Olive And Mocha

Money

I’ve been legally advised to keep discussions about how and where we’re getting money for the film off of public websites. So, unfortunately I can’t describe here in detail the step-by-step process of acquiring actual cash to make a real-live movie happen. Which is a shame because I think that’s the most mysterious part of the whole process for a new producer. Here’s a tidbit for you though, I recently had lunch with a friend who produced this amazing indie comedy Brooklyn Heist (it’s real, real funny so go rent it) and he said, “You’ll know you’re a real producer when you have checks in your hand.”

But lots of stuff has to happen before you can even START THINKING about money.

Here are some updates from 2 weeks ago in my last post:
Fellow Producers

Lara Everly, whom I thought was going to come on as director has actually decided to take on the other leading role of Olive and help produce. How fun! I believe in Lara and am very excited to have her on board. What do I gain from her coming onto the project? Lara has been working as an actor for some time now (See her IMDB) and so she knows a lot of people, both behind and in front of the camera. This helps take some of the pressure off of my own shoulders to track down and fill every major spot/role. She’s also very excited about the project and it’s nice to have someone else aboard who’s as jazzed as I am. ‘Cause seriously y’all…. this is EXCITING!

We’ve both spent the last week sending out the script to directors who we like and who we think might be interested in the project. We’ve both got a lot of local favorites, but the right person is gonna have to be the right match. They’ve gotta love the script, be willing to do it for almost no money and have a vision for how they’re gonna shoot it that we all agree on. I have no doubt that we are going to find just the right person and in the mean time, it’s a great opportunity to meet some pretty amazing directors and talk shop with them. How fun!

My line producer (he came recommended by another low-budget producer I respect) has agreed to come on to the project with the caveat of also being a producer on the film. I have absolutely no beef with this considering he really knows what he’s doing and has agreed to stay out of most creative decisions. “Oh, you mean you want to take on more responsibility for a free title? “Sure! No problem!”
Legal Shiz

All weekend I’ve been working on legal docs and visiting LegalZoom.com to set up the necessary bizniz. All this stuff is a pain and you have to be REALLY diligent if you ever want your movie to even have a shot at distribution. You’ve got to make sure you’re setting up an appropriate LLC, get E & O insurance and have an attorney check everything over for you before you even think about letting someone give you money.

Again: For all you California peops, I highly recommend taking Suzanne Lyons’ low budget production class.
Marketing and Distribution

We’ve also started thinking about the marketing and distribution of the film. You have to be really honest and ask yourself… who’s gonna pay to see this movie? How are you gonna sell this movie to those people? I got some more good advice from my friend Brett Halsey, (name dropping) who said, “Go browse iTunes for an afternoon. Log in to Netflix and just scroll through titles. What, exactly, stands out to you? What about a movie cover makes you want to watch the movie even if you’ve never heard of it before? What appeals to you and what doesn’t? Then take this into account when you think about your own marketing.” Is that genius or what? Thanks Brett! (Really, go buy his movie)

Later, I’ll be buying the domain name and hosting for the movie’s website and tomorrow we’re shooting some pictures for the promo materials. Then I’ll focus on the IMDB page.

Another tip: to get people to invest in your movie, you REALLY have to make them believe that the train is already leaving the station. They can’t feel like they’re alone in this venture. You’ve got to convince them that this movie is “pretty much almost made” and they’d be stupid not to grab a piece.

Lara’s mentioned that her father will probably “rent” us a Red camera for free as long as we have insurance. SWEET! (For those of you who don’t know, the Red camera is a SWEET high def, digital camera who’s video looks just like film. Of course, we won’t make any final decisions until we have a director on board and talk this over with them…. but I have a feeling they’ll want to shoot on Red. Just a guess.
Gettin’ Fit for Screen

This morning I started going to a program called Extreme Bootcamp so that I will be in shape for this movie. Let me be clear… I DON’T have body issues and I DON’T believe that women have to be skinny to be in the movies. One of my goals when I have my own production company will be to write movies for and cast women of all sizes. That being said, I really want to get serious about my career as an actor and I think that means taking care of myself. I am taking this as an opportunity to really get into shape, which is something I’ve been thinking about for a while. I’ve recently stopped drinking so much beer and I wanted to reward myself by looking awesome in a bikini and combat boots for Burning Man. There are also some bra and panty shots in the movie so I’m giving myself the opportunity to rock it on screen! ‘Cause let’s face it, there’s no budget in this shoot for body doubles.

Little by little things are coming together. Still planning to shoot in October. Moving forward confidently and with an open heart.