Popular Post D.M.Weiss Posted October 7, 2017 Popular Post Share Posted October 7, 2017 Ok, so how does that all add up? Simple, I started reading Andrew's site a few years ago and learned everything I needed to know about the Samsung NX1 and SLR Magic Anamorphot 1.33x adapter. I decided to use them on our first feature film. After numerous film festivals and special events our film, Black Luck, signed an International distribution deal with Indie Rights. Yes, we probably would have done the film without this knowledge, but I'm not sure it would have had the same look or feel. The camera and adapter worked amazingly well and proved that a no budget indie thriller can still have a high production value. I can't thank Andrew enough for educating me and so many other filmmakers about the possibilities of shooting a feature film with these great tools. Cheers! David P.S. If you want to check the film out, it just launched on Amazon Prime. Read the reviews as well. This isn't some masterpiece of cinema, but it is a satisfying movie created with passion. https://www.amazon.com/Black-Luck-Garrett-Sheeks/dp/B0764KD2K8/ref=sr_1_2?s=instant-video&ie=UTF8&qid=1507185936&sr=1-2&keywords=indie+rights Eric Calabros, kaylee, salim and 10 others 12 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salim Posted October 7, 2017 Share Posted October 7, 2017 Congrats!!! This is very inspiring and thank you for posting. I'm curious if you could share some of your experiences hustling to make the movie, getting into film festivals and finally getting distribution. Anything that you can share would be highly appreciated. Also, does a distribution deal make enough money to justify making a movie? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 Hey Salim. Thank you! I will do my best to outline some of what I experienced. First off, I looked at making the film as my film school. I had done short doc work and commercial work before, but nothing as big and complex as this. We are fortunate in the middle of America that a lot of people love to be involved in filmmaking. We had a ton of volunteers, but we signed contracts with each of them offering everyone a piece of the pie, if the film made money. For me, it's really about creating enough revenue, so that I can keep making films and share with the people who help make it happen. When we first started we had many delays, we would shoot one weekend and then it was two weeks before we could get back together. Everyone had their regular jobs, so it took us about 6 months to complete the film. If I had any type of budget I would have everyone take off two weeks and we would knock it out, but I didn't have that option. The cameras were great, but I did have a few issues with the lenses and NX1 manual mode when I first started. We finally got it down properly and it was good to go. We only had a Arri 1K and Arri three light kit when we first started. I bought a ton of c-stands and 2 Digital juice Flag kits. That really helped control our lighting setups. Most of the lighting on actors is bounced light, which I love the most. I wish I had known more about actually directing talent. That was something I have studied ever since. Jason Levering and I co-directed and that was complicated as well, but we both adapted and kept pushing each other. When it comes to festivals, I would say enter the festivals that you think the film will fit in the best. Have people watch it and have them give you their honest opinion. I had a fantastic editor give me some amazing insights and I ended up re-cutting part of the film. It's nothing personal and you have to look at it that way. We were fortunate to sign with Circus Roads Films who is a sales agent. They reviewed the movie and liked it. I would recommend them if you have a solid film. They took it out and got us a couple offers, but they didn't fit what we needed, so we went back to the festival circuit to build the film. Then we signed a deal with Indie Rights. They have a fantastic reputation with treating their filmmakers well, so we were happy to sign. There is never any guarantee on money. I think if you are going to make any kind of money you need someone taking your film to AFM and Cannes, which Indie Rights will do. They will sell the rights to different countries and that can be a nice revenue stream. On the other hand, if you have a massive following, it could be better to self distribute online. It just depends on the film and where you want to go with it. I hope this helps out. It is a little vague, because I have no idea how much money the film will actually generate. Best! David IronFilm, EthanAlexander, salim and 4 others 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salim Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 1 hour ago, D.M.Weiss said: Hey Salim. Thank you! I will do my best to outline some of what I experienced. First off, I looked at making the film as my film school. I had done short doc work and commercial work before, but nothing as big and complex as this. We are fortunate in the middle of America that a lot of people love to be involved in filmmaking. We had a ton of volunteers, but we signed contracts with each of them offering everyone a piece of the pie, if the film made money. For me, it's really about creating enough revenue, so that I can keep making films and share with the people who help make it happen. When we first started we had many delays, we would shoot one weekend and then it was two weeks before we could get back together. Everyone had their regular jobs, so it took us about 6 months to complete the film. If I had any type of budget I would have everyone take off two weeks and we would knock it out, but I didn't have that option. The cameras were great, but I did have a few issues with the lenses and NX1 manual mode when I first started. We finally got it down properly and it was good to go. We only had a Arri 1K and Arri three light kit when we first started. I bought a ton of c-stands and 2 Digital juice Flag kits. That really helped control our lighting setups. Most of the lighting on actors is bounced light, which I love the most. I wish I had known more about actually directing talent. That was something I have studied ever since. Jason Levering and I co-directed and that was complicated as well, but we both adapted and kept pushing each other. When it comes to festivals, I would say enter the festivals that you think the film will fit in the best. Have people watch it and have them give you their honest opinion. I had a fantastic editor give me some amazing insights and I ended up re-cutting part of the film. It's nothing personal and you have to look at it that way. We were fortunate to sign with Circus Roads Films who is a sales agent. They reviewed the movie and liked it. I would recommend them if you have a solid film. They took it out and got us a couple offers, but they didn't fit what we needed, so we went back to the festival circuit to build the film. Then we signed a deal with Indie Rights. They have a fantastic reputation with treating their filmmakers well, so we were happy to sign. There is never any guarantee on money. I think if you are going to make any kind of money you need someone taking your film to AFM and Cannes, which Indie Rights will do. They will sell the rights to different countries and that can be a nice revenue stream. On the other hand, if you have a massive following, it could be better to self distribute online. It just depends on the film and where you want to go with it. I hope this helps out. It is a little vague, because I have no idea how much money the film will actually generate. Best! David David, This is super helpful and yet more inspiring. Keep the great work and wishing you more success in your future work. BTW, I'll try to watch Black Luck on Amazon Prime. I also love the subject of the hitman and wanted to make something about this character in Central/Eastern Europe. Mostly to add an exotic element to it, but also it's an area I've go to travel a lot in the past few years and made a few contacts and I just think cinematically it could look great. I read some of the review comments on Amazon Prime on Black Luck. Mostly around hitman being a cliche topic. Which is what I'm struggling with right now. How to approach it in a new way. Some of your reviewers said you approached the storytelling in a new way, so I'm looking forward to see if I can pick something up from how you did it. Cheers, Salim D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 Thank you Salim! Best of luck with your future endeavors! David salim 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eric Calabros Posted October 8, 2017 Share Posted October 8, 2017 If Samsung could see the potential D.M.Weiss, iamoui and IronFilm 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 8, 2017 Author Share Posted October 8, 2017 I agree! I still use these cameras for commercial interview shoots. They were so far ahead of their time. IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Trek of Joy Posted October 9, 2017 Share Posted October 9, 2017 This is really cool. Gonna rent it on Amazon to check it out. Congratulations! D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Thank you Trek of Joy! Appreciate it! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted October 10, 2017 Share Posted October 10, 2017 http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5989056/fullcredits?ref_=tt_ov_st_sm Was immediately curious to check it out on IMDB, but seems your credit list is a bit empty perhaps? D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Yeah, it does look very empty. We have a lot of film festivals and talent that should be on there. Withoutabox is supposed to connect everything, for some reason it's not happening. Thank you for the heads up! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Administrators Andrew Reid Posted October 10, 2017 Administrators Share Posted October 10, 2017 Congratulations, what an achievement! I watched the trailer, but couldn't watch the whole film as it isn't available in my location Is it US Amazon only? D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Hey thank you Andrew! I really appreciate all of the work you have done creating this website. It was incredibly helpful and secured my addiction to anamorphic lenses. Yes, evidently it is US Amazon only, for now. I wasn't sure if it would play in Europe, but evidently each country has it's own distribution rights which includes Amazon, so the distributor will either open that up or sell those rights. Since you have contributed so much to my knowledge, I could possibly send you a private link to the film or a BluRay for free. Just let me know. Best! David IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 10, 2017 Author Share Posted October 10, 2017 Distributor just got back to me. It is streaming for free to Prime members in US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Finland. I hope this helps. Let me know if it isn't working tomorrow. Cheers! David Liam and salim 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
salim Posted October 11, 2017 Share Posted October 11, 2017 22 minutes ago, D.M.Weiss said: Distributor just got back to me. It is streaming for free to Prime members in US, UK, Canada, Australia, South Africa, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden and Finland. I hope this helps. Let me know if it isn't working tomorrow. Cheers! David I see it changed to free now on Amazon Prime! Awesome. D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 11, 2017 Author Share Posted October 11, 2017 Amazon switched it over today. Hopefully everyone enjoys it, or at least sees the many possibilities of the the camera and lens adapter. If you like it, please leave a review. Thanks! David Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 14, 2017 Author Share Posted October 14, 2017 Updated the IMDB page as well. Thanks again Iron Film for the heads up! http://www.imdb.com/title/tt5989056/ IronFilm 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
IronFilm Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 Sound department is missing?! D.M.Weiss 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kisaha Posted October 15, 2017 Share Posted October 15, 2017 @IronFilm Who cares about sound, right?! ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
D.M.Weiss Posted October 16, 2017 Author Share Posted October 16, 2017 Sean Nohrenberg says," Thank you." IMDB has to approve it first, but it should show up in the next 24 hours. Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.