I'd like to introduce a new piece of terminology into indie circles.
PWC's [Producers Without Chequebooks]
In the last three months I've had maybe three or four meetings where a producer has offered to produce my last screenplay, one where he had $20,000 to cut promotional trailers, one with an extensive TV background and one who had already started casting the film before acquiring the rights!
To a person they each expected to be able to option my screenplay for NOTHING, on the vague promise of money in the future. And in each case I declined.
There are a number of contradictions in the industry --
On one hand producers universally acknowledge that there is a criminal shortage of good screenplays.
It's also universally understood that without a good script it's impossible to make a good film.
In a normal supply/demand market a scarcity of product drives the product price up, not down.
However, I do understand why they place no value on the product, truth is that everyone in this industry thinks they can write.
There's been a lot of talk over the years on this forum about distribution -- more and more I realise that the problems with the indie film scene aren't about distribution or funding -- there is only one problem, the scripts aren't good enough!
The indie scene is never going to mature into a valid indsutry as long PWC's are out there making films where the script isn't either ready or good enough, simply because
A) The could acquire the IP for free
and
B) They don't have or appreciate the skills involved in script development.
Bottom line is that in the market place a FREE script is worth every penny you paid for it.
It's great to be a self reliant indie and be able to do everything, but it's not realistic -- I'm good at directing actors. a dodgy camera operator, a so, so edtor -- but the bottom line is that I'm starting to become an really good screenwriter. That's where both my skills and passion lay.
If we're serious about progressing as an indie industry, maybe more of us should be dropping the Jack of All trades approach to film making -- then start acknowledging our strenghts and developing them.
I'd be happy never to direct or cut another film in my life, if I could make a comfortable living screenwriting.
But for that to work, some of you would have to sit back and say "You know, I'm never going to cut it as a writer, I'm really a great cinematographer" or director or editor or even a producer... whatever the hell it is you excell at in film making.
Maybe it's time to spend the hours that you would have put into writing a screenplay that sucks into rasing the money to pay an indie whose talents and passions lie in writing.
[I don't automatically mean ME!]
PWC's [Producers Without Chequebooks]
In the last three months I've had maybe three or four meetings where a producer has offered to produce my last screenplay, one where he had $20,000 to cut promotional trailers, one with an extensive TV background and one who had already started casting the film before acquiring the rights!
To a person they each expected to be able to option my screenplay for NOTHING, on the vague promise of money in the future. And in each case I declined.
There are a number of contradictions in the industry --
On one hand producers universally acknowledge that there is a criminal shortage of good screenplays.
It's also universally understood that without a good script it's impossible to make a good film.
In a normal supply/demand market a scarcity of product drives the product price up, not down.
However, I do understand why they place no value on the product, truth is that everyone in this industry thinks they can write.
There's been a lot of talk over the years on this forum about distribution -- more and more I realise that the problems with the indie film scene aren't about distribution or funding -- there is only one problem, the scripts aren't good enough!
The indie scene is never going to mature into a valid indsutry as long PWC's are out there making films where the script isn't either ready or good enough, simply because
A) The could acquire the IP for free
and
B) They don't have or appreciate the skills involved in script development.
Bottom line is that in the market place a FREE script is worth every penny you paid for it.
It's great to be a self reliant indie and be able to do everything, but it's not realistic -- I'm good at directing actors. a dodgy camera operator, a so, so edtor -- but the bottom line is that I'm starting to become an really good screenwriter. That's where both my skills and passion lay.
If we're serious about progressing as an indie industry, maybe more of us should be dropping the Jack of All trades approach to film making -- then start acknowledging our strenghts and developing them.
I'd be happy never to direct or cut another film in my life, if I could make a comfortable living screenwriting.
But for that to work, some of you would have to sit back and say "You know, I'm never going to cut it as a writer, I'm really a great cinematographer" or director or editor or even a producer... whatever the hell it is you excell at in film making.
Maybe it's time to spend the hours that you would have put into writing a screenplay that sucks into rasing the money to pay an indie whose talents and passions lie in writing.
[I don't automatically mean ME!]
