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Ask a Studio Head How To Get Into the Movie Business
Larry Meistrich started making movies with next to no money. He's the founder and chairman of NEHST Studios, "a diversified film production, financing and distribution company" that opened its doors in May, 2007. As the above links show, Larry is a serious expert on the inner workings of the movie and TV production business, with a long string of production successes on his resume. Ask him whatever you like. Usual interview rules apply. And who knows? Maybe NEHST will finance your next movie.
Whenever I've read biographies of folks who have gone on to become movie makers, the basic answer always seems to be the same: the way to get into the movie business is to start making movies.
Grab your friends, find a camcorder, write a script, download some software, make a movie.
Then make another.
And another.
Keep doing it until you get good at it. It take an incredible amount of time and determination. You spend a lot of money.
Somewhere along the way you become part of the "movie making community." Profit!
I hope that after I die the one word people use to describe me is "resurrected."
With respect to your film's score, how do you handle an allegation that the composer plagiarized part of the score from something he had heard a decade ago on the radio? Or how do you prevent such cases from occurring?
Best bet is to start your studio in a right-to-work state where Union rules don't apply. Texas and Oregon are both places that have fostered feature film studios outside of the Hollywood system. And it's not as hard to get people there as you might think - a lot of people in the industry are looking for any opportunity they can to get the hell out of LA. ;)
With the internet, does it matter where the film production takes place? I think not.
== First cross river, then insult alligator.
Yes, it is possible for an independent film to make a profit. Directors have to start somewhere and many of them start by making their own films and selling distribution rights. You must do it yourself.
Don't blame the creative and production unions for everything. They continue to be a response to the unreasonable demands that Producers put on them. The creative and production sides have worked for decades to protect the value and safety of their work.
Now, Joe Schmoe indie studio guy won't put it to you like that, but he knows the game and you should learn it too before maintaining uninformed opinions.
http://www.maxineudall.com/2010/02/should-economists-be-sued-for-malpractice.html
If you have developed a fairly detailed idea for a movie, perhaps even an entire script, but you haven't actually tried to film your ideas, is it possible to get your idea picked up based on a script alone? What is the best way to get some attention to your script from people in the industry?