit of fun

                  Originally posted by redturtle View Post
                  This author (the lawyer) shows the kind of cynicism that is more common than you'd like to believe - at least here in Los Angeles amongst certain circles.

                  If you could construct a story arc for these kind of people, it's likely as follows:

                  Once upon a time, a kid named KIM, straight out of Emerson College, lands in Los Angeles. Quotes David Foster Wallace, idolizes Terrence Malick, and dreams of Sundance (as it was).

                  Then one day, Kim gets meeting at CAA for his Big Script through an assistant who was a few years his senior at Emerson. For a few months after the meeting, he lives off the fumes of hope and anticipation.

                  Meanwhile, to pay the bills, he gets a job as an assistant to a production coordinator at a TMZ-like Reality Show. Life is good - his day job is in "the business" and he's inspired, writing and rewriting Big Script and Follow On Script at night.

                  But fast forward 12 months. Nothing happened with CAA, but he's gotten a meeting with APA. Also, a Moderately Successful Producer wants to be attached to the Big Script. But still just meetings. Oh, and one big lunch.

                  Meanwhile, in his day job, he's been promoted to production coordinator after his previous boss went to Burning Man, saw the light, and moved to Montana. The ratings on the TMZ-like Reality Show are strong. Rather than sharing a studio apartment with 3 other friends, he has now moved into a 1-bedroom.

                  Now fast forward 4 years. He continues to write. He wrote and directed a short that got moderate festival play. He is still in contact with the same agents, producers, and others all this time - they love his work. He may even be repped by now. But nothing has moved. He got one writing job - a spinoff of SHARKNADO from a rival to Asylum that was enough to pay a little, but not enough to quit his day job. Maybe one deal on his *real* scripts was REALLY close, but fell through because an actor backed out. Four years went by, just like that.

                  Meanwhile, in his day job, he's become a producer on another Kardashian Empire Reality Show. He's making six figures. But he hates his job. His colleagues hate their jobs too. He goes to sleep knowing that he works for the Kardashian empire.

                  So in a fit of despair, he decides to quit everything and go to law school.

                  Fast forward 5 years. He's 2 years out of law school, working as an entertainment attorney. He wanted to work in DC doing human rights law, but his student loans are crippling. So he takes the low hanging fruit. Plus, by now, he's in a serious relationship and they're talking houses and kids.

                  But unlike the Kim we knew 10 years ago fresh out of college, this 30-something Kim that we know associates all his writing and creative energy, and that whole "dance" as youthful naivete. In his mind, it does not matter, because maybe it never mattered. He saw the Kardashian reality show he worked on succeed in spite of being the lowest common denominator. He saw his own scripts and more importantly those of his friends - some incredibly talented friends - barely make rent, becoming incredibly bitter and jaded, while working at Starbucks. Meanwhile, he sees the ex-USC fratboy douchebags he worked with at the reality show actually grew up to become responsible fathers, living in a boring suburban home in Calabasas. Maybe he had this "art" thing wrong, and these USC fratboys had it right all along, because they turned out all right.

                  And in his job as an entertainment attorney, he is further and further away from the spark that inspired him to sit all day in a movie theater at age 8.

                  It's just a business he tells himself. It's just a business. Selling product. If I see it as selling product, I will be okay. The story, the spark, the imagination - it never mattered anyway, because it's the business that keeps things going.

                  Now, he reads the Harvard Business Review, manages trademark and licensing contracts for clients, and attends the American Film Market every year to sell his legal services to producers of Steven Segal D-grade films.
                  Love this.
                  Advice from writer, Kelly Sue DeConnick. "Try this: if you can replace your female character with a sexy lamp and the story still basically works, maybe you need another draft.-

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