Chris Jones Blog

Movie Blueprint New Cover Quotes!

Out of the blue, I got a call from the publishers of The Movie Blueprint – they are shifting printers and have lost the digital files for the cover. So I seized the opportunity to redesign the cover, adding some of the quotes we got from reviews. I also thought, ‘I wonder if anyone has anything nice to say about the book’ and posted a request on our mailing list.

OH MY GOD! I was OVERWHELEMD with the response. So many nice things said by so man nice people! Really, it was an extraordinary afternoon where every email brought a smile to my face… so here are just a few of the hundreds of amazing responses I got…

‘There are filmmaking guides, and then there's the Movie Blueprint. I can't think of a better companion to guide you through the filmmaking process. Brilliantly accessibly, engaging and packed to bursting with first-rate expert advice, worked examples, flowcharts and case studies; it's both a film school, and a 'cookbook' from a masterchef. Essential reading…’ - Nic Wistreich – The Film Funding Guide

"The level of detailed knowledge in this book is simply incredible. It eased me through scriptwriting, guided me through pre-production, kept my sanity while shooting, cajoled me through editing and yelled at me through marketing! Every problem, every joy and every decision I encountered making my film was foreseen in it's pages. As a direct result, my debut feature got made, shown at the cinema and is now selling around the world."
Allin Kempthorne - Producer / Director, ‘The Vampires of Bloody Island’

'Every time I bought this book someone stole it. It's that good.' - Nicola Fletcher, Producer.

'Buy this book... it's f***ing brilliant!' - Andy Sutton, Filmmaker

'The GFMB is the only tool that an indie filmmaker absolutely must own. I couldn't have made my feature without it, and if I'd followed all the advice I'd have made a better film.' - John Rackham, writer, actor, filmmaker, director of indie psycho-thriller 'Bloodmyth'

‘The Movie Blueprint Book was my second investment in the movie business -- after my camera.  I tend to zone if confronted with too many obscure details or movie references, but this is the perfect mix of fun, technical details and everything you need to know to make your own movie.  It leaves in the challenges of making movies, but encourages us to believe that we can create the world we see in our heads.  And so I did. Thank you, Movie Blueprint Book.’ - Michelle Denise Norton - President, Lonely Pond Productions, Inc. Writer & Director LONELY POND MONSTER (looking for love) & Up On A Rooftop.

Thank you, everyone who wrote in – I will get back to you all in due course!

You can read a large portion of the comments here

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Rocketboy rewrite begins

I am working on the screenplay for Rocketboy today, and going over my notes from the reading last weekend. Two further things have since struck me. I can’t express just how valuable it was to hear my dialogue read out loud. It really does take on a new life – on the page and in my head, it’s always performed perfectly, BUT on the day, it’s re-interpreted by humans, and sometimes it just didn’t work as well as I hoped. What I thought were meaningful and sincere lines sometimes turned out to be clunky and unwieldy. Rewrite! Rewrite! Rewrite!

Another point which really took me off guard – which is obvious if you think about it – is that there is a dog in the story which is often used for comic effect. This went down very well. So well, I need more of it in the third act. I am reminded of the old Hollywood maxim of adding an animal to an average screenplay to turn it into a better script with a better trailer.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

GONE FISHING Proposal final proofs before printing

I am just putting the final touches to my investment proposal for my short film, ‘Gone Fishing’, before I send it off to the printers tomorrow. It’s a fairly bold and unusual way of funding the movie, but I am hopeful that it will pay off. We are making up a full colour folded A4 document, complete with artwork and photos. 

Once more I am struck at how much work goes into anything where you are striving for excellence. We didn’t want just some photocopied sheets, or a bulk email (I figure that anything that arrives in your email in-box now is almost always considered spam!), we needed something that conveyed our commitment to creating something really special, and yet, done with very little money.

For me, everything starts with this document, alongside the script. It’s a powerful statement of intent that goes out into the real world and therefore demands that at the very least, I take action, and hopefully, those who read it will also be inspired to also take action too. And you will certainly be hearing from me about the movie and how you can help too…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Rocketboy Readthrough

Yesterday we did an actors read-through for Rocketboy – organised by my good friend, casting director Cathy Arton, it was a long but revealing and emotionally overwhelming day. At Ealing studios, around 15 actors of all ages, sat in a large circle and performed the script. One actor read the ‘narration’ (descriptions and slug lines) while others read their characters.

So what was learned about the script?

1. It is still too long. Hearing it performed in one hit made the slower bits drag. Much like the experience in the cutting room in post production, so I need to get to work on reduction or the screenplay.

2. One or two characters where much better than expected, and as such, I think they will end up with a few more lines. This mainly relates to Doris and Glenda, a kind of Laurel and Hardy double act in the story.

3. Grandad, the main driving force behind the rockets, felt a little thin – mainly as he does not resonate off the page. This I already knew and have begun fixing in the next draft.

4. Numerous lines of dialogue became redundant the moment an actor breathed human life into the words. This will lead to a script reduction of around 3 pages – that’s three pages that won’t get to set to be cut out in the edit! All more money up there on the screen.

5. Perhaps most importantly, EVERYONE loved the script, the characters and the pace. This wasn’t just people getting all ‘group huggy’, I could sense that Rocketboy had touched and moved people. I am more convinced of it’s excellence than I have ever been! So I got a terrific shot in the arm there.

6. I had planed to record the performance on audio, but it soon became apparent that this would not work unless the whole script was reworked in places, into what would be effectively a radio play. It would also have needed more rehearsal and lot’s of microphones. I decided to get a few actors back in the future and work on a key scenes and do those properly.

On a separate note, some of the actors present told me that they had done this kind of read-through before and that usually, the scripts were very poor with thin characterisation and dialogue.

Overall, this was a very worthwhile exercise that I suspect would be even more use earlier in development. You really should think about it if you are working on a feature screenplay or project.

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Sky Is The Limit

I have been researching into private rocketry for Rocketboy and saw a wonderful doc about Burt Rattan and his SpaceShipOne, and how he won the $10m X prize. This was a privately funded group of dedicated experts who built the first private spaceship, got it into space and then brought it, and it’s passengers back safely.

It was an awesome documentary that really touched and inspired me, not only because they had passion, but also because they were out there, taking huge risks and pulling it off.

At the end of the doc, one of team said, paraphrasing, ‘we often think it takes huge multi national companies or governments to do something enormous – but we did it with just 20 people!’

This soooo resonated with my whole ethos on the film making front. Rutan studied making aircraft all his life, and this has been his greatest success to date. Maybe if we all study filmmaking all of our lives, and we put that knowledge into practice, we too will achieve wonderful things without the help of a major corporation. Boy oh boy, the sky really is the limit!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Writers group therapy

I am prepping for a big script meeting tomorrow. This is to discuss the script notes for Rocketboy that we got and how to advance to the next draft. I have been calling around all my screenwriter friends and convinced everyone to help me out by reading drafts, consulting on story and character, and even rewriting.

I did this a few years ago, effectively creating a writers support group, which often convened at my flat – it usually resulted in great new ideas and huge the consumption of amounts of pizza! Now I am on my new diet regime the pizza will be replaced with apples!

One writer, Guy Rowlands (pic here, while directing his film (Sam Jackson’s Secret Video Diary), has already added loads more ideas and detail, both to Rocketboy and Gone Fishing - all out of one phone call! I must admit I am excited at the idea of getting the old group back together, now we are all older, more experienced and wiser. 

The group used to consist of me, Gen (who is now in LA), Jon Walker (who shot all our movies and is a great story guru), editor Eddie Hamilton and writer / sound recordist and director Guy Rowlands. Eclectic group to say the least! I have managed to coerce everyone back except Gen, who frankly, is on the other side of the planet so I guess that lets her off the hook.

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Healthy Body… Healthy Mind

The next two years are going to be probably the most important in my career. If I am going to really get myself into the position of director for Rocketboy, I am going to have to take care of something I have, sadly, neglected for some time now. Namely, my body. I am am overweight and unfit. There. I have said it. Now I can deal with it.

Healthy boy, healthy mind… That’s what my dad always said to me.   

So I have embarked on a healthy diet and fitness regime, nothing too extreme for now, just enough to slide me into an extra hour of energy every day. I will periodically write about any benefits or drawbacks I find.

I did my first session on the elliptical trainer today, and while it hurt like hell, I must admit I feel energized. Perhaps in part as I am now dealing with my health instead of ignoring it. As I speak I am eating an apple, where I might normally eat a KitKat. 

So let’s see… I hope it gives my the extra edge I need as I gear up for a MASSIVE short film, followed by the attempt on Rocketboy at $12m!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

FOUR EYED MONSTERS

Another breakthrough filmmaker is using YouTube as a viable way to market their film online. For the past week, YouTube has been playing Four Eyed Monsters, the first feature ever to have been shown on there for free.

Four Eyed Monsters is essentially about two outsiders coming together and finding true love-without speaking to each other. It has had 400,000 hits in the past week and this is still rising.

The film was funded by credit cards and after drowning in debt the filmmakers decided that a proactive approach was needed. They contacted cut a deal with www.spout.com where for every viewer of their film that signs up to spout.com, they will earn one dollar. And so far they have made £23,000 and this is continuing to grow towards their $100,000 target.

Already a thriving community has grown around the film, for instance you can watch it in Second Life if you really want to!

This shows that there is always a new and ingenious way to fund or sell your film.

You can see the movie here…  assuming it is still online.

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

First script notes truly worth their weight in gold!

I got my first set of notes on the screenplay for Rocketboy, from Marc Samuelson today. I suspect this is an amalgamation of thoughts from himself, associate producer Jessica Parker and a number of readers. It’s five pages in length and very detailed. I was somewhat overwhelmed by the incisive, detailed and empathetic content of this document as I am used to vague or petty likes and dislikes in a script report. But for the first time in a long time, I know I am working with people who really know their stuff. This is VERY EXCITING!

I must admit I was waiting in dread for their script notes. Now I can’t wait to have a meeting with them, nail down a plan, and get my teeth into the next draft.

Of course these notes present one major challenge. There are five pages of great ideas and enhancements to make, BUT we need the script to be 20% shorter! That’s a major challenge considering that I know the script is already very tight. But hey, I also know from experience that there is always room for improvement and reduction. More with less is printed on a note above my monitor.

I am also gearing up for a cast reading of Rocketboy next weekend. Not the final cast, but a group of experienced actors nonetheless. The idea is really just to hear the script out loud, to find what doesn’t work, what could easily be cut and where it’s dragging. I am really looking forward to this and will post a clip of the final performance when done.   

Onward and upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Count down to Rocketboy begins!

And so it begins…

I can’t say with who just yet, but my long term movie project, Rocketboy (previously titled Rocketman and Vampire Girl) has shifted several gears and I am much closer to it being made than I have ever been.

Essentially, we have a serious and credible offer to make the movie, at a very serious and credible budget, with a major UK player, and shot in the UK -  Great!

The only downside is that they don’t want me to direct, as I am not a ‘bonded’ director and my credits are for very low budget films that were made more than a couple of years ago. While I want to rant and get angry about this, I have chosen to see the problem from their perspective. And I can see the problem quite clearly.

I need to give everyone involved in the finance as many reasons to hire me as the director as I can possibly muster. And I may be asking for your help in due course too.

So what do I need to do?

I am going to spearhead a multi pronged attack, starting with a short film, on 35mm, produced to the highest possible standards. Quite simply, I need to get Oscar nominated at the 2008 awards. That’s the goal. It’s called ‘Gone Fishing’ and I will be writing more about it in the coming weeks.

I will also be shooting some key scenes from Rocketboy, to prove I can work with kids and draw out wonderful performances. I will also be producing animatics, and more artwork…

This blog, for the next few months, is going to follow my journey to convincing EVERYONE that I am the right man for the job.

So strap in and prepare for Blast Off!!!!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

How To Make A Film Part 3 in Total Film-OUT NOW!

The third and final part of Team Living Spirit’s series on how to make a film is out now and deals with the post production process, from editing and sound to getting a deal, going to film festivals and even self distribution. We hope you have enjoyed this three part guide to just getting on with it and making that movie.

As last months is no longer on the shelves, you can download all of last months here.

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

How To Fund Your Film Seminar

Last night we hosted the ‘How To Fund Your film Seminar’ and it went down extremely well. Author Adam Davies spoke for a few hours on funding and the feedback was excellent. Personally, I also spoke about the short film I am making, ‘Gone Fishing’, whose purpose is to prove to financiers that I am up to directing a $12mUS feature film – for my own screenplay of ‘Rocketboy’ (concept art here). I asked for financial support, and four people in the group came up to me later and offered it.

There will be much more about this short epic over the coming months, so watch this space. And so it begins…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

VADA TIZIANA VADA!!!!

This weekends Documentary Masterclass with Andrew Zinnes and Genevieve Jolliffe went down extremely well. Everyone got plenty out of it, and it looks like some very exciting new doc’s may come out of this session. Most notable for me was the extremely passionate and enthusiastic Tiziana Calleri, an Italian film maker and photographer who is making a doc about her personal relationship with cinema and Fellini. Right now it’s in early stages, but I have never been more certain of someone’s success as I have about Tiziana.

As long as she can capture the sensitivity, love and downright infectious enthusiasm that she herself shows when she talks about the project, I am sure she will make a wonderful and inspired doc.

I can’t wait to see it in all its Technicolor glory!

And of the course, Tiziana herself said in her feedback form ‘DO IT!’

Others said…‘2 days full of ideas, inspiration and expertise, thanks Andrew!’
Roger Stotesbury (Director / Producer)

‘A Good Kick Up The Arse! Great to just sit down and have the chance to focus’
Mark Harris (Film Maker)

‘I came with an off-lined documentary that had problems. I left with something that now worked - even though it wasn’t the same documentary!’
Matt Davis (Film Maker)

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Sales and Distribution Tips

I have been talking to Sales Agent and Author Stacey Parks about running a seminar later in the year, with her new book on distribution. She has her own subscription website too, www.filmspecific.com, and has free emails every so often. She holds teleconference calls too, and here are some of her pointers from the last one. Fascinating stuff.

The Distributor Teleseminar with Scott Bedno of Showcase Entertainment (fresh back from the Cannes Film Market) went extremely well yesterday. He gave out some awesome information, and some very valuable insight into the foreign sales game...so much that I was furiously taking notes the whole time! It's far too much information to list here, but here's a few good tid bits from the call that I wanted to share with everyone:

1. While the Horror and Family films still sell strong in foreign markets, a new 'Women In Peril' genre has emerged that some U.S cable outlets (Lifetime) and European and Latin American broadcasters are snapping up.

2. Foreign DVD sales are down, mainly because of the 'bargain bin' phenomenon sweeping the world....but foreign Broadcast sales are up.

3. When pulling together all your deliverables, don't forget to make a 'fully filled' M &E track.

4. Working with a foreign sales agent allows you to leverage their years of experience and relationships with buyers. Sales are made on relationships and if you haven't been doing business with distributors on an ongoing basis, you may end up at the bottom of their priority list.

5. The most important of all your deliverables are SLIDES. Be sure to take at least 50 hi-res images, ACTION shots on the set, so that you can deliver a good amount of 300 dpi images for your campaign and artwork creation.

Scott also said they are now accepting submissions for the upcoming MIPCOM and AFM film markets in the fall. I've posted the contacts and submissions details up on the site, so check it out there.

Also, the good news is that if you missed this call yesterday, I've already posted an MP3 recording of it up on Film Specific. You can check it out here:

http://film-distribution-tips.com/t/8778034/584635/180029957/

AND...the best news of all is that we've locked down Michael Baker, V.P of Acquisitions and Development for North American theatrical distributor THINK FILM for our June Distributor Teleseminar! Stay tuned for details...but this is gonna be one you don't want to miss...and as always, I'll be giving you the opportunity to send in all your questions beforehand.

Alright! That's enough for now. Hopefully you will benefit from the Foreign Sales tips ... please let me know if you have any feedback!

Check out her site if you like this little snippet.

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]