Documentary Project

I've been approached to make a documentary about a group of power lifters. At first I thought it was a stupid idea, but I try to explore all opportunities that come my way. I initially thought that I would do the film as long as they had enough budget to either pay me decently or make a good movie.

Through a series of meetings I quickly came to realize that these guys have no clue how much it costs to make a movie that's worth showing to people. At the budget meeting, they informed me that they could come up with $2,000.00. We're talking about a film that will take 5 months to shoot and longer to edit. I told them that there was no way that I would do it for that because I would end up having to pay for everything out of my own pockets.

Two rather large names in the sports world are going to be at the gym where the lifters work out next month and one of them is going there specifically to work out with one of the guys. The other one is a legitimate cross over star with real name recognition outside of the sports arena. The owner of the gym thinks that he can get these guys to do interviews for the movie. The first guy would give the film considerably more marketability, the second guy would pretty much guarantee distribution (possibly major theatrical). Since the two guys know each other and will be in town for the same event, I'm hoping that the first guy will do the flick because he's cool like that and the second guy will bow to peer pressure and do it so that he doesn't look like a dick.

I asked the lifters about possible sponsorship and one of the guys kinda knows the owner of a fairly large equipment manufacturer. I told him to call the guy and see if he would be willing to listen to a sales pitch from me. While we were discussing the project, a friend of mine asked me what we were talking about. My buddy used to own a franchise of a major international fast food chain and knows just about everybody in that organization. He said that he would call the guy in charge of the corporate region and see if the parent company had any interest in the project for cross promotional purposes.

Yesterday I got a phone call informing me that the fast food chain is "officially interested" in the film and that I will be assigned a corporate consultant to evaluate the merits of the project. I was told that the company guy was already talking about cross promotional commercials.

I don't want to get my hopes up about mid-six figure sponsorship, but I've put a bit of time and thought into this idea and have come to realize that I want to make this movie. I have already come up with the preview video concept and the story arcs that I want to explore. Any of you experienced documentary types have any sage words of wisdom for me?

I need to crew up for a one day shoot in case the sports stars agree to be in the movie. They will only be in town for a day or two at most and I will need to catch them at the gym. If any DPs, grips, and sound guys are in the New Orleans area and want to apply to be part of this shoot with the hopes of getting fully funded for a real shoot schedule drop me a PM or reply here. This will be a paid shoot.

I figure that since the TV show is stalled in development limbo I can chase this rabbit down the hole.
 
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Here is the plan in motion thus far, I am taking the $2000 and paying a production crew $1500 for a one day shoot. I have decided to focus he story on the 80 year old power lifter. On 2/16/13 two wrestling superstars (both of whom have done movies and are very well known) will be at the gym. We are going to set up for interviews with the main character, his lifting teammates and other gym patrons. The hope is that we will be able to secure interviews from the wrestlers on the day. We will also be shooting a 10-30 second teaser in the hopes of being able to show the restaurant chain to get them to fully commit to the project.
 
Sounds good - I'd say shoot to get enough material that day to put together a short 2-4 minute piece that you could use to help with the sponsorship discussions.

Oh, and figure out who owns what, who's getting paid when, and who has final call on any creative decisions and get it all in writing before you start.
 
I have releases from everybody that might appear on screen except for the wrestlers. I haven't met them yet. As far as ownership, it is 100% my baby at this point. I really don't see investors being attracted to this project, so I'm courting sponsors. I hope to raise north of $250,000 to do the story justice. The major portion of filming will be in Florida for a week for the U.S. Masters Invitational. The 80 year old has already secured his spot, his coach has not. I still don't know if this thing will get funded, but I'm plugging away. I also have a couple of other sponsors that I'm reaching out to.
 
Have you explored product placement? The producer of the first Indi film I was in got $1500.00 from Jack Daniels for having their product in one scene. I think there are "agents" that do product placement for producers. Maybe someone reading this has knowlege of how to work with them.
 
I've been approached to make a documentary about a group of power lifters. At first I thought it was a stupid idea, but I try to explore all opportunities that come my way. I initially thought that I would do the film as long as they had enough budget to either pay me decently or make a good movie.

Through a series of meetings I quickly came to realize that these guys have no clue how much it costs to make a movie that's worth showing to people. At the budget meeting, they informed me that they could come up with $2,000.00. We're talking about a film that will take 5 months to shoot and longer to edit. I told them that there was no way that I would do it for that because I would end up having to pay for everything out of my own pockets.

Two rather large names in the sports world are going to be at the gym where the lifters work out next month and one of them is going there specifically to work out with one of the guys. The other one is a legitimate cross over star with real name recognition outside of the sports arena. The owner of the gym thinks that he can get these guys to do interviews for the movie. The first guy would give the film considerably more marketability, the second guy would pretty much guarantee distribution (possibly major theatrical). Since the two guys know each other and will be in town for the same event, I'm hoping that the first guy will do the flick because he's cool like that and the second guy will bow to peer pressure and do it so that he doesn't look like a dick.

I asked the lifters about possible sponsorship and one of the guys kinda knows the owner of a fairly large equipment manufacturer. I told him to call the guy and see if he would be willing to listen to a sales pitch from me. While we were discussing the project, a friend of mine asked me what we were talking about. My buddy used to own a franchise of a major international fast food chain and knows just about everybody in that organization. He said that he would call the guy in charge of the corporate region and see if the parent company had any interest in the project for cross promotional purposes.

Yesterday I got a phone call informing me that the fast food chain is "officially interested" in the film and that I will be assigned a corporate consultant to evaluate the merits of the project. I was told that the company guy was already talking about cross promotional commercials.

I don't want to get my hopes up about mid-six figure sponsorship, but I've put a bit of time and thought into this idea and have come to realize that I want to make this movie. I have already come up with the preview video concept and the story arcs that I want to explore. Any of you experienced documentary types have any sage words of wisdom for me?

I need to crew up for a one day shoot in case the sports stars agree to be in the movie. They will only be in town for a day or two at most and I will need to catch them at the gym. If any DPs, grips, and sound guys are in the New Orleans area and want to apply to be part of this shoot with the hopes of getting fully funded for a real shoot schedule drop me a PM or reply here. This will be a paid shoot.

I figure that since the TV show is stalled in development limbo I can chase this rabbit down the hole.


I'm a writer just about to venture in to Film Producing. I'm not a Director.

But I live in Hollywood and know a person or two so I'll share the advice I've been given from on high:

If it ain't in a contract it ain't.
 
Out of genuine interest, what's there to document about powerlifting and where do these people that approached you think/see there's an audience for it?

Looks like a fairly interesting project.
I hope you get a good return on your time and effort investment, and that it doesn't all evaporate before getting sold. Scary.
Good luck.
 
The power lifting is, as I see it, simply a unique hobby this guy has. He is an 80 year old cancer survivor that didn't start power lifting until he was 69. He is the top ranked lifter in his age bracket (60+). He will be setting a new record at the Master's National meet in May. I know that he'll set a record because I have already seen him lift 15 pounds more than the current record. He intends to push that by at least an additional 20 pounds by May. I knew almost nothing about power lifting when I was initially approached. It turns out that it actually is an interesting athletic competition with a fair amount of strategy involved.

Ray, the primary focus of the film, is a really interesting guy. He is a retired engineer who thought that he was going to die from cancer. He made all of his end of life arrangements, but beat the cancer instead. Fresh from his victory against the big C, he retired from his career and took up power lifting. His wife was his biggest fan until her death. He has since gone on to set records and continues to defy explanation.

I am hoping to get the two wrestling super stars to give interviews for the movie, but I am not counting on them. If I can get these two guys in the flick, it would almost guarantee distribution, even if only DVD/VOD. Then there's the restaurant chain. I have now been given the contact info for the corporate consultant that will bring my proposal before the board. In addition to the written proposal, I'm shooting a teaser for the movie and a pseudo commercial for the restaurant chain. My hope is that this will better show them what my film can do for them. If they sign on, not only will I have the budget to make the movie, they will promote it as well.

As for the possibility that all of my effort on this will go to waste, that is a risk that I will have to take. Any time one of us makes a film outside of the studio system without high profile named stars, there is a very large probability that it will all be for naught, financially speaking. All we can do is forge ahead and make our projects as attractive as we can to the people who are in the positions to make them a reality.

I have so far invested hundreds of hours of my time into the TV show idea chronicled in my other thread. It's highly likely that I won't make a dime off of that. The pitch is now set for the first week of March. Originally, the pitch was supposed to be at the end of September of last year. Just like the restaurant chain, the network people have changed their minds about what they want me to provide them. Each change causes delays that eat up my already minuscule free time. I am still guardedly optimistic about all three of my current projects.

To all of you who have expressed your well wishes and support, I sincerely thank you from the bottom of my heart. As long as you guys are interested, I will continue to provide updates.
 
That was the hardest day of work that I have ever had on set. We put in a solid 10 1/2 hour day with no breaks. We got all of the coverage that I wanted for the promo and shot the interviews with the team. As I figured, none of the wrestling stars showed up. I hired a PA that was a no show. It didn't matter that he didn't show up because I didn't really need him, I just hired him because he was really enthusiastic. 10 1/2 hours to shoot 25 seconds of promo. I'm waiting for the music to get done and the crew that I hired is also going to handle the editing and color correction. I'm working with an outfit called Bad Ferret Films out of York, PA. I like the footage that we got today and look forward to the finished product.
 
So far, this is all that I'm doing on this project. Once I settle on the final edit and have everything finished, I'm submitting DVDs to the restaurant chain and the equipment manufacturer in an attempt to secure the funding I need to make the full film.
 
Congratulations on getting your first day "in the can."
(Somehow, "on the flash drive" doesn't have the same ring to it. ;) )

Lotta work done.
Lotta work sorting through the shots.

Does the non-PA have anything to say for his enthisiastic self?
Thank goodness you weren't dependent upon him.

Bad Ferret is going to do the editing and color correction?

GL with the restaurant big wigs.
Hopefully their interest doesn't "go in another direction" (sigh) or one of powerlifters shoots his girlfriend through the bathroom door. :eek:
 
Yes Bad Ferret is doing the color and edit. They will put scenes together based on the directions that I have given them and send them to me for final approval before locking the edit. I have a composer working on a score for the promo. Aggravatingly, the coach of the lifting team scheduled an appointment to view a house that he's considering buying and left early, preventing me from getting the entire spec commercial in the can. Thanks to him, I'm going to have set up another day to shoot the scenes of them actually EATING the (hopeful) sponsor's food. What really pisses me off is that this whole project was his idea and he's known about this shoot for over a month. If he had at least opened his mouth and told me that he had to leave early, I could have tweaked the shooting schedule to get everything I needed. Asshole.
 
Okay, so Bad Ferret bailed on me without giving me a usable edit. They "got busy with other projects." Needless to say they were not paid for the edit. Good thing I dumped a copy of all of the footage before they left. Because I got stiffed, I was not able to get the initially planned film funded. Time for Plan B. The lifter did well at the Masters and has been invited to join the US team for the World Masters Finals in October. Plan B is very much like Plan A except that we are now shooting for having the funding in place for the Worlds. I now need a new editor that can handle the color correction and deliver a finished product in a timely fashion for a small fee. The finished promo should clock in around 30 seconds. Should we get Subway to sponsor the film, we will have a proper budget and can pay everyone more in line with their skills. I also need a score for this thing. Any takers?
 
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