Hi! Old-timers know exactly who I am. Old-timers know that I was once maybe a little too brash, and that's putting it mildly. I was kinda a jerk sometimes. I didn't mean to be, it just took me a while to learn how to do this online interaction thing.
Old-timers also know that I made a feature film on a nothing budget, with a nothing crew and a nobody cast. A lot of people tried to talk me out of doing it. Like, they REALLY tried to talk me out of doing it, even when I was in production.
I also got a lot of great advice. I received a wealth of meaningful support and encouragement. I wanna give a big shout-out to directorik - your advice has actually helped shape my life, in a good way. I sincerely credit the IT community for being largely responsible for me arriving at the place I'm at, artistically speaking.
What happened with that feature film? It didn't get me what I wanted, but if you try sometimes, you just may find, you get what you need. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing.
Antihero was never intended to make money, and that much is well-documented, publicly. My original intent for the film was to somehow show what I'm capable of, as a director, so that I might somehow attract investors to fund my second feature film. From that perspective, Antihero failed.
However, a lot of great things came from it. First of all, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in how to and how not to make a tiny-budget feature film. More importantly, though it didn't get the attention of investors, it absolutely got the attention of talented actors and crew members. I now exclusively work with legit talented and dedicated actors. It also got me noticed on IT, which led to a handful of both paid and unpaid jobs as editor and behind-the-scenes documentarian. It resulted in a whole bunch of networking and collaborating.
In a couple of different threads, I've taken a bit of flack for trying to recruit a professional audio guy to be a partner on my next feature film. I wanted someone who was willing to invest their time in my next project as a true partner, a co-producer. Cynics criticized me for trying to get pro audio people to "donate" their time.
Here's the kicker -- I got a partner, exactly the one I wanted. And I'm pretty sure their commitment to be involved in my next feature is largely attributable to the minor successes I had with Antihero.
I hate to brag. Sincerely, I hate to brag. But I kinda have to, in order to make my point here. How many feature films are made on a budget of less than $10K? Lots. It's kinda ridiculous how many. How many of those gain a theatrical release? Cuz mine did. It was only one week, and only one theater, but even that paltry success is far greater than most tiny-budget features ever see.
How many tiny-budget features have a page on rottentomatoes?
And all this came from a film that many "experts" told me I shouldn't make, a film that wasn't ever intended to land in theaters or on rottentomatoes. Why can't you see it yet? Because the distribution offer I received was not satisfactory to me.
So yeah, all of you naysayers, please continue to tell me how my plan for my next feature, a plan you know nothing of, is destined to fail.
I swim in your hater-aid. It keeps me awake. Please, for the future of my success, keep hating on my projects.
EDIT: Removed reference to a specific person, cuz I realized that was wrong to do so. Also, allow me to clarify -- as I state later in this thread, no I of course don't actually want to be hated on. This thread was actually an attempt to shut it down.
Old-timers also know that I made a feature film on a nothing budget, with a nothing crew and a nobody cast. A lot of people tried to talk me out of doing it. Like, they REALLY tried to talk me out of doing it, even when I was in production.
I also got a lot of great advice. I received a wealth of meaningful support and encouragement. I wanna give a big shout-out to directorik - your advice has actually helped shape my life, in a good way. I sincerely credit the IT community for being largely responsible for me arriving at the place I'm at, artistically speaking.
What happened with that feature film? It didn't get me what I wanted, but if you try sometimes, you just may find, you get what you need. If I could go back in time, I wouldn't change a thing.
Antihero was never intended to make money, and that much is well-documented, publicly. My original intent for the film was to somehow show what I'm capable of, as a director, so that I might somehow attract investors to fund my second feature film. From that perspective, Antihero failed.
However, a lot of great things came from it. First of all, I learned a lot of valuable lessons in how to and how not to make a tiny-budget feature film. More importantly, though it didn't get the attention of investors, it absolutely got the attention of talented actors and crew members. I now exclusively work with legit talented and dedicated actors. It also got me noticed on IT, which led to a handful of both paid and unpaid jobs as editor and behind-the-scenes documentarian. It resulted in a whole bunch of networking and collaborating.
In a couple of different threads, I've taken a bit of flack for trying to recruit a professional audio guy to be a partner on my next feature film. I wanted someone who was willing to invest their time in my next project as a true partner, a co-producer. Cynics criticized me for trying to get pro audio people to "donate" their time.
Here's the kicker -- I got a partner, exactly the one I wanted. And I'm pretty sure their commitment to be involved in my next feature is largely attributable to the minor successes I had with Antihero.
I hate to brag. Sincerely, I hate to brag. But I kinda have to, in order to make my point here. How many feature films are made on a budget of less than $10K? Lots. It's kinda ridiculous how many. How many of those gain a theatrical release? Cuz mine did. It was only one week, and only one theater, but even that paltry success is far greater than most tiny-budget features ever see.
How many tiny-budget features have a page on rottentomatoes?
And all this came from a film that many "experts" told me I shouldn't make, a film that wasn't ever intended to land in theaters or on rottentomatoes. Why can't you see it yet? Because the distribution offer I received was not satisfactory to me.
So yeah, all of you naysayers, please continue to tell me how my plan for my next feature, a plan you know nothing of, is destined to fail.
I swim in your hater-aid. It keeps me awake. Please, for the future of my success, keep hating on my projects.
EDIT: Removed reference to a specific person, cuz I realized that was wrong to do so. Also, allow me to clarify -- as I state later in this thread, no I of course don't actually want to be hated on. This thread was actually an attempt to shut it down.
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