FILMMAKING STUFF Filmmaking Stuff provides resources for independent filmmakers. The website includes articles on how to take a story idea from script to screen, including articles on scriptwriting, producing, finance, shooting, editing, directing, marketing, distribution and how to build an audience. Filmmaking Stuff also has articles detailing how to make money making movies – including interviews with Hollywood Producers, Directors, writers and other filmmaking professionals.

Filmmakers with a strong vision for what they want can make it. Image via Wikipedia

Making movies is both awesome and incredibly challenging. And becoming a professional filmmaker requires a certain amount of dedication that is easy to talk about – but not always easy to live by.

In my filmmaking career, I’ve experienced heartache as well as the surreal, super exciting moments that come when people get to know me and my work. Making stories and building an audience that supports our work is the reason we do what we do.

But in order to get from point A to point B, it is essential that you create a clear and exciting vision for your filmmaking future… Because (believe me) you’ll need something exciting to focus on, should things get challenging…

… And as a filmmaker, things always get challenging.

I have known many people who started out their filmmaking careers with all the movie making passion, energy and enthusiasm in the world, only to drop their dreams at the first sign of trouble. Other friends have disappeared without ever making a movie. And one of my friends went crazy, stole a bunch of money from his filmmaking team and left town.

Why? Because creating a dream for yourself and paying the price, (no matter how hard) to realize your potential -  that’s the tough part.

I’m serious about this. Making a career making movies is a long term game. It won’t happen over night. In fact, success probably won’t find you on your first feature or your second feature film. So you have to get tough.

Here is a strategy worth applying to your own life: One of the mental attributes that all successful people share in common is a never ending ability to keep their eye on the prize. And if you’re looking for the secret formula for all your filmmaking success, it is this: patience plus unyielding persistence in a face of adversity will get you through a tough spot. NEVER give up!

GOALS

Here is what separates the professional filmmaker from the horde of crybabies.  They have goals. And you should too. And I’m not just talking general stuff, like “Hey, I want to make movies and get rich and all the crap.” Who doesn’t (on some level) want the things that sort of lifestyle offers?

But what I’m asking you to do today, dear filmmaker is to set very specific goals for your filmmaking future.

What does your ideal future look like?

In order to create meaningful success in both your filmmaking career and your life, you MUST get a clear idea of what you want. This will involve not just setting goals for yourself, but actually taking out a pen and writing them down.

The following actions will help you hone in your movie ideas, your money ideas and also help you paint a picture of the wonderful life you want to live:

ACTIONS

1. Take out some paper and write down three ideas for movies you want to make in your lifetime.
2. How much money would you like to have?
3. How much money do you have now?
4. What will you do to get the money you need?
5. The people you hang out with will influence your success. Are you hanging out with people who share your vision? Or, are you hanging out with negative people?

After this, you’ll get a pretty good idea of where you are and where you want to go. From there, you can begin to take steps in your desired direction.

Here is an affiliate recommendation. A few years back, I stumbled upon the following audio program and even though it talks about general goal setting, I totally thought it was a great tool for helping me refine my own filmmaking goals: Master Strategies for Higher Achievement: Set Your Goals and Reach Them – Fast! (Your Coach in a Box)

I don’t know if I’m hitting a nerve with you or not. But long before I made my first money making movies, I can remember driving around my small home town dreaming of a time when I would not only have a few features under my belt, but I also dreamed of a time that I could share my experience with you.

If you find yourself faced with filmmaking self doubt, you’re not alone. The important part is that you at least get a picture of what you want that is very specific. Then you should take time to work backwards. And who knows, maybe a decade from now we will be working on movie projects together.

Posted under Filmmaking

As a filmmaker, one of your first jobs might be fetching coffee. Image via Wikipedia

When I was first starting my filmmaking career, I thought long and hard about the prospect of film school. At the time, I figured a degree from one of the top film schools would increase my odds of garnering success. Now, after having worked in the game for awhile, I can honestly tell you that very few people, if any, have asked me where I went to film school.

Here are 5 Filmmaking Tips So You Can Learn Filmmaking Without The Fluff:

1. Your Film School Degree Will Collect Dust: Nobody cares where you went to school. They just care if you can contribute value to their professional lives and their movie projects. (By the way, I’m not saying you shouldn’t go to college. I’m just saying that unless you plan on becoming a film professor – get a degree in business.)
2. Learn How To Sell: In the film business, people with sales skills can write their own ticket. Start learning how to sell.
3. Your Material Rules: Control good material and you’ll have something to sell. What is good material? Great screenplays. Seriously most screenplays suck. If you’re confused about this one, refer back to #2
4. Be Nice To Everyone: The PA fetching coffee today will control your job tomorrow. (Or one day, in addition to making movies, he might just own one of the most prolific filmmaking website in the world.)
5. Don’t Ask Permission: I say this over and over, but many of you are still knocking on doors, hoping that somebody will discover you. Don’t do that. Unless you have GREAT MATERIAL, that everybody wants, chances are nobody cares about your movie project more than you.

Anyway – If you like these tips and want more of them, I am giving away my latest book for free. I do this because it helps you avoid all my silly filmmaking mistakes. And it helps me promote myself. To claim your free Filmmaking Book, go here:

www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com

If you like this filmmaking stuff, make sure you tell your friends that Los Angeles based indie producer, Jason Brubaker gives away some great filmmaking stuff!

Posted under Filmmaking

A few years back, while flying aboard a loud propeller driven airplane somewhere over the snow capped mountains of Colorado, I heard the guy in front of me talking to his girlfriend about an idea for a movie. Since I had just finished production on my second feature, I felt compelled to chime in. And when I heard his movie pitch, I just had to help. . .

Fast forward to today and filmmaker Rory Delaney is getting a ton of buzz on the film festival circuit for his feature documentary, Toxic Soup. The movie exposes corporate carelessness and profiles everyday people afflicted by the Toxic Soup dumped in their back yards. (And yes, I am one of the producers of this movie. After you see it, you’ll understand why this story can’t be ignored.)

Jason Brubaker
Where did you get the idea for “Toxic Soup”?

Rory Delaney
I got the idea for “Toxic Soup” when I met West Virginian Kyle Stratton Crace in Los Angeles. Being in LA we got to talking about movies of course. I told Kyle that I was from Kentucky and had edited a documentary “Method in the Mountains,” which was shot in West Virginia. In turn, Kyle talked about growing up in Charleston, WV, in what is known as the Chemical Valley.

Jason Brubaker
Chemical Valley? Sounds like a horror movie. Why do they call it that?

Rory Delaney
At one time West Virginia had the heaviest concentration of chemical plants in the world. After Kyle spoke about the health effects that his family and friends had experienced as a result of their residence in the area, I thought it had the makings of a great documentary. Additional research affirmed my suspicions, and then an early test shoot erased all remaining doubts.

Jason Brubaker
As a filmmaker, often the idea you start with grows into something much bigger and often, unexpected. Would you say that your original focus shifted?

Rory Delaney
Originally I thought the documentary was going to be about one specific case involving the water contamination of Parkersburg, West Virginia with the DuPont manufactured chemical C8 (also known as PFOA). I just couldn’t believe that the EPA had found C8 (PFOA) in the blood of 96% of Americans, and that Dupont had covered up the fact for decades, while the state government had turned a blind eye. However, during production we heard a lot of similar stories.

Jason Brubaker
Like what?

Rory Delaney
We heard about a series of explosions and leaks of MIC in Institute, West Virginia, at a Bayer chemical plant. MIC is the chemical that killed over 20,000 Indians in 1984 after a catastrophic leak at a the US run Union Carbide plant. Institute, West Virginia is the only place left in the world where MIC is still manufactured and stored in massive quantities far eclipsing that which caused the Bhopal tragedy, which Time Magazine dubbed the world’s worst industrial accident.

Jason Brubaker
These are deadly chemicals in people’s back yards.

Rory Delaney
Yes. We also learned about the pollution of a community’s well water in Mingo County, West Virginia by Massey Energy with coal slurry containing heavy metals like arsenic and lead. We even visited the radioactive oil fields abandoned by Ashland Oil in Red Bush, Kentucky where community members have been developing brain tumors at alarming rates and a cat was born with 2 heads, 6 legs, and 2 tails. But while the companies and toxins differ, there is a pattern connecting them. “Toxic Soup” was made to examine and question that pattern.

Jason Brubaker
A lot of documentary filmmakers are impacted and forever changed by their subjects. Would you say the work impacted you?

Rory Delaney
Toxic Soup work has definitely impacted me. For one, I’m an official Kentucky Colonel now. For real.

Jason Brubaker
Really? How do you prove that?

Rory Delaney
I got a certificate from Governor Steve Beshear and everything. How awesome is that? But kidding aside, on a practical level “Toxic Soup” has influenced my consumption patterns. I do my best to avoid products associated with different companies, ranging from gasoline. Marathon bought Ashland Oil. And pain killers made by Bayer as well as frying pans.

Jason Brubaker
Frying pans?

Rory Delaney
Frying pans with Teflon. C8 leaches into your food from the nonstick action.

Jason Brubaker
It sounds like Toxic Soup is everywhere.

Rory Delaney
I look at the ingredients in my personal care products. I don’t wear deodorants with phthalates in them also referred to as “Scent” or “Perfume.” That stuff is gnarly for you. Finally, I pay a lot closer attention to politics and corporate campaign donations. I was deeply troubled by the latest Supreme Court decision on that front.

Jason Brubaker
Along the way, you traveled across the country to  meet some very high ranking officials and interesting people. How were you able to plan your days?

Rory Delaney
I scheduled interviews, aerial flyovers and community meetings as far in advance as possible. On off days we shot b-roll and performed additional research and community outreach. We emailed and called countless lawyers, politicians, journalists, filmmakers, nonprofits, professors, activists, and celebrities in search of interviews, stories, and tips. A lot of these phone calls and emails paid big dividends.

Jason Brubaker
Many of the people you profiled have been living in “Toxic Soup” their entire lives. Why do those people choose to stay in polluted land. Why don’t they just move?

Rory Delaney
Polluted or not, where you are born is where you are born. It’s home. You don’t choose it. And most people have an acute sense of that bond. Often they have extended family and friends in the area. They have roots there. So leaving becomes difficult for emotional reasons. Also there are financial reasons. Some of these folks own property, but that property has been depreciated 80 to 90 percent of its value because of toxic contamination in some cases. As a result, many can’t move because they lack the resources to do so. It’s a vicious circle.

Jason Brubaker
What did you shoot on?

Rory Delaney
We shot the majority of footage on the Canon XHA1 at 24p 1080 HD. For three camera shoots we also utilized the Canon HV20, which also shoots in 1080 HD.

Jason Brubaker
How did you find your crew?

Rory Delaney
When I was getting my MFA in dramatic writing from NYU I met director Christina Voros when I wrote the short film “Rosy” with her. “Rosy” played at the 2008 Florida Film Festival and Nantucket Film Festival. In any event, I contacted Christina because she is also a very talented DP, and she recommended her friend Sergei Krasikau who is a sound recorder and still photographer. Later, I met Lisa Bragg and Curtis Baskerville while shooting in West Virginia. Lisa and Curtis are local filmmakers who proved to be invaluable as they could film stuff when the rest of us were out of town. It just kind of came together like everything else.

Jason Brubaker
I know some of your locations did not permit a video crew or a camera. How were you able to capture footage there?

Rory Delaney
For a couple hundred bucks we also picked up a cheap spy camera at the Spy Museum in Washington DC, which we used to film the DuPont annual shareholders meeting in Wilmington, Delaware, where our camera crew had been banned.

Jason Brubaker
How did you get big names like Bill Clinton and Morgan Spurlock in your documentary?

Rory Delaney
Despite being a first-time director, we had a lot of success getting celebrity cameos in our documentary. As we all know, we live in the age of celebrity, and the truth is that you are more likely to get into bigger festivals and achieve wider distribution if you have “names” attached to your project. Although we had difficulty pursuing celebrities through official channels (Many had a protective wall of handlers and assistants), we opted to cut out the middlemen and personally pitch our documentary.

Jason Brubaker
And how were you able to get within talking distance?

Rory Delaney
To do this, we researched their public appearance schedules before turning up with our camera crew in tow. This is how we got an interview with Bill Clinton and Morgan Spurlock. The same strategy worked for cameos by Jim Carrey, Jenny McCarthy and RFK Jr.

Jason Brubaker
Is Morgan Spurlock supportive of Toxic Soup?

Rory Delaney
We believe that Morgan is supportive of “Toxic Soup”. We approached him months ago with a fine cut of the documentary and welcomed his input and advice. However, he is super busy with his FX show “30 Days” and also judging at film festivals like Sundance, so we haven’t had a chance to really connect with him. As we build up more grassroots support for the documentary, I am cofident that Morgan will resurface and assist the movement.

Jason Brubaker
What advice do you have for filmmakers pursuing controversial topics?

Rory Delaney
Talk with a lawyer and possibly form a legal entity. Also get a business card. Other than that make sure the topic is something that you’re passionate about because people are going to flake on you when you start rocking the boat. In other words, if you’re doing it just to be controversial, you aren’t going to have the stamina to finish the project and get it out there for people to see.

Jason Brubaker
You’re taking about genuine passion.

Rory Delaney
Yes. Despite all the obstacles we faced in production and post, I was driven to get “Toxic Soup” made after meeting all the inspirational people fighting for environmental justice in their communities. I also felt like they were depending on me to get their stories and voices heard, so I just put my head down and did it.

Jason Brubaker
Any film festival advice?

Rory Delaney
Initially when submitting “Toxic Soup” to film festivals, I applied more or less blindly through withoutabox with mixed results. After consulting with Toxic Soup DP Christina Voros -- She’s an amazing director who was named one of Filmmaker Magazine’s 20 new faces in independent film -  Anyway, after chatting with her I revised my strategy.

Jason Brubaker
If you don’t mind sharing, could you describe your secret film festival strategy?

Rory Delaney
Christina explained that with her previous films she had had a lot of success writing in advance to festival programmers and requesting fee waivers. I utilized Christina’s idea and approached festivals with a brief pitch of “Toxic Soup” and a plea for fee waiver, explaining that any funds we could save would help us to attend the screening and promote the documentary.

Jason Brubaker
That’s an awesome idea. What was the response from festivals?

Rory Delaney
The majority of the festivals responded positively and granted “Toxic Soup” either full fee waivers or at half-price. Now some folks wrote back and said no, but hey, festivals are like the lottery. You can’t win if you don’t play. But the real brilliance behind Christina’s strategy isn’t the money that you save; it’s that your DVD is no longer anonymous DVD #10-HFX3004, which arrived in the mail one day and is sitting under a stack of a other anonymous DVDs.

Jason Brubaker
Right. It’s like you initiated the first steps to a personal relationship with the festival programmer.

Rory Delaney
Yes. Now you have corresponded with the programmer. They now have knowledge of your project and who you are, and they are waiting to watch your film, giving you an immediate edge over a good 80 percent of the other submissions.

Jason Brubaker
Are you still playing the festivsals?

Rory Delaney
We are still playing the festival circuit. We just sent off to fifteen or twenty festivals who granted us waivers. We even got a call from a festival in Buenos Aires, Argentina, interested in including “Toxic Soup” in their program. So keep checking back to (The Official Toxic Soup Movie Website) for updates on that front. We are also screening at universities. We just played at West Virginia State University in Institute, WV, and at the University of Maryland School of Law.

Jason Brubaker
How is the response thus far?

Rory Delaney
The response has been encouraging. The university screenings as well as our world premiere at the Atlanta Film Festival were well attended, and the Questions and Answers afterward were lively. People really want to do know what they can do to protect themselves and their communities from pollution. Basically, folks are outraged by the inability of our government to protect Americans and regulate corporations hell-bent on profits over people.

Jason Brubaker
What have you learned about the world of distribution?

Rory Delaney
I have learned that nothing happens overnight. There is no fairy godmother, glass slipper, or pumpkin coach. You’ve got to push your movie / documentary into the world yourself, and the more you do to publicize and build a grassroots following, the greater your chances will be of attracting a distributor. Also I’ve learned that when you are presented with deals, don’t jump on the first thing that comes along. The last thing you want to do is sign a three year contract with a lackluster sales agent, and then a year in, find your hands tied after a more recognizable name decides to take on your project.

Jason Brubaker
Where can folks find out more about Toxic Soup?

Rory Delaney
On the official Toxic Soup Movie  Website, you can follow our blog, connect with nonprofits and research what’s in your backyard. You can also join us on facebook, twitter, and YouTube as well as watch clips from the movie.

- Here is the trailer for Toxic Soup -

Posted under Interviews with Hollywood

Jason Brubaker writes

If you’re a member of the Filmmaking Stuff newsletter as well as our facebook group, you probably know that we try very hard to answer every moviemaking question you send. Now, granted sometimes we get busy.

So, I wanted to provide you with a list of useful, no-fluff filmmaking tools. (Disclosure: Where possible, I included affiliate links. If you don’t want to buy anything I’m selling that’s totally cool.)

With that said, if I were once again putting together my first feature, this is a loose road map of the filmmaking tools I would utilize to make it happen.

How to Make Your Movie Now!

Before you get started, set up a profile with my friends at Movie Set – I consider this site to be the glue that binds. Well beyond your typical social networking site, this service will help you create community around your movie the whole way from script to screen to your movie marketplace.

Your Script – The First Draft:

This seems obvious. But without a screenplay, it is very difficult to make a movie. Yes, I know some of you are interested in making an “experimental” movie. If that’s you, then ignore the following screenwriting tools. But if you would like to write a screenplay, here are some filmmaking tools that I recommend:

1. Final Draft – This is industry standard screenwriting software. You can also get Movie Magic Screenwriter. But I never used it. And if money is tight, you can get FREE screenwriting software here: Celtix
2. The Independent Producer’s Guide To Writing Movie Scripts That Sell, by Jason Brubaker – Yes, this is THE screenwriting Action Pack that I created. In it, you get a decade of experience, a workbook and MP3 Audio, so you can listen to it anywhere. Call it screenwriting from a producer’s perspective.

BreakDown Your Script

Ok. After you finish your screenplay, you will want to break it down. What is a script breakdown? Basically, you take everything in your script (wardrobe, stunts, locations, characters, props Et AL. . . ) And you put these elements into a schedule. Since this is your “initial breakdown,” you will use this information to determine the ball park budget of your movie. Here are the filmmaking tools I recommend:

1. Peter Marshall’s Script Breakdown and Film Scheduling Course. Peter has been in this game a long, long time. He will show you the fundamentals of script breakdown. These lessons will help you see your movie from a totally different, producer perspective.
2. There is industry software to help you break down, schedule and budget your movie. One is called Movie Magic Scheduling and Movie Magic Budgeting. If money is tight, you can also grab a copy of Gorilla. These software tools are great because you can put them on your laptop and use them in remote places, even if you don’t have an internet connection!

Get Movie Money

Once your screenplay is broken down, scheduled and budgeted – the next step in the process is getting the money. To do this, you will need to create a movie business plan. After you have your business plan, you’ll want to contact a lawyer to draw up some paperwork and help you establish a corporate entity. And after that, you’ll go out and get your movie money. Here are some great filmmaking tools:

1. Your Film Business Plan. For this, I recommend a website called Film Proposals. They have created a great business plan kit, which will provide you with a step-by-step approach to all the business stuff you would rather not bother with. Get Your Movie Business Plan Here.
2. When it comes to entertainment attorneys, one of most accomplished is Gordon Firemark. He runs a website and has very informative podcasts, full of valuable legal tips – And if you need some work beyond that, including legal releases for your movie, Gordon can help. You can check out his site by clicking here. Get on his mailing list. . .
3. Getting a business plan and putting your legal ducks in a row is only part of the process, the next aspect is getting money for your movie. I recommend “How To Make Rich Friends and Finance Your Movie” by Jason Brubaker. OK. Once again, this another one of my Action Packs. As usual, this is no-fluff. Different from all the other BS out there, you will discover how to seek out and make friends with rich people, even if you don’t know rich people. (Yet) – Access The Independent’s Guide To Financing Your Movie by clicking here.
4. I can’t forget my friends at Indie GoGo. This site will allow you to set up a profile, promote your movie project, set a financial goal and find folks to sponsor various aspects of your movie. And if you actually raise 100% of your goal, the company will throw in a bonus percentage. To GoGo, Click Here.

Going Into Production

Once you raise the money, get your cast, crew and equipment, locations and craft service, the next step is going into production. In this stage, you’ll find out if all of your planning holds up. This is going to be both adventurous and grueling. But an awesome time you’re sure NEVER to forget.  Here are several filmmaking resources that I recommend:

1. Rick Schmidt’s Extreme DV. He has a great workshop in the Bay Area where you actually complete a feature film. He is also the writer of one of the most empowering filmmaking books I’ve ever read. To check out the book, click here. To learn more about Rick Schmidt’s filmmaking workshop, follow this link.
2. Rebel Without A Crew. This is another personal favorite. Perhaps it’s a little dated, but if you can ignore the ancient filmmaking technology mentioned in the book, you will finish your read with a new found appreciation for how difficult the filmmaking process used to be. No more excuses! Get the book here and Make Your Movie Now!
3. If you’re looking for a longer workshop, I recommend the New York Film Academy as well as the Maine Media Workshops.

Post Production

After you produce your movie, you’ll want to edit it. This is the phase they call post production. And it really is the final rewrite of your movie. In the past, your post production expenses were crazy expensive. But like most things in filmmaking, technology makes your post experience awesomely affordable. Here are some tools:

1. A decade ago, all the talk and buzz in the world revolved around Avid. Now you’re like Avid who? Seriously. If you have a Mac, get yourself a copy of Final Cut Pro. It’s all but industry standard. It’s powerful and affordable. Enough said.
2. If you don’t have a Mac, find a friend who does. Re-read the previous step. And if you don’t know how to edit, find a friend who does.

Market and Sell Your Movie

I’m not going to tell you how to find a sales agent or how to make a 3 picture deal. Partially because that stuff is rare. And partly because those deals are old school anyway. I mean, who wants to hire a 3rd party when you can build a following and cash your own checks. I love this arena. I call it Digital Self Distribution. Here is how you market and sell your movie:

1. Create a trailer that actually aims to sell the movie without giving the entire story away. They call this a teaser trailer. Make sure it includes a back link to your website. Once you have the trailer, put the sucka on YouTube and all the other video streaming sites you can think of.
2. Get a domain name and website hosting. To do this, set up an account with a filmmaker friendly company. I prefer BlueHost. And yes, they pay me to say that. When you set up the site, I prefer to use the name movie in the URL.
3. Once you have your website hosting, hire a web designer to create a website for you. (Actually, you should have built a website prior to production. But I know your mind was probably focused on actually making the movie. So it’s OK.) If you burnt all your money actually making the movie, then check out this website called http://www.fiverr.com – On this site, you’ll probably find a dozen people who will create an awesome website for a whopping $5 dollars. Seriously. I’ve used it and actually got some great work!
4. Once you have your trailer and your website, you need to make sure you set up a Facebook page as well as other ways to grab visitor information. This is because most visitors will not buy your movie in their first visit. Having a YouTube page, a Facebook page and a newsletter will allow you to build a relationship with your visitors. If they don’t buy today, maybe they will buy tomorrow.
5. Get your movie selling online. There are so many outlets for this. But one of the best that I’ve found is the very independent filmmaker friendly site called Distribber. You can learn more about distribber by clicking here. Please tell em’ I sent you.
6. 5.5. And I almost forgot. Jason Brubaker (that’s me) has another product. It’s called The Independent Producer’s Guide to Digital Self Distribution. You can find out more information by clicking here.

Well that pretty much sums up the movie making process. Hopefully these filmmaking resources will be beneficial to your filmmaking process.

Posted under Filmmaking