Archive for Filmmaking

My producing partner Aaron Wiederspahn and I recently had the privilege of attending a rather unique film event in Nashville, narrowly missing the devastating floods that have inundated Music City, USA in recent days.

Unique is a good word to describe this three-day gathering—as far as I know, something that has never been attempted before. Called Film-Com, it took place just prior to the Nashville Film Festival and consisted of bringing together two dozen film executives from Los Angeles and from other points around the country—major players in established production and Read the rest of this entry »

One of the things I’ve learned as a producer of low budget features is the degree of patience it all takes. A patience that allows one to keep his or her sanity as a project creeps along at a snail’s pace even though you keep pushing as hard as you can on a daily basis to make it breathe and take on a life of its own.

Of course this is not a new concept. Every producer knows that tenacity and perseverance are primary ingredients if a good film is ever going to materialize. But let’s take a closer look at the kind of patience needed to work in this industry and then how it should be applied.

I used to be struck by the sheer amount of time Read the rest of this entry »

In following all that’s been transpiring regarding current distribution paradigm shifts and the like, the most perplexing aspect for me is what is being said or, more accurately, not being said about Netflix as it affects filmmakers’ bottom line.

It’s pretty much a given that Netflix some time ago won control of the rent-by-mail DVD business in this country. With 12 million subscribers, half of whom stream movies online, it is also rapidly commandeering the Internet streaming business.

For the consumer, Netflix is a wonderful and convenient way to have access to just about every movie out there in release, new and old. In fact, the company has become a household mainstay, much like Read the rest of this entry »

As our company struggles to raise the financing for our next feature, we’re spending a lot of time and effort asking ourselves—and lot of others who are following the rapid changes in our segment of the industry—just what might be the ideal set up for us in the future from the development phase of a project through distribution.

Mind you, we’re a small production company operating outside of the Hollywood “system” trying as best we can to produce films of artistic Read the rest of this entry »