Friday, November 18, 2016

Make it happen

I've been "hibernating" for a little while now. I needed to. My last big project is an amazing story written by myself and Deborah Huerta. I've been working with Deborah again, and rewriting it. It's a tight screenplay. The production is also the source of heartbreak for me and a lot of learning I had to go through in the business side of film producing, which I'm going to share with you now.

I made it happen with a lot of help, but it was me that made it happen. I kept pushing, and working tirelessly, and I didn't ever say it wasn't going to happen.

I made some mistakes. Here are the mistakes I made, but I'm still very humbled by the mistakes I made and a few mistakes others made too. We were trying to do something that most never get a chance to try.

For my first movie, Panomundo, I was brought on the project because my then acquaintance, and now one of my best friends, Charysse Tia Harper, invited me to a screening of her short film. I went with a friend and afterwards met up with her. I asked her what she was trying to do next for the film and her response was she needed more funding. I told her pointblank that I had never done such big numbers before. She (who I will always love for this) gave me a chance. She said if I think I can do it, then she'd bring me on as producer. Now this was a "sink or swim" situation. And for the first few months no money was coming in. I helped her develop a business plan, helped develop the website, did fundraising ideas, and shot some of the promo material with her. It took a while, but I finished swimmingly.



I figured someone took a chance on me, why no I try the same? I met someone in a Cinematography class that liked the idea of the script. She said she wanted to produce. I relied on her as a producer who had never done anything before and didn't fire her when I was busy writing the script, looking over and she was not on the phone making calls to people to sponsor our film. She was too busy playing games on Facebook. I am a good guy at heart, and try my best to see potential. I'm still a good guy but eventually I took over her job. Miraculously, I raised enough to pay for pre-production and with a little bit of post-production left over with 2 new producers. I will fire someone in a heartbeat now if they don't have the guts to knock on a stranger's door. This is a humbled job as a producer. Not for the timid or scared of rejection. And being fired is a rejection of sorts, so I'm OK rejecting them if they under perform.

I had a set-goal in terms of finances needed for this story. It was the cost of a backyard indie, but an action filled melodrama. I love action movies and I love to get my heartbeat racing while watching a movie. I like badass women and I like Los Angeles. There you go. One thing I planned on was to contain 90% of the action. On hindsight, I should have wanted more cash to get this done, but I was stubborn we could do certain things, like continuously film with 2 cameras to save time and money.

Some things worked and some things didn't, but overall, it's something I'd like to try again, but with more people behind the camera, unlike Kubrickian crews I had envisioned. I just don't like seeing people standing around doing nothing while I'm paying them! So next time, I'll understand if a few people are waiting.

On the day of the shoot, one of the actors came up to me to discuss her pay. Out of the paperwork that came in, we didn't have a signed contract from her. Now, I thought I stressed to the producer how important this was, because no chain of title, no movie. But at the end of the first day, the actor came in to talk to me alone when I was needing to direct a scene. She brought me off to the side and said her manager had read the script and wanted a percentage now, and she was demanding more money. I told her to talk to the producer, and from there I quietly told the camera operators not to focus on her shots, because we were going to either not use her footage or kill her off in the next scene. One, that was completely unprofessional, and two, we were very upfront that we had finances, but it was very low budget. I don't believe anyone on the set, except that actor, was doing this for the money. We did it because we love making movies. All paperwork must be filled in and on time. No other options. I will put clauses that people will lose credit and compensation if it's something that hinders my productions from now on.



Production went into hiatus as I couldn't find a producer to jump in. It's better this way, because now I know the producers I want working with me are go-getters. Attitude is a big deal. Not giving it your all or spreading yourself too thin won't go very far, or worse, will deliver a shoddy product. I'm still open to newer producers but I think it's important to know who I'm dealing with before anything significant happens and letting them know that if they aren't playing ball, they need to resign.

One other thing was one of the financiers didn't come through with their check. That's not terrible but it was a lot of me chasing after them, which would've been nice to have. This should be a none-issue with the next producers.

Lastly, one person stole $500 from me. I've forgiven him now. I still can't believe it, though. Seriously? If he hadn't stolen the money, he could've made it back hundreds of times over if he'd stuck with me. I will watch every single dime this time. No room for errors. In fact, I want to talk to my lawyer to see what options we have on taking this guy to court. Lawyers are mandatory in every aspect. Take down driver's licenses, social security, etc. No more Danny will take you on your word because his old-school Iranian ways of handshake deals end up in turbulence.

People always ask what I want. I want to tell stories. There is no other agenda. I'll take the money and fame, and respect that comes with it, but that's not WHY I do it. A year later and I look back on the movie with fond memories.

I said to every naysayer when they said it couldn't be done, "HELL OR HIGH WATER IT WILL HAPPEN". And it did happen. If you're out there with a script and waiting on films to get made, it's only gonna happen if you make it happen. Rely on others but know who your team is and rely on yourself most. Make relationships happen. Make that movie, hell or high water 💀

It's coming back soon and I can't wait for you all to see it.




Wednesday, November 2, 2016

Today is today, tomorrow is the future, and yesterday is no more

I had a fun Halloween. I went out to West Hollywood and crowd-watched, made some new friends, had a drink with said new friends, flirted back and forth with a nice girl who gave me a Hershey's bar because I'm Santa, possibly almost got mugged by a Juggalo, etc. Overall a very fun evening.




That's not what this story is about though. My story is a lot like the protagonist of The Fountainhead. I'm not willing to give in to what I want and I've made peace that I will struggle for a bit. One of the new friends I made is an older gentleman, who goes by J.L.

He found out I'm an independent film producer. He works in the industry as well, mid 50s in age, and is doing well enough for himself. He saw that I am a young(er) man and still figuring a few things out to reach more people and decided he needed to tell me what to do to become "successful". He said that I needed to go schmooze more with more lunch and dinner dates, he started to tell me who all in Hollywood is gay(I already know who is and isn't - it's none of my concern who someone loves, as long as they love), and then that what I'm doing isn't going to bring me that money that the studios get. Which is the opposite of what I do. I'm doing almost everything I can to keep control of my movies. Sure, I'll work with a few people in the industry because I like them and I want to work with them, but not working with people that don't have my best interests with theirs is counterproductive.

This is where my personal opinion of the industry comes into play. The cigar-chomping mogul is not dead. But they are dying a slow death. My era of working out of my home is slowly becoming alive. I have been doing this for 10 years now. Four of those years in Los Angeles. I am not living in an 8 story Hollywood Hills residence. Nor would I want to! Do you know how much I'd have to work to pay the taxes on that? I'm a different new breed. I don't want to work more to have 1/16 more than others. I find happiness with inexpensive things. That person wants to work from 7am to 10pm everyday without a day off to send their kids to a premium school? Go for it. To quote Lupe Fiasco, "The school is garbage anyway". It's me who will teach my children(or nephews, cousins, friends and family and community members) how to be smarter, not to work harder. I'd rather work a quarter of these full-time psychopaths and make 1/2 of what they do and still feel I own my own life. I can step away from anything at any time and it doesn't bother me. I'm free. That's what this is all about. Being free to pursue the American Dream. I'm not willing to give up my freedom for a few points or a few zeros on a check for high end consumerism. That doesn't consume a lot of Reality Shows they sell but I rarely am a consumer - I'm a creator. Watch what I put out in the future. It's going to be a lot of fun!

Monday, September 19, 2016

Anybody can make movies

Anybody can make movies. It's why there's so many videos on Youtube. Moviemaking is 10% inspiration and 90% perspiration. Ideas come to me 150 times a day! I've seen and had meetings with people that talked about making a movie idea they had that falls through ALL THE TIME. 


Real genius doesn't just show up out of thin air if you want to make films. Nobody wakes up knowing how to make something interesting. It takes reading books, watching more good and bad movies than thought possible, making terrible films for all to see at first.

Then you start to know your work. Basically, to have your MBA in film production and show business. This is a commercial business. When I meet people and they don't have any kind of business plan - it's all just talk at that point. What they don't teach in grad school is real financing. How to go out there and show you've done your homework, knowing your audience, your story, and how to bring a profit. Lastly, you'll need to prove you want to work with people to make some magic happen.

Just to say it again: Anybody can make movies. At the least, be a decent enough person that is likable, and consistently work smarter and harder than everyone else. Make a fucking movie! This isn't rocket science, people! That's how I do it anyway.

Wednesday, August 3, 2016

12 Fake Producer phrases to watch out for

Be wary out there.

Since I've moved to the City of Angels, I've met my share of time wasters. These are people that say "Yes, I'm a Producer" and haven't really worked for the title.

Here's the thing: Being a Producer can mean ANYTHING.


It can mean you found investors. It can mean you know an actor and talked them into coming onto the show. It can be (like me) having an idea, building a team, finding financing, writing or getting a script made,  creating a business plan, and then following this production to the end of a lifecycle...generally 3.25 years.

How do I know all this anyway, I'm some egotistical 34 year old kid? I'll tell you how I know. I've made mistakes in doing things. That's how I've learned. I'm hoping to pass some of this on to you so you will learn from me by proxy.

What I hear all around town is a lot more of 'faking it until we make it' than actual step-by-step production making. When you hear of anybody saying these phrases, you might take a step back and make a note to see if they are full of shit or not.


  1. "...I've been making deals all over the place and I want to cut you in for 50%..."
  2. "...I'm on set all day long... (why they can't respond to your text or email)
  3. "...I'm not a good financing producer. I'm better being on set..."
  4. "...I know Arri the CEO..."
  5. "...since I've made it to the top of the game I've learned a lot..."
  6. "...if this happens, it'll make me richer than I've ever dreamed of..."
  7. "...I've got a distribution deal already setup for any movie I want because they owe me..."
  8. "...I'm not greedy at all..."
  9. "...This is how we did it on my last picture..."
  10. "...I'm also an actor..." (does not count if it's Tom Cruise)
  11. "...all my financing people are out of state..."
  12. "...that's not how Name Studio Producer does it..."
Your best bet is to stay away from people that think they know EVERYTHING and NOTHING. All it takes for anyone to be successful is work ethic, reading, and a little bit of luck on their side.



Be careful. And be wary. Do your due diligence. I've developed a personal list of people in this town not to work with. Because this is the public web, I won't release it openly unless I find I need to. For a list of whom I’ve met with and who not to do business with, PM me and I'll guide you. Most of all, and once again: Do your due diligence. 

Ask for references, make sure they are who they say they are. Take down identification copies, make notes of all your meetings and what was said. Protect yourself first, because that's what is most important for your movie to be made.