this is true, luckily I've watched friends make that mistake ,where they didn't factor everything in including how to sell the finished product..I learned from their mistakes

A Case of Mistaken Identity I believe...

http://phonezap.com/i/f/1317893.jpg

i apologize to the the Heron as well as Harmon
similar but not the same...free beers to all

Irregardless of all the shit talking and trolling on here I just don't think people understand how truly talented Everette is. He made Razor a bestselling comic at a time when independent comic books just didn't do those kind of numbers. If people don't like him that is their prerogative, but there is no denying he is one talented motherfucker...

hmmm i think there's an issue here

but indie film look great
try horror aswell!

don't you just love how a thread with a cool topic always seems to go sideways with the same group of about 10-15 total morons.......

horror or documentary seem to have potential for profit

oh wow thanks man..you got me all misty-eyed and shit

easy niches for sure

I'd pay to go see the Razor movie when it comes out. 100%

In 9 years, nothing has changed. :)

We gotta talk, i am doing mainstream Indy 70% of time now,

You can't flip movies like you flip houses. If you think you can good luck to you. Hollywood is a very small world. Sooner or later you need a distributor and that takes connections or a lot of buzz for your film. You're better off creating something online and letting them come to you when it gets a following...

Or meeting them halfway with it I guess.

Very true, the secret is something small that goes big

:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh:1orglaugh :thumbsup

Documentary is the cheapest to produce and if you have a subject that is interesting it has the longest shelf life and will always make sales. My friend did a documentary about the Portland roller derby girls and does VERY WELL with it http://www.brutalbeautymovie.com/

I have co-produced late night films such as 'I Am Virgin' budgeted at 90K - here is the Trailer https://youtube.com/watch?v=4clarkhWu_A and it does OK with sales though did not make money because we spent to much.

Kelley Baker, aka angry filmmaker http://www.angryfilmmaker.com/ has about 7 low budget films (like around $6000 each) and totally lives off of his works. He spend a lot of time promoting them and going to festivals to give 'pep talks' to would be filmmakers and film enthusiast. Just like Porn, if you want to sell it - PROMOTE IT.

There is more money in mainstream films, that is proven. Though, you do have to have a good concept, some skills and some good gear to get it done. I also think you need a crew that will work with you knowing that you probably won't pay them the going wages up front and most of anything is on the back end.

on the indie side......
I'm personally funding small movies and lending them my name.."blah blah blah presents" ( for online, dvd, netflix, redbox,festivals, event screenings ) in the $15k- $25k range..goal is to make $50k-$100k and up.. on the life of that film
The trick is in the subject matter and the production value..even if it's this cheap.


on the Hollywood side.......
I have little to no control on that. I option the properties and hope a movie gets a greenlight, then I can make real money w/ it and sequels, plus retain all merchandise rights..ala George Lucas style. That indeed is a slow process with the players always changing until 1 day enough good players take the field to make the funding feel comfortable enough to release the funding...

If you're already connected that's one thing.

I've made between 50 and 100 grand screenwriting and got a couple screen credits for some low budget stuff. Chump change, but I wanted to screen credits. Now I find out it's better to have done nothing than to have done crap LOL.

If you're not connected, then there is no real business model for Hollywood success. There are more stories of how someone or something became successful than there are plots to write screenplays about.

You must remember how hard it was for Figgis to get distributors for LEAVING LAS VEGAS and that was a very successful movie with A list talent, and that's the type of subject you would want to make an indy film about.

My advice would be to create some type of online series and build up a following. You might not even need Hollywood by the time they come to you and you might start making money without them. Then you can retain creative control. South Park wouldn't ever really need Hollywood these days to be successful except they got used to the money now.

As far as merchandising rights go, that's usually for toys you can sell to kids. What kind of movies with stories for kids can you do for under a 100 grand budget.

Just some things to think about. :)

Why low budget indie films fail:

1. lame concept - the film is just boring!
2. Poor production values - quality is lacking in every way from poor lighting to bad camera work.
3. No promotion - Yep, the filmmakers simply did not promote the film, they thought if they made the distributors would come.... FAIL!
4. Legal troubles - Yep, they did not pay the crew nor the cast or worse are using property they don't own!
5. Budgeted to high - common mistake to pay way to much to ones friends and pals who you want to impress, to hire the strippers at your the club you frequent, and to rent gear that is way over what is needed. It is then easy to spend 50K to 90K (most of it debt and IOU's) on a film that will probably just make that much in 3 years.

Though in my view, the lack of promotion is the real problem. Filmmakers simply don't know how to market and promote. But if you know how...then you will get rich with indie films.

this is great info..gonna check out angryfilmmaker now..

Absolutely. Just look at all the crap that makes money at least on opening weekend just because of promotion.

Then think of things like TRUE ROMANCE which lost money until becoming cult classics through video and DVD because of lack of promotions usually due to some pissing match between the changing of the guard (if not just clueless out of touch movie executives).

The say the actual production budget is only 1/3 of the movies real budget. So a 100 million dollar movie is actually 300 million to make if marketed correctly.

:thumbsup:thumbsup

%100100% correct

at least I know it is not personal, your a keyboard shit talker to 50 people before I lost count lol. I never took the time to pay attention to what you said so forget what I said then and keep up the good work then. I thought you had a problem, well maybe you do but nothing I can help you with