Hi, indietalk! This is my first post, but I've hovered around for a few days.
So I moved from the L.A.-area to Nairobi, Kenya a few months ago for a missionary job. I'm planning on shooting a feature in the area in December 2010, and have already acquired excited actors (who will work for free!), and am getting commitments on a very basic crew who will also help with security, as some of the areas we'll be shooting in are rough neighborhoods (for example: Mitumba, the largest slum in Africa). Anyway, all technical details are coming together slowly but surely, and meanwhile, I have a question for those of you who have done low-budget work guerilla-style.
The majority of the story takes place in city streets, slums, third-world housing complexes, etc., and I'm 100% confident that I won't get any hassle about permits/waivers from the police. That's just not how they roll down here, unless you've got a nice, fat budget and you're waving your own flag, in which case you're not going to be filling out any paperwork - you're just going to be slipping bribes, and grumbling at the same time. Which I am absolutely not going to do. However, while I am confident that I can actually make the film without legal hassle, I'm wondering if this will come back to haunt me if/when I am trying to get into film festivals/distribution deals.
I read some article online of questionable authenticity that said there are a few companies that will take a guerilla film of that sort under their wing, but I have trouble believing that anyone is going to risk getting their ass tangled up in a lawsuit with some Parks&Rec. hotshot who spotted their favorite statue in the background of a cheap porno. Purely speculative, that was.
So - will I have to go door-to-door with my guerilla-made flick or is anyone going to give it a look?
So I moved from the L.A.-area to Nairobi, Kenya a few months ago for a missionary job. I'm planning on shooting a feature in the area in December 2010, and have already acquired excited actors (who will work for free!), and am getting commitments on a very basic crew who will also help with security, as some of the areas we'll be shooting in are rough neighborhoods (for example: Mitumba, the largest slum in Africa). Anyway, all technical details are coming together slowly but surely, and meanwhile, I have a question for those of you who have done low-budget work guerilla-style.
The majority of the story takes place in city streets, slums, third-world housing complexes, etc., and I'm 100% confident that I won't get any hassle about permits/waivers from the police. That's just not how they roll down here, unless you've got a nice, fat budget and you're waving your own flag, in which case you're not going to be filling out any paperwork - you're just going to be slipping bribes, and grumbling at the same time. Which I am absolutely not going to do. However, while I am confident that I can actually make the film without legal hassle, I'm wondering if this will come back to haunt me if/when I am trying to get into film festivals/distribution deals.
I read some article online of questionable authenticity that said there are a few companies that will take a guerilla film of that sort under their wing, but I have trouble believing that anyone is going to risk getting their ass tangled up in a lawsuit with some Parks&Rec. hotshot who spotted their favorite statue in the background of a cheap porno. Purely speculative, that was.
So - will I have to go door-to-door with my guerilla-made flick or is anyone going to give it a look?