Prison Hy gene Films

Hey, at least it's film! Every few years I get the urge to make another feature. The film festival gives me a fix but sometimes it makes me long to return behind the camera. I'm close to returning a profit on "Storm of the Dead," (available on Netflix) a film I made in 2006 and I'm ready to try again. I've applied to every project in need of a director. I was thinking how bad could Prison Hy gene Films be? Film is film, right?

The IMDB postings are a joke. I've applied to anybody seeking a director but they are looking to attach a front line director in order to raise funds. I actually had one producer/writer ask me to rewrite the script for the screen and present it to my investors. I don't know what they're teaching these people in film school but "chain of command" isn't one of them. The producer hires the director and by hire I mean pay the director for work to be done on a project. I constantly see on IMDB the same people rewording their posts in an attempt to get something for nothing. Whatever happened to the good old days when people actually made money making movies. It seems in this computer age where everyone and his brother has a HD camera everyone is making a movie but very few have the ability to hire someone.

It's frustrating but as a product of the film industry boom of the 1980's there is a formula to follow. I just have to be patient and weed through the scam artists. In the 80's you could always find a video distributor that would put up a few hundred thousand to make a film with a recognizable name or two. Now, very few want to pay advances. They would rather you make the film and they bid on the project after the fact. I know an "A-List" director who made a film for twenty-five million and it went direct to video. How the hell am I supposed to compete with that? You use the SAG-indie contracts and they make you place the SAG logo according to budget. You're using a $200K and under it's in one spot but you use a $625K and under budget is found in another spot. You think the distributors don't know that? How can you tell someone you made a film for $500K when your SAG logo is placed where the $200K budget requires it? Simple, you can't. Now you've got to out smart them. Make the film for $100K and place the logo in the $200K spot. At least they'll think you spent $200K. Better yet, make the film for $400K and place the $625K logo and perhaps you can make $225K.

I'd rather pay the actors regular scale, place the SAG logo where ever I choose and let the buyers argue over how much I made the film for..... They don't teach that in film school either! Film makers are fighting, pushing, shoving for the right to receive tax incentives from different states. That's all well and good if you have a high enough budget to make tax incentives worthwhile. If you have the 'cash' you have the ability to create your own incentives by making better deals. I'd rather save $2500/day on location fees than receive fifteen percent of my tax expenditures back. Work it out on paper and then decide what's best for the project. In the meantime, if you're in need of a veteran director that can give you a production value to cost ratio of over 7 x 1 and has a track record with distributors, give me a call. I'm looking for a funded project!

.....and cut!