Lessons from the Set
by Usher
Morgan
GENRE: Filmmaking
BLURB:
Lessons from the Set: A DIY Guide to Your First Feature Film,
From Script to Theaters is a step-by-step filmmaking guide that takes a
cinephile’s “Do It Yourself” approach to low-budget indie film production and
distribution. This book will offer you some valuable, practical insight into
the process of making a commercial feature film on a low budget and releasing
it to theaters – whether you’re starting with $1,000 or $1m.
Lessons from the Set will guide you through the process of writing, planning, directing, producing, marketing, and releasing your first feature film. You’ll learn how to overcome writing challenges and improve the quality of your screenplay, how to make $0 budget short films and perfect your craft, how to plan your film, master filmmaking tools, and set the stage for your upcoming shoot.
This book is peppered with life-saving tips, tricks, and filmmaking techniques that will save you a lot of time, money, and energy on set, in pre-production and in post. You’ll learn how to release your film to theaters, how to tackle festivals and win awards, how to handle press and get reviews, execute marketing efforts, and approach the filmmaking process with both an artistic soul and an entrepreneurial mindset. Lessons from the Set was designed to give you all the tools and resources you’ll need to complete and release your film successfully in any market and help you set the stage for a prosperous career as a full-time indie filmmaker.
Lessons from the Set will guide you through the process of writing, planning, directing, producing, marketing, and releasing your first feature film. You’ll learn how to overcome writing challenges and improve the quality of your screenplay, how to make $0 budget short films and perfect your craft, how to plan your film, master filmmaking tools, and set the stage for your upcoming shoot.
This book is peppered with life-saving tips, tricks, and filmmaking techniques that will save you a lot of time, money, and energy on set, in pre-production and in post. You’ll learn how to release your film to theaters, how to tackle festivals and win awards, how to handle press and get reviews, execute marketing efforts, and approach the filmmaking process with both an artistic soul and an entrepreneurial mindset. Lessons from the Set was designed to give you all the tools and resources you’ll need to complete and release your film successfully in any market and help you set the stage for a prosperous career as a full-time indie filmmaker.
Excerpt:
The
Revenue Game
Making
movies for a living is something that a lot of filmmakers aspire to. Being in a
position where you can make films and release them to theaters or straight to
video on a consistent basis is the ultimate dream for most, but it is also a
cause of frustration and anxiety to many. I believe it to be the main reason
why so many good people who venture into this business quit before their time.
The cost associated with making films, along with the pressure and artistic
skill demanded, and the obligation to adhere to budgets and generate revenue,
can prove to be a challenging feat that many people assume is beyond their
capabilities. There are plenty of people who proudly wear the “broke artist”
tag and look with distaste upon those who go into this business for the dollar.
The one thing that many “broke artist” types fail to keep in mind is that the
movie business is a business and, like any other business, your job is to
produce a great product, cost efficiently, sell it to consumers, and generate
enough money so you can make more products. More products mean more revenue –
that is the nature of any product-based business. The only way you can sustain
your business is by making movies that generate revenue, and if you lose money
on every film, you won’t last long.
Now,
as far as I know, there are two key ways by which you can derive your income
from making and selling feature films: (a) you can make a movie and sell it to
a distributor; or (b) make a movie and sell it on your own. That’s it, really.
However, when most independent filmmakers think about the prospect of getting
their movie made and sold, they’ll opt to go for option A. They’ll send it to
major film festivals in hopes that during their circuit, the movie will hit a
cord with a capable distributor who would show an interest in buying it. If the
distributor is big, they may get a theatrical release, and a good deal of money
could follow. They’ll be featured in the press, be courted by agents, and have
an easier time getting funding for their next project – and life will be grand!
And if the distributor is small, the movie will go straight to DVD/VOD/Blu-Ray,
and they’ll make a little less money and maybe have to work a little harder to
get their next movie lined up, and the next one – it will be the big break
they’ve been waiting for.
Take
any of those filmmakers and offer them the opportunity to distribute their own
films and they’ll snigger, “I’m not interested in doing marketing or handling
sales; the business side of moviemaking is not something that I’m really
interested in. I want to focus on making movies and let other people worry
about selling them.” There is nothing wrong with that approach, it is, as the
name states, an approach – it’s just one way of doing things. In fact, it’s the
go-to approach for a big chunk of the filmmaking population. However, what do
you think will happen if you take that very same filmmaker and give them a
failed festival circuit? Meaning their film got accepted into festivals, but no
one bothered to buy it; no one licensed it or showed any interest in
distributing it... Well, now these very same filmmakers are in “panic mode.”
They’ll eventually make their way to signing a deal with an online film
distribution company, and their movie will most likely die in obscurity. These
online, independent film distributors are the kind that’ll put your movie up on
VOD and leave it there for seven years without doing a lick of marketing or
promotion. They call themselves “film distribution companies,” but in reality,
they’re more like vanity book publishers. They’re “movie brokers” – meaning
they take your movie, put it on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, and other
VOD channels via an aggregator (to which you, as a filmmaker also have access),
and maybe send a press release out via their website and social media channels,
and that’s it. The offer you get when you sign the contract is usually $0 in
advance but 30% of the net, and you feel confident in the fact that you have a
distributor and that your movie will finally see the light of day.
A
month later, the film comes out to VOD, and this “distributor” didn’t put a
dime into P&A (Print and Advertising). They didn’t market the movie, they
didn’t sell it, they didn’t build a marketing plan for it, and they don’t
intend to push it, promote it or sell it. It gets very few reviews from the
indie-fans who might buy it online, and after two years of selling, you still
haven’t seen a dime – because the distributor had “marketing expenses” that
kept you from actually seeing a profit. Believe it or not, that is the actual
situation that many independent filmmakers find themselves in after spending
years of their life pouring their hearts and souls into the making of their
indie features. They hope and pray that it’ll get picked up during the festival
circuit and are willing to give up their rights to do so because the thought of
leaving the festival circuit without a deal is terrifying.
Interview
with Author Usher Morgan
Can you tell us a little bit about your next books or what you have
planned for the future?
I’m currently working
on a novel version of my first feature film, Pickings. And am hard at work on my next film as well.
How long would you say it takes you to write a book?
The last book took
about 7 months. But I suspect
that’ll be a different story for
fiction,.
What is your favorite childhood book?
Lord of the Rings. All three!
What made you want to become a writer?
The answer is who.
Elmer Leonard, Quentin Tarantino, Aaron Sorkin, Stephen King, J. R. R. Tolkien.
How long have you been writing?
Since 2012.
How did you become involved with the subject or theme of your book?
I wrote, directed,
and produced my first feature film in 2016/2017. It made it into theaters in
2018, so I thought I’d give readers insight into the process of making movies
for a living.
For those interested in exploring the subject or theme of your book,
where should they start?
Just for fun
(a Favorite song: Crazy by Aerosmith
(b Favorite book: A very hard question to answer. There are so many of
them.
(c Favorite movie: See answer
to question B.
(d Favorite tv show: I don’t really watch TV, so I have to go back to
the show I was obsessed with when I was, and that would be 30 Rock.
(e Favorite Food: Anything with Artichokes.
(f Favorite drink: Anything with Pomegranate
(g Favorite website: www.ushermorgan.com
Thanks so much for visiting with us today!
AUTHOR Bio and Links:
Usher
Morgan is an award-winning screenwriter, film director, producer and studio
executive residing in New York City. Morgan started his career in book
publishing and later became involved with film production and distribution. He
produced his first documentary film The Thought Exchange starring David
Friedman and Lucie Arnaz in 2012, followed by his directorial debut, the
award-winning short film Prego.
Morgan’s first
feature film, Pickings was released to AMC theaters on March 2nd, 2018 and made
its way to VOD in August of 2018. His directing style is influenced primarily
by film-noir and spaghetti westerns. The Los Angeles Times calls Usher Morgan,
“a talent to watch”.
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1 comments:
Great excerpt & interview, thanks for sharing them :)
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