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Ras Johansen
as
Max
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| "In industry terms we've made Mystery Play on
Lock, Stock & Two Smoking Barrels' photocopying budget." |
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Seán speaking in the Ham & High, 26/Feb/99
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| Mystery Play needs
completion funding |
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Full screenplay available
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| We have shot and edited Mystery
Play, an independently produced
feature film. The production needs only another £15,000 in order
for us to finish on tape, but if funds were available we could finish on
film, which would require a further £30,000 - slightly less if the
blow up to 35mm was done in the USA or Canada. |
| When it is ready, distributors specialising
in low budget films will be approached. If a distribution or sales
company are interested in Mystery Play,
they would try and sell it abroad. Films are sold by territory, and
according to which medium it will be screened in. The main rights
for sale are Theatrical (ie cinema release), Rental Video, Retail
Video, Satellite TV, Terrestrial TV and Multimedia. There are "windows"
between each medium: a film will usually appear on video, for example,
four or six months after its Theatrical release, and then on sell-through
video several months after that, and then on Terrestrial TV sometime
later (a year or two). These windows mean the return on investment
is usually spread out over time. |
| An investor in Mystery
Play could hope to receive a return
on their capital between eighteen months and five years after the film
is completed. With the addition of the advent of digital TV to take into
consideration as well, there have never been so many people looking for
product to programme into their cinemas or TV channels. |
| There has never been a better time
in which to invest in films. Mystery Play
is therefore likely to sell, and because of its low production overheads,
may cover all its costs in one deal. |
| Many companies regard investing in
a relatively untried director, cast or crew as too risky; however, it is
much safer for them to invest in a film that has already been shot and
cut, as they can see simply by watching the trailer what its sales prospects
might be. Sales Agent Grace Carley advises that this is often the best
route to take: to shoot cheaply with privately raised funds and then try
and sell the film. This is often the only way to get your first feature
film made, and this is how Shane Meadows got started (Smalltime),
as did Robert Rodriguez, who made El Mariachi for $7,000. |
| On slightly larger budgets Sam Raimi
(Evil Dead), the Coen brothers (Blood Simple), Hal Hartley
(The Unbelievable Truth), Kevin Smith (Clerks), Spike Lee
(She's Gotta Have It), Sarah Jacobsen (Mary Jane Is Not A Virgin
Anymore), Edward Burns (The Brothers McMullen), Rose Troche
(Go Fish), and Neil Labute (In the Company of Men) all made
their first features this way (and the list gets longer all the time),
as did masters Stanley Kubrick (Fear and Desire), Martin Scorsese
(Who's That Knocking at My Door?), and Theo Angelopoulos (The
Broadcast). |
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