How To's

Think about the film you’re working on, the one you’d finish if you had the money. Now ask yourself: What am I trying to accomplish with my work? What’s my mission statement as a filmmaker? What kind of films do I want to be making in five years?

Before you buy or sell rights to adapt a film, you should know what you’re buying into. It’s always a good idea to look at the experiences of others for guidance.

You’ve found a great story. You’ve optioned the rights, (which we will explore in Part II of this article next month), and now you’re wondering how to transform a 350 page novel, or non-fiction story, into a 120 page screenplay. You stare blankly at the screen on your laptop. What comes next?

There has been one constant since Ye Olden Days of filmmaking: the face-to-face interaction between the filmmaker and the people needed to get a movie made. But in 2008, that is no longer the case.

In the annals of motion picture production we find a handful of producers and directors that were beloved by actors. Two names that quickly come to mind are the late Robert Altman and Clint Eastwood. In Altman’s case it was a matter or sheer intelligence and awareness that performing is an art form. In Eastwood’s case there is the added fact that he is also an actor.

Giving a guest lecture at New York University some years ago, I stood before a class of 62 people and posited the question, “Who among you wants to begin their film careers as directors?” Sixty people raised their hands. The two that did not raise their hands drew my interest. Upon asking them what they had planned, one said that he wanted to edit films and the other said that he planned on becoming a screenwriter.

Over the last 12 years, Chris Stinson, founder of Live Free or Die Films, has worked his way through several jobs -- assistant director, production coordinator, and line producer on more than 30 feature and independent films -- including The Hammer, directed by Charles Herman Wurmfeld, Harsh Times, starring Stinsontian Bale and Eva Longoria, and Me and You and Everyone We Know, winner of the 2005 Sundance Film Festival Special Jury Prize, and read more...

I was recently at a birthday party with one of my kids when another dad asked what I do. I said that I'm a filmmaker.  Surprised, he asked, Oh, is Western Massachusetts a hotbed of filmmaking? 

A bad soundtrack or cheesy stock library selection can really hurt an independent film, especially if a filmmaker writes or even shoots the piece with a particular song, finding out later that it costs $50,000 to use.  What do you do when that's the entire budget of your film times 10?  Times 50?  Find someone skilled at pulling together existing recordings -- the mysteriously-named music supervisor -- you know, one of those jobs in very small font on a credit crawl.  Or bring in a composer to record something original or read more...

A few month ago, I wrote the first part of this piece which covered the planning, casting, and production of Red Sneakers.  Of course, a film is not much more finished after production than it is after a script is written.  In fact, I was surprised to hear from the actors in Red Sneakers how often they simply never hear back from a filmmaker after the shoot.  But the key to making a short film, no matter how awful or great it might be, is actually finishing it.  So here's how it works.

Step One: Writing the Script

I always think the worst low/no-budget independent films are the ones where the same person writes, directs and acts in the film. Fortunately, I have no gift or desire for acting. And anyway, taking on two of these roles -- writing and directing -- is enough a challenge. I spent about a year working on the Red Sneakers script, including several months in which I workshopped it with the help of a writing group. In the summer of 2006, I had my final script and was ready to plan production.

Now that you’ve got the money (see part I), you’re wondering what is the best way to organize pre-production, production, and post-production so you have enough left over for promotion.  If you're like most filmmakers, you already know how to put a film together.  But a partnership with a corporate expat brings slightly different expectations.

After a childhood growing up in Aruba and a political science degree from Cornell University, Thelma Schoonmaker saw herself becoming an international diplomat. But, when she expressed her liberal views during State Department tests, she was informed that she would probably find herself unhappy in a job with the FBI or CIA.

When it comes to celebrities, there is one question that we have all asked ourselves at one point or another and that is, how the heck does her dress stay on? Well, the answer to that question would be that it stays on because it is someone’s job to make sure that it stays on.

Who’s the one who makes sure the actors are in costume?  Who’s the one who gets each scene up and running?  Who’s the one who keeps the director from going crazy?  In many cases, as in the case of the film Mom the Movie, directed by Erin Greenwell and screening at the Boston Gay and Lesbian Film Festival in May, it’s the assistant director (AD). AD Rosalie McManis discussed how to be an assistant director with NewEnglandFilm.

You labor over lighting and camera angles, choose dialogue carefully, wring genuine emotion from your actors, and spend countless hours editing your film.  But is that all?  Unfortunately, that's not the end of the filmmaking story, if you actually want people to see your film.  In that case, you must also consider how to promote your film.  This includes garnering press coverage, screening your film at festivals and theatres, and promoting your film through its own website.  This last detail is one of the quickest and least expensive ways read more...

Long before the director utters the first "action" of the day, the Associate Producer has already put in hours, days and even weeks of work. He or she may have secured the location, drawn up the equipment lists, scheduled the cast and crew and arrived first on the set with the Production Assistants and the catering truck. As Will Fraser, an experienced Associate Producer says, "It helps to have a positive attitude."

Film aficionado, LeTicia Lee who has recently released "The Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Financing (There’s An Angel In Your Corner) "through independent publisher Lulu Press is rather humble yet passionate about sharing the book. She says she published her notebook and rolodex in a way after seeing so many of her peers standing in one lane of what seemed like a 100-lane highway. Perhaps that lane known as Hollywood is lit brightest and paved with gold dust. But is it the best road to take? LeTicia believes you can be your own studio boss.

When Jake Messier talks about his life and career as a Director of Photography (DP), he is quick to point out, "I didn't become a DP in the usual way."  By this he means that he did not go to film school or work his way up from a Production Assistant, instead he joined the Marines. 

Garret C. Maynard saw "Lawrence of Arabia" in 1963 when he was just three years old, and he was hooked. His love for storytelling and film developed as he continued to watch the "emotionally and politically charged films" of that era, but it wasn’t until he read the biography of Jim Morrison at age 22 that he was inspired to become a filmmaker himself. Following in the footsteps of Morrison, who had been a filmmaker before he became a rock-and-roll icon as The Doors front man, Maynard decided to attend film read more...

Picture it: Slowly we approach a woman standing at the edge of a cliff. We see sweat dripping from her face. We look down at the 500 foot drop toward jagged rocks. We quietly move away and...

Grant writing is, for most, the least exciting, most exasperating aspect of filmmaking. The drudgery of pounding out a synopsis, the agonizing over every little adjective to avoid spilling over a word limit, the months of waiting for the seemingly inevitable rejection -- all repellant enough to make anyone run screaming from an arts foundation and head for the hills. For a filmmaker anxious to tell their story, passion can take a backseat to financial roadblock. Getting an independent film funded can halt the creative process for years at a read more...

Sound design doesn’t end before mixing begins, and the idea that you can always "fix it the mix" is going to get you into trouble one day. Here are some of the steps to take before mixing to preserve the focus of the sound design -- not to mention the sanity and well-being of everyone else involved.