RECIPE FOR MAKING FILMS IN A DEPRESSION

HOT OFF THE PRESSES:

A Passage to Hollywood

Hollywood and India join up to create a new genre of movies

 

And some Un-Announced Announcements:

Along with some partners, I’ve been packaging a project for a Spring shoot. Of course, financing was contingent upon the elements in the package and in this economy — we got real creative with out-of-the-box ideas for production and stunt-casting.  We first found a great script (originally written for Jack Black) and used our recipe to attach the following; (bonus points for correct guesses in the comments):

1) A bombshell actress/international star

2) A seasoned-vet American “name” director responsible for some classic films

3) A top global comedian with lots of fans debuting in a lead role

4) A superstar internet sensation whose “name” is a household phrase

…stir & Voila! — We’re making a movie:)

(IMO, stunt-casting works great as long as the talent-in-question can actually do a good job, or preferably, knock it outta the park;)

I’ll blog more about it at a later date, as we haven’t officially announced yet. I wouldn’t want to be accused of scooping myself, ya know.

But I can say this: indie films (in this case a rom-com) need all the help they can get to break free from the clutter in the marketplace as well as be able to tough it out during this economic crisis.

So in packaging this project, which will be considered a “global film,” we chose Above-The-Line players that will get us the most bang for our buck, especially when it comes to press hype and internet buzz on a global level.

These elements, combined with a smart business model, give us a pretty good chance at making a great film with long-term success potential; and in the short term give some jobs to people in the City of Los Angeles. Which reminds me, a project like this could not be done without a genius production manager like the one we have:)

You’re Invited:

If you’re in LA March 15th and wanna hang with me and some of my associates, head on up to Malibu Family Wines for a rollicking good time in the Santa Monica mountains in support of the Indian Los Angeles Film Festival–  Hosted by my friend Mallika Sherawat, Bollywood’s Brigitte Bardot. Besides the aforementioned good time, there’ll also be a sneak peek at exclusive clips of Mallika’s new film Hisss.

These days, everyone’s gotta have a Bollywood/Hollywood collaborative project in their slate. This is a great event in which to get your crash-course.

Download the invite: ifflafundraiser.pdf

In other news:

I thought the YouTube deal with the William Morris talent agency was interesting. We’ll see how that works. Nice to see WMA step up to the viral video plate. United Talent Agency’s been in on the viral action for awhile now (the first agency to do so, I believe), but seems to have kept it all in-house.

Lots of different things will be tried with corporates and user-generated content providers, and now, at the very least, it looks like some of these agencies will try to get some exposure (and ad money) for their up ‘n coming players and existing star clients. Before, it was people on the net trying to get agents and gigs. Now, it’s the agencies trying to get their clients famous on the net; round and round it goes til someone figures out how to monetize the web woes…

 

Producer pursues a digital future

HuffPo:

“He’s creating an environment where he has the maximum opportunity to fulfill his creative vision within the economic boundaries he has,” Wright says.

…

“What all of this does is support the democratization of filming,” says Devlin. “We will see beautiful work coming from unexpected places.”