Indie Director Tom DiCillo’s ‘Delirious’ Blog

Writer/Director, Tom DiCillo’s [IMDB info] new blog chronicles his journey through the creation and distribution of his latest film, Delirious. The film is a contemporary fable about a small time celebrity paparazzo, Les Gallantine (Steve Buscemi) who befriends a young homeless man, Toby Grace (Michael Pitt). Toby meets and falls in love with pop star K’Harma Leeds (Alison Lohman), causing jealousy and friction with Les. (check your local listings – it’s really worth seeing it in the big screen).

This is DiCillo’s first foray into the blogosphere but I feel if he continues with it beyond Delirious, it could be one of the essential reads for all aspirating filmmakers. In fact, I commented on his blog about that sentiment and Mr. DiCillo responded to my comment – “I will try to keep the blog going. It is helpful to me to put my thoughts and frustrations into something creative…”

I cannot summarize the passion and creativity of DiCillo’s blog posts (you need to check it out for yourselves), but I will highlight some of his shared insight into the filmmaking process of Delirious – and break it down into production categories:

Pre-Production

Screenplay – DiCillo’s idea for the script was motivated by the public’s addiction to celebrity and fame. He got the idea for the main character of the film after an encounter with a paparazzo in New York during the filming of The Real Blonde. The guy went into to the shot, trying to take a pic of Daryl Hannah – DiCillo almost strangled him. Years later, DiCillo ran into to this guy at a party; They hung out in NY and LA for 2 months and then he wrote the script.

Continue reading Indie Director Tom DiCillo’s ‘Delirious’ Blog…

Let the Public Finance Your Film

All independent filmmakers will struggle with finding financing for their projects. We all have that same jealous dream when we hear what the big studio productions spend and what we would be able to produce with just a fraction of their multi-million dollar budgets. Last week, I had those thoughts when I saw the amount of equipment, trucks, crew, etc. that encompassed east midtown Manhattan during the production of Adam Sandler’s latest film. According to the MPAA, in 2006 “the average cost to make and market a major MPAA member company film was $100.3 million.”

What if the funding process was democratized, allowing the public to vote on what they want to see by supporting it financially? Now, more than ever, indie producers are taking their projects to the public for financing. Here are a few endeavors worth noting:

+ Fund-A-Frame was the name and method that produced the “first ever frame-by-frame funded film,” titled, The Study Of Bunkers & Mounds In A Temperate Climate (Relatively Speaking). Director Sebastian Michael literally sold single frames of his film. Investors received a high-resolution (HD) jpeg file with their name and the time code printed on it. For an additional cost, the frames can be printed on quality photographic paper, encased in a wooden frame and signed. The film premiered at The 60th edition of the Locarno International Film Festival earlier this month.

Continue reading Let the Public Finance Your Film…

DVD Commentary for Filmmakers (Series) – The Machinist

My producing partner and I have been watching a lot of indie psychological thrillers lately because it relates to our current project. First, we want to make sure that their story is not too similar to ours. Secondly, we want to see if we can get some useful production information from their film’s DVD Commentary. You know – the essential information that every indie producer wants to know: how they got financing, their budget, how they attracted the actors to the roles without any money (especially if they have a star) that kind of thing. You’d be surprised at what you can learn from this info. This is going to be a regular series on this blog. I realize that this isn’t exactly a new release, but I’m going to start with The Machinist. [IMDB info]

The Machinist (a.k.a. El Maquinista) (2004)

Directed by Brad Anderson [IMDB info] – Written by Scott Kosar [IMDB info] – Produced by Julio Fernández [IMDB info]

The story is about Trevor Reznik (Christian Bale) [IMDB info] – an industrial machinist who hasn’t slept in a year. As a result of his extreme insomnia, he’s paranoid, hallucinates, and freaks out. Good movie.

Here are the DVD commentary highlights that I feel are useful and interesting to filmmakers:

Continue reading DVD Commentary for Filmmakers (Series) – The Machinist…

The Links Directory Is Up (Over 3,000 Filmmaking Links)

In the process of producing my first feature film, “Nothing Without You” (currently in the Development stage), I have compiled thousands of useful links to filmmaking resources. Here are the links in Filmlinker’s Links Directory – broken down into the following categories & sub-categories:

+ SCREENWRITING – The start of it all. Every screenwriting website that I could find is here. It includes educational information, software, professional screenwriter’s blogs, online magazines, articles, etc.

- Writing & Reference – This is a natural sub- category to Screenwriting. It includes many reference sites, info on writing structure, all around multiple sources of information on various fields that will help writers fill in the blanks of their work.

+ PRE-PRODUCTION – The plan starts here. This is such a multi-faceted category; I’ve included several elements which contain all the film directories, manuals, and general resource sites that I think can be useful to all filmmakers. Plus, budgeting resources, film analysis sites (that can help with your business plan), pre-pro software sites, etc.

Continue reading The Links Directory Is Up (Over 3,000 Filmmaking Links)…