Talent Caliber

This is my fifth feature film. I've had movies with Adam Baldwin, Mimi Rogers, Sean Patrick Flannery, Joey Lauren Adams, Lou Diamond Phillips, Tom Wright, Yancy Butler and others. Without a doubt, on the whole, this is the most talent rich cast. Sure Lou and Mimi and all were incredible-- but instead of just the top being incredible, the word "great" can easily extend way down the roster on this cast.

As a director, I look forward to an actor and a scene or two. "I can't wait to see how they play this," I say to myself. Well, on this movie, I'm thinking that question quite a bit.

It also puts pressure on our local casting. I am an impatient type. But it's great to take the time to find "great" and not just "good enough." So with this caliber of talent, the production team finds a bar that's being raised. And I think that's a "great" thing.

Shooting My Mouth Off

I get asked a lot when I travel about guns because, you know, I'm from the great state of Texas. So yes, some of my movies have used guns. We had small ones (.38 special in the hands of a detective in A Promise Kept) and we've had big ones (an M82 Barrett 50 caliber sniper rifle on top of a parking garage next to the state capital-- the reverberations from firing a blank lasted for 17 seconds).

We had fast guns-- fully automatic, class III weapons, like the Mac 11, and several M4/AR15 types. All sorts of AK's. And something our weapons master Doug Williams called the "Widomaker." Scarlett McAlister, in Striking Range is sporting that one.

So sit back and enjoy a short little video of the weapons used in Striking Range with Lou Diamond Phillips, Yancy Butler, Glenn Moreshower, and Scarlett. Just remember, the working title was "bloodlines" and later changed to Striking Range.

Film Distribution in a nutshell

It's hard enough to get a movie made, what about getting it distributed? This little post will be directed to low budget indie filmmakers, for the secular marketplace. So what can you do to get your film distributed?

Most Important Variable for success in getting distribution: Recognizable name. Nothing comes even close to this variable. The overall goal is to get individuals to buy/watch the movie. You can spend tons of money, but a recognizable name shortcuts that.

Second Variable - Genre. If you've got a drama, good luck. These are extremely hard to sell. The movie industry just had a record year in the face of a depression. Why? Because of escapism. That's why action/suspense/horror etc keep getting made and keep earning revenue. Comedy? Well, just don't count on foreign sales. Just remember, Drama is the hardest genre to get distribution.

Third Variable - Production Value. If I were weighting these, I'd have Name as 70%, Genre as 20% and PV as 10%. This is the quality of the lighting, writing, directing, acting, editing, etc.

The *intangible* variables are generally hooks and gimmicks, timing, special factors. Like selling your body for experiments to earn money to make the movie. Or loading up all the credit cards you can find. But these were stories that could get buzz out on the movie. Now that they've been done, it's not new. I don't recommend it.

Can a movie succeed in getting distribution without names? Sure. But for every one, there are thousands and thousands that don't. So before you mention Napolean Dynamite, understand that it is the exception rather than the rule.

Now if you make your film for a niche market, the rules do change. It still helps to have recognizable names in that niche, but PV doesn't really matter. Story becomes the biggest variable. For example, in the faith-based niche market, Flywheel succeeded without any PV, names and so forth because the story rang a chord with the niche audience.

So if you're wanting to make a movie and get it distributed, find a name actor. It's not impossible. If you've already got a no-name drama in the can, good luck. You'll need it. Hope you get in to Sundance.