I want to produce a feature next winter (sometime between November '12 and January '13), but would like to get one more short under my belt before I do so. You know, one with an actual cast and crew... (unlike my first one, which was all me).
I've been playing around with a few different ideas, and then it struck me: why not do a prequel to the feature? The feature script revolves around these two former lovers meeting again after close to ten years apart, and how they've grown apart and also how much passion they still have for each other. So why not do a prequel (I know it's not technically a prequel since it'll be shot and released first, but it's the same basic idea) that revolves around their original relationship and breakup?
I can see a few advantages to this:
1. It gives me something to show potential investors (or contributors, as I'm probably going to fund mostly via Kickstarter).
2. It gives me something to start building an audience with. If I schedule the filming of the short for the end of May, I could have it completed before I start fundraising for the feature during the summer.
3. I can get in touch with the owners of the location I want to use for the feature, and hopefully win favor with them by doing a successful short (found the perfect house, and it's a vacation rental, so I'm betting I could get access to it without too much trouble).
4. It gives me something to show the potential cast and crew, as I'm going to go after a couple of name actors for the feature (but because the short will take place 10 years earlier than the feature, I'm sure I can get away with using different actors for each).
My rough plan is to write a 10-15 page script with 3-4 characters and just the one location, and when it's done it would be posted online rather than going the festival route, since the goal is to build up an audience. What I'm wondering is, what are the disadvantages to doing this kind of thing? I know I've seen shorts that were developed into features, but what about doing a prequel? Any advice at all for this kind of project?
I've been playing around with a few different ideas, and then it struck me: why not do a prequel to the feature? The feature script revolves around these two former lovers meeting again after close to ten years apart, and how they've grown apart and also how much passion they still have for each other. So why not do a prequel (I know it's not technically a prequel since it'll be shot and released first, but it's the same basic idea) that revolves around their original relationship and breakup?
I can see a few advantages to this:
1. It gives me something to show potential investors (or contributors, as I'm probably going to fund mostly via Kickstarter).
2. It gives me something to start building an audience with. If I schedule the filming of the short for the end of May, I could have it completed before I start fundraising for the feature during the summer.
3. I can get in touch with the owners of the location I want to use for the feature, and hopefully win favor with them by doing a successful short (found the perfect house, and it's a vacation rental, so I'm betting I could get access to it without too much trouble).
4. It gives me something to show the potential cast and crew, as I'm going to go after a couple of name actors for the feature (but because the short will take place 10 years earlier than the feature, I'm sure I can get away with using different actors for each).
My rough plan is to write a 10-15 page script with 3-4 characters and just the one location, and when it's done it would be posted online rather than going the festival route, since the goal is to build up an audience. What I'm wondering is, what are the disadvantages to doing this kind of thing? I know I've seen shorts that were developed into features, but what about doing a prequel? Any advice at all for this kind of project?