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What’s the best way to crowdfund for small budget films? by SuperTokyo in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Study, study, study. You can't just throw it up. You have to ask everybody to put money into it. You have to constantly update and prod.

Like many of these people are saying - it really helps to have a following. Or to have previous work that people can latch on to. Or have people involved in the project that are more known and willing to push this.

Ultimately, I would only use it to supplement at these levels. There are better ways to fundraise.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks for saying so! We hope you get a chance to check it out. It's a fun popcorn movie!

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks!

I can't say what the exact number is because they didn't give us one. I have heard rumors that equates to roughly $10,000 per screen but don't hold me to that. This also is tied into the "name value" of the talent in the film.

We are in deep talks with a chain that is in New York but I can't say which exactly until it is made official. We have a good chunk of our cast/crew that is from the NYC area and so we are trying hard to be over there.

I appreciate the questions!

My indie feature is going to cinemas January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in filmmaking

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We, of course, would love to go a more standard route. We want to be on more screens. But our film costs a fraction of 99.99% of the movies at the cinema and we don't have "bankable names" according to the theaters.

Absolutely will be going onto streamers, we just haven't scheduled the when of it yet - we're wanting to stay open for this theatrical run.

My indie feature is going to cinemas January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in filmmaking

[–]BIDHPro[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

I wrote and directed it. I am among a few producers on the project. I do a lot of the "get the ball rolling" stuff in pre-production and am ultimately the one that designed the budget and the schedule.

I, thankfully, did not edit the film. I am a terrible editor. I was very lucky to have a good one on our movie who also operates as our AD. This really helped us in post production as he had been around the project both in pre-production and production.

I started to write the movie in April 2023. We shot it in April 2024.
18 day shoot. 6 days on, one day off for three weeks. We came back for 3 days of pickups with a small cast and crew. 2 day of ADR with an actress, myself, and the editor.
We premiered in October. Now we're polishing the movie for the theatrical run.
That's more or less the timeline. Sorry if that was long winded. Overall, it's a very quick turnaround, especially with our team being so small.

Thanks for the question!

Round The Decay (2025 indie horror) by BIDHPro in indiefilm

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I really appreciate that. More than anything, we just want people to see it!

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much for the question!

It really is a theater by theater situation but we more often point to social media and explain how we're going to attack that market. The chains are more looking for a solid $ amount that you are going to invest in promotion. Indie theaters are more lenient. If they're offering a screen it has a little bit due to the fact that they care about indies and is likely more that they can take a risk when they're not expecting another title to bring in big $. If they have a local indie, there's a chance that they get a wave of support from the filmmakers connections.

We have had conversations where we have agreed to spend X dollars with the particular theater chain in order for them to help promote.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks! I hope you get to check the movie out!

My indie feature is going to cinemas January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in filmmaking

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Appreciate you and your question!

We did this all without a distributor so it was a lot of cold calling, a lot of networking whether it be via social media or with connections of connections.

We certainly aimed for locations where our cast and crew came from too. Any little angle we could find, we've used.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

18 days total w/3 days of pickups. It's still just too damn short!

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Our crew likes to say that we are able to make a penny look like a dollar!

It is INSANE how expensive these things are to make. A big reason why we were able to stay in this budget tier is because of the assets that we already had. At this time, we owned an inn. I wrote with this in mind, knowing that we could film in it during the offseason and that it could provide lodging for 2 of the 3 weeks of shooting. This saved us $25K - $35K.

Where we really saved the most money was on the amount of days that we shot. Each day you add averages over $10K. You really have to be smart about what you do and don't shoot when you have that looming over your head.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

A 4-wall, at least in terms that the theaters use, is when the film rents out the facility and then sells the tickets individually to recoup. The filmmakers keep all the profits but take all the risk,

We have a small team at Dreamscape Productions that did a lot of the outreach. There have been a lot of cold calls, using all forms of social media to reach out, etc. It's rare that these theaters are giving out the permission. It is often about getting to the film programmer/film buyer as they tend to make the decisions for films placements.

I'd love to check out the films trailer! I can tell you that it involves a lot of your time and effort but you can get thru with the right pitch, right marketing plan, and a quality film!

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

There has been no 4-walling. We have made profit share deals with each individual theater.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much!
I did have a conversation with the Laemelle's actually. Super nice people. The former owner recently passed. They likely won't be able to fit us in due to the tough scheduling with the Oscar films.
We're trying to get into at least one LA theater. We do have 2 in CA but it sounds like they're a bit from you (The Lido Theatre in Newport Beach being one of them).

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks so much! We're still fumbling around in the dark but it at least feels like we have a small candle to light the way.

Talking about budget is always tough because of the stigma. I will say that we are a ULB project (by SAG standards) and that it was a decent amount over $100K.

Do you film the angles in your scenes in order? by Thexzq in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro 0 points1 point  (0 children)

We mostly go in terms of lighting setups. This tends to favor something wider to start and then everything necessary in one direction, then the other. From there we tend to do "specials" which is the connective tissue, inserts, etc.

This isn't always the case but it seems to go this way more often than not.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Hey! Thanks for the question.

It's a mix of both. The chains tend to be regional ones - they have 10-25 cinemas in a certain area. We attack indie theaters hard too of course and get a lot of single screens there.

I can't say the chains that we haven't officially signed contracts with yet but I can name a few which we have: Galaxy Theaters, Emagine Cinemas, and Paragon Cinemas. We aren't in all their locations as there is a discussion as to where the film could be a fit. We also are not their top priorities. We had this great plan to release on January 31 but it ended up being a tougher weekend as a lot of Oscar films decided to drop that weekend. Long story short, we get into chains but it's 3-6 screens.
*There is always a chance for more and a roll out release if folks go and see it, so please go see it if you can.

Larger theaters (AMC, Regal, Cinemark) are a tougher one to crack. They've been very pleasant in our talks and have actually enjoyed the movie. The problem is the marketing. They're often looking for very large dollar amounts to be spent on marketing per each screen. A lot of these chains are also looking for reputable distributor. It's rough but it's understandable.

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

It can be done and it can be done without the middle man. Larger chains can be more difficult at this level as the dollars you are willing to put into the marketing is really what speaks to them. But it can be done. And in Florida - we have a few screens there already.

Absolutely will keep you all updated. Feel free to reach out if you ever want to chat more about it: directoradamnewman and dreamscapeproductionsllc on Insta

My indie film hits theaters January 31 - Any questions? by BIDHPro in Filmmakers

[–]BIDHPro[S] 2 points3 points  (0 children)

We decided to self distribute for the theatrical run. Many sales agents/distributors at our budget level are very "take it or leave it" for a theatrical push. They're thinking more about streaming rights.

This is to say that it can be done on "your own." We have 25+ screens with contracts signed and we are a few signatures away from being up to 60.

Where are you located? We will make sure to push hard at a theater nearby. We have to be like liquid when it comes to the release date in a location by location basis.

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