So your asking yourself, "How do I become a producer?" A question I have asked myself many times. Even though I have been a producer on several projects the reality is that I don't usually get paid for these projects. For a long time I thought that these early producing attempts where worth nothing more than a learning experience. Then something happened that changed my paradigm.
I was on the set of a show that I freelance on as a PA. It's a major network show so I can't say what it's name is but it films' in Chicago and has known talent in it.
I was gathered around the 1st AD as we where waiting for a lighting change and he was casually talking to the other AD's and Set PA's. He was kind of bragging but he also gave us what I think can be one of the Keys to success in this Industry. Now maybe you have already figured this one out, I know if somebody said this too me I might not get it right away. But think about it before you pass it off as banked knowledge and see if your thoughts about indie films doesn't change slightly.
The 1st AD said this:
"No, I only worked as a PA for one show."
(At this point I was very interested in what he was saying because I have been grinding away for three years.)
"What I did was work on Indie features as a 2nd then as a 1st AD and I had all my book days done."
So, for those of you who don't understand what this means let me break it down for you as I understand it.
PA- Production Assistant (makes a day rate of $130 - 150.00 +/- per day) An entry level job basically. The reality is in Chicago is that anybody can be an additional PA. You just have to know someone. Which as you might imagine is easier said that done.
2nd 2nd AD - This position is not mentioned but it's basically doing all the AD stuff the 2nd AD doesn't want to do.
2nd AD - Does the call sheets, assists the 1st AD makes sure reports are turned in on time, handles AD Staffing/Personnel issues.
1st AD - Controls the Schedule for the whole show...The title fully reads, "The First Assistant Director". This would seem to indicate that this person works for the Director. They actually work more for the Producers and studio heads. Kind of like the "Boss's voice" on set.
Money, now I mentioned what A PA makes. The rest of these guys make a lot more. All are DGA positions and the 2nd AD and the 1st AD get a % of the Gross earnings of the show based off of what the Union minimums are and there specific contracts.
With all that in mind here is what he said, loosely translated.
"I worked as a PA one time because I did a bunch of crappy shows that where still registered with the Union so I got DGA credit for the days I worked. SO, by the time I had three movies done I had all of the criteria met to Join the Directors Guild (aka DGA)."
This is sound advice to becoming a member of the DGA and getting your hours, or "your book" together.
I thought about this, and since I don't have my heart set on being a 1st AD. I changed the language to reflect what it would take to make it as a paid producer.
The trick is Indie Features with a budget. Indie shorts are also good, the only requirement is that they have money attached. The project can have all sorts of problems, you just need to be an associate producer on it and work with/for the "Producer".
This is where things get tricky and I will go over some of the things I am using to navigate the implementation of this in another post.
That's it for now, hope this helps.
Tuesday, November 12, 2013
Thursday, March 7, 2013
VFX goes on strike. No more movies...
This may be one of the biggest and scariest moments in film history and nobody is reacting, except the people that are in it. Hold on, that last statement isn't accurate, only the VFX people are reacting. This subject should be the most viral thing on the net since KONY. No, it's not as morally critical in the same way but it is scary.
The entire entity of technology integration into the collective conscious of the planet is driven by text based content and VISUAL based content. If it's not words, or live action then, what ever you are viewing on the Internet is driven by some aspect of VFX. Visual Effects "(commonly shortened to Visual F/X or VFX) are the various processes by which imagery is created and/or manipulated outside the context of a live action shoot." That is the wikipedia definition and it will do just fine. [Click on it to go to the page for more info].
Most of the educated world and even some crack heads will acknowledge that the Internet is the future, yet the industry that is effectively 1/3 of the ENTIRE INTERNET is about to have a massive shift and it's barely a fart in the media. Bloomberg television is on in my living room as I write this(muted) and the ticker that scrolls across the screen giving thousands of people information that effects billions of dollars world wide was put there by someone who understands and can implement VFX. Actually it's teams of people. My question is what happens if those people leave? What happens if they can't work anymore? How does that effect the global economy? Nobody seems to be concerned. Except of course the guys who are actually making the visual effect.
At this years Oscars, "Life of Pi" won the award for best Visual Effects. This same film was being protested outside of the venue the award was being presented in by the very visual effects team that won the award. Why? Because the company they work for that was contracted by the film filed chapter 11 papers a scant two weeks prior. Guess who doesn't seem to care. Everybody, but editors, and VFX people.
Michael Bay who owned a portion of Digital Domain who did a ton of the FX for the Transformers franchise had this to say.
For those people and press asking: I stopped being an officer or director of the company over three years ago, and have not owned stock in the company for some time. I have remained a loyal client and supporter of the company however. It has amazing people and talent, and it still can be a great company! During this difficult time, my thoughts are with the great people I’ve had the pleasure to work with at DD.
Michael Bay
This is the sentiment of Hollywood in general. Which is basically "sorry it sucks for you lets still be friends" and then pretending that this is enough.
It is as though the entire industry thinks that no matter what, the VFX companies will continue to work and not get paid equal to the value of the work and go bankrupt and get screwed. It's like they have all done all of the drugs in the LA basin and decided to not give a $*&#. If Digital Domain works on Transformers 3 and then subsequently goes out of business why would they work on Transformers 4? They wouldn't right? History would say that they would. In fact this happens over and over.
An FX company low bids a job to get it, then pushes it's guys really hard to get out an amazing product and they deliver. Company meets payroll and makes no profit because of the low bid. But they can say the did a high profile job and hopefully get a higher rate. Except they have to bid again and this time they get low-balled so they have to take a less known film. Then the next film, is overseas because of the tax credits,and they lost the bid, and they have to open a VFX house in another continent hire local and/or import there guys for a year or two, spend the money they didn't make on the previous job and now they are in dept, and can't take on a third job. Thus the VFX company that wrote the program for a groundbreaking film is out of business before three films. Sometimes more sometimes less but it is a fact. It's happened over and over.
Steven Speilberg owned a VFX company and sold it, so did James Cameron - [Digital Domain], and now Michael Bay is out of that business. Why? Because you can't make a profit doing it, and doing big budget films.
What does this mean? Lot's and lot's of things. Most of them bad, if you can't keep a company going for FX in film then you can't do FX. Which means what? Do we go back to old school FX? Sure, some campy films will be made like this, but people want cutting edge. The Lord of the Rings movies have been made twice. Once before VFX and one with Peter Jackson's WETA. You watch the first movie of both and see which one you like better. I bet you don't make it through the whole version done in the 70's.
So old school is not going to happen, at least it's not an answer. Even if it was it still would mean that thousands of VFX artists will be out of work, or going into different fields. Some can go to gaming, some to Internet based content companies. Which will be good for both the gaming industry and some Internet companies. The problem is both of those fields are already very competitive. Ok, so a guy with an Oscar can trump somebody without one, but then that guy is out of work. Actually it's more likely that the Oscar winning teams will try to go together as much as they can. Because, "hey they won an Oscar together."
So we are looking a whole groups of VFX people becoming unemployed that have a highly specialized skill that in order to keep that level of skill up need to do it regularly now have to go find work in a shrinking market. You can be a coder for WETA and be part of the team that invented the algorithm for "Fire" and go get a Creative Director job at a AD/Sales firm and have your skill set stay sharp. If that happens and your not making $10 million dollar commercials your out of cutting edge and will kinda be stuck. Your skill set most likely is going to suffer some. This is best case, most VFX people are not going to be "Best Case". Many are going to not be able to come back. A lot of these people make good money, but mostly it's for the love of what they do. Even the guys running the companies are not making a ton compared to say...producer on a romantic comedy. Why? Because many producers depending on their value to the film get a %. VFX firms who can often produce content in 90%+ get a flat rate.
A flat rate is what a production assistant gets, who is low on the totem pole. The guy who is not even the person who gets the coffee. Exta's get a flat rate, BUT they even have a chance to get a bump and go Union. Then of course they are entitled to % and bonuses based on contracts and what not. VFX, no chance.
If you have a VFX coder who makes let's say 10k in three months on one film....wait for it then has no work for 4 months but the film makes $900,000,000.00 and this coder is the lead guy who wrote the code for how the tigers hair moved in "Life of Pi", and now he is unemployed and technically living below the poverty line, then how do you expect him to come back for the sequel "Life of Cak"?
How does this make sense? How do the studio's who are laying the ground work for these films to be made not see this? Most important, why don't they seem to care? Do they think that a VFX artist has the same skill set as a production assistant? The production assistants that keep pedestrians from walking onto a set have more job security then a VFX artist. And the production assistants are important don't get me wrong, but the skill set is not equal.
This industry shift effects education and tech job schools, all those Internet schools that want to help you into a tech job are going to suffer because now you Internet school graduates are going to be competing for the IT job at a newspaper with a guy who worked on Avatar.
The film VFX culture is the standard and the genesis of the ideas for the future of visual technology. Try and go to outer space without any further innovation from NASA, or Lockheed Martin, or DuPont Labs. The space race created plastic, perfected refrigeration, safety features used in almost every car, microwave ovens, rubber composites that are in everything.
Film VFX does this for Visual Technology and Art. It's where the most money is spent, and the most innovation is required. An argument can be made for Video Games that do this as well. The same guys move between both industries, they work off each other. At the end of the day, more money was spent on Avatar VFX then all of the Halo games combined. Avatar took at least 7 years, and in less than one it hundreds of millions of dollars. Billions to date world wide. They invented equipment that revolutionized so many industries it's not even understood by most people.
Department Of Defense contractors are using, the facial movement response systems that where used in the making of Avatar. If not they should be, I mean Ironman basically uses an upgraded version of this tech to inter-phase with the suit while he is flying. Watch the movie again with this in mind. HD, Blue Ray and what ever is next would not have happened without VFX. That's billions of dollars for Sony, Panasonic, and many others. VFX drives tech, tech drives the Internet, the Internet drives the future.
This is billions and billions of dollars that are going to shift and move. This could be like the ".com" bubble popping but no one will hear the sound until they notice the bubble is gone and all they are left with is an empty green screen.
Saturday, February 23, 2013
Production Assistant Needed!
One of the best things I ever did for my career was get a job as a PA. That is a Production Assistant. Which is movie talk for some person who is paid $125.00 per day +/O.T. if your lucky. To direct people around the edge of a set when doing large exteriors in a populated area, not direct traffic-that's a cop's job. Even though I've done it on most(99.99%) of the large feature films I have worked on. Basically it's one of the MANY catch 22's for PA's and production. You can't direct traffic legally but if officer McSleep in passed out and your to busy working your ass off to notice and the AD/Director/Producer/rest of the world is waiting for traffic to stop. You block traffic, even if you then get yelled at by the locations manager. That's the job, and hey the entire show knows who you are now. Your a PA, really this is what happens when the director wants a shot you don't have permits for and the producer tells locations to "Do it anyway". So, it's not actually your fault, just try not to get anybody killed.
Why do this, this not very rewarding job? Well for one, it's getting paid to work in industry and two it's REALLY, REALLY important for you to learn how to be on a set. You actually get to see real set work flow as opposed to classroom set work flow. More important almost than both of those things is the opportunity to network. HINT: OTHER PA'S FIND YOU PA WORK No matter how cool the 2nd 2nd AD(or 3rd AD Canada, A) seems with you they will always go to there favorites first, and if it's your first show with them, IT'S NOT YOU! Don't take it personally and don't let that detour you from building as much of a relationship with your AD as possible. PA's will consistently look out for each other and give each other work. AD's will get you good work.
Back to the networking thing. If your not social, if you got into film and your kind of introverted. You have to push. Get out of your comfort zone. If you have an amazing reel at what ever you want to be and you can't carry a conversation your in trouble because the odds are less that anybody on or associated with the project will see it. That said, hopefully you have it on-line so it's working for you some how.
That's it just a shorty about being a PA.
Just say "NO!!!!", to the project.
Just say "no", "no thanks", "not right now", "I have to wash my hair", "clean my toenails", "get a root canal". The single most important thing I have learned this year, is that I have an obligation to say "No" to projects that are a bad fit for my life. Yes, I said "my life" not "my career". Believe it or not your career is directly tied to how you manage the rest of your life. At some point your going to have to do an indie feature that is going to be garbage. It's going to have to little a budget to big a scope and the script is gonna be less than what it should be. Say no to this project, because these kinds of projects are like un-popped pop corn, you know there are a ton of them at the bottom of the bag and you still manage to chew on one. What that means is that you will have plenty of chances to work features if you've got yourself out there and are working. I know , you just got out of film school and all you can think is "what now?", and your kind of panicking about student loans and moving in with your parents, ect. Moving to LA and NY are great starts or any city with a film scene of some sort can work. There is no formula to this business in terms of geography. More so this is true now then ever before. With the option of the Internet as a distribution model and better equipment getting cheaper it's a global film market that grows daily.
If your barely scraping by in an apartment and working at Best Buy 30 hours a week, you might not be in the best position to produce a feature. This is the part where I remind you that "Clerks" was made for nothing and there are no rules. BUT! It's a big one, "Clerks" would not make it in today's indie film world. Kevin Smith would stand zero chance of getting that movie into any festival that most people have heard of and less than 10% chance in all the rest. With the market expanding so much it's actually the most competitive it's ever been. Now if you have been working and you've saved a ton of money, and your buddy has a script and he can direct, you may have something, or you just might have to say no to that also. Yeah I know that's not helpful exactly. Just wait for it I am getting to the good stuff, sheesh.
So your cautious and you have some money saved what's the deciding factor. Well, money that's the first one. When your producing you will absolutely undoubtedly have to take time off from work. You cannot do the right/effective job as a producer if your working. No, you don't HAVE to quit your job but you will need days off. Usually during production you don't want to be on set, but at the indie film level, especially your first one you should be available 24/7 during principle photography. A day off here or there can work for pre-pro but more and more you will need full days committed to aspects of production. Also you have to try and plan for surprises. Don't get me wrong, there are days that seem to be way less productive than other's. Those days are not the goal. As you do this more the better you get a predicting how long things take and what needs need to me met when.
Ideally you have two chunks of money saved. One to help with the pre-production costs associated with the film, and the other for you to live on. Now this is just to be a producer on a film where the director has put on his/her big "boy/girl" pants and is acting like an adult. Which means they have thought of things other than the "Awesome shot" that is stuck in there heads. If you have a great script and the directory has done some of there homework, your two chunks of cash might have found a reason to be spent. Now, don't fund the project with the money your living off of. The director/writer/other producers and yourself should discuss how to raise the money. Yes, sometime you will have to help out with stuff. Don't neglect pre-pro because the Director of Photography only wants to rent from an expensive rental house.
Fight for pre-production, and fight for the edit. Post Production Supervisor is a job that is neglected and lack of it can sink a projects aspirations super fast. The PPS is going to basically do the UPM's (Unit Production Manager[which is the business version of the director]) job after the film is "in the can". Basically, this person is the answer to, "Ok we've shot everything what's next?" It may seem obvious that the Edit would be next. That's true only if you have hired an editor. A lot of time Director's will take this on them selves or the DP will. Personally that is a huge mistake, the issue really is that the director/DP both usually have some sort of creative control issue that doesn't allow them to intrinsically trust other people with there project. It should be mandatory in films school for people to only do one job when they are directing. If the DP is good he/she will leave it to the director unless the director starts to panic then the DP will panic and that's how DP's end up editing stuff. The point is you have all of this to work out before the first shot ever happens. You should have a vision of the footage work flow in your head once you have gotten through the script a couple of times. This also means that you should be looking at an editor before the first day of shooting as well.
Now maybe your saying that your not sure what the director should be doing during pre-pro. Well no worries I've got you. Overheads, Storyboards, Blocking, Rehearsals, Stunt Rehearsal, Shot list. This is the stuff the director should be working on that you don't need to really have anything to do with. The UPM/Casting Director and DP can be involved. Ideally your not doing much with each of those.
Look, pre-production only happens once, the more of it you do the better the film will be. Period. It's one of the few formula's/laws in film and as a producer you live and die by this. If you have heard different, well prove it. I have been doing this for 8 years and no one I have ever talked to has said contrary to this. Yes, there is more to it than that. Ineffective pre-pro can also be useless to a film. The point is, it always happens even if your pulling the film out of your backside you had to at the least have logistical conversations.
The final words:
Have your life squared away, if you can't afford to take a month off of work, save more or look at other work. Film is not a hobby, many people treat it like that because they want to BE famous. Behind the camera most of us have to earn it. It's hard, you have to sacrifice, a lot, everyday. If you love it, it's worth it. If you don't you'll know very quickly and well, get the hell off the set. Don't be afraid to wait, if a project comes along and your not ready don't force it. That's the right to say no, the power of no is when you have waited and your ready. Sometimes the money won't be perfect but you lined up your living situation and you work flow fits with most of the contingencies you've though of for your life. IF YOUR MARRIED, YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOUR SPOUSE!! If you don't and they leave your ass, that's bad communication on your part. That's it for now, more Plus to post later.
If your barely scraping by in an apartment and working at Best Buy 30 hours a week, you might not be in the best position to produce a feature. This is the part where I remind you that "Clerks" was made for nothing and there are no rules. BUT! It's a big one, "Clerks" would not make it in today's indie film world. Kevin Smith would stand zero chance of getting that movie into any festival that most people have heard of and less than 10% chance in all the rest. With the market expanding so much it's actually the most competitive it's ever been. Now if you have been working and you've saved a ton of money, and your buddy has a script and he can direct, you may have something, or you just might have to say no to that also. Yeah I know that's not helpful exactly. Just wait for it I am getting to the good stuff, sheesh.
So your cautious and you have some money saved what's the deciding factor. Well, money that's the first one. When your producing you will absolutely undoubtedly have to take time off from work. You cannot do the right/effective job as a producer if your working. No, you don't HAVE to quit your job but you will need days off. Usually during production you don't want to be on set, but at the indie film level, especially your first one you should be available 24/7 during principle photography. A day off here or there can work for pre-pro but more and more you will need full days committed to aspects of production. Also you have to try and plan for surprises. Don't get me wrong, there are days that seem to be way less productive than other's. Those days are not the goal. As you do this more the better you get a predicting how long things take and what needs need to me met when.
Ideally you have two chunks of money saved. One to help with the pre-production costs associated with the film, and the other for you to live on. Now this is just to be a producer on a film where the director has put on his/her big "boy/girl" pants and is acting like an adult. Which means they have thought of things other than the "Awesome shot" that is stuck in there heads. If you have a great script and the directory has done some of there homework, your two chunks of cash might have found a reason to be spent. Now, don't fund the project with the money your living off of. The director/writer/other producers and yourself should discuss how to raise the money. Yes, sometime you will have to help out with stuff. Don't neglect pre-pro because the Director of Photography only wants to rent from an expensive rental house.
Fight for pre-production, and fight for the edit. Post Production Supervisor is a job that is neglected and lack of it can sink a projects aspirations super fast. The PPS is going to basically do the UPM's (Unit Production Manager[which is the business version of the director]) job after the film is "in the can". Basically, this person is the answer to, "Ok we've shot everything what's next?" It may seem obvious that the Edit would be next. That's true only if you have hired an editor. A lot of time Director's will take this on them selves or the DP will. Personally that is a huge mistake, the issue really is that the director/DP both usually have some sort of creative control issue that doesn't allow them to intrinsically trust other people with there project. It should be mandatory in films school for people to only do one job when they are directing. If the DP is good he/she will leave it to the director unless the director starts to panic then the DP will panic and that's how DP's end up editing stuff. The point is you have all of this to work out before the first shot ever happens. You should have a vision of the footage work flow in your head once you have gotten through the script a couple of times. This also means that you should be looking at an editor before the first day of shooting as well.
Now maybe your saying that your not sure what the director should be doing during pre-pro. Well no worries I've got you. Overheads, Storyboards, Blocking, Rehearsals, Stunt Rehearsal, Shot list. This is the stuff the director should be working on that you don't need to really have anything to do with. The UPM/Casting Director and DP can be involved. Ideally your not doing much with each of those.
Look, pre-production only happens once, the more of it you do the better the film will be. Period. It's one of the few formula's/laws in film and as a producer you live and die by this. If you have heard different, well prove it. I have been doing this for 8 years and no one I have ever talked to has said contrary to this. Yes, there is more to it than that. Ineffective pre-pro can also be useless to a film. The point is, it always happens even if your pulling the film out of your backside you had to at the least have logistical conversations.
The final words:
Have your life squared away, if you can't afford to take a month off of work, save more or look at other work. Film is not a hobby, many people treat it like that because they want to BE famous. Behind the camera most of us have to earn it. It's hard, you have to sacrifice, a lot, everyday. If you love it, it's worth it. If you don't you'll know very quickly and well, get the hell off the set. Don't be afraid to wait, if a project comes along and your not ready don't force it. That's the right to say no, the power of no is when you have waited and your ready. Sometimes the money won't be perfect but you lined up your living situation and you work flow fits with most of the contingencies you've though of for your life. IF YOUR MARRIED, YOU HAVE TO EXPLAIN THIS TO YOUR SPOUSE!! If you don't and they leave your ass, that's bad communication on your part. That's it for now, more Plus to post later.
My Producer +
My Producer + is a blog about producing that goes on and on about my experiences as a producer/film maker living in Chicago, having moved from LA in 09 and trying to not move anywhere else until I get it to work where I am at.
That said I do all sorts of jobs in the industry mostly freelance PA, but have done everything from Dolly Grip to dish washing, and all the props/FX in between. Now I am not saying I have done every job, V.F.X. for instance, or media manager. But a lot of them nevertheless. In case you have not noticed I am using industry jargon a bunch. If you don't know what it means then ask or I've heard people use Google(heh capitalized itself) to look things up nowadays. Crazy world I know.
Right now, and I mean RIGHT FN NOW. I am THE producer on and independent Indie) film entitled, "Buckle UP PUNK!". Which outlines the story of a community college drivers education teacher "Ed". The story is set in a fictional more nasty Chicago circa 1985. Buckle Up Punk (Link) The blue is of course the link to the site where you can see the log-line synopsis of the story ect.
So basically the above paragraph is why I am qualified to talk about any of this stuff because right now I am living it. Hard. Previously I had a producers blog The Castle Muse, which is still up but has now been converted to my writing blog. Why the change, well "what's in a name...". Really, it's the name,The Castle Muse. Which is more indicative of feelings and some crap. Plus it's a pain in the but to S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimize). Recently I've had pressure to write more (this is a good thing) and I seem to be cranking out the blog stuff (My third blog is GTEiN which is hopefully my last, most this one is about video games/culture and entertainment culture, ect.). So The Castle Muse is where I will self publish a bunch of my writings and literary musings. Which of course now makes the title of that blog make waaaaaaay more sense.
OK, so that is the nuts and bolts of this thingy now onward! With the producing stuff I mean, (cough) of course.
That said I do all sorts of jobs in the industry mostly freelance PA, but have done everything from Dolly Grip to dish washing, and all the props/FX in between. Now I am not saying I have done every job, V.F.X. for instance, or media manager. But a lot of them nevertheless. In case you have not noticed I am using industry jargon a bunch. If you don't know what it means then ask or I've heard people use Google(heh capitalized itself) to look things up nowadays. Crazy world I know.
Right now, and I mean RIGHT FN NOW. I am THE producer on and independent Indie) film entitled, "Buckle UP PUNK!". Which outlines the story of a community college drivers education teacher "Ed". The story is set in a fictional more nasty Chicago circa 1985. Buckle Up Punk (Link) The blue is of course the link to the site where you can see the log-line synopsis of the story ect.
So basically the above paragraph is why I am qualified to talk about any of this stuff because right now I am living it. Hard. Previously I had a producers blog The Castle Muse, which is still up but has now been converted to my writing blog. Why the change, well "what's in a name...". Really, it's the name,The Castle Muse. Which is more indicative of feelings and some crap. Plus it's a pain in the but to S.E.O. (Search Engine Optimize). Recently I've had pressure to write more (this is a good thing) and I seem to be cranking out the blog stuff (My third blog is GTEiN which is hopefully my last, most this one is about video games/culture and entertainment culture, ect.). So The Castle Muse is where I will self publish a bunch of my writings and literary musings. Which of course now makes the title of that blog make waaaaaaay more sense.
OK, so that is the nuts and bolts of this thingy now onward! With the producing stuff I mean, (cough) of course.
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