ASK & DISCUSS INDEX

8 years, 10 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

I would get a producer first of all, if you don't plan to produce the film yourself or at the very least have a producer work with you together to make the film as your experience if low. The producer may come with a production company.

Then I would probably schedule and budget your script to see if you have enough $$$ to make the film your wrote. Maybe you need to raise a little more finance. Or maybe you need to tighten up the script to make it more achievable for the budget available.

Probably look at getting a director attached then. Followed by talent and HOD crew.

Good luck.

8 years, 10 months ago - Paddy Robinson-Griffin

There's a midway option between producing by yourself and paying someone to do it for you - paying someone a bit to lead you through it. Effectively on-the-job training for yourself. For instance if Wozy or I or anyone was guiding you, we'd start by discussing the project in general, then how pages and locations add cost, so give you tips around getting it tight...and help you through the process of choosing to diurect yourself or finding someone to direct, talk you through the departments and how to do deals (and what deals you need to do).

You could get a lot more bang-for-buck that way, and have someone watch your back/provide a backstop whilst you step out into the world of production.

8 years, 10 months ago - Dan Selakovich

You have a good chunk of cash, so you're ahead of the game. You're also willing to admit to yourself and others what you don't know. That's rare!

Since you have the money in place, I'm certain you can find a competent producer and director on Shooting People if the script is good. Best of luck to you!

8 years, 10 months ago - Holly Jacobson

Hi Anthony,

Okay, I'm going to disagree with the guys above me. I'd look at British shorts that you like - that are a similar genre to what you have and then I'd approach the director. With shorts a lot there are a lot of director/ producers and if the director is excited about making your film you could find the rest of team together.

The budget you have, whilst not huge, is more than most shorts ever have and that should make you stand out as someone serious right from the start.

Might be worth hitting up a few film festivals too. They're a great place to make contacts. There is one workshop that I would really recommend - I like it so much that I've done it a few times now - check out Chris Jones - he runs masterclasses and is focusing more on screenwriters these days. He is very good at getting people talking and working together.

Just one more thing. Short films aren't commercially viable - for the most part they are done for the love of it - and lots of people will probably be interested in working for expenses. A director/ producer in particular might see it as something that is equally beneficial for them as for you and then you can save your cash for things that are harder to get for free. I know not everyone will agree with me - but it's just how I feel.

Btw, what is your script about?

8 years, 10 months ago - Lee 'Wozy' Warren

TBH - there's no one right way to do it. For someone who has never done it before it would be a good idea to decide what you want to get out of the experience and go from there. ie be a producer or a director or just a writer.

You will make mistakes as you go. That's inevitable if you've never done it before. If you want to mitigate some of the potholes along the way then get an experienced team around you. Don't listen to the voices that sound good but have no substance behind them. Everyone's a critic and everyone's got 'great' advice. Do your homework. Weed out the amateurs and find the professionals. And at the end of the day do what feels right for you. If you make a mistake - fine. Chalk it up to experience. It's how we all got there anyway.

One thing you could do is save your money for now. Go make 2 or 3 short films for nothing with a bunch of friends. Get some basic experience of filmmaking before you invest your 3k. Trust me, the money will then go much further.

Again, good luck.

Wozy

8 years, 10 months ago - Brendan O'Neill

Could you pitch the script to me please l.e. brief outline to info AT sticklebackproductions.co.uk

I'm an award winning producer. I won the UK parliamentary Film the House competition last year with a war film made for just £900 in 48 hours with a cast and crew of 50.

www.vimeo.com/stickleback/AA

www.twitter.com/stickleback_pro

8 years, 10 months ago - Kelly Holmes

I'd also suggest you pitch your script somewhere on SP. What's it about? There's a Script Pitch blog, but also you could do what you've already done and say hi on the main Filmmakers blog but let people know a little bit about the script......if your script is about something that interests producers/directors etc they will be happy to talk to you :) Good luck!

8 years, 10 months ago - Charles Harris

You're already ahead of the game. Far more people talk about writing a script then ever finish one.

1. I highly recommend both Chris Jones and Raindance. Even if you don't want to produce, you need to know how it's done and whether people are doing things right.

2. Make sure you work with people you trust.

3. You definitely won't want to hear this, but it's the biggest (and the cheapest): you MUST, MUST, MUST get at least one professional report on your script. Ideally more than one.

I know you think it's perfect (if so, you have nothing to lose). The truth is, every script can be improved. It's always painful to hear criticism, but better to hear it now than after you've spent all that time, effort and money and used up all your credit with your friends.

I speak from personal experience. Not getting reports constituted the biggest, most expensive, mistakes I ever made. Getting reports turned out to be the best investments I ever made.

Get a script report. Did I say that already?

CH

8 years, 10 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

Charles - I stupidly paid Slated for a script report on www.MargeryBooth.com which they rubbished and gave it the lowest of scores. I then asked Stephen Fry to read it and he loved it so much he's now in it!! Most of my crew are former Bond crew which is most apt for an espionage plot. Couldn't be better. I put it down to Americans having no understanding of anything European which was one of the errors made by Goldcrest.

8 years, 10 months ago - Allan (Mac) McKenna

Brendan - You don't talk or even look like a younger person but your apparent expertise IT wise leaves me a tad bewildered. My intention was to e-mail you as an 'attachment' (the only way I know) a script I wrote some time ago and would be willing to gamble upwards of a grand to make. But how the hell do I get it to you if you don't give us an e-address? OK you have my permission to take the piss.

8 years, 10 months ago - Alan Fleet

Hello Anthony,

Best advice you have been given so far? Charles Harris said 'make sure you work with people you trust'. This is an absolute must. If you decide to go with a person unknown to you, look into their background.

I have made three shorts films and based on my experiences I advise you to produce yourself because it's your money. Why let another person benefit from your cash? Soak up the experience and any mistakes will be yours but I tell you, no one will want the film out more than you. You will get round any problems with more determination than anyone you bring onboard.

Short films are for cutting YOUR teeth on; don't be too quick to give your script away.

By the way, I don't agree with the script report advice.

My three shorts are on YouTube (Alan Fleet Short Films) if you want to have a look.

Best wishes,

Alan.

8 years, 9 months ago - Paul Campion

Try and get as much feedback on the script as you can first - you say it's a killer script, but does anyone else think that?

Is it good enough to spend £3k of your own money on, and probably 6 months or more or your time getting it made, and can it realistically be made for £3k?

Is it something that's going to find an audience, online or at film festivals?

Is the script going to attract a relatively experienced producer, director, cast and crew? The best thing you can do is surround yourself with more experienced people and learn from them.

The script pitch on here is good place to start. Paid script coverage is a bit of a contentious issue on here, but worth thinking about before you sink £3k of your own money and a lot of your time.

If it is good then you can try and bring either a producer or director on board first. A director with some experience could help package it up creatively with moodboards etc to attract a producer.

Lots of experienced and professional cast and crew make shorts for a variety of reasons regardless of money - at the very least it's another credit on IMDb, gaining more experience, working with new people and broadening your professional connections, and in an ideal world a good short can lead to more exposure and potential work. And it can be a fun process as well if everything goes well.

8 years, 9 months ago - Charles Harris

Hi Franz, Many congratulations for getting Fry on board (and a great testimonial from him on your website). I don't want to be a party pooper, but not all actors can judge a script - otherwise why would so many of them end up in crap movies?

I can't speak for MarjoryBooth.com. Even script readers are fallible - or maybe they're right. You imply that's the only report you've had. I'd get at least one more to be sure.

I consider I know a few things - but I always get at least two reports on every script of mine, from two different professional sources. I don't have to agree with them, but if they both say the same thing, there's probably an issue to be looked at.

I'd no more go into a shoot without coverage nowadays than get into a plane whose pilot had refused to do pre-flight tests!

8 years, 9 months ago - Euroscript Screenwriters

It's troubling to hear of script reports 'tearing scripts apart' without offering positive ways forward. I may be biased (I work for an organisation which specialises in giving script feedback), but in my opinion, getting professional AND sympathetic coverage on your screenplay is crucial.

The truth is that almost all story ideas can be made to work with some effort and will, and by fully comprehending and distilling what a writer is trying to achieve - which may not always be completely clear to the writer.

However, fixing problems at script level, before any further, more expensive and irreversible work has been done, seems the only logical way to go about things. The history of the UK film industry is famously littered with the bloated corpses of films which went into production too early, sometimes resulting in stalled or ruined careers.

The truth is, getting scripts right is hard! In some ways there are more elements to consider than when writing plays, novels and poems - even though these forms often benefit from the (more covert) eyes of editors and other helpers. And let's remember, film is by nature a collective undertaking; it's very much for 'us' rather than merely for 'me'.

Other feedback services are available, but Euroscript's team are perhaps more dedicated than most to the job of making scripts (and films) as good as they can possibly be. More here:

http://www.euroscript.co.uk/feedback-service.html

8 years, 9 months ago - Jane Sanger

I would recommend euroscript to analyse your script.
And do remember some people won't like your script, others will. I recently asked for short film script submissions that broke boundaries with a view to filming one. Now I had over 100 people sent me scripts. Each person thought they had written a great script but in my opinion there was just one that stood out, the others were ok - nothing that wrong just not exciting enough for me. So that's it ...whoever you show your script to its one opinion, the next person or actor may think it's great. Ask loads of people to read and comment, the more the better. If they all have one comment it may be the one thing that makes it better.

8 years, 9 months ago - Jane Sanger

Ps and for that money produce it yourself. Go to Raindance and learn how to do it first and just go for it.

8 years, 9 months ago - Steven James

I also agree with Charles on getting a report. I work as a script reader - and read 4 or 5 features a week, and still find myself making rookie errors. It's just a case of getting some objectivity. I'm currently working on a short, which I am shooting in a month or so. I was really happy with the script, until I got some feedback from people who are in the industry! The fact is, there was things I had missed - which despite reading every screenwriting book under the sun, i'd still managed to do. It's just natural.

On the other hand - do not take every piece of advice on board, and be wary. I have altered my work heavily based on comments from people who I have believed to be "in the know" and have ended up losing the tone/underlying message. Everyone has their own take on what your doing and will want to help - but not everyone will understand your "vision" until its actually bought to the screen.

Like everything its a double edged sword...

8 years, 9 months ago - Franz von Habsburg FBKS MSc

Thanks Charkes. Stephen is not just an actor though and knows films pretty well but I also have several finance people who love the script too so as a result I've been able to get a completion bond too!! And speaking of Bond most of my crew are "Bond" crew, so apt for an espionage plot :-)