It’s a pretty rare thing that a director has the opportunity to watch other directors at work. As a crew-member, I had a front row seat to almost every aspect of the job, pre-production through post. I never worked on a film that didn’t teach me something—whether it fell in the “to emulate” or “to avoid at all costs” column. These lessons helped me direct actors, assemble good crews, communicate effectively, have realistic expectations, and generally feel at home on a film set.
Tag: producing
By Matthew Helderman, & Luke Taylor
Introduction — shrinking budgets & rising expected production values
At Buffalo 8 Productions, we’ve produced over 30 feature films ranging from $100,000 budgets to $8M budgets with the average project settling around $1M.
We’ve seen budgets shrink, projects come & go and expectations shattered or met with disappointment during the process.
Through our experiences we’ve gathered and built a manifesto for the do’s & don’ts of making low budget projects. Some are obvious, others are elements we picked up after handfuls of wrong turns.
I recently did a long and comprehensive interview with Scott Myers at GoIntoTheStory. We hit a lot of big points. I think you will dig it.
By Ted Hope
I believe strongly, that the producing credits should represent the people who have been there from the earliest stages through the entire life of the film, contributing in a major capacity on all issues.
When I first started in the business, I felt like I was there to make sure the director fully considered all of their options and recognized what came with their choices, the repercussions of those choices, helping the director get outside of their mind so they could focus on what was happening before the camera. I’d make sure that everything else that was needed would happen in the best possible way.
Along the way, it soon became clear that I also needed to
Producing is a precarious business. You should not do it if you don’t believe that by producing your projects you can make the world a better place or advance the art form. You are not just the one that feels they know what must be done. You have to know that the unknowable becoming known through your labors is a real possibility. Producers can’t be the people who settle for the way things are. They shouldn’t be the sort that takes the easy route or are willing to sacrifice nuance or beauty in service of just getting it done.
The goal of every film should be
I am talking to you. Or at least 98% of you folks who are trying to raise money to make a film.
You know how in poker it always pays to look for other players’ “tell”? A “tell” is the subconscious gesture most people make when they are not sure of themselves. The “tell” helps to show when people are bluffing — or in everyday terms, when they are lying. The most common ”tell” is
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It’s not enough any more to think outside the box. I think we need to smash the box to bits.
We need a total systems reboot of the indie film infrastructure. And I don’t think we can continue to wait and hope someone else is going to build it for us either.
I have been trying to help however I can help best. Perhaps these posts can be your guide:
