The Indie Filmmaker Nightmare Does Happen: Royalties Being Delayed

Indie filmmakers and indie film lovers, a distributor of one of our titles is claiming they can't pay our royalties to us when owed. Our title made them (is making them) a lot of money on which their company is surviving (they're still getting their paychecks), leaving us to struggle yet again. They are paying the debt off their other titles with the money our title has earned and saying they will give us money when they are able in drips and drabs. This is happening - despite having contracts in place. 

Indie film lovers, whenever you can, please buy films direct from the filmmakers or support them when crowdfunding so the filmmakers are assured of getting some funds to live. This is why indie filmmakers can't make livings and why we need to really invest deeply in distributing our films ourselves! 

We need to figure out proper monetization on self-distribution and effective forms of indie film marketing. Please be aware of the struggles of indie filmmaking and hopefully try to buy or rent direct from filmmakers whenever you can. 

Please don't be afraid of sites like Distrify.com or IndieReign.com or Vimeo.com or CreateSpace.com and buying or renting titles from them. They are legit and helping indie filmmakers survive! Thanks all! Wish us luck as we go up against Goliath...

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Affordable Script Consultation from a Producer's Perspective Provided by All About Indie Filmmaking

Hi everyone! I have started a new service in association with my blog. I am now offering script consultation from a producer's perspective. I have read thousands of scripts through my career and have always thought it would be great to provide the producer's perspective on a script. I want to help filmmakers develop stronger projects.

As a film producer, I am on the eternal search for a produceable script. One that has the following essential elements:

*Great Structure
*Engaging Plot
*Strong Dialogue
*In-Depth Character Development
*Castable Lead Characters
*Budget That Makes Sense for the Genre and Any Creative Attachments
*Commercial & Marketable Premise
*Clear Audience

If a script has the above elements, I know I can feel comfortable introducing it to financiers and cast and crew and spend the rest of my life marketing the project to distributors and audiences worldwide.

It's a big decision for a producer to take on a project. Therefore, you want your script to be ready for a producer's eye - because you usually only get one chance submitting your script to a producer.

I read a lot of scripts each week and know that many do not include the above elements. And if these elements are not in your script then you will have challenges in getting your script sold or made into a film.

After reading a screenplay, I'd love to have the opportunity to have a detailed dialogue with the screenwriter and be able to tell her or him a producer's opinion on the script. And then I realized I could! So I have decided to start offering script consultation from a producer's perspective. I have added a new page to my blog offering this service.

Most script consultation services only focus on the writing of the screenplay and not on whether or not the screenplay is actually producer-friendly. I can look at your script with an eye to what a producer will be considering upon assessment. This can help you tackle any trouble areas before you begin submitting your project to producers.

If you have a project you are interested in making but you'd like a producer's opinion on how produceable your script is, please contact me at the following email address and I will be happy to read your script and provide a written assessment of each element at which I personally look when assessing whether or not to take on a project.

My perspective is my own. I can't guarantee that your film will get produced even if your script has all of the above elements. But I can provide you with insight into what a working producer may think and give you the opportunity to try to make your script even stronger prior to exposing your script to producers, and even agents and managers.

My rates are very reasonable too. Please take into account that just reading your script can take 2 hours, just like watching a film can. I will then take time to write up my assessment and send it to you. I am keeping my rates low as I would like to make this service affordable for my readers who tend to be low budget independent filmmakers.

Feature-length script: $100
Short script (under 20 pages): $30

If you would like your script evaluated by a working film producer (I have produced over a dozen short and feature-length projects) who will provide you with a producer's perspective, please email me at allaboutindiefilmmaking@gmail.com.

Turnaround will average 1 week, depending on my schedule. All reading and assessments will be done by me. I do not outsource to readers. Thanks everyone! I look forward to reading your work!

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Happy St. Patrick's Day!

I'm Irish so we love to celebrate St. Patrick's Day. Had a great day in Hollywood. Hope yours is just as good! Cheers!

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Citizen Hearst plays the Hearst Castle and Theaters Nationwide Too!

On Friday, March 8th, our new documentary Citizen Hearst had the honor of playing in the former media mogul William Randolph Hearst's personal screening room at the Hearst Castle. This was made possible by the wonderful San Luis Obispo Film Festival. What a memorable evening!

The film is released in theaters now! Check your local listings at the Citizen Hearst Web site: www.citizenhearst.com.

Here are some images of the event held at the Castle in San Simeon, CA:

And here we are on the last day - spent in Paso Robles wine country - what a great group and a great time :)

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That's a Wrap! on Our New Short Plain Clothes

We spent this last weekend filming our new short film Plain Clothes. It was a great time. Much of the crew came from either our last film Take Me Home or Sam Jaeger's show Parenthood. It was like friends coming together to make a movie. In fact, I believe I heard Sam and Howard (our DP) at one point say they felt they were back in high school making a movie when we were in Sam's front yard stealing some shots.

Actually, it's this shot in particular:

And from another angle:

We had an amazing stunt crew with us coordinating the stunts:

Our prop team rocked the firearms and thanks to our friend Les who let us use his Jeep as our picture car:

We had an awesome grocery store:

And lovely home (and bed) in which to film:

The best caterer ever - Amber Jaeger! Here we are scarfing down her food:

And here's to the best cast and crew - love you guys!

We're makin' a movie and lovin' it! To track our progress, check out our Facebook page here: http://www.facebook.com/plainclothesmovie.

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