How To: Produce An Independent Film
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Don't expect fast cars, hot starlets and big houses overnight. Rather, start with modest goals such as producing a great film at a budget of under $200,000 US, and treat this as a valuable learning experience toward a future career in film.There are so many different producing credits on movies today that people often wonder what it is that a producer does. The producer is ultimately the manager of the film project, overseeing the film throughout the entire production process, which has four phases:
1- Development
2- Pre-production
3- Production
4- Post-production
Here are the basics to get you started on the road to Tinseltown.
educate yourself
You'll have plenty of opportunities to learn from your mistakes while producing a film. So, take the time to learn everything you can about filmmaking before you begin.Take an introductory film production class and attend local film seminars. Study books on filmmaking, especially those by successful producers and read film industry magazines and check out websites.
You can even listen to DVD commentary tracks of your favorite films. Watch the Project Greenlight series to learn how not to produce a film.
Phase 1: Development
This is a good time set up consultations with local entertainment attorneys. Find someone who has a basic understanding of entertainment law, but who is junior enough to charge you rates in line with your budget.
Also, become familiar with the concept of the deferment. A deferment is a payment deferred to the back-end of the film, payable once the film is sold. Deferring part of the cast and crew salaries is a great way to keep your budget low.
Buy a killer script
You can't make a great movie without a great script. Put ads in film publications and listings at local film schools soliciting scripts. Check out spec script websites.
The script you choose should be inexpensive to shoot. Not an extravagant epic, period piece or big action movie. The subject matter should be familiar to you. And it goes without saying that you should be passionate about the script and feel that the script is so amazing it must be made into a movie.
Option the script, which gives you the exclusive right to make the script into a film for a certain period of time.
A typical option period is 18 months. Negotiated payment can be as low as $100, with a larger sum to be paid upon exercise of the option, when the script goes into production.
The purchase price to exercise an option can be as low as $2,000 for a first-time writer. Avoid purchasing a script from a member of the Writers Guild of America (WGA) or you could shell out up to $50,000 for it.
Find a director, a rich investor and of course, a killer crew