tv 5 Huge Mistakes You'll Make in the Film and TV Business

Very nice. Thanks for sharing this.

So, what about Stage 32? Have any of you used it? Any thoughts?

I do wonder if there's a problem with Number 5, though. I remember Robert McKee "complaining" about this too. But I'm not so sure that indie filmmakers are so keen on making movies about "...a depressing story about a dysfunctional family, people trying to make it in the movie business, the difficulties of dating, the daily life struggles for millennials, a coming of age story about leaving a small hometown, etc."

Well, I could turn to the source and ask you Indietalkers. Are those the stories you're all so keen to tell, make films about?

The thing is, aren't we also always being advised to write scripts that are realistic for no to low budgets? Aren't we always being advised to not be too ambitious?

So, isn't it possibly the case that indie filmmakers go for those kinds of stories because that's all they dare to hope they can get made, sell, or make themselves?

I get the point about making them more quirky or inventive etc. But even Silver Linings Playbook, if that's an example of making the genre of prosaic drama more interesting, had a budget of 21 million, according to IMDb.

It's like one of them double edged swords. :)

Any thoughts?
 
It's a chicken and the egg thing. It's hard to get noticed these days.

You can make a story that can be cheap and interesting. Take Following by Christopher Nolan for instance. it was made on the cheap and garnered enough attention to help light up his career. Not all movies can be made with a budget so cheap. He hasn't made a $6k film since.

Yep, keep within your budget. Write what you know and so on. I see a lot of filmmakers use that as an excuse to be boring. Being boring is the cardinal sin. You might not interest me, but you have to interest someone. Enough of an audience to spark your career forward.

As for budget, there are many ways to film each scene.

What Alcove says is also true. Bad audio = bad experience for the audience. All the points in that article ring true. While over simplified, it's all correct.
 
This is useful article indeed. There is one dilemma I face:

Many people say that your first short film should have something personal about yourself, because this is how you can make it better. Because you have the vision. Some say that your first project should not be personal at all, it should be more mainstream. Some say, it should necessary be something never seen before. And some say it should be as much commercial as possible. By commercial they say, that it should be made that way, that if you announce a feature film that comes out of this short film, people will run to pay for it. The first is for yourself, the second is for the major audience, the third seems like an experiment, and the last seems one with a selling point. Now I'm confused about the direction I should think of.

I have an idea that wasn't seen much before. It has some teaching point - it is supposed to warn people against something they do to other people in daily basis. It was called as a good idea by my screenwriting teacher and other students, but not further. It's so difficult to get a constructive feedback from other people. Unfortunately, I can't estimate the target audience. Who would like to watch that? How do I know?

P.S. I'm in Stage 32 too. They have a service that they make your scripts to be seen by producers, which costs 45$ :) I just wonder, how useful is it, if I start sending it over and over again, paying 45$ for each time?
 
Some say, it should necessary be something never seen before.

There's a saying in Hollywood. Same but different.

Keep it different enough that it's fresh, but it same enough, so people can refer it to other successes that are similar (to show mitigation of risk).

And some say it should be as much commercial as possible. By commercial they say, that it should be made that way, that if you announce a feature film that comes out of this short film, people will run to pay for it.

It's not really likely for that to happen. I take this to mean, show a feel that you are able to make material that is mainstream enough to be considered commercial.
 
Back
Top