This is a transcript of SYS 452 – The Multi-Camera Technique With Michael Baumgarten.
Welcome to Episode 452 of the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I’m Ashley Scott Meyers, screenwriter and blogger with sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today I’m interviewing writer-director producer Michael Baumgarten. He came comes on today to talk about his new comedy feature film Hollywood Laundromat, which were screening at the festival Saturday night October 8th at 8PM. It’s a contained comedy which takes place of all places in a Hollywood laundromat, he talks about exactly how he was able to pull this film together. And it really started with a friend who owned the laundromat, so stay tuned for that interview. 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 or sharing it on Facebook. These social media shares really do help spread word about the podcast, so they’re very much appreciated. Any websites or links that I mentioned the podcast can be found on my blog in the show notes. I also publish a transcript with every episode in case you’d rather read the show or look at something later on. You can find all the podcast show notes at www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/podcast and then just look for episode number 452. If you want my free guide How to Sell a screenplay in five weeks, you can pick that up by going to sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide. It’s completely free. You just put in your email address and I’ll send you a new lesson once per week for five weeks along with a bunch of bonus lessons. I teach the whole process of how to sell your screenplay in that guide. I’ll teach you how to write a professional logline and query letter and how to find agents, managers and producers who are looking for material really is everything you need to know to sell your screenplay just go to sellingyourscreenplay.com/guide.
So, a quick few words about what I’m working on. Obviously, the film festival is the main thing. It is this weekend, October 7th to the 9th. I’ve been talking about the table read we’re doing on Sunday, October 9th at 2pm. We’re going to read the feature comedy screenplay called Bad Business written by Andrew Adams. It’s one of the top screenplays from this year’s contest. It’s a great low-budget comedy script, really contained it can be produced on a low-budget. So, I really thought it really captured the sort of the tone sort of what we’re going for here with a low budget screenplay contest. The logline is “In the wake of his estranged father’s death, a greedy businessman returns to Maryland in order to sell the farm he grew up on, only to find himself pulled into a bizarre and crime laden plot by a set of eccentric locals.” So, it’s program number nine, if you’d like to join us, you can find a link on the website to buy the tickets. Once again, it’s going to be a table read, we’re going to have some actors on stage that will read it. And then once they are done reading it, the people, the writers and producers in the audience will then give notes to the writer, the writer is going to be present as well to take these notes. And it should be a great experience. And again, if you’ve never been to a table read like this, it’s definitely worth just seeing how it operates. It’s really not hard to kind of orchestrate this sort of a thing. And I think you’ll see if you’ve never again, if you’ve never actually been something this you’ll see how valuable it is just getting notes from you know, a bunch of people 4,5,6,7 different people that have heard the same material, right in the same moment. You know, the notes really can be very, very valuable. You’re getting a nice sort of a consensus opinion in many regards. And sometimes there is no consensus sometimes you’ll see people will disagree with specific notes. But I’ve always found this exercise to be super helpful for myself when I’ve been reading, reading my script. So, I recommend it to anybody who’s trying to develop their own material. And as I said, if you come to something like this, you’ll sort of just see how it all works out. Anyways, once again, if you would like to buy tickets as program number nine, you can do that through our website, www.sixfigurefilmfestival.com. It’s all letters, all lowercase, all one word. And again, you just buy tickets from the website. If you’re in the LA area, please do think about coming out for one of the screenings. If not, this table read it’d be great to meet some of the listeners of the podcast. Again, just check out the website, sixfigurefilmfestival.com. So now let’s get into the main segment. Today, I’m interviewing writer, director, producer Michael Baumgarten. Here is the interview.
Ashley
Welcome, Michael to the Selling Your Screenplay Podcast. I really appreciate you coming on the show with me today.
Michael
It is my absolute pleasure, sir.
Ashley
So, to start out, maybe you can tell us a little bit about your background. Where did you grow up? And how did you get interested in the entertainment business?
Michael
I grew up in Key West Florida. And it was one of those things where I saw some things that were filming locally, you know, down over there. And I watched shows being filmed and I sat there and just was fascinated. And then also there was a thing where basically I was dealing with the fact that my parents were going through a divorce. So, my mother had a part-time job at night working at a cinema so she would bring me to work as the youngest kid and sit me down and I’m watching these wonderful films from the 70s and then that turned into basically me collecting movie posters and then that and into something larger and all that kind of stuff. And I just began to say, okay, someday, I’m going to make movies too.
Ashley
And so, what? Let’s talk about that. So, then what’s your transition from, you know, kid who loves film to be a professional? What were some of those first steps to actually make it a career?
Michael
Well, there was a gentleman by Well, there was a kid by the name of Jimmy Dills. He was the only person we knew that had an eight-millimeter camera. So, we would just make stupid, funny, short films on eight-millimeter film. And so, we ran around and did a bunch of that stuff. And the next thing you know, it turns into, you know, Star Wars then came out. And all of a sudden, I’m blown away. You know, I saw it that first year that it came out, and it was still playing, I saw it like at least 92 times. So, while it was there, up on the big screen, and I was in a trance, I was like, I want to do this, story is amazing. I want to do this. And then I didn’t do it for years. So, I just had a still camera, there was nothing in terms of training or any inspiration, except me going to the movies going someday, someday, someday. And then lo and behold, came the big break. It was when Universal Studios in Florida then begin to break ground. And then all of a sudden, it’s like, whoa, Hollywood’s coming to me. So now it’s a thing because I knew that when like in Los Angeles, I have no trust bond. I have no family that’s a new business. So, moving to Los Angeles seem crazy. So, at this point here, I go there, and I’m going just to a local school, they’re called Valencia. And I’m learning some things there. And then somebody says; Hey, would you like to be a production assistant on a movie? I’m like, sure. But it doesn’t pay a dime. I’m like; Sure. So, I’m like, okay, great. So, like, I’m there. So, I took time off from like, my job, I worked there for like, a couple of weeks. And then I helped with casting, hard part of my job was getting on the phone and going; Hey, we need meals for our film crew, would you mind to do that in exchange for screen credit, and all that kind of stuff, because it was really micro, micro, micro budget. So, I did that. And so, I got free food for at least lunches, for the entire two weeks, from a restaurant here or there.
Ashley
You were a good PA, that’s the best way.
Michael
Right. And then and you know, and then basically, that was when we had to actually use a phone book, or just drive up to a place. And the next thing, you know, it turned into me going in there. And it turned into this whole casting thing where they needed a cast. So, it’s like one of those things where basically the casting happened. And I they needed more cast, and I knew a lot of folks. So, I began to find them cast for this role, for this role extras, I literally was in a van, driving down the, you know, just like a tourist strip, finding people to, to load into the van to be in a movie. And we were on the universal lot. So, it was just like, hey, do you want to go do a movie were filmed? And I’m just like, the lot, would you like to come along? And if not, just here’s where you need to be. So next thing, you know, I really, I made a good impression. And it turned into, at the end of it as I’m happily wrapping cable, because I’m also helping the grips, it then turns into Hey, we wouldn’t feel right, if we didn’t give you this. So, they paid me for the full two weeks, even though I had agreed to do it completely for free. So, that was it. Because I was just like I’m learning on site, it’s the best thing ever. You know, it’s because I’m sitting there paying to go to class and hear at least I’m not paying, and I’m actually learning and get an actual credit. So, it was hugely helpful. And then that’s where it took off from there. And then that same group employed me for the next like, you know, probably next like 12 years or 13 years. So, one of the producers from that carried me over to a bunch of his shows till 2000 in probably 2004. And then I started to get into more of the producing directing. And then next thing you know, I just begin to go my own way.
Ashley
When did you start writing scripts? At what point in this process did you start to think that maybe I could be a director maybe I can be a writer and get some of my own work out there?
Michael
Well, first of all, it was more of a thing. I always got, you know, very good grades in creative writing. And I grew up in Key West where Hemingway was big. So, I was writing stuff while then, you know, when I was like 10, or 12. And I kept getting like really good, like reviews on it, you know, because basically, I would rather write than talk. So, it was easier for me, you know what I mean, I was just like, I could just purge and go into it, and write as opposed to thought it out loud, right. So that was kind of my go to. So, I actually was writing stuff. And pretty much a lot of the jobs I had, because I would just have a notebook. And I would just pick it up and just start writing. In fact, as I’m on here with you, I’m surrounded by index cards. So, it’s like everything, because I’m constantly coming up with new things I’d like to do. And there’s a whole entire wall filled with index cards of all the things of new projects that I come up with just like by inspiration. And that’s what’s great. So, I’m constantly because I basically have a whole stack of things in some, you know, like, when some folks go; Hey, do you have a movie that you want to make I go, I got more like 10, I want to make, I want to do a slate. One is like, what I want to do is do one and while that’s in post, go to the other, and then keep them going. That’s what I was. So, that is more efficient, because you can keep a good team in place. But I began to write and then basically, Final Draft came out. The first time I really got to write a script, where I really tried was I tried to hire somebody else to write a script. And then I was like, ah, there went $400 for somebody to make a little treatment. And I’m going that’s a lot of money. So, I began to just study it. So, when I came out to Los Angeles to visit some friends, there was a script shop on Hollywood, that I went in there and I bought a bunch of scripts up, because I had never really studied a script. So, I began to look at the scripts, but it was scripts for movies actually knew. So, I could kind of go, Okay, I know the movie. Now let’s see the script, I wanted to see what the script had in it. That allowed me to basically put on the page what was needed to facilitate making the actual movie. So, I began to do that. And the next thing, you know, I sat at a friend’s house, when he and his girlfriend would go to sleep, I would be in the other room because it was the only computer I had access to. And I would be there from about midnight to 4am. And I would be there just purging all of my ideas out on this computer. And it was thanks to the army that I learned the type. So, they had taught me that. So other than that, I didn’t know how to type up until that point. So, I began to do that. And next thing, you know, I could type these things out. And I’ve just had pages and pages and pages. And it was sad. It was a dot matrix printer. So, to print those out, it was you know, sloppy at that point. Then Final Draft came along, Mac came along. And all of a sudden, I had a proper screenwriting software. And that changed the game. For me, that really was the thing that really became freedom. You know, actually, that’s the best thing I could say. Once I got the Mac, and the Software Freedom hit me because I can now kind of not worry about how many spaces is it because the software, it’s just so great. So, thanks to final draft and Apple, so. And then I just began to do one, which was one called Amateur Night, and I did that one that got optioned when I moved out to Los Angeles, which was cool. And then it was part of a slate. It was originally a five-film slate. And then mine was the first film of the five-film slate. And then ultimately there was a union issue with the crew. So, the union hit the show on the first one out, which wasn’t mine. And then mine got cut from the slate because they felt that the future film should all be antsy. So, I lost my first whole film because of that. That was a fun.
Ashley
Couple of follow-up questions. Yeah, that isn’t fun. And unfortunately, that’s, you know, so often, I talked to writers and that’s sort of the thing that’s so painful starts with these things. Just a couple of follow up questions. So, you mentioned you were working for free on this production as PA. What is your opinion now that you’re pretty seasoned? I mean, there’s always a lot of controversy in the entertainment history about these, you know, so called internships. One of the things I’ve found doing my own films is, you know, there’s this attitude from young people that they’re already there with YouTube and Tik Tok, building phones. So, nobody really wants to do the PA job anymore. And they certainly don’t want to do it for free. But I do think that there is some real value in in sort of cutting your teeth on those low-level positions, which I think is sort of being skipped now. But what’s your take on that now, you know, after all these years?
Michael
It’s a different era. You know, because we were shooting on film, how often do you get chance to really shoot something on film, at that time, you didn’t have access to the video cameras like you do now, you don’t have access to where you can shoot an entire movie pretty much on an iPhone. I mean, that didn’t exist. So, the chances because now they don’t need to go work for somebody for free. They got an iPhone, they got a laptop, they can make their own films. YouTube, they can go on there. And they can watch tons and tons and tons of things to where they can learn the basics. And they’re getting very good at it at a very young age. They don’t really need to go through what I went through, there’s no real need for it unless they’re going to do film, or anything else, they can basically create their own way. I basically worked with some folks back about probably six months ago, they built a YouTube channel, making skits. And they’re the happiest people I’ve ever met. Because they never approached it with some of the pretentiousness of a film set that is often there. So, there’s a lot of things where they were the happiest film crew, and the happiest cast I’ve ever worked with. And best of all, is they’re doing it all from Dallas. So, they never went to film school. They just learned it. And best of all, is they learned it with friends. So, it’s a point where first it’s you feel me. And then they begin to do that. And then they started to learn to edit, then they brought in people that did that. And even the people that are behind the scenes are also in front, because they don’t have to worry about sag. So, they’re just going back and forth. They’ve got a wonderful group of people both in front and also behind the camera. And they’re the happiest people I’ve ever met filming. They’re just so positive, so great. And I was like; Whoa, this is interesting, because they all participate. And it’s always 100%. Every day I worked with these guys, they were fantastic. That’s why they got last I checked like 58 million subscribers. So, they’re the happiest bunch of people I ever met. And you know what, compared to a lot of the film, the film sets, and the amount of times I got yelled at for touching something because I’m trying to help. It was like, wow, this is a different way because they never learned all that part. They never learned like, that’s my gear, don’t touch it and all that kind of stuff. It’s just like, dude, I’m trying to help you so we can get out of here faster. You know, I mean, I won’t drop it on capable. Trust me, you know what I’m saying. And that is the thing. It’s just like, wow. Ashley, when I saw them, it was like that was a curve that I took that I went like, wow, they built a better boat in many ways. And they built it up. And they’re basically millionaires off of YouTube.
Ashley
And what is the channel? I wonder can we check it out? Can you recommend users?
Michael
Dude Perfect.
Ashley
Oh, dude perfect.
Michael
Yeah, well, those guys were fantastic. They were the best bunch of guys and just positive. And so, I was the LA liaison for them when like they filmed at my friend’s studio, which is Air Hollywood, which is great. So, they film there and it was fantastic. And boy, just the happiest bunch of people. It’s like, wow. So, that’s why, in my opinion, the whole thing with the internships which are supposed to be strictly tied in with school, you know, if you’re going to school, and you’re going to have it for credit, great. Now, I see nothing wrong with somebody that says I want to volunteer to learn, as long as the insurance also covers them while they’re on set. And that there’s the thing, but, you know, I think if people have the ability to just say; hey, look, I want to give a couple of hours a day, six hours a day, whatever it is, so I can learn this stuff. You’re going to mean are they banned from that? Should they be banned if they want to learn and They want to show up and help out and they’re covered by insurance? I’m like game to let them come around. Sure, you know, but do I want to exploit anyone? No,
Ashley
Yeah, yeah, no, yeah, I’m with you all on that. So, I think that’s excellent advice, dude perfect is a totally different world now. If you can kind of play your cards right. So, let’s dig into your latest film, Hollywood laundromat. Maybe to start out you can give us a quick pitch or a logline. And you know, this interview is very timely, because we’re going to be showing your film October 8th, Saturday night spot October 8th. So hopefully, if it sounds interesting, hope we get some people to come out and check it out. But in any event, maybe you can just pitch us this film. What is Hollywood laundromat all about?
Michael
Hollywood laundromat is about a gentleman named heck. And he’s working for his ex. And he’s working the overnight shift of a fictitional 24-hour laundromat, right near Hollywood Boulevard. Okay, and that’s what it is. And he’s a kind of a down on his luck actor that basically hasn’t quite hit yet. And that’s what the film is about. And it was a thing where I came up with this while walking off the parking lot. And they walked it off. And I was like, hey, you know what, we could film a movie here. And that there was it. So, it was my friend that owns it. He basically said; Look, I’m about to move out of here in like, a few months. I want to film one last movie here. You know, I mean, so can we film something here, Michael? I was like, Sure. And I said, Give me a few minutes. And I walked outside. I walked around the parking lot. And I was like, I was looking at the different glass entrance ways and everything. I’m like, Okay, I could like this, make some Christmas lights that that’d be cool. I could put a sign over here. And it became a back parking lot of a Hollywood laundromat. And so that was it. And then of course, we found the actual interior, about a mile away. And we only you know, had to film that once. So, we went over there. And we filmed that everything else was in and around the parking lot, or they also had a bar set. And they also had a makeup room that I converted into a salon. And it was just like, from the time that he said, I want to make a movie here till the time we began the shoot was, you know, basically 19 days, and I do you know completely invent this, crew it up, cast it and get it ready to film in 19 days. And that that’s what happened.
Ashley
And I’m curious, you know on IMDb, you have a number of family films, the martial arts kids, Smitty. How does that affect like you the idea you came up from this was not a family movie. I mean, obviously, it sounds like you had the location first. But how much does sort of the business sense influence what you’re doing? Like, why? Why did you do sort of a comedy version? Why not do a thriller or a slasher murder mystery? Like, why did you sort of finally decide on this particular story for this location?
Michael
Well, because it casts almost every actor, were was people I knew. So, I already knew him, like, hey, about to do a film. And I got a role for you, I want you to come in and do something like this if you’re around. And they were like, Okay, great. So, they came in. And basically, I set up the role for the forum, there were a lot of things that were fully scripted. And then there were some things that, you know, I would write, like, right before we shot, because it was easy, you know, I was like, Okay, you and you guys are here. Great, great, great. Let’s run through it like real quick. And then I put my headphones on, put the music gone. And while they’re setting up the shot, I’m writing four or five quick pages, then I print them out, bring them out to just like the actors. Let’s roll. And then most of them were only there a maximum of four hours. Because that that there was it, I wanted everyone in and out that wasn’t the main cast in and out in four hours or less. Wanted to just get them through to thank them for the time and bring in their magic. And best of all is because a laundry mat. People don’t stay long. They come in, they wash their clothes to dry their clothes, and then they’re out. But no one needed to stay there long. And only the main cast was in the beginning of the night and the end of the night. Everyone else was just temporarily being cycled through as per it’s like one long night. So, it was kind of a thing that was a easier way to film it than basically having to bring everybody back. Everybody’s waiting six hours before they get in front of the camera or anything just like that. It’s just like I wanted to keep it moving because I needed to be done fast. So, my typical shoot days were everybody that was part of the main part of the day shows up at three and then we were ready to shoot by four to five I have o’clock, depending on what we add first. And then we basically go like to lunch at 8:30, then come back from lunch, and we were completely wrapped by 1:30. And basically, that was our days, we would just roll on through it.
Ashley
Would you recommend this just writing pages on the day? Would that be something you would do on other films would be something you recommend to other writers?
Michael
I am a veteran. So, it’s just like, and I knew the actors, and I knew that so many of them were just brilliant at improv. So, as long as we set some things up, and basically just turned them loose, that in a couple of takes, I’d have what I needed. So, it’s a thing where I’ve seen these folks, I recently just did a film where, after this one, I did a film called Kyle’s Pocket Dial, there was one particular take after I found these two actors that had great chemistry. And I was able to put them in situations where they could just go and go and go, in one take alone was 24 minutes, and I shot it with four cameras. So, on each actor, I had two cameras rolling at the same time. So, the editing was very easy, because I’ve got them with four different angles. So, it’s just like, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, boom, in 24 minutes. So, the actual onset tag was 24 minutes. And they were fantastic. Because they could just roll, I did a chemistry test here first, and I said, Okay, here’s the first five pages. Once you get past these, don’t stop until I say cut. And I wanted to see what they could do on just like their own. And they went for 17 minutes. And I basically walked around the room, I made a little noise. I did all these things that would distract them and they never broke, they stay totally in it. 17 minutes without allowing me to distract them, totally in the bubble locked in. And just I only wrote the first five pages. They had burned through that in the first two and a half minutes. And the rest was all them just be in the characters. And I was like, wow. And then we watched it back inside here 17 minutes. Okay, here’s where the script stopped. Here’s where you guys just kept going. Because you are the characters. And next thing, you know, they just rolled through it.
Ashley
What did you give them in this five pages? Like, what were those five pages to kind of get this thing rolling?
Michael
It was a phone call that basically somebody had called somebody else, their exes. And somebody then couldn’t help but wonder why they called so they call it back. And so now it turns into a call, you know, it’s like, Oh, just a pocket dial two. And then that turned into Oh, well. Okay, well, it was nice to talk to you. No, no, no. So, let’s talk. So, like you’ve been okay. And then it turns into this whole chat. And it was the thing with certain things were all set up. And then after that, they just went for it. And again, and they were just two wonderful actors that became locked in and just did a fantastic job.
Ashley
Yeah. So, on how would Laundromat you share writing credit with them, Adam Mars, maybe you can talk about that a little bit? What is that relationship? And sort of, how did you guys, what did he do on the script? Like, what was he involved with?
Michael
We basically have been friends since probably around 2003. And I was part of a group called the Burbank Eight, it was eight writers that would meet every Sunday. And we would you know, give notes to each other on scripts. So, every Sunday, we would have a new script that everybody should have read. And then we all give notes to that person. However, we can to basically try to help them shape it and see what’s lacking. See what can be done to make it better. And that worked out great. And so, this was somebody from that group that he and I really got along well. And, you know, I just said; Hey, look, I’m going to be doing this movie called Monster Mountain Do you want to help out? Then it’s just like, great. So, he and I would write that because I had the main focus of what it needed to be it was that and then I’d say, Okay, I want you to do scenes 8 through 20. I’m going to do here. Here’s what happened. So, I basically I sketched all of the scenes out to where we know what the scenes are. So, all of the framework is there. And then basically, I trust him to generate the scenes, 8 through 20 And then ultimately, as needed, because I’m directing it. I will then go back and kind of refine it however I see it from the directing side of it
Ashley
Was either on set when you’re writing these five pages? No, you guys had a script. Gotcha, gotcha.
Michael
Right. In other words, but it was a very loose script, as all I could say, it was a very loose script. Because, again, a lot of times people brought extra people. And they weren’t necessarily people that were in the original draft. So, I’m making revisions, right on set. Because if I, I don’t want somebody to show up, especially when it’s not even sag, right? I don’t want somebody to show up just to show up and be an extra. Like, if I talk to them for a minute, or two or three, and I get with their presence is I can basically go, okay, here’s the line, I want you to say after he says this line. And then with three cameras, I shot that film. So, I would basically get that done. And I would say, okay, when he says this, you’re you know, you you’re going to say with a chuckle, Last call for alcohol, like you’re drunk off your ass. And then that turns into that. And it gets a laugh every time. Right. So that’s one of those things. It wasn’t scripted. But I saw an opportunity to put a little button on the scene with that person saying that line. But it wasn’t scripted. It was just something I saw as an opportunity.
Ashley
I’m curious, just sort of in a general sense. I know a lot of screenwriters are listening to this podcast, you’re out there making movies, there’s always writers that kind of want to get on your radar. And not just your writer but a guy like you who’s out there making movies, hiring writers like Adam working with writers, what should a writer do to impress you? How should they submit to you? How do they meet a producer director like yourself?
Michael
Well, first of all, is I have only directed somebody else’s script one time. That’s it, everything else has been stuff that I generate, through just me or me plus Adam, or me plus other people. And sometimes when the cast brings in a lot of cool stuff. I credit them as well, you know, I’m saying because I’m like, going to go in additional dialogue by because you know, these are things where I’m not the guy that basically sits there and goes, you know, hey, you need to say, every line exactly like this every time, everything just like that, because if they bring something better to it, I’m grateful, because they’re living, if I hire the right actors, they’re living the character. They’re seeing things in it that I may not have seen in it. And they’re going to go; Hey, what I’ve done here, because over here, and unlike, hmm, it’s a great idea. Let’s do that. Because that’s the thing because certain scripts, I’ve completely have locked up totally airtight. And there’s some of them that are more loose, because the actors are going to bring their magic. And so, I want to make sure that I give them the freedom to, because I don’t want to basically be that director that barks at them, because they basically did something that was off script. You know what I mean? I want to then first go as much to the script as we can. And then if there’s something that they want to do in the later take, let’s try it.
Ashley
Yeah. So, it sounds like you had the location. You’ve cooked up this script, sort of a loose script. How did you finance it? Did you go out to do you have like a bunch from your previous films, a bunch of financiers, what is sort of that look like to getting the money to put this thing together?
Michael
No, the person with the stage guys, I want to film something here. Before I leave, I go how much you want to spend? And he goes, here’s how much I want to spend. And I go, Okay, here’s how many days we can afford. So, I had to basically engineer it based on the location and budget because the location was a free, but I mean, because it was a free location. So, and I own my own gear. So, it was just like, he had the location. I had the gear. So, it was a question of okay, let’s merge and make this movie. And that’s how that all went down.
Ashley
Gotcha. Now just you’ve done a bunch of bigger films, you know, some name casts and that sort of stuff. What how does a film like this fit into your overall current filmmaking career, and sort of what I’m getting at is why do a really low budget film like this? Like, does this help you at this stage in your career?
Michael
I am an artist and it’s creating art. So basically, that there’s why I mean, just because there’s no money really to make the movie doesn’t mean I can’t have fun making the movie, because I do the shit for free. I mean, just like I’m blessed. The fact that like get to wake up each day and I’m a filmmaker in Los Angeles. I’m blessed bro.
Ashley
I hope people hear that because that’s the thing, the passion to do it, whether you’re going to get paid or not is such an important aspect to all of it.
Michael
I never got into this for money. I was already in another career. And then I came out here, I never cared about the money. To me, it was always about, I wanted to be a filmmaker. And being a filmmaker means you make films, you make films, if there’s a lot of money, you make films, if there’s some money, and sometimes you make films, because you want to, even when there’s no money, so I just continually make films. So, while everybody else is waiting, 3, 5, 10 years for millions of dollars to make that script they want to make, that’s all good. I just don’t want to spend years being that producer or that director that’s waiting all that time, because I’ve got cameras sitting right in this room. I could just go film a movie now. So, I just need actors. I need sets. I need food. I need insurance.
Ashley
Exactly. What is your gear look like? What is sort of your package?
Michael
Basically, what it is, is I had fun with Z cams. They are fantastic. And it’s like one of these things, do you want me to grab it?
Ashley
Yeah, let’s have a look at it.
Michael
Okay, hold on a second. Here is one of the cameras here. This is a Z-cam just shoots 4k. And it’s a wonderful, easy to shoot camera. And basically, just saying here is on sale, right now at B&H for 14,199 bucks.
Ashley
And then you got to get lenses and all the other.
Michael
Yeah. So, these are Rokinons. Those are great. Nice shot multiple movies with this. With this gear.
Ashley
It’s great. Yeah, yeah. Nice. Yeah, no, I’m glad to see that. That’s interesting. I’ll have to look into that. So, Hollywood laundromat is going to be screening at the film festival, October 8th at 8pm, as I mentioned, in Hollywood, so anybody in the local area, hopefully, they can come out and see that. But where else is Hollywood Laundromat going to go to play? Eventually, I’m sure it’ll be on those streaming services, if not already.
Michael
Yeah. So, after your festival, it then goes off to Melbourne, Florida for the Melbourne independent filmmaker’s festival were screens on the 13th. Okay, so just about a week after yours. And then I then go to a bunch of streaming sites and international. So yeah, there’s the plan. Because when you’re making a movie, just like this, you know, you can afford to just kind of move it along quickly. You don’t have to shop it around forever and ever. You can just go okay, streaming sites go, you know, I mean, just put it out there. Because at the end of the day, it’s about the long-term. And luckily, these you know, these are streaming sites like Tubi or, you know, doing well at paying filmmakers, which is nice, because a lot of them don’t. Sometimes you hand off a movie to, you know, certain sales agents and companies and you know, you’re waiting for your reports, you’re waiting a long time.
Ashley
Hopefully you’re not waiting.
Michael
You’re asking, and you’re asking, you’re asking and, you know, they sometimes aren’t very receptive to receiving calls or emails. They just liked the fact that they have your movie and exploit the hell out of it. And unfortunately, I basically don’t like that. And I prefer to get paid. I’m happy to do the work at my expense, if needed. But then I don’t like being ripped off.
Ashley
Yeah, yeah, for sure. What’s the best way for people to keep up with what you’re doing? Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, anything you’re comfortable sharing, I will round that up for show notes.
Michael
Facebook. Michael Baumgarten, Facebook.
Ashley
Okay. Perfect. Perfect. I’ll link that in the show notes. I really appreciate you coming on and talking with me today. Congratulations, getting this film done, I will actually follow on your career.
Michael
Thank you, sir. Thank you, because you are basically doing everybody justice because of the fact that you are showcasing their films. And there’s nothing better that for us, they basically we get to make a film and thanks to you, you are providing a venue in which we can see the movie up on a big screen with our cast and crew and everybody else from just like the festival. So please take a bow, sir. Because thanks to you, you’re doing us a big service.
Ashley
I appreciate that. So, thank you very much. Perfect. Well, I’ll see you on October 8th.
Michael
That’s right. 8pm.
Ashley
That’s right. Thank you talk to you later.
I just want to talk quickly about SYS Select. It’s a service for screenwriters to help them sell their screenplays and get writing assignments. The first part of the service is the SYS Select Screenplay Database. Screenwriters upload their screenplays along with a logline, synopsis and other pertinent information like budget and genre, and then producers search for and hopefully find screenplays they want to produce. Dozens of producers are in the system looking for screenplays right now. There have been a number of success stories come out of the service. You can find out about all the SYS select successes by going to sellingyourscreenplay.com/success. Also, on SYS Podcast episode 222. I talked with Steve Dearing, who was the first official success story to come out of the SY s select database. When you join SYS select you get access to the screenplay database along with all the other services that we’re providing to SYS select members. These services include the newsletter, this monthly newsletter goes out to a list of over 400 producers who are actively seeking writers and screenplays. Each SYS select member can pitch one screenplay in this monthly newsletter. We also provide screenwriting leads, we have partnered with one of the premier paid screenwriting leads services, so I can syndicate their leads to SYS select members, there are lots of great paid leads coming in each week from our partner. Recently, we’ve been getting 5 to 10 high quality paid leads per week. These leads run the gamut. There are producers looking for a specific type of spec script to producers looking to hire a screenwriter to write up one of their ideas or properties. They’re looking for shorts, features, TV and web series, pilots all types of projects. If you sign up for SYS select, you’ll get these leads emailed directly to you several times per week. Also, you get access to the SYS select forum, where we will help you with your logline and query letter and answer any screenwriting related questions that you might have. We also have a number of screenwriting classes that are recorded and available in the SYS select forum. These are all the classes that I’ve done over the years, so you’ll have access to those whenever you want once you join, the classes cover every part of writing your screenplay, from concept to outlining to the first act, second act, third act as well as other topics like writing short films, and pitching your projects in person. Once again, if this sounds like something you’d like to learn more about, please go to sellingyourscreenplayselect.com. Again, that is sellingyourscreenplayselect.com.
On the next episode of the podcast, I’m going to be interviewing writer director David Wheeling, who just did a low-budget horror film called Surrogate which we talked about, but we also talk through his whole career. He started doing a bunch of short films, writing and directing those and now he is doing feature so keep an eye out for that episode next week. That’s our show. Thank you for listening.