Sounding the rallying cry

[Mjb2k11]

I'm still pretty new at directing and producing and all the many hats rolled into one. After writing for years, I decided to do a web series (which I mentioned on another thread) last summer and directed one episode. I've treated the whole experience as a start-up.

Now, after a year and major cast changes, we're still stuck on one episode. We recently started to shoot more episodes with an eye towards premiering in Novemeber, but at times, I feel like I'm losing the faith of the cast and crew. I've had two people quit because they felt like they had to cut back somewhere. And my goal from the start was that if the actor had a paying gig come up and had to leave the production, I wasn't going to stand in the way of that. I think we'd all like to get paid doing this. But I kind of don't like the idea that my production is lower priority, but I have no choice really. I can't afford to pay anyone, so everyone is volunteering with their own time and money. However, I strongly feel with the right amount of promotion and marketing, the show can do well. Not a lot of people saw the first episode, but from what I've heard, people really dug it. And just last week, one of my actors told me that he went to Kinko's to get his script copies and the girl who printed them out read them and really liked the idea.

What can I do to keep my cast/crew still interested in the concept? I'm having trouble getting a crew because, again, I can't afford to pay anyone. How do I get people interested in the concept?

Is it standard protocol to put out some kind of speech or manifesto (a la Jerry Maguire) to say that we're going to do this?

Am I making too much of this?

 

[SinEater]

I'm still pretty new at directing and producing and all the many hats rolled into one. After writing for years, I decided to do a web series (which I mentioned on another thread) last summer and directed one episode. I've treated the whole experience as a start-up.

Now, after a year and major cast changes, we're still stuck on one episode. We recently started to shoot more episodes with an eye towards premiering in Novemeber, but at times, I feel like I'm losing the faith of the cast and crew. I've had two people quit because they felt like they had to cut back somewhere. And my goal from the start was that if the actor had a paying gig come up and had to leave the production, I wasn't going to stand in the way of that. I think we'd all like to get paid doing this. But I kind of don't like the idea that my production is lower priority, but I have no choice really. I can't afford to pay anyone, so everyone is volunteering with their own time and money. However, I strongly feel with the right amount of promotion and marketing, the show can do well. Not a lot of people saw the first episode, but from what I've heard, people really dug it. And just last week, one of my actors told me that he went to Kinko's to get his script copies and the girl who printed them out read them and really liked the idea.

What can I do to keep my cast/crew still interested in the concept? I'm having trouble getting a crew because, again, I can't afford to pay anyone. How do I get people interested in the concept?

Is it standard protocol to put out some kind of speech or manifesto (a la Jerry Maguire) to say that we're going to do this?

Am I making too much of this?

If you're getting people to work for free, you need to be fast. There has to be progress. It's been a year and you have one episode? You should have been shooting an episode a weekend, getting a season done in a couple months. No one is going to wait around forever while you try to figure things out.

 

[Mjb2k11]

If you're getting people to work for free, you need to be fast. There has to be progress. It's been a year and you have one episode? You should have been shooting an episode a weekend, getting a season done in a couple months. No one is going to wait around forever while you try to figure things out.

Lol, I completely agree with you, except we had a hell of a time trying to re-cast the lead, of which pretty much every scene revolved around him. Now that we've found him, yeah, the plan is to shoot fast.

 

[SinEater]

Saying it and doing it are two completely different things. Time kills more no-budget projects than anything else, at least in my experience.

 

[wheatgrinder]

What he ^^^ said.

 

[Flicker Pictures]

If you're getting people to work for free, you need to be fast. There has to be progress. It's been a year and you have one episode? You should have been shooting an episode a weekend, getting a season done in a couple months. No one is going to wait around forever while you try to figure things out.

Yep! Do everything you can to expedite the process of production without sacrificing or compromising the image and takes. In my experience, the more you look like you know what you're doing and what you want from the cast and crew, the better. As long as people see you hustling and making decisions and getting shots in the can and moving on, they will feel taken care of and part of something urgent and special.

When you do your best to keep everyone busy and motivated, it's amazing what a difference that makes. The less down time there is and the more your production is streamlined and focused, the better your chances are of getting all the necessary shots in the can.

Kill everyone with kindness, thank them incessantly and go out of your way to make their efforts worthwhile. Any token of appreciation, no matter how small it may seem, works wonders.

What did Dylan Thomas say? Rage against the dying golden hour?

Or yoga master Baron Baptiste: Fake it 'til you make it, and you will make it.

Well, lots of rambling from this peanut in the gallery...