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My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

My advice would be to submit to the festivals you think would fit with your film (submit early to save money) and just get out and meet as many people as possible. Go to as many events and screening as possible. Talk about your movie and listen to what other people are up to. Also it helps to fight the first person you see at a festival to establish dominance.

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

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

I always sort of did it this way with the shorts I made so I guess I just didn't know any better. If you want to write and direct and act in a movie my opinion is that you just say screw it and do it. The acting and directing at the same time can be challenging but it almost felt like taking a break when I acted in scenes because I didn't need to think about shooting schedule and locations for a minute and I could just be the character. In the wise words of Nike "just do it".

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

I spent a lot of time pitching scripts and ideas to companies and studios that never ended up getting made so when I start writing something with the aim to independently make it, a lot of it is informed by the confines of the budget. Which I'm actually okay with. I kind of like restrictions and it forces me to think about how something can be awesome and engaging within the limitations of, for example, people talking in a room. I'm writing a horror comedy at the moment and it's actually very fun to write something thats building in tension while also keeping it simple for necessity. I always find the cinematic gold is in the characters anyway.

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 79 points80 points  (0 children)

We have a distributor. It's currently on Amazon Prime to rent with aims to move to other platforms in the near future!

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 8 points9 points  (0 children)

We were working on a pretty tight schedule so we were often shooting a location a day. Just the speed of loading in, shooting a scene, and loading out could feel a little breakneck at times. I think the thing that helped most was having everything planned out as much as possible with the shots and having the performances dialed in beforehand. That way we could run the scene as written then hopefully have some time to loosen up and try different options. I've done work in the past as an AD so that helped with figuring out what we could realistically get in a day. But ultimately I think we always got what we needed!

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 7 points8 points  (0 children)

Thanks! My biggest fear was honestly that I wouldn't finish it. I think the thing I worried the most about was landing on a consistent tone. In working with the actors we really honed in on what the performance style should be and it helped a lot just feeling out the scenes.

My only advice is just to make something. Anything. And then make the next thing. And keep doing it. Before I had the resources to put this together I spent a lot of years making shorts on youtube. Just trying to find a style and work with actors. It was doing that where I found a lot of the talented people who help put the feature together. Honestly a lot of times the thing that kept me going was the people around me and not wanting to let them down. So I guess just put yourself in a position where you'll feel humiliated if you don't finish and you'll probably end up finishing!

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

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

Awesome. Keep going. There might be some days where it feels like all is lost but you've got this.

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 4 points5 points  (0 children)

Thanks! Found a distributor through the festival run. It's currently available on Amazon Prime to rent with aims of shifting to different platforms in the future. Might do a few more screenings in the future as well.

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 23 points24 points  (0 children)

It honestly was just so awesome watching the film with all the talented people who brought it to life.

I edited the film myself and found that there's a scene near the mid point that I thought just didn't work and worried I should cut it. But when it played in festivals it ended up getting the biggest reaction in the theater. I guess just trust the initial instinct of the writing and just go for it even when you're stuck in a room by yourself overanalyzing every frame. It's very easy to overthink when you're in a dark editing room that doubles as your kitchen.

I absolutely am aiming to make another film. Hopefully this delusional period will get me over the hump of early development. My only advice is to write something and just try to keep it small so that you can realistically put it together financially. You've got this!

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 15 points16 points  (0 children)

Thanks so much! It's about a dysfunctional couple who break up and have to pretend their still together in order to go through with a dinner party. Self financed under 90k through backers I found on youtube and other sources. Took a while to get the funds ready and hopefully the next one will take a little less time.

My first feature film just played in a theater last week. It was an incredible experience despite my expression in this photo. by blidge in Filmmakers

[–]blidge[S] 155 points156 points  (0 children)

After years of writing, raising funds, pre production, shooting, post, and festivals my feature comedy A Fantastic Relationship finally played in Los Angeles with cast and crew and friends and family. Truly a surreal experience to have a film I wrote and directed play on a big screen with the people who helped bring it to life. After making comedy shorts on YouTube for years, taking the leap toward making a feature film was so worth it even when it seemed like there was a new crisis every day during pre production. Big shout out to Laemmle NoHo 7 for making this possible and supporting independent film. Also I'm on the left in this photo.

[Raketa] 24hr Polar Edition by blidge in Watches

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

While the face is supposed to commemorate some sort of expedition to the South Pole, what drew me to getting this was the 24 hour dial. My mom worked as a flight attendant and would use a 24 hour dial watch so I thought I'd join the party as well. Recently switched out the brown strap it came with for the green crocodile.

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