Why Your Film Will Fail

You will fail a hundred times, hopefully not thousands. But, you will fail. This is not a bad thing. I have never really learned anything from getting it right the first time. In fact I find myself looking back at what I did right more often then what I did wrong. I'm sure you have done the same. The best we can do is learn from others and their mistakes.

But, your film will not fail because a lack of creativity of production value. (A note to all the film schoolers, a film will not succeed because of a kick ass long take). The foundation of a good film is a solid story. Period. Lets say you have an awesome script. The story boards are all set. You have ties to a cast a crew. Guess what? You need money.

Most of us are strapped Federal student loans, or other financial loans. Some people get so behind that they need to consolidate their loans. We are a nation of living beyond our means getting in credit card debt and financing that new LCD television or even refinancing our mortgage for that stereo. We are not good with money.

Money is the reason your film will fail. You can have a great idea but without cash that is all it will be, an idea. The hard fact is you, as an independent filmmaker, need to be business savvy and budget conscience.

You need to do sales. Raise the income. Look at all the crap movies out there. They did not get made by hopes and dreams. Someone said I'm going to make this movie and they did. That's it. The film community is great. We are some of the most supportive, collaborative, good natured and most taken advantage of group. Can you see someone say "Hey, I'm gonna build a house. Who wants to help?" and they actually get a crew to work for free on Sundays? No way.

We can make great works but at the core we need at least some cash. (Hell, even people working for free need to eat). Get creative, after all you are, right? Get some cash. There is a joke in "Bowfinger" saying that any film can be made for $2,000. Nowadays that isn't so ridiculous, you just need a good script with limitations for the budget minded filmmaker. I can show you how. Stay tuned.