HOT TIP (July 23, 2013) SCRIPT. SCRIPT. SCRIPT… (“Why First-Timers Fail.”) (For all Hot Tips go “MOVIE CLOUD” & “LIKE”) -------------------------------------------- FILMMAKER SUCCESS: Probably the biggest reason first-time Directors, Producers, Filmmakers fail is that the screenplay they have, to make their first feature, is NOT GREAT…and to break into Hollywood “Only Great Will Do”. Plus, please do not compare yourself to all those Big-Budget mediocre stories (aka: mediocre scripts), like “Batman”, “Superman”, “Ironman”, “Lone Ranger”, “X-Men”, etc., that Hollywood (aka: Big 6 Distributors) uses as a blueprint for their movies…because they don’t care about story…they care about creating events based off of marketable characters that can be marketed & distributed in China, Korea, Russia, Brazil, Turkey, Greece…and are not story dependent. Hollywood can get away with mediocre…. You can’t. You have to write the Great Script that gets made for very little money and makes a profit. Then you can make something mediocre for Hollywood and be Rich & Famous…but to do so you must have the Great Script for your first feature film. Therefore, the biggest reason why most, if not all, first-time Filmmakers, Directors, Producers fail is that they do not have the (A) GREAT SCRIPT and (B) the GREAT SCRIPT that takes place in ONE-LOCATION. Anyone who attends the “2-DAY FILM SCHOOL” will know how to make a Feature Film on budgets that range from as low as $5,000 to as high as $10,000,000 for we teach the solid “nuts-n-bolts” of what everything costs. However, this feature film that you make will fail if the Script is Not Great…. And for first-timers “Only Great Will Do”. Back to subject: Biggest reason first-timers fail is that the screenplay they have is, at best, only good…not great. Thus, before you get some money ($5,000 to $1,000,000) to make your movie Please-Please-Please make sure your screenplay is Great…and this is a very subjective issue. Now, here are some ways to test. 1) COVERAGE: Post on CraigsList “Independent Film Production company, needed Readers & Development Executives for Script Coverage. PAY: $50 for 90-120 Page scripts; $65 for 120-140 Page Scripts, $75 for Books under 250 pages; $85 for Books over 250 Pages. Get 3 people to do “Coverage” (aka: Script Analysis) for your script…and they all better be GREAT. Now, to get a true unbiased opinion do not say to these readers that you wrote the script…then they will be polit. Tell the readers that you are “Thinking of Buying this Script” and are asking for their opinion on “Should I spend my money”… Now you’ll get “ruthlessly honest opinions. 2) BEAT SHEET: Make sure that when you wrote the screenplay you just didn’t do it “Free Form, where you start on Page 1 and 2-3 months later you wrap it on Page 106. First, get structured. Plot out your 40-60 scenes. Then write the first draft in 4-5 weeks by literally “writing-by-the-numbers”. Then send it out for “Coverage”. And, with these unbiased opinions focus on Dialogue enhancement and write the Second Draft in 3-weeks… which hopefully is your Final Draft 3) SPEC SALES: Send this script, that you are thinking of financing and spend 4-6 months of your time physically making, to the “real buyers” (Development Executives with Production Companies with Studio Deals), and if you get 2-3 offers to buy. Voilla! I guess your script is great. Again, biggest reason, that first-time filmmakers, with their first feature film, that they likely made for only $5,000-$200,000 (One-Million Dollars is to much money to raise for a first project) fails (aka: doesn’t get into Sundance, Cannes or Toronto) is that their script “Wasn’t Great”. Please, Please, Please make sure your script is great. Now SHARE-SHARE-SHARE…to start conversation and share information please post 5 Reasons why you believe first-timers fail with their first-feature film like…. 1) MONEY: Lack of 2) CREW: Not quality 3) SCHEDULE: Not realistic 4) CAMERA: Wrong format 5) ORGANIZATION: Lack of What are your 5 Reasons for First-Time Failures? 1) 2) 3) 4) 5) Hope this helps, Dov Simens/Co-Found/Movie Cloud™ ******************************************** INDEPENDENTS UNITE! JOIN THE REVOLUTION *Produce *Finance *Write *Direct *Profit --------- Click “LIKE” & “SHARE” ------------- facebook/#!/pages/Movie-Cloud/388775021155092
Posted on: Tue, 23 Jul 2013 17:16:28 +0000
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