Two Days to Start of Production!

We are two days out from production and most of our crew is here and our two leads Trevor Morgan and Rumer Willis have arrived and are doing fittings and rehearsals. The house is full of activity. It's been a whirlwind of pre-pro and we are both stressed and excited to begin filming on Wednesday.

It's a jam-packed 18-day shoot but we are confident we will get our days and not have to compromise. The cast and crew are super talented, our locations are beautiful, and the support is being felt all around. The conditions couldn't be better for being creative and making a great film.

The biggest wild card for us is the weather. Florida is prone to scattered thunderstorms throughout August. The rain can come in swift and hard. And bring lightening with it. So we will keep our fingers crossed that the weather treats us right.

Time to make a movie!

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Two Weeks Out and So Much to Do!

We are two weeks out from filming and every day, I go down my to-do list and do my best to address as much as physically possible in one day.

Typical issues to address:

1) Travel -- need to book travel for cast and crew

2) Find and lock locations

3) Finalize casting and crew and their agreements. Negotiating deals can take many rounds and when it's an Ultra-Low Budget, I am usually handling the Business Affairs. More work for me -- yay!

4) Product Placement. It's so important to our bottom line to find product placement. For a spot in the film, we get free product to use. Free drinks for cast and crew is a huge savings. And it takes time to lock in these deals.

5) Go Over Schedule. The schedule is a fluid thing. It ebbs and flows and you must keep up on all changes.

7) Changes to Script. It's inevitable that once you are on location that there will be changes to the script. When the script changes, the schedule changes, then you must change...

8) Lodging and food. People need a roof over their heads and food to eat. And it can't be crap. You need to think about it all. It's sort of like planning a wedding. You want people to be comfortable and fed well. Not easy.

9) Budget and financing. Budget and financing. Need I say more?

10) Relaxation, exercise and time to yourself. As soon as you are on location, all of these three things could easily go away. You need to make time for each or you will burn yourself out. And then be no help to anyone. Try to squeeze in normal activities that make you happy throughout the week. See a movie or enjoy a sunset (we took a sunset cruise last night -- both a location scout and relaxation) or sip a glass of wine as you wind down from the day -- whatever it is, do it. You will feel better in the long run.

What's the lesson here? Juggle, juggle, juggle. And be positive. No one's perfect. Do the best you can. Be respectful to yourself and others and it will all work out.

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Images from Amelia Island

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Making a Film on Amelia Island Finally! Thanks to all!

I have a calm moment on this Saturday morning as I sip my coffee here on Amelia Island so I thought I would do a quick post and profess our gratitude for being here.

After a decade, we are finally on Fernandina Beach on Amelia Island prepping for our film The Diary of Preston Plummer. We pinch ourselves every day when we wake up -- knowing the intense journey that brought us here and the long, but exciting, road ahead of us.

At this time, I feel pretty good and confident that we are on track with securing our resources, cast, crew, locations, and equipment. The support from vendors all across the country has been incredible and the support from the people who will be working on the film, acting in it, and the community in which we have been filming has truly been unbelievable.

And I mean it when I say unbelievable. Sean (the director) and I have been awe-struck by the generosity of others. First, the actors whom we have cast are being paid virtually nothing and yet they are excited and treating the picture as if it were much larger. So thank you Trevor Morgan, Rumer Willis, Robert Loggia, Erin Dilly and Christopher Cousins. We can't wait to work with you.

Second, I need to bless our crew for being willing to come to an island and make practically nothing and live in a beach house and work under the hot Florida sun. We love you and we will owe each and every one of you forever.

Third, the Amelia Island community, especially Fernandina Beach. For a decade, we have known the McCarthy family of Fernandina Beach, and they have had open arms all these years and introduced us selflessly to their community, family and friends. We wouldn't be here without them and we love them. They have allowed us to realize our creative vision of capturing this beautiful island on film.

And this kind of hospitality has been put forth by the other island residents. We are staying in two beautiful homes on and near the beach, thanks to the Coletti family and we have Nadine heading up our casting in Florida and we have locations offered by some really lovely people and the police and fire departments are excited to be extras!! We thank them all. Hugs all around.

Fourth, the vendors. Another unbelievable amount of support is coming from our vendors. Panavision is giving us a 35mm camera package with their primo lenses. Why? Because they love the script and Phil Radin and Suzanne Lezotte are angels. Kodak is supply the film stock and Canon is helping us with lenses and other equipment as we are filming on both 35mm and the Canon 1D Mark IV. On top of this, we have product placement deals allowing us to not have to spend money on drinks, etc.

And last but certainly not least, our family. Both the director and I left our significant others behind at home for the two months we are on the island. It's incredibly hard to be apart and worse to know that we are spending money here, not making it -- yet! The belief they both have in Sean and me keeps us going and we are working so hard to make the best film possible.

As you can see, making a film is not a singular effort. It's due to an awesome amount of support from all corners of your life. Sure, filmmaking is a business but it's also a community effort of giving and the people you meet along the way touch your life and show you a positive side of the world that reinvigorates your soul and belief in others. Really, all I want to say is Thanks. I'm truly grateful and if I missed anyone, well, thank you.

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What Should I Really Be Doing?

What should I really be doing? is a question I ask myself all the time. I get caught in so many details of work and life that I often have to stop for a second and evaluate if what I am doing is "what I really should be doing." Well, all I can do is keep moving forward.

And lately, my schedule has been super duper insane. I am producing a documentary on Industrial Light & Magic and prepping for our feature The Diary of Preston Plummer. I am very happy to report that we have our financing for Diary and we leave for Amelia Island in 2 weeks!

And we just recorded audio commentary for our feature Not Since You today. We signed a DVD deal (woo hoo!) and we wanted to add some extra features to the DVD. So three of our actors -- Desmond Harrington, Jonny Abrahams, and Kathleen Robertson -- graciously gave us their Saturday afternoon so we could record commentary of the film.

A lot is happening and when it does, you can get caught in the swirl of it all and as my facebook status states currently, a month can go by and you don't even notice.

I'm busy but I'm also happy. And I wish I could blog more! But there is so much going on, which leads to me to the question "What Should I Really Be Doing?" All I can say is that I love what I'm doing and that's enough. That tells me it's what I should be doing.

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Surviving as a Film Producer

You've decided you want to be a film producer. So how do you make a living at it? That is the eternal question with which every film producer struggles.

The best way to survive as a film producer is to be flexible, confident, focused and prolific.

Be Flexible

You need to be flexible with how you look for and find money on which to live. Sure you can live off producer fees -- when you get them. Unless you are a machine or you are in a privileged position of not having to do much hands-on work, it is difficult to make more than about three films a year. And unless you are making high-budget films, most indie producer fees are low or even nonexistent. It's very difficult to live off producer fees alone.

So you may have to look for other sources of income, which can come in many different forms. Perhaps you are a writer and you can find gigs writing about filmmaking. Or you are a teacher or you have a day job in an entirely different field. Or you work for other producers in between your own producing gigs.

I used to wonder if I could call myself a producer if I wasn't working and earning a living full time from my producing. I eventually realized that it really doesn't matter where your income is derived. You are a producer if you are producing movies. Only you know how much you need to live on and if your producing fees are not enough then you just need to be flexible and figure out how to earn more elsewhere. You are not a failure if you cannot survive on producing fees alone. Instead, you are human and definitely not alone.

Be Confident

Confidence is very important to the survival of a producer. You need to be confident that you will get your movies financed and made. You need to be confident that when you don't have an income that one will eventually be found. You need to be confident that you have what it takes to be a leader. Because in the end, you are the film's leader. It needs you just as much as you need it.

Be Focused

It's very easy to spread yourself too thin over too many projects and genres. Try to focus on the projects with the best possible chances of success and give them your greatest attention. It also helps if you become known for a certain kind of film as financiers will feel more confident that you can deliver a film in a genre with which you have a track record of success.

Why do you think Judd Apatow gets comedy after comedy after comedy greenlit? He's proven himself in that genre. It's okay to want to make movies in many different genres but realize that you are increasing your chances of success if you are focused.

Be Prolific

You've heard the saying: A filmmaker is only as good as his or her next film. Well there is some truth to that. If you want to survive as a producer then you need to be making movies. And if you have a few in the works then you are spreading the risk out over a few projects. That way, the successes can help balance out those that don't perform as well as you had hoped.

In the end, if you want to make movies, you will. If you want to survive doing it over the long haul then you need to work at it and figure out how to make it happen in a way that works for you. No one's journey is the same and each one is a valid way of getting there.

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The Amazing Thing about Having a Blog

There are many amazing things about having a blog but what I find really remarkable is that my readers are from around the world. You name the country, and I am pretty sure that at some point, someone has read my blog in that country. It's humbling and pretty cool.

So thanks for reading and let me know if any of you ever have any questions for me or want to guest blog. I would love for this blog to be more interactive and international!

Indie filmmakers unite!

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