Get ready for another Savage Experience. Indie auteur Rock Savage is back with Savage Film School 3: How to Be a Professional! Don’t miss Part 1: Confessions of a Dangerous Filmmaker or Part 2: Low-Budget Secrets.

By Rock Savage. There are a lot of people out there calling themselves “professional” but really, what is a professional? A professional gets paid for what he does. So if you ever made any money off your films or got paid to make a film for someone then you are a “professional.” Now, it may not be your main source of income but, hey, you made some bread off it!  Let me share some of the ways that I have made money as an independent filmmaker!

Selling Movies.

I know that many young filmmakers want to work for a big studio, well then you’re not really an independent filmmaker, that’s ok but it’s not what I’m talking about! Some guys want to be picked up by a video/DVD distributor, this not a bad goal, BUT BEWARE! There are these things called “back end deals” where the video company pays to promote your film and does the artwork (for the box) and tells you that you won’t get paid until they make their money back. They can under report profits or say that your movie didn’t make a profit!! If they take your movie out of print and you never saw any money and want to distribute on your own, depending on what you signed ( always read the fine print!) they will tell you that you have to “buy” your movie back!!

You will hear things like “but we spent all this money on posters and artwork & advertising!” Always get some money up front or no deal!! It took 3 years for Chainsaw Sally to get a good distribution deal!

Now here is how I started…

Before everyone and his gerbil were on the internet, there were these newsletters called “fanzines” that were sold by mail or given away at record stores or weird “mom & pop” videostores! I put out the “Savage Underground” (and still do) and sold my movies by mail order. Later when the internet became big, I got a website and I sell them there! I sell more now because more people see my website and I take credit cards. So in my book, self distributing is the way to go. If you can get invited to Horror or Sci-Fi cons you can sell your movies there but these cons are not too friendly to independent filmakers anymore.

Filmmaker for hire.

I have been hired to do custom films for preschools and other childrens events, this is a great way to get money for future films or just pay the bills. I have also filmed theater productions for a college. I also made the artwork for the VHS/DVD boxes ( I use to be a draftsman).

So always be willing to hire yourself out!!

Actors

I have a loyal group of very talented people who do many different jobs… actors, camera people, stunts, makeup & post production. I can’t pay all these people but I always feed them, pizza is a good food choice because there seems to be a pizza for all kinds, from veggie heads to meateaters, something for everyone. By the way, if you need actors, there are always drama students at colleges willing to work for food, I feed them and make sure I get them a copy of the DVD/VHS. Also, if you see someone who looks the part, you should use them. A good director can get a good performance out of anyone, well, almost anyone, which brings me to my next point. So called “professional” actors vs semi-pro actors.

Many of you know who Conrad Brooks is ( Plan 9 from Outer-Space), because acting is his job, he is a “professional” , well you know what they say, if talent counted in Hollywood, Stallone would get no work! Well, that goes double for Brooks! I will now give you the untold story of how I got some-what burned by Conrad Brooks.

I hired Conrad to be in Hardboiled Heroes, he wanted to be in one of my films and I told him that I could not afford to pay him. Conrad said that he only wanted $200 so I said yes! Well, for someone who was a “professional” actor, he sure acted unprofessional. First, he never even looked at the script (he had two months to do so) so on the day of shooting, he says he needs cue-cards! L.W. Woods who acts and does many tasks in our films, made the cue cards in a flash!!  Conrad was to play the role of police Commissioner Spillane but he wanted to wear shorts & a T-shirt, we made him wear pants, shirt and tie. Then Conrad said he needed an extra $100!  So he cost me a total of $300!!!

Was he worth it? Hell no!!! Having him in a movie didn’t open any doors, he rarely promoted the film like he said he woud, in fact in all the print interviews I read with him, he never talked about the film! You may have guessed by now that I won’t work with him again! (But maybe I should never say never!!) By the way, never use union actors or crews, they will slow down production just to bleed more money out of you!!

Shameless self promotion

In closing, I would like to tell all my fellow filmakers that there is nothing wrong with shameless self promotion, do interviews every chance you get, send many copies of your film out to be reviewed, do what you can to get the word out on how great your film is!! Just don’t forget, if you make so money off your films then you too are a professional!

Copyright 2007 Rock Savage — Rock Savage and the rest of the his Savage film group can be found at www.savagefilmgroup.com.

Tags:  B-Movie Film School Rock Savage