WHEN (IF EVER), IS IT OKAY TO GIVE UP ON YOUR DREAMS?

For artist, entertainers or anyone with ambitions beyond a dull 9 to 5 will know this question well. Either they have asked it of themselves, or a loved one has brought it up.  The thing is, this question is so personal that there can never be a definitive answer.  But what you can do is evaluate your progress every few years up until the point you’ve made the big time.

Here are some questions I think you should consider:

1. How is your quality of life?

     Since you started pursuing your dream, to the extent that it is a full time job, how do you feel?  If the dream brings you joy, relaxation, or a feeling of solidarity, that is a very good sign.  As long as these endeavors don’t drive you to live out on the street, you’re fine.  Now, if this is starting up a small business, and you have been only breaking even for years and it all feels like the slog of a day job, well, it may be time for a change. Are you not getting enough sleep and feel like you have no free time because of this double life you are leading?  Is there anything you would be happier spending your time and money on?  If so, why not give that a try, devote a month to it at least, maybe that could end up being your true calling. 

     Furthermore, how does all this make other people feel?  Other business partners, your spouse, your family.  Sometimes it is easy for us creatives to forget, the world does not revolve around us.  This brings us to question number two.

(I am never happier, or feel more complete, than when I’m writing, drawing or making movies.  Writing/Directing a feature was one of the most fun and challenging things I’ve done, I’m looking forward to doing it again.)

2. Do you have dependents?

     If you are married with children, the right thing, the adult thing, is to put their needs and quality of life as a higher priority than your own.  As long as your day job puts food on the table and lets you fulfill your job of life, as a spouse, parent, or guardian, go for it, keep on dreaming.

(I am a single guy, for now.  Keep swiping right ladies, I’m here.  No children.)

3. Risk versus Reward

     This dream train you’re riding…. where has it gotten you?  Have you made money?  If you’re a writer, have you been published or produced, won any contest?  Dancers, musicians, comedians, everybody has a way to get affirmation of their talent.  As long as you are out there dedicated, doing your thing consistently, you’ll know, the world will tell you, just take the time to listen.  That being said, I would never suggest to make your decision to keep doing what you love based on what other people think.  It does matter, however, if your goal is to have a career doing this thing you love.  If five years or more have gone by and you have not seen any positive growth, you may be on the wrong track. You can always get off at the next station and take the next train.

(In the last 15 years I have written and directed the suspense movie Cam-Girl, written articles that were published in magazines… back when print magazines and book stores were a thing and I’ve had my first novel published.  I have made money doing what I love, paid writing jobs and royalties from sales of our movie. Perhaps, most important of all, even my day job is in the entertainment field.  So, for the last five years I have made a living entirely by living the dream.  I should also note, that the first 5 years of that, I did not have any of that good news, but I kept at it.  I never gave up and continued to believe in myself.)

4. Plausibility

     This is the easiest example, I like easy, if you want to be a pro athlete and it has not happened by the age of 40…. it’s time to get that desk job.  You can always shoot hoops with your co-workers and tell them about how you almost made it to the big show.  Do you want to be an actor but you cannot get over stage fright?  Do you simply not have enough time to dedicate to your dream no matter how early you get up in the morning? These cases are very rare, but if you find yourself in this position I am truly sorry.  It is surprising how far some people will go to keep living the dream.  Take the late screenwriter Scott Lew as an example.  He had ALS - Lou Gehrig's Disease for the latter part of his career.  He had to use special software that let him write by moving his head to direct a laser pointer at a digital keyboard.  Then an assistant came in to polish the writing.  Scott Lew did not let these major physical hurtles stop him, he adapted to it.  The only bright side is this thing that is holding you back, is totally out of your control.  It’s just life, physical limitations or the weight of time.  Many people who have this happen to them end up teaching or training the next generation to pursue their shared dream.  This way you are still involved with the thing you love, just not in the spotlight.

(Thankfully, I can write as long as my brain still functions.  Former girlfriends make question my brain function now, but that is beside the point.  I plan on maintaining a healthy body and mind for as long as I can.)

     The decision is yours and yours alone.  How you interpret these questions and prioritize your answers is entirely up to you.  It's all personal, that is why I encourage you to find other relevant questions based on your position, your lifestyle.  Please note that these questions are only applicable if you have been doing the work required to reach your ambitious goals, that means it should feel like a second full time job.  A fair estimate is 21 hours a week, you should spend about that much time on it, because I can guarantee other people who have a career in your field did at least that.  If you have not put in the time, that is a strong sign that this is not a dream for you.... it is a hobby.  There is nothing wrong with that at all, hobbies are important, they balance out the stresses of life and if you realize it is a hobby you can relax, spend as much time as you want on these projects without the burden of success.

     Some of you out there, may have read the title here and said, “When is it okay to give up on my dreams? ...... NEVER.”  Good for you, that is a great answer, the kind that often yields results.  If your dream feels like work, instead of a passion, an essential part of your life, it might not be right for you.  Similarly, if you spend more time talking about writing than planting your butt in your chair (or at a standing desk) and writing, or watching other people dance more than you take the dance floor yourself, or listen to music instead of practicing your bars, it's time to get in the game, either that or try being a critic, teacher or assistant in that field.  Why?  Because actions get things moving, otherwise you are standing in place, watching the doers of the world lap you again and again.  We need more doers, join us.    

Curt Wiser is an Artist, writer and filmmaker.  He has written for Indie Slate Magazine and other publications.  His first feature Cam-Girl is available on DVD and Amazon on Demand.  Curt graduated with a BFA in computer animation from the University of Central Florida.  

TOP 10 FILMMAKING PODCASTS

These days aspiring filmmakers really have no excuse not to be prepared and well informed.  Whether it's the droves of articles, books, feature commentaries and FREE Podcasts on the subject, it is almost too much to choose from.  A nice problem to have.  On the podcast side, this should make it a little easier for you.

This list is NOT RANKED in any order, these are what I feel are the 10 best podcasts that consistently cover the subject of film and film making.  In full disclosure I have been a guest on three of the podcasts listed here to promote my first feature Cam-Girl.  I note which ones they are and promise you that did not affect my list.  These are all exceptional podcasts, so I was thrilled to be a guest on even a few of them.


1)     The Movie Crypt
Your two hosts are high level horror filmmakers.  Adam Green is best known for the Hatchet franchise and Frozen (2010) - Not the Disney movie.  Joe Lynch has directed such movies as Everly (2014) with Salma Hayek and Mayhem (2017) which starred Samara Weaving and The Walking Dead's Steven Yeun.  So clearly Adam and Joe are industry professionals, but above all they are close friends.  This dynamic makes for entertaining and informative conversations with a different film industry guest each week.  For the more dedicated fans, you can provide questions for them to answer on the show or get some time to talk with Adam and Joe if you contribute to their Patreon.  They even set the record for the worlds longest podcast last year when they hosted a 48 hour marathon to benefit the Save a Yorkie Rescue Foundation.

2)      Indie Film Hustle
Alex Ferrari, is a self starter and the host of this podcast which truly lives up to its name.  Much like his resourceful guests, Alex puts the "H" in Hustle.  He produces at least one podcast episode a week, publishes a gambit of helpful articles and social media posts through his IndieFilmHustle.com brand.  If that was not enough, he recently wrote/directed/shot and produced his debut feature, a comedy called This is Meg.  Alex Ferrari has even been generous to use his experiences from making that movie and seeing it through distribution to better inform his listeners, who he calls "The Tribe".  His web site is a one stop shop for the podcasts, filmmaking resources and other services he provides.  This podcast is helpful and often inspiring for filmmakers and creatives alike.

3)     Selling Your Screenplay   (I am the guest on Ep. 135 - Listen here.)
This one is by screenwriters, for screenwriters.  Writing is my favorite part of the process, so naturally I was drawn to this podcast.  Your host, Ashley Scott Meyers has been a working screenwriter for nearly 20 years, with his first produced script Dish Dogs (2000) starring Shannon Elizabeth and Matthew Lillard, up until the Crime Thriller The Pinch (2017) which he also directed and produced.  What I enjoy most about the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast is the variety of screenwriters he has on.  The guest could be anyone from first time indie filmmakers like myself, to Hollywood power players like Max Landis Bright (2017), Chronicle (2012) and Chris Sparling Buried (2010), ATM (2012), The Sea of Trees (2015).  Ashley Scott Meyers is quick to ask the questions you want to hear, such as how these screenwriters got their first script produced and how they landed distribution.  This confirms that no two success stories are the same.  Hearing these fast paced interviews will remind you of the one thing all these screenwriters have in common, they never gave up, never stopped writing.

4)     Scriptnotes
On the other end of the spectrum we have Scriptnotes.  This podcast too, is focused on the craft of screenwriting, but this one is hosted by A-list Hollywood screenwriters John August Go (1999), Big Fish (2003) and Craig Mazin Scary Movie 3 (2003), The Hangover Part II (2011).  They sometimes have guest on but usually Craig and John answer listener questions and talk about the art of writing or give tips on how to work within the Hollywood system.  When they do have guests, these are BIG names like Rian Johnson, Writer/Director of Looper (2012) Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017).  This show gives you a different perspective on the industry from people who are usually inaccessible, that alone is reason enough to give it a listen.

5)     The Dave Bullis Podcast  (I am the guest on Ep. 168 Listen here)
Coming at you from Philly, PA is The Dave Bullis Podcast.  Each week Dave interviews a different person working in the film industry.  These guest work as Actors, Writers, Directors, Cinematographers, or even prominent Producers like Cassian Elwes The Butler (2013), Dallas Buyer's Club (2013).  What makes this show so fun is that Dave has a relaxed interview style, it is a conversation you are listening on.  It is the kind of tactic that can make a guest feel at ease and maybe talk about more than they planned on.  Dave has worked in production for around ten years now and boldly shares some of his horror stories and victories from that experience.  His credits include Writing/Directing a pilot episode for a TV series Game Over, which has been described as Clerks in a video game store.  He recently make the Game Over pilot available to watch on YouTube, you can watch it here.  A personal favorite of mine is the intro and outro Dave Bullis uses for each show, but I'll let you be the judge of all that.

6)     Film Threat
This podcast is a film review show.  At least one of these review podcast should make the list, I am happy to make it Film Threat.  The name comes from a popular indie magazine on filmmaking which was launched in 1985 and published into the 90's.  Sadly the magazine went away but the web site survived and now, after a successful kickstarter campaign Film Threat is back in podcast form.  Your hosts are Chris Gore, who is the founder of Film Threat and Co-Host Anthony Ray Bench.  They review all types of movies, from Blockbusters, to obscure cult hits.  Sometimes they record the show at conventions, which is a treat.  There is a cluttered mess of film review podcast out there, maybe too many.  I listen to some others, but I prefer Film Threat because of their tastes and the indie roots.  Movies - Movies - Film Threat!

7)     Q & A with Jeff Goldsmith
Your host is...... you guessed it, Jeff Goldsmith, who is the creator of Backstory Magazine.  In each episode Jeff interviews a major filmmaker in front of an audience after they all watched that filmmaker's latest movie.  He asks the usual fanboy questions such as "What was your budget?" or "How many days did you shoot?"  Yet the show also digs deeper in the analysis of the movies and the people behind them.  At the end of the show, the filmmaker takes questions from the audience.

8)     On the Page  (I was a Guest, Edited and Recorded Ep. 533 - Listen here.)
Pilar Alessandra is your well qualified host of the On the Page Podcast.  She has worked as a Story Analyst for Dreamworks SKG and is the author of The Coffee Break Screenwriter (now in its second edition).  Pilar sometimes has screenwriters, script consultant or other creatives on as guest.  The rest of the episodes is Pilar giving you a free lesson on the art and craft of screenwriting.  This podcast is fun to listen to and is very informative.  The opening theme song is also catchy.... careful, it might get stuck in your head (still worth it).

9)     Hilliard Guess' Screenwriter's Rant Room
I'm actually listening to an episode of this while I'm writing this.  My immediate thoughts are, Hilliard and his Co-Host give you the cold hard reality of writing for film and television.  They do not pull any punches and are not afraid to deliver it with an expletive or two.  That makes this a fresh voice on the subject.  The podcast also can occasionally deal with diversity and working as a minority in the industry, since Hilliard and others on the show know that from experience.  For a fun experiment, listen to a Scriptnotes episode and then the Rant Room back to back, it might feel like a punch in the face (in a good way.... I guess?)

10)    The Treatment
Your host is Elvis Mitchell, a well spoken, well read film critic who has written reviews for LA Weekly and The New York Times, just to name a few.  Elvis interviews big Hollywood names with a class and intellectual tone that is truly unique to this show.   You may have heard o some of these names, among his pasts guests are: Guillermo Del Toro, Sofia Coppola, The Coen Brothers and Jordan Peele.  This podcast is definitely last but not least on this list, well worth a listen.

There you have it.  I hope this list was helpful.  What are your favorite podcast on this subject?  Feel free to tell me one I left out in the comments.  Here are a few honorable mentions that did not make my top ten.

- BlackList Table Reads: This is a full reading of a screenplay by actors with sound effects, music and all.  It sure beats squinting at Courier font on white paper for hours on end.

- The Nerdist: With host Chris Hardwick (Often the guests are Film/TV related)

- The Nerdist Writers Panel

- The /Filmcast: Movie Reviews

- The Business: Industry News.

- Film Trooper Podcast

- The No Film School Podcast

- One Star Cinema: Play it in sync with the Netfilx movie they are watching and enjoy.  This is commentary Mystery Science Theater 3000 Style.

- How Did this Get Made?: Comedians roast a movie in front of an audience.

- The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast
  

Curt Wiser is a published Author and filmmaker.  He wrote and directed the suspense movie Cam-Girl which is available to DVD, Amazon Video and other streaming platforms.

 

FLATLINERS MOVIE REVIEW 1990 vs 2017 - Which one is best?

In this new web series VS Filmmakers Curt Wiser and Curtis Norton review/compare two movies that are related in some way.

This episode is on Flatliners 1990 and the 2017 remake.  Here it is, hope you enjoy it.  Feel free to share, subscribe and comment:

The original Flatliners from 1990 was Directed by Joel Schumacher only 3 years after he made The Lost Boys and 3 years before he directed the gritty Action/Drama Falling Down. The original film stars Kiefer Sutherland, Kevin Bacon, Julia Roberts, William Baldwin and Oliver Platt.

The 2017 Remake stars Ellen Page (Hard Candy, Super, Inception) Diego Luna (Star Wars: Rogue One), Nina Dobrev, James Norton and Kiersey Clemons.  This new version was Directed by Niels Arden Oplev (The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo) and was written by  Ben Ripley (Species III).

Curt and Curtis are not just film fans, the are filmmakers.  Their Suspense movie Cam-Girl is available on DVD and Amazon Video on Demand here: https://amzn.com/B01EMOQ81O

WHY YOU SHOULD NOT SHOOT A MOVIE ON YOUR I-PHONE

(Filmmaker Mark Duplass - SXSW Film Festival 2015)

     “The cavalry is not coming” those iconic words were spoken by Mark Duplass during his impactful speech at the SXSW film festival on March 15, 2015.  What he meant by that was as indie filmmakers we often hope to prove ourselves with a movie or two and then expect that Hollywood will come calling, well times have changed.  That was the old paradigm, before the digital camera revolution led to at least 10 times more features being made each year.  In 1998 just over 500 features were submitted to the Sundance film festival, in 2015 that number surged to 4,105. (1)  “That’s the bad news,” Duplass said, the good news is that “you are the cavalry.”  This poignant comment was met with applause, we recognized what he meant before he even finished his thought.  These days creatives need to make their own opportunities for themselves and not wait to be bankrolled by an angel investor that will never land.  This really is an important speech for any indie filmmaker to listen to at least once.  Here it is in its entirety:

     I could not agree more with everything Mark says here..... except for one part.  During the Q and A he exclaims just go out and make your movie, shoot it on your I-Phone, that's what we did.  With that point, Mark was referencing the 2015 Sundance hit Tangerine which writer/director Sean Baker chose to shoot entirely on an I-phone.  The movie made waves in the press and got a wide release which even included a theatrical push.  It sounds like an indie filmmakers dream, any first time filmmaker from off the street can just make a movie with their phone and become a Sundance darling. Right?  I think not, this article will explain why I feel that is not the case and why you should not make a feature on a cell phone.

The reasons break down like this:

- There is much more behind the scenes that helped to make Tangerine the success it is.

- Nothing to gain from shooting it that way.

- The press knows that this is old news now.

      Headlines say: A movie shot on an I-phone is a hit at Sundance.  Since then many articles and members of the media proudly boast that aspiring filmmakers can just make their movie on a cell phone.  But what the majority of these stories leave out are the technical details of the production of Tangerine and that these filmmakers were already successful from their prior features.

      Tangerine was reported to have been shot on an I-phone with important accessories including an anamorphic lens adapter made by Moondog labs.  This gave the movie a full scope widescreen aspect ratio.  They used a great app called Filmic Pro, which is a powerful pro video app that gives you fine tuned control over the video quality with simulated frame rate, exposure and focus settings to let you capture high end video on your phone.  In addition they used a Smoothee brand steadicam rig designed to get you smooth camera work on your cellphone.  Sean Baker has made it clear that they had professional sound gear and microphones to record the street-wise dialogue of Tangerine. That is expensive gear that requires a professional sound mixer.  If you want your audio to be of a professional quality, you cannot use the audio recorded on your phone.  The movie also had the standard amount of post-production work done to make the colors picture perfect and the audio crystal clear.  Again that would require a lot of time from dedicated people skilled in post-production.  So, when you look at it like that, it is not as easy as just “go on, make a movie with your phone.”

      How about the filmmakers behind Tangerine?  Among the executive producers of the movie we have Mark and Jay Duplass.  Up until that point the Duplass Brothers had produced around 30 shorts and feature films, many of which premiered at Sundance before Tangerine did in 2015.  Because of that that had Hollywood agents, lawyers and Managers on their side to help promote their projects including Tangerine.  It is clear that the Duplass Brothers had a good relationship with Sundance by the time Tangerine was was submitted for their consideration.  I am not saying this connection between the filmmakers and the festival is fowl play, but it goes without saying that this is a big advantage.  Sean Baker was no newbie either, he had directed four features before Tangerine including Starlet (2012) about a young single female pornstar trying to find her way.  Starlet stimulated quite a response at SXSW when it screened there, establishing Sean Baker as a filmmaker worth keeping an eye on.

      It is safe to say these filmmakers involved with Tangerine had a leg up compared to any unknown, first time filmmaker who might decide to shoot a feature on a cellphone.  As a first time filmmaker trying to break in today you need this debut film to act as your calling card, it must be as good as it can be.  It has become increasingly difficult for indie films to garner attention while the competition gets more crowded each year.  You may have seen The Puffy Chair (2005), the debut film that put the Duplass Brothers on the map.  It was a small, micro budget road trip comedy that really set them on a path for the rest of their careers.  Well guess what, this was the debut feature, but it was not their first.  In 1996 Jay and Mark Duplass produced a feature length, black and white exploitation flick called Connect 5.  That movie remained unseen for about a decade.  Jay Duplass has discredited this movie in interviews saying “I made a feature called Connect 5, which only about 17 people have seen.  It was not very good.” (2)  So even they made a movie that was a disappointment for them.  The Duplass Bothers and many other successful indie filmmakers have one thing in common, they persevere despite countless rejections and miss-steps.

     My next point is that you have nothing to gain from shooting your movie on a cellphone.  While apps like Filmic pro will enable you to get top quality 4K video out of your cellphone, it is all simulated.  Having a camera with a real lens on it makes a difference, it gives you real focal depth and will also teach you more about the art of camera operation then moving a settings dial on a cell phone app.  If you use a set of lenses to make your movie, a wide angle lens will give you a totally different dramatic feel than other shots through a long lens.  A cellphone does not give you that option.  The small size of a cellphone is handy, but a DSLR camera that can shoot 4K like the Nikon D500 is about the same size and can get you the same flexibility in tight spaces.  But wait, the price of shooting on a cellphone set up is better right?  Only marginally.  Let's break it down using what they had on the set of Tangerine as an example:

(Newest model of the I-phone for this example)

• Apple I-phone 7 plus $669.99
• Moondog lab lens $175
• Smoothee steadicam (w/mount) $200
• Filmic Pro App. $20

     TOTAL: $1,059.99

     You can buy a brand new 4K DSLR camera with a lens for around $1,800 - $2,000.  So the cost really should not be a factor.  But look at all the publicity Tangerine got for being shot on an I-phone.  That could happen for my movie right?  Sorry true believers, I think not and that brings us to the last point I hope to make on this topic.

     Members of the media do not care about an unknown filmmaker who shot a movie on an I-phone.  Yes, Sean Baker got a lot of press with Tangerine and the focus of most of this revolved around shooting it on a cellphone.  But remember that these filmmakers had established careers already and the movie premiered at Sundance.  The odds of getting into Sundance are bleak, and should never be something an indie filmmaker should expect as part of their marketing plan.  Sean Baker is quick to point out that Tangerine was not the first feature to be shot on an I-phone.  In an interview I heard Baker mention this and the filmmaker’s name…. but he blanked on the title of the movie and so would anyone else, because that movie got no attention.  You might say, “I’m seeing all these articles about Unsane, the new movie Steven Soderbergh shot entirely on an I-Phone, so that story still has interest Curt, ya big dummy.” While I appreciate your Sanford and Son reference I have to remind everyone that Soderbergh is a HUGE name in the filmmaking world.  Not just with his indie hits like Sex Lies and Videotape (1989) but also his blockbuster studio movies like Traffic (2000) and Ocean’s Eleven (2001).  Soderbergh at this point could shoot a movie on one of those worthless Game Boy 8-bit cameras and the press would write about it (see below).

                                            Game Boy 8-Bit Camera

    In closing I must say there are exceptions to this.  Red is about to release their Hydrogen cellphone in early 2018.  The Hydrogen will not only give you top quality 4K video capture but you can attach real proprietary lenses to it.  This phone is also said to have a holographic display that will not require wearing 3-D glasses.  This is not a phone, this is a high end pocket camera that can also make phone calls.  Maybe the first feature shot on the Hydrogen will make headlines, I would not be surprised.  While I do not recommend you shoot an entire feature on a cellphone, I do see it as a valuable option for filmmakers.  Shoot a web series on your I-Phone.  Use it to do quick camera tests on technical scouts for your feature.  Why not shoot insert shots on your phone during post production if you do not have any other option.  Further proof of this is Sean Baker's latest feature The Florida Project, which was shot on an Arri Alexa Mini camera.  He did choose to shoot one scene of the movie on an I-Phone, they have not said why they shot one scene that way, maybe time will tell. The heart of everything Mark Duplass said in his landmark 2015 speech is correct, as creatives you MUST create and not make excuses for yourself.  You need a body of work, not just talking about how this project was almost produced or how so and so was interested in that script.  By all means go out and create, but please be as prepared as possible before production and be smart about it.    

- Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of the suspense movie Cam-Girl.  He also works in Visual Effects and is a published author.  

(SOURCES:) 
1- Cinema of Outsiders: The Rise of American Independent Film.  By Emanuel Levy NYU Press 2001. 
2- Directing on a Dime: Puffy Chairs, Cyrus and the Film School Question.  Moviemaker.com Andy Young 2011.  

       

DAVE BULLIS PODCAST #168 - Curt Wiser (Writer/Director of Cam-Girl)

     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.  




   

WHY WONDER WOMAN CRUSHED THE MUMMY AT THE BOX OFFICE

   

      The weekend tallies are in, Wonder Woman earned over $57 Million while The Mummy (2017) wound up placing second making only $32,246,120 domestic on its opening weekend.  It is even more impressive to note that a week prior, Wonder Woman made over $103 Million domestic for its opening weekend.  It is even more embarrassing that The Mummy was sandwiched in between Wonder Woman and the family film Captain Underpants. And yes, the point of that sentence was because it allowed my to type the title Captain Underpants.

     So why did Wonder Woman emerge victorious?  There are a lot of contributing factors we will look at. Lastly, I hope to show that part of the reason was not the content of these screenplays but also the business decisions that went behind the development of these scripts.

     Full disclosure here, like most of America I did not see this reboot of The Mummy but I did plunk down the cash to see Wonder Woman on this pivotal weekend.  Given that, I will not comment on the stories of either of these movies but rather explore the differences in how they were developed and released.  My goal in writing this is not to ridicule any poorly performing movie, but to show how the film industry can get back on track, make their money while also fostering great storytelling.  I am a filmmaker myself, I want to see more quality movies in our cineplexes.

Here are the things I feel contributed to these box office results:

1. Critical Reviews/Word of Mouth
2. Marketing Approach/Public Perception
3. Process of developing and writing the screenplay.

     We live in a world of non-stop news and information access.  Because of this and trusted review sites like Rotten Tomatoes, moviegoers can and often will for an opinion about a movie before it is even released. As of 6/12/2017 The Mummy had the stale Rotten Tomatoes critic score of 16 percent, while Wonder Woman was standing tall at 93 percent.  These numbers were about the same leading up to the release of The Mummy, which did not help consumer confidence at all.  My friends and I were talking about how bad we expected this movie would be, we would overhear strangers saying the same thing.  Word of mouth can make or break any product or service.  People are more apt to take their friends word for something than listen to what a multi-million dollar ad campaign has to say.  The daily breakdown between these two movies speaks volumes:

• Wonder Woman -

6/9/17 $15.7 Million

6/10/17 $24 Million

6/11/17 $18.8 Million

• The Mummy -

6/9/17 $12 Million

6/10/17 $11.5 Million

6/11/17 $8.1 Million

     As you can see word of mouth quickly caught up with The Mummy after Friday night, no matter how fast Tom Cruise was running.  Wonder Woman made more on Saturday and Sunday than that Friday while The Mummy did the opposite.  It just goes to show you how much power we really have as a mass of consumers.  The Film industry does all they can to resist that, the deals Hollywood makes with the movie theater chains is structured so the studios make the highest percentage of profit on the opening weekend.  No wonder why they often spend upwards of 100 Million to advertise these prospective blockbusters leading up to their release.

     That brings us to how these movies were marketed and how that could effect public opinion.  For over a month and especially on the week of the release they pushed The Mummy HARD.  According to a Variety article, Universal Studios spent much more than their competition on television ads to promote The Mummy.  Based on estimates generated from 5/29 – 6/4, The Mummy spent $7.83 Million that week while Wonder Woman accounted for $3.64 Million in TV ads.  I can tell you that during the week of The Mummy's release, they not only filed an ample amount of commercial time slots, but on Universal/Comcast owned networks such as NBC and NBC sports net were littered with pop up advertisements for The Mummy during regular programming.  Spike TV played The Mummy (1999) and The Mummy Returns (2001) back to back all day broken up with extended promotional spots featuring the cast of The Mummy (2017) talking about the movie.  When people see something advertised this much it can make the wrong kind of impression.  It is like the boy at prom who is trying too hard... all the girls would say “he is acting strangely, there must be something wrong with him,” and then he ends up going home alone.

     Our final factor is what I find to be the most interesting and problematic about the industry since I am a screenwriter.  First it requires understanding of the WGA arbitration process, If you already know all about this feel free to skip this paragraph.  The Writers' Guild of America has the arduous task of deciding who gets writing credits on Studio level features if there is any dispute among the screenwriters. Writers work diligently on writing an arbitration letter to the guild that supports their claim that most of what ended up on the screen started on their pages. The reason this is so important is not just to have your name on the poster, it is because screen credit entitles the writer to residual money based on its success.  The Guild has set a standard of not crediting any more than three screenwriters for any type of writing credit.  What this means is there could have been 20 writers who contributed to a film, but the public will never know as most will stay uncredited.

     A few things can happen when many writers are writing their draft of the same movie, it can cause the story, character and theme to get real muddy.  It also means that most of the writers are trying to change as much of any of the earlier drafts as they can, because if the majority of the final shooting script is theirs, they are in the best position for screen credit and that extra cash.  This is like a battle with words.  The Mummy (2017) had about as many writing credits as the WGA would allow.  The credits are as follows:

(Screenplay) – David Koepp and Christopher McQuarrie And Dylan Kussman 

 (screen Story By) – Jon Spaihts and Alex Kurtzman & Jenny Lumet

     These are some of the best writers the business has to offer..... when their work is their own. David Koepp penned Spider-Man (2002) [The good one] and Christopher McQuarrie wrote one of the best crime films ever made The Usual Suspects (1995), but they wrote those on their own.  It stands to reason that if you want the best chances for a solid story with a cohesive tone and vision, you should try to have as few screenwriters involved as possible.  The studio executives these days tend to hire a bunch of writers to rewrite one script because it shows they are doing all they can to make the script better, at least that is what the theory is anyway.  This is mealy speculation, but when you see three screenwriters listed on a movie it can often mean that there were plenty of other writers involved that are now uncredited.  This must-read article from Den of Geek reveals that The Flintstones (1994) had 35 screenwriters hired to work on the screenplay, leaving the WGA to say Yabba Dabba WHO? Catwoman (2004) notoriously had 28 writers working on it, and all that clawing did not save it from wining a Razzie Award for worst picture that year.  Both Catwoman and The Flintstones had, you guessed it, three screenwriters each with screenplay credit.  Well there you have it, I think we can close the case on this one. Thank you for reading.

- Curt Wiser is the Writer/Director of the suspense movie Cam-Girl, which is now available on DVD, Amazon Video and other outlets.

DIY FILMMAKERS: HOW TO MAKE ANY TRIPOD WORK WITH YOUR CELL PHONE

In this episode we show you how to make any tripod work with your cellphone to create steady camera movement.  

DIY Filmmakers is a series dedicated to helping this new generation of filmmakers produce professional work on a slim budget.

Here is the video.  If you have any questions feel free to EMAIL us or leave a comment.

As the video mentioned, Tangerine (2015) was shot entirely on an I-phone and became a hit at the Sundance Film Festival.  The movie's Director/Writer Sean Baker has been open about what tools were used to get the most out of this pocket camera.  Here are the details:

Filmic Pro:  This is a video APP they used to get high quality video and multiple image controls for the production. www.filmicpro.com

MoodDog Labs Lends Adapter:  This was a small adapter that went over the tiny I Phone lends to shoot in a wide, scope 2.35 : 1 aspect ratio.  Official web site.  

 Smoothee Steadicam:  a small stabilizing rig was used to achieve all those shots but without the shakes and bumps.  Smoothee Official site 

Lastly, they recorded the dialogue on set using the same professional microphones and recording equipment you would see on other indie film sets.

   

Your hosts: Curt Wiser (Writer/Director/Camera Operator) and Curtis Norton (Editor) have many credits which include, Cam-Girl, a suspense movie now available on DVD and Amazon Video On Demand. 

Here is our trailer for Cam-Girl.  It has over 59,000 views, can that many people be wrong?  - Wait, don't answer that.