Navigate Through The "Catch-22s" of Filmmaking

My Indie-Produced film logo.

Brand recognition is everything in the independent filmmaker's world. But you may ask, "How can I create a brand when no one knows my story?" The important I've learned from my classes in filmmaking is augmented by really enlightening articles, like the ones that are mentioned in Indiewire online. One of my favorite, more recent articles, was the 10 Tips for Producing a Micro-Budget Film. The most important thing that any indie (or starting-out) filmmaker should remember is that there are some things you have to compromise one (like shooting in one location to keep costs down) and other things that you absolutely MUST do.

For instance, even though your film may make it to Cannes or Toronto Film Festival, you will always have an agent or distributor ask "It looks great, but who's in it?" This being said, the most important thing I've been working on more recently is getting a casting director. But you would swear a casting director is as hard to pin down as an A-list actor themselves.

Here are some tips that helped me - Navigate the "Catch-22s" of Film-Making:

• Pick a "Die-hard" core-crew that isn't "starving" to get paid (I use this term delicately because I believe you should always pay your team SOMETHING, but be realistic with them from the beginning and they'll be your anchor for the long-haul).
• Have a Professional in Your Corner (this professional has to be like a mentor to you and isn't someone "loosely" affiliated to the project or an investor. This person can be a professional like a distributor, agent, attorney (they actually make good friends is you pay them a retainer) or someone you really hit it off with at a filmmaking mixer...They can be good friends too)
• Cast existing talent that someone can Vouch for (what I mean by this is, as you already know, not an A-list actor...But you can find talent through local casting agencies that have actors that are serious about their craft and have multiple demo reels). 

The biggest, most important aspect of filmmaking is knowing when to let bad things (or people go). For example, I had a terrible distributor on my first movie. It made lots of money worldwide, but I barely saw a cent of it. The "silver-lining" is that when I go to film markets (like AFM), agents still remember my movie because they all heard about how much money my indie movie made. While this was the first time professionals where giving me the time of day, I was also angry because I could tell by their inferences that my distributor made a "killing" off of my naivety in signing a contract.

This story all points back to my second bullet point, have a professional in Your Corner. Well, the professional in my corner is a well-known entertainment attorney, Elsa Ramo, who is always good at giving me some good perspective (especially when I want to quite the business altogether). She simply said, "Stephanie, you made a mistake in signing a deal. It is to be expected with your first film. Now move on."

I've been moving on ever since my first "pay-out flop". What I mean is, although my film was a commercial success, it didn't solidify my "staying-power" as a filmmaker in the entertainment business. I would like to encourage all indie filmmakers out their to not stop at just one indie film project...You'll never know that you tried your best until you've done the whole production at least twice. In my case, this will be a third time. And this time, I feel the most in-control because I understand the business, but more importantly the dynamics of filmmaking.