Today I will be answering another question from a fan this fan asked me this ...
QUESTION : "What are some of the positives and negatives of being an indie film maker" ?
ANSWER : This is an awesome question and one that I think about alot in my office when I'm working, I will start with the negatives . I will be making a list of a few negatives and below each one I will write why it's a negative and how I deal with it.
NEGATIVES OF BEING AN INDIE FILM MAKER
#1 A lack Of funding for someone just starting out and using crowdfunding to fund their dream .
Now you have to understand that I had zero "ins' in the indie film business when I got the crazy idea to make a movie, I had what I learned in webinars and youtube videos and a very important thing that applies to anything you do in life PASSION. I tell people when they ask how I made Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis on almost no budget, my PASSION for making this movie outweighed the lack of funds for the project. I tried and admittedly failed at crowdfunding not ONCE, Not TWICE but failed THREE times ! Did I quit? Hell no, why because I have the PASSION and Drive to SUCCEED and REFUSE to Backdown, period !
Crowdfunding works if you have a "Star" in your movie because they are bankable, if you can get a Danielle Harris to sign on to your little indie film then you in turn get Danielle Harris fans to back your project because they support her ans in turn support you and your film. I would love to get a genre star to be in Sins of Man II : Vengeance for the simple reason is they could help with funding the project via crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding works if you have slick pitch video or celebrity friends to help you with funding and a ton of start up money to pay for the crowdfunding boosters (not sure what they are called) I didn't have any start up money during my crowdfunding campaigns I had me, my passion and my desire to succeed.
#2 Being in over your head & not having a clue until the camera starts rolling on the first day of shooting .
This doesn't happen to EVERYONE but it happened to me and I'm not ashamed to admit it, as I have said before I had a VERY simple outlook on making a movie and when I arrived on set the first day my eyes were opened to the complex world of film making and I learned very quickly with alot of help from my amazing cast and crew .
If you don't go into shooting with a CLEAR plan of every detail (that will change 101 times before you shoot one frame of the movie) then you are behind the eight ball so to speak.
LAST ONE
#3 Dealing with Negative People before you even start shooting your movie .
Now you might not you would get negative emails, facebook messages, tweets etc until AFTER the movie comes out but we did and at first it was very overwhelming to me and honestly I started to doubt myself as a writer and weather or not I could actually pull this off.
My Producer and business partner Chris said to me "Can't Never Could Do Nothing" and at first I was like "what the hell is he talking about" and then I looked at it agaain on the screen and got it. I can't please EVERYONE all the time and that shouldn't be my goal, these "trolls" hadn't read the script or seen one frame of film but they were telling me I was "no good", "Your script is horrible" and my personal favorite "You're just another indie film maker" . and if you read this stuff day in and day out it starts to get to you.
I pride myself on being VERY accessible to the Horror community worldwide weather it be email, facebook, twitter, instagram or the contact page here on the site I enjoy hearing from horror fans, what they like and dislike about horror so I can true to give you what you want and not what you don't want. and honestly I have only received TWO Negative comments about Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis since the release on DVD so I take it you all liked the movie .
POSITIVES OF BEING AN INDIE FILM MAKER
#1 I get to live my dream every day of my life ...
It took me 33 and a half years to figure out what I wanted to do with my life and now that I took the leap of faith I wake up in the morning and often feel so happy because I get to make movies when the girl next door gets up and goes to a job she hates while I can work in my PJs all day if I want to, I get to work at my own pace and I'm the boss, I don't take orders from anyone. I write 5 days a week 10 - 15 hours a day (when I'm actively writing) I can have lunch right iin my office, I am surrounded by horror autographs, toys and collectibles in my office (they make me .
more creative).
#2 I get to help people realize their dreams of being in a movie .
This is a very rewarding part of being an indie film maker I gave so many actors and actresses their first film role (many of them came from stage acting) I was amazed at how they took to the script and the movie and really put all their energy into it. Alittle backstory about the lead role of JJ, I had cast a girl and she had stopped communicating with me so I was forced to recast the role and was successful in that and then the second JJ had to bow out due to a horrible incident and I asked Bridgett Keith to change her role in the movie to be the lead and the rest as they say is history, looking back on it now I should have cast Bridgett all along for the lead role.
#3 I love talking to horror fans from allover the world on a daily basis .
This is one of the coolest things ever and I'll tell you why. when I was just a fan I would take to fans other fans and the one thing that always stood out to me was weather you were a Jason, Michael, Freddy, Chucky or Ghostface fan you are a FAN no matter what that is something that I find amazing because it's often said that horror fans are the most LOYAL fans of any genre of film and I 100% agree with that statement .
Once I crossed over to being a film maker I have always maintained that Wicked Carnival Productions mission statement is "Horror Movies FOR Fans Made BY Fans" . I am a genre nut I watch good horror, classic horror and bad horror because it's all horror ! I am in no way saying Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis is a Masterpiece or a timeless classic like John Carpenter's Halloween (which is my favorite movie of ALL TIME) I'm saying I can watch just about any horror movie and if its a bad film I can still find something to like about it with very few exceptions.
I like talking about the classic films of the genre Halloween, Friday The 13th, ANOES, Childs Play as well as films that rebooted the genre like Scream (amazing series) . While I have my favorites I can also look at and understand others opinions and don't feel the need to "defend" my favorites because I feel as films they speak for themselves.
I really love to sign autographs for people and talk to them about what they liked and disliked about Sins of Man : Rise of Mortis because EVERY interaction with a fan is a learning experience and one thing I have learned during the early part of my career is DON'T TAKE EVERYTHING SO SERIOUSLY, if I make a mistake learn from it an move on because this is a long road and I'm just starting out.
IN CLOSING .....
Notice that becoming "Rich" and "Famous" wasn't on either list ?? That's because they aren't on my mind at this point in my career, I want to make money with my films of course but I don't want "too much too soon" I have seen many of my friends with their jobs go through some hard times because they progressed to quickly through their jobs and they get money, fast cars, loose women, booze, drugs etc. and it has ruined their lives, their marriages and all that stuff and I don't want that to happen to me .
Like I said I want to make money sure but never want to make millions, I never want to do anything to put my wife and kids in harms way, and of course I want to gain some level of fame (I do get asked for autographs and pictures from time to time and I always sign and do the pictures because it's my job) but it's because I live in a small town and I tell people I'm "small town famous" and for now that's fine with me.
I think you can be successful without making a ton of Money and being know worldwide (In a way I'm already known worldwide with the advent of social media, I have a big fan base in Europe, the UK, Canada, Asia & all across the US, which is so cool to me, I look at small things as "success" we sold a dozen copies of the movie at the release event on Halloween, We made the movie on a low budget, we reached #3 on the local artist sales for the week of 11/23/15 that was a HUGE success for me.
STAY TUNED & STAY WICKED !!!