How to be a successful black independent filmmaker- Part 2

Should you go to film school?

Film school can be very helpful in instructing you how to create technically sound films and expose you to all the areas of filmmaking. They also can help you leverage your schools name to gain access to intern on film crews.

Another advantage of film school is the networking opportunities, you never know who may be in your class.

Some of the disadvantages of film school as described to me were the cost.

FSU Film School is 35,000 for the two years.

Art Institute of Tampa is 88,000 for four years.

USC film school has a class in which students are required to make several five short films in a semester. If you cannot accomplish this, you fail the class. This is their way of economically discriminating against poor students.

The dilemma facing many aspiring film students is that they cannot raise the money to fund a short film, however a bank will give them a loan to go to film school. So they go to film school and hope for the best.

Building relationships

Learning how to build and nurture relationships is one of the most important aspects of your career and will make or break you as an independent filmmaker.

Building a team or becoming part of a film collective will allow you access to equipment, services and locations. Also working with other creative people can help you creativity by exposing you to different ideas and perspectives.

Networking will help you gain jobs and experience. You never know who is going to in a position of power in the future so treat everyone with respect. The same people you see on the way up are the same people you will see on the way down

What kind of people to avoid when building your network

Scammers, who are people who are trying to raise money for a film and will disappear once they receive the money

Negative attitudes

People who are not serious about being successful

People who have money for everything else except growing the business or for film projects; they are always broke when it is time to invest in projects, however they have money to go to bars, go out to eat, clubs etc

People who will not support you and your projects; if you form a collective or a partnership; the members should promote each other as well as projects of the members. Avoid people who promote persons and the projects of people they do not know however they will not promote you or your projects.

Learn the technical aspect of filmmaking

The Internet can be a valuable asset to learn how to create technically sound films. There a billions of byes of data dedicated to educating you how to frame your shots, sound, lighting, editing, chroma key, color grading and any other aspect of filmmaking.

Some of my favorites Internet websites that help teach filmmaking are:

YouTube

Filmlinker.com which has links to multiple film tutorials sites

Study of these lessons can replace the same text instruction you will receive if you go to film school.

The importance of professional products

It is very important that you produce professional looking media. A professional look is not based on how much money you spend, it is based on your technical ability. Films that have bad sound, the shots are framed incorrectly, and incorrect lighting make you look like an amateur. You should spend time to educate your self and invest in honing your craft so you can produce good looking and sounding films.

How to build your tribe

You need to build a tribe of supporters who will support you projects with their money. This is the only way you will be able to continue to create new projects.

There are several different opinions on how to create a tribe, however examples of filmmakers who have been successful in creating tribes are:

Tyler Perry

Quenton Tarrintino

Steven Spielberg

The tribes that support these filmmakers are the primary reason for their success. None of these filmmakers are considered masters filmmakers form a technical or artistic standpoint, however they have mastered tribe building and feeding their tribe.

You have to be determined, persistent and patient to accomplish your goals as an independent filmmaker. Do not expect your first or even second film to propel you into the stratosphere. Keep learning your craft and refining your talent and you will be successful as a independent filmmaker.

 Now go make a movie!

How to be a successful black independent filmmaker- Part 1

First lets start with defining some of the terms we are going to be using for this article.

Success: Success as a filmmaker will be based on your personal definition. You make think success is making a film and have it be viewed by your peers or family. Another person may think success is having a theatre release, while some may think success is completing a personal film that allows them to express themselves.

Low Budget: Another relative term. A low budget Hollywood releases my mean 10 million dollars, while a privately financed film may have a budget of 10,000 or 1,000 dollars. Low budget is based on a personal perspective.

Independent: I like to define independent filmmaker as a person who makes films or movies outside of the Hollywood structure.

The environment has changed for the black independent filmmaker

The 90s ushered in the digital era for consumer products.  Digital cameras became relatively inexpensive compared to the previous decade, and non-linear editing programs became available for home use

Prosumer digital video is a product that was created during new era.  This product helped filmmakers because film stock is expensive and can only be edited destructively. Digital video lowered the barrier to entry for filmmakers and we rushed in.

Ex: Eraserhead 1977, shot on 35 mm film for 20,000, 85 min film

Ex: She’s Gotta Have It 1886, shot with an Arriflex 16 HSR, shot on 16mm transferred to 35mm for approximately 20,000, 84 min film

Ex: The Bay documentary, 2011, shot with an Canon XHA1S on DV for approximately 2,000, 54 min film.

If we compare the cost of each film based on dollars per minute.

Eraserhead cost 235 dollars a min

She’s Got to Have It cost 238 dollars a min

The Bay cost 37 dollars a min

The Bay was edited non-destructively, however the other two were not. Film stock can only be edited destructively.

Digital Video and non-linear editors allow indie filmmakers to professionally edit their movie, in a non-destructive fashion.

The digital revolution also brought about some bad changes in independent film. A low barrier to entry allowed almost anyone to make a movie. As a result the game was flooded with film, and many of them were not any good. However I believe that if one very good filmmaker can emerge out of thousands of bad filmmakers , it is a good thing. For years filmmaking was confined to the rich and the connected in Hollywood.

There are several ways in which black independent filmmakers can take advantage of the changes brought about by the digital revolution in respect to digital distribution and online viewing of their projects.

Digital downloads and pay per view players allow for producers to distribute their content very inexpensively and gives the power back to the independent producer. Historically distribution companies controlled these channels because they have the relationships with the theaters.

The home market and the mobile device market will be the next frontier for film and is the only battlefield in which we can compete with large scale films that cost millions to produce.

Scams, Stunts, and Black Independent Film

I remember my TV production instructor telling me to beware of the scammers you will meet in the film industry. He explained that one of the biggest scams was the guy who is always in preproduction for projects, however you can never catch the guy in principal photography or postproduction. This preproduction scam is designed to get money out of investors and sleep with women who think they will be cast in a role.

I have meet several scammers in my career as a black independent filmmaker.

One of the most memorable was a guy in Atl  who explained that he wanted to start a Hollywood style industry in Atlanta. The first clue was that he called me at 9:30 pm on a Sunday to pitch his business model and explain how he could distribute my documentary “The Bay”.

I recognized his scam as soon as he made an analogy to selling cocaine to describe why his business model for distribution would work. As I asked more questions, he went into how the Internet was controlled by Hollywood and I could not trust it. He also explained that his company asked for “partners” to pay a set fee into the production company and they would be guaranteed parts in upcoming movies. This practice was odd in my opinion. Why would you commit to an actor/actress just because they have paid you? What if they are not right for the role from the start?

I choose to pass on his distribution offer. I knew it was a scam five minutes into our conversation.

Another scammer is the guy who thinks he can find a producer on Craigslist. Hell you can barely find a legit production job on Craigslist. I have never contacted the person trying to find his Jerry Bruckheimer via Craigslist.  I think even the most naive person would understand that Craigslist is not the avenue to try to produce films.

In the film industry you have to really be on top of your game to discern the real form the fake. Many people are attracted to film for reasons other then telling stories and expressing themselves through the visual medium of film or digital video. Stay on point and watch who you are connected to.

Micro Budget Films

Micro budgeting for film is usually defined by shooting for an extremely low budget, normally five thousand or less dollars.  Many filmmakers decide to shoot on micro budgets because they want the creative freedom to tell the story they visualized when they wrote their script.

I am a fan of micro budget filmmaking because it forces me to be creative, and innovative. I cannot just throw money at a situation; I have to think my way through my challenges.  

I am a big fan of the Nollywood film industry in Nigeria. In Nigeria, an independent filmmaker will shoot a film in a week with a budget of less than ten thousand dollars. That film will be edited and pressed to DVD and the process starts over again.  Some Nigerian independent filmmakers will shoot six to eight films in one year using the micro budget strategy.

I have learned from the Nigerians and Nollywood, the power of micro budget films. People want to be entertained, and many do not want to leave their house. If you can produce an affordable, entertaining and convenient movie product, the people will buy it. You do not need the Hollywood stars and the Hollywood marketing to be a good independent filmmaker.

Go make a movie!

The Color of your Film

Color grading is an important aesthetic element of film, probably only second to sound. You can use color grading to effect lighting, the color of the film and subsequently the mood of the film. Different films have different color grades that help express the emotion of the film. Here are a few examples.

Terminator Salvation:

Notice how the colors are washed out. I believed some type of bleach bypass look was used. The stark coloring helps sell the story of a post-apocalyptic earth.

Where the Wild Things Are:

The colors are saturated to the point where people are flesh colored and the rest of the world has a teal tint.

The Matrix

The saturation is turned down, almost to a black and white. The movie takes on a very dark and stark tone, which help sell the setting of the movie.

As you see, color grading is an important aspect of film. Imagine watching The Matrix where all the colors pop off the screen and everything is in great detail. It would take away from the movie.

In this era of HD video, everyone is going for the 720 HD look, however HD video is almost too clean for movies. I shot my documentary “The Bay” in 720 HD however I used color correction and a Gaussian blur to diffuse the look of the movie. If I knew what I know now, I may had had done even further color correction to create a tone of the film with color grading.

As independent filmmakers we have access to color grading software as part of the editing suites we posses or as stand alone products. I advise you to use color grading in your future projects to help tell your story. We are in an era in which cinematography and color grading are merging to create the same effect on a film.

Now go make a movie!

Distribution option for black independent filmmakers

On of the major challenges for black independent filmmakers are distribution channels. Many films catering to a black audience will be viewed as too “niche” for theater distribution by large distributors. Blockbuster is now a defunct company, so I can no longer rent black themed movies as easily as I could in the past. You can press your movie to DVD, however you have to deal with fulfillment companies or a DVD on Demand Company.

I have been looking for a solution to this issue recently. I released my documentary, The Bay on DVD. I used a DVD on Demand Company. I was pleased with the service, however I think I will go in another direction for my next film “Coon City”.

The direction I will be moving in is to use a video player called Dynamo. Dynamo is similar to most video players, however it has a payment option. The benefits of using Dynamo to producers are: ability to set price, time of access to view; and the ability to embed on any website. Here is an example of a movie using the Dynamo viewer

I am excited that technology is empowering us by giving us options to distribute our work. Independent filmmakers need to take a page from the music artists who have leveraged of every aspect of digital media to control and sell their music.

If you are an independent filmmaker and you think the festival circuit or a Hollywood executive will pluck you out of obscurity, you are delusional. Hollywood picks people, and it has very little to do with talent. Independent filmmakers have to be innovative and creative in all areas of film making or we will stay stuck on the vine.

Now go make a movie!

I am the unknown black independent filmmaker

I am the unknown black independent filmmaker.  Along with other filmmakers who exist outside of the Hollywood studio system, I am obscure. I have to embrace my anonymity and use it to fuel my art.

Too many independent filmmakers assume their first work will blast them into the public’s eye. This is not how is happens for 99.9% of the people who create films. You have to keep knocking at the door until they let you in or you have to build your own house.

I know how to make a film, that part is easy. My next challenge is to build an audience for my films, so when they are released I am supported. It is amazing to me how you can attach Michael Bay, Jonny Depp and a thirty million dollar marketing budget to my name and everyone will go see my movie. However I guess that is how it goes.

I want to give a word of support to my fellow independent filmmakers. Our time is coming. Technology has given us now distribution outlets, the taste of consumers are changing. The Hollywood business model is outdated and time is on our side.

I will figure out how to crack this nut, and then I will spread the information all over the world.

Now go make a movie!