Produce Your Own Damn Movie!

Often low-budget filmmakers get thrown into the position of being not only the director, but their own producer. Using tips from the finest washed-up has-been producers in the business, this book will give the low-budget filmmaker practical tools for getting a movie shoot started, and keeping it going until it is supposed to end. From budgeting concerns to production-damaging acts of God, all will be discussed.

Autorentext

Lloyd Kaufman is one of the very few genuine auteur filmmakers. He has written, produced, and/or directed more than 25 films, including "The Toxic Avenger", "Terror Firmer", "Tromeo and Juliet", and "Poultrygeist: Night of the Chicken Dead". Kaufman is president of the world-famous Troma Entertainment, the oldest and, arguably, the longest-running truly independent film studio in history. He is also the president of the IFTA (Independent Film & Television Alliance), whose members produce more than 400 independent films and countless hours of television programming each year and generate more than $4 billion in distribution revenues annually.

Inhalt

This book will cover everything about production from the initial movie idea, all the way through pre-production and up to the first day of principal photography. Each chapter will include examples and material culled from interviews with filmmakers I know & have worked with, including Eli Roth (Director, Cabin Fever & Hostel), James Gunn, (Writer, Dawn of the Dead, Writer/Director, Slither), and Steven Paul (Producer, Ghost Rider, currently no. 1 in the box office), as well as low-budget filmmakers, all of whom have films currently in distribution. These filmmakers represent all of the 4 different models of independent filmmaking, as outlined in Chapter 1:

1. The 4 Types of Independent Films--Know What Damn Movie You're Making!
   -No Budget Model ($1K - $25K)
   -Credit Card Model ($25K - $250K)
   -Troma Business Model ($50K - $500K)
   --Indie Cross-National Model ($500K - $5 Million)

2. Tailor your script to your film ? Write Your Own Damn Movie!
   -Tailor your script to your budget (e.g., Micro-budget films often don't even have scripts)
   -Do I need actors attached?
   -Writing & re-writing

3. Finding Investors: Please Pay for My Damn Movie!
   -Mom & Dad, your local dentist
   -Arts Service Non-profits (e.g., Fractured Atlas)--make donations to your film tax-deductible !
   -Writing proposals & grants
   -Filming a trailer
   -International co-productions
   -forming an LLC (leads to Chapter 4)

4. Legal stuff --forming an LLC, insurance, copyright issues
   -Forming an LLC
   -Production insurance
   -Interviews with entertainment lawyers

5. Locations--Can Tijuana pass for New York City?
   -Using government incentives to your advantage
   -Shooting on location vs. in studio
   -Contacting the local film commission
   -Location scouting

6. Crew
   -Determine needs: Will there be special FX? Stunts? Pyro? Or just Jimmy the PA watching camera equipment?
   -Union or non-union?
   -Craigslist, myspace, college campuses--great sources for the young, cheap, and horribly inexperienced
   -Find a DP & camera crew

7. Costumes, Props, Special FX
   -Getting as much for free as you can from local businesses
   -Product placement & $ponsors

8. Cast
   -Casting calls, callbacks,-- narrowing the field
   -Names vs. unknowns
   -Organizing a rehearsal schedule
   -Always have plan B, C, & D

9. Getting ready for principal photography
   -Setting a date
   -Making a realistic shooting schedule
   -Timing the script
   -Housing
   -Location permits & staging areas
   -Craft services

10. Filmmaker interviews / stories / advice
    -No Budget Model: Giuseppe Andrews (Director, Trailer Town, Actor, Detroit Rock City, Cabin Fever, & Independence Day)
    and Chris Watson (Director, Zombiegeddon)
    -Credit Card Model: Caleb Emerson (Director, Die You Zombie Bastards)
    -Troma Business Model: POULTRYGEIST: Night of the Chicken Dead
    -Indie Cross-National Model