I'm 17 and just wrapped my first feature

Sorry for the late reply to all the questions.
I havent spoken to a distributor since. I will sometime this year. I'm in no hurry for whatever reason. If I get distribution great if I dont I have other plans.

How did I afford this? I saved my money is the simple answer. Like every dollar. I just didnt spend money. I saved money from acting gigs and working at Pizza Hut. I have won a couple grand through video contests too.

Opening song was a pain in the ass but yes I got the rights to put it in my movie. it was confusing on what I had to do and it took me a couple of months but negotiated the rights to use it.

Camera rentals I'm sure vary depending on where you live. I hired a 3 person production team and by the end of the 17 days had two left. :)

I went to the local police station and asked if they would do it. The cop is an actual cop and we just ad libed the scene. It was hard to shoot as I couldn't use the city name or the number on top of the car.

I did not clear the Ford truck. Actually I didn't know I had too. You are the first to ask me about it. Guess I will deal with that in the future. :/

For actors pay it is back end accept Terry Kiser. He got paid the day he worked.

Well I had my world premiere in Austin (not SXSW) a couple weeks ago and then played in Victoria Texas last week. I was up for best first feature at both. I didnt win at either. I attended the Victoria Film Festival which was just awesome. They put on a great event. I highly recommend to submit to it. I won a cool award based on a person that lived in Victoria that goes to someone that shows Indy spirit. I won 60 grand worth of production services if I shoot my next feature in Victoria. I definitely will now! I also had breakfast with Quinton Aaron "Big Mike" from the Blindside and we exchanged numbers. I think I will be able to attach him to my next film along with his acting buddies. He actually gave me a shout out when he accepted an award. It was pretty cool.

Now it's saving money all over again.
 
theconnorwilliams said:
A trailer I made for a contest. Made it in a few hours before the deadline. https://youtu.be/8HFxo1Rfzcw
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Looks okay for your age, but you really should stop riding the "age" train. You added it in your trailer very shamelessly.

Let your work speak without the age dropping. Not a bad teaser... But not a trailer. Trailers have VO dialogue and explain the basic premise. This leaves us asking questions as to the premise. Which is a teaser, IMO.

Looks like you are making a modern day Breakfast Club, which isn't a bad idea if you make it less obvious. But the last line saying, "you know I didn't really mind hanging out with you guys today," and the text saying, "5 Lives Collide, All Before Breakfast" is just way too on the nose.

Also, your dialogue is saying too much. For instance, your characters should SHOW that they like each other... Not directly say it. Lines like, "Yeah she's right, I really like you guys..." is once again, way too on the nose. John Hughes never had any of the Breakfast Club characters say the words, "Wow, I hated you guys before today, but now I like you," but you definitely feel the camaraderie at the end.
 
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theconnorwilliams said:
ok
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Listen, I understand that criticism sucks, and you hate receiving it, but I assure you, it only gets worse.

You did an okay job. It's definitely a good first work. I've seen footage and scenes that are much worse than this, from first time guys. I think my first work was "meh" personally.

The main thing is, KEEP AT IT.
 
I dont mind receiving criticism at all. If you read this thread plenty of people had plenty to say. It got me to think on a different level. I appreciated the difference of opinions. Thats how I learn and grow. And I also thanked them for it.
But I read your diatribe against Sky and everyone else last night and I didnt want to get into that same situation. He's only one or two years older than me. Or to put it another way we are just a couple years older than your son. I imagine if an adult was doing the same exact thing to your son you wouldn't like it. It borders on creepy.

So, I havent seen one positive post from you and with all due respect I dont care what you have to say. "Looks okay for your age, but you really should stop riding the "age" train. You added it in your trailer very shamelessly." Why do you care if I mention my age? You seem offended by it. There is a zillion different ways to say that nicer but I dont think that is in your blood.

But I do find this ironic when I go to your kickstarter and this is the very first line. "When I was 18 years old I began directing small productions on a VHS camcorder. Now 43 years old, I have worked professionally as a Senior Software Engineer, developing distributed / multi tiered applications for many years now."

Lastly, you also went on a rampage because Sky wasnt on IMDB and he had never done a kickstarter and you had a huge issue with that. So after looking at your imdb page I could have an issue with you because you have never done a feature. Or your imdb rating is so high.

Anyways, in another thread I did mention I put only a few hours into my trailer and I'm thinking on how to do it better. This was done purely for a contest. But people in this thread have been kind to me and asked for a trailer so I posted it.

Lastly, I personally think you owe a lot of people apologies but every time you had the chance you made fun of people.

Please dont respond to this because I dont want to hear it. I really don't.
 
theconnorwilliams said:
I dont mind receiving criticism at all. If you read this thread plenty of people had plenty to say. It got me to think on a different level. I appreciated the difference of opinions. Thats how I learn and grow. And I also thanked them for it.
But I read your diatribe against Sky and everyone else last night and I didnt want to get into that same situation. He's only one or two years older than me. Or to put it another way we are just a couple years older than your son. I imagine if an adult was doing the same exact thing to your son you wouldn't like it. It borders on creepy.

So, I havent seen one positive post from you and with all due respect I dont care what you have to say. "Looks okay for your age, but you really should stop riding the "age" train. You added it in your trailer very shamelessly." Why do you care if I mention my age? You seem offended by it. There is a zillion different ways to say that nicer but I dont think that is in your blood.

But I do find this ironic when I go to your kickstarter and this is the very first line. "When I was 18 years old I began directing small productions on a VHS camcorder. Now 43 years old, I have worked professionally as a Senior Software Engineer, developing distributed / multi tiered applications for many years now."

Lastly, you also went on a rampage because Sky wasnt on IMDB and he had never done a kickstarter and you had a huge issue with that. So after looking at your imdb page I could have an issue with you because you have never done a feature. Or your imdb rating is so high.

Anyways, in another thread I did mention I put only a few hours into my trailer and I'm thinking on how to do it better. This was done purely for a contest. But people in this thread have been kind to me and asked for a trailer so I posted it.

Lastly, I personally think you owe a lot of people apologies but every time you had the chance you made fun of people.

Please dont respond to this because I dont want to hear it. I really don't.
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Good luck to ya.
 
It just occurred to me that I should probably tell you what I liked about the Teaser...

The kid with the Swastika, looks believable and seemed to have some potential for acting. I liked your shots, especially when the dude goes full BEAST mode and attacks the other kid. Great job there.

Also, the lighting appears to be nicely done. I didn't notice any harsh lighting, and/or overly lit shots.

As for audio, meh, at this level, it's to be expected it's not perfect, but it was better than most.

Okay, hope that works to let you know that I was actually impressed, but I may have not expressed that to you.
 
Please dont respond to this because I dont want to hear it. I really don't.
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I want to point out that you just went down the same path jrusso did in that thread. In your attempt to avoid the issue, you've replicated and amplified it.

I personally think you owe a lot of people apologies
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You mentioned "That's 10 minutes of my life I'll never get back" (paraphrasing) in that other thread. I gather this is your unintentional hypocrite mode?
 
Tried to explained my stance. nothing more nothing less.

I did say ten minutes because it was a waste of time and it never ended well.

I guess I don't get negativity. Whats the point?

People on here have been so cool and helpful.
 
You are just as equally guilty of that which you implicate me for.
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I see you're being polite and attempting to diffuse the situation. You were just having a bad day and took some comments to heart and let yourself get riled up.

Connor is young, and I tried to give him the benefit of the doubt and a chance to explain himself, though now, from what I see, it was a calm, hateful intentional slant on his behalf. The guilt is different.

I guess I don't get negativity. Whats the point?
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You brought it to yourself and now you're crying victim? Pot, kettle, black.

People on here have been so cool and helpful.
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Have you considered people are just being polite and patronizing due to your age?
 
Sweetie said:
I see you're being polite and attempting to diffuse the situation. You were just having a bad day and took some comments to heart and let yourself get riled up.
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Thank you.

However, I think this kid, "theconnorwilliams" is actually pretty damned talented, has invested tons of time and energy into his film, and actually did a pretty good job. Thus, I can see how he feels the need to lash out at my criticism. I personally think though, that he'll later realize that my criticism was spot on, and improve his next film.

Will he thank me later, when he realizes that I was right? Statistically speaking. No. But, maybe when he's 40 something.

***sigh*** It's a thankless job. LOL
 
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actually pretty damned talented, has invested tons of time and energy into his film, and actually did a pretty good job. Thus, I can see how he feels the need to lash out at my criticism
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As for his lashing out. He was lashing out at you. You'll have to take a guess to his reasons.

If you go back through the thread, you'll see a pattern where he doesn't take criticism negatively. I believe there is a pattern. He's looking for "yes" men. That's fine if you're trying to become popular. You and I know, you're not going to improve unless you possess the ability to see where you need improvement.

As for talent, I'll remain politely silent.
 
Are you guys being serious? There's no way.

"If you go back through the thread, you'll see a pattern where he doesn't take criticism negatively." Thank You!

"Have you considered people are just being polite and patronizing due to your age?" No, I haven't.
 
Hi, I'm just going to interject here. I don't wish to get involved in the argument, just trying to get people to take a step back. The fact is, this young man has created a feature. Taking age into account or not, you have to admit he had to be resourceful and creative to do this with what he had. That's pretty cool and more than many have done. Jrusso gave some feedback. I have to agree with some bits, it is similar to The Breakfast club, and maybe or not, it should be recognizes as such. Say.. Inspired by the breakfast club or something. That's Connor's call. And the 'age train,' I'll say it was appropriate to include in this thread's title.. In a trailer, maybe not. Much of what Jrusso said was good advice, but why on earth not include the positives at the same time as the initial negatives? My interpretation was that Connor's simple response of 'ok' was due to him not wanting to get into a situation that occurred recently. I missed that, but there seems to be negativity brewing here. Bottom line, we're all here to learn. This guy made a feature. That's good. He still has much to learn. Criticism should be constructive and well received. Best wishes to all.
 
Sweetie said:
As for his lashing out. He was lashing out at you. You'll have to take a guess to his reasons.

If you go back through the thread, you'll see a pattern where he doesn't take criticism negatively. I believe there is a pattern. He's looking for "yes" men. That's fine if you're trying to become popular. You and I know, you're not going to improve unless you possess the ability to see where you need improvement.

As for talent, I'll remain politely silent.
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Sweetie, for sure my friend. I believe, he's talented, ***for a 17 year old***. Which is the reason he feels the need to pull the "I'm 17" card, over and over again.

The, "I'm 17" card is a ruse for his insecurities. He leads with that in hopes that other filmmakers will simply go easy on him because of his age. It's apparent he doesn't take criticism. Believe me, I DID go easy on him. I mean he suffers from an apparent lack of ingenuity and/or writing skills, poor casting decisions, spending his own money in lieu of finding investors, the list goes on and on.

He and SkyCopeland are the types who feel they should be treated differently due to their age and, in SkyCopeland's case, feel that they already know EVERYTHING there is to know about filmmaking / funding a film, which is why he needed to knock my efforts, and publicly humiliate me on my "Promotion" thread for my Pyrite Kickstarter.

SkyCopeland was very rude in his "advice" on my Kickstarter campaign, and I continue to assert that he drew my fire and deserved every single tongue lashing he received. I actually have nothing to apologize for IMO.

I still enjoy the "Big Cookie" Kickstarter campaign. That was particularly hilarious.
 
theconnorwilliams said:
"If you go back through the thread, you'll see a pattern where he doesn't take criticism negatively." Thank You!
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I think he meant to say, "you'll see a pattern where he doesn't take negative criticism." Otherwise, the next thing he says, "I think he is just looking for yes men," would make no sense.
 
Daniel S. You are spot on. I said OK after reading what he said about a guy my age in another thread. It was a waste of my time reading it when i saw the outcome. it went on for 5 pages. Then I made the mistake of telling him what I felt. You know, someone sticking up to the bully. Then this happens.

I'm a big boy. While so annoying, I can take it.

It is similar to the Breakfast club that there is detention and its at a school. That is where the similarity stops. BC by was John Hughes. Enough said on that. I had only saved so much money. I couldn't blow things up or have a 1,000 extras at a concert scene or whatever. As a freshman I won my school (and me) a 1,000 bucks for the best commercial in the state. I rapped my way to a grand and the school said I can use there grand anyway I wanted to. I told them I wanted to use it for me to make a feature over the summer. So I didnt pay one dime to use a public school. If the two of you (not Daniel) want to fault me for that..I really dont care.
So stupid, both of you sucked me into this..
 
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