A new year, another pre-production update

Halloween.  Thanksgiving.  Christmas, New Years Eve.  And Sixufus is still in pre-production.  Like all things announced, it runs the risk of never happening.

Sometimes delays like these are staff-based, as in we can't find the folks to do the work.  But that's not the case this time:  Maurice has identified and recruited all his actors.  And his production and post-production staff, a team that Moe has worked with before, are in place and eager to take on the challenges presented by Sixufus.

The problem in this case is the stereotypical indie problem:  The almighty dollar.  Or lack thereof.

So even though the script was written with a goal of being a zero-budget shoot, money must still be found for various and sundry items.  To wit:

The Shoot
Locations, meals, props, time.  Though Sixufus has a bare minimum of these, they still require an outlay.  Even if someone is willing to turn their apartment over to wacky indie filmmakers for a couple of weeks, the talent and crew still need a burger and the accompanying fries.  Let's say one meal for 8 people for 2 weeks:  At the wildly unrealistic 5 bucks a head, you still need (8 * 14) * $5, or $560.  Too bad that stuff doesn't grow on trees.

The On-screen Talent

The actors in our production are undeniably talented, but also undeniably members of a union.  The Screen Actors Guild, to be precise.  If Maurice wants to work with the actors in his town, he has to pay cold hard cash to the on-screen talent of this production.  That, or be blackballed for life; unable to hire a SAG actor again.  (And just to be clear, most actors are, or are aspiring to be, SAG affiliated.)  This is not an option, but a reality.

The Off-screen Talent

Maurice's team is made up from folks in Austin and Spain.  Austin, as in Texas; and Spain, as in Europe.  Getting to LA, on time and with all their gear in tow, is not going to be cheap.

Realistically?  A 0-budget feature-length film needs some money.  Sure, you hear of guys producing $70 movies, but that number is not an accurate accounting metric of the assets used to produce it.  Cameras, lights, microphones, software, hardware; plus the time and expertise to use them, has a financial value.  As an indie filmmaker, the question is "What can you trade to use them?"  Burger King won't trade fries for video editing favors.  Typically.

So, to tackle this goal, Maurice has generated a budget and is eliciting interest amongst his contacts in LA.  Only a matter of time, really, until someone sees the value of the team and project, and ponies up for a slice of the pie.

Preproduction: Concept

Usually, you start with an idea. It fascinates you, you think about it when you should be concentrating on... Oh, you know, something more pressing. Like traffic.

This time though, it came backwards. It started with a want. You know what I'm talking about: "I want to...."

I want to make a feature-length film. Too bad I have no money to do it with.

So... I want to tackle a feature-length film using the money I DO have. Which is chump change. We're talking zero-budget.

Hey, it's possible! It's been done, and by people I know even (check out Deadland Dreaming).

There ya go. Now we've got our dramatic question to answer: How? Or are you just insane?

But now, in typical serial fashion, we'll leave you hanging there, and promise to answer the question of Sixufus in the next post.

But before we leave it at that, let me add a small note about frequency. Blogging-wise. My goal is to update this blog once a week, usually on a Wednesday, before high noon CST. Call me on it if it doesn't happen, 'K?