Found a great actor, Stephen Collins, to perform Tom Paine's Bones, my hour-long monolog. We might need a director. My other script, Geotopia, fills in the pauses in the Paine project. It could use participants.
What projects are you working on 2021 + ?
- Thread starter GOLDENMORAL CINEMAS
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I think this is an amazing idea my friend! I think you could turn that into an amazing film indeed, good concepts and I don’t find it too hard to understand. Perhaps an easier way to explain the story style in words would be slightly modified description of chaos theory. If you see Jurassic park there is a scene where it is explained well by Jeff Goldblum. Where he tips some water onto an accomplices hand, there are multiple ways the water droplet can travel down her hand even if predictions say it should go a specific way. It goes another way than what was predicted. This is chaos theory. So that came to mind when I read what you said, although it isn’t exactly the same. In the end I think your concept is marvelous, how long have you been working on this project and do you have much backing for it yet?Lol. I've spent months trying to formulate a perfect answer to that question. Every time someone asks, I start writing the answer and 4-5 hours in I just fall asleep.
I'll try again though. Brevity is the soul of wit, here we go. Save point is whatever you want it to be. It does start out as a story of a man who comes home from an average day at work, sits down in front of the tv and discovers the world is about to end. He soon discovers however that this day is instead the beginning, of a world beyond anything he ever knew existed. It's an interactive fiction product that tackles the most difficult and sought after goal in CYOA history. the idea of true freedom. I loved those books growing up in grade school, but they all had a similar failing. Due to constraints of the medium, you could make choices, but they all ended up leading to a similar outcome.
One day I came across a single book that didn't follow those default rules, it was called "The Cereal Box Adventures"
Unlike all the other choose your own adventure books, this book did not give you the choice of going to the north side of pirate island or the northeast side of pirate island. It just spiraled out into whatever.
You woke up in the morning and made a bowl of cereal, and while you were eating breakfast, you read the many advertisements on the back of the cereal box. Depending on which of these you focused on, your day began to take a series of unusual turns. You could read the book one time, and get drafted into the army and end up fighting in a war. You could read it another time and end up on a mission to outer space. It really let your choices matter, though no one story was very long.
So as briefly as I can put it, that's what Save Point is about. The idea of choice driven fiction that doesn't limit itself. It spreads out and replicates like a virus, with no central direction.
If I had to explain why I think this is a good idea, that would take another 10,000 words. It sounds impossible, and it was, but some things have changed and I don't think it is anymore.
Hopefully no one is more confused than when I started, lol.
I've been working on it for about 5 months now, maybe 6. Most of the time I spent working so far was in R&D. I came upon a program at the end of last year that I used to create some animations. This particular program was basic and not very powerful, but it was set up in a way that made it easier to see how the pipeline I needed could be created. I should mention that I'd had this idea for over a decade, with a very early attempt in 2008. It just wasn't possible. There are very serious problems with this idea. Until I learned animation, and investigated a significant number of interlinking software innovations and world states, I continued to think it was impossible.
As far as backing, it's a complicated thing, and right now we have no financial backing. I'm spending what money I have on it, but these days it's not a lot. The project is very free and open compared to most, and it gives us the opportunity to make this a nexus for creatives trying to take their first steps into the industry. Basically, it really takes a critical mass of money or effort to break into the film\television industry. Tens of thousands of indie filmmakers across the world don't have that money or opportunity, and are looking for a way to produce something competitive in the market. Save Point is a new kind of semi open system that allows a large number of creatives to work collaboratively on a single story of unprecedented scale. Though it will be seen by the public as one continuous story, the reality is that this is a platform designed to connect hundreds, if not thousands of individual films. It depends on how you define film. It's also designed to monetize on YouTube in a more effective way than conventional channels, encouraging repeat viewing and chain viewing natively. YouTube is a poor starting place for filmmakers in a lot of ways. They are basically paying 1c on the dollar vs the same job, same hours, at a studio project. So you find yourself working 1000 hours, and making 10 grand. You're trying to raise 4 million for your first "real" indie film. Meanwhile, some people already in the industry are getting paid that same 10 grand for 1 hour. It's the current world in microcosm. The more you need help, the less help you get.
I think a lot of us just want a position in film where we could climb the ladder. Work on the low end, get recognized for our work and talent, rise in the ranks until we've proven our skills to the level where we can finally make the film idea that initially inspired us. Save Point creates that ladder to some degree. It's not perfect, and that ladder doesn't extend all the way down to the floor, but for people that have already been working hard, it's a way to have something they desperately need, the experience of working as part of a team, and the synergy of resource sharing that exists commonly in large corporations.
The animated nature of production solves a number of major problems, such as the expense of props, locations, and actors on set. Also critical is the ability for every member to work from home on their own schedule. That's a pretty big deal in terms of the practicality. The infinite storyline has the unique characteristic of creating a situation where the possibility of directing your own episode is always available, with members who excel at the work being continually promoted to higher positions in the corporation over time.
To circle back to your question, the plan is to run a serious crowdfunding campaign in a year, perhaps longer. It needs to reach a critical mass before that campaign could raise the money this needs.
On the member end, it will function almost like a game. There will be all these filmmaking tasks, FX, cinematography, sound design, music, art, animation, etc, and each will have a point bounty attached. Members who score highest will get noticed, and increase their chance to reach the goal of the game. The final goal is to prove you have the skills to be a project director, and the reward is being given a fork. Once you own a fork, you take 90% profit share of that fork and all it's cells. 10% of all net from all forks is cycled back into the organization. Owning a fork would be a big deal, and would likely take a minimum of a year to accomplish. That fork comes with advertising and support that you don't pay for, it comes with all the collective subscribers from the entire project. It comes with tens of thousands of dollars in shared resources. likely much more within a few years. Most importantly, it would come with the privilege of posting jobs on save point. This would complete an employees journey, from unpaid intern to paid filmmaker with a crew and a support community. Mentorship within the team would be strongly encouraged, and applicants would always have a clear view of what they could do to progress.
Sorry about the extremely long answer, I need to get all this down on paper anyway, and when people ask me questions, it helps motivate me to just go ahead and formulate the wording for the answer.
As far as backing, it's a complicated thing, and right now we have no financial backing. I'm spending what money I have on it, but these days it's not a lot. The project is very free and open compared to most, and it gives us the opportunity to make this a nexus for creatives trying to take their first steps into the industry. Basically, it really takes a critical mass of money or effort to break into the film\television industry. Tens of thousands of indie filmmakers across the world don't have that money or opportunity, and are looking for a way to produce something competitive in the market. Save Point is a new kind of semi open system that allows a large number of creatives to work collaboratively on a single story of unprecedented scale. Though it will be seen by the public as one continuous story, the reality is that this is a platform designed to connect hundreds, if not thousands of individual films. It depends on how you define film. It's also designed to monetize on YouTube in a more effective way than conventional channels, encouraging repeat viewing and chain viewing natively. YouTube is a poor starting place for filmmakers in a lot of ways. They are basically paying 1c on the dollar vs the same job, same hours, at a studio project. So you find yourself working 1000 hours, and making 10 grand. You're trying to raise 4 million for your first "real" indie film. Meanwhile, some people already in the industry are getting paid that same 10 grand for 1 hour. It's the current world in microcosm. The more you need help, the less help you get.
I think a lot of us just want a position in film where we could climb the ladder. Work on the low end, get recognized for our work and talent, rise in the ranks until we've proven our skills to the level where we can finally make the film idea that initially inspired us. Save Point creates that ladder to some degree. It's not perfect, and that ladder doesn't extend all the way down to the floor, but for people that have already been working hard, it's a way to have something they desperately need, the experience of working as part of a team, and the synergy of resource sharing that exists commonly in large corporations.
The animated nature of production solves a number of major problems, such as the expense of props, locations, and actors on set. Also critical is the ability for every member to work from home on their own schedule. That's a pretty big deal in terms of the practicality. The infinite storyline has the unique characteristic of creating a situation where the possibility of directing your own episode is always available, with members who excel at the work being continually promoted to higher positions in the corporation over time.
To circle back to your question, the plan is to run a serious crowdfunding campaign in a year, perhaps longer. It needs to reach a critical mass before that campaign could raise the money this needs.
On the member end, it will function almost like a game. There will be all these filmmaking tasks, FX, cinematography, sound design, music, art, animation, etc, and each will have a point bounty attached. Members who score highest will get noticed, and increase their chance to reach the goal of the game. The final goal is to prove you have the skills to be a project director, and the reward is being given a fork. Once you own a fork, you take 90% profit share of that fork and all it's cells. 10% of all net from all forks is cycled back into the organization. Owning a fork would be a big deal, and would likely take a minimum of a year to accomplish. That fork comes with advertising and support that you don't pay for, it comes with all the collective subscribers from the entire project. It comes with tens of thousands of dollars in shared resources. likely much more within a few years. Most importantly, it would come with the privilege of posting jobs on save point. This would complete an employees journey, from unpaid intern to paid filmmaker with a crew and a support community. Mentorship within the team would be strongly encouraged, and applicants would always have a clear view of what they could do to progress.
Sorry about the extremely long answer, I need to get all this down on paper anyway, and when people ask me questions, it helps motivate me to just go ahead and formulate the wording for the answer.
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I should finish my certificate in Feature Film Writing from UCLA this fall. Other than that, I'm writing and still trying to sell/produce a series I created 11 years ago. I now have a soft "in" with a production company that has a name star attached. To clarify, the star is attached to the production company (he's married to the owner), not my series (yet). This production company doesn't have any previous series productions in its catalog, so I'm not overly optimistic.
I've been crazy busy. Finishing up DPing/directing the feature EVIL DWELLS WITHIN, then on to editing/scoring. You can see the trailer on this thread:
indietalk.com
I was one of 7 filmmakers chosen for the Lucky 777s Film Challenge. Shooting a bigfoot feature, DRONE DOWN, in August.
Been scoring and helping shoot commercials, notably for lawyer, Anthony Paglia.
Honestly, I'm trying to slow things down! Ha ha!
EVIL DWELLS WITHIN
Still shooting, off and on into May. I'm using the BMPCC 4K camera.
I was one of 7 filmmakers chosen for the Lucky 777s Film Challenge. Shooting a bigfoot feature, DRONE DOWN, in August.
Been scoring and helping shoot commercials, notably for lawyer, Anthony Paglia.
Honestly, I'm trying to slow things down! Ha ha!
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Grats! That's pretty cool, never heard of 777I've been crazy busy. Finishing up DPing/directing the feature EVIL DWELLS WITHIN, then on to editing/scoring. You can see the trailer on this thread:
EVIL DWELLS WITHIN
Still shooting, off and on into May. I'm using the BMPCC 4K camera.
I was one of 7 filmmakers chosen for the Lucky 777s Film Challenge. Shooting a bigfoot feature, DRONE DOWN, in August.
Been scoring and helping shoot commercials, notably for lawyer, Anthony Paglia.
Honestly, I'm trying to slow things down! Ha ha!
Thanks! It hasn't happened before this year. Some coverage:
Channel 13 News
Fox 5 News
Lucky 777 spotlight Mike Conway
Mike interview
Ninon interview
Been busting butt, changed my attitude, and now using that new perspective to really reach out, make friends/films/ and most of all... Have some freakin fun while doing it! especially now that I can be with people again! yay!
So far, in only 2 weeks I've been able to:
So far, in only 2 weeks I've been able to:
- Work on 2 films 3 different shooting days as Gaffer.
- Create a local filmmaking group.
- Schedule a couple of wedding shoots.
- Become part of 2 feature film production teams.
- Register a team for a 48hr film challenge.
- Make connections with over 10 solid filmmakers of various jobs.
- Get 11 pages into a new scifi short film.
- Make a new youtube vlog video.
- Drink butt loads of Coffee.
- Maintain sanity in my real job.
In addition to all that I listed, above, I just finished the short, ANGRY SHADE, which I posted HERE in the Videos section.
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