A YEAR WITHOUT RENT, PART 2

By Lucas McNelly

If you’ve been following A Year Without Rent on a regular basis, you no doubt are aware that the second month has been plagued by a rash of last-minute cancellations that, among other things, stranded the car in long-term parking at an airport. It was expensive.

It’s been a frustrating month, and that frustration boiled over the other day in a blog post titled “Get Your Shit Together”, the basic premise being that a lot of filmmakers, being so hell-bent on being artists, forget that they’re essentially running a small business. And, like a small business owner, they have employees under them who depend on their ability to be somewhat organized.

It’s something that transcends budget or genre or shooting format or editing software. It’s the fundamental idea of treating people well, of being a good boss. There’s absolutely no excuse for not being able to control your chaos, at least a little bit. You owe it, not just to the people working for you, but to your film, to your investors (even if said investor is your credit card), to your reputation, and to your career.

Look, no one enjoys making films in chaotic circumstances more than I do. After all, you’re reading an article from someone who once shot and edited a feature film in two weeks (cue shameless plug).

There’s value in the chaos, but it’s still not an excuse. Neither is your budget. No one cares. One thing that’s becoming pretty clear (if it wasn’t already), is how the smaller your budget is, the more you need to be on top of things. There’s precious little room for error. You can’t afford to lose half a day because you didn’t confirm the start date with your lead until the night before. Think I’m exaggerating? I wish.

On one shoot this month, a film desperately behind schedule broke for lunch. Only, there was no food. None at all. No one knew where it was. 45 minutes later, it arrived, which was 45 minutes that production will never get back. Set-ups lost forever. That can be … Read the rest

LUCAS McNELLY’S YEAR WITHOUT RENT, PART ONE

By Lucas McNelly

Today launches a new monthly column by director and traveler Lucas McNelly, who will be introducing us to the films and filmmakers he meets through his “A Year Without Rent” project.

Ardent readers of the Filmmaker Magazine blog (which should be everyone), might remember that earlier this year, my Kickstarter campaign “A Year Without Rent” made a little bit of noise by raising over $7000, or roughly 60% of the target, in the final day without the help of any rich uncles. Rather, we did it the new-fashioned way — $20 at a time, fueled almost entirely by social media.

In case you’re wondering, I don’t recommend doing it like that. It’s pretty stressful. Blow past your goal in the first week. You’ll end up with fewer grey hairs that way.

As the title indicates, the project will last a year, during which I’ll travel around the country volunteering on indie film projects like the one you’re working on right now, lending an extra hand where needed and documenting a bunch of behind-the-scenes photos and videos. The idea is to introduce talented filmmakers around the country to a wider audience. [This is the part where I tell you that if you want to have your project included, you should click here. You'll find a calendar and instructions on how to contact us.]

The project launched on February 18th. So what have I been doing in the first month? Turns out quite a bit.

We started in midcoast Maine, where I loaned my entire DVD collection to my very excited brother. Other than that (and some larger film gear that fellow filmmakers are borrowing), everything I own is in my white 1999 Buick Century. In the first month, I’ve worked on 5 projects, stretching from Maine to Minnesota, from a remote island reachable only by ferry to the middle of New York City. I’ve gotten drunk on the set of FARGO and filmed a motorcycle racing through the hallways of BLACK SWAN.

A big part of the project thus far has been getting into a rhythm in producing the content. … Read the rest