ASK & DISCUSS

Hi Shooters,

I am working on an indie feature showcasing 7 queer films, I hired a composer last November, paid him 50% upfront trusting that he's a good guy referred via a friend…

John , It may be a generalization with no intent to defame , I'm merely suggesting that if one goes the route I suggest, the likelihood of running into trouble (from a business p…

I feel the need to express anger and dismay at the constant negativity surrounding first script rejection as a formality.
Let us then write a ten minute, no re-write, inferior, il…

Investing the time and effort to do a damn fine first anything is simply the entry bar to qualifying for the race.

You have a script, I'm going to assume that it's perfect, and t…

It seems almost every microbudget film made since 1994 was created by a writer-director. Why 1994? That's nearly 25 years ago, and when Clerks came out. Defining microbudget be…

For added inspiration, I made this list of five of the best known films shot in the director's home, with trailers for four. (I can't find a good trailer for the one with the sil…

Hi all,

I have a short script I am aiming to make whereby a character communicates and references the odd famous lyric for comedic effect. The nature of the gag means they have t…

Ahh that post contained a link which has my answer. Cheers Alwynne

https://www.theguardian.com/books/2010/may/01/blake-morrison-lyrics-copyright

Camera insurance recommendations? Thanks

Highly recommend essex insurance - v easy to use and cheap
https://www.essexinsurancebrokers.com/quotebuyonline/

Hi,

I'm looking to hire a location for a short film shoot and they're asking for a copy of our public liability insurance. To be expected, I guess but I haven't had any experienc…

Thanks for all the input guys! Very helpful!

Is it ever worth putting out requests for help with feature & short film projects? I see so many adverts posted (myself guilty too), asking for actors and crew to work on peop…

Hi Matthew,
There is nothing wrong about posting for unpaid collaborators, people who are less busy than they would ideally like to be, people who are not having their phones ring…

If anyone has any legal knowledge on this subject I'd greatly appreciate the advice, I've never come across such a clause before.

I've come across a company that commissions shor…

Peter I've had somebody else say that to me aswell, a dollar for the rights and they didn't give him any money for production and then complained to him about the final product, s…

The film has been featured in local Kent media:
It can be seen on www.commonsensefilms.uk
The idea came from a lucid dream after watching The Texas Chainsaw Massacre multiple tim…

Blonde moment, sorry the film is called THE LEFT HAND PATH, thank you.

I used old radio broadcast of LBC in my feature film edit to situate the period. Do I need to sick copyright permission from LBC or the individual broadcaster?

Completely agree that faking it is better and easier in the long run. The same is true with using classical music - even though the music itself will be public domain as it's so o…

Hello

I'm filming a short film on Saturday and the main character has some film posters on his wall (Alien, The Shining, Night of the living dead) the posters are only shown brie…

Thanks Yen, that's very helpful.

‘51 States’ is short dystopian thriller set in an all too possible future, where a Sikh wife and mother risks execution in the fight to be reunited with her family.

The film is e…

I am very new here from the music industry. In my experiences 'off screen' are having been told by several that my work should be in films and video games. I have gotten a lot of …

As a writer, I am always looking for good producers who are driven, ambitious, open and have some credibility (as a producer) - and want to explore and expand on their idea(s) to …

Hi,

Just looking for some advice, I am going to be self-distributing my feature through VOD next year, and wondered if I was able to distribute through the production company, or…

How much money is involved? Every company has accounting overheads and if scale isn't there you are just creating expenses to no purpose.

SPV is useful when different groups of p…

Hey guys and gals!

My people, well done oh!

I was born and lived in Nigeria (P-H and ABA) for 18 years before coming to the UK. (English dad, Igbo mom).

I have written several …

Myself and a colleague want to network with people who agree with Brexit and that much of modern feminism and political correctness has gone too far. We want people who share the …

As a bleeding heart left liberal I am all for open discussion and a forum to build a discussion but it has to be informed on all sides. The names you mention, specifically Katie H…

I believe, many beginners in filmmaking have a dilemma how to start first short and maybe even future film. From one side seems it's an easy part, but from another, require a lot …

Hi, Kasper.
You can come tomorrow for a meeting of collaborators, on Thursday, 7th of the December 2017, from 19:00 to 21:00 in Ickenham, Glebe Road, UB10 8PD. We will meet up in …

In the light of current revelations about industry abuse, is it appropriate for Shooting People's actor profiles to have a 'perform nude?' field? It could, in effect, make it easy…

I believe that usually actor who are willing to do nudity doesn't see nudity such as a big deal. It's just acting.

Hi guys,

I'm co-producing a short film about Mental Health (fiction, not documentary). We aim to portray that kindness is powerful and that awareness - really seeing what's going…

Thank you all for your replies and links! This is very helpful for us and I enjoyed taking a look at all your work.

We are now 50% funded on Kickstarter! And it's amazing to be a…

We made one of these short-notice-theme movies for our local festival ZFF: http://72.zff.com/en/2017/2190/
Now for the popular vote it all boils down to the volume of people filmm…

You're absolutely right that I'm not always right Alan! However I really cannot agree about Crash ;-)

I have recently completed a feature that I am now seeking to obtain some tax back through the DCMS. The application is all filled in ready to go however now I require an Accountan…

I've PM'd you :)

What do you think?

I referred a producer that I've worked with before to a client of mine who I thought would do a good job on a short film. The guy in question, lets call him Bo…

Wow, Wozy, makes our little SNAFU look calm by comparison.

What's amazing to me is that the entire budget was spent before cameras rolled. Even if you're producing AND directing…

We are about to embark on the process of sorting the UK Film Tax Rebate for a feature documentary. It would be great if anyone can suggest/recommend a trustworthy, experienced and…

I'll PM you - film accountant I've used on several features and moved my own company accounts over to - very keenly priced and plenty of movies/tax credits/etc stuff for movies.

Hello everyone! I wonder if anyone can help provide advice on releases/permissions?

I'm going to be shooting some corporate content at a trade show next week in Germany. Normall…

Very often at such an event you will find displayed - maybe printed on entry tickets "by entering here you are giving permission to being filmed". We get that at the BAFTAs and s…

Hi

A friend has the following issue:

I spent 13 years in South Africa in my 20s/30s. I wrote a romance novel in 2011 under a female pen name. The story is mostly set in Zimbabwe…

Hi Bob. I don't doubt this at all. There is a whole industry of Amazon ebook "publishers" that hire ghost writers at one cent a word. That's all they get. No royalties at all. If …