Hi, my question is actually for projects I cowrote, not the Shutupsystems slate (no idea where to go with it either, but not for this message...). So, these projects are actually family friendly, comedy and horror features, action-packed fantasy anthology of over 40 episodes all written, several cartoon packets developed with pilots, three actually have full seasons written.

We actually had the whole package being considered by one of the big networks, we even signed an NDA and were making plans to spendthe big payout.... But after the weekend they kicked us in the stomach. Hard. They basically just changed their mind. So, we know it all has potential and are very proud how far it's gotten, but at the same time, we didn't sell em lol.

We've reached out to long shots via email and contact forms and have not had the luck getting responses, so I figured I might as well throw the question out to all the professionals. :)

Does anyone out there have an idea where we should reach out to?

Thanks again for your time! Austyn S.

Hey everyone! Long-time lurker, but this is my very first post.

I’m currently dealing with a bit of a dilemma. About a week and a half ago, I released a short film that I wrote and directed. So far, it’s been doing pretty well—it’s received good reviews and has been selected for a couple of festivals. The film itself is meant to be the first episode of an anthology series that I’ve already written and am now in the pre-production process for.

I financed the first episode through crowdfunding and by putting some of my own money into it since this is a passion project I’ve been wanting to pursue for a while. Here’s where my dilemma comes in: I’m creating individual “pitch videos” for the upcoming episodes, as I already have a cast and crew locked in for each. The purpose of these pitch videos is to provide a visual representation of the vision and story I have for each episode.

I’ve been working with a composer and have created some animations (mostly title cards) for the pitches. I took design classes in college and have completed character design courses, but my concept art skills are lacking—especially when it comes to drawing backgrounds or set pieces.

What I ended up doing was taking pictures of certain locations that best match the basic ideas I had in mind. I then ran these images through Adobe Firefly, an AI generator that can take reference pictures and add details or make changes based on those references. Afterward, I edited the AI-generated images in Photoshop to better fit the look I wanted.

Here’s my main issue: I don’t love using AI—not because I think it’s useless, but because I’d prefer to work with an actual person. Unfortunately, I can’t afford that luxury right now. The amount of concept art I’d need is just too costly for something that may or may not work.

I’m not making any money from this film, nor do I expect to generate any. Additionally, I don’t make enough to justify spending on concept art for four or five episodes I’m building up to. I’m pretty much the only one handling the advertising and design for the whole project, so I can’t really say I have much help on the art side of things.

So, my question is: should I bite the bullet and save up to hire an artist, or should I just go with what I already have?

Thanks so much for your time, and I’m sorry for the long post!

Quick Edit to fix a few spelling errors.

I am a fan of horror and action films, and usually crime thrillers tend to mix the two genres, so they're my favourite type of movie.

They usually keep the "genre" elements as subtle as possible.

Films like Hell or High Water, No Country for Old Men, Sicario, Prisoners, Wind River, etc are packed with suspense and action.

The thing is, those moments are not meant to be spectacular by themselves, but to rather serve the story and characters.

My problem is, if the script states a character kills another with a knife in a gruesome manner, I'd struggle to find a balance.

I would probably choreograph a fight scene that ends in murder rather than a gruesome murder, and the end product would suffer tonally.

A great example of the issue is James Wan. He's a versatile director, but his horror and thriller films suffer from this overthetopness, and end up recieving criticism for it.

Death Sentence is a revenge thriller shot like a shoot em up, and Malignant is a slasher shot as a martial arts film.

I personally find those kind of genre mashups enjoyable but gratuituous and even cheesy.

What I'm getting at is, how does one write and shoot something like Sicario, instead of something like Death Sentence?

I’m pretty knowledgeable about image sensors, and different lens types, but I honestly have no idea what and how to operate 80% of the accessories and tools I see attached to some cinema cameras.

Where can I learn what they do, why they’re used, and how to use them? I’m about a 70/30 visual and auditory learner.

Thanks for any help or advice yall

I've been working on an idea for a feature film and plan to shoot it on 16mm. I already have a K3 on hand though the thing is rather loud and a lot of the story will be dialogue driven so i'm not sure if that'd be my best bet for shooting the whole thing. I know there are some better, more expensive, cameras that are silent/record their own sound but i'm far away from being able to pick up one of those. Is there anyplace near the central Illinois region (Champaign is where i'm located) that would be renting out something like an Arri 16SR? I think I could probably find one in chicago but since i plan to shoot it here i'm not sure if they'd allow the camera to travel the distance back home. Would it be possible to rough it out and make it work with syncd sound and the k3?

I am curious. Did they actually use 4 different setups in this video? A wide shot and a mcu of each of two guests and host? I do not see the camera setups in the wide shot they could have possibly used for MCU shots? I understand they do not have to be and they could have moved the gears around but this interview was one take and continuous . And if they used 4 setups, where did they put camera so that it wasn't visible in the wide shot?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZRddaJfdalE&ab_channel=DannyJones

Howdy folks.

I'm hosting a 24-hour filmmaking challenge for me about 14 friends. Every year we get together and get into teams and create short films based on a prompt that I give everybody. Last year it was "Time". Some other possible examples would be "Water" "Love" "Connection" "Silence" and "Parallel".

To anyone who might have done something similar to what I'm doing in the past, what are some prompts that worked well for your challenges, or what are some that you'd love to do/have done. Open to weird/experimental/existential suggestions! Thanks!

TL:DR: feeling stuck in my career journey and I’m weighing the pros and cons of going back to school.

I ask this because I feel kind of stuck in my filmmaking career. I've been working freelance since 2018 since then I've worked on multiple different things. I've worked on four feature films, weddings, events, live speeches, TV broadcasting, documentaries, live streams, and sporting events, and even had footage I've shot on Good Morning America. I graduated from college last year but in many ways, I feel aimless and without connections. I live near the Metro-Detroit area and the film scene from my experience is small but eager. The last film I worked on really left a bad taste in my month I made a post about it here.

I think I've just been in my head lately because I've seen so many of my peers make strides within the filmmaking journeys. When I listed all the things I'm still very proud of the work I've done. I think I'm at the point where I want to work or be a part of creative projects. But I'm having a hard time getting those doors to open. I even have a hard time getting doors open in broadcasting.

I think what I hope to gain from school is making more peer connections with other filmmakers, getting more hands-on experience with cinematic cameras, use university resources to gain access to internship opportunities. These are just high hopes, and I know those things aren't granted. But I feel I made a mistake the first time around with the university graduated from solely focused on broadcasting and they're wasn't a heavy focus on the hands-on experience or film production; so I've always felt I was missing something.

I think I'm just weighing my options, I can see the benefits of school but I don't think I can afford the cost of it. But another of me just thinks of moving to a popular film city i.e. Los Angeles, Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Toronto, etc. but if the horror stories. I've heard from people I worked on sets with they say that work dried up terribly.

So I'm just stuck in a limbo state right now and I would love to hear different perspectives or recommendations or suggestions. On what moves I should take.

We've all gassed ourselves up to sell ourselves and our work. Perhaps we've even bent the truth...? I'm curious to hear if that's ever been the case for any of you.

I’m a film student at a not-very-good university and about to embark on my last film next semester. I have a script I’ve been working hard on, saved 2k, and have started talking to actors and crew friends from school. Basically, I want to do this right since I might not get to again and don’t want to mess this up so I want to crowd fund more cash but I have a couple questions.

1. I started building a website for the film to look professional but am wondering if it will generate any donations at all since I plan to use indiegogo, or seed and spark too? Am I wasting time?

2. I seem to hear equally positive things about indigogo and seed and spark as the crowdfunding heavyweights but I’ve been advised to choose one and not use two. Is that good advice?

I am currently working on a surreal short film and this shot caught me off guard as I was searching for inspiration. I am lost at how the look was created, and was wondering if anyone on here could offer me some insight. I would love to give recreating and tweaking this shot a bit as a challenge.

https://preview.redd.it/7utft87uij4e1.jpg?width=1200&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=fd532755f37a4832d82ea6cf9596751dfc0e65f3

So I just bought a feelworld F570 used on ebay to use with my GH5. When I connected it seemed to be working but when I set my camera to 4k 10bit HLG the monitor cut off and displayed "no signal" It works with HLG in 4k 8 bit and works with 4k 10 bit in any other color profile. I tried my camera with a different feelworld monitor(I believe a lut6) and it worked fine at 4k 10 bit HLG. I also tried the monitor with a BMPCC 6k at 6k BRAW and it displayed fine. I cant tell if its the camera or the monitor but one of them isn't working in my specific situation. Any thoughts?

I’m just wondering if there are any mentorship programs for people who are interested in film production. I’m kinda looking for ones that like fly you out to LA or somewhere and you learn and get hands on experience from industry experts. I have heard negative things about Call Sheet Media - so please don’t refer me to them.

im a 4th year film major attending ucsc. i dont have much experience other than being the cinematographer on two shorts. should i make a unique resume just for the internship? and any tips for the cover letter? thank you :)

M21, I've been writing scripts for years but I live super rurally so have never found anyone else to share/collaborate with. If anyone else is in a similar situation, it'd be nice to hear from you :)

I’m looking to connect with some like-minded folks to start a little virtual coffee chat group. Ideally to share tips, learn together, and swap creative ideas. I was thinking this could be a fun way to network, grow and support each other.

Thoughts?? 🤔

I’ve been a massive fan of the 1951 film Scrooge and recently I’ve been loving the effect of Marley’s ghost in the movie.

What I’m wondering is, how could I pull this off ghost effect ? What methods can you guys think of?

Practical? Green screen? What do you think? Please feel free to share.

Might be moving up there in a few months. I currently work as a cam op for a video production company where I live now, but as most jobs in this field go, networking got me here. Does moving to a new city just mean starting over? These kinds of jobs tend to not always be posted on sites like LinkedIn, etc. Anyone ever go through something like this?

Hey gang,

My wife and I are both production freelancers and NYC residents. I'm so tired of getting hammered by insurance. NYS health marketplace is not helpful and wildly overpriced. Curious if there are others in similar situations who know of some miracle health insurance option I might not know about? Online broker resulted in just getting spam ads. Other details - I'm 35 and have an LLC

I recently picked up a Sony A6400 to record my comedy shows and am looking for recommendations on the best shotgun mic within a $100 budget. Any suggestions?

Hi guys, so I’m currently (21) and a senior in college at a film school. I’ve been focusing on trying to be on a lot of student film sets and even had my own. I have a backup plan if I can’t get into being on paid film sets full time. But I’m just unsure how to just breakout into doing it. Not sure where to look or how to get there. My overall goal is become a music video director.

Any advice is welcomed!

Hi everyone,

I'm a longtime theater actor who transitioned to film in the last couple years. I haven't booked a lot yet, so I'm still getting used to how things work on set. Since the industry is so slow right and the closest film hub to me is a couple hours away, I really want to start making and acting in my own short films, but beginning seems like a very daunting task...

Do you guys have any books/videos/podcasts/tips on getting started, especially when coming from an acting background?

Thanks :)

Hi everyone,

I graduated this summer with a Film BA and have spent the last 7 months applying for admin roles at London-based production companies. So far, I’ve had one online interview for an admin role at a talent agency (which I applied for thinking it’s adjacent to the film industry), and one in-person interview, but I didn’t get the in-person job as they wanted more admin experience (I have one year of remote admin experience and was the administrator for my university’s student film festival). I’ve also emailed production companies directly, but they rarely reply, and when they do, they say they’re not hiring people at the moment.

I’ve focused on the few roles I’ve been able to find that ask for minimal or no experience. Most jobs within production companies seem to require 3+ years of experience, which makes it hard to get my foot in the door. I want to become a producer in scripted film/TV but have also applied for admin roles at documentary companies.

I’m currently working retail in my hometown, and I can’t afford to move to London without a job first. I’ve also thought about moving to Canada on an IEC visa to see if their film industry is doing any better job-wise, but worry about ending up in the same position with no experience.

My stepdad is a bit old-fashioned and doesn’t understand the industry, so he can’t see why I haven’t been able to get a job as a graduate. He’s saying I should look into changing careers, but I don’t want to give up on the film industry before I’ve even started. Should I look into a doing masters or is there any other avenue I could try that could lead to producing? Any advice is greatly appreciated.

I have basic carpentry knowledge learnt from doing some home renovations with the help from a friend who is a trained carpenter.

I need to create a spinning platform for a music video. The platform needs to be able to have space for two people to sit on, side by side. The table needs to continuously spin 360 degrees.

I was thinking of buying a heavy duty rotating bracket (large lazy susan) and simply attaching a large platform ontop.

How would you go about this, bearing in mind carpentry knowledge is basic and budget is small (under £200 / $250)

Thank you

So I learned that I should care about audio as much as the visual. But sometimes I just don't get how the quality of professional film is so neat, even when filmed outside. Can you break down factors in production/post-production that make clean audio, and the budget for that?

How do I create a good scene with lighting for a music video when shooting outside? Are there any lightboxes that are battery driven? Any help is greatly appreciated!

Hi,

I'm new to filmmaking and want to shoot short clips in my bedroom. I will use premiere pro for post production and need to buy a laptop but have quite a small budget. I'm just editing short clips mainly (the largest project will likely be 3minutes).

I was thinking of a refurbished laptop

For example the MacBook pro retina 15 inch(2017) with 16gb ram, 512gb storage, 2.9 ghz. Which prices at around £400.

Ideally I wouldn't want to spend more than £250 but it might be difficult finding something. Do you think there are options or better options than what I mentioned? Even though I prefer a MacBook, I'm also open to windows. Thanks a lot