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Last week I suggested that another way into the business is to make your own movie. That meant raising the money yourself and directing it yourself. A lot of screenwriters are intimidated by the idea of directing. I'm not. I started out writing plays and I've been lucky enough to have several of mine produced at important theaters and I've worked with a few really great directors.
I've also directed plays. What I know about directing is from observing the good (and bad) directors I've worked with.
So when I decided to make my own movie a few years ago there was never any question that I would be the one who would direct. It was a small cast and I know lots of actors so casting it was easy. Hiring a small scew was fairly easy too, as I know a good number of production people.
Everything was going to fall in place except one thing. Take a guess.
Right. The money.
I even had a budget drawn up. It was $200,000.
I was prepared to put in some of my own money, but what I needed was start up capital. I made the mistake of going to a relative who had been very supportive over the years. I told him I wanted to make my own movie and that I needed $50,000 start up. He was a successful businessman. He had friends who were successful businessmen. He felt he could raise the money with a few phone calls.
All he needed to see was the script. That's when I got nervous. See, not only had he never read a screenplay before, but he had never even seen one. And he wasn't that much of a movie goer. At the time this was going on he hadn't seen a movie in 3 years. He didn't have cable and he didn't rent movies.
But he liked me and cared about me and thought it would be fun and cool to be a producer of a movie. That's what I told him he would get for his $50 grand. A producer credit. And if the film got picked up and made any money he'd get a cut.
So I gave him a copy of the script and that was the last I heard from him for about eight months. Turns out that he read it and then had his wife read (another non movie buff) and they were passing it around to their friends.
I actually found out from anothe relative that my cousin was disappointed with the script. Not that he thought it was bad, but he was expecting someting, well, different. Something like, say, Animal House or American Pie. In short, a gross out comedy with stupid jokes, goofy humor, T & A and fart jokes. The script I gave him was a bittersweet comedy about the coming of age of a college student who realizes she's chosen the wrong career.
Once I got the word that my cousin was disappointed I knew I'd never get the start up money from him. Rather than endure his, his wife's or his friends feedback and criticism of the script, I decided never to bring it up.
I don't see this cousin that often. We live in different parts of the country, so it was easy not to have to deal with the issue. And when I finally did see him he didn't say anything either.
To this day we haven't discussed it.
I don't know what his point of view would be on the whole thing, but I'm convinced he didn't like the script because he was expecting something other than what I gave him. That, plus the fact that he'd never read a screenplay. I believe that reading a screenplay is a skill that must be learned.
The experience taught me two lessons: (1) If I ever try and make my own movie I will use my own money and (2) Never ask someone who doesn't understand movies to put money into yours.
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