About DavideAndrew Papa Expertise DavideAndrew Papa is able to answer specific questions relating to Acting, Script wiriting,production,directing and Producing 35 mm motion Pictures for International distribution,based on AMPAS protocols,and personal opionions based on experience.
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Expert: DavideAndrew Papa Date: 8/31/2004 Subject: documentary budget, production, distribution
Question First off, let me introduce myself. My name is Elif Tasdizen and I am currently working on a documentary of a modern day Renaissance man named Owen D. Mort (I call him "Mort"). I worked at the Utah Museum of Fine Arts for 3 years and organized his African collection. Over the years, I began to know the man behind the collection and found him to be as varied as the objects he collected.
Not only has he spent time living in the Congo, but he also spent a couple of years in Afghanistan. His stories and adventures of life in these , now dangerous, places are as interesting as his other interests and hobbies. He has taught himself how to play the mandolin as well as how to build award winning stringed instruments. After returning from Africa, he started up a bluegrass band. This, in turn, led to the development of a bluegrass festival in Blythe, Ca that has now become one of the leading festivals in the US. He is a self taught sculptor who casts his own bronze sculptures. He was commissioned by a Wyoming bank to make a casting of a cowboy on a bucking horse. That sculpture has now become their bank emblem.
It seems that whatever he loves to do translates into enjoyment for others.
I kind of jumped into this project feet first. My friend and i just decided to do this documentary, got a couple of plane tickets, and soon we were in Blythe for the weekend. We filmed constantly for about 4 days and have approximately 15 hrs of footage with 19 hrs of audio. I still have a few things left to film such as returning to Blythe in january for the Bluegrass festival. This also coincides with the African Trade Market in Quartzite, Ca. I would like to film him collecting more African Art.
My problem is that I have no film making experience, just a passion to make a documentary about this man. My friend, Karin, has experience in editing, but I am having trouble coming up with a budget and distribution plans.
Currently, I am working on my proposal for fiscal sponsorship thru "Women Making Films" out of NYC. I am also writing a proposal to nominate Mort for the Lifetime Honors Fellowship through the NEA and preparing for the Media and Arts grant through the NEH. Since this is really a grassroots endeaver, i am having trouble figuring out the budget. I have been able to get on some site to get avg salaries for editors, videographer, producer, and directors. I know that it will cost about $1000 to go back and shoot some footage in January. However, it is the little incidentals like distribution, finding a distributer, and produciton costs that I am at a loss. We don't have the usual over head that other films seem to have. So far it has only cost us under $1000 to do what we have done so far. We are shooting to have this completely edited and finished by june to submit to film festivals. Is this a feasible timeline?
Any advice or direction would be helpful!! THanks so much!
I look forward to hearing from you soon.
Sincerely,
Elif Tasdizen
Answer Dear Elif
What a big question...?equally beffitting and even bigger project.
The project has to be in the can ,finished by Janurary or February at the very latest to make the June deadline in regards to the film festival..but that should NOT be an issue ,there are so many film festivals all year round..I suggest forget about the deadline and concentrate on making the film...making a good film...making a really good film about what seems to be a good premise.
Elif...This seems to be your first film, hence use time to your advantage...YOU HAVE ONE SHOT AT IT...do not blow it simply to meet deadlines..the opportunity may slip by you in ever again making another film.
The success of the first film...will give you resources to make more films...Even a mild success.If you have a passion...if film making is your thing...if you can feel it pumping through your veins..if idea's continually implode in your mind about film making and this film in general,then you have the "bug" in which case, MAKE A GOOD JOB of your first serious attempt...This is very important.
SIX out of TEN...this what your aim is...try your best to make a film that is at least worth a rating of 6 points from ten...To do this you will have to use your very best efforts in arriving at 6 points..This may not give you a great film..but it will give you a Good Film...hence eliminating the possibility of submitting a bad film. You must use you creativity not just for film making ,but also putting the project together in completing the final product...
This is part of being a combination independent film maker come producer,editor,director..once your insight and effort have been proven to be good by your peers...then resources will begin to become available for other projects down the track..
Once you have the final product in your hand...then you have something tangible to work with...Something of value...to someone-There are always people interested to purchase a GOOD Product. An idea is worth nothing,it becomes valuable only after the idea is eventuated..
Get the product in your hand...get it finished is your main priority...and do so the best way you can...get information,practice,read books...etc..etc..Hands on application..
Keep away from what others are doing...the product has to be made of YOU...it must come from you only...or it won't work..
Keep away from trickery,or special effects..or computer generated transistions and imaging...remember all the "Big Boys" in the industry have seen it all before..Remember that you are making a FILM ..."A picture is worth a 1000 words" is equally applicable to mean that a "Picture with a few words attached make its priceless..."
Keep the wording simple as with the story...make sure the shots are good and different in everyway...Simple does not mean ":easy"
It means the opposite...To make something simple and yet effective is very difficult to do...Too many fim makers make the mistake of adding slow going dialogue to a film project...forgetting that the most important aspect of film making is visual interpetation..Keep the frames moving...this is done by making make sure plenty of cutaways and intercuts progress the story..
Edit the film yourself...DVD Video recorders and SVHS recording equipment are now very cheap and affordable.. A secondhand power macintosh G3 computer is also cheap to buy to assist matching sound and film, cheap and of good quality..better quality than what was available to film makers only a generation ago...invest a few grand on equipment, get all the footage in place...and spend weeks or even months editing the final product ,from dupes made of the original master tape....(never use your original shots...)Analogue manipulation rather than digital manipulation is preferred..as then you will be submitting a project which differs to what the majoroity is offering...use black and white shots as well as colour...and DON"T make the film picture perfect...some quirkiness in required..in adding interest.
15 hours of footage does seem enough for a 50/70 minute product..(at the cutting ratio of 10 to one minimum)After you have made the final product...get a group of friends to veiw it...and to honestly give you a score rating out of ten...if it comes back averaging 6 points or higher...offer the finished film for film festival inclusion or offer it to community television, world wide...Anyone who is really interested in you film,will pick up the project and remedy any problems it may have ,to accomodate a television veiwing audience..including adding foreign subtitles..
You can't really rate your own work...you are too close to it..If the score is below six...spend more time fixing it up..It's like the Comedian who thinks his jokes are funny...when the audience ain't laughing.
Whatever you do DO NOT OFFER THE FILM to anyone until it is finished...and do not let anyone to see the project while you are working on it..Everyone gets to see it when you are finished.
Do it yourself...prove your effort and value as a film maker...and you will prevail...so long as you end up with a good product. Do it as cheap as you can...A good product done on the cheap,without looking cheap will impress upon the industry people that count the most...Million dollar flops are all too common today...
As far as commercial distribution is concerned...Think like a distributor..?An unknown, getting a mention or even an award in a film festival...will go a long way in ensuring a distributor picks up the project......its nearly impossible in this day and age for distribution to occur,without such an acclaim...hence I really don't like big name movie stars,come film makers, taking over the bigger festivals with their multi million dollar budgets... It makes it so much harder for the unknown to be seen..nevertheless , an ant can walk among the giants unseen...,until its too late..Your project is inexpensive...hence you can do what most big time film makers can't...make the film independent of finance..Your first job,GET THE FILM FINISHED...Get the product in your hand-Film completion guarantee is not applicable to you...you do have an advantage.
An inventor makes many new products....one gets taken by a big multi national company...and the inventor makes a fortune...this may happen from the first product he ever invents,or it may happen after inventing many different products..It won't happen ,without having the completed product in his hands...An idea is worth "stealing"...It's harder to steal something that's already tangible.A distributor will pick up your film...If you have mild success in the film festival curcuit....hence make a good product,then get it seen.
Be an ant...and eventually the giants will notice.
I hope this advice helps,its not about the money...it's about the you,and ulimately the completed project.
