Posts

Showing posts with the label line producer

PRODUCTION TIPS: 3 Tips to Working With a Tight Budget

Image
Filmmakers, no, you will not go to jail for bankruptcy. Fraud on the other hand... It is difficult to plan ahead and come up with the perfect budget for a film but the allure of making a film can not be denied. And so, the filmmaker plods ahead come what may to make that film. But for low-budget indie filmmakers all it takes is one misbudgeted item to derail the whole project. So when you gotta make that film even if you lack enough funds then you must be efficient and flexible to make it to the finish line. Here are 3 tips to get there: ATTRACT TALENT WITH PARTNERSHIPS Find the best Writer, Protagonist Actor/Actress, DP, Sound Mixer, Line Producer / Production Manager, Lawyer and Editor you can afford. Develop a professional relationship and friendly rapport with them. Think long term. If you can't afford their fees, put together a compensation package that is more than just credit and deferred compensation. Even low pay is better than nothing. Some other forms of comp

PRODUCTION TIPS: Don't be like Randall Miller - Think Safety

Image
Filmmakers sacrifice alot for their art; their sleep, their bank account, their time, their family, their sanity, even their health. That is understandable to a degree since the need and desire to express yourself trumps the more rational necessities of life. But while filmmakers, as artists, might believe there is no limit, there really is and that is when you take someone's life in your hands. It feels morally repugnant to risk someone's life for art or money. But it happens in film. And the reality is that it has to happen. It has to happen because without taking risks you can't "get that shot" or "finish the film" or "make the fight scene look amazing." But because there are risks to making movies, the filmmaker has a sacred duty to do all within their power to minimize the risks.   What is truly morally repugnant is when a filmmaker risks someone's life without doing all in their power to minimize the risks. Accidents will alwa

PRODUCTION TIPS: 10 Ways Directors MUST Think like a Line Producer

Image
  The no-to-low budget director is a man of many hats and throughout the production, the director will, at different times and simultaneously, wear the writer's cap, the executive producer's top hat, the director's beret, the line producer's helmet, the editor's hood... hell maybe even the caterer's toque. This is simply a reflection of how a no-to-low budget forces one to do more with less and so the director becomes a hybrid doing many of the most important jobs on the set by himself.  In an otherwise standard or big budget production, the director would pass the head gear to someone else who can devote all their attention to that specific job at hand.  One of the most important jobs that a director MUST perform with a no-to-low budget production is the job of the line producer.  In fact, even when he can delegate to someone else, the director would still benefit from wearing the line producer's helmet. It's easy to imagine the line producer wear