1001 Positively True Stories of An Indie Filmmaker

I’ve been away — so to speak — for a little while and the blogs have slipped by the wayside. In a nutshell I’ve been scrambling to complete Broken Hearts Club, or at least a very good close-to final cut. My composer delivered another version of a cue I needed for the BBQ scene and it was great. Just one more to go.

In the interim I’ve been trying my damnedest to equalize the sound before I jump into a rudimentary sound mix and sound design. Truthfully, my goal is just to keep the sound from sucking ass as much as possible. The sound for BHC really isn’t bad, not like in the old days of my first filmmaking endeavors, LOL. I did have challenges, like missing files from DAT tapes and bad on-set sound, but I’ve managed to edit my way around them.

I simply need to close this chapter and move on to the next. That means getting BHC out of its holding pattern and in a picture lock state (albeit temporary) so I can handle the other things I need to do. Like writing. It’s already August and I’ve only written one script this year. I need another one. But which? Black Mountain will take me months and months to complete a  very rough draft. The Wedding Conspiracy will take at least two months for a rough draft. However, I think the latter will be much more commercial coming out the gate with BHC. 

So, what’s with the title of this blog, Gone Baby, Gone?

Well, this is a twist on my goal of naming my blogs after film titles. Almost. I guess you can say this is a two part title-r. See, I watched Director Ben Affleck’s Gone Baby Gone last night and I have to say it was the most completely entertaining, well-written, well-acted, well-directed film I’ve scene in a decade.  I am going to add it to my DVD library.

The film is near perfect. The storytelling and the characters are so authentic it’s almost surreal. And the core theme of the story, the dichotomy of right vs right (there’s no misspelling there!) is impeccably approached without preachiness. In fact, at the end, while there are two seemingly “right” choices it was hard for me to speak out against or for the lead actor’s final decision.  It made me think.  If you want to see a good film, a really good film, Gone Baby Gone is a must. Rent it.

Now onto the second part of this blog. Lately I’ve felt like I’ve been spinning my wheels burning the candle at both ends and in the middle. There’s been very little structure to the things I’ve done. I’ve tackled this project, then that one, then the other one. As I get closer to the early bird submission deadline for Sundance I need more structure and focus in my activities.  I need to create a measurable plan so I can go back and look at my results and see if I truly got the entire job done, not just pieces of the project.

I’ve abandoned my plan of embargoing BHC and instead I am going to spread it out far and wide. I’m going to start with sending copies to several critics and then move on to talent agencies. I’ve got a little buzz project for Sundance and Slamdance too, which are the next two über-important film festivals coming up. While Slamdance is technically harder to get into because of its limited screenings the film festival rivals Sundance in its ability to get filmmakers seen and sold. Summarily, I need to be able to check my results at the end of each month and see measurable progress. 

To ensure this progress I need to compose a very thorough “to do” list. I’m working on it this weekend. Early next week I expect to receive three books I ordered about film financing, distribution and film business plans. These books should help me get a handle on marketing and distribution processes for BHC and pre-production financing solicitations for my other film, The Wall.  

When I get all these things into place, complacency will be gone baby, gone, replaced by a definitive plan to get me from the D-list to the A-list.