For your first feature: Make something for everybody or do whatever you want?

[Theauteur14]

I finished my third short film a few weeks ago. I've been trying to write the screenplay that I intend on directing and starring in next summer. I have written screenplays before. But this is huge as this will be something that I know will be a huge labor of love.

After going through a few ideas I settled on a pretty cool story. The genre would be horror/supernatural/thriller with comedic moments in the darkness. I actually want to write the script, create a graphic novel to go along with it, and present it to investors. I think it's my best idea yet.

But then the thought came to me: Should I stay in line with what I have made. The three shorts that I have made all had to do with love, passion, and relationships. The first was through the eyes of a kid (it was also a stop motion short), the second through a young man who hasn't gone through too many serious hardships, and the last was about a young man who was going through a life changing crisis.

I then started to think and adapt Romeo and Juliet. The idea would be a modern day adaptation set in New York. Romeo would be black (I am black) and Juliet white to add race to it.

I know that Romeo and Juliet would probably be an easier film to get made and distributed. The first original idea could be done for what I am targeting ($3 million). But I am going for a David Fincher/David Lynch/Brian De Palma/Vince Gilligan/Terry Giliam feel with that one and they use huge budgets. Romeo and Juilet would be more in the tone of Woody Allen and Richard Linklater. That could be achieved wwith that kind of budget.

There is this thing in business that at first you give the people what they want, then after you build a customer base you weed out true customers by doing what you really want to do. That does apply to film.

Thoughts?

 

[mlesemann]

Theauteur14 I wish I had a good/simple answer for you

Horror/supernatural/thriller seems to me to be a marketable genre so that seems like a good approach. Even better though, if you can work in aspects of love/passion/relationships, which I THINK should be do-able, you can play to both marketability and the themes of your shorts.

One practical bit of advice that I've been given as I start to think about my next (3rd) feature: starting when you get above $2 mil budget (and definitely if you get above $4 ml), you need to involve ALL of the unions rather than only SAG-AFTRA. My first 2 features (Surviving Family - on iTunes & Amazon Prime [shameless plug!] and Detours which is in post-prod) were both done for under $1 mil and both were union only for cast. I'm looking to move higher in budget when I do a 3rd feature, but if I anticipate needing to budget for Directors Guild, IATSE, Teamsters, etc.

Good luck! I look forward to hearing/reading more about your feature.

 

[Brandonmonahan]

The budget is only as good as the writer , director and, to a lesser extent; the cast. Take a look at the movie Crash(amazing movie). It was made for $6million-ish but most of that went on the well-known cast. It went on to win an oscar the year after it's release. The movie is a brilliant character driven movie that focuses on racial and romantic tension, but in a non-boring way.

Also, just a suggestion but why do the supernatural angle in a Dave Fincher style way, like maybe its just the way the characters see things and its not real or something. Anyway I'll stop now I'm rambling. Anyway yeah worry about budget when the script is finished, workarounds are always an option.