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

Your Gut Is Your Best Friend as a Filmmaker

I was just responding to a student's question about which film school he should attend and I thought I would talk about my best friend as a filmmaker: my gut.

Why is my gut so important? It's had years of practice, living through the ups and downs of my life and career. She's a straight shooter when it comes to making life decisions. She's hard core and not very forgiving.

My mind on the other hand may forget about the ugly days and even glorify the challenges of the past. Those were the days...yeah right.

My gut seems to never forget reality. She's probably the most skeptical side of myself. And trust me, I need that skepticism. I am prone to be the eternal optimist; I need my gut whispering to me, "What are you thinking? Are you insane?"

Sometimes I wish my gut would be more forgetful - allow me moments of living in la la land. But in the end, I'm grateful she's not.

Here's a good example of my gut keeping me grounded. Looking back on when I first started working in film (the glory days), my gut doesn't forget the two years I spent in film production in NYC with only about a day off between gigs and working 14- to 18-hour days and nights and the resulting exhaustion.

My mind on the other hand looks back fondly on these glory days of working on an Academy Award-winning film (A Beautiful Mind) and the joy and pride I had being part of some great cinema.

Both my gut and my mind speak the truth. I was running myself into the ground and having a great time doing it. What I have found though is that my gut looks out for what makes sense for me. While my gut understands that those two years were incredible and fun and exciting, it knows that deep down I needed a life and time to express myself creatively - two things I was not able to do while working in production full time.

My gut led me toward what I really needed to be doing as a filmmaker. I'm still not exactly where I want to be, but I'm closer than ever. And that's exciting.

Bottomline, there's no right or wrong in career choices, unless you're planning a life of crime - I'll just assume you're not:) But there is a right or wrong in deciding upon what will make you satisfied personally and hopefully happy. I realize not everyone is happy in their jobs, but many are satisfied knowing that what they are doing works for them at that moment in their lives. And if it's not then they know to keep working at it until they can find that satisfaction - even for the short term.

And all of this holds true for developing new film projects. I may read a story and think, wow, that is a beautiful story with rich characters. It would make a great movie. But my gut may say, yeah, I agree, but there's no audience for it and it will make no money as a film. Let it enrich people's lives as a book. It doesn't need to be a movie. And that's when I thank my gut. She has my back. She watches the box office and analyzes royalty reports. She knows the state of industry. I trust her.

As a producer, I have to think about the money. I have to know the film will be marketable so my investors can make his/her money back. I appreciate my guts input during development.

So, long story short, when I thought about the advice I was going to give this student about where he should attend school, my first reaction was to say: follow your gut. Don't let your mind talk you away from your gut. Because guess what? Your guts not going anywhere. In fact, it will get keep talking and it will get louder and it will keep challenging your mind. And one day, I guarantee, you will hear yourself saying, "I should have followed my gut."

How to Make Indie Movies Today

It's true the independent film world is a mess right now. I'm so embroiled in it right now that I've been MIA trying to wrap my head around the madness and its effects on my projects. 

Amidst the madness, I got to thinking...

So how do we keep making movies? The best answer I could come up with was: Where there is a will, there is a way. And it's that will of indie filmmakers that will keep the industry going. 

I keep reading all of these articles and summaries of roundtables and panels and I keep hearing the same thing -- the indie market has fallen apart and no one can figure out how to make the business model work anymore. 

As we are trying to figure out a way to sell our films, why don't we look at how to make them? 

The key to making movies today is making them with less resources. Even though it may be your 4th or 5th movie and your budgets grew each time, you may need to make your next film for the smallest budget yet. 

That's right, make your movies for less money. There are less buyers and less money to buy. So if you want make movies now for the indie market and want to feel somewhat competitive, make a good, entertaining film on a really small budget. 

And that ain't easy folks. I've made a ton of micro-budget films and each one has given me a chunk of the wonderful grey hair I now have on my head. But if you want to keep making movies in this environment then embrace the grey. 

You may be saying to yourself, "I paid my dues. It's time I were paid a decent salary to make a movie." Well, you can either keep thinking that or make a movie. 

Making a movie for little money doesn't mean you have to do it for free. Give yourself a great pay day for when the film does make money. And if you are making a quality film, despite the lack of resources, then you will most likely make some money. So gamble on yourself and you just might get a great pay off, maybe not today, but perhaps tomorrow. 

Or you can sit back and cry about not finding that $2 to $5 million to make your movie. And while you are crying, me and my fellow micro-budget filmmakers will go make some more movies. Won't you join us?

Challenges of Indie Films

This is a must-watch video for all us indie filmmakers. This is the state of the industry today. Let's help change it and get that capital I back in Independent film. 

On Location

I was in Seattle this weekend and reminded of all the adventures I have had as a filmmaker "on location." Going "on location" usually has me working outside of California in beautiful, interesting settings. So on top of being able to tell stories, I get to see and work in incredible regions that I wouldn't necessarily otherwise even visit. 

Working on location is a lot of work but also a lot of fun. You have to try to set up as much as you can from your home base and then head to the location and start living there as much as three months before filming. It's important to live there and get the lay of the land, hire the crew and lock in the equipment. 

It can wreak havoc on your personal life, especially if you have kids. But it's definitely doable. My husband and I have the rule that if I am out of town, we need to make plans to see one another at least every three weeks. So if I'm on location for six months, I either fly home every third week or my husband visits me. 

The first thing I do when I pick a location for filming is reach out to the film office in the region. They usually have a production guide with a list of all the vendors in the area as well as crew lists of regional crew. 

From there, it's a juggling act -- life, work, art, home -- and a whole heck of a lot of fun and adventure along the way. 

Baby Steps to a Feature Film

Making a film is the culmination of thousands, no probably billions, of baby steps. From the inception of a great idea to the final tape or print, countless baby steps of movement have occurred. Films do not happen overnight. They take tons of patience and perseverance. 

The best advice I can give for handling the amount of time it takes to make a film is: love the project. It's this passion and love for the film that will carry you through years and even decades of nurturing, revising, head-banging, and all the other schizophrenic activity associated with filmmaking.

Alright, this is a super cheesy reference but gotta love it!: Kris Kringle (aka Santa) had it right when he sang to Winter Warlock in Santa Clause Is Coming to Town: 

Put one foot in front of the other

And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

You never will get where you’re going
If you never get up on your feet
Come on, there’s a good tail wind blowing
A fast walking man is hard to beat

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If you want to change your direction
If your time of life is at hand
Well don’t be the rule be the exception
A good way to start is to stand

Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking cross the floor
Put one foot in front of the other
And soon you’ll be walking out the door

If I want to change the reflection
I see in the mirror each morn
You mean that it's just my election
To vote for a chance to be reborn

 

That had to have put a smile on your face! 

Industry Outbursts

The entertainment industry can absolutely make any one of us insane. I share this edited clip  as proof that film and TV sets can be stressful. It's not all fun and games. It's really hard work and tensions are running  high. My palms were sweating just listening to this because I have experienced many similar moments on set. 

Honestly, I still love Christian Bale. He's extremely talented. I would be happy to have him cussing me out on set in exchange for an opportunity to work with him. 

(WARNING: Lots of profanity!)

Have Fun with Your Filmmaking

I think it's great when you can think of ways to have a good time when making smaller films. There usually isn't much money to be had so why not make it about the experience as well as making a movie? 

Here's an example of some filmmakers creating a journey out of their work. Check it out and if you are in a city they are going to be in and you want to contribute, give them a shout. It sounds super cool and fun to me. Here's the dealio:  

The Two-week Turnaround Tour, or T3, is a community filmmaking project. Thousands of amateur and professional filmmakers will come together in over 14 US cities to write, shoot, and screen a short film in just two weeks.

We believe everyone has something to offer in the collaborative art of filmmmaking. The tour kicks off March 27, 2009. Check out our site at www.filmblazer.com. 

Surviving the Ride of Filmmaking

The dream is to be paid to do what we love -- produce, direct, write, critique, etc. But this dream can take time and buckets and buckets of patience. And as we are seeing with the new lay offs being made by entities like Variety, dreams can often be derailed. 

One day, you feel like everything is going your way: You have a paying gig, interest from an investor for a project, cast who say they want to be part of your film. You are on top of the world. Then the next day, you're fired, your investor ran out of money and your cast found another project they like better.

Filmmaking is a never-ending roller coaster ride. It's bumpy, scary, and thrilling. The ups and downs and twists and turns will never go away. You have to learn to enjoy the ride in order to survive. Here is a picture of a roller coaster. This is your life as a filmmaker.

To start enjoying the ride, you need to accept that a career in filmmaking will never be considered stable or secure. Once you embrace this concept, you can then devise a plan for figuring out how to survive within that concept. 

It may mean working a full-time job and working on your projects at night and on the weekends. Or it may mean developing a skill, like writing, that you can do in between your work as a filmmaker. 

It is possible to survive in this wild ride of filmmaking. You just need to take the leap, strap yourself in, and have fun along the way.

Sound Quality and Your Film

There's nothing worse than watching a film with poor sound. Well, maybe there are worse things, but most people agree that poor picture quality is much more forgivable than poor sound. And good production sound mixers who will work for low wages are very hard to find. To rub salt in your wounds, post sound work is extremely expensive too.

There's no way around it. You have to spend money on your sound.  Hire the best sound mixer that you can afford, and maybe squeeze out a little more money to get an even better one. I have found that it's really hard to get a decent sound mixer for less than $250/day. I will pay for sound because bad sound will make your film unwatchable and then what's the point?

As for post production sound, it is a significant challenge to find quality post production sound for small indie films. It usually takes some intense negotiating, begging and pleading. Even then, you are talking about spending at least $15 to $25 grand on the very low end. A solid post production mix is really closer to $40 grand on the low end. I know that is a lot of money. It hurts to write that check. But sound is incredibly important to the success of your film. 

If your production sound is good quality that will really help to keep the post sound work less expensive. And many times, filmmakers can't afford a post sound mix so they have to rely on their production sound. So be sure to at least hire a strong production sound mixer so you can screen at festivals without having to do a post sound mix. 

Also, try as hard as you can to secure quiet locations. Make sure there are no train tracks nearby, a loud freeway, or an airport. There's nothing like ruining take after take of the sound due to filming in the flight path of an airport. Filming near water is killer on your sound as well. What sounds like a beautiful rush of water can have your actors yelling to be heard and suddenly a tranquil scene turns into a shouting match. And if you film in the South, resign yourself to the possibility of hearing cicadas throughout! Oh, how I love cicadas.