Indie Filmmaking Masterclass: Producing

1. 01: Introduction: Hi, I'm James C. Williamson, and I'm a film producer from South Africa. I started off doing marketing and publicity for studio pictures. I've worked with Netflix, Paramount, Sony Pictures. I learned a lot working with these big studios, but eventually I decided to start my own production company so I could be the projects that I wanted to do. I always gravitate towards projects that are a little strange, little edgy work that is outside the box. I started off doing short films, music videos, but now I mainly developed and produced feature films. My first feature, Fried Barry, is premiering in 2020 and I'm currently in pre production. My second feature. I don't like about you. You don't say much. You're a good listener. What do you do? My husband? You. - Today I'm going to be talking about the role of the producer and the basic principles of developing and producing films. In this course, I will answer the following questions to give you a clearer understanding of what exactly it is that I do on set and what my duties are on High fit is the magical chain number one. Describe your job in one sentence number two. How do I become a producer? Number three. Why would I want to be the producer? Number four is being a producer just about money number five. What kinds of produces all there? Number six. I have an idea for a movie. How do I get it made? Number seven. How much creative freedom do you have when making decisions? Number eight. Where do I get the money to make a film number nine. Explain the process from receiving job confirmation to final execution. Number 10. What advice can you give? Someone has little to no budget to make a film, so put on those producer boots on Let's Talk Committees. 2. 02: Describe your job in one sentence: a producer is the person in charge of the management and financial aspect of a film production. 3. 03: How do I become a producer?: The only way to become a producer is by being a producer. You don't become a director by being an assistant director. You don't become a script writer by being a script editor. The same goes for being a producer. The film industry is unique in that people rarely get promoted from one position to another . If you work as a P A, you're more likely to get more jobs as a P A. Than a promotion to the position that you actually want. Working in various roles in the film industry will teach you plenty of valuable lessons. But no matter how good you are at your job, nobody is going to turn around and say, Hey, you did such a great job fetching coffee for me that one time. Would you like to produce my next movie? You climb the ladder by starting small and eventually graduating to bigger and bigger projects. When you asking financiers and clients to put their trust in you, you need to show them that you've done something in the past to justify that trust, 4. 04: Why would I want to be a producer?: the business and finance side of filmmaking is a blind spot for a lot of creatives and indie filmmakers out there. If you're a director, a writer and actor or even an editor, having a producing skill set will help your career. Instead of waiting around for the phone to ring, put those producer boots on and make the project happen. Yourself produces are the leaders there. The decision makers on projects you're not going toe always have total control, and you're going to have to make some tough choices. But if you're tired of leaving your Korea at the mercy of other people, then working as a producer is for you if you're intelligent and you organized and you have leadership capability than being a producer is a no brainer. 5. 05: Is being a producer just about money?: producing combines managing finances with managing creativity. If you only know about the business side or you only know about the creative side, you're going to run into problems. As a producer, you need to combine your business acumen, your people skills, your technical knowledge and your creativity. It is the most annoying thing in the world for creative and technical crew when the producer doesn't understand their Croft. If you're shooting a slow motion sequence at night and you're deep, he says, we need Zeiss super speeds. We need a 10-K mole beam and we need flick of free ballasts and you just stare at them and you say huh, and you haven't done your job properly. If you can properly engage with your crew on a creative and technical level, you'll be able to solve problems faster, and your final product will be better 6. 06: What kinds of producers are there?: executive producers are at the top. They usually finances, or they represent the finances. They can also be produces from the studio that's commissioning the project. Their job is to manage what the other producers are doing, however, an exact produce. It can also be someone who lends their good name to a project to give it credibility. Line producers work hands on with the actual production. They're the ones managing the money while you shoot. And they know which crudo higher, which locations to get and which geared to rent. Arguably the most stressful level producing jobs associate producer is often a symbolic credit. If somebody has done something important for the films, such as getting a big name actor involved, but they haven't been involved with work happening on the ground, then it's courtesy to give them. This credit co produces usually represent investors, which is why there are so many of them. For big budget studio features, you'll usually have a co producer from each major territory in which the film is being distributed. Lost Lee of the Vanilla producer is usually the person who has been there from the very beginning of the project and will be that to the very end. They connect all of the moving parts of the project, from the script to the talent to the money to the distribution. 7. 07: I have an idea for a movie, how do I get it made?: Firstly, you need to take a hard look at the project and ask yourself, Is this movie viable? Are people going to get something out of it? Film making is an art, but it's also a business. As a producer, you need to be able to take a step back and evaluate if a project has worth. If you go and spend someone else's money on an esoteric passion project that goes nowhere in your Korea is basically over before it started. Next, you need to start selling, and by selling I mean you need to get the right people on board the supplies to no budget Indies as well as big studio tent poles. You need to sell this movie to cost crew distributors and financiers. You need to show all these people why this movie is worth making. Passion is infectious, and when you talk about your projects, you need to believe in them 100%. You need to use every resource you have at your disposal. Maybe you know someone who has a camera. Maybe you know someone who's worked with a big name actor. Maybe you know someone who owns a good location as a producer. You need to combine all these unlikely circumstances into a feasible project. You're going to be on the receiving end of a lot of rejection, but once you get one thing right, it eventually snowballs into success. 8. 08: How much creative freedom do you have when making decisions?: this differs from project to project. Ideally, you want to have as much creative freedom is possible. But as a producer, your first responsibility must always be the movie. You don't want to be micromanaging every aspect of production. You simply don't have time, and it's insulting to the people you work with. When you hire your crew, you need to hire people that you trust to get the job done. If you're second guessing every decision that your director is making onset, then it's going to cause tension and the project is going to suffer. However, you also have a responsibility to your clients and your finances. You are the middleman between the creative and the financial forces at play during a full production. It's a tough responsibility, and you need to learn when to step in and when to keep your mouth shut. 9. 09: Where do I get the money to make a film?: short answer anyway, you can before you go asking people to invest in your movie, you need to be sure that you can actually pay them back. You need to do research, you need to talk to distributors, and you need to evaluate the realistic prospects of your film. To find money you need to look at film funding initiatives, tax rebates, government funding, businesses, independent finances. Maybe you have a rich uncle. Maybe, you know a small business owner. The money is out there, and it's your job as a producer to know about all these different avenues and put in the legwork to make it happen. It's way easier to ask 10 people for $100 it is to ask one person for $1000. Investing in a film is the same as investing in any other business. It's risky, and it's speculative. You need to make your investors aware of the risk that taking when they give you their money, while also convincing them that you know what you're doing and that they should trust you 10. 10: What is the process from receiving job confirmation to final execution?: So you have a client or a financier who has given the green light Fear project and you're ecstatic you're over the moon. But the hard work has only just begun. If you haven't done a budget already, that should be your first port of call. If your finances are organized and you know them back to front, you'll be able to deal with problems and move money around. When the time comes. When you know what you have to spend and who you're going to spend it on, you assemble your costs and crew. If it's a low budget production, you're going to be getting your hands dirty and feeling a lot of people's roles. Once you have everything scheduled and organized, it's time to shoot. If you've done your job properly, the shoot should go smoothly. But you always need to be ready and prepared to put out fires when they arise. When you're in postproduction, you're going to have to manage the feedback between your client slash finances and your post production crew. The big of the project, the more cooks in the kitchen and you need to stay on the bull and keep everything on track , 11. 11: What advice can you give someone who has little-to-none budget to make a film?: you need to learn toe, ask for help. Whether your budget is $100 or $100 million you're going to need to ask people for favors. The greatest filmmakers are the ones who are always pushing the boundaries, always trying to go that extra mile. You can't achieve these feats alone, and you can't achieve them without a little bit of humility. To make a movie, you need two things. Money and the network. If you don't have a network, you're going to need a lot of money. And if you don't have money, you're going to need a great network. You might not have a lot of money to offer someone to work on your project. You might not have any money, but you need to offer them something of value. You need to give people a reason to get out of bed at the crack of dawn and work on your film. Maybe you have a really amazing script. Maybe you have a really good actor attached to the project. Maybe you have a great location that you can get for free if the people you work with are getting something out of the experience and you'll be surprised how willfully people will come on board. Always be respectful, always be humble and always returned the favors that you ask. 12. 12: Conclusion: you can watch 1000 monster clauses and know the theory back to front, but nothing will prepare you quite like the real thing you learn by doing. And this is especially true when it comes to full making. If you take one thing from this video, let it be that you need to find the drive to get out there and stock making movies. It's a cliche, but it's a cliche for a reason. Please be so kind as to rate review and share this course with fellow filmmakers as it helps us to create more content for you in the future. I hope this video has been helpful, and I wish you all the best in your filmmaking Korea.