Working With Celebrity Talent: How I Learned To Respect the Kardashians

Working with talent used to fill me with dread.  Celebrity talent was even worse. Dealing with handlers, agents, lawyers and even personal assistants can try any producer’s patience. But it’s part of the business. If you want to make movies you have to learn to work with demanding celebrities.Continue reading Working With Celebrity Talent: How I Learned To Respect the Kardashians

Shooting Schedule Pro Tips for a 10-Page Shoot Day

Today, I’m going to show you how to schedule a ten-page shoot if you’re looking to maximize your budget constraints. Shooting ten pages in a day is a worst-case scenario, but sometimes those worst-case scenarios can happen on your production. When they do, your shooting schedule needs to be very precise and prepared.So let's jump in.What are the reasons for shooting a ten-page day?The most common reason I’ve come across for scheduling and shooting ten or more pages in a single day comes down to budget.It could be that your location or talent is only afforded for limited period of…

4 Essential Principles for Creating the Ultimate Antagonist

A great antagonist is much more than just a “villain” to challenge your main character. There are many delicate components to creating a great antagonist. From casting to compelling storylines to inspired acting choices. However, it all starts in the script, and is fleshed out in the director’s script analysis.Continue reading 4 Essential Principles for Creating the Ultimate Antagonist

Film Techniques You Can Learn From Andrei Tarkovsky Right Now

E nigmatic filmmaker Andrei Tarkovsky believed that creating the “pressure of time” was one of his key film techniques he used to keep audiences hooked. In this video essay, we’ll be digging into some of his most immersive techniques. Continue reading Film Techniques You Can Learn From Andrei Tarkovsky Right Now

How to Make Script Changes in StudioBinder

Scripts are constantly evolving. That’s just what they do. New scenes are added and old scenes are deleted throughout pre-production and production. How do these new changes affect your project? In StudioBinder, making script changes is easy and your project is kept intact. We’re going to walk through the process of how to make script changes, syncing them to your project and how you can access previous versions.Continue reading How to Make Script Changes in StudioBinder

Indie Film Casting Explained: From Casting Calls to Callbacks

Casting an independent film can be a lesson in the old adage, “You may love filmmaking, but it doesn’t love you back.” You want top talent in your film, but you often don’t have the money or the professional clout to attract them. Many filmmakers take the path of least resistance and end up getting an audience to match. But indie film casting isn’t as hard as one might think.If you want to know how to cast actors for a short film, you need to understand the proper channels and etiquette. In today’s post, we’ll examine the casting process and…

Crowdfunding Films Part 2 — Prepping Your Campaign

So you want run a crowdfunding campaign. You've already done your homework of identifying the best crowdfunding platform for your film project. Now what? In Part 2 of our series we're going to explore the preparation required to organize a successful film crowdfunding campaign.Continue reading Crowdfunding Films Part 2 — Prepping Your Campaign