Okay thanks. So how do you guys get your actors and crew to show up though? I am having that problem for my first short film, so how do you get it to happen for a feature? Especially if the script takes place in like three days. Then you have to shoot within the seasons. Finding a replacement actor who will show could take months, and by then it's winter, instead of summer, and the footage won't match, and more money to spend.
So what are some of these lowest common denominator movies you guys have made, to make money? I would like to see some to get an idea, of what those audiences like.
I'm knocking on wood right now, but I have never had an actor bail on me in my entire career. In fact, on more than one occasion I've had actors show up even when they aren't feeling good and it's VERY obvious.
On our big fight scene, Justin Cone (plays Mouse in Superseeds) had fallen seriously ill and probably from our prior shoot through the middle of the night. It was earlier 2011, I think maybe February? So it was cold as HECK outside and there wasn't much we could do about it.
Well, on the second day he called me at like 3:00AM--and of course I was up prepping my brain for the mighty task of coordinating an four way fight scene, to let me know that he was sick as hell and would have to bow out. I could hear that he was ACTUALLY sick, so I asked one of the Producer's friends if he could double for him. Producer went to get wardrobe from J.C. and came back and told me he looked like he was seriously on the verge of death.
No problem, we had it covered, anyway. HOWEVER--
I think an hour into shooting, J.C. calls me and was like "am I too late?" -- this guy came out BACK in the cold, sick as all get out, to basically sit on the cold ground for a few hours until his lines/scene came up. A straight-up trooper, dude, and he was miserable but he rocked it still.
There were times when some of the actors really needed to bail but they did not, and I'll tell you why I think it's just never occurred:
Actors want to be a part of something awesome. We weren't paying our actors anywhere near enough to keep them on board, and they weren't contracted to stay. It was a very hectic, scattered, and unorganized shoot because of lack of experience and money, but every single one of them put in 100 percent to be there and be excited.
They aren't all concerned about money, creature comforts, so on and so forth. If you give them something that they can work with and be proud of, TRUST me, PLEASE HEED THIS... you will not have ANY actor that seriously wants to go somewhere bail on you.
Eight out of ten scenarios where actors bail? They don't like your material enough. My GF's a full time actress, not part time, full time. She always feeds me info on how Actors behave, work, think, so on and so forth and they're absolutely true.
One of those things is that if you don't have money, you'd better know how to shoot a nice image, and have a decent enough script that they can take parts of and pimp on a reel. If you don't, you are up poop creek without a paddle.