Input and Suggestions ...

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Okay,

I have a rough cut together for my five minute preview.

Here it is so far.

https://vimeo.com/49360935

PW is mdmpllc

I am looking for some input and suggestions.

Thanks in advance.

 

[Sweetie]

Part of the problem with finding good help is living and working in a city where studios pay PAs $400 a day to show people where to park in a parking lot. $400 a day tops the greatest salary I can pay anyone.

It often comes down to your leadership skills and whether people want to work with you.

Lets look at it like this. Would you rather get paid $400 a day to tell screaming idiots where to park their car or get paid $0 and 1st AD Steven Spielberg? It may come down to your circumstance, but I'll tell you, I'd rather 1st for free working with a great than being a glorified parking attendant.

Yes people need to eat, pay rent etc. etc. But beyond the basics, there is a plethora of other reasons why people will choose you over someone else. Maybe you need to take a good hard look at yourself as to why you're attracting the wrong people and not the cream of the crop.

If people look at you as an easy lunch ticket maybe you're going to attract those freeloaders. If it takes you 2 days to fire someone who takes 7 hours to deliver actors which should be completed in an hour or two and you let them do it twice, that's easy money in their pocket for no real work and at the same time they get entertainment at your expense.

Another thing. It can depend on how you treat your people. Staff don't mind working hard, but they usually don't work their best if they're treated poorly.

Not saying that either of these is true for you, but its worth considering.

 

[Sweetie]

What do you do? Editor obviously, what else?

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

It often comes down to your leadership skills and whether people want to work with you.

Lets look at it like this. Would you rather get paid $400 a day to tell screaming idiots where to park their car or get paid $0 and 1st AD Steven Spielberg? It may come down to your circumstance, but I'll tell you, I'd rather 1st for free working with a great than being a glorified parking attendant.

Yes people need to eat, pay rent etc. etc. But beyond the basics, there is a plethora of other reasons why people will choose you over someone else. Maybe you need to take a good hard look at yourself as to why you're attracting the wrong people and not the cream of the crop.

If people look at you as an easy lunch ticket maybe you're going to attract those freeloaders. If it takes you 2 days to fire someone who takes 7 hours to deliver actors which should be completed in an hour or two and you let them do it twice, that's easy money in their pocket for no real work and at the same time they get entertainment at your expense.

Another thing. It can depend on how you treat your people. Staff don't mind working hard, but they usually don't work their best if they're treated poorly.

Not saying that either of these is true for you, but its worth considering.

Several of the actors told me my production was the best one they were in out of all they were in over the last year.

So, what does that tell you?

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

What do you do? Editor obviously, what else?

I am in the office equipment business. Troubleshooting machines and network problems. I resolve software issues.

I also serviced digital copiers and printers for 16 1/2 years. I determined software and hardware bugs and resolved them. I installed, repaired, and disassembled copiers, print servers, and all in one machines. The business is collapsing these days. Everywhere, paper is being eliminated for pdfs.

The customers tell me I have a natural talent with troubleshooting computers and network issues. I've worked with DOS, Windows, and Mac OS for decades. I was the district Mac and Splash expert when I worked in the field for Color printers, copiers, and print servers.

I used to build PCs from empty shells for the fun of it, since I had formal schooling on how to build them and I aced a job self study class on computers and networks to get into the color copier end of the service business. I studied color theory, digital color scanning, and printing and I am self taught in desktop publishing.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

I've worked in film and video on and off for over a decade, both on my own stuff and friends productions.

I write screenplays, directed my own films, edited, and built props.

Besides studying electrical engineering technology in college, I've studied Architecture. I minored in fiction writing. I wrote two vampire fiction books and I have a truck load of unpublished manuscripts I mostly wrote in high school and college.

In high school, I was an art major.

 

[Sweetie]

Time for another question. How do you see the quality of your own film work? Out of 10. 10 being on par with the best movie of all time and 0 being - My blind 3 legged dog could do better work. Where are you on that scale?

Not on to the break down of your video (next post)

 

[Sweetie]

1-8 seconds. Modern Day Myth productions. It either needs to be cut down in time to maybe 2-4 seconds due to its lack of visually appealing movement. It also lacks sound, while not needed, its a good idea to have something there to say, "Look at me, I'm important".

9-13 seconds: "Introducing a New Universe With Its' Own Mythology". You have a visual of a sun with a couple somethings spinning around it not a universe. The visual graphic is also plain and screams low production value. The writing stats off too small to start with so there is a couple of seconds where you cannot read it and wasted 2 seconds. Start is bigger and fade it in and fade out the writing. Fade out at the end is an error. Don't fade.

13-17 seconds: Jump cut (you should get a smooth transition, not a jump. Caused by the previously mentioned fade) cut to: "HERE, Adremis Created the Universe". The comma is off putting. If you really want to punctuate, use a couple full stops "Here... Adremis Created the Universe". You'd be better off replacing both scenes with "In a new Universe, created by Adremis...." with Audio Voice over with a deep voiced female like you hear at the start of Dune.

17-25 seconds: Seem like ramdom pictures that serve no purpose. The sound blurts out too loud. Simply delete these.

25-29 "As time passed, Civilizations across the universe left behind numerous memories of the Great Mother." It takes about 7 seconds to read that but is only up on the screen for 4 seconds. You do the math.

29-35 seconds: You're putting on multiple images of what looks like artifacts. Increase the opacity of these. I'd suggest running them across the screen instead of flipping them on to the middle.

35-38 "14 Billion Years Later...." The background video doesn't match and seems to attempt to roll on but instead jars you. The font is too small.

38- 47 "Earth 2062" Missiles being shot upwards.

47- 56: Voice over: "20 years ago the humans of earth destroyed themselves in a nuclear war" Audio effect which sounds like some electronic distortion. Eliminate that sound and replace with a sound which more represents an nuclear explosion. The voice over should start at 38 second mark.

56 - 1:01: Starts with an explosion and a space ship taking off from a planet. While the ship looks a little dicky, you can live with it. The explosion should be removed and the explosion sound effect should also be removed.

1:01- 1:09 Continuing with the space ship and cutting to the actors when they're mentioned. Voice Over: "Only 3 Cyborgs who were there, Angela Bruno, Gail Storm, Roberta Zora survived to become their legacy" Fade out.

1:09 - 1:19: Gail Storm was originally from another of my worlds, Delta 4, high tech world of Amazons where women had physical superiority over their men." You're not showing their superiority over their men. You're showing something completely different .

1:19-1:51: Voice Over: "Gail's Technology was reversed engineered on earth to create Angela Bruno with a bio synthetic brain and later Roberta Zora was more like Gail with a cloned human brain. These 3 cyborgs have an undying loyalty to humanity which sets them apart from the other cyborgs on Delta 4. The other cyborgs are becoming more like rebellious teenagers looking for independence from those who gave them life."

1:51- 2:02: "With the promise of saving human lives, an AI robotic spaceship is build for Cyborgs with accommodations for human guests." Font too small, too hard to read, probably stays up there for 2-3 seconds too long.

Nothing, and I mean nothing appealing has happened up until here. The visuals are rather flat, boring or irrelevant. People are moved by what they want to see, not to see how smart you think you are with your story. The audience don't want you to imply they're dumb, but you have to assume they are somewhat... meaning, for anything that is necessary, spell it out or leave it out. On top of that, the majority of the population of the planet don't care about all the finer details.

For example, look at the difference between the old Star Trek and the Reboot. The rebooted Star Trek is rather dumbed down, virtually no technical jargon that you have to pay attention to, it's Drama and action. That's what sells. That's what people in this Genre want to see and is what they'll buy. If you're looking at selling this, you need to think long and hard about what people are willing to buy.

You're better off making all this last 15-20 seconds Deep and very clear female Voice Over: "2064... After Earth is ravaged by nuclear war. Our only chance are our protectors, Gail, Angela and Roberta. They will protect us from the silver power rangers...."

All the details about their characters can go in the pilot. People will learn them over time, but the whole idea of a trailer is to gain their attention and give them reasons to watch.. give them the reasons to want. Make them hungry.

I'll stop here, let you catch up... Let me know what you think. Let me know if you want me to continue. I know I've just cut your heart out with daggers, but if your livelihood depends on it, wouldn't you rather know the truth... at least from my perspective.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Time for another question. How do you see the quality of your own film work? Out of 10. 10 being on par with the best movie of all time and 0 being - My blind 3 legged dog could do better work. Where are you on that scale?

Not on to the break down of your video (next post)

You are using the wrong target.

Our target was comparing it to films The Asylum makes for the SyFy Network. I give it a 6 in that regard. Considering my budget was $20,000 and The Asylum makes their's for just under $1,000,000, I'd say my film actually is very good. If I didn't start off with a boned headed DP who didn't know how the footage of the stunt dummy was going to be put together, so he refused to shoot more scenes with a stunt dummy, I would have had better action scenes.

 

[Sweetie]

I'm familiar with Asylum films... well some of them. I've had the misfortune to watch a few of them. Lately they do seem to be branching out into more unique films, but their style seemed to be: Name the film film similarly to another movie that's going to get lots of advertising and when the advertising is being played, have it available to buy on DVD and have them for filler spots on the Sci-Fi network.

Personally I don't know how they get away with it, but you get that.

I much prefer their tv shows.

That being said, then it might not matter too much what the quality of the work is, so long as it performs its duty. To take up space, even if no one really watches it. Being able to make movies for 20k might work. Why don't you just present that to them and ask if they're interested in 20k delivered movies?

The downside to this business model is the lack of the coolness value. When trying to attract great employees, if they know you're doing a B grade Sci-Fy movie, they might not be interested, especially if it also has low pay.

One more thing, I have yet to understand one thing. Just because something is low budget, why does it have to be low production value? It doesn't cost any more to compose a frame properly and/or use a correct camera angle, just like it doesn't cost any extra to edit in the right spot. Those things can help make a low budget movie look a lot better.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

1-8 seconds. Modern Day Myth productions. It either needs to be cut down in time to maybe 2-4 seconds due to its lack of visually appealing movement. It also lacks sound, while not needed, its a good idea to have something there to say, "Look at me, I'm important".

9-13 seconds: "Introducing a New Universe With Its' Own Mythology". You have a visual of a sun with a couple somethings spinning around it not a universe. The visual graphic is also plain and screams low production value. The writing stats off too small to start with so there is a couple of seconds where you cannot read it and wasted 2 seconds. Start is bigger and fade it in and fade out the writing. Fade out at the end is an error. Don't fade.

13-17 seconds: Jump cut (you should get a smooth transition, not a jump. Caused by the previously mentioned fade) cut to: "HERE, Adremis Created the Universe". The comma is off putting. If you really want to punctuate, use a couple full stops "Here... Adremis Created the Universe". You'd be better off replacing both scenes with "In a new Universe, created by Adremis...." with Audio Voice over with a deep voiced female like you hear at the start of Dune.

17-25 seconds: Seem like ramdom pictures that serve no purpose. The sound blurts out too loud. Simply delete these.

25-29 "As time passed, Civilizations across the universe left behind numerous memories of the Great Mother." It takes about 7 seconds to read that but is only up on the screen for 4 seconds. You do the math.

29-35 seconds: You're putting on multiple images of what looks like artifacts. Increase the opacity of these. I'd suggest running them across the screen instead of flipping them on to the middle.

35-38 "14 Billion Years Later...." The background video doesn't match and seems to attempt to roll on but instead jars you. The font is too small.

38- 47 "Earth 2062" Missiles being shot upwards.

47- 56: Voice over: "20 years ago the humans of earth destroyed themselves in a nuclear war" Audio effect which sounds like some electronic distortion. Eliminate that sound and replace with a sound which more represents an nuclear explosion. The voice over should start at 38 second mark.

56 - 1:01: Starts with an explosion and a space ship taking off from a planet. While the ship looks a little dicky, you can live with it. The explosion should be removed and the explosion sound effect should also be removed.

1:01- 1:09 Continuing with the space ship and cutting to the actors when they're mentioned. Voice Over: "Only 3 Cyborgs who were there, Angela Bruno, Gail Storm, Roberta Zora survived to become their legacy" Fade out.

1:09 - 1:19: Gail Storm was originally from another of my worlds, Delta 4, high tech world of Amazons where women had physical superiority over their men." You're not showing their superiority over their men. You're showing something completely different .

1:19-1:51: Voice Over: "Gail's Technology was reversed engineered on earth to create Angela Bruno with a bio synthetic brain and later Roberta Zora was more like Gail with a cloned human brain. These 3 cyborgs have an undying loyalty to humanity which sets them apart from the other cyborgs on Delta 4. The other cyborgs are becoming more like rebellious teenagers looking for independence from those who gave them life."

1:51- 2:02: "With the promise of saving human lives, an AI robotic spaceship is build for Cyborgs with accommodations for human guests." Font too small, too hard to read, probably stays up there for 2-3 seconds too long.

Nothing, and I mean nothing appealing has happened up until here. The visuals are rather flat, boring or irrelevant. People are moved by what they want to see, not to see how smart you think you are with your story. The audience don't want you to imply they're dumb, but you have to assume they are somewhat... meaning, for anything that is necessary, spell it out or leave it out. On top of that, the majority of the population of the planet don't care about all the finer details.

For example, look at the difference between the old Star Trek and the Reboot. The rebooted Star Trek is rather dumbed down, virtually no technical jargon that you have to pay attention to, it's Drama and action. That's what sells. That's what people in this Genre want to see and is what they'll buy. If you're looking at selling this, you need to think long and hard about what people are willing to buy.

You're better off making all this last 15-20 seconds Deep and very clear female Voice Over: "2064... After Earth is ravaged by nuclear war. Our only chance are our protectors, Gail, Angela and Roberta. They will protect us from the silver power rangers...."

All the details about their characters can go in the pilot. People will learn them over time, but the whole idea of a trailer is to gain their attention and give them reasons to watch.. give them the reasons to want. Make them hungry.

I'll stop here, let you catch up... Let me know what you think. Let me know if you want me to continue. I know I've just cut your heart out with daggers, but if your livelihood depends on it, wouldn't you rather know the truth... at least from my perspective.

Animated Logo -- no sound. That's where the music will come in. Wait for it.

9-13 -- It's what the budget can afford.

13-27 -- I'll re-work it.

17-25 -- The Universe is evolving over billions of years in jump cuts. The visuals are spot on.

25-29 -- The flipped images are very clever. They are like a story book as pages flip revealing the story of the Universe and how the legend of Artemis spread across the Universe.

35-38 -- I'll see what I can do. On a bigger screen, the fonts won't look so small. Depends on the size of the screen.

47-56 -- The stock sound effect of a nuclear explosion is used. It is appropriate for a nuclear blast.

56 - 1:01 -- That ship cost $400 and it was made custom by a 3D animator. The blast fits the scene of the cyborgs escaping a world destroying all human life as missiles and bombs are exploding everywhere.

1:09 - 1:19 -- Look at how they tower over men. The visual is right in front of you.

After Season One, Josh Friedman was told by the Fox TV network to dumb down his Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles he asked the general public at a ComicCon Convention if he should. The overwhelming response was "NO!"

 

[Sweetie]

After Season One, Josh Friedman was told by the Fox TV network to dumb down his Terminator: The Sarah Connor Chronicles he asked the general public at a ComicCon Convention if he should. The overwhelming response was "NO!"

I'd agree with the answer of no too. It wasn't the intelligence of the material that was troublesome, it was the pacing and repetitiveness that hurt them. It wasn't until the end of season 2 that they actually started to explore an interesting story arc.

Anyway, that wasn't my point before. I wasn't saying anything about dumbing it down for the audience. I was saying that the audience doesn't care how smart you are. First and foremost, people want to be educated... oh wait... was that entertained? Yeah, that's it.

What I'm trying to say is don't waste the audiences time. An example would be: A 5 minute tutorial of how to use a transporter beam in star trek. You'd have heaps of people screaming at the screen "Just press the damn button."... the rest of the people have already switched to something else.

The second part of what I'm trying to say is you have to be clear in what they NEED to know to tell the basic story. Everything else can be part of the entertainment and/or can even be removed. All this kind of film making was fine 30 or even 40 years ago. People just don't have patience for it these days. Who knows, it might be watchable with the relevant sound effects and score.

Have you considered this idea? Try tongue in cheek. Be proud that you're making something from 20k. Some of the B grade horror movies are so bad, they're good. There's an art to it. The actors go further over the top than they should. The special effects are laughable... They're so bad, they can be good. You'd be better off replacing the spaceship animation with an egg carton flying from earth. Its ridiculous and could be funny if you did it right and carried other funny things throughout. It'll let you do a cheap budget, and if you do it right, may even bring your work cult status. I won't appreciate it, but there are many out there who will.

 

[Sweetie]

25-29 -- The flipped images are very clever. They are like a story book as pages flip revealing the story of the Universe and how the legend of Artemis spread across the Universe.

Do people understand it?

I saw a short a while back and spoke with the film maker about it. The theme was fairly obvious (mental illness with delusion) but it was subtle. She asked me if I understood it and asked me to explain it. She also said that many people didn't understand it, but she still chose to show the work, even with the chance that a lot of her audience would be lost. Not sure if its a smart move to be clever for the sake of being clever if no one understands what you're doing.

Another point. In my opinion, those pictures look like things from Earths past, not from things found across the universe. It might not matter. Who knows?

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

I have had to deal with all sorts of nightmares over the last week.

So, I needed time away.

I got some useful input from science fiction writers as well.

The whole extended trailer was lacking character and style.

As a studio editor told me years ago, give it style and rythym to bring it to life.

It also need some "Character."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-n-fuFRj_8

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

What's missing is the humans POV of the species threat in the beginning when Major Storm asks General Bruno, Why are y'all the lap dogs of the humans?

I will add the dialogue of a human sayong, you tin cans are taking our jobs away.

So, General Bruno's reply, because we want them to feel safe will make more sense.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

Time for another question. How do you see the quality of your own film work? Out of 10. 10 being on par with the best movie of all time and 0 being - My blind 3 legged dog could do better work. Where are you on that scale?

Not on to the break down of your video (next post)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrImaVAWoAs

Yep! This gem by The Asylum will give you an idea of what they do and what gets aired on SyFy.

If I had 1/5 th their budget, my film would look so much better.

Besides The Asylum, there is Trauma Films and Roger Corman films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qSzRRlarBI

New version of my 5 minute preview with the human POV of the cyborgs will be uploaded tomorrow.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BD55VIiv5wU

This looks like something better than before.

This new version adds in the humans' POV of the cyborgs to show the tension of species threat in the story. With the cyborg, human, and goddess POVs presented, the story becomes fuller. And, of course, there is the ever evil of Ares present. A good trailer / preview needs a good script like a good short.

 

[EuropeanDistributor]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MrImaVAWoAs

Yep! This gem by The Asylum will give you an idea of what they do and what gets aired on SyFy.

If I had 1/5 th their budget, my film would look so much better.

Besides The Asylum, there is Trauma Films and Roger Corman films.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qSzRRlarBI

New version of my 5 minute preview with the human POV of the cyborgs will be uploaded tomorrow.

The movie in question, The Terminators wasn't made for SYFY though, it was one of The Asylum's "mockbusters" released around the same time as Terminator Salvation, made strictly for the Direct to Video Market.

And judging by that trailer for The Terminators, production quality wise I don't think that would cut it these days.
Even though the VFX in SYFY movies is by no means flawless or at big budget studio film level, most of the times it is much better than that.
Nowadays low budget production companies can churn out increasingly better CGI cheaper than ever.

The thing is, I think you actually might be working with 1/5th of The Asylum's budget level. I'd say most of their movies cost between $100k and $200k, some even much lower than that.
Some possibly higher, but nowhere near the often reported $1M.

They churn them out fast and cheap. They probably own their own gear, they have their own editing equipment, they have their own VFX guys, everything is done in house.
They're also known for hiring young filmmakers to work for them for dirt cheap.

I heard a story where a name actor who was hired for one of their mockbusters at the time heard that the grips on set weren't getting paid a nickel, so he felt bad and gave the guys money from his own pocket.

One story tells how they were shooting a car stunt with a bunch of professional stunt drivers, but they were too cheap to order an ambulance or a firetruck on set in case of an accident.
Finally they had to order the ambulance and firetruck since the drivers refused to perform the stunt otherwise.
Later it turned out that the firetruck was empty, since apparently it would have cost them extra to fill the tank.

Take that as you will, but bottom line is, they're notoriously cheap.

Regarding Troma, their business is largely based on distribution these days. They acquire no-budget genre movies from amateur filmmakers, slap the Troma logo on the cover and sell them on DVD.

The last actual movie they produced themselves was Poultrygeist in 2006. Lloyd Kaufman, the founder and owner of the company financed the movie himself and later went on to say that they lost every penny they invested in the movie. They made 0% back.

also the Roger Corman produced tv show you linked from the 90's isn't really an indicator on what sells in 2012.

I think it's great that you're trying to improve the production quality of your movies, and you have, but even if you can make your movies to *look* the same way as many of SYFY's programming, doesn't mean that they would necessarily air it.

SYFY acquires a lot of their programming from established production companies who they have existing relationships with, such as The Asylum and Active Entertainment.
And most of the stuff they produce for SYFY are the ever popular creature features or disaster movies.

You have to ask yourself, are you making a passion project, or an actual product, made by distribution in mind, targeted toward the direct to video and TV markets?
Are buyers looking for movies similar to yours at the moment?

 

[Sweetie]

Yep! This gem by The Asylum will give you an idea of what they do and what gets aired on SyFy.

I hear you. I had the misfortune of watching that exact movie.

Asylum has a business plan and it's working for them. They're riding on the coattails of big budget tent pole movies which have an advertising budget of $35mil-200mil, hence creating their demand. While I hate their movies, their story lines, their production quality, they've built up a smart business plan, that is prone to getting sued (google about their new Hobbit moving coming out a few days before Peter Jackson's Hobbit).

What they're doing is based on the reality that its a business and they understand their business. They know their product isn't of the highest caliber. They know that they need to trick the majority of their audience to buy their film on video or use the mockbuster hype and sell it to Sci-Fy.

Out of interest, how much does Sci-Fy pay for a filler movie of this caliber without the hype of a mockbuster? Would it be enough to cover production costs and profit a little?

There was once a time where you could create any B grade movie, put it out on DVD and be able to cover costs and often make a profit. I've heard those times are gone. You need to ask, what's going to let you succeed where all the other B grade movie makers that cannot turn a profit?

I personally think you're falling down in the story stage of things. I want to see everyone succeed. I know its not going to happen for everyone, but I don't wish failure on anyone. I would like to see you succeed, so I would like to see you prove me wrong. Make it work.

 

[Sweetie]

BTW, your new opening sequence improved heaps. Well done.

You're not quite there yet, but good work so far.

The timing of your dialogue still seems.... rushed in places... Particularly where you're introducing your main cyber-chickies.

 

[Modern Day Myth Prod. LLC]

The movie in question, The Terminators wasn't made for SYFY though, it was one of The Asylum's "mockbusters" released around the same time as Terminator Salvation, made strictly for the Direct to Video Market.

And judging by that trailer for The Terminators, production quality wise I don't think that would cut it these days.
Even though the VFX in SYFY movies is by no means flawless or at big budget studio film level, most of the times it is much better than that.
Nowadays low budget production companies can churn out increasingly better CGI cheaper than ever.

The thing is, I think you actually might be working with 1/5th of The Asylum's budget level. I'd say most of their movies cost between $100k and $200k, some even much lower than that.
Some possibly higher, but nowhere near the often reported $1M.

They churn them out fast and cheap. They probably own their own gear, they have their own editing equipment, they have their own VFX guys, everything is done in house.
They're also known for hiring young filmmakers to work for them for dirt cheap.

I heard a story where a name actor who was hired for one of their mockbusters at the time heard that the grips on set weren't getting paid a nickel, so he felt bad and gave the guys money from his own pocket.

One story tells how they were shooting a car stunt with a bunch of professional stunt drivers, but they were too cheap to order an ambulance or a firetruck on set in case of an accident.
Finally they had to order the ambulance and firetruck since the drivers refused to perform the stunt otherwise.
Later it turned out that the firetruck was empty, since apparently it would have cost them extra to fill the tank.

Take that as you will, but bottom line is, they're notoriously cheap.

Regarding Troma, their business is largely based on distribution these days. They acquire no-budget genre movies from amateur filmmakers, slap the Troma logo on the cover and sell them on DVD.

The last actual movie they produced themselves was Poultrygeist in 2006. Lloyd Kaufman, the founder and owner of the company financed the movie himself and later went on to say that they lost every penny they invested in the movie. They made 0% back.

also the Roger Corman produced tv show you linked from the 90's isn't really an indicator on what sells in 2012.

I think it's great that you're trying to improve the production quality of your movies, and you have, but even if you can make your movies to *look* the same way as many of SYFY's programming, doesn't mean that they would necessarily air it.

SYFY acquires a lot of their programming from established production companies who they have existing relationships with, such as The Asylum and Active Entertainment.
And most of the stuff they produce for SYFY are the ever popular creature features or disaster movies.

You have to ask yourself, are you making a passion project, or an actual product, made by distribution in mind, targeted toward the direct to video and TV markets?
Are buyers looking for movies similar to yours at the moment?

Agreed!

However, SyFy gives The Asylum a lot of air time with their mockbusters.

I am temped to show The Asylum what I have and tell them I can save them money making them stuff for 1/5 their present budget.

Who knows? They may be game to give us a try.