No Dances

Word from both Sundance and Slamdance was received and we failed to make the cut for either festival. I expected the Sundance rejection (though I held a small hope for a miracle) since Sundance has become a venue for established Hollywood vets to try new things with their 7 and 8 figure budgets. Slamdance, however, I thought could have been a nice fit for Horror House. They only accept movies from first or second time directors, which Chad is. But the cut of the movie they saw was not the right fit for them this year.

Onward and upward now as I continue to submit to film festivals across the world in hopes to find an audience and impress a buyer. I'll do the festival circuit for 12-18 months and if I don't find distibution in that time, I'll explore other routes until we sell the picture. I don't think we'll have any major problems selling.

I just read Bob the Gaffer's comment on the trailer. I certainly can't conclude from that particular comment what the anonymous follow-up poster concluded, but I can say with some certainty Bob is wrong about the acting. We had some very talented people involved, each of whom took on a persona quite different from their own. That in itself is a trait of a good actor.

As for the movie, it is what it is. It's a mockery of low-budget slasher flicks while being a low-budget faux slasher flick itself. Not everybody will like it, and not everyone is supposed to like it. My mom won't even watch it! ;)

~Justen

Trailer Online

Check out the Horror House trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XugR7044i9U

Y

The question that keeps coming to mind as I decide what next to write about in this Horror House blog is why? Why should I write about any more of my experiences? Why should I give any more advice? Why should I speak of Horror House as any kind of success when in reality it has accomplished nothing so far?

This isn't to say I am not proud of the movie, because I certainly am. And I'm not implying that seeing a movie through its inception all the way to its completion is not a success, because it is a HUGE success. I just can't help but feel pretentious giving advice about the movie making process when I have no proof I did it right.

Were I to keep giving advice and insight I would become too much of a hypocrite. I am the first to criticize screenwriting teachers who have never sold or optioned a script, so for me to make claims that I know what I'm doing without having proof I did it successfully would put me into the very same category as said teachers.

So as of the middle of October I am going to take a little hiatus from the Horror House blog. I still have much to say, but I want the credentials before I say it. I'm sure I'll still chime in once in a while, but I may not hit the blog hard again until early 2008.

In the meantime, please feel free to contact me at hhshoot@yahoo.com.

God bless.

~ Justen

Early Autumn Update

The last few months have been draining. I don't want to over dramatize, but I'm spent with all the post-production work. Editing isn't an exciting process for me. I'd much rather be on set 14 hours a day than sitting at a computer for even half that.

But the hard work has paid off. The movie is done. Well, there are still slight tweaks to be made, but the current cut was sent off to Sundance today. I'll know in December whether Horror House will be screened next January in Utah. It's a long shot, but most success stories come as the result of a successful long shot.

Praying.

~ Justen

Rubbing Shoulders

I'm a sucker for massages. Calf massages are my favorite, but I'll take a massage wherever I'm sore. My lower neck and shoulders are usually prime candidates, so a good shoulder rub is usually quite nice.

But that's not the type of shoulder rubbing I'm talking about. I'm talking about rubbing shoulders with influential people in the industry.

This morning I met with Ali Selim, director of "Sweet Land" (www.sweetlandmovie.com). His insights were very enlightening and educational, and I am so appreciative of the time he shared with me. The content of our conversation is kept between the two of us, but I can't stress enough how important it is to seize opportunities to meet with those who have had success in this industry.

And find a good masseuse.

~ Justen

A buck two ninety eight too much

A high school friend's dad used to cite things as being "a buck two ninety eight too much" when he felt an item was too expensive. Every expenditure on a movie falls into the "buck two ninety eight" category. The trick is to keep things from rising into the "buck three ninety eight" or "buck four ninety eight" or "buck eight ninety four" categories. Independent moviemaking is as much about frugality as creativity.*

To make a movie you need a camera, an editing suite of some sort, someone to run the camera (maybe yourself), a director (maybe yourself), actors (maybe yourself, although it is difficult to hold the camera while you act - I know from experience), crew, food for the cast and crew (and yourself), and a shoebox full of money for the little things that come up every day on set (like when your lead actor spills coffee all over his shirt between takes - gotta wash it or buy a new shirt).

Things you'll want include salaries for cast and crew (no need to try to make them millionaires, but at least cover their gas for crying out loud), backup wardrobe (for the actor who spills coffee), insurance (I hate that this is as important as it is), legal counsel (there goes your future son's college tuition), lights and equipment rentals, makeup and hair supplies, more food, location rental money, set dressings, and last, but certainly not least, Monster Energy Drink.

What does all this add up to be? A buck two ninety eight too much if you're lucky. A sudden urge to rob a bank if you're not. And I haven't even mentioned anything about publicity or film festival entry fees. Even those things can add up in a hurry.

I'm not going to advertise the final budget for Horror House just yet, but I can tell you between legal fees and insurance, you're already going to be around 10,000. So why not just skip the formality of doing things legally? Robert Rodriguez got away without a lawyer or insurance and it worked for him. Hey, it could certainly work for anyone. It just doesn't seem worth the risk to me. Why? Now there's a lengthy blog that I don't think I'll get to. Others have written enough about the importance of protecting yourself. That reminds me, I have yet to blog about the scores of books and other literature I recommend for budding filmmakers. There are a buck two ninety eight of them out there.

It's storming. I love storms.

~ Justen

* Though frugality certainly can't trump creativity. Frugality, after all, is a matter in itself of being creative.

On Trees?

If your motivation to make a movie is solely for your own entertainment and satisfaction, then you can (and probably should) skip the financing stage of preproduction. Buy a cheap 3CCD camera and a Mac-Mini with iMovie already installed, get some buddies together, and shoot what will end up being at best a fond memory and embarrassing product. Use your own money for the camera ($500), computer ($1000), and snacks for your buddies ($100 - $2000 depending on length of shoot and number of fatties in your posse).

Or, buy a crappy camera ($200), install cheap movie editing software on your already sluggish PC ($0 - $200), and make your buddies provide their own snacks.

Either way, shoot the movie in your house, a buddy's house, some woods, a family business, a park, on a boat, in your garage, or any place where you won't get in trouble.

If, however, your motivation for making a movie is closer to Robert Rodriguez's, get some money. In other words, if you want to make movies as a career, secure some kind of financing for your movie. Money doesn't grow on trees, so you have to be creative in your search. I wasn't creative, and I ended up with less money than I would have liked.

Here's what I did. I researched the financial records of other movies, mostly independent movies that garnered success. Like Blair Witch, Napoleon Dynamite, Open Water, and My Big Fat Greek Wedding. I used that data and painted scenarios for potential investors to see what they could have earned had they made a similar investment in any of those movies. When you get into the 6-digit percentage returns, you can't help but at least ponder the potential.

I packaged that data with investment scenarios for my movie, a synopsis, reasons to invest, reasons not to invest (honesty is important), and answers to other anticipated questions. The neatly packaged investment prospectus was sent to my (and one of my co-producer's) closest friends and family. I was surprised by the results. Quite honestly, I had a few people I thought I could count on that didn't invest, and I had a few that surprised me by investing. I don't think any differently about anybody for the decision they made, although I am ridiculously thankful to each and every investor in Horror House.

Had I been more creative and approached others outside my ring of friends and family, I may have connected with someone willing to finance the whole movie. That's one of the many mistakes I made with Horror House. I didn't sell the product as well as I could have. I have to become a better salesman to really succeed as a producer in this field. I will.

Most who invested did so predominantly because they wanted to support my (and/or my co-producer's) endeavors in moviemaking. They don't necessarily care, nor expect, to make any money on the movie. I, of course, believe whole-heartedly they will make money. Time will tell, of course. Even if Horror House proves to be a financial failure, it was an incredibile learning experience and we have a visually impressive, entertaining story that should lead to bigger projects in the near future. I still believe Horror House will make a nice profit, but if it doesn't, the next one will, and if the next one doesn't, the next one will, and if that one doesn't... my point is, I won't give up. Never.

And that might be the biggest point out of this whole blog. If you truly have a desire to make a career out of making movies, you absolutely cannot give up. It's hard. It's scary. It's not something normal people do. But if you believe strongly enough in yourself and have received reliable, positive feedback from people who know what they are talking about, and you're willing to work harder than you've ever worked before, then don't let the imminent failures and struggles along the way deter you.

More on that later.

~ Justen

PS - The term "fatties" as used above was used in a humorous tone. I am not prejudiced against fatties, or lardasses, or fatsos, and I don't mean to offend anyone in the 400 club. Please accept my apology, which is also meant in a humorous tone. :)

I echo echo echo his thoughts

Here is an interesting (and short) article featuring British filmmaker Mike Leigh. Don't worry, I'd never heard of him either. He talks about storytellers being born, not created, and I couldn't agree with him more.

living.scotsman.com/film.cfm?id=1329522007

~ Justen

Budge It

If you don't have a budget, budge it, but don't fudge it. Hey, that's kind of catchy. Like conjuctivitis , only without the redness. But does it make sense? Here's what I mean...

Movies cost a lot of money to make. Even simple independent movies. If you haven't read "Rebel Without a Crew" by Robert Rodriguez (Spy Kids, Sin City, Grindhouse), be sure to read it. He made his first feature for $7500. And he shot on film. That's insane. He couldn't do it today for that much, and he is probably the only person who will ever pull off what he pulled off a decade and a half ago.

That said, with the advent of digital video and a community of talented people willing to work for little to nothing, it is possible to shoot a mini-DV feature for just a little more than what Mr. Rodriguez spent on his first feature, El Mariachi. The budget for Horror House, by the way, was considerably more than $7500 and it was still too small to do all I wanted to do with it.

I am no authority on movie budgets or movie making. I simply have gone through the process and am sharing my opinions based on what I learned. I mentioned in a previous blog the importance of professional sound and that is reason enough to secure enough financing to hire a qualified sound team. But it is also important to have other talented crew. With a low budget, you won't be able to pay them Union wages up front, but offer deferred payments that amount to Union or slightly above Union minimums. They may never see that money, but at least it shows you are committed to rewarding them for their efforts if indeed you are one day able. And don't underestimate the importance of food and drink on set. A happy crew is a hard working crew. We were happy and we worked hard for 12-14 hours most days.

I could go on and on about budgets, but I see this is a topic that needs to be broken down more. I will touch on specifics in upcoming blogs as well as writing more about Robert Rodriguez. He's good.

Happy birthday, Dad.

~ Justen

Good Intentions

August 1. My last entry. August 18. Today. My intentions have been to update this blog every few days, but said intentions have failed to evolve into reality. I guess life gets in the way sometimes and the editing of the movie has taken presidence over discussing it. In the [hopefully] near future, I plan to discuss myriad topics including budget, actors, SAG, recommended reading, script, legal counsel, insurance, location scouting, and Barry Bonds. Well, maybe not Barry Bonds.

For the [one or two] readers of this blog, I invite you to offer requests for discussion. About what are you curious? Respond to this entry or send me a message at hhshoot@yahoo.com. I hope to make this a helpful resource for both, um, all of you.

~ Justen

A Sound Decision

Here begins my new motive to offer tips and advice for other filmmakers. The order of the blog entries will not reflect the order of importance for the recommendations. I am not that organized.

This first recommendation is a biggie, though. HIRE A GOOD SOUND PERSON! I can't stress enough the importance of good sound in your movie. It's much easier to fool an audience's eyes than their ears. Whatever you do, don't skimp in the sound budget for your movie. If you don't have any budget to speak of (even though you should have at least SOMETHING - more on that tip later), barter with a willing and talented individual who will make it their sole purpose to record great sound for your movie.

I highly recommend my sound engineer, Jim, and my boom operator, Lion, who did a knock up job of capturing great audio even in less than ideal situations. Oh, yeah, along with a good sound engineer, you need a qualified boom operator. I didn't realize just how important it was to have a good boom operator until I saw how Lion and Jim worked together. They were absolutely seemless in their execution. Jim would set up his mini-studio 10-50 feet away from the scene and he and Lion would communicate inconspicuously through headphones as they worked out the best location for the boom.

As I've been editing the last few weeks I've been amazed at the difference between the reference audio (sound recorded by the camera) and the professionaly recorded audio. Once I replace the bad audio for the good audio, the scene really comes to life. It's an extra step in the editing process, but it is absolutely worth it.

Whatever you do, please don't use the camera's built-in microphone for your movie's audio. If you absolutely can't afford to hire a sound person, buy or rent a high-quality microphone and a boom pole and practice with a buddy willing to help you for free. Yes, spend some time practicing before you get on set. Shoot some scenes together and then cut the footage to hear what was done well and what wasn't.

But, really, get a good sound person. It's worth it.

~ Justen

One Last Emotional Entry

I plan to switch gears in this blog and try to lean more towards an insider's look into making a low-budget feature movie. Upcoming entries will hopefully offer tips and advice for up-and-coming moviemakers like myself. I have learned plenty from my mistakes and I hope to help others avoid those same mistakes.

First, however, I am going to once more compliment my cast and crew. This movie would not have been made were it not for the contributions of each and every one of the cast and crewmembers. I whole-heartedly recommend each and every one of them to any local filmmakers in need of hard working, professional, and friendly additions for their movies. I certainly hope to employ them all again in future projects.

As important as they were as professionals, the friendships gained with each of them is even more important to me. It was an honor to be on set with the cast and crew of Horror House for 15 days, many of which were more than 12 hours long. I miss them and I miss the production phase of Horror House. I love you Chad, Nick, Jim, Lion, Amy, Mike, Kat, Phil, Jay, Amanda, Kari Jo, Casey, Nicole, Emily, Anna, Gary, Natalie, Kari Ann, Aaron, and all the others who were involved in smaller capacities.

Enough gushing. Sheesh.

~Justen