My weekend with Norma Desmond & the Paparazzi

My weekend with Norma Desmond & the Paparazzi - this happened in early November - sorry I couldn't post sooner - but check back for the latest updates on Love 10:1

I attended a filmmaking seminar the other day and had a “close encounter” with a person who at one time was the top actress in Hollywood. Let’s call her Norma Desmond. Norma Desmond and I sat next to each other and Mrs. Desmond took a liking to me and chatted me up for most of the day. At the end of the seminar I decided to ask her a question. Here’s how it went.

Lucy
Mrs. Desmond, are you working behind the camera?

Norma
Well, I’m a filmmaker now.

Lucy (in total suck up mode)
Oh Ms. Desmond, film is a collaboration, certainly an actress of your stature should consider herself a filmmaker, your body of work is impressive to say the least.

Norma
Thank you dahhhling, that’s very sweet of you.

Lucy
I work with MoviesByWomen.com

Norma Desmond cuts me off, stiffens and gives me a deathly look.

Norma
I don’t have time

Lucy
Don’t have time for what?

Norma
For whatever you’re about to ask me to do

Lucy
I’m sorry, I wasn’t going to ask you for anything, I just wanted to let you know that at MoviesByWomen we promote women directed features, so you should let us know if you plan on directing.

Norma
I don’t have time for your nonsense

Lucy
I’m sorry Ms. Desmond, it was not my intention to ask you for anything. Excuse me.

I left thinking, what a nut case!. I wish I could say that’s where it ends but then Norma Desmond taps me on the shoulder.

Norma
I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to be rude, I’m just very tired.

Lucy
No worries, excuse me.

Norma gets in front of me and starts yapping away.

Norma
I don’t understand all the nonsense you started talking to me about, why would I Norma Desmond need YOU.

I was tempted to say many cruel things to Norma Desmond, but I felt embarrassed for her and bit my tongue hard. She may have been a movie star at one point, but I have ambition and a good sense of who I am on my side. I want to make films that touch people and I would never speak to someone that way. I treat everyone I meet with respect. I have never wanted fame, and if being famous turns you into a wicked and neurotic witch then fame is not for me. The next day....

I had to meet with Nick and Christine to go over some Love 10:1 items. Christine told us to meet her at toast at 4pm. The place had a B so I was reluctant to eat there but when in Rome…..

As we sat there, Christine spotted Paris Hilton in her pajamas, her sister came in looking for her and the girls headed across the street to shop. We got on with our meeting but it was hard to concentrate with all the commotion the Hilton sisters were causing outside. The paparazzi kept multiplying. It was really disturbing to see these girls getting accosted like that. I would never, ever want to be in that position.

As we are getting up to leave, the Hilton girls came in to get their car, so as we exited, they where coming in to the restaurant. The paparazzi nearly trampled us. It was hard to make our way out of there. When we got to the corner we almost got run over by an SUV driven by one of the paparazzi. It was the freakiest thing that has happened to me.

Lucy

DIY theatrical and filmmaking sustainability

DIY theatrical and filmmaking sustainability - how I released HEAD TRAUMA by Lance Weiler

The thing I find most interesting after having gone through the first couple windows of release is how broken the system is. Now I know you're probably saying no shit but I think we're at a very interesting crossroads. When something is damaged it provides new opportunities but the difficult part is identifying them. Often it seems that going in a totally different direction is an answer OR you can work the current system to your advantage. For example a theatrical release with no cash, no distributor, no booker and no publicist seems insane - and it is in the sense that it's an insane amount of work BUT it is possible.

I took on a hybrid model with the release of my newest film HEAD TRAUMA. Had a world premiere at the LA Film Fest and used it as a springboard to a platform release for HT. In other words used it to announce the project and a few weeks after was in theaters across the country. The biggest driving force for a compressed release was to maximize my limited resources and push all the press and word of mouth towards monetizing the movie. I hit 17 screens across the country by doing a bootstrapped release.

I called a number of bookers / service companies to help me with my theatrical release. I quickly discovered that there was NO way that I could afford it. So I decided to create my own model that would require little to no seed money. Here's how I released my newest feature HEAD TRAUMA http://headtraumamovie.com on 17 screens across the country.

Here's the breakdown:

Travel, lodging and some food was offset with speaking engagements at various universities and film societies. This also provided free transportation and free meals. I ended up making about $4,500 in speaking fees.

I took $1,200 from a pre-theatrical speaking engagement and applied it towards making 27 x 40 posters. I knew from past experience that posters provide a great profit margin. I got them made for a $1.40 each and then sold them for 10 to 15 dollars. To date I've sold about 300 posters and pulled in about $3,500

When it came to the screenings I found sponsors for a number of weekly city paper ads for the cities that I felt need some extra promotion. And the rest of the promotion was done via social networking sites and my mailing list / fan base from my first film. I targeted independent theaters and cold called BUT I had a pitch ready - one that explained who my audience was and how I intended to reach them. I struck a favored nations deal with all the theaters - a 50/50 split because I didn't have the cash to four wall. And I did all my own press for the release.

The main goal for the theatrical was to help with DVD sales into retail and rental outlets. My hope was to use the theatrical release as hook for a national story, to get reviews and to prevent HT from being ghettoized as a straight to video release.

Well I got a ton of press, a lot of reviews and I ended up grossing close to 15,000 dollars. I took about half of my cut of the box office and put it into online advertising for the DVD release. I also worked out deals for a number of print ads in horror publications like Rue Morgue and Fangoria.

And so far so good - the DVD just hit retail and rental outlets nationwide. In fact this coming weekend Best Buy will be doing a special national promotion. The movie can be found at Barns & Noble, Borders, Circuit City in addition to other retail outlets. Its on Netfilx and in certain Hollywood Video and Blockbuster locations. It is also in independent video stores and can be found on various online outlets such as Amazon etc.

So for me theatrical made sense, I actually made some money AND I still own the rights to my work.

Thank You For The Music

There are very few things that keep my impatience from getting the best/worst of me. I like to get things done quickly and efficiently. The lack of funds that have kept this film from getting done will be magically appearing thanks to Christine sacrificing her bohemian lifestyle. So we will be able to start production on Virgin early in the New Year.

I’ve never doubted that we will get this film done. Christine and I have kept this project alive in our imagination, in our hopes and our dreams. But, it’s been very hard waiting for Love 10 to 1 to happen. I decided to work on other people’s projects and develop a few of my own. It pays off to have a few things cooking because right now it looks like I’ll be busy with a MoviesByWomen project that we’ve been trying to get off the ground for the last year.

Love 10 to 1 looks very promising for early 2007, and I’ve been hired to write and direct an episode for an Angel Muniz project (he’s the Dominican Spielberg).

So I’m grateful and thankful for everything going on right now, but I’m most grateful for all the music that has enriched my life, from classical to opera to pop to my most loved of all Rock (all kinds, hard rock, easy rock, metal, hair metal, pop rock, power ballad, sour, dour rock – I just made that one up, punk, classic rock – you get the picture). Music really drives my life and aids my creativity.

Whenever I feel hopeless about this film all I have to do to regain my confidence and enthusiasm is listen to some of the music that’s been kindly donated by local, talented musicians. I made a CD of songs from these artists for when I need inspiration. I love playing this CD, it’s my dream soundtrack for Californication.

This morning I played my Californication soundtrack which consists of music from
The Fabulous Miss Wendy, Jason Keeton (J.K. Music) & Crash Davis.

Wendy’s music will be used for the band Dirty Virgin in Californication. Crash Davis and J.K. Music will be used as the Shane/Dustin theme songs. I haven’t made up my mind about which Crash Davis song to use yet (they have so many great ones) and Love Song Yo from J.K. Music will be the Dustin/Shane montage song. When I hear these songs I can envision my whole movie playing. It’s such a great feeling.


Check them out and show them some love….

MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/thefabulousmisswendy
MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/jasonkmusic
MySpace URL: http://www.myspace.com/mycrashdavis

Lucy

Features Directed by Women at AFI Fest 2006 - November 1st - 12

Features Directed by Women at AFI Fest 2006 - November 1st - 12

http://www.afi.com/onscreen/afifest/2006/

AIR GUITAR NATION Documentary. DIR Alexandra Lipsitz PROD, Dan Cutforth, Jane Lipsitz, Anna Barber. USA.

COME EARLY MORNING Cast: Ashley Judd, Jeffrey Donovan, Tim Blake Nelson, Diane Ladd, Stacey Keach. DIR/SCR Joey Lauren Adams PROD Julie Yorn, Holly Wiersma, Ed Bass. USA.

THE DEAD GIRL (World Premiere) Cast: Josh Brolin, Rose Byrne, Toni Collette, James Franco, Marcia Gay Harden, Mary Beth Hurt, Brittany Murphy, Giovanni Ribisi, Mary Steenburgen, Kerry Washington, Piper Laurie. DIR/SCR Karen Moncrieff, PROD Henry Winterstern, Tom Rosenberg, Gary Lucchesi. USA.

FISSURES (World Premiere) Cast: Emilie Dequenne, Ludmila Mikaël, Mathieu Demy, Jacques Spiesser. DIR/SCR Alanté Kavaïté PROD Antoine Simkine. France.

GRBAVICA (North American Premiere) Cast: Mirjana Karanovic, Luna Mijovic, Leon Lucev, Kenan Catic, Jasna Ornela Berry DIR/SCR Jasmila Îbaniç PROD Barbara Albert, Damir Ibrahimoviç, Bruno Wagner. Bosnia-Herzegovina/Austria/Germany/Croatia.

UNDER THE ICE (US Premiere) Cast: Bibiana Beglau, Sandra Borgmann, Dirk Borchardt, Adreian Wahlen, Nicole Merced Muller, Barbara Focke, Thorsten Merten, Susanne Lothar. DIR Aelrun Goette SCR Thomas Stiller PROD Ernest Ludwig Ganzert, Milena Maitz. Germany.

BLINDSIGHT (US Premiere) DIR Lucy Walker. PROD Sybill Robson Orr. UK/Tibet.

MOTHERLAND AFGHANISTAN (World Premiere) DIR Sedika Mojadidi. PROD Jenny Raskin, Catherine Gund, Sedika Mojadidi. USA.

AFTER THE WEDDING Cast: Mads Mikkelsen, Sidse Babett Knudsen, Rolf Lassgård. DIR Susanne Bier. SCR Ander Thomas Jensen. PROD Sisse Graum Jørgensen. Denmark.

THE LAST DAYS OF YASSER ARAFAT (North American Premiere) Documentary. DIR/SCR/PROD Sherine Salama. Australia.

SOAP Cast: Trine Dyrholm, David Dencik, Frank Thiel, Elsebeth Steentoft. DIR Pernille Fischer Christensen. SCR Kim Fupz Aakeson. PROD Lars Bredo Rahbek. Denmark.

LIFE AFTER TOMORROW Documentary featuring: Julie Stevens, Sarah Jessica Parker, Martha Byrne, Allison Smith, Danielle Brisebois. DIR/PROD, Julie Stevens, Gil Cates, Jr.

STEPHANIE DALEY Cast: Tilda Swinton, Amber Tamblyn, Timothy Hutton, Denis O'Hare, Melissa Leo, Jim Gaffigan. DIR/SCR Hilary Brougher, PROD Jen Roskind, Samara Koffler, Lynette Howell.

ANTONIA (US Premiere) Cast: Negra Li, Leilah Moreno, Cindy, Quelynah, Thaíde. DIR Tata Amaral, SCR Roberto Moreira, Tata Amaral, PROD Geórgia Costa Araújo, Tata Amaral. Brazil. HOW MUCH FURTHER (US Premiere) Cast: Cecilia Vallejo, Tania Martinez, Pancho Aguirre, Fausto Mino. DIR/SCR Tania Hermida, PROD Mary Palacios, Gervasio Iglesias, Tania Hermida. Ecuador.

YOUR LIFE IN 65' (North American Premiere) Cast: Javier Pereira, Marc Rodriguez, Oriol Vila, Tamara Arias, Nuria Gago, Irene Montala. DIR Maria Ripoll, SCR Albert Espinosa, PROD Francisco Ramos, Marta Esteban. Spain/Argentina/Italy.

HOW MUCH FURTHER (US Premiere) Cast: Cecilia Vallejo, Tania Martinez, Pancho Aguirre, Fausto Mino. DIR/SCR Tania Hermida, PROD Mary Palacios, Gervasio Iglesias, Tania Hermida. Ecuador.

Check them out,

Lucy

From: FILMMAKER BLOG: Jeremy Coon (producer, "Napoleon Dynamite")

http://www.filmindependent.org/forums/index.php?action=vthread&forum=1&topic=14

Based on my observations, the biggest mistake independent filmmakers make is not having a realistic strategy for the sale and distribution of their film. Plenty focus on raising money and the many physical aspects of producing their film, which are all extremely important, but they don't give enough thought to how they will present their film to the marketplace. Saying that your plan is to get into Sundance and score a distribution deal does not constitute a realistic plan, because that's what everyone says and the sobering truth is that will only be true for maybe a dozen films in any given year. We were lucky enough to have that happen on NAPOLEON DYNAMITE, but we did our homework and had contingency plans if Sundance didn't work out. The selling of a film is a very complex ordeal that involves processing a lot of information and you're competing against literally thousands of other films to catch a distributor's attention. That's the bad news. The good news is that it's not rocket science and the fact that you're reading this and attending this forum means that you're already far ahead of the curve simply by learning more about it.

Here some things that I've learned:

1. MAKE THE BEST FILM YOU CAN. This is totally obvious, but you'd be surprised how many people lose sight of that. You need to make something that's worth buying before you can sell it.

2. FILM FESTIVALS. The best way to present your film is usually on the festival circuit especially if you're a new undiscovered filmmaker. You should attend whatever festivals you can because they are fun and you can learn a lot by just watching and getting use to the hectic environment. Look at what film festivals you would like to attend and make a priority list based on the submission deadlines. The big acquisition festivals are obviously Toronto, Sundance, and SXSW, but there are many other awesome ones. Use your list as a checklist so that if you don't get into Sundance, you've already thought about what your plan B,C, D, etc is.

3. ASSEMBLE A TEAM. You should never sell your film yourself. Do yourself a favor and score a producer's rep and a lawyer. There are several top reps around town and they are constantly looking for projects. If you get accepted into Sundance, I guarantee that they'll be calling you constantly. They should be purely commission based (around 10%) and a good rep will never ask for money upfront. A publicist is also important only if you're in one of the best festivals so that your film is not lost in the shuffle.

4. SCREEN YOUR FILM VERY SELECTIVELY. The biggest ace that you have as an independent filmmaker is that you can largely control who sees your film and when. It's human nature that people want something more when they can't have it. Use this to your advantage. Don't let distributors see the film before it premieres. Tell them that it won't be completed until just before its premiere. We did this out of necessity on NAPOLEON DYNAMITE and it worked to very much to our advantage. The base case scenario is to show to the film to a room full of different distributors for the first time at once and forcing them to act quickly or risk losing it to someone else.

5. DON'T OVERHYPE. Your first instinct is probably to tell everyone who will listen about how awesome your film is, but you shouldn't. If you just hype without a plan it will likely backfire on you. This town is all about expectations and word of mouth travels fast and by the time your film actually screens people might have such high expectations that any film would be a disappointment. Your goal should be to set the lowest possible expectations, but still get the right distributors' butts in your screening.

6. TIME IS USUALLY NOT ON YOUR SIDE. If you're lucky and you get two or more distributors fighting for your film, you usually should not wait too long to make a decision or get too greedy. As quickly as a bidding war heats up, it can die out even quicker. Every situation is different, but the old cliché of strike while the iron is hot is often the way to go.


There's plenty more advice (and probably better) out there and these are just some thoughts that stick out to me at the moment. The best advice I can give is just to educate yourself the as much as you can on this topic and talk to as many people as you can with any experience in selling and releasing films. This forum should be a great foundation, so don't waste it. You'll have personal access to many industry players that would usually be next to impossible to get a meeting with. There's nothing better than face time to get your foot in the door. Like I said earlier, the fact that you're already thinking seriously about a plan of how to sell your film puts you in a better place than a lot of indie filmmakers.

Film Independent’s Project:Involve

So I FINALLY got in, I’m so happy…..

http://www.filmindependent.org/index.php/diversity/project%3Ainvolve


Lucy

Be Ware of the “Wanna B” Producer

Be Ware of the “Wanna B” Producer

We’ve met with a few producers, below are the top
reasons why they have passed on Love 10 t0 1:

• Our micro budget
• This is our first project
• It’s an ethnic cast
• Our actors are unknown
• It’s digital

These are valid reasons, I won’t begrudge someone not
funding us if they have their reasons and let us know
what their reasons are.

I have a problem with the “Wanna B” Producer. This is
someone who constantly brags about how much money they
have and how they can’t wait for a good project to
come their way so they can fund it. This is the trick
that the “producer” uses to get filmmakers to like
them. In reality, this “producer” only wants to hang
out with directors, writers and actors so they can
feel validated in some way. This person will set up
camp, usually at Starbucks, and talk about their
“potential projects” loud enough for all to hear.

This person will waste the time of anyone they meet.
They brag about this connection or that project
he/she’s about to fund, and that’s what gets the
novice writer, director, actor hooked into spending
time with this person. Depending how nice or desperate
said writer, director, actor is, they can waste a lot
of time trying to appeal to the “Wanna B”. After one
horrendous experience with a “Wanna B” myself, I say
to all BEWARE & RUN!

My friend Karina said that any producer worthy of your
time will at least pay for your first meal and in her
experience they always pay. Come to think of it,
producers we’ve met have paid for our meal or drinks,
except of course the “Wanna B”.

Other signs that should make you run and not look back:

• “producer” wears a baseball cap that says PRODUCER bought at a tourist shop
• “producer” has not read your script and tells you so only after you’ve spent weeks with them
• “producer” wants a personal budget equal to your post budget


Lucy

Living the Creative Life and Integrity Pt. II

First off, I found this excerpt from Susan Sontag's journal entries very interesting. Partially published in NY Times and will be published as a book in a couple years. Check it out: http://www.nytimes.com/2006/09/10/magazine/10sontag.html?_r=2&oref=slogin&oref=slogin ...

She wrote, "Nothing prevents me from being a writer except laziness. A good writer." Ha!

How very true. Laziness and perhaps fear as well. Or is laziness a by-product of fear?

So here we are. A good two plus years into the process of getting Love 10 to 1 made. In Hollywood time, I do not think this is a long time. We have learned lots along the way, but I am at the point where I just want to get the thing made already! Subjecting myself to medical experiments and prostitution crossed my mind as creative financing techniques. Imagine sitting at a panel during a film festival and asked, so how did you raise financing for your film? Oh, I slept with _____ rich people. Imagine what I would do to get distribution.

Which brings us to the topic of integrity. How much of your soul would you sell to get your vision/dreams realized? I think we all have a price point at which this will occur. Some at higher price points than others. Does integrity mean not selling yourself at any cost, or does integrity mean sticking by your vision, no matter the cost?

Christine

On august 13th we held auditions for the 3rd installment of Love 10 to 1, “Addict”.

So we put an advertisement on breakdownexpress.com.

Here are the breakdowns:

Caitlin
Mid-20's (all ethnicities please apply) - A lesbian sex addict who has finally attained the stable and loving relationship she has always wanted, but tempting groupies force her to struggle for control of her addiction and risk the only woman she has ever loved. Eventually she must choose between addiction and love, and then deal with the ramifications of her choices. Caitlin plays bass in a local rock band. Must be able to look like you play in a rock band - think Shakira, Courtney Love during the early days, a female Lenni Kravitz - you get the idea. Your headshot does not need to reflect this, but please only submit if you can be the rock star. This character requires being very comfortable portraying a lesbian and kissing another woman. Partial nudity is involved, but not gratuitous (the tone of the film is a dramedy).

Sarah
Mid-20's (all ethnicities please apply) - Feisty, lesbian, sharp, yet forgiving girlfriend of the bass player of a local rock band. Very intelligent (med student) and very cute, but her trust and want for a good relationship clouds her to the fact that her sex addict girlfriend is not in control of her addiction. Her world and her ideals come apart as she comes to grips with the fact that her girlfriend has been cheating on her.

We got 408 submissions for Caitlin and 743 for Sarah. Even though it clearly says mid 20s, there are a lot of actors out there who are pushing 40 and think they can pass for mid 20s. I understand that there are not a lot of good roles for women in their late 30s, because let’s face it, in Hollywood 30 is over the hill. Christine and I want to continue writing for women and yes, this is our first project but once we get our feet wet we will write roles for all women. Our cast does include older women, a grandma & a mother (Virgin), a very cool band manager (Californication), and the part of Caitlin’s group therapist (Addict).

So we picked a total of about 17 people to see for both roles, I think only 6 showed up, and out of those, most of them came in late. I hate actor time! I think that breakdownexpress.com should let casting directors give feedback on actors, think of it as Ebay’s positive/negative feedback.

The other thing that baffles me is how people post headshots that are very old. So that by the time you see a person you chose from breakdownexpress.com, they look nothing like the headshot they submitted. People please, update your headshots regularly.

We found one girl for Sarah that Christine and I really liked. There’s another girl I’d also like to see but I don’t think Christine was that impressed with her. No one really floored us for Caitlin but there was one person that I liked but Nick and Christine were not impressed by her. She definitely looked the part, and gave a new interpretation of Caitlin that I had not seen before.

All in all, this has been a slow and sometimes painful process. For the next film, I will hire a casting director to audition people for me.

Lucy

INTEGRITY

pic of Dorothy Arzner - directing
"When I went to work in a studio, I took my pride and made a nice little ball of it and threw it right out the window." This quote is taken from a 1933 Silver Screen article written by Arzner's friend Adela Rogers St. John


INTEGRITY

Hold on to it for as long as you can, and if you must sacrifice it don't do it on your first project. Like your virginity, once you give it up, there's no way to get it back. I've come to the conclusion that my integrity is not worth any amount of money and I will try, for as long as I live to never let go of it.

Lucy



in‧teg‧ri‧ty  –noun
1.adherence to moral and ethical principles; soundness of moral character; honesty.
2.the state of being whole, entire, or undiminished: to preserve the integrity of the empire.
3.a sound, unimpaired, or perfect condition: the integrity of a ship's hull.

[Origin: 1400–50; late ME integrite < L integritās. See INTEGER, -ITY]

—Synonyms 1. rectitude, probity, virtue. See HONOR.
—Antonyms 1. dishonesty.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.0.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.

Getting this movie out of pre-production has been one long and winding road. Christine and I attended a breakfast back in March hosted by The Producer's Guild of America. It was a great networking event. The panel consisted of the producers from Crash, Broke Back Mountain, Capote and Walk The Line (hopefully I'm not forgetting anyone). All those films spent years (7 for Crash) in pre-production. It gave us hope that our little micro budget, digital film with no recognizable actors could one day see the light of day, make its way to a few prestigious festivals and maybe, just maybe get nominated for an Independent Spirit Award.

We have a pool of very talented actors, a great cinematographer, Leah Anova, and a ton of friends who've offered to be part of the crew. We have so many people rooting for us, and that makes me determined to make Love 10 to 1. BUT, we have no $$$.

Christine and I have bonded a great deal thanks to our hiking group, The Canyon Nymphs. It's basically a small group of women who take to the mountains on the weekend. Kristina, Karen & karina are also regular members. Those hikes inspire me to visualize my dreams as I struggle to climb up. The thing that keeps me going is thinking happy thoughts about our little movie.

On Saturday, I'm spending the day with a potential producer, we'll see how that goes. In the mean time, keep sending good thoughts, wishes and karma our way.

Lucy