How can I get paid to make movies?
- Thread starter inkexit
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I'm currently writing my script and I have shot short films as a teenager, took a lot of film production courses in college. I thank everyone for their responses. I don't want to come off like some naive know it all. I certainly don't have this all figured out and I don't think it's "simple," that's why I'm asking questions. Once I have my movie completed, how do I make money off it? That's what I'm asking here and haven't much info about really. How hard is it to get a distributor? Should I even try to get a distributor? Is there a way I can just sell it out right to a media company for money upfront but no back end? Maybe I should just try to sell it through iTunes? Some other outlet? Post it on youtube and try to make money of ads? Take it to film festivals? Not take it to film festivals? I have experience in film making, but none in "film selling."
You find someone (or people) who are willing yo pay for it and you sell it to them.
It's not as hard as people let on. All you need is a marketable film. Making that marketable film... that's the hard part. It all comes down to packaging.... Which means for you it'll basically comes down to a chicken and the egg routine - Success breeds success and people look for those with a successful track record. So how do you succeed when you have no success?
That's a possible. Get 500k views (which takes a lot of work) and maybe earn a grand or two.
It's all possible.
While all of your ideas are sound, you are going to need more time to understand the nuances, complexities, costs, work loads, strengths and weaknesses of each of your ideas. While my replies are short in this thread, if you are truly interested in learning these topics, they have been beaten to death at least a few times through this forum. Search them out and you'll start to find yourself on the right track. rayw used to keep an updated resource guide for sales and distribution. Look for that and read, read, read. If that's too much work, hire a producer or more specifically a PMD.
Yup, and there's even more competition from fledgling/newbie/wannabe filmmakers. There's 15,000 of them registered on this site alone.
I only knew a handful of people in the audio post business, I never kissed any ass, I never asked anyones permission - I worked for free, then worked for stipends, then started charging for my audio post services. I never asked for permission, I just went ahead and did it.
That's how it seems to be if you want to do commercial/corporate work; people who like your work will seek you out - but, except for a handful of folks, most are "fads" that last a year or so and the industry moves on. When it comes to narrative work it's a little different. Unless you finance the project(s) yourself you are going to need investors. Then you (or members of your team) have to go out and solicit investors. If you have a successful track record you'll (hopefully) get financial backers, and the more successful you are the bigger your budget can be. Then you select the people you want to support you.
Making a commercially viable product is HARD. It requires talented, knowledgeable, skilled, experienced people to help you; so unless you are a one-in-a-billion genius there is no way you are going to master even 10% if the skills required to make a technically viable project that distributors will want to market and audiences will want to see.
Define make money. Do you mean earn $200 after selling 20 DVDs to your friends? Or do you mean a stable living.
Define make movies. I earn a stable living making movies, but I am not a Director or a Writer or a Producer. Perhaps you would say that is not 'making movies' - perhaps you would say I simply 'work on' movies. However, I could say the same for a Director.
It's incredibly difficult to make money solely as a Director.
Here's a secret I'll let you in on - to make money as a Director, you also need to know people, kiss butt, have a lot of experience etc.
And there's a lot more competition when you're a Director, versus say anything else!
In fact, I'd say as a Director, you're generally more likely to be attempting to please Producers and investors versus any below-the-line crew, who simply do their job and get paid. When you're below-the-line you mostly have to worry about being good at your job and being pleasant to work with so that you get asked back next time.
Writing, Directing, shooting and editing your own film is certainly easier than collaborating with others, hiring Producers and getting funding etc. but it is also incredibly difficult to make money doing it that way, and you'll find that any money you do make comes after a great initial investment from yourself. And it could take a long time for you to see any profit.
The way I see it is - do you want to be someone who is a woking professional in the film and television industry who works their way up (perhaps as a PA, then an AD or Producer), makes a lot of connections, works on and eventually directs things they don't necessarily have a great connection to (commercials, for example), earns a salary from making movies, and is then able to take the experience, knowledge and connections they've built up and make a financially viable film that can continue to pay you a salary, and has guarantee of distribution.
Or, do you want to be someone who is a one-man-band who works a day job and puts together films on the weekends, who makes as many films as possible depending on their financial state, and then hopes that putting films onto YouTube will bring them back in a bit of pocket money, and one day putting a film into a festival might attract a huge distributor who might pick them up and pay them some money..
Now, neither of those options is necessarily the 'wrong' option for you, but there is one option that is more likely to get you paid a regular income to make film. With the other option, it's near impossible.
Define make movies. I earn a stable living making movies, but I am not a Director or a Writer or a Producer. Perhaps you would say that is not 'making movies' - perhaps you would say I simply 'work on' movies. However, I could say the same for a Director.
It's incredibly difficult to make money solely as a Director.
Here's a secret I'll let you in on - to make money as a Director, you also need to know people, kiss butt, have a lot of experience etc.
And there's a lot more competition when you're a Director, versus say anything else!
In fact, I'd say as a Director, you're generally more likely to be attempting to please Producers and investors versus any below-the-line crew, who simply do their job and get paid. When you're below-the-line you mostly have to worry about being good at your job and being pleasant to work with so that you get asked back next time.
Writing, Directing, shooting and editing your own film is certainly easier than collaborating with others, hiring Producers and getting funding etc. but it is also incredibly difficult to make money doing it that way, and you'll find that any money you do make comes after a great initial investment from yourself. And it could take a long time for you to see any profit.
The way I see it is - do you want to be someone who is a woking professional in the film and television industry who works their way up (perhaps as a PA, then an AD or Producer), makes a lot of connections, works on and eventually directs things they don't necessarily have a great connection to (commercials, for example), earns a salary from making movies, and is then able to take the experience, knowledge and connections they've built up and make a financially viable film that can continue to pay you a salary, and has guarantee of distribution.
Or, do you want to be someone who is a one-man-band who works a day job and puts together films on the weekends, who makes as many films as possible depending on their financial state, and then hopes that putting films onto YouTube will bring them back in a bit of pocket money, and one day putting a film into a festival might attract a huge distributor who might pick them up and pay them some money..
Now, neither of those options is necessarily the 'wrong' option for you, but there is one option that is more likely to get you paid a regular income to make film. With the other option, it's near impossible.
The word you're looking for is Marketing. If no distributor comes knocking, YOU will have to do the marketing and you will have to spend as much time on marketing as you spent making the film before you see your first $500 of income, and then only maybe.
With a brilliant marketing plan and full court press, you can squeeze bucks from a bad movie.
Not up to marketing? Expect no revenue.
the easiest way to make money out of a movie, is not exactly the kind of movimaking you would prefer, but however. this is the 100% guaranteed way to make mony out of a movie.
you fly to china, find some super cheap plastic crap, buy a few boxes of this trash, then you come back and shoot a 30 sec documentary about this product, explainig how awesome it is. you put it on TV. you get rich.
the more stupid the product the better.
easy.
you fly to china, find some super cheap plastic crap, buy a few boxes of this trash, then you come back and shoot a 30 sec documentary about this product, explainig how awesome it is. you put it on TV. you get rich.
the more stupid the product the better.
easy.
Not me personally as documentary making doesn't hold any appeal to me, but I have been meeting more documentary makers lately. Of which some have experience in that field and there's a basic premise is that it's harder now to make a living in documentaries than ever before (and it was always really tough).
You're pitching to networks, tv stations, ,governments, there are even some entities that support filmmakers. From what I understand, the flavor of the moment is food, with travel coming in second. The money being offered seems to be along the lines of between zero and barely enough to afford cat food for your next meal.
Of course there are exceptions to the rule. The high end flyers seem to be riding controversial issues.
Good luck with documentaries.
