IFP/Los Angeles Independent Filmmaker's Manual

Eden H. Wurmfeld, Nicole Laloggia

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• ISBN:
  9781136051050
• Edition: 2
• Topic: Media & Performing Arts
• Subtopic: Film & Video

Backed by the resources of Independent Feature Project/West, co-authors Nicole Shay LaLoggia and Eden H. Wurmfeld have written the definitive low-budget production manual. Using examples from the Swingers and Kissing Jessica Stein, this comprehensive manual offers the independent filmmaker a single volume reference covering every aspect of making a film: script rights and rewrites, financing, breakdown, scheduling and budgeting, pre-production, production, postproduction, and distribution. A resource guide listing useful references and organizations, as well as a glossary, complete this guide. The downloadable resources feature interviews with important figures in the independent film industry, including Billy Bob Thornton and Ang Lee. Forms that are illuminated in the text are also included on the downloadable resources for ease of use. The new edition is updated with thorough coverage of digital and HD-how to decide which to shoot on, what the financial impact is, and the effect on preproduction. There is also a new chapter on distribution and expanded material on postproduction.

1BEFORE YOU BEGIN

“Don’ t rush. Write a good script. Make sure it’s something …. Let friends read it …. And get some other opinions.”

—Marcus Hu, Strand Releasing

Before you begin official pre-production on your film, there are some important considerations to take into account that too often get overlooked. Making a movie requires a tremendous amount of hard work and a lot of money. The script is the fundamental building block to a successful film. Make sure the script represents the story you want to tell and that it is solid. One way to get some outside perspective is to select three trusted readers, who are not your relatives or friends and who are experienced at reading scripts, and ask them to give their honest opinion about your treatment or script. Are the characters interesting? Is the story engaging? Is there an audience for this film?

Another useful tool in gaining distance from your material enough to see if it is “working” is to conduct a staged or table reading, and we cannot stress enough what a valuable tool this can be. On Kissing Jessica Stein, we used readings as a three-pronged strategy: First, the readings served as a development tool, allowing us to hear what was and was not working in the script. Second, the readings functioned as a fundraising tool; that is, we invited potential investors to these readings, who aided us in securing a significant portion of our budget. Third, the readings served as rehearsal time, as several of the actors who participated in the readings were cast in the film and gained familiarity with the material through the readings (of course, the leads Helen and Jessica had written the parts for themselves, so their parts were “cast” from the outset).

Do not start pre-production without a realistic budget. Run the budget numbers to ensure that you can get your film through production and out of post-production. To give your script the best chance possible, you must assess the true needs of your film. Can you make the movie with the resources you have? If the answers is no, put this project on the back burner and find a different script. The negative repercussions of shooting a film without the proper resources for capturing the story at hand or to complete the film seem obvious—but just in case, we will say for the record that more likely than not the result of failing to obtain these resources will be a film that does not serve you (i.e., does not lead to other work) and that financially puts you in the red (be it other people’s money or your own). Suffice it to say that this is not the best place to find oneself. In Chapters 4, 5, and 6 you will find detailed cost considerations as they relate to the script—but, in short, the fewer locations, stunts, special effects, extras, and so on needed to execute your story, the less it will cost you to make your film.

Give some thought to when you will shoot your film. Weather, for example, is a significant factor that should be taken into consideration. Does the film in question require rain or shine, or both? Is it largely an exterior daytime shoot? Will it be too hot or too cold to shoot it in the summer or winter, depending on the city in which you are shooting? In cold weather, productions tend to move more slowly. Equipment and film stock will be affected by extreme cold. Days are shorter in the winter, which means less light. For example, on Swingers, since one of the points of the story is that it is sunny in Los Angeles almost every day, to have shot in January might have been problematic in that we did not have the time or resources to arrange our production schedule around the weather. We were much safer to shoot in the summer, when Los Angeles is typically sunny every day.

Finally, if one of your goals is to travel to specific festivals with your film, you may want to plan your shoot according to the festival submission deadlines. Although there are festivals all year round, many people have their heart set on festivals such as Sundance, Telluride, Toronto, or Berlin. We caution people against rushing any aspect of the process based on a single festival deadline. However, because everyone seems to do it anyway, we feel it is important to mention. Further, will the needs of your film (equipment, crew, locations, and so on) be available at the time of year you plan to shoot? Ask yourself if you can you afford to work for little money and dedicate all of your time to your film.

2THE SCRIPT

“The Swingers script opened and closed with a helicopter shot. On low-budget films, those types of things get axed out fast. It’s a compromise, but it’s not a problem. It doesn’t change the story. You just have to get creative.”

—Jon Favreau, writer, actor, and co-producer, Swingers

Although we come from a background of line producing, we never tell writers to think about the budget while they are writing. It causes too many creative roadblocks. During the first several passes, the writer should focus on making the script as rich as he or she dares. Then, reality must set in: You may not be able to secure the $10 million you had hoped for. You may have to work with $50,000 or $500,000. Remember, good films can be made for this amount of money. It is the line producer’s job to read through the script with an eye toward the budget. It is the line producer’s job to make the film as true to the script as possible for the money available. It is also the line producer’s job to insist on changes if there is no way to achieve something within the available budget. Adjustments may need to be made to the script. For example, in the original Swingers script, Jon Favreau opened the film with a helicopter montage shot of Hollywood. We decided we could capture the essence of that opening scene by using photographs of Hollywood nightclubs shot with a 35-mm still camera long after principal photography had wrapped. This was a compromise that everyone agreed could be made without sacrificing the feel or the essence of the story.

On Swingers, it was clear that the scripted Los Angeles bars were essential to the story. We felt we could not go outside L.A. or to a stage to shoot the bar scenes and expect the movie to look and feel the way it should. In addition, it would have been much more costly to have shot on a stage dressed to look like a bar. The only compromise we made was substituting for a few scripted bars other bars that would agree to rental fees in line with our limited funds for this type of thing. For example, if you know L.A. well you will see that we shot the exterior of a bar called The Room and used the interior of the 3 of Clubs. We could not film at The Room based on our budget. On the other hand, the scripted Treasure Island Casino in Las Vegas was not essential to the overall feel of the film. We simply needed a casino, so we shot at one we could afford.

The Swingers script had a daunting number of extras for a low-budget film. They could not be eliminated because they were part of the look and feel of the movie. We decided to shoot in the bars while they were open to the public. This way, the bars did not lose money, and willing barflies and members of the crew served as our extras. We were careful to secure personal releases from all of them. (See Figure 7–2 for an example of a release form.)

On Kissing Jessica Stein, two months before we began shooting we asked the writers to make a “budget” pass on the script. We created a list of all budget-related elements that had to be taken into consideration for the new pass, and made some suggestions about how they might be implemented. We let the writers try to find answers that changed the story as little as possible, while enabling us to shoot the script on what had become a very low budget. Examples of the types of items on our list were: reducing the number of locations, eliminating potentially expensive or difficult-to-secure locations (such as a metroliner train or an airplane), and reducing the number of extras a given scene might require. One example of how the Kissing Jessica Stein script changed is that in the original script each of Jessica’s bad dates occurred in a different locale—a restaurant, a cafe, a park, and so on. Our low-budget solution was to make all of her dates occur in one restaurant, which we thought justified by the notion that she might well take all of her first dates to the same place.

As a line producer, you must be creative when reading the script and making decisions with the writer and producer about rewrites. Your job is to figure out how to best capture a scene for the money you have. It is ultimately your job to assess what is affordable and what is not. Some sacrifices usually need to be made to accommodate a low-budget shoot. Changes may or may not require a rewrite. If rewrites prove necessary, be sensitive and tactful. The writer has invested a great deal of time, energy, and passion in the script and may be not be happy, willing, or agreeable when you ask for certain changes. Explain that your motivation is financial. Once all changes have been made to the script, you will have what is called the “white copy,” the initial shooting script.

THE OPTION/PURCHASE AGREEMENT

The option/purchase agreement has many purposes. It should be used to obtain the rights to a previously written work (script, book, article) with the ultimate goal of turning it into your movie. Generally, you will use it first to option a script (or any literary property), not buy it outright. This gives you the right to develop the material, shop it around, and see if it is viable without spending the money it would cost to purchase the material. Typically, you option a property for 12 months, via a contract that contains a renewal clause. When and if you secure financing for the work, you can exercise your option to purchase the script in accordance with the terms of your option/purchase agreement.

If you do not have an option/purchase agreement or at least an attachment to the material you are working to produce, you may find yourself in a quandary: you may have done a great deal of work on the project and then be without the rights to make it. If you protect yourself from the outset you will avoid the difficulties that can arise if tensions and conflicts of interest occur among the parties making the film. Some key negotiation points are the length and cost of the option, the purchase price, the buyer’s right to make changes to the material and own those changes, how many rewrites the initial option period includes, the credit granted to the writer, and the net profit participation of the writer. Figures 2–1 and 2–2 show sample option/purchase agreements from actual deals we have made. Note that these are not “standard” agreements. We have included them because they reflect the flexibility of the independent filmmaking world.

Figure 2–...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Dedication Page
• Contents
• Introduction
• Acknowledgments
• 1 Before You Begin
• 2 The Script
• 3 Financing
• 4 Breaking Down a Script
• 5 Scheduling
• 6 Budgeting
• 7 Pre-Production
• 8 Production
• 9 Post-Production
• 10 Festivals And Distribution
• 11 A Final Word
• Appendix A. Resource Guide
• Glossary
• Index