I'm 4 months over schedule on principal photography and over a year behind on production due to casting issues early on. I'm staying focussed on the goal and would like to save the feeling of pointlessness til after post is complete
Man, do I know that one. No Place was supposed to be a quick six month turnaround production that got pulled together because we were offered a varicam for free. In the end it took three years and two additional shoots to get the film completed. In truth I only commited to the production because I was assured that we'd spend no more than nine months on it. (I understood the risks involved in trying to sell No Place before we shot it, not a problem on a quickie project, more of problem when the project expands) When you commit to a feature it's hard to walk away from in mid process and it's also difficult not to put you own hands in your pockets when the budget requirements escalate the thing from a sixteen day $3000 shoot into a twenty-one day $600,000 film. If I'd known the time and money commitments I was getting into I never would have made that film; in the business plan the first film was supposed to be a script that I was then developing called "Bloodbath," which at that time was a pacy slasher film that we could have sold anywhere.
In hindsight from a purely business point of view I think achieving a modestly budgeted feature on dv is far more sensible strategy. I created an absolutely beautiful movie on professional HD, with the most stunning soundtrack but the film isn't selling. Like I said there is larger story behind this, one that I can't go into here. However, what I am sure of is that once the film was out there with the buyers, the format and the money we spent was irrlevant. The buyers are not buying because we made an intelligent "drama," with no names in it, that doesn't slot into any traditional genres, that isn't high concept and just to bang the final nail into the coffin also didn't follow any of the rules of either story arc or character development. The bad guy wins in the end, the good guy dies and the bad guy is never punished. No Place is a great film, but a lousy product. I also believe that if I'd made exactly the same film with Tim Roth and Christopher Eccelston it would be in cinemas right now, and I'd be looking at which hotel I wanted to stay in at Cannes this year.
Where jmac5000 is right is in saying that you have to understand the nature of business side of the industry. The problem with getting that level of understanding is that it is a complex industry to understand and what people tell you is not always the best guide to sucess. Everyone is so keen to make the big break that we become obsessed with looking for the new formula for sucess, when in fact the formula has never changed. If you make a film that people will want to see, a film that distributors can see will easily generate sales, then your film will be bought. If you then sell that film for more than it cost to make it, then you're a success.
Of course how you achieve that is a mystery. Filmy seems to be on the right track with his high concept, four act structure and dilemma strategy ; however, I think it has more to do with his sheer determination and focus. He is the hardest working writer in show business.
The one thing that I'm completely sure of is: If you make the right film, format is irrelevant. OK it has to be watchable, but providing that it's technically competent enough for an audience to sit through, then all that matters is your story and what the thing looks like. In fact I'll go further than that. In many respects it doesn't matter how rank your film is, in many respects the key question is "Based on this cover, will people pick my film off the shelves at Blockbuster and give it a shot, even though it doesn't have any names." You see as far as the industry is concerned once joe public has rented or bought your turkey they already have the money. If they don't like the film, so what. When you look hard at the industry the only thing that really matters is the concept and the cover artwork.
In a sense every indie film need to be tested with these questions:
1) Is my film's central concept so simple that Joe Public can get it from my DVD cover?
2) Is my film's central concept so appealing to my target market that they'll risk renting it?
3) Is my film in a genre that makes mass sales without having names attached?
4) How much will a distributor pay me for this film?
5) Who are those distributors?
6) With all the above questions answered how much can I afford to spend making this production?
7) Can the film be made for that amount of money without it looking like a student camcorder movie?