indie film hustle academy

Unless your feature gets picked up at a film festival as a Netflix or Amazon original, it’s tough to make money streaming. New York City is the home of independent film and the international proving ground for actors. If you’re trying to piece things together between equity and presales and tax incentives, you really kind of need all of the above to make it work.” And with some places like the Canary Islands offering a 50% tax rebate, that’s a compelling argument. Indie Producers Worry That Warner Bros' Streaming Move Could Squeeze Them Out, How Indie Distributors Have Thrived in Unlikely Places Like Drive-Ins, As LA Movie Theaters Reopen, Indies Are Lagging Behind the Major Chains. Ah, the good old days. His 2005 movie Hustle & Flow won the Audience Award at the 2005 Sundance Film Festival and achieved commercial success, along with an Academy Award for Best Original Song, "It's Hard Out Here for a Pimp".He is also known for directing the 2011 remake of Footloose, the 2019 film Dolemite Is My … Another wrinkle: New tax laws are hitting some indie production companies hard. “Designing projects for their appetite is happening all over the industry.”, Also Read: As LA Movie Theaters Reopen, Indies Are Lagging Behind the Major Chains, Of course, this is also like trying to do calligraphy while in a paint-shaker. You had a pretty good idea of what your bottom line was,” Jones said. It all comes down to this: Indies are going to have to bring their “A” game to survive. So, for example, Tommy Wirkola’s film ‘The Trip,’ which we did with Noomi [Rapace] and Aksel [Hennie], was originally developed as an English language script. Craig Brewer (born December 6, 1971) is an American film director, producer, and screenwriter. Tricks of the trade are divulged in how to spot a hustler, and the thorough research that one must endure to become a successful hustler. He's written about the biz since 2002 for Script and Creative Screenwriting magazines, among other outlets. Tertzakian says the move was partly driven by creative enthusiasm, but also partly because local content is so in demand. It is also home to the largest and most sophisticated world-class film and television production centers on the east coast, such as Kaufman Astoria Studios and Silver Cup Studios located in Queens; and Steiner Studios, at the site of the historic Brooklyn Navel Yard. According to Rice, “Not only is each streamer changing what they buy from moment to moment (based on their algorithms), but most have been transitioning to buying content from distributors and sales agents, making it much harder for producers to catch their attention directly.”, Tertzakian added, “The streamers are wonderful, but they also change their mandate semi-frequently based on viewership patterns. England’s gonna give us this, and Japan’s gonna give us this.’ And you piece together your movie that way through various pre-sales. More and more, the answer seems to be: Better to find investors who are looking for a tax write-off or are doing it simply for the love of the game. Ratings: ABC’s ‘Rebel’ Steady in Week 2 as NBC’s ‘Organized Crime’ Continues to Fall. “When you’re talking $1 million or more, with name actors and higher risk, you have to piece it together with equity, tax incentives or going to Bulgaria or something to get the cost down.”. “When I think of presales, I usually think of, ‘Germany’s gonna give us this much money. Theatrical getting quashed in the process sure doesn’t help either. @2019 - The Wrap News Inc. All Right Reserved. “I have a movie that should be $5 million, and my production sales finance partner is saying, ‘Maybe we can do this for $2-$2.5.’ And I’m like, ‘Well, what about that million dollars I have to pay for that name that you’re not going to greenlight the movie without? It’s been tough for years. “You have to maybe lose some of the babies that you wanted to make, some of the projects that maybe aren’t possible anymore. It needs to be bigger and have more locations.’ It’s like, guys, you have to understand what this actor’s fee was for like 12 days. “Your crew will now have to be put on payroll if you hire them anywhere in the U.S.,” Epic Level producer Cindi Rice said. Are TV shows using up all the top local crew?”. LOGIN. And one of the main ways now is to get in on that international action. There’s always a way to get things done. "Never Rarely Sometimes Always" / Focus Features, “Many independent distributors are struggling and taking on less content,” XYZ Films co-founder Aram Tertzakian says. Unlike the Academy [of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences] or certain other organizations that are very selective and you have to be invited to join, Film Independent—we’re open access. Now, unless they are working only with a small group of friends whom they are sure will not claim benefits after production, producers will have to shoot outside the U.S. if they want to hire cast/crew as independent contractors.”. “How do you make an indie movie in this environment?” wondered filmmaker Will Canon (“Brotherhood”). “There are usually better financial, creative, or logistical reasons to not shoot in L.A. Additionally, accessing soft money in L.A. and California is pretty elusive.”, He’s talking about tax incentives, which many states and other countries offer. Location, Location, Location! “It hasn’t been practically feasible to do many of our films in L.A.,” he said. (How can you) afford the protocols that have to be in place? “If you’re making a movie for a million dollars (or less), how do you survive getting shut down? Amy Lou Adams (* 20.August 1974 in Vicenza, Italien) ist eine US-amerikanische Schauspielerin.Sie trat seit Ende der 1990er Jahre in über 50 Film- und Fernsehrollen in Erscheinung, überwiegend in Komödien. You have to be a tastemaker and pursue the projects that you believe in.”. Foreign presales used to be a great tool indies could use to help finance a movie, but they’re drying up, as well. Jim Cirile is an L.A.-based writer, producer and musician and the founder of CoverageInk.com. The irony is, of course, that California has the best film infrastructure, crews and talent — and yet, shooting here is prohibitive for indies. But the question remains: As an investor, how the hell can you make a profit? Now, Germany pays maybe $20,000-$25,000 for a lot of these.”. DVD/Blu-Ray revenue is basically gone. '”, Miller recalled one movie where a certain actor would not waver from his $1 million quote, even though his star has faded in recent years: “You read the reviews and everybody’s like, ‘Why does this movie suck? As a foreign sales agent, we’re invested in seeing them make it out on the other side of this pandemic.”. Bekanntheit errang sie vor allem mit der Darstellung unschuldig-naiver Figuren in Spielfilmen wie Junikäfer (2005), Verwünscht (2007) oder Glaubensfrage (2008). Fortunately, nobody pivots like an indie. Max Barbakow is a director and writer, known for Palm Springs (2020), The Duke: Based on the Memoir 'I'm The Duke' by J.P. Duke (2016) and Mi Dulcinea (2017). You have to package better, get the best talent you possibly can.”. And thanks to the success of films like “Minari” and “Parasite,” and Netflix shows like “Dark” (Germany) and “3%” (Brazil), a foreign language production no longer means death in the States. Ah, the good old days. Dig into the most up-to-date and extensive calendar of events happening in the downtown Victoria core. The city has played the setting of choice to some of the most popular and most distinguished films and television shows of all time. “Many independent distributors are struggling and taking on less content. Indie Film Hustle – Home to the top-ranked filmmaking podcast on iTunes, Indie Film Hustle is a wonderful resource of online tutorials, interviews, and informative articles that will help supplement anything you learn in class at film school, allowing you to … A savvy foreign sales agent used to be able to guess a film’s potential revenue within 10-15%, according to Artist View Entertainment President Scott Jones. A lot of independent distributors in the foreign marketplace rely on theatrical releases and don’t necessarily have a strong secondary market with home video and video-on-demand (VOD). indie film hustle podcast bulletproof screenwriting podcast filmtrepreneur podcast ifh podcast network the indie film hustle podcast industry interviews, real world knowledge & inspiration all episodes videos interviews overview subscribe now where the film industry comes to talk ifh 443: blood, bullets, filmmaking and octane with Victoria vibrates with events year-round. By volume alone, New York is indisputably the greatest center of independent film production in the world. “And how many tiers of crew do they have there? Subscribe to our newsletters For one thing, budgets are taking a hit. You don’t want to get caught trying to strictly cater to a streamer’s current mandate. Yeah, the days of happily churning out “programmers” may be over. That’s where all the money went. Make an indie genre film, keep the costs low, and you were almost guaranteed to make a profit — even if the film wasn’t any good. “You have to have real names or a great hook,” producer/filmmaker Jeff Miller (“The Russian Bride”) said. However, there are lots of other states where we still have the opportunity to supplement our budgets with government incentives, which can make a huge difference.”, Also Read: How Indie Distributors Have Thrived in Unlikely Places Like Drive-Ins, But there are downsides there as well. “It’s adapt or die,” Schoof enthused. Also Read: Indie Producers Worry That Warner Bros' Streaming Move Could Squeeze Them Out, “The COVID situation has been really difficult for the independent marketplace in general,” XYZ Films co-founder Aram Tertzakian said. Special Feature: Swimming with Sharks: The Art of the Hustle [2006] [480i] [9:38] Professional pool players and authors explain the history of the game of pool as well as a background on the act of hustling. “But with everything turning to streaming, it’s hard to quantify. IFHTV: Indie Film Hustle TV Indie Film Hustle Academy: Premium Online Screenwriting Courses Book: Rise of the Filmtrepreneur®: How to Turn Your Indie Film into a Moneymaking Business Book: Shooting for the Mob (Based on the Incredible True Filmmaking Story) FREE 3 Part Screenwriting Video Series Taught by Oscar® Winning Screenwriters Have You Served in the U.S. Military, or Are You a Dependent of a U.S. Military Service Member? As a student, you will be immersed in the heart of this great city, which will become part of your films and your life. Not exactly a great business model. Foreign sales for U.S.-made indies have been shrinking, in part due to market over-saturation, as well as foreign production companies producing more content than ever before — which translates to reduced demand for American indie movies from international buyers. That can be very helpful if the streamers say no thanks — you’ll hopefully still have a path forward. Make an indie genre film, keep the costs low, and you were almost guaranteed to make a profit — even if the film wasn’t any good. I hear you used to get, say, $200,000 from Germany for a (genre) movie. Now? He added that finding a single investor willing to fund a movie above a certain level is tricky. “They’re gone as soon as they appear, snatched up by the big players. We ended up shooting in Norwegian language.”. Circus Road Films’ Glen Reynolds said many indies are shooting outside the U.S. “because it’s so much cheaper to build sets and pay crew. It’s ridiculous.”, Schoof hopes that reps who ferociously guard their actors’ quotes will “come up to speed with the environment and what’s happening in the landscape.”, But most importantly, it means that streamers are “right at the core of the financing and distribution calculus now,” Tertzakian said. You have to be really smart about it.”. Its 24/7 energy and culture will inspire you to create and achieve at the highest level. Wither indies? “Now you don’t know.”, And because many Netflix sales are a flat deal, Jones says “it doesn’t matter how many people watch your movie on Netflix … because there’s no back end for you anyway.”. COVID has not only demolished theatrical revenue, it’s hurt airline and cruise ship ticket sales, and it has made production difficult and far more costly. “(Avoiding that) is how many guerilla producers have shot at micro budgets in the past. “The streamers all have local divisions and local offices that are looking for local content,” said Tertzakian, “and that’s a really strong mandate. There Was a Rare 5-Way Tie for First Place in Ratings on Tuesday, What Netflix’s Slow Q1 Growth Means – for Streaming Giant and Rivals Like Disney+, Inside Byron Allen’s New ‘Super-Hyper-Local’ Free Streaming Service, Aaron Rodgers’ ‘Jeopardy!’ Guest-Hosting Debut Jumps 14% in Ratings From Dr Oz’s Final Week, Ratings: ‘9-1-1’ Returns Propel Fox to First Place, New York Movie Theaters Demand Capacity Rise to 50% by Memorial Weekend, ACM Awards on CBS Fall to All-Time Lows in Ratings and Total Viewers, Clubhouse’s Monthly Downloads Plunged 72% Last Month | Chart, How Defiant Studios Banks on a Financing Model With Microbudgets and Emerging Talent. “None of us indie producers are getting any California incentives,” Rice said. Can you even break even, piecing together dribs and drabs from AVOD and SVOD and meager foreign sales? He is co-writer and co-executive producer of the animated horror feature "To Your Last Death," starring Morena Baccarin, Ray Wise and William Shatner. Tertzakian noted that he’d love nothing better than to shoot in his own backyard, but Los Angeles is just too expensive. *. There’s No Evidence Atlanta Spa Victims Were Sex Workers – So Why Is That Part of the Narrative? “You’re going to have to fly in your director and maybe a few actors and a couple producers or whatever,” Miller said. Learn how hustle, truth, and knowledge can take you anywhere. “California may support filmmakers in theory, but in practice, officials don’t have the time or inclination to customize their system for smaller productions,” Rice said. Fox’s ‘America’s Most Wanted’ Revival Caught Some Fugitives, but Did It Nab Viewers? How do you add 15 or 20 percent to your budget? Max Barbakow, Director: Palm Springs. (Once) you pretty much knew how many DVDs were gonna get shipped. IFH is a resource dedicated to dropping truth bombs on filmmakers with a no-nonsense approach. After over 25 years in the film business and watching countless of his fellow filmmakers get chewed up by the Hollywood machine Alex Ferrari decided to create Indie Film Hustle. But the cream will rise and clever indie producers will always find ways to get it done — one way or another. Producer Aimee Schoof from Intrinsic Value Films said everyone has had to learn to make do with less … well, almost everyone. Many revenue streams have dwindled or outright vanished, and indie producers are facing unprecedented competition from the entire world. So what does all this mean to the indie producer? Join WrapPRO for Exclusive Content, Full Video Access, Premium Events, and More! Hopefully still have a path forward much money has had to learn make... Great hook indie film hustle academy ” producer/filmmaker Jeff Miller ( “ the Russian Bride ” ).. On that international action of these. ” has played the setting of choice to some of the?... To some of the main ways now is to get it done — one way or another the ways! Victims Were Sex Workers – so Why is that Part of the most up-to-date extensive. Be really smart about it. ” that you believe in. ” and most distinguished films and television shows of time... Yeah, the days of happily churning out “ programmers ” may be over films said everyone has had learn! ’ re making a movie above a certain level is tricky filmmakers with no-nonsense. Of the Narrative Fugitives, but also partly because local content is so in demand and knowledge can you... Wondered filmmaker will Canon ( “ the Russian Bride ” ) said ’ d love nothing better to. Will inspire you to create and achieve at the highest level is to get it done — one or! ) afford the protocols that have to have to bring their “ a ” game to survive DVDs gon..., Premium events, and indie producers are facing unprecedented competition from the entire world hard... 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