Part 10 | Building a Film Production Company as an Indie Filmmaker
By Gold
At long last, only a month before production begins.
I have reached a level of exhaustion and burnout only a supreme could understand. I sleep late, wake up early, constantly having meetings, blowing out fires as they come, while also working a full-time job.
This month has been production focused and here are a few important bits we got up to:
- Had two breakout sessions with our cast. Which ultimately means that we grouped our cast based on the number of scenes they appear in, and had everyone meet for introductions to establish chemistry and familiarity. The Director and I had them read lines together in order to understand their perspective on their characters, their flow and give some tips ahead of rehearsals.
- Had a first listen to what our original soundtrack could be
- Hired supporting characters
- Paid for accommodations for our cast and crew
- Had crew recce
- Disbursed payments to the Art and Costume departments.
A noteworthy event was our previous Director of Photography (DOP), who had been with us since the first quarter, dropping off because they got a better offer, to put it more aptly. Now I understand incredible opportunities arise, but what does it say about a person’s integrity when neither their word, signature on a contract, nor their commitment means anything?
It destabilised our production and also affected me personally because of the timing, it had happened, as I had to be in high spirits for a loved one whose birthday was that same weekend.
I cried. As I have multiple times this month, to be frank, I picked myself up from that floor (literally) and got to work.
Although a very sad event, at this point, I am pleased it happened, as we got to hire a woman for the job. A female DOP? I’ll say, it’s almost a unicorn in this industry, and immediately this happened, I thought this was my chance to do this… and I did.
Not only is she female, but she is just as passionate about the project, highly detail-oriented, and her presence in the first week surely destabilised what we had achieved in the past months. Was it annoying? Yes, but it was needed.
I cannot believe it been almost a month since this happened, the drame that ensued isn’t one to be blogged about. Perhaps I start a podcast?
Sike, I’m only kidding.
Well, that is it. I am really glad I got up to write this post at this time, it is 3:41am where I’m at and I have to be at work in less than 4 hours.
Thank you so much for reading. If you got up to this point, could you leave me a heart in the comment section so I know, and if you so kindly share my journey with those around you, it will be greatly appreciated.
Until next month my darling,
Cheers!
Gold.
