Hi! I'm attempting to build a collaborative filmmaking team, where a small group of people will work together and create a minimalist feature film with the quality high good enough for VOD distribution.
I've been vlogging this entire process - current update is here - Can a team of strangers work together to make a film? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=heBkK51wjaw
Playlist of progress is here (includes some older stuff):
https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLAVSx9giNufsIXAfAzMSwOFjp4XgMitVu
The unique thing here is... no budget, everyone will be collaborating to make something cool (although very minimalist). I began this discussion here - https://www.stage32.com/lounge/directing/Filmmaking-Exploitation-Should-.... This is a followup where I am making progress on how the structure will actually work and what will need to happen to be successful. This may seem a bit strange and oddly specific, but I developed this after talking to 100 people and trying to actually get this to work well. It's a practical system to get this done within the creative and financial limitations.
Here are some basics I have so far (feedback is welcome and I totally need it, but please don't just insult me and express nothing but negativity, I'm going to do this anyways, if you don't like it, don't do it).
1. Teams should be 10 or less people including all main actors (too difficult to keep everyone together and collaborate to complete the practical tasks if this number is too high. Generally, even before they do anything, everyone should be excited and understand these points.
2. Team members should ALREADY have gainful employment, and understand this is a passion project and may not have much of a return outside the marketing, promotion and fun of making something cool, but if it makes anything off distribution, the share will be stated in advance and totally fair. No Hollywood accounting, if you get 8%, outside of basic accounting fees, or taxes etc, EVERYTHING that comes in will be directly shared and sent electronically (paypal and quickbooks integration) is the current plan).
3. The company that will deal with distribution and be able to release the complete movie, will be an LLC, but operate like a shell. No employees, no real expenses, it won't really do anything other than accounting (book keeping) be available to hold the rights and distribute it. All people working on anything will be contractors and 1099.
4. Potential teams should jointly agree on an "inspiration" movie that if the collaborative team made "something like this" everyone would be happy (there is no script at this time). The inspiration movie should be one everyone enjoys and would happy to collaborate to create a "movie kinda like this" that is in the same genre and also low budget (This is step one of getting everyone on a shared vision, because the script needs to be written FOR THIS PROJECT SPECIFICALLY"
5. Using 2 as inspiration, whoever is the screenwriter (can be a person who does multiple jobs)
should (not a copy but inspired from) take inspiration from two and create a rough outline of a potential story and 1-2 pages of a proof of concept or teaser scene.
6. The entire team will sign an agreement on paper, basically saying they will shoot 5, and it will be released online for free, (YouTube release to promote the project).
7. The team shoots, edits and completes 6 and releases it online as planned.
8. After, 7 is complete, and the team has successfully created a 1-2 minute "film" with the same quality as the goal, RELEASED IT ONLINE in the same genre and everyone is happy with how it worked out....The full draft script written to use the available locations / props / resources of the team and the plan for production nailed down.
It's a big risk, this entire thing can fall apart at any time, BUT I think if the team successful come together on all those things, keep a strong shared vision and complete the1-2 minute film together and afterwards still want to to commit to the feature, It will succeed. I'm going to do this.
I wanted to add, a common comment I see a lot, is people saying I should just my friends, etc. If you work for a production house, that must be nice, you probably have a lot of friends like that. Although I've done my own films and worked on films in the past that received VOD distribution (so I've done what I'm trying to do on a small scale ALREADY), I currently don't work in the industry and have a day job. None of my friends are into filmmaking. It takes a certain type of person to enjoy creating movies, and most people don't have it in them to actually enjoy the hard work required to make a film. Even if they work in one of the technical aspects of entertainment production, they don't want to go out, work hard and bring a story to life. That's a certain type of creative person. I currently don't have any close friends who fit that description (I just met a 100 new people so we'll see, hahahah!).
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Sounds like you're really getting into this Sol. I hope it all goes well. One of the things I learned after being involved in similar ventures (MOPAN, Shaggy Dog Project, Woodshed films) is that participants must actually be invested in the project. The way we did it was to have pre-production meetings (Sat a.m.) with each participant depositing $5 toward the cost of production - mostly for craft service. Without that little personal commitment, folk come and go so that planning is impossible. The last little project I did had eight cast/crew in six pre-production meetings where we generated about $250 which was enough to feed 'em on a two day weekend shoot.
Doug Nelson It's going to be a challenge and anything that makes sure people are serious is good. That's why the 2 minute proof of concept is crucial. If you can't get through that together as a team and stay committed and motivated, a feature would be impossible. Are you proud of the end results of that effort (the films it produced)?
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This is a wonderful idea, Sol Roth. My cynical nature says it won't be easy! Everyone in the team must absolutely be on the same page, and understand this would be a purely sweat-equity effort, that the chance of making any money at all are exceedingly slim.
Lots of people will say they understand that, but really don't when you've got hundreds of hours in - that's why I think the POC approach is brilliant. It will definitely give everyone a clearer picture of what's really expected and who's really invested.
One possible challenge I see is (assuming you do get to the place where the finished film is actually going to be distributed), with the entire team "owning" the film, the rights may be hard to distinguish. Sales reps and distro companies get really nervous when the chain-of-title and rights/credits are even the least bit muddled. I would advise really making the business structure crystal clear to everyone involved, so that any ownership question that gets asked can be answered clearly and definitively.
Just my two cents'.
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Sol Roth As discussed Sol, I will be inviting people to join a panel on new media in the new environment soon, including those who have commented on this post.
@Sol I really hope this takes off for you and a successful two minutes work is executed so it gives birth to a feature or long short. I will be interested to know when “Genre” has been nailed, (finally decided) a group of artists might have available time frame and commitment for a two minutes film but all need be passionate about the long game. We live in an age where never before has there been such opportunity for free worldwide exposure and I cannot see any obstacles to your idea other than the right meeting of minds.
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Debbie Croysdale THANKS YOU! The genre has not been finalized yet, but so far, the common link that was enjoyed by all the people I've spoken with is the movie Buried - https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1462758/. We are considering doing something like this, but a bit less minimalist and with tad more horror elements (so it will fit in the thriller / horror genre which will help it find an audience)- So a horror thriller that unfolds like a mystery with a strong physical linked plot device (in the case of Buried, the main plot driver is simple, the main character dies if he doesn't get out of the box he's literally buried in, so he's got to try everything he can to get out. This is too early on to fully commit to that decision yet, but that's where it's at right now.
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i got location scene idea u can edit in like beach areas and mountains or crowds
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Keep doing you, sir! I appreciate the details you are going into to help build this system and the trust it engenders.