Jobs Not Jails

Our film class at Homeboy Industries, where we're developing Zola Jumped In, just finished making a commercial encouraging employers to give them a chance.

Great Micro-Funding Sites!

I've been researching two really cool micro-funding sites: www.kickstarter.com and www.indiegogo.com. You put your project up with a catchy little video invitation for donations, fun rewards for donors, and a dollar goal.

The sites take a 5% or so portion of your take, but it should be worth it. It's a fun site and has easy ways for people to share your project on Facebook, Twitter, etc.

Kickstarter (but not Indiegogo) has a 90-day-limit, and donors' credit cards are only charged if you make your goal. So that has both drawbacks and benefits.

I'm going to give Kickstarter a shot!

More info to come…

The Table Reading

We had our table reading, and it was very, very good. Okay, it wasn't easy to hear all the suggestions, but I think they were very helpful ones. I'd rather hear these things now than tons of time, energy, and money later, after the film is already made.

The table reading is definitely a great low-budget tool. At no cost, actors I found through Craigslist read the script. They, as well as several screenwriter friends offered their comments after. They filled out a survey, but the discussion was so rich I'm still chewing just on that.

And listening to my own voice -- I sometimes try to take suggestions too literally and thereby sacrifice my own vision. How can their comments help me fulfill my vision and not theirs?

It was very helpful also simply for me to listen to my script being read. I realized -- and this matched some of the comments -- that the scenes of the all-night ritual still don't have the juice that the flashbacks have.

Comment below on your experience of table readings.

Give Your Input On Our Script!

How do you receive feedback on your script? In the past, I've asked people to read the script on their own time, and I'm continuing that practice.

But we're also arranging a couple table readings for the Zola script. Another great tool for the low-budget filmmaker, I think.

The idea is to get filmmakers, people who know gang life, film lovers, etc. to read through the script together and have a conversation about it before I write the ?final draft.

Film Class at Homeboy Industries

We've started our film class at Homeboy Industries in Los Angeles, the country's largest gang outreach. My hope is that a few cast and crew members for Zola will emerge from the class. But at the very least, all of us involved will learn a lot and have a great time. Also, I think the experience will help me deepen the script's authenticity. I'll certainly share the script with at least some of the students and get their suggestions.

The students are Latinos and African-Americans, mostly teens but some a couple young adults. They really want to learn. At least a couple seem serious about a career in film. One wrote in his survey that he's hoping to get "wisdom" out of the class.

The first week, they interviewed each other on camera. Two of the females took charge in their groups and once they learned how to operate the camera they showed the others! The second week, they each wrote a short scene then shot them in groups. Next week, we'll have an acting exercise which they'll shoot. Also, they'll do 1-minute pitches of their class projects.

-dominic

Developing: Marketing, Distribuition and Crew

The work on Zola Jumped In continues. During the past month, we've made some good contacts, following our strategy of generating a buzz in order to prep, fund and make our film. Both organizations are in our niche: one deals with street violence abatement and the other one is a Christian film production company. We found one of these organizations through Twitter. As a non-profit company producing an ultra-low-budget film, it is very important for us to pitch our project to our affinity groups and get donations to fund our film.

We have come up with a funding plan. Because our film could be considered as Christian, we are going to apply to some grants for Christian Related Media or Art, like the Roy W. Dean LA Grant or the Catholic Communication Campaign. We also intend to get donations and sponshorships from our affinity groups. In order to keep as much creative control as possible, we want to rely on investors as little as possible. 

As far as Marketing and Distribution, we are following the indications of Jon Reiss in his book Think Outside the Box Office, where he mentions the title of Producer for Marketing and Development. That's why we signed Connor T. Johnson up to take care of Marketing and Distribution. Connor is a filmmaker from Chicago that shot a documentary about HIV in Kenia, and has had experience with new marketing and distribution techniques. If his performance meets our expectations, he could step up to the position of Producer for Marketing and Development. Our intention is to self-distribute the film in DVD and through the internet and have public screenings in schools, churches and Festivals. We will focus on Christian, Urban or Dance related festivals to reach our target audiences. We will also attend these festivals during development to network and pitch our idea to potential collaborators. 

Jumping In

Dominic: Okay, first thing is to come clean: we don't exactly know "how to make and distribute our own ultra-low-budget film." But then nobody does. And everybody does. Peter Broderick, Jon Reiss, Scott Kirsner, etc. are essential reading, especially for the distribution end of things, and I've been benefiting from Peter's workshops for years, but one of the main things they teach is that each project offers unique possibilities for distribution. 

Ruben: Here's the basic assumption behind this new independent film movement: 

it's not up to anyone but me whether or not my film gets made and distributed. Dominic and I are going to make this film one way or another whether or not anyone else gives us money to make it. And we're going to invite people to see it whether or not someone else pays to distribute it -- self-distribution of DVDs through the internet and screenings at non-traditional venues are part of the plan from the beginning.

D: So, as we make and distribute our film, Zola Jumped In, we want you to take the ride with us, learn with us, teach us, participate in Zola, and hopefully make and distribute your own film.

R: A bit about our project. Zola Jumped In is a contemplative, ritualistic experience of a 15-year-old girl's life as she turns to a gang, a neighborhood church, and pregnancy for a sense of belonging and purpose. Dominic has been working on the script for a couple years and recently decided that one way or the other, at one of three budget levels ($30,000, $100,000, or $400,000), the film is going to be shot next July. 

D: Right, and the first thing I wanted to do before continuing to spin my wheels on my own was to find a producing partner. I know from previous experience (and some of you probably do as well) that finding a producing partner can be quite a challenge. I found the contact information for a few producers of similar films by subscribing for a month to IMDBpro. I actually got responses but no real leads. But a friend put me in touch with her nephew from Spain, Ruben. We actually were able to meet up in Seoul, Korea (at McDonald's -- his request), where he was finishing his MA in Audiovisual Communications and I was visiting my nephew. I was really impressed that Ruben had taken it upon himself to read my script twice and email me some great notes. Right away, he wasn't afraid to tell me his concerns about the script. But it all came with a "we can do this" attitude.

R: I really liked the project and thought it was a great opportunity to produce my first feature film as I pursue my MFA in Producing at American Film Institute in Los Angeles. And Dominic is an interesting person to collaborate with: he's not only an experienced filmmaker with his MFA from Chapman University, but also a Dominican friar and priest. Yet Zola is not exactly a religious film. It's got all this Catholic (and gang) ritual, but it's not a message film. It asks lots of questions. But even the questions are subsidiary to the artful, emotional experience of it all.

D: Now Ruben was clear with me from the beginning that he doesn't have experience getting financing for features. So we're still looking for a third producing partner to help with that. But Mud Puddle Films is a nonprofit after all, and if we can get sufficient grants and donations, it will mean more revenue for Mud Puddle Films (which can then be used for the next project) and much simpler accounting -- we don't have an accountant or any other staff. But the bottom line is we need money and aren't at all sure how we'll get it. 

R: But we're gonna. And while we want to pay as many people as much money as possible to make and distribute Zola, we will constantly be inviting people to be a part of this adventure for little or no money if necessary.

D: Similarly, one of the most interesting and innovative ideas I've learned from Broderick is to involve affinity groups (groups that for one reason or other might have an interest in Zola) to be involved in the making and distribution. 

R: In fact, we've just put out a posting for an intern for exactly this. The internship could develop into what Reiss calls a "producer for marketing and distribution." Commitment is for Fall 2010, but an intern who stays on through the July 2011 shoot, post-production, and initial release will receive producer credit. Please submit resume to dominic@mudpuddlefilms.com and ruhorrod@epsg.upv.es.

D: But even prior to this internship, we're starting this blog, our facebook page and our twitter acount reaching out to unknown friends as fellow students, teachers, and collaborators. So jump in with Zola and us and write those comments!