Behind the Scenes

We had our conference call with les producers today and I like to think it went really well. They had a few very nice complements about our writing style and told us to give ourselves a big pat on the back for getting everything turned around so fast.

I said it before and I'll say it again, it's nice when stuff like that is recognized, because it really was a helluvalotta work. I think it helps too that our executive producer has written a few screenplays himself, so he certainly knows from experience how much work is involved.

Of course after all the niceties, we got down to business picking apart what can be improved upon in our next version. Nothing too drastic, but there are a few moments where les producers would like to see greater tension. Jim also came up with a neat idea to tie in the "bad guys" sooner.  Another thing we all agreed on is that we want to hack out a good 15 - 20 pages, if at all possible. Because Jim n' I were so under the gun with this latest draft, we didn't have the time to really edit it down as much as we would've liked to. (It's currently a smidgen over 120 pages, which equals a two hour film.)

Now what we gotta do is whip up a two page rewrite proposal for Telefilm to tell them what we intend to improve in our next version.  We also have to write a 15 line synopsis and our resumes/bios. Jim n' I are aiming to get that all done by Wednesday, so there's no rest for the wicked quite yet.

Depending on if TC & AS can shuffle their schedules around, we're planning a trip to Vancouver  Oct. 19 - 23 for a week of story meetings. (And thankfully, it's their job as producers to cover the cost of our hotel, so we won't have to sleep in our car! Yay! ;) That way we can sit face-to-face and fine tune every little moment together in order to make the script pitch perfect.

And when I say "pitch perfect" I mean it in the literal sense, because the next phase after Development is Packaging, which involves pitching the script to distributers (as well as attaching cast, etc.).

Distributers are the folks who put the film in theaters. (Think Lionsgate or their CDN counterpart, Maple Pictures.) Basically they front up money based on pre-sales, which in turn goes towards the budget. We need to get a Canadian distributer attached before we can qualify for Telefilm Production funding. (The actual "filming" phase.)

The only issue is... well, actually, there are a couple of issues...

One is the economy. When it comes to shelling out for pre-sales, distributers are really holding onto their purse strings tightly these days. So, a movie staring a protagonist in his 60's will not be without it's challenges. Not that it's impossible... it's just a little more challenging.

The second obstacle is that the Packaging phase can take at least 3 - 6 months to pull distributers, cast, etc. together. And in our case, since we're still in Development, by that point, all of the 2010 Telefilm Production money might already be spoken for.

For example, people who are currently in the Packaging phase are already getting their pitches together for April, which is the new fiscal year when everyone applies for Production funding.

So, if all goes well and we manage to attach a distributer and cast right away, we still may not be able to apply for Production funding until July, which could be too late because all the cash might already be allocated to other projects by then. Of course TC says it really varies from year to year, depending on the quality of the projects that are applying. That's why some years you'll see some really crappy films get made because not a lot of people applied, and other years some great films spend another year sitting on the shelf because the competition is so tough.

'Kay, are you still following? It can get kinda confusing, I know.

So, all that being said, if we decide to take the National route with Telefilm, that means that we may not be able to enter Production until Fall 2011, which in turn means that the film won't be released until 2012.

Ugh. Crazy, huh?

BUT, there is an alternate approach.

There is also Regional funding. You do not need to have a distributer attached to qualify for Production funding via this route. This would likely allow us to shoot our film sooner (as in Fall 2010, which is our original goal). Then we would either pitch the final product to distributers, or we would show the movie at festivals (which I think would be loads of fun!), and find distributers that way.

Needless to say, I think we're both leaning towards the Regional route.

So yeah, that's where we're at.

And on a completely unrelated note, I was at the drug store today and saw that they have all their Christmas decorations out!  CHRISTMAS!!! The first week of October!!! Okay, seriously, I know it seems they push Christmas on consumers earlier and earlier every year, but that's friggin' insane!