Chris Jones Blog

Free Podcast about breaking in to Hollywood with Toy Story 2 writer Doug Chamberlin

So you want to break into Hollywood? During the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival I was lucky enough to hear Doug Chamberlin speak on this subject – and Dough should know as he has written loads for all the major studios and TV networks, including ‘Toy Story 2’

I cornered him in the Green Room at the festival and asked him if he would share some of his insights in a podcast, and he was gracious enough to oblige.

You can listen to this half hour podcast using the player here…

Or save to iTunes with the direct download here

As a footnote, I also received a bunch of lovely emails from people who were present at the festival and who responded very positively to my keynote opening speech where I referred to writers as ‘Wizards…’ Here’s a few comments…

‘I just want to start by giving you feedback on your SWF opening speech. As a Welsh writing wizard apprentice - I can report that at the end of your opening I turned to the person next to me  (who I later learnt was another speaker) and said - that your address was the best opening to a conference that I had ever heard. And I go to a lot of conferences (only some to do with writing I admit)…’
Writing wizard apprentice from Abergavenny Wales

‘Great to meet you at the SWF. You're an inspiration - one of the highlights of my week and I look forward to hearing more of your adventures at next year's festival!’
Nick

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival Day 2 and Simon Beaufoy's Hot Tips for collaborating on a screenplay

Day two of the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival began with my old buddy, Peter Bloore, interviewing Simon Beaufoy on stage about his experiences as a screenwriter, specifically in the arena of script development and working with others, a place where a film can often derail (or the writer can be asked to leave the project).

He spoke at length about his earlier films, some of which were re-written by others to the point where he became very angry (at the time). But with perspective, he has realized that screenplays are more malleable and collaborative than he first thought. Here are some of his observations with regard to collaboration, in no particular order…

1. Most people he has worked with are very bright, even if at first glance, their ideas do not appear to be good. He also knows that everyone has the same end in mind – to make the best movie possible. It’s easy to demonise and become enraged when others interfere and threaten to ‘spoil’ your work, but it is part of the process, and needs to be embraced. They are after all paying for it.

2. Momentum is key. It’s important to avoid becoming entrenched or to hit the brakes. If you don’t agree with a point, admit it is ‘challenging’ and ‘will need some careful thought’, and move on. Do not disregard anything out of hand, or the project could falter and you may be asked to leave.

3.  Ask for script notes ahead of any meeting and insist that they are typed up and all on one single page. As soon as anyone has to write down their notes, the process focuses the mind and the notes become clearer (and maybe even self edited before they go to the writer). Keeping them to one page forces people to get to the point. The notes may also be badly phrased, but it’s your job as a writer to move past emotive and infuriating phrases and ‘hear’ what is really being said.

4. You do not need to incorporate all notes given to you. As a rough guide, maybe 60% will do (of course this may vary wildly).

5. It’s important that everyone in the room feels that they have in some ways won their point – of course this can’t be all points, but some of them. Peter Bloore added the old negotiators maxim that ‘everyone should feel they have won 60% of their points’.

6. Having said all of this, there is a point at which you might need to walk away. It’s hard to be specific, but there is a thing, an essence, perhaps even a ‘soul’ of the script that must be protected by the writer.

All good stuff and much of it echoes many of my own experiences ‘in the room’. What resonated most for me was this idea of collaboration in order to maintain forward momentum. I have had experiences where I have objected and the project died, or I embraced ideas and we went all the way.

It’s all important career stuff and certainly not in many screenwriting books.

The rest of the day I bobbed in and out of other workshops, found myself on stage as part of a panel of film makers discussing the notion of just finding some resources and making a film with what you have. It was an entertaining session, but by now I could feel that most of the writers in the auditorium were reaching information overload and thinking more about getting to the bar than funding their own movies!

The day was rounded of with an interview with Sky TV for their ‘Movie Geek’ show which will be aired on November 7th on Sky One I believe. I hope I make it to the cut as there were a whole host of big name scribes pontificating and prevaricating on the art of the screenwriter, where I was just chucking in cheeky tips and tricks! We will see on November 7th I guess!

I am back in London now, and exhausted.

The Festival is still running for two more days, and already I am wishing I could have stayed those extra two days.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Day 1 of the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival '09

I am sitting with a venti soya latte in hand, in the most astonishingly grandeous building at Cheltenham Ladies College, waiting for the 9.30am seminar with Simon Beaufoy. I am at the Cheltenham Screenwriters Festival and frankly, nice and relaxed and enjoying it all now. This is in stark contrast to yesterday when I gave the Keynote opening speech to the entire delegation of four or five hundred screenwriters from across the UK, all assembled in the Princess Hall – even grander than then very grand building I am sat in right now!

The festival organisers ask me to deliver this opening speech because they wanted something that was empowering and entertaining, and certainly not the doom and gloom of recession and the dreaded ‘it’s a tough business’ line we hear so often - there was plenty of that to follow in later sessions with battle weary screenwriters, sales agents and directors (and of course, plenty of counter balancing upbeat stories, tips and tricks too).

What was tough for me to gauge was where to pitch the opening speech as I was told that the audience could contain everyone from complete beginners to Richard Curtis! No pressure then.

And so I launched into my ‘Hero’s Journey’ speech for film makers, paralleling the mythical story structure with the journey of ‘the creative’ – and it seemed to go down very well too, with people coming up to me all day saying how much they felt inspired. Fantastic!

The rest of the day was a blur as I was whisked from session to session, running seminars and doing one-on-ones with writers. Always super well organised and sooooo much fun.

Stand out moments for me were presentations by Doug Chamberlin, writer of ‘Toy Story 2’, presenting about breaking into Hollywood – he spoke with experience, insight and surprising candour. I hope to get Doug to speak on tape too, and upload a podcast for everyone to hear (fingers crossed). Also speaking was Armando Iannucci, comic TV genius and director of ‘In The Loop’. He talked about how he wrote with a writers group for ‘In The Loop’, ended up with a 240 page first draft, improvised on set, shot for months (at he rate of 25 pages a day!), all with ‘in set’ available lighting, then ended up with a four and half hour assembly which was then whittled down to just under two hours. He also had a great analogy for script redrafting… ‘it’s like a good chicken stock, you add stuff then reduce it, then add more and reduce some more, and keep doing that until what you have is incredibly tasty…’

I also bumped into old screenwriting pal, and original NPA creator Peter Bloore, whose wife, Jane, was the publisher who took on the very first edition of The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook in 1994, when no-one else was interested. That was a memory lane moment for sure.

The day wrapped up with what is now the customary drinks at the Queens Head Hotel, where again I bumped into many old friends, some of whom I hadn’t seen in 20 years. Astonishing! 

So far I am very impressed by this festival – the speakers are terrific, and there are loads of them too. The Cheltenham Ladies College, as a venue, is breathtaking and yet very intimate and personal. I am delighted that the festival does not take place in London as I know that would taint what to me feels like a hugely inclusive, philosophically agnostic and relaxed event. I can’t recommend it highly enough and I hope very much I can come again next year.

Right! On with today. I am only in one session this afternoon, so I can relax somewhat right now.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Six hours of new features added to the online 'Making The World Class Short Film' Workshop - sign up discount still available!

It’s a been bit of a frantic weekend – I am prepping for the Chetenham Screenwriters Festival which kicks off on Monday, where I am the opening speaker! I have a couple of other sessions on Monday and Tuesday too, so I hope to see you there.

Yesterday, I spent the afternoon and evening with editor Eddie Hamilton as we recorded a chat track for the ALL the rushes from ‘Gone Fishing’ (that’s 3 hours!)

When I created the online workshop, one of the commitments I made was to make the rushes available for other film makers to edit their own version of ‘Gone Fishing’. So in the next few days, that will all go live – if you are already a member, as part of our commitment to you, all these additional features will be offered free, as part of the package.

We recorded this chat track to help explain the choices we made during the shoot, the problems we faced, and the choices Eddie made in post production. There are three hours of 35mm rushes and there will be two versions available – first is a Quicktime of the rushes with production sound (which you can import into your own edit system). Second is the version with with Eddie and myself waxing lyrical! 

We both enjoyed this recording session and it was amazing just how much came flooding back. I can’t tell you how many nuggets of tips and information Eddie was gracious enough to share with us all.

This additional six hours of support material will go live in the next week or so as part of the ongoing expansion to the ‘Making The World Class Short Film’ workshop – a few people have asked why we did not make this workshop  available on DVD, and it’s this kind up evolutionary update that is the main reason! We want to keep adding more quality content and that just is not possible with a DVD set. Plus we can keep the costs down by delivering over the web, a saving we can pass onto the film makers. And finally, the feedback we have had from users suggests that even though they though they thought that they might prefer DVD, they do in fact prefer web delivery as it’s available immediately, updateable, and available anywhere you have a computer and internet connection.

We are still running the discount, from £99 (inc VAT) to just £69.99 (inc VAT – approx $115) for readers of the blog. You can sign up here and get moving on your own Oscar nominated short film right now!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Quick Guide Film Insurance in 2009 for The Guerilla Film Makers Pocketbook

Yesterday, for the new Guerilla Film Makers Pocketbook, I interviewed Paul Cable of  Media and Entertainment Insurance Services Limited. Paul is a great guy and has helped many emerging film makers through the difficulties of finding the right insurance package for their production.

After chatting to Paul, it was clear that there are a number of issues facing film makers working on an ambitious project with specific regard to insurance. There are three main problematic areas.

First is kit hire – here’s why.

It’s not uncommon for a big hire company to help out film makers by supplying half a million pounds worth of camera equipment for free, we certainly got that kind of help from Arri Media Services on ‘Gone Fishing’. But… it needs to be insured, and given the way films are made (you know, hanging out of windows with the camera, working 20 hours a day, using inexperienced crew), and then considering the expense of the equipment, insurance is going to cost a sizeable chunk of the budget. Add you can add to that the problem that the hire companies are also going to need ‘loss of hire’ in that insurance policy too (so if you broke a camera and it could not be hired for three months while it was getting fixed they could claim for loss of hire).

There appears to be no simple way around this and it’s one of those pretty much unmoveable expenses. For ‘Gone Fishing’ our insurance package ended up costing £1,000, but we managed to cover a few other corporate jobs under that same policy, and the clients for those films ended up paying for it (don’t tell anyone!)

So I guess you need to consider insurance as a line in your budget that you are just going to have to bite the bullet on.

The second insurance problem would be ‘Public Liability’ and ‘Employers Liability’, again needed for any shoot really – though Paul accepts that many film makers go without it and just hope that they do not run into problems. These two policies protect you from damage to property and injury to both your film making team and the public – and some councils and other organisations won’t even let you on site without all these ducks in a row. One cheeky way around this is to enter a co-production with a bigger company and sit underneath their insurance policy, and I know of one very ambitious film that did this successfully recently.

The third problem is the old ‘Errors and Omissions’ policy which is essential for features and documentaries (if you ever expect to sell to a major broadcaster or to the USA) – it’s always a shock, especially as it costs around ten grand! The E&O and how to get around it was a major topic in the ‘Delivering Your Baby’ workshop that I ran earlier this year and it really helped to highlight the problems we all face if we are not successful like ‘Paranormal Activity’ (when the studios just take over and remove all the problems).

But, we didn’t need E&O for ‘Gone Fishing’ - our insurance policy just covered equipment, loss of rental and Public and Employers liability, and it cost (if memory serves) around £1,000 (and there is no VAT on insurance). But… I have heard rumours that iTunes is now, or may be, requiring E&O for shorts that it releases. I will do some digging and try and confirm this either way.

Paul also commented that contrary to expectation, HD films do not make many insurance claims for ‘loss of data’. Of course he added these were the films that could afford that kind of insurance cover and that they had excellent onset data backup procedures in place. The problem I see for low budget film makers is that they cannot afford that type of insurance and more than likely, they will suffer data loss as they won’t have adequate backup procedures in place. Now I think about it, most low budget tapeless productions I have been witness to have actually lost some data at some point due to user error, compounded by the lack of any backup system. Doh! I guess the lesson here is, don’t buy the insurance, buy several terabytes of storage and backup every night (and make sure you know what you are doing!).

The whole interview will be in the upcoming Guerilla Film Makers Pocketbook. Paul also wrote an article for Netribution which you can read here.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Gone Fishing plays in Leicester Sq., support for European Premiere of Jaws documentary

I JUST THIS MOMENT FOUND OUT! On Saturday December 5th, 9pm, at the Prince Charles Theatre in Leicester Sq., ‘Gone Fishing’ is playing (on 35mm) as the support to a feature film as part of the United Film Festival. We have played many times as support for features, but this is the first time I am actually more excited to see the feature on the big screen as it is my own film! It’s called ‘The Shark Is Still Working’, an epic doc about ‘Jaws’ and the legacy it has left us (trailer above – their website here).

Tickets went on sale just now and already 27 have been snapped up within minutes of going live - I have another ten headed my way, and the theatre seats 302… So if you want to come to this terrific event, I suggest you head over to their site now and buy as fast as you can!

If you do get tickets, say hello as I will be there to introduce the film… as well as munch my popcorn through what promises to be a very nostalgic documentary about a time and place that all film maker my age can vividly remember... The day they saw ‘Jaws’ in the cinema…  For me it was the summer of '75, and I remember queuing around the corner and down the road in the blazing sunshine – and this was back in my home town of Wigan in the north west of England, at the single screen Ritzy cinema. I had pressured my mum to take my brother and myself as all the kids had to see the movie ‘where that guys head falls out of the bottom of the boat…’ – the only problem was that I was about seven years old and not really prepared for the full assault on the senses that was to follow for the next two hours or so. I have many vivid memories of that screening, with some of the cinematic images kind of tattooed into my psyche forever. Of course, I have watched ‘Jaws’ many times since and have come to realise that it is pretty much a perfect genre film. Damn Spielberg was on form!

And if you have seen ‘Gone Fishing’, you will know that there is more than a passing nod to ‘Jaws’ (you can watch the trailer in HD here)

If you have any ‘Jaws’ memories, do share them with me, it would be great to hear them.

OK, so here are the details again - Saturday December 5th, 9pm, at the Prince Charles Theatre in Leicester Sq. You can get tickets for this screening at the festival website here, and also check out the other films screening at the festival too!

HOW EXCITING! YEAAAAHAR!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Getting Great Deals, the mindset for a film maker...

Monday morning and I have hit the tarmac running on the new Guerilla Film Makers Pocketbook, which we are racing to complete for delivery at the end of the month (and I suspect we will be a week or so late!) I am hammering through interviews and writing up box outs and tips after long chats with industry experts.

I just did a great interview with producer Ivan Clements, who produced ‘Gone Fishing’ as well as a number of features – that’s me with him in the pic, on the set of Gone Fishing – yes it was a producer / director conversation about budget or schedule no doubt!

The interview was about how to get deals and the state of mind required to hit the phone and ask for the profoundly unreasonable. Here is a little extract from some of the stuff he said…

Q - How do you get great deals?

Ivan - I think I should preface this with the fact that you need to be passionately driven by the project you are involved in. If you are not sold on the project, then how can you sell anyone else? Pick up the phone and start talking to people. It’s amazing how much people want to help in this business. And everyone is very forgiving of naiveté. It seems to me that almost everyone has been through mountains of crap to get where they are. Unlike school, where inflicting the same pain on newbies as was once metered on them is held in high regard, peers in the film business seem to actually want to help. How mad is that?

Q - How do you deal with the fear of picking up the phone and cold calling?

Ivan - Making the first call is always the hardest. It’s a bit like approaching someone you fancy. You’re full of excitement but you fear rejection. Just take the plunge. If you get rejected first time, remember, there are plenty of others to try. Have you seen the size of the ‘Knowledge’ in the UK. Or the ‘Hollywood Creative Directory’ in LA? Both are big directories, really big. Another great way to look at it is not that it’s cold calling, but rather rapport practice (thanks to Gary Craig for that).
 
Q - Why would anyone give you something for free?

Ivan - I never view it as getting something free. I prefer to view it as relationship development. What you’re saying to whomever you are trying to get to collaborate with you is this, ‘roll with me on this and you’ll get my future business and referrals’.  And you better be good on your word and mean it. If a lab gives you an unbelievable deal, make sure you go back to that lab with paid work. This will give you credibility and the word will spread. Go bad on your word though, and people won’t let you use their toilet let alone notice that your alive.
 
Q - Why do you think others don’t get such great deals?

Ivan - I’m not sure really, I can only tell you what I do to achieve results. Be funny. Most of the time this business is merciless if you’re not on the creative side. Make someone’s day with a giggle and you’ll get miles ahead. Lift spirits, cajole, be cheeky, ask for the moon always, always be VERY thankful for what ever you get. Make them feel like merciful gods. People like to feel that they have done something amazing for someone else. Don’t you?
 
Q - How do you know what to ask for? If it costs 100 grand, how much should you try and get it for?

Ivan - Something I learnt early on is never to pay rate card. If you’ve actually got money to spend, you should be able to get at least 40% off that quoted rate. That was minimum for me. 50-60% is achievable. It’s not unusual. Here’s a deal I negotiated with a well known film stock company which we’ll call Major Film.

I needed 100,000 feet of 35mm stock. Rate at the time was 24p per foot which came to £24K + tax. At the time, this was way beyond anything I could afford. And I can remember this deal clear as day. I invited the chief sales exec for a drink in a bar on Wardour Street, central London. I began by talking about HIM and his life (we later on became good friends). I definitely wanted to go with this company as they were much more friendly and accessible to guerrilla film makers like myself. After a few drinks we drifted into the deal. I said look Joe (real name withheld) I’m only doing this deal with Major Film because of you. But I’m absolutely flat broke.

‘So Joe’, I continued ‘How about this I’ve got £8K I can give you today if you can defer the balance till we hit profits and the VAT until I get that back next quarter?’ It was the ballsiest ask I’d made so far, but also the easiest in a way as I had no choice. There was no more money. Joe laughed, ‘you’ve eaten the ass out of my trousers.’ We shook on it and I bought another round.

Q - How do you get money out of investors?

Ivan - Once you’ve found investors, you actually have to convince them that it’s a sound investment. Film investment has had pretty bad press in the past. Fortunately it’s had better press more recently in the UK. This is due to generous government tax incentives that the savvy producer can take advantage of. These are in the form of Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) and the film tax credit. As long as a film is British qualifying, it can get 20% rebate on the spend. There are several companies out there that will cashflow this for you for a fee. Typically the fee is 3-5% of the tax credit. This means you get the money up front, less the fee, and then the tax credit is paid directly to the financier once the claim is made. EIS is very attractive as it reduces the risk for the investor. For every £1 then invest, the government gives a rebate of 20p. So their risk is reduced. Under the scheme, if they pay Capital Gains Tax, they can defer this for 3 years and write it off if the film fails.

Q - What are the key deals to get in place?

Ivan - This is tricky and very chicken and egg. You could find yourself with a name actor that actually means the film will make money, but who won’t commit until money is in the bank. And you may have finance that won’t attach until they see a signed contract with the named actor. This is a typical and tough position to be in and will be challenge for your creative negotiating skills. If you can’t get 100% financed privately, try and get a pre-sale that’s worth a percentage. Use ‘soft’ money (tax credit, forward VAT cashflowing, EIS). This can end up representing 40-60% of your budget and make you look much more credible to investors and key actors.

The whole interview will be in the upcoming ‘Guerilla Film Makers Pocketbook’

If you have any questions you would like Ivan to answer, drop me a mail here and we will see what we can arrange.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Urban Ghost Story, the making of... And the complete soundtrack by Rupert Gregson-Williams

As the dust settles after the screening of ‘Urban Ghost Story’ on the BBC this week, I thought I would do a final post to share some stuff that I have had requests for.

Above is the ‘making of’ documentary from the DVD. Made around 2002 before Genevieve headed for Hollywood…

The full 30 pages of so from the latest ‘Guerilla Film Makers Handbook’, about how we made ‘Urban Ghost Story’, can be downloaded here (it’s a PDF). Remember, the GFMH also tells the stories of how we made our first picture, action thriller ‘The Runner’ and also our serial killer thriller ‘White Angel’. You can buy the book at Amazon, or direct from us here.

Finally, I had a lot of requests about the soundtrack which was written by Rupert Gregson-Williams, brother of Harry Gregson-Williams (who wrote the score for ‘White Angel’). The score for UGS was never officially released, and so I have posted it here – you can listen in two ways.

First off, there is a Zip file of the score as MP3’s, ready to import into iTunes - you can download here.

Second is a direct play, with the player below.

Finally, if you have been tempted but not yet bought the double disk DVD of ‘White Angel’ and ‘Urban Ghost Story’, you can do so here for £13.00 inc VAT and postage.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

JUST UPDATED - Urban Ghost Story wins the ratings war! AMAZING!

Amazing news – the screening of ‘Urban Ghost Story’ last night won, YES WON, the rating for that time slot – of the hundreds of channels available in the UK, ‘Urban Ghost Story’ captured 11.5% of all viewers, with just under half a million people tuning in to watch the movie - we out performed all other channels, including BBC2, ITV, Ch4, Five and all Sky and cable channels!

Of course we did follow ‘Film 2009’ which must have helped - and apparently we had a great name checking trail before ‘Film 2009’, though I didn’t hear it myself.

Nearly half a million people! Blimey! Amazing!

UPDATE -

Gone Fishing AP Leilani Holmes asked…

So how does this translate in terms of this particular film, Chris? Is it likely that further options for TV distribution could come out of it.. say in the US or other parts of the world? I'm just wondering how it all works really. In terms of the elasticity of an indie film's shelf life.

I asked our distributor, David Wilkinson to comment, and he added…

The BBC screening helps me in licensing to other broadcasters in the future. Prior to this latest outing it has screened in the UK on The Studio Channel and Sci-fi plus the BBC do have a further four showings. It was already one of the more successful films in our catalogue but this cements its standing. The screening has resulted in increased DVD sales partly because it is packaged with the first film by the same team WHITE ANGEL. The BBC is regarded as one of the world’s leading broadcasters so it should help with overseas sales…

Thanks guys… and remember you can get the double disk DVD here

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Urban Ghost Story, on the BBC, and the stunts and how we we did them...

Wow! So ‘Urban Ghost Story’ played on BBC1 last night – I got loads of emails and texts during the screening, a kind of live commentary from friends. Awesome!

It’s been a long time since I have watched it and I was surprised by all sorts of details that had slipped my mind. And I must admit, I was very nervous and excited the moment the BBC logo came up and the film was introduced – I am so used to seeing that opening title sequence and hearing the music, but the BBC intro was of course a completely new experience. Very cool.

I know David Wilkinson of Guerilla Films, who cut the deal with the BBC, will get some viewing figures for us in due course. And the film is available on BBC iPlayer for a week – people in the UK can view it here.

OK... so, the video above is about how we achieved the breathtaking sequence at the climax of ‘Urban Ghost Story’, the car crash and the fall from the towerblock. Both were shot in a weekend that was separated from the main shoot, and was stunt co-ordinated by our late great friend, Terry Forrestal. This short video was supposed to make it to the DVD release, but had to be cut as we ran out of space…

So if we had to cut great stuff like this video from the DVD, what on earth IS on the DVD?

Well there is of course the movie in FHA 16:9, with the full Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack (which when played on a good sound system is awesome and very, very creepy). There are also two chat tracks over the feature, one with me and editor Eddie Hamilton. The other is with Genevieve and DP Jon Walker. There is a 20 minute or so behind the scenes featurette where we roll up our sleeves and explain just why and how we made the movie. There is also a feature on the deleted scenes, with explanations as to why we chose to cut those scenes – this is very useful to help illustrate the organic growth of the story, all the way through post production (if you are interested in comparing the film to the shooting script, you can download it here – this in itself is a powerful film education about how a story evolves from script, through shooting and finally through post production)

There’s a slide show too, as well as the full music score – we loved the score that composer Rupert Gregson-Williams wrote for ‘Urban Ghost Story’, but it never got a release on CD, and so, as we had the rights, we could actually put it on the DVD too! Finally, there is a cracking and terrifying documentary about the real case on which ‘Urban Ghost Story’ was very loosely based.

If you want your own DVD, you can get it here, as a special Guerilla Film Makers double DVD set with our second feature film ‘White Angel’, starring Peter Firth as a mild mannered serial killer. Again, a very chilling movie that gets under the skin. Here is the link to buy the DVD set.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Gone Fishing wins SCFF in Tennessee, USA!

A quick update before the TV premiere of Urban Ghost Story tonight, BBC1 just after midnight… We just got word that last weekend, ‘Gone Fishing’ won the Secret City Film Festival 2009 in Tennessee USA. Fantastic! That makes, er… thirty something wins now! (there is a complete list on our press website here)

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Read a whole chapter from 'The Guerilla Film Makers Hanbook' on the making of Urban Ghost Story, premiering on BBC1 tomorrow night

As promised over the weekend, in advance of the UK Network TV premiere of ‘Urban Ghost Story’ tomorrow night (Tuesday) on BBC 1, here is the complete chapter from the Guerilla Film Makers Handbook about how we made the film. It’s a PDF and 1.6mb in size, so will take a moment to download.

After the premiere tomorrow night, I plan to put up a video that never made it to the DVD - as the disk was maxed out with loads of film makers extras. I don’t want to say what it is right now, as those who have not seen the film will know what happens at the end – but for those of you who have seen the film, it’s a little doc about how we filmed the end sequence.

I was just scanning through the press pack too – you can read the whole press pack here if you are interested – and was stunned at just how good our reviews were. I had forgotten how many we got and how amazing they were… here are a few…

"Ken Loach meets "The Exorcist"… Jones and Jolliffe show they can multiplex with the best"
Variety

"A shrewdly judged chiller that boasts a brilliant, moving performance from newcomer Foster as the troubled Lizzie"
The Daily Mail

"genuinely haunting work"
The Independent

"...utterly electrifying... Heather Ann Foster illuminates Urban Ghost Story with compelling intensity."
Uncut

"Urban Ghost Story is one of the most credible studies of spectral obsession ever committed to celluloid. the film establishes a disturbing mise en scene that keeps one rooted"
Film Review

Crickey! No wonder the BBC bought it, now I want to watch it all over again!

And have a special offer on the double DVD (whith our second feature, White Angel, here.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

British Network Premiere of 'Urban Ghost Story' on BBC1, Tuesday just after midnight...

Last week I got a call form the BBC to tell me that my third feature film, Urban Ghost Story, would be playing on Tuesday the 13th of October at 12.05 at night (which is obviously Wednesday morning really!)

And since it has been announced in the various TV guides, I have been getting loads of emails from people who have since bought the DVD or read the chapter in The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook about how we made the film.

And the reviews in this weeks press are fantastic too, with the Radio Times giving it ‘film of the day’ and saying…

‘This movie demonstrates how a budget can often be the mother of invention. Heather Ann Foster plays a 12 year old girl in a Glasgow tenement who starts to detect supernatural rumblings while recovering from an ecstasy linked near-death experience. Jason Connery plays against type as a reporter seeking to exploit the story… Andrew Collins’

And the Daily Mail today saying…

‘Brought back from the brink of death, teenager Lizzie Fisher fears she brought something sinister back with her in this atypical British chiller. Low-budget, and rightly so – it’s from the people behind The Guerilla Film Maker’s Handbook – it is a curios but mostly effective mix of traditional horror and social realism’

It’s absolutely fantastic to screen on the BBC, and better still, BBC1 – and the deal was brokered by David Wilkinson of Guerilla Films, also interviewed in The Guerilla Film Makers Handbook (but not connected with the book, we just happen to have the same names!) David is one of the rarest of people in the UK film business – friendly and extremely helpful to emerging film makers, brutally honest (which is often hard for us all to hear) and in my experience (and most importantly), operates with very high integrity. Anyone who has taken my two day masterclass knows that I only recommend a handful of sales agents and distributors, and David is at the top of that very short list – and here is proof that David really does deliver! BBC1!

OK, so we have lots of reviews from when the film was released in the cinema here. In fact hen I just checked the link I was amazed just how many GREAT reviews we had, and from big players too.

Over the next few days, I am going to post some Urban Ghost Story related goodies on the blog – some of the features from the DVD and also PDF’s from the Guerilla Film Makers Handbook, so check back in.

But if you just can’t wait, you can buy a signed double disk DVD from us that also includes our second feature film, serial killer thriller ‘White Angel’. You can get the DVD here.

So a reminder – Tuesday the 13th, five past midnight, make a cup of cocoa and grab a  blanket… Urban Ghost Story, UK Network premiere on BBC1!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

New Digital Film Makers Pocketbook nears completion

We are getting very close to completing the all new Digital Film Makers Pocketbook – a guerilla film makers handbook for the digital age. And isn’t it tiny!

In fact isn’t this 'mock up' tiny, this isn’t the final book.

And actually, this isn’t the final cover either (it's with a designer now), but it is the final size!

So you get the idea.

All this week, while I have been running around with Judy, working on our as yet unannounced feature film project for a Hollywood studio, ace production manager Helen Taylor has been permanently wired into a Skype account and ringing around the film business, attracting companies to sponsor sections of the book – there are ten sections, and so the opportunity for ten sponsors.

We aren’t really selling it as advertising, more just a logo, a few lines about the company and contact details – pretty much what we did with The Guerilla Film Makers Movie Blueprint.

And so far, even though we are in a credit crunch induced recession, we are doing pretty well – or rather, Helen is doing very well. I think it’s partly to do with the brand, the fact we have been writing for 15 years, have sold over 100,000 copies and this is our seventh book! And of course, Helen’s charm on the end of the phone certainly helps too. Not to mention her dogged persistence!

So this new book is smaller and shinier, but it’s the familiar house style mix of inspirational case studies as well as tips and expert advice. The plan now is to launch the book at the Cannes Film Festival 2010, with a big swanky party, much like the one we had for the last British book when we threw a bash on a boat in the marina (pic right). It was a very cool night!

So if you know anyone who might want sponsor a section in the book, send them to me, or show them this PDF here...

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Gone Fishing Screening at the iMax is a SUCCESS!

Boy was it hurling it down like cats and dogs last night – so, to see a packed audience at the iMax theatre, with so many faces I recognised, was really wonderful. This screening of ‘Gone Fishing’ and Q and A session was part of DropShot 3, a kind of micro festival for film makers. Sure, screening conditions could have been better, but that didn’t seem to get in the way of anyone’s enjoyment of the whole event.

Stephen Follows and myself kicked off the proceedings with a Q and A session, in the middle of which we screened Gone Fishing. We then took questions from the audience. I guess the majority of the group were film makers and the questions were very much along the lines of ‘how to do it…’ It was both intimate and informal which made for a great conversation, after which loads of people came to me to congratulate us all on the movie – there were other ‘G’fishers’ there too, including a handful of our Associate Producers, camera man Steve Brooke Smith (who recently shot a vista vision / iMax short  film) and Martin Gooch who helped on the script (who had his own short playing later that night).

The main thing for me was that it was so heartening to see so many people make the very difficult choice to turn out on a cold and wet Wednesday autumn evening, navigating central London in rush hour, puddles and grumpy commuters, to come and see a lucky dip mix of shorts. Fantastic! Well done everyone and well done Samantha and her team at Drop Shop3 for making it happen!

As a side note, I also distributed flyers for the online Gone Fishing workshop and three people signed up after the event last night, and are now on their own rollercoaster watching it all online… Can’t wait to hear their feedback!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Gone Fishing Plays At Imax, Waterloo Tonight! (Oct 7th, 7.30pm)

Whoaaaah! Imax! I KNOW! First off, we are not on the BIG BIG screen, we are on the smaller BIG Screen upstairs - I will be there doing an hour long Q and A with Stephen Follows asking the questions on stage (Stephen ran the London based Super Shorts Film Festival when ‘Gone Fishing’ played there last year). It’s part of ‘Drop Shot 3 at iMax’, a festival for short film makers - and six other shorts will be playing during the evening, ensuring a lucky dip of film possibilities…

Afterward there will be drinks and chatting, so it’s a great opportunity to meet up and network with loads of other film makers too.

Best of all, it’s completely FREE! Just head upstairs to the bar / coffee area and grab a sofa. So Imax tonight (Oct 7th, 7.30pm), Waterloo, and bring a buddy!

Hope to see you there…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The phone rang, and from that moment, everything changed... PART 3... The conclusion...

THIS IS THE THIRD AND FINAL CHAPTER IN THIS ADVENTURE… YOU CAN CLICK HERE IF YOU MISSED PART ONE, AND PART TWO… OR SCROLL DOWN TO READ…

OK to recap…

I got a call about a movie that needed a director, a big budget Hollywood studio picture… I dashed into central London to collect a hard copy of the script, read it, arranged a meeting the next day with the producers… which I rehearsed and role played for hours to nail GREAT answers to TOUGH questions…

And it really was a tough interview… But I survived it… Returned to the office and waited… and then the phone rang…

I answered… ‘Hello?’

‘Is that Chris?’

‘Yes’ I replied…

There was a very long pause. The kind you get when the news is either VERY good or VERY bad…

‘OK the guys all liked you. But, one of the executives who did not meet you, he wants someone with a steady and experienced hand, someone who can be trusted to deliver on time and on schedule… and the feeling is you would be a risk to hire as director’

Gutted, I hung up.

I immediately followed up the call with a very positive email to the producers. The fat lady had not yet sung… How could I get to that producer? There must be a way…

But I heard the following day that they were interviewing very experienced directors. And on Friday night, I received absolute conformation that they had indeed hired a guy with many features under his belt.  Apparently the studio guys were very comfortable with him.

As upset as I was, I could also see their position quite clearly.  It made a lot of sense for a bunch of guys who never met me.

The following 24 hours I pretty much slept through without waking, I had burned so much energy in pursuit of this film.

So now the dust has settled, I have had chance to analyse the events in order that I can learn from it, so that next time, I am even better prepared… As far as I can see, even though I did not get the job, I did have an extraordinary learning experience and I pushed myself very hard to be the best I could possibly be. 

I am also grateful that I was taken seriously - I was actually into the room with a fighting chance, and I came out slugging hard. In this industry, certainly in the UK, it’s not often I get invited into the room at all.

So there are two aspects to consider under analysis…

First is how you come across in the room. Second is how you look on paper. And I believe it’s the combination of those two that seals the deal, either way.

On paper I am pretty weak. I have some books that are fascinating for sure, but valueless in these circumstances. I have made some low budget features way back when. Again, largely valueless. I have a short film that has won a load of awards, but remember, I was warned that these producers were not interested in hearing about awards, so that was irrelevant too. In short, all I had going for me was that someone had seen ‘Gone Fishing’ and liked it enough to call me in. It’s a testament to how good ‘Gone Fishing’ actually is that I was seen at all.

In the room, I felt I was quite strong and held my own. Hindsight is amazing, and for sure, there are things I would have phrased differently if I had the chance. I would have really liked to have read the script a second time too, but there just wasn’t time.

So in short, I was good enough in the room to get recommended by the producers who met me, but weak enough on paper for me to be passed over by those who didn’t meet me and wanted to sleep soundly at night.

And the budget was just too big for them to take a risk on me. Had the budget been say, £1m, I think I would have got the gig. But it was much, much more than £1m.

For me, it’s clear. I need to meet all the people to close the deal. I also need to look much better on paper. Two big things that need addressing.

Ironically, just today I discovered that my third feature film, ‘Urban Ghost Story’ is screening on BBC1 next week – yes, BBC1! More on that in the coming days.

So all in all a wonderful and educational adventure. Exhausting, disappointing, exhilarating, fascinating, nerve wracking… I can tell you one thing for sure.  I came so very close. And if I can do it once, I can do it again, and as many times as I need to get the result…

Much of this adventure is reflected in aspects of the 2 day workshops I run for film makers where we discuss a brutal fact - film making is a marathon, with many set backs… but it’s how we deal with those setbacks, how we recommit to the marathon, that defines the artist, the film maker, the human beings we are… 

It’s also part of the Hero’s Journey we all undertake in life – the stage I just personally undertook would be ‘Tests, Allies and Enemies’. And again, as I teach in my workshops, unless there is a genuine threat that you could fail on your quest, then you are simply not playing the game to a high enough level.

And so In life we often fail. It’s part of being human. It's a stage in our own hero's journey.

But in the movies, the hero often succeeds. It’s part of the imaginary reflection of being human. And these fictional characters on their hero's journey too.

This is why movies (and more simply expressed, stories) speak so deeply to our psyche.

We need stories to reflect us, we litteraly see ourselves in these 'adventurs', in order that we can have the courage to do what we need to do in our own daily lives.  And I know that by blogging about my adventure this week, others have been inspired and HAVE TAKEN THEIR OWN ACTION!

How extraordinary!

And what a wonderful gift to receive – the knowledge that by sharing, others have seen themselves in my own story, and created and comitted to their own adventures - who knows where their stories will lead?

Truly, no matter the outcome of these days past, I could not lose in the bigger picture. I have learned about the process, made powerful contacts and relationships and others have learned vicariously.

And so I now recommit to my own adventure. I may be battle weary. I may be exhausted. But my teeth are gritted, and I am stronger and wiser… and that bit closer to my goal…

I can’t wait for the next crack of the whip…!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The phone rang, and from that moment, everything changed... PART 2

FIRST OFF… IF YOU DID NOT READ THE LAST POST, CLICK HERE OR SCROLL DOWN AND READ THAT ONE FIRST…

OK, so to recap… 24 hours ago, this opportunity did not even exist. And now, having read a script, been grilled by Judy over and over, and after waiting in Starbucks for several hours, the phone had rung and I was heading down the street to the production office… (remember, I am bound by a Non Disclosure Agreement – I cannot reveal any facts about this production, so I have to be vague in places…)

So… Seven minutes later and I am met at the doorway of the production offices by a production assistant and whisked down a hall to wait. In my hand I have a print out of the updated awards list from ‘Gone Fishing’, now nearing 40 wins…

The PA (a friend of mine) sees the list in my hand and says, ‘forget about that, he knows about the awards and he said to me, ‘I am not interested in any awards he has won… they are meaningless to me’ and so I wouldn’t bring it up…!

Gulp!

I pocket the list hurriedly.

‘He is just on the phone to the Americans… he will be ready to see you in a moment…’

The time ticked by and I felt myself ease down into a confident state – I knew my stuff, I read and liked the script, I had prepared for hour after hour with Judy asking tough questions, I knew I could do a damn fine job with this film… Sure I was nervous, I needed that energy to keep me on my toes, but I was also quite calm… I WAS READY!

And then I got the nod… ‘Go in…’

My heart beat faster. My senses heightened. Sound was crisper. Colours brighter. Maybe I really had drunk too much coffee at Starbucks while I waited?

When I entered, I was greeted with a warm handshake and invitation to sit on a sofa… ‘This will need to be fast as I have a meeting in 15 minutes with some financiers… so you liked the script then?’

I was about to answer when four other people entered the room – other producers involved in the production. I was introduced to each…

‘So again, you liked the script…?’ I was asked.

My meeting had expanded from a one-on-one to one-on-five. All successful and high powered people, looking me right in the eye, looking for that crack in the armour, that stammer in my answers, that vagueness in my vision… looking to see if I would crack under pressure…Looking to see how I performed ‘in the room’.

So I launch into my thoughts… Again, because of the Non Disclosure Agreement, I can’t say much about what we discussed, aside from the meeting went on from 15 minutes to one hour. Plus it transpired that it was definitely a studio picture with a budget of many, many millions, and national distribution next year. For me it would be a HUGE step up.

I was bombarded with tough question after tough question… ‘What if you snap after four weeks?’, ‘You have never made a film this big…’, ‘What’s the biggest budget you have ever handled?’, ‘Who would you cast…’, and loads more, like little scud missiles – frankly I can’t remember many of the questions as it’s a bit of a blur now.

Overall though, I did feel that I held my own among a group of people who had clearly worked in a team before and were quite happy to pitch in and talk over each other, over me, and generally toss little verbal hand grenades into the conversation every now and then. It was robust and boisterous.  

After some time, two of the ‘bigger’ producers left, leaving me with the others – and we talked for some time about logistics. It was a good chat.

And then I was invited to leave with a warm handshake. I would be contacted soon.

Shell shocked, battered, bruised and emotionally drained, I found myself heading back to Starbucks to meet Judy. I felt a bit like an actor after an audition must feel – it went well I am sure, but then the niggling little voice starts over analysing… What about this? Should I have said that? Maybe I should not have mentioned the other?

I met with Judy and debriefed – we went through everything and after analysis, it was clear, I pretty much did as best as I could. I mentioned everything I had planned to bring up, I answered all their questions honestly, confidently and succinctly, and with considered passion and enthusiasm. We headed back to Ealing… wondering ‘what if…’

And as we waited for the phone to ring, we wondered some more.

And talked some more about what would happen if we suddenly found ourselves working on a multi million dollar studios film next week.

And still we wondered... And waited… Talk about nerve jangling.

Then, at about seven thirty, my iPhone started to hum my familiar ring tone, the main theme from the original 1970’s film, ‘The Taking Of Pelham One Two Three…’ And I recognised the number. Judy and I looked at each other. This was it… The next 30 seconds would reveal everything…

I answered… ‘Hello?’

The voice said…‘Chris, is that you…?’

TO BE CONTINUED AND CONCLUDED IN THE FINAL INSTALLMENT

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The phone rang, and from that moment, everything changed... PART 1

This week has been a white knuckle ride for me.

I am writing this with a pounding head from the workload, the stress and the queasy feeling of being pulled backwards, forwards, up and down…

There were so many times when I paused and turned to Judy Goldberg and would say… ‘this is it, this is what we have been in training for, for so many years now…’

And I have been screaming to write about these last few days on the blog too, but for reasons that will become apparent, I could not. Even now, I am having to be a vague by omitting names and details in order that I do not breach my Non Disclosure Agreement.

But I can share the big sweeps of the last 100 hours…

So…

Last Wednesday, just as I was sitting down to write my action list for the next week, I got a call. It was from the production office of a major British film company. Someone had seen ‘Gone Fishing’, liked it, and wanted me to read a script. The thing was, I needed to read it there and then, and if I liked it, take a meeting with the producers the following day. Nor could it be emailed, it was too dangerous to send a PDF over email - I needed to collect a printed script from central London. And read it immediately.

I had NO idea what kind of film it would be, what scale of production, what the casting might be… But I knew this was that rarest of things in the British film business… A REAL OPPORTUNITY, not a meeting to discuss other meetings or generally talk in hyperbolae and get nothing done at all… Aside eat expensive food on someone else’s lunch account.

And I felt 101% ready for the challenge and all that it would demand of me.

I dropped everything, headed into Soho and met a member of team in a Soho back alley, who handed me a 107 page screenplay and said, ‘get back to us as soon as you can…’

The first thing I noticed about the script is that it had the name of a major Hollywood Studio on the cover. A MAJOR STUDIO!

This was a studio film, with all the bells and whistles that are attached, such as nationwide theatrical release, a real budget for real cast and crew, and a writer who had previously written Hollywood features, PR and a support system.

My palms were sweating.

Judy and I headed back to the Ealing office and sat in silence for two hours as we read avidly.

I can’t say anything about the script – genre, content, style – but I can tell you it was a professional piece of work and a real page turner. I knew this was a BIG opportunity.

I IMDB’d the project and discovered there were also some US based producers (of course there were, this was a studio film!). I emailed my LA manager, Andy, who shared with me that he knew of the project, he even knew the producers in LA. He promised to get on the phone and work his magic – and an hour later, he emailed back to say that he had a good chat with one of the producers who had a significant interest in the film going into production… A SIGNIFICANT INTEREST. Basically, as is the case with most studio pictures, all the big players hit payday on the first day of principal photography. In short, if the movie gets to set, they get millions. Literally millions. This is the studio way and how films get made in Hollywood.

I got in touch with my contact and said… ‘I love it, I want in…’ and they said, ‘Be in Soho tomorrow from 10am and wait for a call… then you can meet with the producers to see if they like you…’

I hung up and looked at Judy… We both knew that this could lead to being in production on a multi million dollar studio picture… and very soon too.

I knew I was going to be in for an ‘Apprentice’ style grilling, and so we started a protracted and grueling process of rehearsing and role playing all the questions we thought could be asked. I can’t stress how valuable this process is – in the room I knew that I had to be on form, with a great answer to every single question - confident, succinct, cool and visionary…

And so, into the wee hours, Judy grilled me hard – and it was tough, really tough, to be asked those awkward questions you hope no-one will ever ask. But I also knew, better Judy ask now, we work on an answer and nail it, rather than I fumble the ball the next day.

I also called Andy in LA who reassured me that I would be great – he reminded me that both of us had sat in several meetings in LA and I never missed a beat.

Andy also gave me two very good pieces of advice. First, talk about how you would handle some set pieces in the script… And second, reassure the producers that you would make them look good by not screwing up (that is delivering a great film, on budget and on schedule).  It’s clear that their ass is on the line as much as is mine, and when multi-millions are involved, everyone wants some security that it won’t blow up in their face. This is one reason why it appears that producers rarely take risks on new talent.

And so I went to bed.

And didn’t sleep a wink…

The following day, bright and early, I found myself sat in Starbucks in Soho with Judy. And once more, I was being grilled at length… ‘What would you say if they ask…’

Ten o’clock passed, eleven o’clock passed, twelve o’clock passed… and then at 12.15 my phone rang…

My heart missed a beat (maybe because I had already drunk three cappuccinos!)

I answered…

‘Be in the production office in ten minutes and you will be seen by the producers…’

I hung up. And I knew that the outcome of the next hour of my life could, forever, change EVERYTHING in my future.

To Be Continued…

(read comments here - you will need to scroll down to the bottom of the page)

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Free money for film makers! Collect yours here...

I received a rather lovely letter this morning, from Directors UK (formerly known as the DPRS, the Director and Producers Rights Society), telling me they had just deposited a couple of hundred pounds into my bank account for a film I made many years ago, the serial killer thriller White Angel. Apparently it has been shown in Poland, and under European agreements, the copyright creators receive a small fee!

If you have made a film and it has been shown in Europe, it may be that there is some money waiting for you – even if it’s TV or a short film. It’s not going to be a huge amount, but if you register with the DPRS, if and when monies do show up, they will funnel it to you and NOT any production company or distributor (they cannot touch this under UK law) – and if you make any further films in the future, you will get more payments then too. And the bigger the success, the more you will get.

I became aware of the DPRS / Directors UK about ten years ago when they contacted me to say ‘we have some money for you…’ and of course, I joined immediately. I was so impressed with what they are doing for film makers, that I interviewed Suzan Dormer for the Guerilla Film Makers Handbook – you can read that interview here (Suzan explains in greater detail how it all works).

Remember, this is free money that is guaranteed by European agreement. So if you haven't already, join Directors UK and collect what is rightfully yours.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]