PRODUCE YOUR 1st MOVIE… GUARANTEED ($10K-$500K Budgets)
by Dov S-S Simens on April 1, 2019
7-STEPS to FILM SUCCESS
(1) Read this Blog
(Follow these 7 Steps and practice your acceptance speech)
(Follow these 7 Steps and practice your acceptance speech)
(2) Pick one of the Top 10 Movie Budgets (see below) that is either #1, #2, #3, #4, #5 or #6… Go Budgets #7 to #12 and you are not realistic
(3) Get the KISS Script…
5 CommentsWant to make a successful independent film?
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MOVIE BUDGETS LIE (So What’s Your Budget? $1M, $2M, $2-3M, $3-5M, $10-12M, $15-20M, $50-70M…?)
by Dov S-S Simens on March 29, 2019
HOLLYWOOD FR*CKIN’ LIES.
Let’s talk budgets. Movie Budgets and how they so clearly demonstrate that “Hollywood Lies”.
PS: Hollywood doesn’t lie… It markets… It markets by telling budgets… Now welcome to Hollywood.
The Million Dollar Feature Film? The $2-3 Million Feature? The $20 Million Budget? The $50 Million Studio Feature? The $200 Million Mega-Budget Franchise? Budget amounts are all over the place and first-timers need to know “what does it really cost”
16 CommentsFINDING & HIRING A-LIST ACTORS (B Cooper, G Clooney, J Depp…Got $20,000,000 for a Name… Don’t Pay… The Secrets)
by Dov S-S Simens on March 25, 2019
HOT ACTORS: “How to Find a Bankable Actor”
You got the script. You’re sure its great and you’ve been told “You need a name“. And, you actually have the name of an actor in mind. Now how do you get to him or her? And how do you him or her to talk to you? And, according to Shakespeare “Now, There’s the rub”.
(Ever hear of Pay-to-Play? [Click to Continue…]
$1 MILLION MOVIE IDEA (Be Careful. Ideas Get Stolen… 1st Write a Treatment. Then Own It. Then Sell It)
by Dov S-S Simens on March 4, 2019
GOT A MOVIE IDEA! BE CAREFUL.
Movie ideas are a dime-a-dozen and I am sure that you are sure that yours is worth a million bucks…
And “Yes great movie ideas are rare.”
But beware, even if you have a great idea, an unbelievable variation of one of Shakespeare’s “20 Master Plots” or an amazing twist on Joseph Campbell’s “The Heros Journey” (superb storytelling books you can obtain at the www.WritersStore.com or www.SamuelFrench.com websites…
No CommentsWOMEN WANT TO DIRECT?… (Learn the 4 Secrets to Being a Female Director)
by Dov S-S Simens on February 28, 2019
HOLLYWOOD GLASS CEILING: 1st PBS IS DOABLE
Yes, with respect to women, Hollywood is a Glass Ceiling and the way to break through is to approach it not as an Art Form, not as a Cultural Entity, not as a Social Entitlement but for what it is… a business … after all, it’s called “Show Business”.
However, PBS (Public Broadcasting System), which is not Hollywood but a government funded program, supported via under writings,
2 CommentsGET AN AGENT: THE SECRET (Power Agents come from Power Attorneys… Top 25 are)
by Dov S-S Simens on February 19, 2019
HOLLYWOOD
MOVIE AGENTS
Yes you need an agent.
Further you need a Hollywood agent powerful enough to get calls answered and, of course, knows how to sell scripts, create packages, attach names, take meetings with deal-makers and help with pre-sell financing.
And the secret to securing a powerful Hollywood agent is to retain a powerful Hollywood attorney and literally buy your way into the system.
However, to succeed,
3 CommentsWANT TO DIRECT? (The Secret: Hire a DP… DPs are Directors without Egos)
by Dov S-S Simens on February 16, 2019
WANT TO DIRECT…WANT TO DIRECT GREAT? Then Hire A DP.
Confused about shot selection? Where to put the camera? What lens to use? How to dolly? How to frame shots? When to get a Master, a Medium, or a Closeup? When to use a Dutch Angle? When to do the cool Zoom-In Dolly-Out shot? How to make sure your setups cut together?
How? How? How?
Well, stop being confused. Why? Cause that’s not your job…
3 CommentsHOLLYWOOD’S BIGGEST LIE (“The Budget Is? What it Costs to Make a Movie.”)
by Dov S-S Simens on February 6, 2019
HOLLYWOOD FR*CKIN’ LIES.
Let’s talk budgets. Movie Budgets to be specific… and how they so clearly demonstrate that “Hollywood Lies”.
The Million Dollar Feature Film? The $2-3M, $5-7M, $7-10M, $10-12M, $12-15M Feature? The $15-20 Million Budget? The $50-70 Million Studio Feature? The $200 Million Mega-Budget Franchise.
The budget. Why is everyone so obsessed with the budget.
Everybody wants to know “What’s the budget of your movie” and on the other side of the coin everyone wants to say “My budget is….
No CommentsMOVIE PROFITS (What is Best Budget for Profits? The Filmmaker Odds for Success are?)
by Dov S-S Simens on January 27, 2019
FEATURE FILM SUCCESS ODDS:
Filmmaking success is not based on revenues and profits. It is, with respect to a first-timer, based 100% “Did you actually get financing”, “Did you actually get it made” and “Did you get an Opening Title Credit”.
Again, stop thinking how much money can you make with your 1st feature film; for you, for success with your 1st feature film, it comes down to (A) did you get the financing,
1 CommentTHE SCREENWRITING FORMULA (10-Steps in 6-Weeks to the Great Script)
by Dov S-S Simens on January 13, 2019
Five Characteristics of a Good Scene, and Eight Signs of a Bad One
There are probably many more features that could be listed to describe scenes that “work” or “don’t work,” but here are some essentials as written by “Sreenwriters University” at the site (www.WritersStore.com) which is the best resource for Screenwriters as well as Writers, Poets, Journalists and Lyricists.
(“Always remember, “Nothing is Written… It’s Re-Written.”)
FIRST: 5 GOOD SCENE TRAITS
- The scene connects to the main character’s problem/goal for that story.
