I’ve been meeting with writer Kellen Berg periodically over the last 18 months+ to review and discuss drafts of his adventure script, “The Crown of Osiris.”  I first met Kellen during the annual IFP MN Producers Conference three years ago, where I was honored to be a panelist.  On the second day of the conference, I and two fellow panelists listened to and critiqued pitches from 19 screenwriters.  Yep, nineteen.  I could barely form cogent sentences anymore after that 3-hour session, but I remembered Kellen’s pitch because I thought it was very graspable, and I like adventure movies.  So, I told him, ‘Send me a draft when you’re ready.’ A year later, he did.

I met with him next to talk about us working together and asked him what his hopes and expectations were.  Ours would be a process of collaborating on faith and for the joy of it, really.  I don’t have development funds to pay him (or me) for this process.  But, if we liked working together and how we shaped the script together, I’d want to produce it as one of my projects.  He said he was game to take the leap.

Here we are nearly two years after that, and Kellen sent his most current draft to me a couple weeks ago (he’s been juggling school and work commitments).  I’m getting excited!  It’s not ready for prime time, yet; but, I feel it’s at a good maturation stage now to dive in and really pull it together.

So, I’m enthused about documenting this process here on the blog!  Kellen’s cool with the idea, too, so we’re going to give it a shot.  He’ll post entries here, too, occasionally as a guest blogger.

To wrap up for now, I’ll share with you what I remember about Kellen’s pitch:  “The Crown of Osiris” is about a college student who joins an archaeological dig and uncovers an Egyptian relic.  It confers super human abilities upon him, but with a high price – once you wear it, it wants to get you killed!

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Julien Favre

I’m pleased to introduce to you Julien Favre, a Sundance Producing Lab 09-10 Fellow, and a partner of DViant Films, an independent production company based in Toronto and Los Angeles. DViant Films completed their first feature in 2007: NIGHT TRAIN (YE CHE), written and directed by Chinese filmmaker Diao Yinan, which premiered in Cannes in Un Certain Regard.  In 2008, DViant Films completed production on a feature documentary about the King of Thailand entitled KINGSHIP, commissioned by the Thai Government.  In December 2009, DViant wrapped production on their second feature LONGFELLOW, a dark comedy written and directed by Martin Donovan, starring Martin Donovan, David Morse and Olivia Williams, produced in association with Ted Hope.  Next is RETURN, the first feature of Sundance Director’s Lab fellow Liza Johnson, starring Linda Cardellini and Michael Shannon, which will go in production in October 2010.

Julien is a graduate of the Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Paris (Sciences Po), and holds a Master’s in Entertainment Law and Administration from Sorbonne University, an MBA from Ecole Superieure des Sciences Economiques et Commerciales, and an MFA in Production from UCLA Film School.

SUSTAINING THE MUSE
A Producing Questionnaire

* Please name all the “hats” you wear as a creative producer.

Story editor, location scout, fundraiser, psychotherapist, graphic designer, lawyer, lobbyist, still photographer and music supervisor would be a good start.

* List all of the jobs you’ve held before or while pursuing a career in producing.

Graphic designer (my original career: http://bluecampsite.blogspot.com), used car dealer (not a joke unfortunately), editor, stenographer, teacher, translator, copy writer.

* Do you have a Big Dream or career goal as a producer? What inspires you to do what you do?

My goal is to produce films I am proud of, the kind of films I watch and think: I wish I had been part of this!

* Please name five essential skills and/or traits a creative producer needs to sustain a career.

Resilience
Creativity
Flexibility
Psychology
Leadership

* Name a movie, or several, that you wish you had produced.  And/or, producer(s) you admire (living or passed on).

Definitely Reprise by Joachim Trier has blown me away.  Older favorites of mine include Nobody Knows by Koreeda Hirokazu, Head On by Fatih Akin, Thirst by Park Chan-Wook and The Beat That My Heart Skipped by Jacques Audiard.  And David Lynch’s!  There are so many actually… I could go on.  Re: producers, I have a huge respect for Lynette Howell, who has consistently made super high quality films and who, despite her success, has remained very down to earth and generous.  I also have tremendous respect for Julie Lynn, who has an incredible energy, great taste, courage and a big heart.  And then Ted Hope of course, who has a track record which would make any indie producer shakes their head in disbelief.  Not sure how he did produce 70+ films at that constant level of quality and innovation.

* How do you define success for yourself?

Making a living producing quality films, and being asked to produce the next project of a director you already worked with.  I find that the notion of establishing long term relationships and performing to the satisfaction of your colleagues and peers is a big part of success for me.

* What’s your motto when it comes to raising money for your project(s)?

This is obvious, but I would say my motto is to keep moving at all time, and keep trying new approaches when the old ones have failed.  I am a firm believer in probabilities, i.e. the fact that statistically, the more people you approach, the better your odds become to actually find the money.  But another important principle (also totally obvious I am afraid) is that it is key to present a project which is mature enough and contains all the elements you know your potential investor will require.  Hence me spending a lot of time in development to make sure the script is ready before I approach anyone… or packaging the project first if I know cast will be essential.

* How long did it take to support yourself as a producer?

I’m not there yet. Working on it!

* Who do you turn to when you need a pep talk?

I have the chance to have a great network of mentors and fellow producers who are extremely supportive.  Being part of the Sundance Producers Lab has been a major help in that regard.  Partnering with like-minded producers on projects is something I tend to do more and more, too.

* If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

I would modify my tastes so they are more mainstream! I think it would help me a great deal in my “career”…

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Today I knew I’d phone a Very Connected Person (VCP) about Lost in Sunshine.  A good friend had spoken to a good friend, and I got the go-ahead to contact said VCP.  Omigod, excellent, thanks!!

So, what did I do before making the call?

I jumped up and down in my kitchen.

Seriously, I had so much adrenaline flowing through me, that I had to find a way to ground myself before making first contact (and first impressions) with the VCP.  I next stood still and wiggled my toes, imagining I was a tree with deep roots (more grounding).  And, then I jumped up and down again — where did these yawns come from?!  Ack!  I don’t want to yawn on the phone with the VCP!  Jump, jump!  Breeeaaathe.

Okay, dial.

What do you do to prepare, motivate, psych yourself up for an important call or meeting?

I felt it went well, in that I think I came across as knowing what our project is, and what I’m seeking from the VCP’s company.

Now, I wait.

Wouldn’t it be awesome to hear back and have their response make me want to jump up and down again?

I gotta go do some squats in preparation. 

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Meet Maggie Hadleigh-West, an internationally recognized independent filmmaker, activist and an inspirational public speaker. She has been writing, directing and producing in film, television and for corporations since 1991. Her work is often considered to be controversial, provocative, radical and irreverent.  I came across a comment Maggie made on one of Ted Hope’s postings at his TrulyFreeFilm blog, where she alluded to the challenges of sustaining a career as a filmmaker/producer/director.  I thought to myself,

‘Oooh, I want to find out more about this woman!’

Here’s the rest of Maggie’s bio, and I hope you enjoy her responses to the Meet The Producer questionnaire as much as I did:

Maggie is particularly adept at creating original programming for television and the Internet, which is content laden and character driven. Her independent films, employ arresting cinematic styles and social justice messages. As a Producer for television, her work has included researching, writing and producing original segments for Dateline NBC, Life Time Television, Independent Film Channel and more. Maggie’s films and presentations have been used around the world in theaters, the Internet, broadcast television, cable outlets, nonprofit organizations, conferences, corporations, colleges and government agencies, including the Departments of Defense, Justice and State.

Maggie has appeared on numerous national and international television and radio programs including 20/20, The Today Show, CBS News, The Oprah Show, Lifetime Live, Oxygen Media, BBC, NPR, and CNN.  Articles on Hadleigh-West have been published in USA Today, New York Times,San Francisco Examiner, NY Observer, Chicago Tribune, Village Voice, New York Daily News, Ms. Magazine, Glamour Magazine, London Times, South African Elle, the Swedish papers Aftonbladet and Dagens Nyheter and Australia’s Exposure magazine.

In 2009, 2006 and 2005 Maggie was an Alcyon Grantee, a 2004 New York State Council on the Arts Grantee, 2001 University of Louisville Distinguished Professor Nominee, 2000 Rockefeller Fellow Nominee, 2000 Tiny Tony Award Winner and nominee of the 1998 Caligari Prize at the Berlin Film Festival in Germany. She received a Bachelor of Arts degree with Honors in Visual Communications from George Washington University.   She also holds a Master of Fine Arts with a Merit Award from the School of Visual Arts in New York City.

Click on image to view trailer

Maggie’s current feature is Player Hating A Love Story (click here to read its blog), which follows hip hop artist Half-a-Mill and his Brooklyn crew as they struggle to escape poverty and violence through music in the Albany Housing Projects.

Definition: Player Hating - Someone else is about to shine, and you’ll do anything to keep that motherfucker from getting his cheese — it can be as subtle as negative flow (lyrics) or as extreme as trying to clap (shoot) him. – Trent Bond, Half’s Manager and former NYPD Detective.

SUSTAINING THE MUSE
A Producing Questionnaire

All the hats I wear as a producer:

Well, first and foremost I think of myself as a Director before Producer, because for me that’s the more story/creative side of things.  I am of course a Producer because I have to and want to be one, if my work is to be seen.  And I’m definitely not interested in simply talking to myself.

So as a Director / Producer I conceptualize ideas, write about them, refine them, find characters, set up the shoots, get preliminary funding or put together a credit exchange crew, Field Produce, act as mediocre Sound Person, sometime Shooter, horrible PA, manage my crew, cater the shoots, organize the footage, log, log, log, then log some more, transcribe, beg for money, cut 50,000 trailers, beg for more money, organize footage, work tirelessly with editors of all sorts and at all stages of the process, get to a bad cut, cry, get to a good cut, celebrate, get to a great cut, cry, find musicians, Direct the composing of music, direct the final edit, sound design, sound mastering, graphics, color correcting, and make dubs.  Then I collapse.  And then I begin the real business of selling my movie….(OMFG)

Public Speaker, Cater-waiter, Receptionist, Elevator Operator, Freelance Graphic Designer, Dateline Associate Producer, Freelance Television Producer, Sexual Harassment Expert, Film Consultant, Director/Producer for hire

That my current film, Player Hating A Love Story be seen all over the world, that it impact millions of lives in a positive fashion and that it inspires audiences to look deep into their hearts and choose love over racism.  I’m totally inspired by the guys I worked with in the Albany Housing Projects, all kinds of music and all forms of art.

Personally, I’d like to play the guitar like a rock star within two years.  (A bit industrious.)

Chick Balls, tenacity, flexibility, TRUE listening when interviewing people, and perseverance, for God’s sake.  And all of that can be housed under the umbrella of non-denominational faith.  Oh yeah, and getting moola.

The Hurt Locker.  Best war movie ever.  Sorry guyz.

Waking up in the morning still being in love with my life and my movie, and understanding that I AM NOT MY MOVIE.   And knowing that no matter what happens, I made the best movie I could with the resources that were given me.  Also knowing when it’s time to leave one art form behind for another.

No guts no glory.

Supporting myself as a producer:

Let’s get back to that next year. ; )

Pep Talk:

I talk to myself, my family and often get unsolicited pep talks from people like Bill Costigan, my EP and good friend.  He’s impressed with how stalwart I am, when I’m expecting him to think I’m crazy.

Thing I’d Change:

When it comes to my career the thing I’d like to change most is the ability write huge award winning grants.  Regarding my everyday life, I’d like to sleep better so that I can dance more.

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Meet Mynette Louie, a New York-based independent film producer. She produced Tze Chun’s award-winning CHILDREN OF INVENTION, which premiered at Sundance 2009, played over 45 film festivals, and won 16 festival awards. She co-produced Andrew Bujalski’s MUTUAL APPRECIATION, which was named one of the top ten films of 2006 by Entertainment Weekly, Film Comment, the Village Voice, Artforum, Greencine, and The Onion’s AV Club, among others. Mynette also produced several award-winning narrative short films by minority and women directors that have screened at film festivals worldwide.

Currently, Mynette is in post-production on P. Benoit’s UNTITLED HAITI PROJECT, a Sundance Lab project starring Edwidge Danticat. Additionally, she is developing several narrative features, including Eric Lin’s WHY WE PULL THE TRIGGER, Rory Kelly’s THE END OF SOMETHING, and Tze Chun’s YOU’RE A BIG GIRL NOW, with which she was selected for the 2009 Sundance Creative Producing Lab and Fellowship. Mynette was also selected as a fellow of the 2008 Rotterdam Producers Lab and as a participant of the 2010 Berlinale Talent Campus.

Mynette is on the Selection Advisory Committee of the Sundance Institute’s Feature Film Program, and along with Tze Chun, was named in Ted Hope’s list of “21 Brave Thinkers Of Truly Free Film” for their hybrid distribution strategy for CHILDREN OF INVENTION.

Previously, Mynette served as Economic Development Specialist at the Hawaii Film Office, where she authored the state’s 15-20% refundable production tax credit, oversaw the $7.3 million renovation of the state-owned film studio, and developed programs to foster local independent filmmaking.

A native New Yorker, Mynette graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard University with a B.A. in East Asian Studies, focusing on Chinese film and literature.

SUSTAINING THE MUSE
A Producing Questionnaire

• Please name all the “hats” you wear as a creative producer.

Enabler, problem solver, firefighter, den mother, leader, executor, enforcer, mediator, negotiator, therapist, researcher, analyst, strategist, editor, critic, accountant, drill sergeant, cheerleader, networker, spin doctor, juggler, babysitter, sanitation worker, etc. etc.  And these days, distributor.

• List all of the jobs you’ve held before or while pursuing a career in producing.

-       Associate Marketing Manager, TIME Magazine
-       Book Critic and Editor, aMagazine: Inside Asian America
-       Research Associate, E-Commerce & Web Technologies, Jupiter Research
-       Film industry positions other than producer: production assistant, production coordinator, line producer, first assistant director, art department coordinator
-       Economic Development Specialist, Hawaii Film Office
-       Business Development Manager, SportsIllustrated.com

• Do you have a Big Dream or career goal as a producer? What inspires you to do what you do?

My dream is simply to keep making good, thoughtful movies without starving.  Because of changes in technology and consumer behavior, and the collapse of the economy, the old models of independent film financing and distribution don’t work anymore.  Producers have to squeeze down budgets more than ever now, making it difficult for filmmakers and film workers to earn a living making movies.  It’s important for me to try to use film as a medium not just to entertain, but to move, provoke thought, and inspire social change.  I want to tell stories that are marginalized by the mainstream media, but in ways that don’t bore or alienate audiences.

• Please name five essential skills and/or traits a creative producer needs to sustain a career.

(in alphabetical order)

-       Chutzpah

-       Empathy

-       Leadership

-       Persistence

-       Taste

• Name a movie, or several, that you wish you had produced.  And/or, producer(s) you admire (living or passed on).

There are too many films I wish I had produced!  To name a few, Paper Moon, Nights of Cabiria, Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore, Chan is Missing, The Sixth Sense, Marie Antoinette, Raise the Red Lantern, Gerry, Blue Valentine, The Up Series, Pride & Prejudice (the BBC ’95 version), and on and on.  As for producers, I admire and have personally learned from Paul Mezey, Jeremy Kipp Walker, Ron Yerxa, Ted Hope, Anne Carey, Mary Jane Skalski, Lynette Howell, Lydia Dean Pilcher, Karin Chien, and Anish Savjani.  I also admire the careers of Christine Vachon, James Schamus, Peter Saraf, Anthony Bregman, and Scott Rudin.

• How do you define success for yourself?

Ending up with a body of films that I can be proud of having produced and being able to sustain a living just by making the films I want to make.

• What’s your motto when it comes to raising money for your project(s)?

Don’t stop believin’.

• How long did it take to support yourself as a producer?

This is an ongoing struggle, more so now than ever since the film industry and economy took a nosedive.  If people don’t know by now that independent film producing is no Shangri-La of financial stability, they need to know that!  I didn’t enter the film industry until 2003, working in various physical production positions and moving quickly to producing (basically my first film gig was PA-ing for 3 days on an NYU short, and my second gig was producing another NYU short).  After a year of getting my feet wet in producing, I ended up taking a full-time job at the Hawaii Film Office, where I did stuff related to film–like tax credits and policies to support the film industry–but not production.  After 3 years of this, I moved back to New York in 2007 to pick up where I left off.

• Who do you turn to when you need a pep talk?

My longtime boyfriend and fellow producers.

• If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

My workaholism.  Producing is so all-consuming that it’s easy to get obsessed with work, and I often do, neglecting my family, my friends, and even myself.

Shameless plug!!  We love them!  Please support Mynette’s film and read on.

From Mynette:

Tze Chun’s CHILDREN OF INVENTION, a film I produced that premiered at Sundance 2009, won 16 festival awards, and was released in 8 cities launches on cable VOD today, June 4!  To check your local listings, please visit http://childrenofinvention.com/screenings.htm.  We’re also coming to theaters in New Orleans and Gainesville, FL on June 11.  Finally, we’ve just lowered the price of our DVD!  You can purchase it now at http://shop.indieblitz.com/childrenofinvention Also, consider making a tax-deductible donation toward the research and development of a new feature I’m producing, also by Tze Chun, called YOU’RE A BIG GIRL NOW: http://syncopatedfilms.com/biggirldonate.htm

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Tonight, I’m of the mind to take $500K and make a good movie, dammit.

Just get me out of my head, already!

BTW – I had a chat today with an unnamed acquisitions guy with whom I’ve been playing phone tag for three weeks.  He phoned this afternoon, awakening me and my toddler, both, from naps on the couch.  Nice.  You can  imagine how “present” I felt for this unexpected phone call.  And, my toddler was demanding a cheese stick in the background.

Note to self: in similar situations, Lorie, don’t talk.  Just don’t start.  Stall.  Let the other party talk first.  Reassemble your brain signals before speaking.

It wasn’t a bad phone call; it was just a one-time phone call.  I’ve been kicking myself all afternoon, feeling like I didn’t handle the connection as best I could.

Sigh.  Move on.  Lots of phone calls to make and take tomorrow. And, the toddler will be at daycare. 

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I’ve been awash in numbers today.  And, yesterday.  And, last Friday.  I’ve also been knee-deep re-reading saved links and bookmarks to blogs, subscription sites, industry news sites, and more, reviewing all the info and data and anecdotes that folks have been pontificating, opining, and sharing with each other about how to fund, make, and distribute indie movies.

I feel disheartened and a bit annoyed.  For as much analysis as one can muster about plot points and data points, comparable titles, IRRs, ROIs, MGs, foreign markets viability for Actor A or Actress M, agh phooey! It’s not widgets, people.  It’s a crap shoot.  It’s entertainment; and, at its best it’s art that inspires, provokes, enlightens, heals, cracks you up in hysterical giggles, incites you to activism, you name it.  But, funding art is a crap shoot. Even if you’re “smart” about it.

I spent months and months in early 2009 researching, planning, and creating a strategy and business plan for Lost in Sunshine (LIS), our indie comedy-drama.  The crux of that plan was to fund LIS with $500K from equity investors, shoot it for $350K and market/launch/deliver/distribute it with $150K.  Embrace DIY distribution and split rights; embrace social media, cultivate fans directly.  And, we’ve been executing the strategy: we’ve been working via our website to refine our understanding of our niche(s) audience and to reach out to them, as well as corporate sponsors, affiliates, and possible joint venture partners.

But, you know what?  Today, a year after I began shopping our business plan to prospective investors, I’ve realized, in short: the numbers referenced above are both too small and too large.  Ours is not a micro-budget movie.  It’s not comprised of two-four characters doing stuff in only one or two locations.  We’ve shaved and whittled and prayed to the Line Producing Gods, and we have figured out the lowest budget we can work with is $400K.  So, that would leave only $100K from the original combined amount.  I’d certainly work with that figure and make it work for the most “bang” I could, but $100K isn’t enough to enable LIS to completely clear the atmosphere into any kind of orbit.

And, yet, $500K is too large a number, especially for a no-name film in a non-sexy genre (comedy-drama) that doesn’t feature zombies, car crashes, or buildings blowing up (not that I dislike those things, they just aren’t part of the LIS story).  Our story features frank sex, does that count?

Anyway, the current wisdom in the indie-finance-verse that “$250K is the new $2.5M” stokes my ire (though I love Jeff Steele’s blog).   I’ve produced a <$250K micro-budget movie.  And, I’m proud of it.  But, I can’t afford to keep making them, since I’m not independently wealthy.  Plus, it’s not just me not getting paid on budgets at that level.  Folks who work on these films definitely have to feel the love for the project, because their pay is often token at best.  But, if the producer’s any good, they’ll be FED WELL. 

Back to being too large.  At a $500K project cost (equity stake), we’d have to become the “Blair Witch” of direct sales from our LIS website to make enough revenues from that stream to begin to hope to pay any recoupment to our investors.

When I wrote the plan, I knew I was being ambitious in the number of units (DVDs, downloads/streaming) I projected that we’d have to sell directly from our site.  But, I thought, if we know the target, we work hard and focus to achieve it.  Today, I’m thinking that sounds too optimistic.  Especially, because I’ve been tracking a couple comparable micro-budget projects in the hybrid/alterna-distro universe since last June, and I’m not witnessing any developments that warrant hardy optimism (to the tune of at least six figures in revenues).   AND, without any “names” in front of or behind the camera, we’d be that much more toss-able into the slush pile for any additional distribution avenues/players (VOD, iTunes and/or NetFlix, broadcast/cable, blah, blah, blah).

So, I’ve looked at going bigger.  Full-on SAG Low-Budget instead of Moderate- or Ultra-Low-Budget.  Woo hoo!  And, believe me, I love the idea of being financed sufficiently to pay people real wages.  But, here’s the rub.  After all my researching, computing, and Excel-spreadsheet-table-filling to figure out how to finance our indie in the mid-$2-3M range, I’m looking at soliciting an equity stake in the $500K range as part of the financing pie.  I’d build the rest of the financing around state tax incentives/rebates; pursue name cast for the leads and a couple supporting roles; pursue a co-producer/production company with ties to a studio/distributor; pursue Minimum Guarantees (MGs), if possible, from foreign sales (based on name cast attachments, etc. etc.), and more…

But, get this.  Five hundred thousand dollars is too much to pay for an indie movie; yet, I’m looking at raising a similar amount in order to pursue/secure up to several million more dollars to make the same indie movie.

Ha!  Damn.  Hm.

I get it.  I do get it.  LIS as a $500K project is a different product than LIS as a $3M project.  And, I’m okay with that.  I like figuring out the puzzles of what LIS can be and how to do it at different price points.

But, tonight, I find myself wondering.  If I had $500K, myself, would I spend it to make a movie, “business” odds be damned?  Or, would I spend it to “seed” more resources and monies in support of making it and getting it out in front of that many more people.

(Pause)  Harold Pinter moment here.

I think I’d do the latter.

Which brings me back to this: funding art is a crap shoot!  So, do it for the joy, people.  If you’ve got the money and/or burning desire to finance movies, please try to have some fun with it.  Because everyone involved can do everything “right” all the way through packaging, shooting and distribution, and there are no guarantees that it will make any/enough money.   If you expect widgets in-widgets out, invest in a Krispy Kreme franchise.

I gotta go raise some more money.

Thanks for reading.

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Meet John Paul Rice of No Restrictions Entertainment (formerly with Mandate Pictures/Senator International), producer of Three Stages of Stan in 2002 and One Hour Fantasy Girl in 2008.  The latter tells the story of a 20 year old girl who ran away from an abusive alcoholic mother at the age of 15 only to find herself working as a dominatrix in escape of poverty.

Rice has used the internet extensively: from casting via YouTube videos to audience-building via MySpace and IndieGoGo.  His endless experimentation with marketing tactics resulted in the discovery of a passionate core audience he would’ve never expected — women fighting against domestic violence.  (Loved this intro to John Paul from an interview with him on the IndieGoGo blog, so I’ve reprinted here).

SUSTAINING THE MUSE
A Producing Questionnaire

* Please name all the “hats” you wear as a creative producer.

As a creative producer, from beginning to the end of production and after I wear: Story Editor (for feedback and ideas), Casting Director, Investor, Financier, Line Producer, Deal Broker, Online Marketing Director, Production Manager, Publicist, Post Production Supervisor.

Before pursing a career in producing: Started as a salesman and marketing director for Supreme Chemicals in Atlanta, GA where I successfully sold and promoted the brand of “Krud Kutter” an enviro-friendly multi-purpose cleaner/degreaser. While in Los Angeles, first job lasted two weeks at a failing toy store – a crazy experience, worked in casting for extras on music videos, temped as an administrative assistant for a job rehab service, an extra on a few films.

My career goal as a producer would be to have produced at least one film that has the honor of being nominated for an Academy Award. What inspires me the most and what is most rewarding at this stage of my career is when I read a script that moves me – elicits strong emotions throughout – and see the end product move and affect people in the same way or beyond what I first experienced on the page.

Patience, persistence and perseverance. You must be resourceful, embracing the challenges and limitations of time and money – which will always be the case whether a micro-budget indie or big budget studio feature. A creative producer needs to know and understand story both on a guttural and structural level. Trust in your director and those on the team. Never being afraid to ask for something. Listen to others who don’t agree with you and respect their point of view. A creative producer should be a people person, an entrepreneur that has a passion for what they do and who can connect with others who share that same passion for their work. Troubleshooting skills are an absolute must, keeping a calm and cool demeanor in front of others.

Midnight Cowboy, Training Day, There Will Be Blood, Chinatown, The Talented Mr. Ripley – all uniquely different but have a profound honesty and tragedy to them. I admire Ron Yerxa and Albert Berger whom I met when I first started at Senator International in 2002. It was a memorable meeting for many reasons but among those was when I first heard the words “Little Miss Sunshine” – a film that took years to make because no one wanted to finance it – from the beginning both men believed in Valerie and Jonathan’s talent and vision to execute Michael Arndt’s script.

The enjoyment of producing and becoming a better producer with each project.

Have yet to achieve but am working toward this.

Edgar Michael Bravo, my producing partner at No Restrictions Entertainment.

I would change my focus at times. Sometimes I get obsessed over details that don’t matter in the larger scope of things both in my personal and professional life.

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Hello Dear Readers.

I’m pleased to share that I’m awaiting completed “Meet The Producer…” questionnaires from some really cool producers:  Mynette Louie (Children of Invention), Stu Pollard (Bass Ackwards), and John Paul Rice (One Hour Fantasy Girl)!  So, although I’ve been kinda quiet on here lately, I have been hustling behind the scenes. 

I’ve also been working on revising the business plan and finance plan (again) for Lost in Sunshine, and I’m awaiting the revised budget and breakdown(s) from fabu line producer, Megan Gilbride (Lovers of Hate).  We’re now aiming to “go bigger.”  As soon as I accomplish this task, I’ll be back here to explain what I mean and report on the process.

Thanks for reading.

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The whole of his presentation runs about 2 hours, but I listened to every bit of Thomas Mai’s presentation on emergent digital distribution trends to a group of filmmakers in Brussels last October – I highly recommend it!

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