ASK & DISCUSS

I'm a composer. Dare I say it, a pretty good one. I've not only worked with artists who made hit records, I've made some of my own, and composed scores for features, a lot of shor…

Hi Tom, great post and very valid points. I have never had a top notch composer on any of my films but would love one. So what kind of costs are we talking about for a short? Pm m…

I'm looking at BackersInfo they have a$75 option which would suit my campaign to raise funds to send my short film to festivals.

Does anyone have experience with them or other co…

The thing is though that a crowd funding campaign need not be exclusive to any singular platform. One might reach a percentage of a target budget on Kickstarter for example and th…

I'm currently producing a short film and it's the first time I've ever had the budget to pay people - yay! So now I want to ensure there's a proper contractual agreement for cast …

Hi Emmeline,

I have a whole load of useful templates that you can download and edit for free on my website (adult release form, child release form, co production agreement templ…

I'm at the end of my tether with people advertising a Producing job as paid, when they are asking the Producer to raise the money without an upfront fee and pay themselves from th…

Back to whether you'd want to do other people's films.

I sometimes think that, although it's easier to direct in your own work, it's easier to produce someone else's ideas. So,…

I completely sympathize with Davina Brown post "Help! An East London Film Office wants to charge my £20K feature project £150/hour", many thanks for bringing this up Davina as I w…

Ta for the update. I suspect the reason was less malice than mundanity, so glad you got it sorted :)

Am currently putting together a shoot for a client who wants to film partly at their factory in China and I'm wondering what restrictions/unexpected difficulties I might come up a…

I have filmed several times in mainland China. The best practice has always ended up being hiring kit and crew in China. I say kit AND crew for a reason. Firstly the kit in China …

I'm British and am both shocked and appalled by the vicious negative reviews that “The Krays: Dead Man Walking"”has received on the imdb.com, when the statistically the clear majo…

Hi Steve,
Many thanks for that. Jane Sanger and Roland Heap had already managed to clarify to me the probable reasons for the review and vote attack on the imdb.com I did some sea…

Do you have Amazon Prime? Cast your vote for my short and I'll quid pro quo!!!
https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/video/detail/B07JCBX9NW/ref=atv_wtlp_wtl_0

I just heard the sad news that another amateur production has been cancelled. The children learned their lines, worked for months on a show that was postponed...and postponed... …

There's no angels operating airlines but on balance I've found British Airways to be quite reliable and pleasent without being obsequious; a finely judged style few are good at. T…

I would like to go make film in US because my screenplay has filming locations in the US. How do I obtain a visa for that?

Hi Vasco! Thanks for your advice. I think that would be an another good option as well. I didn't think about it. Yes, why not? I really want to shoot my short film there. I just d…

I'm about to hire (and pay) a writer to rewrite a short film script and I can't find a template to draft a 'Writer for hire agreement" or at least a Deal Memo which would probably…

The issue of what a monetary transaction represents is not as cut and dried as might be presumed. As with any business transaction for any good or service in any kind of commerce …

I've been on here for a long time, and used other networks. Sometimes, we might complain if we don't get the right responses. Yet, I see some people are more successful than oth…

Nicely concidered Vasco

I need a suburban family style house with at least two bedrooms and a good sized kitchen and living room, preferably in Surrey or greater London area for 2 or maybe days around th…

Looking for E&O on a low budget feature but all required a legal review of the film before they will approve the insurance. The only one contact I have in this area is away fo…

Thanks Roland, think I may have found someone but if that doesn't work I will definitely try Justine.

With the impulse from a discussion on here I had emailed BAFTA about an actors' agent with whom I had experienced a #MeToo problem, as you may or may not recall. Well, they did no…

Thanks.

any trusted or good reviews? thanks

Maybe you can clarify your question Sergio; are you looking to rent gear for yourself, or are you looking to rent your gear out to other filmmakers?

I think one of the ironies of Shooting People is people want others to work for free on their own projects, but won't work for free on other people's projects.

But, does collab…

to work with as an equal,

You are a professional or just starting as a script editor, yet you are hungry for that original and quirky story that you can rarely find. Cops and hospitals can be fun settings …

Is this a creative way of saying you're not offering any money?

For some reason, I'm still getting spam from film festivals. If you run a film festival, or anything connected with seminars, note that I'm NOT interested!

However, it seems t…

Cheers for that Paddy. I'll take a look shortly

Hi everyone,

I want to start producing and shooting my own short films, but I find the legal part of the process quite frustrating. I live in the UK, didn't go to film school and…

Sent them an email and will contact them on Tuesday as well. Thanks :D

Who would you rather work with…

On a thread recently, someone raised a point that I thought was absurd at first. But the more I thought about it, the more I questioned my own pos…

Experience, every time. If you are reading this and thinking of doing some film degree, get a camera, tripod and mic, go to the local paper and announce that you'll film anything,…

Hi all,

I need some advice on where I stand in this situation.

Summer last year I was asked if I wanted to film an adventure documentary, it would involved following 3 paraglide…

I think Marlom's comments are rather astute here. Decide to fight or take the lesson and walk away (ideally without signing!). Is there really any commercial value? I suspect n…

As some of you may know, I have started to mentor filmmakers through the transition from making shorts through to making features.

So if you have made that journey recently, say …

I saw an answer on another network, by accident:

https://www.stage32.com/blog/Fearing-the-Jump-to-Feature-Length-Films-2

I suspect Russell (or someone who commissioned him) read…

Plain and simple – no funding!

It doesn’t matter if the script is amazing, or the crew worked on big budget Hollywood blockbusters, or the actress is A list… If the financier, w…

I'd like to ask a related question, why do screenplays fail to get finished? Why do budgets, production schedules, and shot lists fail to get made? And, why do people fail to ap…

I've heard it said that film is a competitive industry. The people who usually say it in a derisive way are those who wish to take advantage of film students, or would be student…

Blessings and joy be with you too Vasco