So you're an Indie Filmmaker depressed by how much money MUMMY RETURNS is making... right'

Hey folks, Harry here... I just finished reading an article that Roger Ebert wrote over HERE, which basically is an article about a group of depressed filmmakers that have allowed the corporate world of film to make them depressed about the ability to screen their films to a public and get those films seen, when at the same time a film like THE MUMMY RETURNS splashes across thousands and thousands of screens, has tens of millions hurled into advertising... How can they compete?

The fact is... they can't. And they shouldn't be trying. One of the problems with a great many 'filmmakers' is that they look at MUMMY RETURNS and think that the game they are playing is the same one. It isn't.

MUMMY RETURNS is mass market entertainment, something you've decided not to make, but that Stephen Sommers has. It has been scientifically tested and proven to entertain a mass audience. It has been created with the idea of pulling greenbacks from the teeming masses... The film has the trailers, posters and slogans which create the Pavlovian film-going urge.

So when the MUMMY RETURNS ends up with 190-230 million dollars domestic and the inevitable worldwide gross of roughly 585 million dollars... how should an Indie filmmaker feel?

Well the Negative Cost for the film was in excess of 98 million dollars... Figure the ad campaign at an additional 30+ million... That comes to 128 million dollars... and thus far even though THE MUMMY RETURNS has pulled in $124.22 million dollars... It still hasn't hit the profit margin yet. In fact it needs to make an additional $90 million or so to really get there when you begin dividing up the pie. Don't get me wrong, with video, cable TV rights, pay television, foreign rights and all that sold... It's gonna bring in a bank or two, but really like any Mass Market Item... The profit is in the narrowest of percentages.

What an Indie Filmmaker has to do is to put MUMMY RETURNS out of mind. That is another business, something that isn't even the same business that they have going. Well... What do you do?

An Independent Filmmaker is a Small Business Man. Your actors, writers and yourself... You are all in this together. You want to make this small business work. If you plot this out right... Well, you're life becomes easier. First you have to make your film as cheap as possible, but have the film look as great as you possibly can make. The film is that thing you are creating. As an Indie this means sweating blood day and night to make the finest feature you can as cheaply as you can. And as an Indie filmmaker, this isn't a 'get rich quick' scheme... You are not a 'Savings and Loans' fella.... You are not dealing with 'Junk Bonds'... You are in this business to create film for the rest of your life... riiiiiight? So long as you take a breath, you will make film.... riiiiiight? You are dedicated, there is no question, there is nothing else that you want to do... you are a FILMMAKER... right?

Alright, good. Nice to hear. First, being an independent is an incredibly hard route, but do you really think it is easier to go the MUMMY RETURNS... big studio route? Where your film becomes a corporate thing... Where executives can possibly take your film over... Where the giant movie stars can make insane demands... Where your script is being re-written by people you never meet... Where the final film is missing things that when you first sat down to make it.... you made the film hoping to see? BIG FILMMAKING has quite a bit of artistic compromise and placating the investors, who can and will foreclose on your dream.

But you... You have chosen freedom over riches. You are a Independent Filmmaker. Someone that wants to bring what YOU want to bring to audiences. Among the first decisions presented to you is the Digital vs Film question. This is where you decide what medium serves your story. For a sculptor, you decide if you will sculpt in Styrofoam, wood, stone or glass or metal. For a painter, you decide the canvas and the paints, the brushes... This is for you to decide, but know your materials. The new Sony High Def 24fp camera.... the DV.... 8mm.... super8.... 16mm.... super16 or the big formats...

All of the steps until you have your final print are yours to decide. But remember, the more expensive you work, the harder it is to make the next film unless the film is patently commercial. The area you need to begin thinking hard about is promotion and exhibition.

If you are in a rush to make your next film. If you just want to sell this one to someone and move on... fine, go the Film Festival circuit, but realize that in a very real way... Everyone buying films at Film Festivals... all of the 'Indie Distributors' well... They are looking for commercial product. A higher end commercial product to be sure. They want films with marketable commodities... actors that will do press... Names to put on posters... Subject matter that can be exploited to bring an audience in. They need a film they can sell.

At this point you have to look at your film. Not from an artistic point of view, but from an exhibition front.... from the point of view of the audience. As an audience member, what about this film appeals to you? Why should they be interested in this movie? When they leave the film, what will they be talking about? Now... You don't have the money for Market Research... so instead you need either someone that knows the Market... someone like Jeff Dowd, who finds homes for Indie films like yours... Or you need to know the market yourself.

You need to look at your film and think what films are in the same type of genre... what was their success rate... How did they do that? And you need to know the failures as well as the successes. Have you made a movie about a frustrated artist? Well... You need to know how LUST FOR LIFE was sold... Why SURVIVING PICASSO failed... How POLLOCK got on all those lists... Why BASQUAIT disappeared... Know your market... Know why your film is different and if that is a good thing. Study how films were sold, why people saw them... You are an Indie filmmaker.... You have few friends... You must know how to sell your own film.

If you have made a movie and you have no idea why anyone would want to see it.... You have a problem.

Now you have to begin thinking about how to get the word out cheaply in advance of your Film Festival debut. You need to know how to get people to pick seeing your film over the other 10 films screening at that instant. You need to be familiar with this site, Film Threat, IndieWire and all of the major film critics. You need to know if they will like your film... Read what they have written... Know whether or not they write about film prior to distribution... Prior to a film festival... See if they'll do an interview in advance. Do you have something to say? Will that help? Maybe? Then say it.

Now spending a great deal of money on a super poster? Well, the festival goer is well aware of the adage that the slicker the poster, the more fake the film is... The best way to get a festival goer into the film is to have an independent voice say, "I really liked this film!" You're looking for distribution right? You don't want to take the film around the country yourself and screen it, do publicity and greet filmgoers as they enter your theater....do you? If you do... fine... But you are trying to get your film seen by as many people as possible because you are an artist.... an exhibitionist... and you want people looking at your creation.... riiiiiight?

Often times, the people scouting for films at festivals are at that first screening. How is your audience? Are they going to react to the film? Do they have a clue what type of film they are in store for? It is integral to not only have a buzz for your film prior to the first screening... but to have the right expectations... for the audience to know that this film is something special and that it is their type of film.

How can you do that?

You know why big Studio Marketers make trailers that give away an entire film? It is because they have been proven to work for a mainstream audience. An audience likes to know what to expect from the movie that they are going to invest in... WELL... Personally I disagree with that to a degree, but here's my advice.

Make a trailer or cut a scene that you know will get people to see your movie.... If you saw this trailer or this scene you know that you would want to go see that movie. NOW... how to get people to see that? AICN, Dark Horizons, Coming Attractions, Film Threat, IndieWire, the film festival's website... Get it to them... see if they can host the trailer or clip... See if they'll write about it. NOW realize that they have many many many many other people trying to get their attention. Have patience... Don't be an asshole... Be cool.

Folks at film festivals, a lot of them... read websites.... and those that don't are standing in lines with those that do. And people in lines say, "Man, I can't figure out what to see, I've never heard of any of these films." And the person that goes online says, "Well, I've heard that _________ is good." And the other person says, "Really, how do you know that?" And this enlightened one says, "Well I A) Read a review that said.... B)Saw this clip/trailer that looked.... and/or C)Read an interview with...."

Now, the key is to have another person in that same line that says, "Oh yeah, I heard that......" And then another person in line says, "What film are you talking about?" and then all 3 people say, "Insert Your Film's Name Here!!!"

Now, when you are at a film festival you have several missions... 1) Sell your film. 2) Learn the game from other filmmakers. 3) Talk with the festival goers and find out why your film is working or not working.

Ok... So now... let's say you have made a film that has festival buzz, that people love.... BUT... No distributor will touch.

Really... this is what the filmmakers in Ebert's column were talking about. These are films with either no known stars, an NC-17 rating, a subject matter that traditionally has not sold tickets or who's intended audience typically does not pay to see films.

At this point... things are much tougher.

The choices you have to make become more difficult. You have to either A) Cut your losses or B)Become Mickey Rooney and Judy Garland.

A) Cut your Losses.... This is where you begin selling foreign rights (AFM, CANNES, various festivals), a video distributor, cable rights... Hopefully you made your film cheap enough that this can happen, but if not prepare for a long long road to produce your next film.

B) Become Mickey Rooney And Judy Garland!

It's time to throw a show. If you are into it. If you have the stamina to take your show on the road, if you've made a film that audiences love but no distributor believes in.... it is time to study the landscape of independent theater owners. At this point it becomes important to become P.T. BARNUM... To barker your film. Are you willing to go where your film goes? To shake every hand... to tell fascinating and provocative stories to audience after audience before and after your film? Do you have actors that will get nude on stage? Will they do stand-up? What do you have? How entertaining can you be? This is William Castle time.... Joe Dante's MATINEE time... You will speak to newspapers, radio and television in these communities.... You will glue up Xeroxed sheets of paper advertising your film on telephone poles... You will grab a phone book and start with A calling people.... You will become a selling machine...

Exhibition by exhibitionists... Time to fill the barn, sell cotton candy, popcorn and sodas... This is a long long road, but you are doing this for a couple of reasons.... You want people to see your movie.... You are wanting to show a willingness to get behind your film.... You are trying to make money to make your next film..... And you are looking for your next investors.... THAT'S RIGHT... Out there in that independent theater... in that crowd of 40 - 100 people... their might be gold. Someone just won the lottery, why not that guy on the 11th row on the aisle slurping his soda?

This is also why you talk to Film Societies, University Film Groups, Workshops and so on... This is why you do interviews, and maintain that website. This is the world of Independent film.... You get to see the faces of your public.... You hear their stories and their dreams of making films and ya know what... It is a wonderful and beautiful world. Sure you are not in the penthouse suite at the Four Seasons sipping some over-priced fermented drink being handled by P.R. people.... You're going to be drinking in some dive with a group of cinephiles telling ol war stories about the ones you almost got... You're gonna make people dream about making films with you. And you'll make those films. And hell, maybe one of them will hit at some cosmically fucked up scale and make you super rich...

But ya know what, let's pray that doesn't happen... because that leads to the dark path of P.R. drones and Studio meetings... You didn't get into film to become a COG... you got into film to be a filmmaker... and that means you define yourself and that which you create.

So stop sitting on panels lamenting not working for McDonalds... Be passionate and sure of your chosen path.