Please play the Dave Bullis Podcast above and read my notes that elaborate on what is being said. The run time is listed that corresponds with each entry. For more reference please give our movie Cam-Girl a watch on DVD or Amazon Video here and if you can leave a review it would be most appreciated.
4:55 - The interview starts. If it sounds like this starts mid conversation that is because it did. This is a good editing choice because all that was really cut out was us greeting each other and then I said "Hello from sunny Florida", which led to the rest of the conversation as you hear it now.
6:20 - There is a thriving Independent Film Community here in Florida. A few production companies would include: And You Films, Adrenaline Films, Sanborn Productions, Omni Productions and Fusion Studios. There are dozens of Post-Production houses, Filmmaking Groups such as Orlando Filmmakers Coalition and Film Florida also major Film Festivals such as the Academy Award Qualifying Florida Film Festival.
10:10 - The book I am referring to is "Night of the Living Dead: Behind the Scenes of the Most Terrifying Zombie Movie Ever" By Joe Kane and Phantom of the Movies. Here is the Amazon Link.
11:57 - Dave brings up this new George Romero movie Road of the Dead. Here is an IMDB link.
16:25 - Many filmmakers have started with a horror film and then moved into other genres. We mention Sam Raimi (from Evil Dead to Spider-Man and Oz: the Great and the Powerful). Other examples include James Wan (From Saw to Death Sentence and Furious 7), most recently Edgar Wright (Shawn of the Dead to Baby Driver.)
22:50 - I have to admit this question Dave asked caught me off guard, which is why it was a great question. That first directing credit was a 1 minute long animated short called Power Grab. Here it is on YouTube.
26:16 - I mention how getting credits on IMDB is an important first step. The way I got listed on it back in the day was sending a link to them in their new title submission form that proved that Power Grab played a film festival. Another way is to submit your short or feature to a major festival through Withoutabox.com. Withoutabox has a partnership with IMDB so their submission feeds are connected.
30:37 - Jim Uhls, the screenwriter of Fight Club can be heard giving this same advice I repeat here in this Indie Film Hustle Podcast.
33:46 - Part of my research for writing Cam-Girl included reading Candy Girl by Diablo Cody. Here is an Amazon link to this tremendous read.
51:30 - I talk about one of our Executive Producers Jay Aubrey working with famed indie producer Roger Corman, here is an IMDB link to that movie. Jay Aubrey's father James T. Aubrey was President of the CBS television network from 1959-1965, here is his bio.
1:03:58 - Buried has an interesting story behind it. Here is screenwriter Chris Sparling talking about it on the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.
1:06:07 - There are a few more stories I could tell about what went on behind the scenes of Cam-Girl, I chose to leave it at these two. To add to the story of the clothes washer that filled up and just stopped working: That soapy water stayed in there for several days because we were very busy on set. At one point people were saying what's that smell, so the first day off we got we had to carry the washer outside and drain the water out.
1:08:53 - Like Dave is saying here, I have worked crew on shorts (these are NOT listed on my IMDB) and on those sets I saw that crew and even actors never showed up or were very late. These shorts did not pay their cast and crew, I highly recommend that you pay people a fair day rate, especially on a feature.
1:09:40 - Dave talks about movies that are set in a rented house. Here are some other examples of contained movies set in a house that I recommend: The Invitation, Extremities, Shallow Grave, The Anniversary Party, Sanctuary; Quite a Conundrum, The Big Chill and It's a Disaster.
1:14:50 - Primer is a great example of a low budget Science Fiction concept that worked. Here are a few others: Circle, Cube, Timer, The One I Love, Sleep Dialer.
1:23:15 - I mentioned 102 Blockbuster stores in the U.S. This was true when I looked it up a few years ago. As this March 2016 Consumerist.com article reports, they are down to 50 Blockbuster retail stores now. Sadly, most of the brick and mortar video stores have been replaced by Redbox style kiosks. Independent video stores still exist but are more rare than ever.
1:23:20 - As legend has it, before Quentin Tarantino broke out with Reservoir Dogs, he worked at Video Archives, an independent video store that was located in Manhattan Beach, CA. Many aspiring filmmakers started to work at video stores pointing to how Quentin has said that he treated his job there like it was a film school.
1:25:16 - The movie Dave is talking about, on the story of a woman searching for the money shown in Fargo is called Kumiko, The Treasure Hunter (2014).
1:27:00 - Some more quick final thoughts: Watch great movies and read great screenplays. Most of the free screenplays you will find online are shooting scripts which is a totally different form than spec scripts. They sell major motion picture screenplays in e-book and paperback form. You only need to read a handful to get the idea. I have read screenplays for Alien, The Usual Suspects, Network, Hard Candy and Inception.
If you really want to succeed, the one thing everyone working in entertainment has in common is..... They never gave up.
For Directors: try your hand at writing, or become good friends with a screenwriter. Get to know people who own production gear and know how to use it properly.
For Actors: Work can lead to more work, try Stage work or web series, commercials, anything you are comfortable with. Attend Film Festivals and any other networking opportunities.
THANK YOU FOR LISTENING and BIG THANKS TO DAVE BULLIS for taking me on as a guest.
