watch investor video (sample, film completed years ago)

[sonnyboo]

Here is a video we made in 2004 when all we had shot was a 3 minute scene for the film HORRORS OF WAR, which we then raised the money for and shot in 2005 and finished in 2006 and released on DVD in Japan, North America, Poland, Thailand, Germany, UK, Sweden, and a few other countries I can't recall off the top of my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dPSSyhYfwY

Putting a 3 minute demo scene and this video on a DVD helped us a lot in getting investors. In 2004, we were cutting edge; Today, 7 years later most people do this.

But this might help some of the newbs out there.

Does this help anyone?

 

[brianluce]

Here is a video we made in 2004 when all we had shot was a 3 minute scene for the film HORRORS OF WAR, which we then raised the money for and shot in 2005 and finished in 2006 and released on DVD in Japan, North America, Poland, Thailand, Germany, UK, Sweden, and a few other countries I can't recall off the top of my head.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dPSSyhYfwY

Putting a 3 minute demo scene and this video on a DVD helped us a lot in getting investors. In 2004, we were cutting edge; Today, 7 years later most people do this.

But this might help some of the newbs out there.

Does this help anyone?

Did you shoot on 16mm? I wish I could afford that.
Do you have a post on how you raised money?

 

[Kholi]

Thanks for sharing.

My question is: How did the aftermath go for you guys? Since it's years past, can you talk about whether or not the feature was able to get you guys into another one with an equal or larger budget?

Did it make you guys any cash afterward?

Can understand if you can't discuss that, it's great info for we newbs to have, though!

Thanks for sharing.

Oh, and any whiff of what the budget was? Or what tent it fell under? 30-50K? 100-250? 500K?

 

[sonnyboo]

We shot on Super 16mm, regular 16mm, 35mm (1 scene) and Super 8 film for flashbacks - NO VIDEO WHATSOEVER.

By selling several territories, we made money back in. It was not gobs and gobs of money. I still cannot disclose the budget of the film.

THIS is the post on how we raised money. We shot a 3 minute scene from the film, along with this video above and talked to investors and sold the film. Then we pre-sold territories like Japan and Poland before we shot the rest of the movie. That means we had a CONTRACT and 10% in escrow until we delivered the movie, but it lowered risk for investors.

No, the home video market has collapsed and there's no money for people making indie feature films right now. Along with the fall of the stock market, no one has that much cash to spare anymore either.

 

[Kholi]

No, the home video market has collapsed and there's no money for people making indie feature films right now. Along with the fall of the stock market, no one has that much cash to spare anymore either.

I hear this from indie filmmakers, but on the distributor side I hear something completely different. I'll know for sure which one's the real deal, as we go to market with our feature as well within the coming months but as much info that we can gather we can! Thanks for sharing!

Glad to hear that you did make at least something, did the contacts from the distribution deal help you guys gather another feature or was this a one time only deal?

 

[Kholi]

Oh, and by the way, checked out the "sample preview" on Amazon. Looks like you guys spent a lot of money. Double-glad that it worked out for ya, always hearing too many horror stories from others but it's pretty obvious that your product was competently put together.

S16 rocks.

 

[sonnyboo]

it's pretty obvious that your product was competently put together.

Looks can be deceiving... This is a "B" movie at best with no name stars done on a low budget. It's not the greatest film. HORRORS OF WAR has an average 3 star rating (out of 10) on IMDB, so that should tell you something about the film and how it received by the public.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still proud of the film, but have realistic expectations about what you might see.

I hear this from indie filmmakers, but on the distributor side I hear something completely different.

I still work with distributors in various capacities and if the American Film Market and Cannes Film Markets are any indicator (which they are since that is where deals are made), the distributors themselves are selling fewer titles and when they do they are getting a fraction of what they did 5 years ago...

 

[Kholi]

Looks can be deceiving... This is a "B" movie at best with no name stars done on a low budget. It's not the greatest film. HORRORS OF WAR has an average 3 star rating (out of 10) on IMDB, so that should tell you something about the film and how it received by the public.

Haha! Yeah, that's true, man. Looks can DEFINITELY be deceiving, but it goes a long way to have another filmmaker say that it looks like you spent some good money. Regardless of what the audience rating is, it still looks above film school fair which is a good thing.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still proud of the film, but have realistic expectations about what you might see.

I totally get it. I'm biting my nails at the trailer release for Avery and Pete, because it's giving off an impression that the budget can't live up to.

I still work with distributors in various capacities and if the American Film Market and Cannes Film Markets are any indicator (which they are since that is where deals are made), the distributors themselves are selling fewer titles and when they do they are getting a fraction of what they did 5 years ago...

Right, fewer titles but not so much as dried up as it sounds, is what I'm referring to. We see acquisitions happen in trades frequently enough to know, and there are a decent amount without names and on small budgets that get pushed through by Magnet/Magnolia. They've got their own little market that they're interested in.

It's by no means a wide net, just means that producers need to bring something more to the table than mumblecore or even action with no names.

I'm only talking to two distributors, but that was the story I gathered from both.

Saw that you were raising money for another feature earlier this year, hope it went well, man.

 

[brianluce]

I've heard that the most important thing with regards to selling your film to a distributor is the movie poster, that many buyers don't even give a cr*p what the movie looks like and in fact often don't bother to look at it. They care about who is in it, and the poster. Did you find this to be true?