INDIE FILMMAKERS ACTIVATE!
Part two in a series of blog posts about the making of My Big Fat Independent Movie...
So here we are with the script and like any filmmaker with no money, my first thought is, okay, now how am I going to actually get this film made? There's so much to do, what is the first step? Where do I start?
Strangely, I began by hiring a composer, Joe Kramer, to write the title song for the film. Joe Kramer is known for projects like "Way of the Gun" which is one of my all time favorite soundtracks, average movie but great, great soundtrack. I wanted a kind of a pop rock-sounding, Blink 182-like, opening song that would use the title of the movie as the chorus. I gave Joe a list of key words to write a song and when I first heard his demo version, it blew me away.
I then approached animator Evan Mather about producing an animated title sequence for the film that would accompany the song. A title sequence that would kick viewers in the teeth and grab their attention as it told a story of a disenfranchised filmmaker, all while we see the credits role.
Additionally after having gone through the script I realized there were so many prop gags that we needed to work on them right away. I hired a prop designer to start creating these on the computer so the art department would not be overtaxed, which of course, proved correct. So before I even had the money secured for My Big Fat Independent Movie, many things were in play and in progress. I was pulling every favor I could to get work done that would help us later.
The original investor for the film had a bit of personal trouble and he pulled out just a month before we were about to shoot. Strangely, I was able to find an investor through our director, Phil, and those investors came in two days after our original investor pulled out. It felt too easy, but I think the preparation from the script to the music to the title sequence to the rough web site all contributed greatly to their making such a fast decision to put in the money.
I should back up and tell you about the director. Philip Zlotorynski wrote and directed perhaps the best comedy short I've seen called Walkentalk about an odd fellow who talks like Christopher Walken. WalkenTalk is a 10 minute short that Phil shot in 35mm and made in only two days. He'd made a previous short before called Sway a heartfelt drama about a young man dying of cystic fibrosis. Phil was exactly the kind of hungry and talented director that this project needed. Phil could pull this off. He previously worked at Dreamworks in the marketing department and left his job just so he could go and direct this movie. He's put a lot of faith in me and there's no way I'm going to let him down. (Now some of you have asked at festivals Q&As about why didn't I direct this movie? This is not the kind of film that I feel comfortable directing. It's a complicated movie and all the elements have to be just right. There are other films that I plan to direct and I'm saving those for later. Also, if someone like Tarantino or Aronofsky or Nolan or Soderbergh or Linklater is pissed about something in the film, I can always say, "Uh, hey, meet the director!" And then run away really fast!)
The worst part for me about making this film is that I know everything that can go wrong. I am painfully aware of every mistake that a filmmaker can make, along with everything that can possibly go wrong on the festival circuit. I've interviewed hundreds of filmmakers in my career and been to plenty of movie sets and read hundreds of books on film – so the worst part is feeling cursed with so much information packed into my head. It's a blessing and a curse. I have all this useful info and movie geek knowledge at my disposal which can help, but it could hurt also. And I'm just as susceptible to all the mistakes as any other filmmaker. So with a 22 day shooting schedule and a budget that worked on paper, we began shooting on October 7th and the disasters that lay ahead could not have been anticipated. Next week I’ll fill you in on all the details from that first week of shooting. Welcome to the hell called production.
Next up... SHOOTING BEGINS
So here we are with the script and like any filmmaker with no money, my first thought is, okay, now how am I going to actually get this film made? There's so much to do, what is the first step? Where do I start?
Strangely, I began by hiring a composer, Joe Kramer, to write the title song for the film. Joe Kramer is known for projects like "Way of the Gun" which is one of my all time favorite soundtracks, average movie but great, great soundtrack. I wanted a kind of a pop rock-sounding, Blink 182-like, opening song that would use the title of the movie as the chorus. I gave Joe a list of key words to write a song and when I first heard his demo version, it blew me away.
I then approached animator Evan Mather about producing an animated title sequence for the film that would accompany the song. A title sequence that would kick viewers in the teeth and grab their attention as it told a story of a disenfranchised filmmaker, all while we see the credits role.
Additionally after having gone through the script I realized there were so many prop gags that we needed to work on them right away. I hired a prop designer to start creating these on the computer so the art department would not be overtaxed, which of course, proved correct. So before I even had the money secured for My Big Fat Independent Movie, many things were in play and in progress. I was pulling every favor I could to get work done that would help us later.
The original investor for the film had a bit of personal trouble and he pulled out just a month before we were about to shoot. Strangely, I was able to find an investor through our director, Phil, and those investors came in two days after our original investor pulled out. It felt too easy, but I think the preparation from the script to the music to the title sequence to the rough web site all contributed greatly to their making such a fast decision to put in the money.
I should back up and tell you about the director. Philip Zlotorynski wrote and directed perhaps the best comedy short I've seen called Walkentalk about an odd fellow who talks like Christopher Walken. WalkenTalk is a 10 minute short that Phil shot in 35mm and made in only two days. He'd made a previous short before called Sway a heartfelt drama about a young man dying of cystic fibrosis. Phil was exactly the kind of hungry and talented director that this project needed. Phil could pull this off. He previously worked at Dreamworks in the marketing department and left his job just so he could go and direct this movie. He's put a lot of faith in me and there's no way I'm going to let him down. (Now some of you have asked at festivals Q&As about why didn't I direct this movie? This is not the kind of film that I feel comfortable directing. It's a complicated movie and all the elements have to be just right. There are other films that I plan to direct and I'm saving those for later. Also, if someone like Tarantino or Aronofsky or Nolan or Soderbergh or Linklater is pissed about something in the film, I can always say, "Uh, hey, meet the director!" And then run away really fast!)
The worst part for me about making this film is that I know everything that can go wrong. I am painfully aware of every mistake that a filmmaker can make, along with everything that can possibly go wrong on the festival circuit. I've interviewed hundreds of filmmakers in my career and been to plenty of movie sets and read hundreds of books on film – so the worst part is feeling cursed with so much information packed into my head. It's a blessing and a curse. I have all this useful info and movie geek knowledge at my disposal which can help, but it could hurt also. And I'm just as susceptible to all the mistakes as any other filmmaker. So with a 22 day shooting schedule and a budget that worked on paper, we began shooting on October 7th and the disasters that lay ahead could not have been anticipated. Next week I’ll fill you in on all the details from that first week of shooting. Welcome to the hell called production.
Next up... SHOOTING BEGINS
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