Contacting B-Listers

So far, I’ve had no luck contacting B-list actresses (and one actor) for my Dominatrix project.  Eight actresses so far, plus the one actor.  I was initially very optimistic (the eternal optimist: doomed to eternal disappointment – but I just can’t help myself), as I’ve been told this is a ‘juicy’ role and there’s supposedly a dearth of solid lead parts for women in their late 30’s to early 40’s (the character is listed as early 40’s).  Half have responded (well, their managers have (the others never responded)) with variations of ‘thanks, but no thanks,’ though one did say their client was only interest in ‘pay or play.’  Not going to be me – I’m specifically looking for leads who want to take on the executive producer role and help get the project funded and sold.

It’s discouraging and I often think about quitting, but I’m nothing if not stubborn.  I’ll probably lick my wounds for a while, then try a few more times (I get a calendar reminder every two weeks).  Of course, if I win Nicholl and/or Austin then I’m sure things will change.  Maybe even for the better 😉

No word yet on how my screenplay is faring in the competitions.  I did add one, the Virginia Film Office has a screenplay competition.  I had to show residency in Virginia, since we live during the week in Maryland, but that was straightforward.

It can be really frustrating how ssslllooowww these things move!

Gotta Wrap Up Treasure Hunt

Another quick update to the Treasure Hunt saga: Irrespective of the efforts of the young lady to recreate her behind-the-scenes interviews, I need to get the disks/posters made and distributed – I’m starting to get more and more drawn in to my next project: Domestique.  I’ll be/I’ve been blogging about it here, if you’re curious.  This one I’m intending to make money (though, as always, success in that regard is a long-shot), so if you’d like to invest (as opposed to donate via crowdfunding (though I do intend to consider that as well)) let me know.  The first step is filming a short, later on this summer, which I will then use to attempt to interest investors in funding the feature.

As an FYI, still no word on the festivals I submitted Treasure Hunt to.  It’s probably too early in the year anyway, it wouldn’t surprise me to know they’re still taking submissions.

I’m going to try and get the disks, etc. wrapped up in the next couple of weeks.  I know, I’ve said that before, but I think I’ll do better this time…

Domestique – Short

After much conversation, I convinced my wife to back the funding for a short for my next project: Domestique.  My goal is to film a 5-7 minute short at end of August this year, then to use it as a form of advertising  to interest investors in funding the feature.  My arm-waving goal is to film the feature next summer, but who knows how ridiculously over optimistic that is (well, I do; and it is – but a man gotta dream).

I’ve been assembling a team and have the lead actors lined up, a DP, an editor, am ‘recycling’ John as the sound guy (swapping the use of our property for filming his shorts) and a couple of other guys who said they’d like to be involved in the project.

I thought about detailing my thoughts on why I think this is a good investment (insofar as any movie is a good investment – most are horrible), but my paranoia won’t let me.  Not at this time. Perhaps once I’ve got some meaningful investors on board and the prospects of it being greenlit are good (or, contrariwise, in a few years when I given up), but even though I know ‘nobody’ reads my blog, I don’t want to create any reason for competitors to my project, but with deeper pockets, to decide to create something.  Silly?  Of course.  But creatives tend to be silly.

An amusing? note on the short: I expected to film a bike racing story with, you know, actual bike racing.  So I got a quote for insurance and to close the road.  Bad news: the combined quotes match my whole budget!  Now I have to figure out how to film a movie about bicycle racing without any actual racing.  Conferring with the DP and editor, along with input from others, I feel fairly good that I can wind up with something that looks good enough for the purpose, but I was really hoping to practice some filming techniques in the short that I could apply to the feature.

Why not ‘guerilla‘ it?  Well, if anything bad happens, then it’s on me and I don’t fancy that financial and reputation risk.  But, at least as important, I’ll be using SAG’s Short Project Agreement for the shoot (because there are some SAG actors I want to work with and intend to use for the feature, assuming it gets funded) and I feel quite certain if they knew I was operating without proper insurance they’d blackball me.

Stay tuned for more on the journey called Domestique.

A Slight Reprieve

A quick little update: the young lady who did the behind-the-scenes for Treasure Hunt – and then lost the material – has asked to attempt to contact the cast and crew to repeat the effort.  As such, I now have an excuse to put things off for another week or so.  I won’t wait too long. The worst case would be she puts it all together after I decide to get the disks created and the material will only be available on my Vimeo site.

Finally out of Excuses

A week ago (yes, I am way behind the times; sorry about that) I found out that the young lady who did the behind-the-scenes cast interview has lost those recordings.  It’s frustrating, but such is life.

Now I have nothing keeping me from getting the DVD/Blurays made.  Except inertia, which has been dragging at me quite a bit lately.  I make this post, not simply because it’s been so long since I last did (over a month!  so much for at least once a week), but to try and act as incentive to get myself motivated to get these things done.

A few weeks ago I attended a festival to support a friend.  They were all shorts (Treasure Hunt is considered a feature, even though it’s only 62.5 minutes long), but what I got out of that experience was my movie wasn’t quite as bad as I made it out in my mind.  This is not to say that there aren’t deficiencies, which is certainly the case, but that the deficiencies don’t, at least in my mind, detract so much that it’s out of the competition.  At least in that small sampling.

On a related, but more depressing note, I contacted a sales agent through a Reddit post.  A sales agent is like a book agent, they do a lot of screening work for the publisher (in the case of books; distributor in the case of movies).  Thus they have a reputation to maintain.  This sales agent took a look at my trailer and promptly informed me that the acting and production qualities weren’t enough to be considered.  Perhaps I’m wearing narcissistic, ego driven rose-colored glasses, but I didn’t feel I measured up that poorly, particularly to the movies I’ve seen that did get distribution.

I discussed this with a friend.  He pointed out my glasses were, indeed, at least somewhat dirty and added editing might make a big enough difference that it could kick the project up a notch.  I can’t disagree, but keep coming back to the notion that the extra expense of an experienced editor won’t be recovered by extra sales, at least without some sort of distribution planned.  This is not to say that I won’t make the movie available for sale (once I get feedback from the festivals), just that I remain unconvinced the project as a whole is worth the extra investment.

Which is sad, because I think it came out a lot better than I had originally thought.  But I have other projects in the pipeline, ones that have a much more clear, and global, audience, and I should be putting my time and energy (and retirement money) there.  But I think about the idea of reediting it often.

From Echoing Nada to a Peep

This is a follow on to an earlier post.  I didn’t even get snarky comments, so decided on a broader, more open-ended one:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Filmmakers/comments/b3q8id/howwhere_to_find_producing_partner/

A peep or twain and I started communication with one fellow writer/director in the DC area.  No idea if anything will come of it, of course, but this business runs on contacts, so worth investigating to see if there is common ground.

I tried an ad on DragonukConnects, but nothing.  I was going to post a ‘job‘ on the Virginia film web site, but can’t seem to get past the captcha. I sent an email complaining and got no response.  However, yesterday I was contacted by the VA film office interested in an update to my horror movie concept I must have mentioned to them at some point.  I told them it was on the back burner in favor of the bike racing one, but also mentioned the RedDom long shot and my efforts to find a B-list actress to take on the project.

Speaking of which, after two weeks an echoing nothing from my first attempt. Last night I fired off a second one.  This actress has proven she’ll take on indie work (she has one coming out this year with a $200K budget) AND act as executive producer, so maybe I’ll get lucky this time.

Writer/Director ISO Production Partner. Washington, DC area

I’m sure the traffic at my blog is not enough to matter, but figured, in the interest of the one or two far flung people who might be following my journey, I’d post it here.  I put it on Reddit’s r/Filmmakers, though without even any snark after 24 hours.

 

I’m offering part ownership in the production company I’m starting this summer.

My preference is for “smaller” stories with a strong focus on plot and character, as opposed to large set pieces, car chases, or extended use of CGI.  I like telling stories with a crime or military aspect, but my interests are diverse and also include sports.

I prefer protagonists who aren’t squeaky clean and stories with smart/strong female characters who can still be feminine and remain friendly with other women.  I like my male characters to be smart and strong and who can be friends with the women they interact with.

My current projects include a murder mystery trilogy (the first has been submitted to contests, the second has a detailed treatment, and the third is in synopsis development). Additionally, I have completed a detailed synopsis for a sports project as well as a synopsis and a draft, respectively, for two military-oriented projects.

Production-wise, my strengths include strategic and general management, scheduling and resource allocation.  With an MBA and experience at several levels of management, I’m comfortable with public speaking, giving presentations, and have a deep understanding of what investors want.  I’ve written, produced, directed, and edited a feature. I excel at rapidly absorbing and utilizing new information from books, and I don’t let perfection be the enemy of the acceptable.

I’m seeking a partner with strengths in marketing, advertising, and who “knows” people in the movie business, yet who is also comfortable running the show during production, so I can focus my attention on directing.  My ideal partner would be able to share ownership of my existing and future projects and improve them.

PM me if a partnership is something you’d like to explore.

 

I’ll try a couple of other places, but it’s a long shot, for sure, to find the right person.  But gotta play to win…

Domestique

I believe I’ve settled on my next film project (assuming RedDom doesn’t wind up attracting attention in the next year or two).  It’s about professional road bicycle racing, but focuses on the domestique, or the guys who support the team leader.   I believe this project can be managed without access to conventional Hollywood talent, investors or distribution as it’s a world-wide niche that is rather under served (meaning there are very few movies that address pro cycling in general, let alone focused on the hard working support staff).

My goal for this year is to get the screenplay written and critiqued (I have a detailed synopsis and plan to finish the first draft while on a family vacation later this year) and to film either a trailer or a short (I’ve been leaning toward the short, though obviously that makes writing more challenging) this summer. With the trailer/short, I hope to interest investors in ponying up for the budget (arm waving at this point, but around a million bucks), then target production for next summer (e.g., ’20).

The main issue right now is whether to pay for the trailer/short myself (meaning me and my boss/wife) or to attempt to get investors in the production company we’re planning to start this year and use that money.  I’m trying to convince (pressure) her into pulling more retirement money out (I’m guessing around $4K to film the trailer/short) as I think it’s rather absurd to give up 40% of all future potential earnings of the production company to save $4K, but she’s not convinced, so far.  I’m going to write a business plan one way or another, so hopefully that’ll cause her to back it.

Projects are like lottery tickets, though unlike Treasure Hunt, I go into this one expecting to make money, so have to think carefully about a lot of details.

Nicholl and Austin

I’ve submitted my screenplay for “The Dominatrix Wore Red” to the Nicholl Fellowship and the Austin Film Festival Screenplay competition.  There are plenty of others, but these were the only two that seemed to provide the best bang for the buck.  While I’d love to win, my goal is to get somewhere in the finals, as that’ll mean I made it into the top tier (500 or so) of the 7,000+ submissions.  So I’ve heard, simply being formatted properly will get you into the top 1K.  Probably not true, but gives me reason to be optimistic as I wait.  And wait.  And wait.

There’s supposed to be a way out of the Catch-22 situation of not being able to attract a name actor (which is generally required for any sort of distribution, hence prospects of turning a profit) without a budget and not being able to get investors for your budget without any sort of attached name actor.  The idea is to find a B-list actor (one step down from the A-list) who is a recognizable face (TV or film), yet has few to no movie lead roles and no more than one or two lead TV roles.  The idea is they (or, rather, their manager) are open to opportunities where they can be film leads, so are willing to attach themselves to a project that lacks a budget.  Often as an executive producer, which can also help them if their career aspirations extend behind the camera.  Then, with that name actor, investors are supposedly a lot less reluctant to get involved (getting the first can still be a nightmare, though – it seems no one wants to be number one).  On an impulse, after binge watching a TV series, I sent an email to the manager of a featured actress I thought would do very well for the role of Elise and fit the B-list criteria.  Shockingly (not), I haven’t heard back (it’s only been about 10 days, so perhaps there’s still hope, though I’ve largely given up).  But it seems to be a numbers game: contact a bunch until I find one who’ll at least read the script.

The Dominatrix story has turned into a trilogy (BlueDom has been followed by DarkDom), which is something I hope will increase interest in the project.  Of course, I still have to get the first in the series going before I can even fantasize about more (well, I guess I can fantasize any time ;-), but I feel good about the trilogy.