This is a transcript of SYS Podcast Episode 163: Writer/Producer/Actor Christina Moore Talks About Her New Film, Running Wild Starring Sharon Stone.
Ashley: Welcome to episode #163 of the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.” I’m Ashley Scott Meyers Screenwriter and blogger over at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I’m interviewing, Actor/Writer and Producer, Christina Moore. She just did a film called, “Running Wild” starring Sharon Stone. We walk through the whole process of writing the script, getting it funded, to getting Sharon Stone attached to the film. So, stay tuned for that.
If you find this episode valuable please help me out by giving me a review in ITunes. Or leaving a comment on YouTube, or retweeting the Podcast on Twitter. Or liking us on Facebook. These social media shares really do help spread word about the Podcast and are very much appreciated.
And websites or links that I mention in the Podcast can be found on my blog in the show notes. I also publish a transcript with each episode. In case you would rather read the show or look up something else up later-on. Just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/podcast, and look for episode #163.
I just want to mention a free webinar that I am doing on Wednesday March 1st 2017 at 10:00a.m.pst. It’s called, “How to Effectively Market Your Screenplay and Sell It” I’m going to go through all of the various online social media channels out there that are available to screenwriters. And give you my unfiltered opinion of them. I get questions all the time about “The Black List” “Ink Tip” about various contests. So, on this free webinar, I’m going to talk about my experience with them. Again, this webinar is completely free. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the live event I’ll be recording the event so, if you sign-up and you can’t actually attend the event. You will still get a link to the recorded event after it happens. To sign-up, just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/freewebinar. And that’s slash Freewebinar, is all one word, and all lowercase letters. I of course will link it in the show notes as well. Also if you are already on my Email list, you don’t need to register. But, if you’re already on my Email list I will be Emailing them the details to the webinar. So, once again, if this sounds like something you would like to learn about? Just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/freewebinar.
So, a quick few words about what I am working this week? Once again, the main thing I am working on is, post-production on my crime, action, thriller, feature film, “The Pinch.” So, I’m just going through the latest cut of the film. And making my final set of notes. I hopefully will be, “Locking Picture” in the next week or so. Last week, I got a bit bogged down on a couple of personal issues, a couple of other side projects, got busy. So, I didn’t have a lot of time to really work on, “The Pinch.” But, I did look through all the recent pick-up shots of a couple of weeks ago. I worked with the editor. We did a couple of pick-up shots. We got those insert into the latest cut of the film. They all seem to work pretty-well. So, I think that’s going to improve the film. And not a lot of editing, not a lot of extra editing on that. On basically, we’re just establishing shots. It was pretty easy to slide those in. They all look good. As I said, I think I’m pretty close. There’s only a handful of, really, of changes now. For this next cut. So, with any luck, this time next week. Fingers crossed, I will have locked picture. I’ve mentioned this before, when I originally set out on this? I was kinda hoping to have the film done by the end of the 2016. And obviously that didn’t happen.
And frankly I’m not even that close to getting that finished. But, when you’re dealing with something super low-budget. I just kinda keep reminding myself, that the key is to try and make it as good as possible. Not necessarily as fast, do it as fast as possible. So, I’m really trying to stick to that and, get done. Things are taking long. So, now I’m thinking once I “Lock Picture” you know, we’re halfway through February. You know, March, April, May. I think I’ll be lucky because there’s going to be quite a bit of the technical stuff, once I lock picture. All the sound edit, dialog edit, and the sound mix, scoring it, special effects, color correction. All that stuff. Now, these different various people can be working simultaneously. But I think that’s probably I’ll be luck if I can get through that process in three months. So, as I said, we’re almost to pushing up to the end of February. So, we’re talking March, April, May. So, if I can get it done by May or even June, that will be fine. We shot last July. So, I don’t know? Maybe one year, post-production. Especially for a super
low-budget feature is not a bad time line. So, I’m thinking, you know, hopefully by April, May, hopefully somewhere in there, we’ll say May? Worst case scenario hopefully by the end of June I’ll be completely done with this project. And then I can start, you know, going through the whole process of submitting to film festivals, and trying to find a distributor in that whole next phase. But, at least at the point I’ll be able to really start working on something else. Anyway, that’s what I’m working.
So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today I’m interviewing, actor/writer, and producer, Christina Moore, here is the interview.
Ashley: Welcome Christina to, the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast, I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Christina: Well, I’m excited to be here, thank you.
Ashley: Sure, to start out, maybe you could tell us a little bit about your background? Where did you grow-up and how did you get interested in the entertainment industry?
Christina: Sure, I grew-up, I lived in the suburbs of Chicago, and I did musicals. I’m a “Musical theatre geek,” really at heart. And then went to college for musical theatre. And then on a summer job, I broke my ankle, in a lot of new and interesting ways. And that just kind of dancing was my forte. And when that kind of ended. That was like, well, the dream is not dead. Just made me some more, and I discovered Tarantino, little did I know I was view that repeatedly for 20 years? You know, go down one avenue and then re-adjust, and try something else. So that’s really, I went out, I was always interested in story telling. But, primarily I got involved because I love the community. I love being part of a large group of people. I’m going to have in that family and lets kick open the barn kind of deal. It’s what sucks me in and what kind of continued to suck me in.
Ashley: Yeah. And so, what was your sort of first foray into the entertainment industry, as a professional. What was that sort of break that you actually made something and got paid for it.
Christina: A, I moved out here to L.A. right after college graduation, and I was very fortunate. It was within three years I had found my way into Warner Brothers. Where there was a program, it was Building one forty. It was casting directors, up one side, down the other.
And it was the hay-day of network TV. So, it was “Friends” “Suddenly Susan” “Drew Carry” “Just Shoot Me” and “I Thought I Was Wrong” And then the Casting Directors would just, hey there’s a new kid in town. Should have her in on your show. And I did that through a year. And then I landed my first series. Which was “Hyperior Bay” for then WB, and kinda that was it. Said, it was like, oh, you’re better than you’re in, and you know, it’s not always been this constant jobs such. That, you know, that got me out of waiting tables.
Ashley: And let’s talk about those, because there’s a lot of, I think there’s a lot of, there’s going to be a lot of parallels between an acting career and your screenwriting career. But, what did you do to actually get onto the Warner Brothers lot. I mean, there’s a security guard at the front gate. I’m sure every actor in town probably knew that there was a lot of casting going on? So, what were those tips and tricks? To actually get in front of them, those casting directors, and get noticed by them?
Christina: Yeah, you know, right, getting noticed. It was really because I had a manager. Because who I had met he came and taught acting classes. She wanted to come watch and see what the young talent was doing? And because I had a manager, then I got an agent. And the agent was the one that got me the audition.
Ashley: I see.
Christina: Yeah, I wouldn’t be anywhere without my representation. They, and again, this is 20 years ago. So, pre- become your own YouTube sensation. I think the kids are really a lot more in control of their own destiny right now. I think, you know, I have a blog, I’m a designer, and I have an InstaGram, I have a Twitter account. And like I’m putting out my own content, and look at me. You know, especially 20 years ago, nearly you needed someone to make those introductions for you. And I was lucky enough to have the people on my team.
Ashley: Perfect, perfect. So, let’s dig into your latest film, Running Wild” with Sharon Stone and you were featured as well as a writer on that project. So, maybe you could talk a little bit about just that transition from actor to producer and screenwriter. Why do you want to make that transition, and how did you actually make that transition?
Christina: Right, a little bit of like like miracle, I think. The Executive Producer of our company is, a friend of mine. And I literally go back 22 years. Where I waited tables at Jerry’s Deli, and his brother was the manager. So, we’ve know each other forever. And, he and I had been given the assignment to write a movie featuring horses. And he knew that I had a love of horses. And he knew that they definitely wanted it to be a female lead. And so, he’s like, hey do you got any ideas? And so, I pitched him some. And then, should in a really weird way. And it was like, okay, we’re gonna make this movie. And we should write a script and then I was given a writing partner, who was very talented, a very established screenwriter. So, he was really the spirit guide, in terms of knowing where the beats were, and what the structure was. But, I had to do all the equine research and get my talents spirit guide. So, load me up with everything that there was about horses. And because it was a female lead, and a female antagonist, that was really my voice. And so, you know, it was an absolute collaboration. And then once the screenplay was done. And then we were going to go into production.
I went back to my friend and said, you should let me produce it. He said, “You don’t know anything about producing?” And I said, “Yep” but, you didn’t know anything about screenwriting, and that turned out pretty well. So, I know everything about horses, and I can do the spirit of cowboys. You really, if you don’t have me along? You’ll be missing something, and I can do re-writes. And I’ll balance the books. And I’ll learn how to do you know, whatever? Just look at it like school. But because of the company was nice and small. Really, we all had to wear 18 hats. Until it was a little bit like baptism by fire, or circuit writing in the deep end. And then if one of the greater appearances of my life.
Ashley: I just, I’d be curious to get your thoughts. I get a lot of obviously screenwriters come to the site. But, occasionally we’ll get actors, that have written a screenplay. And their scripts are usually pretty-good. And I would be curious to kind of hear how much you think your acting career obviously a 20-year acting career you’ve been reading a lot of scripts. So, I would be curious to see how much you think that helped. Just sort of being in the industry and working as an actor. How much that helped you in writing this first screenplay?
Christina: Oh, I mean it’s, it has everything to do with it. Number one, I’m an avid reader. And I do believe that story telling across all mediums. I mean, I’m a kind of a book a week kind of gal. So, there’s a lot about story and character, and structure, and feelings that I mean, you know, that like you get from being a conasour and that’s, in terms of. You know. If being an actor it’s 20 years and I’m, let’s just say I’m an average, with 100 auditions a year. That means, I’ve read 100 scripts. And in years, in 20 years, and what was it 25 scripts? So, you know, again, and I really love the art form, I really love, you know, I know when something feels right. And I know when something is working. I think the big difference in justing an actor, is really you are responsible for your one piece of the overall project. And you come up to my office, in yourself, because your tracking that one character, and you’re tracking that one simple truth. The difference in being through a writer, is now, you’re tracking 28 people. And you know, what I really loved about, “Running Wild” is? Our main cast, this such intelligent thinking actors. And really invested in the story telling. So, as much as I may have fought like, “Oh, maaaaannnn, Nailed it!” And then you get an actor who’s job is only to track their characters. Paul is a great example, and he played on “The Weed” And he was very sensitive, and you know, very political and kind about it. It was like come on, it was such a section of you because these pretty things really. Are a prompting for me and I don’t know that this is what I would be saying in this moment? And I don’t know where the emotional arc is? And so, we made a lot of changes. Which now, having seen the film. Like, they made it out of a million times better. Because again, I was thinking the whole story and he was tracking on individual, right. To make that as excellent as possible. I think that’s where, I think, I know, there’s other actors who can write good characters. That’s the thinking ones, that’s really what they do. They are thinking about themselves in the overall picture. They’re thinking about the story, they’re thinking about the beauty of the message. And it just enhances it.
Ashley: So, let’s talk a little bit about the collaboration on this script. I’ve written a lot of scripts with other people. And I’m always curious just to kind of hear how other people write. And maybe you can talk about that process. Were you guys physically in the same room? Did you guys use Skype?
Did you divide up scenes and then, you know, you wrote up a scene, he wrote up a scene, and then you traded them. Maybe you could just talk through that process of collaborating.
Christina: Yeah. I would love to. So, I call writers name is Brian Lovenet. And, sometimes we would meet in person, you know, to pound out the outline, to pound out the beat. You know, we did a lot, we walked a lot. We even sat in his living room. And we would mill around and talk a walk, in terms of brainstorming. And what would happen next is? Over fire, ah, no, I wouldn’t like a fire, work hard, correct, you know. And then once, we had an outline. We did a lot of writing together in those first 30 pages. I mean, literally pounding it out. I would act out things. And it in terms of dialog bargin, we had a shared screen. And you know, he would type, and then I would type. And then we would read it back to each other. Then once we had pounded out that first act. And felt like it was really true. We had to also kind of see, and figure out who did what better? And so, we would usually meet on Tuesday. And we would discuss what the next, you know, 16’s were going to be, and we would divee them up. Which is really was so easy because, it was, no I want the lunch scene. And he would go, yeah, I don’t want that, I want the convicts in the, you know, in the prison bus. And I would be, yeah, you should have that. And it was really clear. And he ended up really primarily marrying the action. And a lot of the more male oriented big, you know, convict scenes. And the back stories. And I was handling the female lead, the romance. And then, the antagonism. Where Sharon Stone’s character says that. And we would then get back together on Friday, and try and trade. And stuff them all in the master script. And then read through it, and sort through it together and read it out loud. And make suggestions, and make changes. And that would kind of be the next piece that had been blocked. And then we would repeat it again, on the next Tuesday. Okay, yeah, that’s, you know, that’s, that is really kind of what we did. And then, in terms of certain different relays like I will always my favorite scene in the film. Which I didn’t want to say out loud, because it may spoil it. But, it’s the 1 I can never get through without crying. That came out of the script had been a
screen-write, we were going to production. And Brian was like, I had one more pass left, I need to see if there is one more kind of little piece of magic I can foster in it, and add. And it was, it was also great because we were role’ing Tommy Flannagan to come be in our film. And I was able to say like, hey, here ya go, this is super easy. And got in touch with him, and it was written for you. And that was what got him on-board. And in terms of television itself.
Ashley: I see.
Christina: And then, once we were in production. Because I was strictly there because I was, you know, on set, and dealing with actors when we got Sharon Stone on-board. It was really last minute and she made arrangements out of really smart, great, suggestions for changes it was better for hugely working on the end. And at that point I was really kind of on my own. Because we were up in Northern California. We were in the middle of a horse ranch. And, you know, just had to get it done.
Ashley: Yeah, sure, sure.
Christina: And that way, when I just kind of took over full control of the script. And then it’s only lost a location. Or, you know, we can’t find corn shots. So, can they do this in a church parking lot? And it was like, those two changes you just have to make. Because that’s just the moving entity that is the film. So, that became my responsibility.
Ashley: Yeah. So, once you were done with the script. What were kind of your next steps to get this thing financed?
Christina: And could get it financed.
Ashley: Correct, yep, exactly.
Christina: This was a little bit, you know, radical, weird, and just different. It was just basically financed before the script was written.
Ashley: I see.
Christina: You know, the finance here wanted to call us, wanted to tell a specific story, wanted to feature you know, the wild horses in the American West. And so, it was just our job to get a script that was, that he would approve of? And that was fitting to what was exactly, what he wanted, and the narrative was good. And then it was a forgone conclusion that it was going to get made. So, like, that was also really helpful I think because again, there was gone on the side of producing. When you know before you even start. What kind of odds your looking at, what kind of time restrictions you’re you looking at, you know. Oh, it’s like, night scenes costs more than day scenes. And one location is absolutely your friend. And you know, you don’t have time or the money for 48 characters. So, deal luck is one reason. She has all the lines. The ways in which you manipulate it, the script to fit your budgetary and time restrictions. And so, that was also part of the benefits of, because it wasn’t like oh, I’ve written this glorious scene of this unicorn. Only to be told like that’s never going to happen, kinda, you know the exact what you can and can’t do.
Ashley: And I’m curious was this financier was he a horse lover. Or was he a distributor? Or some sort of film buyer that understood the marketplace and knew that a horse film was something he could potentially sell?
Christina: No, our financier was just an oil, he owned a Football Stadium. Oh, and once you know, oh that’s something I’ve seen everywhere, that truck going by. And then Pep Boys. He grew-up on a farm, he still owned the grazing land. And he is, you know, he’s in his ‘70’s. And part of his legacy is that he really wants to give a voice to the American Farmer, for the America Ranchers. You know, he feels like there’s a lot of them that has been nullified. You know, every farmer is Santo, or every you know, rancher abuses their animals, or every, you know, dog breeder is a puppy mill. And he really wanted to give a voice to a different vibe. So, this is a passion project. You know, the distribution came later. Which also is a bit of the backwards. There’s a lot about this production and specifically it’s completely backwards.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. I’m curious I get a lot of Emails from people asking how can you get this star or that star, attached to their film. Do you have any insight on how you guys were able to get to Sharon Stone? And ultimately get her to sign-in to this project?
Christina: Yeah, I mean, you know, money’s talk, but I will say that. Like you know, we knew kind of how, what her quote was. We went in with a you know, fully funded offer. But, that is not anything magical that is like, you know, money costs. So, then she read the script and she did make a comment that, you know, I’m going to pass on the project. But, you know, as I like working with horses, good luck. Which is all that my boss needed because he’s one of those guys that loves a challenge. And so, we get her on the phone. Is she willing to talk to me? And I think that was probably something that she doesn’t do very often. So, yes of course, and then we were on the phone with her. And she gave us script notes. And it was 6:00p.m. on a Thursday night. He then said, “Well have Christina get these to you in the morning.” Of which I looked across the room. I hid my eyes and WHAT!!! And I think the notes I’d taken on what she had wanted. And then you know, really brainstormed on how best to associate it. And so, by 6:00a.m. the next day, on Friday. I had 25 new pages to her. And by noon, she was kinda like, Oh, that’s a lot of hustle. And I like, and she is a big horse equine advocate, and she rides horses. So, I mean, I think that was enough for her. It was like, Ah, okay, I don’t know? I might back you guys. I don’t know what the heck’s going on? And that’s how we did it.
Ashley: Yeah, that’s a fantastic story.
Christina: And that’s how we got financing. Right.
Ashley: That’s a fantastic story.
Christina: Well, it was similar to Tommy Flannagan. Because we, the casting went to him with an offer. And he didn’t immediately turn it down. But he did want to have a conversation. And course come to find out he lives in Malibu, and he owns horses. And he’s an avid rider. And you know, so, that is obviously why he was attracted to it. But then, certain, can you make two changes? And can we make that change. And you know, the changes were not things that really made the film better. The truth made his character more pleasant and non-chellant and we were happy to do it.
Ashley: Yeah, perfect. So, how can people see “Running Wild?” Do you know what the release schedule is going to be for it?
Christina: I do, thank you for asking.
Ashley: Sure.
Christina: It is a limited theatrical release, and it’s Friday February 10th 2017. And it’s also available on paid TV, so all of your video ONDEMAND physical February 10th. Each one is figure out the information at www.runningwild.com and there is links to commercial buyers, and trailers, and we have a Facebook page, Running Wild. And there is a Twitter account.
But www.runningwild.com will tell you every vendor, you know, every contest, and where to get your Video ONDEMAND, and it’s in the theaters near you. You can go and watch it.
Ashley: Perfect, perfect, so I will go and gather that and put it in the show notes. And is there anything you do online on the social media: Facebook, Twitter, that you personally do? That I can round those up as well, if you are comfortable sharing that. Just some so people can keep up and follow along.
Christina: Oh, no. absolutely. I do, do Facebook, it’s www.facebook.com/ChristinaMoore. And I do InstaGram. @LadyChristinaMoore. And I do, there is a Twitter, I think it’s – @ChristinaMoore, I’m not sure, I don’t do as much with it? But, you know, it’s time, I spend more time on InstaGram, than Facebook.
Ashley: Alright. Perfect, perfect. So, I will put those in the show notes, as well. Christina I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today. And good luck with this film.
Christina: Thank you so much, it was my pleasure.
Ashley: A quick plug for the SYS Screenwriting Analysis Service. It’s a really economical way to get a high quality professional evaluation on your screenplay. When you buy a 3-Pack, you get evaluations for just $67.00 per script for feature films, and just $55.00 for tele-plays.
All the readers have professional experience reading for: Studios, production companies, contests, and agencies. You can read a short bio on each reader on our website. And you can pick the reader you think best fits your script.
Turn-around-time is usually just a few days but rarely more than a week. The readers will evaluate your script on six key factors.
- Concept
- Characters
- Structure
- Marketability
- Tone
- Over All Craft – Which includes – Formatting, spelling, and Grammar.
Every script will receive a grade of – Pass, Consider, or Recommend, which should help you roughly understand where you script might rank if you were to submit it to a production company or agency.
We can provide an analysis on feature films or television scripts. We also do proof reading without any analysis. We will also look at a treatment or outline and give you an analysis, or give you the same analysis that I just talked about on the treatment or synapsis. So, if you are looking to vet some of your projects. This is a great way to do it.
We will also write a log-line and synapsis for you. You can add this service to an analysis or you can simply purchase service as a stand-alone product.
As a bonus, if your script gets a Recommend, from one of our readers? You get a free Email and Fax Blast to my list of industry contacts. This is the exact same Blast Service I use myself to promote my own scripts. And it is the same service I sell on the website. It’s a great way to get your script into the hands of producers who are looking for new material. So, if you want a professional evaluation of your screenplay at a very reasonable price, check out- www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants, that’s www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/consultants.
On the next episode of the Podcast, I’m going to be interviewing, Comedian, Actor, Producer, Writer, and Director, Joey Medina. Joey has produced several films, and recently shot a pilot episode of his new TV series, which he is pitching to various networks. We talk through all of it, as we talk about his early career. How he got into comedy. And how he eventually made this feature film. And then also talk about his new TV series. A really fascinating story, he’s a real do it yourself’er, he’s got a lot of great advice. He done a lot of great projects. So, keep an eye out for that episode next week.
To wrap things up I just want to touch on a few things from today’s interview with Christina. So, there’s a lot of great insight form indeed today’s interview. I think it’s especially interesting to listen to her experience with getting Sharon Stone attached. You know, she was very positive about the notes that she got from Sharon Stone. But, I think what people don’t fully realize is how collaborative, especially writers coming into the business. They don’t really realize how collaborative this process really is? And you know, when I say, “Collaborative” that’s a very euphemistic term. Because that makes it sound like it’s a very positive thing. And great, it sounds like Christina’s experience was very positive. I know for myself, this has been a very big challenge in my own writing career. Writing on these low-budget films, you get a lot of people and you know, the writer doesn’t typically have much power at all. In fact, he has no power, typically the producer will option to buy the script. And you know, you can either make the changes they want, or not? But, they’re certainly not going to wait around for you. And a lot of times they’re not even necessarily listen to a lot of reasons why you don’t think they are good changes. So, it can be a painful process too. But, I think the thing Christina really did that was really smart was? She listened to what Sharon Stone, you know, her comments. And then she implemented those comments very quickly. And this is really key because people, especially actors, directors. They want to feel like they are involved in the creative process, more than just showing up and getting a pay check. And I think that’s a lot of what I’ve realized. I get a lot of Emails, from people asking how can I get this actor attached, or that actress attached? And a lot of it is pretty straight forward, it’s a function of one being a good salesman, acting professionally, submitting to their agent, calling their agent, and convincing their agent to read the script. And then their agent reads it, convincing them to pass it on to the actor, getting that actor involved. You know, the agents are used to dealing with film makers. A certain role, if you don’t have a lot of credits. You’re going to run into some road blocks with these agents. These agents are not necessarily going to be super thrilled with just reading a ton of material from film makers who would have no track record of experience.
Because they are just going to figure those film makers aren’t actually going to get the project funded. So, what you’re going to find is? They are going to say, “Well, we want a pay of play offer. Which basically means, you’re going to have to pay them, whether you shoot the film or not. And you’re going to be on the hook for salary. And that’s all fine but, you’re gonna need to get the final first. And it sounds like in this case, Christina went to Sharon Stone with the funding. And that makes a big difference. Because then you can go and actually make an offer to the actor. And again, it could be a pay or play offer. And at that point, you don’t really care, whether it’s a pay or play offer. Because you’ve got the film funded. So, you know, you’re going to make the film. So, there’s no real issue with that, if you don’t have the film funded you’re not going to be able to confidently make that offer. And that’s where you’re going to run into the road blocks. But, once you get past all that stuff. And as I said, it’s really going to be about making that actor or actress feel like that are part of the creative process. And I think just listening to what Christina said, there is very, very important. And it really makes the film a much bigger film. Getting in a named actor attached, like Sharon Stone, during into the film? It just brings it to a whole other level of exposure. So, I think that was a real smart move on her part. You know, listen to what she, Sharon Stone had to say, implementing those notes quickly. And what that did was make Sharon Stone feel like, you know, these film makers were taking her seriously. They weren’t just trying to get her into the film. Because she was a big name. They were actually trying to get her into the film, and use her creative ideas and that’s all very important.
I also think a very important thing about this film is the funding, the way Christina talks about how this film got fronted. And this is again, something that you’re as writers, I don’t think you fully understand. Making money from an independent feature film, is very, very difficult thing to do, no matter who you are, or what you’re doing? No matter what actors you have in the film. It’s a very difficult task to make money from an independent feature film. And I’ve been talking about my own film, “The Pinch.” And as time goes on? I’ll be sharing those numbers with you. And you’ll see, hopefully you’ll see the film. And hopefully you can kinda see my experience as I go through with distributors. It’s going to be a very tough thing for me to make money from, “The Pinch” even though my budget isn’t incredibly low. And even though half the film is funded through Kick-Starter. But, the sort of the point there, getting at with all that is. Literally, listen to what Christina said, about how they funded this film. They found someone who was interested in you know, sort of bringing attention to wild horses and horses in general. And was not that concerned with ORY and return on investment. And you know, trying to find people who want to invest in films for other reasons besides the ROY because it’s very difficult to go to a find someone who is potentially going to finance your film and say, listen this is just a great investment. You’re gonna make vast a million dollars, and you’re going to make two million dollars. I mean, virtually no producer can honestly look the person in the eye and say that. So, a lot of these independent films becomes a way of financing it in a way that is not so ORY specific. They don’t put the emphasis on the ROY. Because it’s difficult to get a return on investment on these types of films. And if you can find those people that want to bring attention to a particular subject and craft a story around that. Then those people are not so concerned about the numbers, how much money am I going to make from this film. Because that’s a difficult equation, and again, depending on your level of integrity. It’s very difficult to look them in the eye and say, oh yeah, I think we’re going to make money from this. Again, with “The Pinch” I think it’s a real possibility, not only am I not going to make money,
I’m probably going to lose a lot of my money that I’ve personally invested in it. And that’s fine, and that’s all part of the process.
And just a couple of specific examples, over the last couple of years, I’ve talked about my baseball comedy. And you know, that’s an example of we are trying to producer we are working with. He was trying to do something similar to what Christina talked about. It’s a baseball comedy it takes place at a minor-league stadium. So, this producer was going to a minor-league and said, “Listen, we want to shoot this movie here. And we will re-write the script to incorporate your specific team, it could be a marketing piece.” And then instead of the baseball team thinking, well how much, and then trying to get them to put in something the money to finance the film. And that’s a pretty good way of approaching it. Because then you don’t have to worry about again. It’s not about dollars for dollar. You don’t have to make it your investment, a million dollars. You don’t have to make a million dollars back. Because it becomes a marketing piece for a baseball team. If the baseball team invests some of the money. Let’s just say the budget was a million dollars to make the math easier. If the baseball team invests half the money. Let’s say $500,000.00. And they don’t get all that money back? That’s totally fine for them. Because it becomes more a function of how far and wide can we get this film? You know, they don’t care that NetFlix doesn’t pay that well. They just want to get there, and get their film on NetFlix for the exposure, and the internet. And in this day and age, you can put it up, even on something like YouTube for free. Again, you’re not going to make dollars back from it. But, you’re going to potentially get it exposure, and that’s a great way to sort of think about these things if finding people who might invest in your film. But don’t necessarily care about the ROY, is a really, smart way of to go. I’ve had, this idea I’ve had around for years. I’ve never gotten around to actually doing it. If anybody wants this idea, take it, it’s all yours. But, I always thought it would be easy to write a romantic comedy that revolved around internet dating. And internet dating is huge, lots of people meet online. And again, if you then can write a really cute, clever you know, upbeat script that really highlights the positive aspects of it, internet dating. You could then go to one of these companies, that is, www.match.com or www.plentyoffish.com one of these internet dating sites. And you could try and get them to potentially fund the movie. And again, it doesn’t become all about the ROY. It becomes more of a marketing piece for them. And they invest in the movie. Not so much to make and ROY. But to make, and just to highlight and showcase their particular service. And you could rewrite the script, if you were able to get something www.match.com involved. You could re-write the script. And actually incorporate that specific brand into your script as a service these people are using, and having success. And again, I think that would be something you could find the right people at www.match.com. Who ever those people are that make the decisions, the Marketing Director, or the CEO, or
whomever? If you could get to that person, and pitch to them. It might be something that they would be interested in? Again, it wouldn’t be a time thing or big money from a company like a, www.plentyoffish.com or www.match.com, these are big, huge companies making with, you know, revenues in the millions of dollars. Investing in you know, $500,000.00 or even $200,000.00, in a feature film. That could potentially showcase their service in new and interesting ways, might be something that they would be interested in? But you could probably come up with 100 ideas that are similar to this. And I would encourage you to think along those lines. I think also Kick-Starter, is another way of doing this is. You’re cutting out the distributor and the middle man. I mean, once I find a distributor for “The Pinch.” That distributor is going to take probably a third of all of the money that comes through. I mean, that’s just kind of standard. You will sign and deal with them.
And any money that they make, they get to keep a third, or more. A lot of them are 35% or 50%, a lot of these distributors take a lot of money. And a lot of times, they’ll take the first money to come in, to cover some of their hard costs supposedly. So, they might say, well, the first $30,000.00 that comes in that, we’re going to keep that to recoup all of our marketing costs. And then we start doing a split. The chances of “The Pinch” making above that marketing cost of that $30,000.00 distributing take is the very, very small. It becomes very. The chances of the film making money becomes more and more, I say less, and less likely. To where as if you do something like Kick-Starter, again you’re going directly to the people who want to see it. The movie, you’re cutting out those middle men. And I think that’s a very great and powerful thing. And I like Kick-Starter. Like I said, I used Kick-Starter for my own film. And hopefully I’ll be able to use it again in the future. Because your be able to make then, a movie less say again, using the example of “The Pinch” the total budget was $28,000.00 and I raised almost half that money through Kick-Starter. So, now the actual hard dollars into this. That are basically just about cut in half. So, I only need to make about $14,000.00 of hard dollars or $15,000.00 of hard dollars, to actually get the money be back. And again, it’s a another way where you are not so hung up on this ROY. You invest a million dollars in it. And half to get a million dollars back. If you could build your Kick-Starter you’re following up on a little bit let’s say, raise $100,000.00 and then, you know, through Kick-Starter and then $100,000.00 through other sources and then you have a $200,000.00 movie. But it only cost $100,000.00 and, you’re real true, true fans are getting the film first. And so, they’re getting some benefit as well. So, it really a sort of win/win. The people who want to see the movie are funding, and helping to fund the movie. They are getting to see the film first. They are getting involved in the process. So, again Kick-Starter is another way of funding that I think takes sort of the pressure off of that real hard ROY type of investment. That a lot of people are or who are investing money. When you’re investing like a start-up, you know, like a tech. company, a tech. start-up or something. That’s all about ROY. It’s all about how many dollars we’re going to put in, how many dollars we’re going to get back. But, movies I think are definitely different. There is a sort of creative aspect that people are just, are attracted to. And there is other things, and I think being smart as a producer, and as a writer, as a writer and potentially a writer/producer. I keep thinking along these lines, is a really smart way to go. And again, that’s kinda what I’m trying to do. I’ve been around long enough, to see how difficult it is to make money off of these independent films. And if you can somehow step away from that. And start to think a little bit differently. I think you can go a long way. Again, I think what Christina did with this film. I think it kind of goes along these lines as an actual real live working example at a pretty high level. Again, Sharon Stone is a pretty big movie star to get in your film. So, here is a real good example of all this.
Anyway, that’s the show, thank you for listening.