We Have a New Website Homepage Up

It's been due for awhile. How about 15 years? Our original website certainly did it's job, but it's been getting a little "long in the tooth"... meaning "old" for you kiddies that haven't heard that old saying before.
We're working on a new design and when you go to www.thestudiocenter.com, you'll see the beginnings of this new home page. It's looking cool. I actually pop on with a chromakeyed video to explain things are still under construction and that even better things are coming soon. And they are.
When we get all the buttons working, you see a new video on one of our new products we'll be promoting this year. It's called the "Reveal Video", and we'll be specializing in doing this animated graphics process very much like a cross between what we've seen on the UPS commercial and how we move around an iPhone. I really think it will generate some excitement and possibilities for some new videos. Keep in mind the adult attention span is only a few minutes, so this really helps entertain the viewer while delivering the information. When that new video is posted on the homepage, you'll definitely want to check it out. Also, we'll be starting up a new "Resources" page where we invite other crafts people to post what they do and how to contact them.... like audio people, make-up, grips, etc. And... It's all free.
So keep checking back on the www.thestudiocenter.com site because we're going to keep adding lots of stuff.

Changing Movie Profit Dynamics

I'm not a big fan of movie making guru Dov SS Simons, but he wrote something the other day I totally agree with. Dov noted the change in which movies are profitable relative to their productions budgets. It used to be there were three levels of movie making budgets: The Mega-Budget from the big studios, The Medium Budget from the smaller independent producers and so-called Mini-Majors, and then the Mini-Budget from the real small Indy's with about a million dollars. The Big Boys tended to make the big money, but they had to have a big hit once in a while to offset their big bombs. The Mediums were a hit and miss, as were the Mini's. There was no such thing as a Micro-Budget (around $100K budget) until we saw the advent of the total digital production capability.

Now it seems the guys in the middle are finding it impossible to make a dollar. Their production costs are way too high if they have to go straight to DVD in order to make any profit. Most will have to go this route since the theatrical release space will always be dominated by the Majors...and even then, the Medium budget people were not going to get a very good split from the Exhibitors since they maybe a "one trick pony" and nothing else waiting in the wings to make the theater owners want to be competitive.

For a long time now, I've been predicting a new business model was about to emerge from the "Digital Download Revolution"... and Dov seems now to notice it also. The Micro-Budget movie maker is now able to be profitable, on their relative scale, with these small budget features, utilizing the web and social media as their main marketing tools. Keeping budgets around $100,000, a filmmaker may actually be able to realize profits in the 100% - 200% range. That should sound interesting to small investors too.

So perhaps a new "Golden Age" is upon us as movie makers. It certainly favors the younger generations who know how to leverage the Internet. Old Dogs like myself now have to get Social Media Smarts... I think I just Tweeted my Twitter.

Two Reasons To Make A Movie

It seems filmmaking breaks down into two arenas:

1. Filmmaking for the shear joy of it… The art of it… and

2. Filmmaking as a financial venture.

Filmmakers tend to mix and confuse these two elements all the time.

Typically, one will embark on a movie project from the exciting creative prospects of it all; then to descend into the headache-producing world of financial, legal requirements, sales, contract issues, etc. Somehow they will raise their head and shout, “Hey, this isn’t what I signed on for”… and they’re right.

It happened because they weren’t clear on their objectives at the beginning. They had only planned on making a movie… not embarking on a start-up business enterprise. That is the prime reason for most financial failures of most small movies... No planning for a financial venture.

When the filmmakers sat down at the table, they were planning out a movie… something wonderfully creative… something that would make them stretch their creative muscles… something that would feed their creative soul. Somewhere along the way, the idea entered: “Hey, maybe we could sell this thing and make some money too?... You know, get a distribution deal and see this movie in real movie theatres. How hard could that be?” They probably don’t say that last sentence. That question doesn’t even enter their mind at that point. It’s more likely thought of as merely a “standard process” and at the end of the chain, checks arrive in the mail. Sometime after the movie is made, the rude awakening is what arrives instead.

So I would propose we separate the two thoughts on moviemaking. Let’s be clear if we’re making the movie for the pure and simple pleasure of making it, versus making it as a “product” to be marketed and sold by a business enterprise. That would sure help in keeping things in perspective and reduce a lot of angst.

I'll be talking more about how to do this on the new site: www.thestudiocenterfilmschool.com

Dangerous Stunts

Was in a discussion this week with a fellow filmmaker who was wondering how he was going to shoot a particular special effect scene where the actor was to be suspended and tumbling, in front of a green screen. Red Flags were being hoisted high for me. Even though they were going to use a professional harness (which is a must) and have a professional flying rig (which is a must), still there is the question of the HUGE liability involved. Hey, what could possible go wrong? Plenty... AND the consequences could easily be LIFE altering... all for that one shot. Not worth it in my book.
This is the temptation I've seen many times in no-budget movies... "How can we do something just like the Multi-Million dollar guys?" Simple answer...You can't. At least not the WAY they do it.
What could go wrong? How about the rig fails and fall on the actor's head? How about the harness fails while the actor is suspended upside down, even a few feet off the floor... Could put him in a wheelchair for life. And you in the poor house for LIFE. ..even if you have insurance (that will probably be inadequate to cover the jury award). All for that one scene in a no-budget movie.
Here's where we need to be creative which is your mantra in a no-budget movie. How else could you simulate that effect without the need of a flying rig? There are a number of creative ways that will soon be shown at www.thestudiocenterfilmschool.com . At the very least, you could re-write the script to show the samething. We'll be talking about all the options.

Things Are Looking Up

From an absolutely terrible 4th quarter last year, we had the bottom of the recession hit the video market here in Sacramento in January. It was the worst I've seen the business in the past 30 years or so! In this business, one goal is just to survive. The market will always come back up at some point... but if you're not there anymore, it won't matter will it? So just having the ability to survive the downturns is an important attribute to have in this business. Thankfully, we're having a more active than normal February. I think that's because there is quite a bit of pent up projects that people were holding back on until they were sure it was safe to come out. Hey, I was doing the samething. The rule around here was "don't go buy anything... we may need that money for electricity next month"... and unfortunately, that point of view only kept money out of circulation and kept the recession going on longer. It is no nice to see Spring is on the way!