Our New Web Series: Overly Attached Andy - Coming October 2013!

I am so excited to announce that we are near completion on editing our new Web series Overly Attached Andy.

Writer/director Leena Pendharkar and I teamed up this year to create content and grow the Web channel So Natural TV. We decided to start developing full series. Overly Attached Andy is our first one!

Andy is a hipster wannabe and is overly attached to his ex-girlfriend Taryn. In this series, Andy tries to get over Taryn by looking for love in all the wrong places. Will he be successful in finding love? Watch the series to find out!

The series will be released on So Natural TV and will be featured on its own Tumblr blog here.

We are planning to launch the series in October so get ready!

Check out the trailer for the series below - we hope you like it and share it with your friends. Thanks everyone for your support. It means a great deal to me to share this fun series with all of you. We had a great time making it and that is the best kind of filmmaking ever.

Join in the good times by watching the trailer for Overly Attached Andy and please subscribe to So Natural TV.

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Check Out My Package: Making Your Film Project Irresistible - A WGA West Panel

My friend and wonderful line producer of my films shared the following video with me about packaging your film. She found it randomly on YouTube. I thought I would share with all of you. Thanks for finding it Jade! Now go package your film!

And here is a great article from Ted Hope about packaging as well: Twenty Tips for Packaging Your Project Successfully. 

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New Indie Film Release: It's Not You, It's Me, Directed by Nathan Ives

What is It's Not You, It's Me about?

It's an edgy relationship comedy about a thirty-something guy contemplating a break-up and the crazy, conflicted voices that surface in his head.

Tell Us About Yourself. Did You Always Want to Be a Director?

I'm not sure I ever knew what I wanted to be, but rock star has always been somewhere in the mix, although, if I'm honest, that train has probably left the station. My path has been an interesting one. I graduated college with an economics degree, got a job in financial sales and completely burned out after eight years. I took a year off and traveled, spending a good bit of time in Central America, Southeast Asia, and New Zealand, one of the best years of my life. When I returned to reality, the only thing I was sure of is that I didn't want to be in financial services, I always had a love of the water and powerboats, so I bought a small powerboat repair shop. This was around the height of the economic boom in 2006 and as I suffered through the learning curve of being a business owner, I watched the boat business die with the economy over the next few years. Although I pretty much ruined myself financially, I held on and still have a scaled down version of it today.

During all this, I was writing scripts with a writing partner. We had a couple of small sales and a handful of options. We saw two films get made, and I didn't feel that either one captured the story we'd written. With the help of a producer and a really wonderful writers group, I completed the script for 'It's Not You, It's Me' and since it was a fairly personal story, I wanted to see it made to my vision. With this in mind, I read a lot of books on directing, talked to a lot of people, and began the arduous process of raising the money. The following year was without question the hardest, but also the most rewarding I've had.

Why Were You Compelled to Make This Story?

The story is pretty personal to me. It explores the struggle of balancing the desire to live a sort of Jack Kerouac existence along with that depicted in a Norman Rockwell painting.

Why Should People See It?

I think it's a very honest (sometimes too honest, perhaps) depiction of what goes on in a guy’s head when a break up is on the horizon. It's very funny at times, very heartfelt at others, and beautifully acted.

What Do You Like About Making an Independent Film?

A band of talented people coming together with a common goal of making a film is an AMAZING thing to be part of. Is there anything better than meeting a bunch of new people who are passionate about what they do? I gained a few lifelong friends, and a whole bunch of others who I love to meet up with for a beer. I guess my favorite part of indy filmmaking, is the people.

I guess second to that would be selecting music for the film and working with the composer. I got such a heightened appreciation for the power of music in a scene. 

Casting is also a true joy, watching people make the words you wrote exponentially better is pretty great.

What Don't You Like About Making an Independent Film?

The whole 'who gets what credit and where their name is placed in the credits.' It's a pain in the ass and really brings out the egos in people.

I hate paperwork and there is a LOT of it.

There's also a lot of 'hurry up and wait' at every stage of the process, that's tough.

How Did You Finance Your Film?

Once the script was done, I hired a casting director who got Vivica Fox on board. From there, I worked with my producer on crafting a business plan. Once done, I contacted pretty much everyone I knew, I probably sent out 100 business plans. Whether it was people with money, or people I thought might know someone with money, I talked to everyone. I got a lot of expected rejection, but was able to cobble together the money from a handful of believers. 

One of those was my new dentist. Just before we shot the film, I was short on the shooting budget. I went in for a cleaning and pitched my new dentist while his hands were in my mouth. The next day he gave me a check to round out my shooting budget. Pitch everyone, really.

What's the Future for Your Film?

After exploring the sales agent/distributor model and realizing pretty quickly that I'd probably have better chances with a lottery ticket to make my investor's money back, I decided to embark on an independent release. I'm basically stealing the model rock bands have been using for years.

We're having an L.A. Premiere on September 18th and then I'll hit the road on 'tour.' I have about 30 screenings lined up at independent theaters in NC, SC, TN, GA, and FL between October 1st and December 15th. 

I'll attend each screening and do a Q&A after. I've hired a publicist to help promote the screenings, and will be hitting the streets with my iPad a couple of days before each screening, showing people the trailer and encouraging them to attend. I'm also speaking at the film schools of local colleges to inspire aspiring filmmakers and build support for the film.

If the model works through December, I'll continue on the road, hitting the entire country. Short term the goal is to drive traffic to the VOD platforms (iTunes and Amazon mainly). Long term is to build a following for my films, building a sustainable model for me to continue this path until I drop dead at some point hopefully much later.

What's Next for You?

I have two more projects in the works, one of which I intend to shoot in the fall of '14.

Here's the trailer:

THEATRICAL TRAILER from Mule Films on Vimeo.

Good luck to the folks of It's Not You, It's Me!

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Ted Hope's 99 Recommended Steps for Making Good Movies

Indie Filmmaker and Executive Director of the San Francisco Film Society Ted Hope has done it again! He's put together a wonderfully detailed list of what it takes to make good movies.

Check it out here: 99 Recommended Steps for Making Good Movies

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VOD Mixed Blessing?

I'm not sure I see the mixed blessing in VOD for indie film. I see a blessing.

Here's a good article from The Wrap to ponder: Why VOD's Popularity Is a Mixed Blessing for Indie Film.

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Why Netflix Streaming Is Good for Indie Film

This past year I had three titles streaming on Netflix: Not Since You, Take Me Home and The Diary of Preston Plummer. Right now I only have Not Since You and The Diary of Preston Plummer on Netflix streaming as our license period for Take Me Home has recently expired. We are inquiring about renewal currently.

Our sales agent had a great tactic of allowing my films to appear on Video on Demand and then on online platforms such as Amazon and iTunes through our aggregator (Warner Bros. Digital Distribution) for the first 6 months to a year. We would see a lot of rentals and sales through these avenues.

And after this initial 6 month to a year period, the title could use a boost of exposure. That's where our Netflix deal came in. Netflix offers a license fee instead of a piece of each rental. This can be a double-edged sword, because if your film does really well on Netflix then you may be missing out on some revenue. But after having three titles on the site, I am seeing that their license fees are okay. Of course, I will always want more but I don't feel like their fees are inappropriate when compared to how the title fared on other platforms.

The downside to Netflix is that once your title is on Netflix, most people will figure out a way to watch the film on Netflix so you will be missing out on additional revenue through other platforms. You will likely see a downturn in your sales from other sites.

The upside is that you are exposing your film to a brand new audience who may not have heard about your film. Many people only watch movies through Netflix so your title is now garnering new fans. And it definitely works. I watched one of our titles languish in securing new Facebook fans for a few months. As soon as the film launched on Netflix, our fans started growing and we got new reviews we could promote.

A great way to promote your film is to create a quote page of reviews from various sources, including Netflix. We designed a quote page for Not Since You. It's been an awesome promotional tool. Check it out here:

The nice thing about Netflix is that the license timeframe tends to be short - less than 2 years, sometimes only 1 year. This means if your title does well on Netflix, you will be up for renewal and obtain an additional license fee. One change in Netflix deals is that they stopped paying full license fees upfront. It's now a quarterly payment over the license period. I don't love that new system but I'm happy for the sale.

What I've found with Netflix streaming is that they don't have a lot of studio competition. Sure there are some good studio films on Netflix but overall, the streaming side of Netflix is comprised mainly of older titles and independent films. This means your independent film has the chance to stand out amongst all of the other offerings. I think this fact has helped our titles immensely.

I make films with romantic storylines and Netflix is a great place to try to get your romantic fix. The good thing for my titles is that there's only a handful of popular romantic films available on Netflix. So Netflix streamers are going to probably take a chance on one of my titles due to the lack of competition. I'm totally fine with that. Less competition, the better.

Luckily, each one of my titles has been rated pretty well on Netflix. That helps a lot. Viewers will see an above average rating for a film and give it a whirl.

So I say to the indie film community, give Netflix a whirl. Netflix can be a great way to increase your film's exposure, garner more reviews, and drive fans to other social media. I likey!

You can watch my two films on Netflix here: The Diary of Preston Plummer and Not Since You.

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