Indie Filmmaker Lands Film Deal
Posted on : 12-03-2009 | By : Tom | In : Philosophy
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This story is interesting for a variety of reasons. Uruguayan filmmaker Federico Alvarez created a short 5 minute film and posted it to the web some months ago, claiming he only spent $500 making it. Stop right there. Just getting to that point seems to be so hard for so many people. It’s not the raising of $500 – anyone can do that if they’ve got a little talent and a little drive.
But this guy put his best foot forward and spent the time to complete a project and get it in front of people – of course for free. He didn’t charge anyone to see it, he just put it up and told everyone he knew. Sometimes step one is just getting something out there that shows what you can do.
He didn’t worry about making some kind of epic or making the most sophisticated piece of film he could. He put something out that evoked some emotion and showed what he could do. And what happened was that people liked it, and they told other people, and suddenly the video went viral.
And when it went viral, the right type of people took a look at the film. And the end of the story is, Mr. Alvarez now has a $30-40 million dollar film deal. He’s going to write it and make a film based on his $500 gambit.
He crossed a lot of hurdles just getting that project done. Nobody was paying him – in fact he shelled out $500 – which in these times can be a lot of money for a lot of us. But, he believed in his project and his talents. I’m sure it took a lot of time, and the film was not without its critics, either. I agree with the writer of the original article that the story doesn’t really deliver and there’s not a whole lot going on other than some major destruction and cool looking robots.
My long winded point is that nobody is going to take a chance on you, if YOU don’t take a chance on you. That’s what we’re doing here at Wishtales. We’re taking a chance on our own stories. And we urge you to do the same. Do what it takes to get your product in front of people. Don’t get stuck in your sketchbook, reworking things looking for the ultimate perfect story, the perfect drawing or the perfect animation.
Get it done. Show it to the world. Rinse and repeat until you breed your own success. Just like Federico Alvarez.
Here’s the film.
Boom, baby! Well said.
Fun little short. That dude must really dig Roland Emmerich.
Cool that he scored a movie deal off YouTube, tho.
Hey Tom,
I know exactly what you want to say, but there is one thing that makes this little short different from other projects. The guy who produced and directed this short had a crew, and he runs/or is partner at a small production company. He had directed TV ads before (e.g. Pepsi), so he is somebody who has some kind of network. He is experienced in VFX, in directing and he get’s support from many different people. That’s probably why he had to pay just 500 $.
I know another director (Nick Ryan) who runs a small production company in Ireland. He also did three shortfilms, all done very professional, but he knows people and he knows where to get help and he has several resources (lending a camera? no problem, he knows a guy from a tv ad he did…).
Same with you and Steve. You both are networking together, so you both can support each other. You both get feedbackfrom each other.
And that’s the difference in my opinion. Most people out there (like me) doing everything by themselves don’t have such a network, and they don’t get feedback from others. And this results in selfdoubt.
And now the Punchline (an update at http://www.firstshowing.net):
“This news has finally hit the trades and we have some new details on the project via Variety. They don’t say much else that we didn’t already cover above, but they do say that Alvarez pitched this as “an alien invasion film” to Ghost House and Sam Raimi. Additionally, Alvarez will not be writing his own screenplay. Ghost House will be hiring “a high-end scribe to turn the idea into a feature,” putting more faith in their own writers to write a story that Hollywood will like than a newcomer from Uruguay. Also, for those who don’t know, Alvarez has also been directing commercials, although this short was his first fictional feature.”
COS
PS: Looking forward to get your book!!! ;o)
You make good points for sure. Networking is extremely important, and there’s no doubt that Steve and I partnering together helps us both.
But that’s just an additional lesson to this whole thing. Even if you don’t partner with someone, you ought to get to know people in your community. Get your name out there, show people your work and get feedback and so forth. It’s really important.
You’ll hear things that are tough to hear, but it will make you a better artist for it if you take it and use it to improve.
COS – don’t let the feeling that you’re creatively isolated make you think that you can’t create yet. The internet is huge and there are a ton of artists out there that you can meet, the way Tom and I met through our comics. However, let me emphasize – Tom and I met through our comics, which we were ALREADY DOING when we met.
I think the key is not to sit on the sidelines waiting to meet the perfect artistic companion before you begin. The key is to do your stuff first, no matter how bad you think it is, no matter how hard it is to get up and go on your own. And you’ll naturally attract like-minded people along the way once you do.
“Don’t get stuck in your sketchbook, reworking things looking for the ultimate perfect story, the perfect drawing or the perfect animation.”
But isn’t the point here that this film has effects that are pretty darn near to perfect (or at least on perhaps 60% of the piece)…meaning that *that’s* the reason why it was such a huge viral hit…it had the wow factor.
But don’t get me wrong…I *do* hear what you’re saying and agree 100% when you say Rinse and Repeat… and when you say don’t get stuck on the ultimate story because there is most certainly a element of the charge ahead here in this…Don’t Panic’s story is nil….but, it’s a foot in the door that has worked and now they are onto the feature that might have a good story.
…and how many projects before this project has it taken to get to this point for him?…this shows the persistence of the man…its always important to bare in mind that this is the work of years of experience and he has done it with a team…and I think that its very important to keep on going and going and finally accepting that you NEED a team…and not give up…because projects do get better and better IF you bring a team into it.
And one day at say project number #127 we finally get the viral hit we all need because the team created something amazing.
I have no team and no contacts…but hopefully one day this wont always be the case…but, it has been like this for 7 years now…I am unable to start a family because this is no life to bring a family into…and I have possibly thrown away my 20s too on my filmmaking obsession…lets hope it was all worth it.
I dunno. Are the FX why he is getting a deal? Maybe. But if this was a simple piece with great characterizations and no FX, and got picked up, you’d be saying the good characterizations was why it got picked up. We look at these things that get picked up and try to name the reason when it’s a variety of factors. He’s from Uraguay, so perhaps optioning his film was much cheaper than from someone from North America or Europe? Or maybe its his professional contacts? Or mabye he got lucky?
As for the fact that his Team was the reason why he succeeded, don’t forget the people who have made more impressive films by themselves (Shane “9″ Acker and Chris “The Passenger” Jones come to mind).
There’s no one way to succeed, virtually no way to ensure you do succeed, and there is no excuse you can’t succeed which really holds water. But there is one sure-fire way to ensure that you never succeed, and that is to not try.
Oh your absolutely right…it is a combination of things for sure. I think it was all three.
Shane Ackers extremely…and I say extremely, lucky encounter with Mr Tim Burton is one of these moments in film history that is a three combination thing too…he was *there* at the festival *in* the cinema *in* person…then, it was a heavy dose of luck combined with great work…what if he hadn’t bumped into Mr Burton?…what if Mr Burton hadn’t been there?…and what if Neill Blomkamp decided *not* to do a Halo fan film?…*his* combination was great work + halo fan film + Peter Jackson coming across it at the exact right time + Mr Jackson being a halo fan.
Don’t know anything about The Passenger…but will go and watch it now.
Well for me the issue is simple. Acker *was* there, because he made something he was passionate about. He could have not made something, and Burton would have still been there. He went out and did it, and it paid off. At the most basics, it no more complex than that. Is that luck, or is that making the most of what you can do? I don’t think it’s luck. You make your own luck.
Yes…Talent + Perseverance = Luck
Steve, do you really feel that eight years is a acceptable and healthy amount of time for one individual to make *one* seven minute film???…if this is the case then why did you stop making the Moon Town film?
I believe that there are different types of people…some who are exceptionally bright and talented…they are the very rare exception of being both amazing technical directors and also great artists. They are the types of people who are both great at maths *and* drawing. These people can work away on their own and produce great results…may take them five to eight years, but they get there because of the simple fact they are extremely rare, wonderful people with very high IQs.
I’ve never been good at maths and I’m never going to be good at maths. I did two years of HND photography and could never figure out how to measure the light. I can however draw and the get scale right, take great photos on a Pentax K-1000…and then there’s the quote…“You don’t have to be a engineer to be a great driver”…but I don’t understand how somebody can tell me that I will be great at maths the harder I try when I don’t have the talent for maths…that I can increase my IQ…its nonsense…its impossible.
I have completed three animations and four documentaries…and work on my films every day of my life.
I know that I’m GUILTY of not completeing the other six animations…and keep jumping around…now THAT is somthing I need to get a hold of…but, I dont know…I think that it may be important to rotate projects because it keeps me sane…I’m having terrible problems finding R&R…which is why I’ve started a R&R project AWAY from the computer. people need coping devices .
I stopped making the Moon Town film because I’m impatient. I have a big story to tell, and telling it one or two minutes every 6 months was going to drive me batty.
I leave it to those who are young, unmarried, childless and unemployed to spend their considerable free time jumping from project to project. It is their supreme luxury. One can only hope it brings them satisfaction.
But not me.
I have found out gradually over the seven years that it’s about finding away by backing down…by coming round to accept that I’m not a technical director…and that’s what led me to my first ever purchase of human character animations for my film Saturn 7. Of course there’s huge amounts of respect lost when you do this because feel this urge to attack you and say that you’ve cheated. But they don’t seem to quite understand how much work goes into a animation.