| | | | Aspiring Directors, Don't Miss This Monday's No Budget Confidential!
I'm putting the final touches on this Monday's No Budget Confidential with writer, director, producer Robert Machoian, and it's going to be a great event. This is my 7th edition of No Budget Confidential, and if you've attended before, you know that this is going to be a deep dive into the making of his film. We'll cover his experiences prior to making the film that helped lead to its success. We'll talk about his writing a script that matched the resources he had on hand. We'll cover how he got the money. We'll thoroughly discuss casting, shooting, crew, gear, and post. We'll learn about his experience at Sundance, getting picked up by Neon, and how all this success led to the making of his current feature, a $500k film that he's just submitted to next year's Sundance. Yes, like all my other NBC's, if you're interested in making a no-budget film, you'll learn the nuts and bolts of how this one was made.
But probably more than any of my previous episodes, we're going to also talk about aesthetics, and the creative ideas that went into the making of this amazing film. The Killing of Two Lovers is ultimately an "art film." It's a "Sundance Film." It garnered amazing reviews. Yes, it didn't cost very much, but Robert made a film that stands up to the very best, high quality arthouse films of the year. So if you're an aspiring director or writer/director, and you want to get great insights into Robert's techniques, his creative ideas, his film theories, there will be plenty for you to learn here too. Robert has been making films for a long time. This was his 4th feature and his 5th film to get accepted into Sundance. He's an Associate Professor of Photography at BYU. He knows a lot about filmmaking, and you'll get the chance to hear it all.
The seminar is this Monday, September 20th at 5pm PDT, and it's FREE. It will be conducted via Zoom Meeting, and I encourage everyone to turn their videos on once we open it up to for audience Q&A, so you can ask your questions on camera if you want.
Click the button below to register and we'll see you on Monday!
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| | | | | Naomi McDougall Jones and I Show You How The Indie Game is Rigged (and how we can all fix it)
Here's a reminder to join me on Tuesday, September 28th at 5pm PDT as I welcome my next Guest Expert, filmmaker/financier Naomi McDougall Jones, and we discuss what's wrong, really what's completely broken, about the independent film business. This will be an eye-opening conversation, and no one articulates it better than Naomi, who has seen the business from multiple angles over the last several years. Her perspective on the situation matches what I've been seeing, with my films and my friends'.
We'll break down what's always been problematic, and then discuss the recent changes that have made things worse. Then we'll talk about the things you can do to combat what's broken, and she'll describe her efforts to completely change the game. You won't want to miss this one!
As always, this is a FREE event, delivered via Zoom Meeting, and you'll have a chance to ask us anything during the session. Sign up today and we'll see you next week! |
| | | | | Destin Daniel Cretton guest speaking at my No Budget Film School in 2013 |
| SHANG-CHI AND THE LEGEND OF THE RINGS In Theaters Now
Ok, I usually don't encourage you to run out and see big studio movies, and certainly, Marvel doesn't need me to shill for them, but I do highly recommend their newest superhero extravaganza, Shang-Chi And The Legend Of The Rings. It's fun, funny, moving at times, with great insights and yes, big-time action sequences. But the big reason I mention it here is that it was directed by a former no-budget filmmaker, Destin Daniel Cretton. I saw Destin's $65,000 feature I Am Not A Hipster at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival, and invited him to speak in my "Art & Science of No Budget Filmmaking" class in 2013, after his follow-up feature, the $500k Short Term 12, tore up the festival circuit.
Destin was able to prove on his first two features just how well he works with actors. In fact, two of his actors from Short Term 12--Brie Larson and Rami Malek--have since won Oscars for Best Actor, and LaKeith Stanfield, who Destin pretty much discovered, is in every movie and TV show there is. Everyone has to start somewhere. |
| | | Mike Mohan guest speaking at my No Budget Film School in 2012
THE VOYEURS On Amazon Prime |
| | Usually your successful no-budget film doesn't lead to a $200 million directing gig, but if you're talented, it can lead to more work on bigger productions, both feature films and TV shows. Writer/Director Mike Mohan was a guest of mine in 2012, after making his $30k Sundance feature One Too Many Mornings and his successful, higher-budget follow-up, Save The Date, which featured several young actors that would go on to big careers.
Mike created the Netflix series Everything Sucks! and I was happy to see that he wrote and directed a new feature film produced by Amazon Studios that came out about a week ago on Prime called The Voyeurs. This somewhat lurid psychological thriller/mystery won't be everyone's cup of tea, but I enjoyed it, and I thought it was well-made, if not a little too twisty at the end.
If you don't see the parallels, let me spell them out for you. You never know who I might invite as a guest speaker to discuss their movies with you, whether in my in-person classes or my new online programs. One of them might be directing the next Marvel movie, or Batman trilogy, or Halloween series of movies, or hit HBO show. I try to find some really good ones to share their experiences and reveal their distinctive techniques.
And of course, the other point I'm trying to make, one that I've been making for the last 16 years, since I started No Budget Film School--no-budget features are one of the best ways to launch a career. They're a great way to learn and develop your craft, and they're one of the best ways to show the industry what you can do. And you just never know where that path will lead you.
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