The Reel Truth
Subtitle: Everything You Didn't Know You Need to Know About Making an Independent Film
Publisher: Farrar Straus & Giroux
Published: 2009
Language: eng
Format: Paperback
Number of pages: 536
ISBN-13: 9780571211036
Description: Publisher: Did you know that most of the biggest indie filmmakers, screenwriters, and producers working today each made the same avoidable mistakes early on in their careers? The Reel Truth details the pitfalls, snares, and roadblocks that aspiring filmmakers encounter. Reed Martin interviewed more than one hundred luminaries from the independent film world to discuss the near misses that almost derailed their first and second films and identify the close shaves that could have cut their careers short. Other books may tell you the best way to make your independent film or online short, but no other book describes so candidly how to spot and avoid such issues and obstacles as equipment problems, shooting-day snafus, postproduction myths, theatrical distribution deal breakers, and dozens of other commonly made missteps, including the top fifty mistakes every filmmaker makes. From personal experience and his years as a freelance reporter covering independent film for USA Today and Filmmaker magazine, Martin uncovers the truth about the risks and potential rewards that go with chasing celluloid glory. Whether you're writing a screenplay, looking for financing, about to start shooting, or thinking about investing time and money (or someone else's money) in an independent film, The Reel Truth is a must-read.
Table of contents: title: Many famous directors struggled famously; title: Writing MBA-style business plans or not; title: First you get the money : financing woes; title: Seeking legal advice : cheaper than your life; title: Casting up and cashing in : landing big names; title: The nightmare of story and screenplay theft; title: Phones off! Common production day mistakes; title: That music in your head is too expensive; title: Guess what? It can't be fixed in post; title: Your new best friend : the producer rep!; title: All or nothing : distribution deal breakers; title: Getting you film seen : smarter marketing; title: What's next? Career strategies for making it; title: Documentary : following in Herzog's footsteps; title: Out of the theater : BitTorrent, Netflix, and Amazon; title: Appendix I : Independent film budgets; title: Appendix II : Sample formal agent/screenwriter representation contract