Craig Mazin, a working screenwriter, had some interesting comments about paying for a screenwriting consultant, or buying a book written by one of the so-called screenwriting gurus. He makes some good points, and I think his heart is in the right place. But not every reader agrees. There’s a heated discussion in the comments section. Whether you agree with him or with one of the readers, that post is well worth checking out.

Personally, I’ve read quite a few screenwriting books, and I believe there is some value in them, but you can’t expect to read books and become a career screenwriter. And Mazin is definitely right when he says,

“You’re far better off reading screenplays (lots of places on the internet to do that) and watching movies.”

But I do like to read books, and as Terry Rossio put it in comment #22, 

“You might have overlooked one of the main reason why many people buy screenwriting books, from authors who don’t actually write screenplays.

Procrastination.”

Read the post here.

screenwriting

Related articles

• Those who can’t write, teach seminars (johnaugust.com)
• Reader Question: What is the best way to learn screenwriting? (gointothestory.com)
• Tips for Revising Action in Your Screenplay (brighthub.com)

Kangas Kahn Films, LLC, is going back into production this fall with its latest feature “Garden of Hedon.” I don’t have many details, but I did hear the director say it’s a mystery/horror with some elements like “the best ten minutes of Eyes Wide Shut.” So, I guess anything goes in this one.

They’re looking for some extra financing, so please check out the site and consider a donation. There are come cool perks, including exclusive production updates and your name in the credits. From the IndieGoGo site:

“Gardon of Hedon” is a mystery/horror about a detective who wakes up in a surreal house where every pleasure is indulged. Drugs. Sex. Gambling.

It’s all there and more…including murder.

It’s going to be a mix of giallo and fantastique, with a healthy does of American mystery.

People ask us all the time how they can get involved in our movies—well, here’s the chance!

We’ll be shooting it in November, and we need help securing the final funds! (total budget is $20K, of which we have 75%)

Check out the perks! We’ve come up with what we think are some great incentives to donate! Want your name in the credits of a flick? There’s TONS of ways to do it here!

Kangas does have a good track record so far, with his first three films (Hunting Humans and Fear of Clowns 1&2) distributed– the latter two by Lionsgate.

This film will be shot on with a Red. That should be cool!

filmmaking, horror, mystery, financing, indie

Only if you’re clowning around.

Yeah, the lead-in is a bad pun for a link to a great log about how hard it is to complete a feature film and get distribution. Kangas Kahn Films, owned and operated by a friend of mine, has had some success making features. Kangas is most known for the Fear of Clowns films (see… bad pun). The first one was distributed by Lions Gate, and he’s working on a deal for the second.

The logs really drive home how hard it is to make a feature-length film without studio backing. I’ve been reading for a while, and I can soooo relate to a lot of what he says. Sometimes I just laugh hysterically, and sometimes want to strangle the nimrod(s) doing to him what I’ve had done to me.

If you’re interested in making your own movie, read these blogs. If you still want to make a movie, you’re one of us, and have some sort of mental defect — like all us low-budget filmmakers.

Fear of Clowns log

Fear of Clowns 2 log

Hunting Humans saga

filmmaking, distribution, low-budget

Movie Maker magazine online posted a list of their choices of the 50 best blogs for movie making. I’m not on the list, , but there are some other great sites listed. Most I’ve never even heard of. Take a look, and here’s the link to the original article: 50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers | MovieMaker Magazine.

50 Best Blogs for Moviemakers

• Adventures in Self-Releasing
• All About Indie Filmmaking
• All These Wonderful Things
• The Anonymous Production Assistant’s Blog
• The Art of the Title Sequence
• Ben’s Blog
• The Big Picture
• Blog Stage
• Bright Lights After Dark
• Cinema Tech
• Cinematical
• The Documentary Blog
• The Edit Foundry
• The Editblog
• Fast, Cheap Movie Thoughts
• Film Dailies
• Film School Rejects
• The Film Sensei
• Filmmaker Blog
• Filmmaking Stuff
• FilmSound.org
• FreshDV
• GreenCine Daily
• Hammer to Nail
• HD for Indies
• Hollywood Elsewhere
• The House Next Door
• In Contention
• The Independent Eye
• JohnAugust.com
• The Joy of Film Editing
• Just F*ing Entertain Me
• Living Your Dream: An Acting & Film School Blog
• Making the Movie
• A Moon Brothers Film
• The Movie Blog
• MovingPictureBlog
• OnSuper8.org
• Persistence of Vision
• Projector Films
• /Film
• Some Came Running
• StudioDaily
• Thompson on Hollywood
• Totally Unauthorized
• Travel Day
• Truly Free Film
• Twitch
• The Unknown Screenwriter
• Workbook Project

Screenwriter John August posted about a low-budget film (One Too Many Mornings) that will be showing at Sundance, and it spawned a very informative discussion on independent film distribution and how it is changing. Well worth a read. Here’s the link.

The LA Times is reporting that Paramount is starting a new division for micro-budget films.

From the Times article:

Fresh off its stunning “Paranormal Activity” success — a $15,000 thriller that has grossed more than $107 million in its domestic release with little paid advertising — Paramount Pictures is set to launch a new production business for movies budgeted at less than $100,000.

The as-yet-unnamed division plans to finance as many as 20 “micro-budget” movies annually starting in 2010, according to people familiar with the studio’s plans who spoke on condition of anonymity because the formal announcement has not been made. A current Paramount executive will run the business, but the selection has not yet been revealed  publicly. Funds for the movies — no more than $2 million total annually — will be part of Paramount’s existing production budget. The division does not plan to acquire completed movies at film festivals and markets.

Even if you get a chance to make your film and it serves as a “calling card”, or warrant a larger budget to be re-made, this could be a good thing. We’ll have to keep an eye out.

Read the entire article here.

I originally found the reference at FreshDV, a cool site for filmmakers.

low-budget filmmaking paramount financing

The venerable horror host Count Gore De Vol has posted an interview with me conducted by veteran Timewarp actress Leanna Chamish. It was conducted at Horrorfind this summer.

Take a look at the video, then go over to Count Gore’s unique Web site,

Click here to view the embedded video.

From John at videokitchen.tv:

We are proud to announce that videokitchen.tv has signed
with Troma Entertainment, Inc. to distribute Blood, Boobs & Beast on DVD.
The DVD is currently available for pre-order on Amazon.com and will be
officially released on February 24, 2009. The DVD will come as a 2-disc Double
Feature and will include Dohler’s 1983 masterpiece Nightbeast! Additionally,
the set will include special features for both films including audio
commentaries with the filmmakers, hilarious deleted scenes, trailers and tons
of tromatic extras!

Friend and fellow filmmaker Robert Long II has just started a Web site for indie filmmakers called smashortrashindiefilmmaking.com. He’s just starting out, but plans to have interviews with other filmmakers, articles, resources, reviews, and lots more. He’s already posted an in-depth interview with filmmaker Don Glüt. Check it out.

Two out of three ain’t bad.

I was elated when I heard I placed in Red Inkworks. It takes a lot of work to write a feature-length screenplay, and I can’t think of a better way to gage one’s writing ability than becoming a finalist in a contest (other than an option deal, I guess). Plus, the feedback they offered was excellent.

And today Screenplay Festival announced their semi-finalists, and there I was in the Horror/Thriller category. Boy, that felt good. Of course there are about fifty screenplays in each genre, so the competition is pretty stiff, but I’m hopeful.

My plan is to enter one more contest with this script before possibly starting to query production companies and/or agents. Placing in two out of three contests has given me some confidence, and I feel the changes I’ve been making to the script have greatly improved it. So it seems the time is approaching (after the strike, of course) when I need to get out there and build some interest. I do, however, plan to research the dos and don’ts of querying before navigating those treacherous waters.

By the way, the final contest I plan to enter is the Bluecat Screenplay Competition. Its early deadline is Jan 1, and I should be finished tweaking by then. Bluecat is not only high profile, it offers coverage to all entrants, and a hefty cash prize.

Three out of four would be awesome!