Location Targets
Last week my first feature film, Justice Is Mind, went live on YouTube’s Stash TV through FilmHub. While I continue to do “maintenance” marketing for Justice, the big push is relatively over as the film was released in 2013. But then in August numerous articles were published about advances in mind-reading technology. When I was reviewing the film to promote the recent media and then the YouTube placement, I realized that the story itself takes place in 2024 a year after “Congressional approval” of the FVMRI process in 2023. One asks, where does the time go!
As I approach 2023, another film is now top of mind – SOS United States. Like Justice Is Mind, SOS United States requires multiple locations. These locations are specific in terms of look and function. Of course, at the time I thought securing the dozen or so locations for Justice Is Mind was going to be impossible. But one by one they started to come together. Flash forward to 2018 and I was experiencing some challenges to secure the primary filming location for First Signal. In the end, our location came through with The McAuliffe-Shepard Discovery Center.
When “Hollywood” produces a film they can easily secure any location they want. If they can’t find it, they build it. In both cases there are substantial fees paid. But as an independent filmmaker, I rely on securing trade marketing partnerships. By trade I simply mean this, a location provides us the opportunity to film and then I promote the location in our marketing. No monies change hands. This is a practice I’ve been employing in all my films since I produced First World in 2006. It’s a practice that has served my films and marketing partners well.
Having completed the cost analysis, next week starts the location search in earnest. If the locations can be secured, I’ll announce pre-production status for SOS United States. The production plan would be to start principal photography by summer 2023 in the same production fashion as we did with First Signal (weekend and select weekday filming).
I remember like it was yesterday when I secured the Hotel Commonwealth in Boston for First World. It was that moment when I realized that a trade partnership was possible for a premium location. The hotel granted us a one-day use of their Presidential Suite which served as the residence of the Secretary of State. While First World may have been an independent short film, it didn’t have to look like one.
Another element of First World that will be recreated in SOS United States, is a motorcade for the President of the United States. While it obviously won’t be the forty plus vehicles in a traditional motorcade, I am determined for it to have the necessary gravitas. Of course, what’s available now that wasn’t in 2006 is the ability to add vehicles via VFX.
Thankfully, this technology is available to independent filmmakers. In SOS United States the second-generation Concorde appears as Commonwealth One the official state plane of the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom. When I first watched The Man in the High Castle and saw the Concorde styled jet, I researched who the VFX house was and how they created this iconic craft. Needless to say, the results were pretty impressive.
This all being said, I have confidence in one thing that’s completed and ready to go…
…the script.
The Last Weekend
Before I started to write my last blog post for the year, I took a moment to review what I wrote this time last year and the year before. In 2017 it was “One project I’m excited for in the new year is the First World prequel I’m writing.” In 2018 it was “The pre-production process of First Signal continues towards a May launch.” For the end of 2019 I can proudly say post-production on First Signal is well underway.
I’ve often stated the word perseverance and what it means to never give up. I see so many projects being announced with great enthusiasm only to wither away. I’ve also stated that making a feature film is a task like none other. It’s about surrounding yourself with people that share your enthusiasm and vision. If it’s one thing I’ve learned this year is that it’s important to work with those that understand dedication and don’t just call it in. That dedication will be released in 2020 for all to see.
I don’t make New Year’s resolutions or subscribe to the “New Year. New Me” philosophy. By example, I workout an hour a day seven days a week. I know next week the gym will packed. Over enthusiastic people trying to run a hundred miles an hour on a treadmill when they don’t even enjoy taking long walks. They don’t see results in a month, so they stop coming. They don’t know that to run on a treadmill you first have to learn to walk on one. That means showing up, taking small steps and watching your diet. In the entertainment industry I see the posts “My feature will be produced this year!” or “This year I’m going to star in a film!” Um, well, what did you do three months earlier? Just wait for the 1st of January to arrive? Did you look at your script and see how it could be adjusted to shoot on a budget you could afford? Did you see that part in a film but not submit? Remember in this industry there are no small parts. And more importantly it’s all about risk.
When you join a gym you risk not having the body of Adonis after six months. But you know what? After those six months you may have lost twenty pounds, feel and look better and no longer crave that evening pint of ice cream. When you write a script you risk not having it ever produced. But after you adjust for a budget you can afford, you could soon find yourself in post-production. When you decide to be an actor you don’t start as a star. You submit and submit and submit. You accept the roles you can, no matter the size, because that can lead to a starring role.
That happened to one of the stars of First Signal. He was my first choice, but I cast another actor who lived closer to our shooting location. The actor I originally wanted didn’t dismiss the project when I offered him a background role. He stayed interested. When the actor I cast flaked off and ghosted me, I offered the part to him. He breathed life into this character that I never thought possible.
This is an industry not only about accumulating experience but dedication and enthusiasm. If you have experience and are known to be dedicated and enthusiastic, you will be top of mind when a project comes to being. This just happened to me when I was contacted by a production company for a project coming up for a few days in January. It might not happen in the end, but at least I was contacted (with no agent involved).
Believe me I don’t look at this industry through rose colored glasses. We all have those days where it seems like we aren’t gaining any traction or making any progress. But I do believe if you stick with it and are persistent those chances improve tenfold.
See you at the premiere of First Signal in 2020!
The Ashton Times 