Film Investments?

My uncle was an investor in the movie 'Night School'; I think he only broke even once the video was released... There is a ton of risk BUT I am sure if you know someone in the industry the risk is lessened significantly...

 

Making the movie isn't the problem. There's tons of scripts, directors, actors, producers wanting to get into the field -- just look near any film school. The pain is distribution. Even straight-to-video will require a decent distribution contact, with the big chains controlling the home rental market today.

That said, if the right opportunity came along it would an interesting thing to check off my "to do" list.

 

Congrats man on your film making it to Cannes! I too love movies and filming. Anyways good luck!

 

For every success there are a thousand failures!

You would have better luck strapping a camera on the hood of your Enzo and running it into a concrete wall, then burning a thousand DVD's and selling the footage on this site... Oh wait it's been done already! Anyone want to foot the bill on production? I'll contact the owner for the rights to the footage.

REMEMBER !!! If it sounds to good to be true it's PORNO!!!

OUT

 

You forgot "Suicide Cult".

Bad Admin... 24hr. ban for you.

 

"Congrats man on your film making it to Cannes!"

He submitted his film, that does not necessarily mean that it will make the cut.

The Board of Directors chooses and invites the films which will be presented in Competition or Out of Competition at Cannes.

 

Don't buy what you can borrow
Don't borrow what you can you steal
Don't steal what you can get for free

Still - it cost far more for than 5K to do Blair Witch than most acknowledge. Dementia 13 was Francis Ford Coppola's first film - cost 13K to make - an extraordinarily low sum, even in those days - just to show how cheap that was... TV Guide pointed out this fact in the TV Guide listing when it aired in the midafternoon during the 70's. Yes, I played Hooky that day... I had to know.

I work with a guy 5 days a week (we see each other for maybe 45 minutes) who is an Indy Filmmaker. His figures for a feature-length film - and trust me, he works on the cheap (All down the line, find people who are hungry-for-exposure/resume/future contact+Favor+nepotism+projects - including the music) are $70,000 > using DV equipment and him also doing the editing. Takes longer to do than feature films where everybody and everything is, oh, union.

Obviously, short films (such as 2 I've been in - "work" for free for other friends) in under similar working arrangements take less time and money - though the cost per minute is higher. Under the best circumstances, short films open the door to feature films based on the original low-budget piece - just as "Some Folks Call It a Sling Blade" - directed by George Hickenlooper, starring Billy Bob Thornton - being remade three years later as "Sling Blade" with Billy Bob Thornton taking over as Director, as well as being the star. The rest is history.

 

A few minor points.
Dave be correct. Sending your film in is different than being accepted as an official selection.
Even if your film wins the GP at Cannes it doesn't guarantee monetary success.
Box office gross does not = ROI.
Mentioning films that you had nothing to do with is like talking about stocks you didn't buy.
Implying that past results, especially someone else's, are an indicator of future results when soliciting investment is a crime.
Getting coked up actresses out of winabeagos at 3 in the morning is a lot more fun when your in your 20ies.
As a famous Producer once said to me before filing chapter 7 and stiffing me for 1.5million: "Jimmy by the time you can get into all the parties you won't want to go."
How much can you lose?
I know people who, and I'm being literal, have lost Billions in the film biz.
I also know a few who have done very well.
"Feeling Lucky?"

 

And isn't it true that you never ask for a percentage of the "profits" because "creative" book keeping will insure that no profits were actually made, despite the fact that the box office gross may have been in the millions? I'll take my cut as a percentage of the box office gross, thank you. But I would probably have a better chance at stardom by using my dusty Bolex 16mm and Canon zoom lense with C-mount adapter to capture Bigfoot entering a landed UFO. Better than that, how about Bigfoot driving a restored P4 Ferrari? That probably happens a lot less frequently!!!

 

I think I'd have to read the scrippt first and see if I liked it before I would invest. Thats jsut good busness practice. It'd all depend on if I thougt it was a good script and how well I thought the director would be able to put it onto the screen. But seeing as I dont inves tin things like this I guees my input is kinda pointless.

 

My film is almost done with post. We have distribution but I would not spend over $150K without having sold most if not all of foreign rights to cover the budget. Under $100k is preferable.

 

Oh, BTW - I read the My Big Fat Greek Wedding screenplay when it finally got picked up - couldn't put it down & knew it was a moneymaker - was simply shocked when I found out the story behind it - can think of no reason for it to have been skipped over. It read well, and looked like a sure-fire winner through and through. On the flip side, I also felt the same way about Along Came A Spider (which read better than it got translated to film, IMHO) - didn't get the sleeper hit like Greek did. In fact, it didn't stay in theatres long at all - though it's certainly made the rounds on Cable.