Bill Mechanic's Wise Words

A Twitter friend shared this link with me from Nikki Finke's blog of Bill Mechanic's keynote speech about the future of indies from the Independent Film & Television Production Conference. Mechanic is the former chairman/CEO of Fox Filmed Entertainment and is now an indie producer (Coraline) and owner of Pandemonium LLC.

I found the speech enlightening, though it inspires me to be a survivor even more. I think what most people forget is that indie filmmakers are used to tough times. We struggle day in/day out even when the economy is amazing. What's a recession and the retraction of film deals? It's the day in a life of an indie filmmaker. We are used to rejection and we are used to forging new paths for our work and having a million obstacles to overcome. 

The interesting thing is hearing those who have achieved a certain level of success being humbled and literally and suddenly being at the same level as those who have struggled for that exact success. It's a level playing field right now. If you don't see that as an opportunity then I don't know what to else to say! 

A Script Reader Speaks

Check out this post A Script Reader Speaks from screenwriter Scott Myers. It offers an insight into what script readers look for in screenplays. Readers are employed by the agencies, studios and production companies to help them handle the huge mounds of daily screenplay submissions. It's great to know these insider viewpoints as you prepare to send out your scripts to production companies or studios. 

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?

In Music Licensing Hell

We are handling our deliverables on Not Since You right now and realizing that due to the sad state of the indie landscape right now, our music is too expensive. Last year when we chose the songs, our sales projections were higher and our future seemed brighter. 

But, as we all have noticed, the indie world is sliding down into a neglected, sorry state. And the buyers are taking full advantage. It is definitely a buyers' market right now and we sellers are feeling the pinch. From firsthand experience I am seeing sales diminish and interest in indie films plummet. My foreign sales agent even said that buyers would rather have a bad movie with big actors in it than a great one starring actors with no name value.

Our sales projections in one year have dropped by 75%. That is huge! I'm going to go cry in the corner right now. 

So now that we have to pay for the music licenses, we are determining that it's better for the project and our investors if we trim the fees. And this means replacing some songs. It also means opening up the sound mix (which costs money) and then re-mixing the new songs into the film. This is usually something you want to avoid at all costs but unfortunately, we couldn't. It's cheaper for us to replace the songs than to pay the licenses that were negotiated last year. 

And we have a deadline for the deliverables so we are racing to source and replace the songs and then create our master tapes for delivery on time. Our deliverables also include paperwork from the show. I will be spending tomorrow going through all of the contracts and scanning the necessary ones to a CD. I am trying my best to save trees -- though my agent said they need to print the paperwork anyway. At least I can feel good that I did my part in saving the world, one piece of paper at a time. 

Hopefully I will be out of music licensing hell next week. That's our deadline so we can stay on schedule. It's coming up fast! Wish us luck!

No One Wants to Be an Indie Filmmaker -- At First

I don't think anyone starts out wanting to be an independent filmmaker. I'm sure most of us would work with the studios if they let us express our creative vision and gave us the money to make our films. Why take on all the responsibilities of being independent unless you had to?

Don't get me wrong. I love being an indie producer. I enjoy being able to make movies that I wholeheartedly believe in. When one of my films makes it to the big screen, I know it contains a part of my soul. That is an amazing feeling. And being independent allows me to have that feeling over and over again.

And the grass is not always greener on the other side. I worked in the studio system. I enjoyed my time there and I hope to work with the studios again. But it is a corporate setting and it's very difficult to express your own vision in that world. I wanted the opportunity in my career to truly express who I was as a filmmaker, whether or not I would eventually make my way back to the studios.

The reasons to become independent are many: 

You may want to make small intimate dramas or experimental projects or you like the amount of control being independent allows. Or you feel shut out from the studio system and you still want to make movies. Or you want to break into the studio system by showing them what you can do on your own. Or you don't like the corporate film world. Or you live in an area where no film companies exist -- you have to be independent! 

So what does this mean? This choosing v. wanting.

I think anytime someone chooses to do something over wanting to do it, they are sacrificing some aspect of their goal. They are choosing to forsake the other option, just as they are choosing to embrace one. And it's this sacrifice that can gnaw at you for eternity if you let it and create doubt in your career path.  

As an independent filmmaker, I think it's important to realize you made a choice and acknowledge the sacrifice you are making with that choice. Give yourself time to consider your choice and if it makes sense to turn it into a want. Don't just settle on being an independent filmmaker. Know that it is something you want!