Co-Executive Producer ... FINALLY!!

Co-Executive Producer ... 

$9.5 Million Dollar Feature film with Distribution...What this actually means, and some reflection.

Right now there are people all over the world suffering and dying due to the spread of the COVID-19 Virus. I am taking time to address this even thought this is not what the post is about it's impossible to not address it some. Specifically it is very much directly influencing what is happening Macro and Micro in the entertainment industry across the board. This post is about sharing some good in the middle of all of this suffering.  Personally I finally have some actual triumph to share in this very long journey I have been on as an indie producer. 


This has been one of the fullest years of my life and we are only 4 months in. I am very grateful and humbled to be in the position I am in right now.

In January of this year I was working mostly from my house and office. We had just returned from a very successful 4th quarter and a PAID trip to LA where my company produced an indie short.  There where some set days as working as a Union Member of [ IATSE:Local 476 ] later in the month. To be perfectly clear that whole section of time the first two months is a bit of a blur. I kind of feel like I didn't do much creatively. At the end of last year I was talking to another member of 476 John whom I had worked with before in trying to raise money for a $17.5M indie and he brought up this project that I had actually done the script approval read for him, and the over project VETT. Basically I looked at the project and told him and the other producers it was viable. I consulted with them off and on as a friend. A year and half or so passed and John was still on it and had some amazing updates.

By February of 2020 I was working between 3 and 5 days a week. I had a few Dolly Grip gigs on shows like Batwoman, I had done both Shameless and Batwoman the last time they where in town. During this time John got me up to speed on his project and it was like a dream coming true. John and Theodore the director both invited me to officially join the project and help finish out the equity raise. I of course do nothing without by girlfriend and business partner so we both came on with contract signing later that month. The team they had in place had done an amazing job. I have to only use first names and can't say the name of the project or any talent attached because of how many names are attached. Needless to say we hit up our entire roladex and continue to do so. As I type this we have $1.5 million in the bank and have already paid our male lead. The film will be Oscar bait and it is just one of those films that you can feel it. Lots of talent a good script, a great producing team(yes besides me, I am definitely with some of the best), great relationships with distributors already in place. No sales agent needed!!

In March I was working full time in Crafty on the final season of the show Empire. It was a great gig! One of the best jobs at Cinespace. I had been waiting for the call for that one for a long time, the guys in the department are long time friends and we had all done other work together. So my day was surrounded by good food, motivated people who knew what they are doing, a great overall crew, on a great show. What ever you think of the show creatively as a viewer, working on it was amazing. I was there in season 3, where I learned how to be a grip, my only day as a rigging electrician, a couple weeks in special FX, and finally the holy grail of crafty. Crafty can be brutal thankless and one of those jobs you avoid. Like everything in film, it depends on the team.  This team was like a well oiled machine, it was like everyone loved what they did and enjoyed each other. I had friends on this show from my days as a PA back in 2010,11,12,13. So it was like coming home in many ways.

During this time I was able to step away anytime I needed too to make a call or send and email. John and I would take turns covering each other so we could keep talking to investors. John covered me a ton since he had already closed the bulk of his raise.

It's April 2, 2020 and my teams first equity party has dropped this week, will drop more next week. The film has been all worked around COVID-19 all the right precautions are being taken and everyone is safe. Thank God! This movie is gonna happen this year! That's inspite of everything that is happening. In spite of the horror that is before us of hundreds of thousands of Americans dying before the end of the year. An even larger number globally. It is strange to have a victory in the midst of all of this but we definitely have one.

Here is the package that the film has right now, and why I am so excited. 

Talent:
All A-list or Name talent. This includes 3 A list talent, that if someone on the street heard the name they would likely know the actor. The supporting cast is all working and active on shows both in the US and UK. All names. 1 or 2 also A list.

Distribution:
A very close personal relationship, that is supported by all of the correct moves professionally with the head of acquisitions at the major studio. Also is supported by several Name production companies.

Financing:
$1.5 Million in the bank of a $2.5M equity raise. We also have multiple potential equity buy out parties waiting for US to close the window on the raise. We actually bumped it from $2.0M to $2.5M because the investor pool is so positive and strong. We also have some Collateralize Dept, a Tax Credit of $2.4 Million, and an Minimum Guarantee from the Studio on the horizon. We are looking for the MG to be $4.0 Million or greater. All together this brings us to $9.5M. The equity parties will mostly likely get paid out before the end of principle photography, either by a single equity partner or the MG.

I have said on this blog before you need to have Money, Talent, Distribution if you can get one then you can get the others. We have all three. 

The How, and my perspective.
How this was done is the most important part of this post and the reason behind this blog.
The  lead producer on this film has cultivated relationships from relationships that he had from family, University, and having successfully sold an indie film to this distributor once before. No, he is not a name or the cousin/son/brother of someone famous. He does have some connections in the industry but they where all cultivated and built. He's only 23. He did in his career in 5 years what I have been trying to do for 15. Something I hope people are seeing, this producer had all of these things in place that I couldn't reach. Things I would have zero access too even with my gift for making connections with people and having been on Tier 3 union shows for years. He knew how to work his network and had the right people around him. Now I get to play a small part in all of this but for me and the path that I am on it is the culmination of a lot of blood, sweat, and learning. His path isn't mine and that's OK! It's in this situation where the "all ships rise with the tide" phrase is the most applicable. So how is this the how? I made myself valuable to a person who had the things that I didn't. I was able to do that by cultivating a relationship with a friend John who in the ups and downs of friendship we always respected each other. This all came about in a year when my company/team was producing on like 7 indie shorts and small projects. We just simply where grinding it out and focused on that. Focused on getting better, focused on getting more higher quality projects and relationships. Which we have found is a constant. Reassessing relationships and continually improving the nature of those relationships is the biggest film secret I have. Sometimes they need to go away, sometimes dynamically change, sometimes get deeper. It's in developing the human side of things, in the journey about being a better person that has made the biggest difference.

So many times I wanted a project to work, so many times I was desperate and having this deal then could have saved me so much heartache. Which is exactly why it didn't happen. This film is not a winning lottery ticket, it's the shrimp boat in Forrest Gump got lucky because he was in the place he was supposed to be. Lt. Dan wasn't, not until his friend needed him. I was Lt. Dan looking at the boat not seeing the potential, hating the other misfortune and failures of my past. None of that matters, in film your past is always relative to your future which depends on what your doing right now. "What are you working on?" Is the constant question because until we retire, or many of us, until we die, it's what we do. 

If your an indie producer out there and your worried about the nuts and bolts of A to Z you can learn most of what you need from trying and failing. You fail 9/10 the first ten times, then it goes 5/10, then 2/10, and eventually it starts going the other way. You start wining 5/10, 9/10, and all of the sudden your actually living the dream. All of this said, I try and post as many details in this blog about nuts and bolts as possible.

Flashback - Friendship, how this relationship changed everything 3x.
Some back story about John and I  really quick. In 2014 I raised the initial $50k from an YouTube millionaire who lived in a suburb of Chicago. We went to Sundance and I was off the project shortly after Sundance after putting in 2 years of work for basically no money, my rent was payed 4x and then I was evicted(more about that later, maybe). Shortly after the indie team associated with project fragmented and I reconnected with the Director after he got back the creative rights and we spent the next year trying to pitch any and everyone we could think of to raise money. John was apart of that effort, he and I hit it off and have been friends ever since. He's actually the one that got me into 476, after I finally parted ways with the director on the $17.5 Million film and had to go back to work on set to live. From the time I started working on the $17.5 Million film and go back to set, it was three years. I was part of the dissolution of 3 partnership corporations, 2 film companies taking the film and spitting out, I was fired 2x, and quit I don't know how many times. I was evicted from my apartment, and had to essentially restart my film career...AGAIN. Just in case your counting it's 3x I personally have had to do that. Amazingly enough  my girlfriend didn't kill me through all of this, yes she is a saint and yes the ring is a thing...sooooon.

In the 15 total years I have been in film since I worked on Dom with Joshua Kulic in 2005 since I fell in love with this business. Just to be clear I love all of it, I would do ANY job in film. Especially right now, the pull of set is really really strong. To not be able to go and watch friends and colleges die far from the set family is really tough. Just like the rest of the world our community is doing its best to come together and stay strong.

Since that first day with Josh in southern California I have been hooked. I have also been homeless 2x, been fired or quit/changed non-film/civilian jobs 20x, and done just about the same in the film industry, I also have been promoted and demoted.  I have lived in my car, a friends car, traveled 6 hours in the snow during snow-apocalypse circa 2011 in Chicago to work a 5 hour job minimum wage job at a gas station then travel 6 hours back to have to sleep on benches so I could be let into the house where I was staying because the owners of that house didn't trust me enough to give me a key. My last civilian job working for someone else was at the deli counter at Angelo Caputo's in Downers Grove, which is now permanently closed. That was like 2015 the same year as Sundance.

I am sharing all of this because it is very very very difficult to be a producer in film. It is harder when your poor, it is harder when your family isn't supportive, or your spouse/GF isn't supportive, it is harder when you have no college degree and no connections. I had all of these challenges and more. None of it was fast, all of it was work, all of it required me to grow and change as a person. I am not the same person I was in 2005, not in the general sense but specifically this journey in film has changed me. If your trying do do what I have been trying to do there is no demon you have in your closet that you will not absolutely have to face and defeat. That's OK!! Those demons showing up let you know what it is you have to work on and are a great indicator that your going in the right direction. Own your issue's first! And if your lucky enough to have someone point those out to you learn to take that criticism and grow.

In 2021 I thoroughly expect to be LA going to Awards shows, the next chapter looms large in front of me, my family, my company, and my career. It's not over, I have a lot to work on still. I still have to make this count for something, and I have to increase my value. The other thing that I mention all the time is growing and adapting. Just because we have a winner in the works doesn't mean you stop, it just means we graduated from one level to another. High school to College, Middle School to High school. It's all the same work, just higher stakes, and more work. That of course is a good thing and ultimately that's the point.