Careers in Film: Has The Cavalry Arrived Yet?

We’ve been busy getting things ready for shooting Silent Eye, Episode 3, which will take place on Oct 14-16th. So just a couple of weeks away. It looks like we have our locations, with a bit creative improvisation. We won’t have Barnaby, our great sound recordist from the last shoot, so we’ll either have to find a new volunteer or do it ourselves. All the cast are now in place. We have some props to collect in Switzerland, but apart from that, we are ready to go.

Meanwhile, I’m still going through the Mark Duplass talk, from SXSW 2015. I think so many of us are, or have been, stuck behind the idea we need funding for our films to do a proper job and get taken seriously at festivals. This talk turns that whole idea on it’s head (and also backs up my own experiences trying to get funding).

I my last post, Mark talks about going from making a $3 short film to a $1000 feature film, with a well-known TV actor as lead. You sell this picture for a minimum of $50k, due to the fame of the actor. What happens next:

Mark: The industry is starting to take notice of you. You’ve definitely got your agent beating down your door saying, “Okay. Remember last time when I said the cavalry was coming? I was wrong that time. But this time the cavalry is really fucking coming. I can take you out and get you directing jobs, I can get you re-write jobs. You just gotta go take a bunch of general meetings.”

And if you do that, you will take meetings for a year. And nothing will happen. I’m telling you this from experience. It is very hard to turn this down, because it’s so tempting. But this is where you want to make your move into TV. Because as the death of the middle class of film has happened, it has been re-birthed in television.

The way you used to make really awesome $5m movies, that’s happening in cable TV right now. If you have made a good $1000 movie, with Randy Hercules, you’re gonna sell a pitch. And you’ll make some money off of that, which is really good.

So, you’re going to be thinking, ‘Oh my God, this is incredible. I’m going to become the next big show runner.’

You might get to make that show. Probably not. Because that’s just the way it is.

It’s probably going to get put into turnaround. But you made some money, which is good. And learned something and you said, “Hm. They don’t want to make this because it costs $2m an episode for them. BUT… using my principles of indie filmmaking… I could probably make some episodes of a TV show, independently, and license them back to these companies, at like a quarter or a fifth of the price. And I would own everything and I would almost be like a TV studio.

At this point Mark talks about an interesting dilemma. It’s probably the kind of difficult choice most of us would be happy to be struggling with. Once you’ve sold your TV show and made some more money, the cavalry (industry) will be “beating down your door” to work with you. All good, right?

Although this dilemma may seem a long way from where most of us are right now, it’s also something we need to contemplate even from the start.

On the one hand, it’s tempting to take these offers, because driving your projects yourself is hard work. And we all have this fantasy that, once we are part of the industry, there will be motivated, efficient professionals taking some of the load off.

On the other hand, chances are these industry folk aren’t quite on your wavelength regarding the type of films you want to make. Persuading them to do things your way is actually a type of hard work, too.

So, it could just be that, you swap one type of hard work for a different type. We always imagine that those other folks have it easier, because that’s the way it looks on the outside. The truth is, it’s just fantasy. Whichever of these 2 paths you take, it’s always going to be hard work.

So the question is – and this is a question many of us ask ourselves, and in different careers too – are you going to retain your creative freedom, or are you going to go after tempting sums of money being offered?

Mark sums your situation up nicely at the end of his talk:

You’re going to look back at your career [so far] and say, “OK, I made critically acclaimed short films. Ran around and made some friends at a festival. I made 2 micro-budget features (one with Randy Hercules). I got a TV show licensed. I’m making some money. I’m producing films for my friends. How is it possible that the cavalry is not coming? I’ve done so much!”

And the good news of this is – who gives a fuck about the cavalry? Because now you are the cavalry.

So essentially Mark’s idea is we should strive to be our own boss. With affordable filmmaking technology now available, there’s nothing to stop us making films and building a business on it. That used only to be an option for corporate video makers. But now, with VOD, it’s open to narrative and documentary filmmakers too.

This path is not for everyone. You have to be highly self-motivated (just like anyone running their own business). You can’t wow people with your special effects, your crowd scenes or your spectacular block-buster style visuals.

So what can you do instead?

You need to be creative, innovative and find something within you which is special and different, but yet still connects to people. You have to stand out from the crowd by using ideas and telling unique stories, rather than millions of dollars.

If that sounds like your path, then The Mobile Motion Film Festival is here to help you along the way.

Next: 10 Essential Film Industry Rules You Must Stick to

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