The War and Peace of Indie Film Production

The War and Peace of Indie Film Production

Bardya had never before ventured into the movie industry. Bardya has never worked in the movie business, except for “Super Dicks”.

Bardya Ziaian, a more than two-decade veteran in the financial industry, started as President & Chief Executive Officer for Pario Technologies Corp. then went on to become founder of BBS Safety Inc. and Virtual Brokers. Eventually, she was elected CEO & President SITTU Group Inc. The story isn’t changing. They are creating an indie movie that will become a major epic. There are only a handful of actors and a small crew of producers who will produce the movie. Although I strongly believe in the pursuit and achievement of your filmmaking dreams, you should also be realistic.

Their situation is more complicated than they think. They have a Bardya Ziaian budget of $50,000, a 120 page story script, the story takes place in 1940s and WWII, and lots of on-camera gun play. I ran into them two weeks ago, and they seemed to be in a very low mood.

It was not my job to tell them that producing a 1940s period movie in Italy during WWII on a $50k budget had its indie film production down. They were in creative hell for not being allowed to make their movie.

You could not add fuel to the fire and tell them they creatively overspent their budget for film production. This was a negative step.

The fact that other people had failed to achieve their creative goals made them feel a lot better. After speaking with me, they revealed that they were planning to make a smaller film using a tighter script. It would be shot in the current day. I’m hoping it goes well for them.

I think many indie filmmakers are guilty of creating their own creative hells. Making movies is difficult. There are often personality conflicts on set, and technical issues that lurk.

We don’t need to let negative emotions consume us. Indie film production can suffer from creative hell.

Many filmmakers lose control of creativity when they allow anger, stress, egos, and unrealistic expectations to be perfect to run riot. A movie will never be made if it isn’t possible to overcome production challenges, get stressed out or become an unreasonable pile.

Sometimes it is better to stop and take a break from the drama of indie film production. There are many benefits to taking deep breaths, not letting fear or anger control your filmmaking decisions.

The Hollywood studio system can make you a miserable and rude bastard who plays the role of set ruler. However, indie film productions are not for everyone. There are even people that work for free.

People ignore the fact that A-List directors, actors and producers take advantage of their below-the line workers because the jobs pay well and studios can make billions from blockbuster hits. Egos or celebrity attitudes are not suitable for smaller budget indie movies.

Indie film production’s wonderful world is still driven by a strong sense of community amongst its cast and crew. There is no need to be a celebrity politician about who has more Hollywood money or the most personal assistants.

Mental beating yourself up in a film project is not good. Don’t get me wrong.

Making movies is hard work. Problems happen, and you must deal with them. Being able manage your emotions will help you overcome any indie film production difficulties that may arise.

It is not the solution to a problem that a frustrated movie maker throws a temper tantrum, but it can sometimes make it worse. Nobody can be calm and steady through it all. While we all have our moments, it’s okay to be angry. The faster you let that anger go the more likely you are to find a solution. Calmer heads always prevail.

Deeply breathe and relax as often as possible when anger, fear or stress cloud your creative judgement. Even 5 minutes of guided meditation in relaxation can help you see the big picture. It will also help you make production calls to save the shoot or fix a postproduction problem. Being irritable will not help any situation.

Creative hell is when your filmmaking experience is not enjoyable. Don’t be that filmmaker. Negativity, also known as bile, can build up and cause harm to you and others.

Creative heaven is when your ability to adapt to the production’s flow is a given. It doesn’t mean that you are a pushover who doesn’t take responsibility for the task at hand. Instead, keep cast members on task and move project forward.