For those that have been following along with my Twitter account you would have known that LIFE has a way of presenting a series of challenges and I'm not immune.
But I am nothing if not persistent in my pursuits and when I decide I want to do something - I do it. For example I competed in my first IRONMAN Triathlon with only 13 weeks of training and entered a Half IRONMAN at 6 weeks completing both. I also rode on a Spin Bike for 24 hours for Charity for Dr Oz and HEALTHCORPS after flying from Sydney to New York the night before.
I know that when you put your mind to it there is nothing we can't try. However, I strongly am a believer in the quote "have the courage to finish what you start" so don't give up just because it's going to be hard.
Back to the last 12 months.
The Overview:
I had left my last media company and had decided to further my creative opportunities and wanted to finish work on a NEW 8 week eating and activity which was the genesis of my Human ECO System plan. That completed I wanted then to continue to work on both movie and TV projects while I maintained my passion for changing the world's health issues.
I had five story outlines that I wanted to develop for movies. I wrote two fairly quickly, an animated story and a female serial killer movie plot. The others are still being written and re-written.
The story that I wished to turn into an animated movie I spent a year writing, re-writing and re-writing and then finally re-writing elements to make it stronger. For the unitiated this is standard practice for a movie script. I then had a close friend and very capable Script Doctor add his finesse and we felt we had both unique and compelling content for the movie.
I then attended and won the "Script Pitchfest" competition at the Australian Directors Guild Conference late last September (2008) for the animated feature. I received an amazing amount of support from movie industry people who all liked the project and felt it could be worth pursuing. I needed to gather some momentum to find ways to get the project into production.
Now as it is an animated family movie the budget for this is substantially higher than most movies that get made in Australia at anywhere between $40M and $65M so I was advised to look at the US first. The budget difference ranges from which country it is made in and by whom, who is cast as voice characters, applying and getting subsidies and grants etc, so the process is no easy or fast treatment. I was learning more and more about this as I went and finding out the movie business is alot about keeping things secret - don't ask me why cause that's another secret :-)
Having made my last animated feature for less than $2M and simultaneously making the Interactive DVD Game for another >$1M which all came from a private investor, for this feature having a larger budget and possibly being made as a Movie Studio picture demands that "known or Producers and Directors are required" so I sought to align with other Producers.
In early November the screenplay was forwarded on my behalf by a kind US Agent (as Studios will not accept unsolicited scripts) to two of the major studios (Paramount and Dreamworks) which was very exciting news for me. Then we had the first major credit crunch which slowed down all NEW projects that were currently being made and also stopped any other NEW ones from beginning.
I received my first "PASS" in the middle of December (which wasn't the XMAS present I was hoping for) but very very common in this business. Think of all the people writing and then trying to get movies made and how many actually do.
I had maintained contact with some fantastic Australian Producers who wanted me to meet with an Australian movie company as the Producer felt that this story was uniquely Australian but had worldwide global appeal. We met with them and they wanted to send it to the US Head Office for consideration.
I also had the script logged on an industry website and from that I was approached by a Canadian company looking to make an animated movie with the budget range we had decided upon so they contacted me and asked for the script. It was sent to them but that means it could be 6-12 months before they make a decision so we still wait.
Christmas came and went with no other news which I hoped was a good sign. Then I was contacted by a friend in the US who knew a Producer looking for an animated feature (again within our budget) that wanted to know more about my work. We had a series of emails and phone calls before she asked to read the script and permission to show her contacts.
This happened about six months ago and my animated feature movie was "pretty close to being funded". They had a contact who wished to invest in my movie and certain steps were required to make this happen. The US Producer sought industry guidance from her contacts and felt very strongly that we could get this into production which meant that I was going to be able to live the life that I chose. Buy the home that I had been waiting for and start a famile and then write at my pleasure with other life aspirations.
Then credit crisis part 2 arrived.
The investor was unable to meet the financial obligations and so we went back to the financial blackboard seeking other investors. I was told this was normal and not to worry but this did nothing to alleviate the reality of being an unemployed movie writer / producer who has to face his commitments to living such as eating and living and paying bills.
For the movie I knew was doing everything that I should. I researched the genre to see what was and wasn't getting made and how each was faring at the box office, I then reread the script many times to see if there was anyway to make it more appealing (a constant process until you go into production), I met with other industry contacts to see if there was anyone who could move this onto the next step. I had key Australian voices read the script and guage their interest and all wanted to be involved although none were A-list talent which is another way to get your movie interested by Studios.
After a few months of sporadic communication with my US contacts mostly at my request I decided to again take the initiative and move the project back here to Australia to see if there was anyone or anyway to realize this project. We have an amazing industry pool of talent for making animated feature and if only the budget pool was a large it would be beneficial.
Again two key Australian Producers who had shown interest were very helpful to me on this journey. If and when this project gets made I'm sure it will be in no small part to the roles they both played in assisting me with "movement" so thanks Naomi and Lisa.
With a growing surplus of "bills" mounting I decided to explore all options of being able to provide a "living income" while furthering the movie project for a "life outcome". I met with some friends who had seen me on this journey and knowing my passion for health asked me had I considered undertaking some part-time Defence work. I used to be in the Navy as a Physical Trainer so I began this process. It would provide me income yet still allow me to explore all my creative goals.
I now have two "completed" scripts - well are they ever really complete :-))
The animated one is currently being assessed by a "known Australian Producer" who I believe is possibly the only person capable of getting the necessary funding and also doing the project storyline justice. We are planning on working together on this we her company in the lead role of Producing.
My other script (female serial killer) is being read by two Producers currently but has a much smaller budget of less than $10M so I am hopeful that it will find a Studio or Independent home in the near future but nothing is set in stone. I will continue to write content for the other movie projects that I have planned over the next six months as you never know what will be liked.
In the meantime while I wait for word on the movie projects, over the next few days I hope to be informed of a successful application for re-entering the Navy as a Physical Trainer which I am sure will be an adventure in itself. This will be blogged about as I go so stay tuned for more exciting developments (I hope) that I can share with you.
Yours in Health and Reality .....
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment