I am very proud to announce that the top of the Australian Film Industry, Australia’s creme de le creme, is coming to our home.

International Film Base presents the  A- List Film Makers Seminar  on Saturday 26th May 2012.  

I have always believed that it is a really good idea to learn from the successful people who make films. The Film Makers work at the very top and on films budgeted between $8 million to $150 million.

We will be learning from 3 of the very best about how the Film Making Business operates and how they have been so successful in getting there.

The Film Makers are

1  KRIV STENDERS  - DIRECTOR RED DOG-  $23 MILLION DOLLAR BOX OFFICE 

Red Dog Trailer

RED DOG Berlin Film Festival, 2011-  Winner, Audience Award, Vail Film Festival Colorado 2011  Winner, Grand Prize Award, Best Narrative Film, Heartland Film Festival 2011Winner, Best Director and Best Feature Film, IF Awards 2011  -  Winner, Best Film, AACTA Awards 2012

LUCKY COUNTRY   2008  Feature Film  -   Director

BOXING DAY   2007    83 minutes   The Adelaide Film Festival / Rising Sun Pictures / Smoking Gun Productions / Horrorshow
Director / Screenwriter / Producer / Cinematographer Kriv Stenders    2007 The Animal Logic IF Award for Best Director
Official Selection               2007 Montreal Festival Du Nouveau Cinema (Special Jury Menti    2007 Sydney Film Fest   2007 Dungog Film Festival

 BLACKTOWN  2005  91 minutesHorrorshow / Pod Film / Madman Entertainment / NTFO
Director / Screenwriter / Producer / Cinematographer Kriv Stenders  Audience Award                2005 Sydney International Film Festival

2 JASON BALLANTINE – CO-EDITOR GREAT GATSBY -BAZ LUHRMANN TRUSTED COLLABORATOR  

Currently the Co-Film Editor on THE GREAT GATSBY. He is best known as the Film Editor for WOLF CREEK.

He recently completed Kieran Darcy-Smith’s psychological drama Wish You Were Here and Bill Bennett’s island mystery Uninhabited. As well as Screen Gems highly successful teen thriller Prom Night.  Nominated for an ASE Award for Rogue and Caterpillar Wish, an AFI and FCCA Award for the acclaimed Wolf Creek,

3 GREGORY READ _ PRODUCER  - IN THE EYE OF THE STORM

Producer, Gregory Read bought the rights to Patrick Whites Book and produced the film adaptation. The Film was directed by Fred  Scheppsi and starred Geoffrey Rush and Judy Davis.

The Three Film Makers will tell you

• How they made it in the Australian Film Business:
• How they work their craft with samples from their work.
• Stories about the making of their films.

Where:

SMC Conference Centre

66 Goulburn Street, Sydney NSW 2000

Near Town Hall Train Station

Parking opposite SMC Wilson Car Park $9 all Day

When:

Saturday May 26th    10am – 6pm

6pm – 8pm:  Networking Mixer at the Local Schwartz Brewery after the Event

How Much?

$225 Full Investment.

Early Bird —-  Book before MAY 10th 2012 and pay only $175  (Save $50)

Limited to 100 People.  Event is selling fast.  Book early to avoid disappointment

How do I invest?

Pay via Paypal

Who is Organizing the Event?

International Film Base Head Office,  Screen Australia Studios,   101 Eton Road Lindfield NSW 2070 

    Director – Colm O’Murchu      Event Manager – Bronwyn Pedersen

This is your opportunity to meet the very best and learn from them.

We currently have an early bird special till the end of April for $165 a Saving of $60 off for all of my special readership.

It will be one big day as we will start at 10 am and finsih at 6pm followed by a Mixer at a nearby hotel where you will get a chance to network with the crème de le crème of the Australian Film industry.
6pm – 8pm

After Easter we have a major announcement to make in relation to something that I believe  will be a major turning point.  If you want to learn from the very best in the Australian Film Industry, keep you eyes peeled for my next post.  I will leave you in suspense till then.

As it is Easter,  I would like to mention some of my favourite films that I have seen at the cinema this year. These films should be available online or at your local DVD shop soon.  If you have time over Easter check them out. I think you will really enjoy all three of these films.  Of the 14 that I have seen in the cinema this year these three films were the most enjoyable.

Tower Heist (Action Comedy)

For plain entertainment value, I really enjoyed  this film. Ben Stiller and Eddie Murphy lead an all-star cast in Tower Heist, a comedy caper about working stiffs who seek revenge on the Wall Street swindler who stiffed them. After the workers at a luxury Central Park condominium discover the penthouse billionaire has stolen their retirement, they plot the ultimate revenge: a heist to reclaim what he took from them.

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo  (Thriller)

The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo is the first film in Columbia Pictures’ three-picture adaptation of Stieg Larsson’s literary blockbuster The Millennium Trilogy. I have seen the Sweedish version of this film and I much preferred this years updated American Version. The Film is slow to start but once it gets going, the intriging plot takes you into the most surprising twists. Directed by David Fincher and starring Daniel Craig and Rooney Mara, the film is based on the first novel in the trilogy, which altogether have sold 50 million copies in 46 countries and become a worldwide phenomenon.

The Descendants  (Drama)

I really liked this heart warming drama.  From Alexander Payne, the creator of the Oscar-winning Sideways, set in Hawaii, The Descendants is a sometimes humorous, sometimes tragic journey for Matt King (George Clooney) an indifferent husband and father of two girls, who is forced to re-examine his past and embrace his future when his wife suffers a boating accident off of Waikiki. The event leads to a rapprochement with his young daughters while Matt wrestles with a decision to sell the family’s land handed down from Hawaiian royalty. Very moving and engaging.

On Set at our Custom Designed Police Station

At International Film Base,  we regularly are sent job opportunities and film production requests that we can not take on. It has been a frustration seeing these opportunities going to waste.   We are also involved in many of our own feature film productions and other peoples film productions that we have been commissioned to produce. As a working production company, it has been a great pleasure to employ the very best talent from our film courses on to these productions over the years.

Late last year,  I decided that I wanted to create a non-profit Club that would support and help the most talented film makers. The club would   immediately make their advanced film dreams happen once the  four month film course had concluded.  I wanted to create a vehicle where they could quickly get film industry employment and make their very own passion film projects. This would include feature films documentaries and short films and no hanging around. These projects would happen immediately with solid enforceable deadlines.

Late last year, I came up with the true vision for our film courses and productions at International FIlm Base.  I coined the phrase “Creating the Film  Director Stars of tomorrow.”  Out of this vision, in late February this year,  the Hot Talent Club was born and launched in Sydney and  in the next few months in Melbourne.

What is the Hot Talent Club?

The Hot Talent Club is for people who have completed our 4 Month Film School in Melbourne or Sydney.   It is a mix of exceptionally motivated and ambitious film makers who want support and crew other film makers while making their very own passion film projects.

In the Hot Talent , you will  find a mix of exceptionally talented actors, make up artists, producers and Directors. These people all have one thing in common.  They all want to move to the A List. All of these people are committed to being players in the film industry, now and  in the future. What this means is that the Hot Talent Club creates the energy matrix for these players to make their mark with every film that they are involved in.

At  each  monthly meeting a project will be launced with a deadline for production and for completion and the Producer or Director is held accountable to that deadline. Out of the Hot Club we expect to see A List Film Directors and Producers making feature films and TV drama and documentaries  for the world.

Ready to shoot a scene on the Red Camera

You may ask “How do I get into the Hot Talent Club?”

Every selected  person must attend our Four Month Film School in Sydney or Melbourne.  They must show  comittment to their film projects during the Four Month Film School. The candidate should have the fire in the belly and a desire to work exceptionally hard to make their film the best that it can be.  At the end , the top 3 -4 people  are invited to join the Hot Talent Club. Each person is selected by the Hot Club Panel.

Ultimately, we want one or more of our members to go to the very top in world cinema and make films that get seen by the world. The overall purpose is to create the film production hits and the Director Producer Stars of tomorrow.

So if you are inspired to start your film career now, please look at our Four Month Film Courses in Melbourne Sydney or  our One Week Adelaide Course. There is no faster way to get on to your first serious film production completed.  We are conducting interviews for our Four Month Film Schools right now. Book by phone on 1800 131166

Today, I want to focus on The Film Editor.

Learning all about the Tools of the Trade

This morning I read all about the Oscars.  Kirk Baxter, an Australian, has just won back to back Oscars. Kirk won last night for the film ” The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. *  Yet it hardly makes the papers.  For many people, film  editors are these nerdy characters who spend way too much time in small rooms. Yet in reality they are the true stars of any Film Production.

Tropfest was one of the big film events in February.  Tropfest is the worlds largest film festival which takes place at the Domain in Sydney. On the Saturday I attended Tropfest Roughcut with about 150 other film makers.     Speaking at the event were non other than

Geoffrey Rush, Actor (The King’s Speech, Pirates of the Caribbean)
Kieran Darcy-Smith, Director (Wish You Were Here), Actor (Animal Kingdom)
Jason Ballantine, Editor (The Great Gatsby, Wolf Creek, Wish You Were Here)

Jason Ballantine is certainly one of the most talented Film Editors with a raft of great film credits all ready attached to his name. Yet he is very humble.  Yet, he is one of the most important  creative people working on Great Gatsby starring Leonardo DiCaprio

I always find it amazing that Film Editors never get the credit that they are due. I am going to be controversial and say this the Film Editor is the single most important crew member after the Film Director.

Many outsiders do not realize the following fact.   The Film Director will spend most of his or her life in post production. The Shoot might be only 6 – 10 weeks while post production will often consume about 9 months after the film is finished. Peter Jackson spent just over  a year shooting the Lord of the Rings trilogy and then spent three years in Post Production.

It is the attention to detail in Post Production that pays off. If time is spent on post production, this will dramatically make the difference between a  really good film and an average film.

Let me clarify Post Production. Post Production includes the

Picture Edit (today’s subject)
Colouring and Grading
Visual Effects
Titles
Music
Sound Postproduction
Conforming formats such as DCP.
The Film Director is involved with all of the above.

Booming and getting the very best location sound

On the film set, the film director only gathers the building blocks of  the film and of course it is very important to get the very best building blocks. However the edit and full post production is where the film is made. There is a gulf of difference between a really good edit and an average edit. In the former,  the film is dynamic and engaging. In the latter the film stinks and is considered a Turkey.

However the edit is one area that is neglected in the short film arena. Many emerging film makers believe that the film is complete, once the shoot is over.

The mindset is this …..  ”Oh yes there is still a bit of editing and music to do but the film is now shot and it will only be a short time till the film is complete.”
The emerging film maker  then confronts reality. Post Production can suddenly feel like a never ending process.

Picture Editing  is an art form that  only came into existence when  motion picture was invented back in the late 19th Century.  Before 1896, there were many fine actors who acted in theater  and there were many stories been told in different mediums. Photography had been around for a long time. Music had been around since the dawn of man.

Motion Picture editing only started once we could shoot motion picture.  Therefore it is the purest season of film making. It exists totally out of the need to cut motion picture and create the illusion of a story.

Editing up to the early 1990s was a cumbersome process. I remember my first films back in the late 80s. We used to edit on Steenbacks. We would literally chop the film with a small guillotine and splice it back together with splicing tape. Any visual effects would be chalked on the film print and sent off to an Optical House where the effects would be created.

How times have changed for the better.  We now edit in the computer and anyone can do it from anywhere. I often edit on the airplane when I am on long flights. You will only know the difference great editing makes once  you start to make your own films. One of the areas we focus on in our film courses is Post Production. A large part of the course is dedicated to post production with 5 sessions spent finishing the film.

Many emerging film makers find the shoot so exciting and fun. The adrenalin is running and once the film is shot, they then are

Course Production Filming on Set

confronted with post production which is insular and slow.  Suddenly there is only two people.  The Director and the Editor sitting in front of a computer actually making a film. Not so exciting for many people.

To me personally, editing is one of the best parts of film making.  When one sits down to create magic and a memorable engaging story, the hours fly by.  I believe that if you want to be a Film Director it is important to love this season of film making.

You have a choice as a Film Director.

1. Learn editing and become an expert at editing and cutting your own short films and anyone else you can volunteer for. I  personally think that if you can learn to edit, it will pay off in the  long run.
2. Find an experienced or up and coming editor and work closely with them on your films

How do you do this?  The first step is to enroll on a really good film course

Till next time , have a great one.
Colm O’Murchu      Director
http://internationalfilmbase.com/

* If you have not seen the Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, please see it. It is a wonderful film that engages you from the beginning to the end. David Fincher  is at his best in this very engaging thriller set in Sweden

The Melbourne One Day Film School   This Saturday 10th March 9am – 6pm 
Trinity College, University of Melbourne  Royal Pde,  Parkville.

Post Why has Apple destroyed a  really good Editing Software?  Final Cut Pro X Review 

I have to start todays article by saying that since I started using computers, I have always used and loved Apple. During the mid 90s when Apple where ninty days from receivership, I believed and stayed with Apple.  In that time  Apple has risen from a basket case to the most profitable company in the world. The reason for this is plain and simple. Apple always made great products. This value alone drove Apple to the top.

Now that has changed and for the first time ever, I have to say that an Apple product stinks. Their latest editing software offering, Final Cut Pro X, is an insult to film editors.  Thrown up dogs breakfast seems to be more appealing than this amateur dribble. In fact, amateurs should steer  clear of this rubbish and use any  other editing software.   I will tell you about the best alternative editing software later.

I have always wanted to write positive articles about how the film world works. The only reason I am writing a negative article is that I do not want to see people suffer. I all ready have and feel compelled to warn everyone.

Last week I visited a client of mine, David.  I had shot his film and  I was interested in how the edit was going.  He was editing on Final Cut Pro X and asked me if I could do a final polish on the film. Then for the first time I attempted to edit on Final Cut Pro X.

This proved to be Mission Impossible. It felt like back in the late 80s when I edited my first film and I used  two VHS machines and crash edited two clips together. Or the old steenbacks where we used to cut and splice film print .  Definitely preferable to Final Cut Pro X.  The whole purpose of an editing software is to make life easy and make a film look professional. Final Cut Pro X fails totally.

Why is it so bad?

This  Conan O”Brien review of Final Cut Pro X  should outline some of the problems.  There are many more reasons not to stay with Final Cut Pro X.   To put it bluntly,  I would describe Final Cut Pro X as a nasty virus. The sooner it is eliminated the better.

What are the alternative editing software. I have had a good look and for value for money and for similarity to the old Final Cut Pro 7 , Adobe Premiere Pro is excellent.

If you need tutorials on how  to use Adobe Premiere Pro have a look at lynda.com software tutorials. They have a range of tutorials in using software including learning how to transfer from Final Cut Pro 7 to Adobe Premiere Pro  They also have tutorials on starting afresh with Adobe Premiere Pro. They charge $25US per month for their tutorials and you can cancel at any time. They also have tutorials on a myriad of different software.  Very good value for money.

If you are in Melbourne, please pop into our  One Day Film School at Triinity College  University of Mebourne.
Tonight, I am in Melbourne at the Premiere Screening for the September – December 4 Month Film School. The Film is called Houseraiders and  it s turned out very well.

Best

Colm O’Murchu

International FIlm Base

Directing a Shot on the Set of Dealing with Destiny

Post:  Five ways to make your film shoot work effectively 

Most people on our Film Courses love the Film Shoot.  The Film Course Participant learn more on the Film Shoot than any other part of our four month Film School.

The main reason for this is  team work.   A group of people bond and make a creative endeavor.  There are many laughs, intense moments and character tests. The satisfaction of creating a film, that will be seen by millions of eyes in the future, also adds a sense of purpose and excitement to the shoot.

However the amateur film maker can make a mess out of a Film Shoot and end up having a very challenging time. How can a Film Director make the most of a Film Shoot?  Prepare Prepare Prepare.  How does the film director make a Film Shoot fun and memorable. Here are five areas that one can focus on.

1. The Script
2. Actor Rehearsal
3. Plan the Blocking in Advance
4. Shot list and/or Storyboard
5. Pushing the Standard High.

2 Actor Rehearsal: 

3 Plan the Blocking in Advance. 

4 Shot List Storyboard

5 Pushing the Standard High. 

One needs to learn how to make films professionally and that is why it is very important to get the very best training available on the very best film course .  Remember learn from the best and when you are shooting prepare prepare prepare.

Film Schools in the very near future 2012  

• The Sydney Four Month Film Directors School
  Screen Australia Studios, Lindfield
  February 4th 2012  -  May 18th  2012

• Melbourne One Day Film School
  Saturday February 11th 2012

• Adelaide One Day Film School 
  Saturday March 10th 2012

•  The Melbourne Four Month Film Directors  School
  University of Melbourne, Parkville
  March 31st 2012 – July 20th 2012

• Online Film School     Enroll and start today

Praying for Inspiration

Valeska and I took off for about ten days and went to outback NSW and rambled from town to town, going with the flow and only moving when we felt like it. We did not see a drop of rain and loved  the constant blue skies.

Before you ask, “How can you go to a part of the world that has temperatures hitting the 40C mark (105 F)”, please let me explain.

Well I did have a mission. I wanted to come up with a great story outline and treatment for our next screenplay.  I love the great open spaces of the outback and country New South Wales. Very inspiring. No tourists are crazy enough to go out here in the heat of summer and that is exactly why I love it. It feels like the real deal,  like a road movie.

Our goal was to create an awesome story outline  and utilize the passing scenery and all the quirky cooky and very friendly characters we met on the way.

Ok our bomb does not look the best but it got us around

Idea after idea flowed and nothing seemed to gel. We would come up with one story outline after another and then trash them.  We could only find enough for B Grade film.  Story after story idea was tossed around and then trashed.

Even  at Lightning Ridge where black opals are mined, we could not get a story outline that was a winner.  All the story ideas, we came up with in the first eight days of traveling just seemed to be a cliche and stale.  From Coonabarabran to Gundegai to  Lightening Ridge to Bourke to St George , we created only garbage. Our characters seemed to be just flat.

Exasperated, I was about to give up on Day 8 and just enjoy the rest of our road trip, when it happened. We were approaching Moree when something on the radio sparked me off. Suddenly an amazing idea floated into my head. I got out my IPhone recorder and started flowing with a story that would prove to be so cool and original and dare I say it “Fresh”

Road going to the West

Valeska and I then started talking about the story and more flowed. Out of that amazing creative dimension called creativity,  scenes spouted out at a faster rate than we could record them.

There was an excitement about this idea that was missing from all previous ideas. We were suddenly on fire.

The next day we went back to the story and it still seemed like a really fresh story.  More ideas and more scenes appeared to us and we felt that sense of flow that happens when you hit oil. I reflected on inspiration and what happens when a story truly appears.

Here are some of my thoughts:  I believe that finding a great story is like searching for gold. You have to shift a lot of dirt to get to gold but when it happens it’s priceless. Then it’s like striking oil. Ideas and scenes spew out at an alarming rate faster than you can process them.  To get to this point I believe  that you need to trash bad story outlines as soon as you know it. This saves you so much time and stress later.

A Beer always helps

Today I am knocking out a 20  page treatment of the story that will encapsulate the whole film from beginning to end. Then the story is submitted to my 3 week test. In other words, will the story be as strong at  the end of Janaury as it is now. If so, I will fully comit and move on to producing and developing the story as a  film.

What is the movie called ,   “Hot Streak”.   30% of the film takes place in California and the other 70% in Australian outback towns. Our lead character is American and most of the supports are Australian. Anyone interested in investing, get in early.

If you are interested in creating a really cool story, look at our
4 month Film School in Sydney . The first two weeks is all about developing a story and writing a screenplay or please look at our Weekend Film Schools in Adelaide and Melbourne 

Till next time, have a great one.

Colm O’Murchu

Why do I enjoy the AFM so  much and why do I go year after year? Here are five reasons that I love going every year.

1 Relationships.

Film making and financing requires key relationships to make films happen. The AFM has many people pitching their projects to Sales Agents and Distributors. This year, we made progress. We have now attracted a company in the US who will finance the Script Development and packaging of our $5 million dollar film “The Lima Connection.”  set in Lima Peru and Mimi Florida With a film like this, we have to take an international approach attending the AFM

2 Seminars:

Every morning there are very useful seminars on financing distribution and marketing films. Film Sales is in such a state of flux. With the internet changing the landscape of how films are presented and sold, the market is in a state of shift. At these seminars, one is educated in exactly what is happening.

3  Networking Drinks at the Lowes Hotel

Every afternoon about 3PM,  the networking drinks start at Lowes Hotel. This is where everyone meets and greets each other. There is a mixture of Sales Agents, Actors, Film Makers and Distributors. You never know who you are going to meet.
The Goal is always to find mutually beneficial relationships. One of the ironies of the networking drinks is that nobody drinks much. Most people do not drink at all. Yes drinks are expensive but the main reason, none of us drink is that we want to stay sharp. Nothing looks worst than a tipsy person trying to network. For me, these networking drinks led to meeting some key people who I will form alliances with in the future.

4  Parties

After  the networking drinks, the major players and stars often throw parties. Getting invited is the trick. But every night there is a different party. Once again, this all works back to reason number one. Relationships. It is who you know that helps you finance your films. The more key relationships you build , the better.

I attended a fun party in the Hollywood Hills where there were many people you see in papers all the time. I also attended another very good film industry party in Venice beach. Even with Door Security, this party was packed. Still great fun . Once again, this is where you meet people who in the future , may end up as a key alliance in the financing of a future film. Once again stay sober and sharp, if you want to get the maximum benefit from the parties. Also you want to be in great shape for the Seminar next morning at 9am.  Another cool party was where Jeff Goldblum (Jurassic Park, The Fly) was playing in his band.

5 Deals and Meetings

Meetings happen at all the cafes and restaurants all over Santa Monica. I had one of my main meetings at my favourite Hollywood Hotel called the Roosevelt Hotel. Yes in the end it is all about signing contracts and financing future projects. I very much enjoyed signing our contract for The Lima Connection at the Polo Bar in Beverly Hills Hotel. Jennifer Anniston was sitting at the power table near-by which added a very Hollywood feel.  This is what it is all about. Relationships that lead to your next project getting made and distributed widely worldwide.

Summary:

Yes it was a great 10 Days in the epicenter of the film business. I find the time there is inspiring and up-lifting. Should you go? Once you are developing feature film projects, I think you will find the international relationships you develop will be of great benefit to you. With two feature film projects in development, the American Film Market is a week where I make major progress and also check closely on how my past films are selling. In the end it is still all about making films.

Since I have being back in Sydney Australia, I have been working with a very cool film called “Repressed “as a DOP. I am also gearing up to shoot my next feature film in May 2012.

If you would like to learn how to make your own films, the first step is to attend a great film course. it is part of my inspiration to teach other people how to produce an direct their own films.  As we say at International Film Base, we want toe create the Film Director Stars of tomorrow.

I am  presenting my  Weekend Film School  <http://www.sydneyfilmbase.com.au/sydney-weekend-film-school-brochure-december-10th-11th> in Sydney Australia this weekend on December 10th and 11th. This is one of the last times I will present as next year , I will delegate the film teaching to other Film Instructors

Also we have our One Week Film Directors School <http://goldcoastfilmschool.com/>  at the Gold Coast . This is a 100% Hands on Film School where you learn to make a film by actually making a film. Please leave comments as I always like to hear from you.

Till next time have a great one.

Colm O’Murchu   Director International Film Base

Out two Stars Catherine Jermanus and Luke Arnold from Dealing with Destiny

On the last post, I itemized the different ways to make a living from film and the film world. Just  a reminder.

1. Independent Film Production Micro Budget – Low Budget Feature Films (100k – 5 Million Dollar Budgets)
2. Freelance DOP and Editor Work on other peoples short films and feature films
3. Music Videos Corporates and Commercial Film Making
4. Crew Work on mainstream Film Shoots for TV & Feature FIlm
5. Working for Film Distributors and Government Industry.
6. Mega Directing, Screenwriting or Producing on the big budget Hollywood films.

Making a living from independent film production is a challenge. There is a long build up period to the time when you make your first feature film.  But how do you get started?

The entry point tends to beFilm School or Film Courses like ours. The best film school is one that shows you how to make a film by actually making a film. As you make more and more films and provided you put everything you have into each film, the better a Film Director you will become.

When you leave film school, you will then want to work as an independent film maker. Most people will try to do Number 4 on our list above. Find Crew Work on mainstream Film Shoots for TV and Feature Film. We will cover that area in a later post.

Some people will invest in Film Equipment buying Cameras, Lights, Sound Equipment, Grips Gear and a Post Production Suite. You may have to take out a loan and invest  $30 – 50k initially in Film Equipment.  This will get you most of the equipment that you need. I know when I first invested in my own equipment, I advertised my services for Free. Needless to say, there was a flood of interest and I had non stop film jobs where I became an expert at using all of my equipment. Eventually, I felt confident to start charging and moved quickly to a $500 per day or $2000 per week rate.  I was still flat out working and my problem was too many jobs and feeling overworked.

Pool Scene from "Dealing with Destiny"

And this is the point: It is very important to diversify. When I ask people on my film courses what they would like to do in the Film Business,  they nearly all want to be a Film Director. And that is great as long as there is plenty of Directing jobs out there. But if you diversify and learn how to DOP (shoot) films and edit films, there is plenty of  extra work to fill in the lean times between Directing gigs. In fact on our Weekend Film Schools , we show you the agencies to join, so that you get plenty of work. We also show you how to get your brand out there so that you are getting many people offering you gigs.

Now this is all well and good. But what if you want to be a Film Director making your own award winning feature films that get sold all over the  world. Well that is the second part of it. At Film School you will learn how to make films and hopefully if it is a Film Course like ours, you will get to make a film of your very own. When you leave the Film School, you will continue making short films till such time as you win or get regular entry in to major film festivals. Now it is important to monetize your short film and we show you that process on our film courses. We show you the sites where your film can make money.

As soon as you have an award winning short film, then you move on to a low budget feature film that you make on the weekends. A Feature Film can be shot on 1o weekends on very little money. How do I know this because I produced and directed and edited a zero budget Feature Film “The Makeover”.   I would like to announce that you can now buy  The Makeover on our Website and you can now download the film and watch it today. It is a great example of a film that was made on a micro cash budget. The Makeover won Best Comedy Drama at the New York City Film Festival and has sold Pay TV in Europe and in the US.

When you make successful low budget films, usually bigger films attract themselves to you. While I was making The Makeover I was offered the job directing Dealing with Destiny  which is on limited release in Australia on September 1st. When you keep making independent films,  you will eventually find the budgets and the success of your films grow.

Another Scene from my film "Dealing with Destiny"

So your plan should look like this

• Do a really cool Film Course like ours  and keep doing courses as you develop your film skills. You need to learn.
• Make short films till you win A or B list Film Festivals and can monetize your films online.
• Then, make a low budget feature film on the weekends
• Apply for funding and the producers offset from the government for another one of your feature films that has a budget of $1 million – $5million. This is a long process and can take years. That is why you need to make your own micro budget films on the side.
• Network and get to know the people who matter in our film industry
• Keep your  eagle eyes open and pounce on opportunity
• Allow ten years to make it as a fully established Film Director.   If you have the persistence, you will succeed.

Many of you have asked me can I make films on the weekend and keep my day job. Absolutely. In Australia, many of the top film producers have other businesses or jobs which they do in-between film productions.

Till next post, have a great one

Colm O’Murchu  _ Director

http://internationalfilmbase.com/

As someone who has made his sole source of income from the Film World since 1997, I would like to outline the different ways to make a living from Film Making over the next few weeks.

Film Making is very much a lifestyle choice. Most people work in Film because they love it. I can tell you that is the same for me. Today I pick my jobs and I do only well paid directing gigs such as “Dealing with Destiny” . I also like to DOP on other peoples films and often do consultancies for projects and of course I make my own passion films.

I love the travel to different countries and film making has given me the opportunity to travel with my job. Next month, I am off to Qatar, France, Ireland and London where I will present our first weekend film seminar in the UK. In November, I am off to Los Angeles and Mexico. LA beckons every November as I always attend the wonderful American Film Market in Santa Monica.

Since 1997, I have worked in crew roles on other peoples film sets. I have worked shooting behind the scenes footage for many different movies. I use to shoot corporates and I still shoot Music videos as I love them. My golden rule is that I never do jobs that I do not want to do, heart and soul.

Since 1997, film has been my absolute source of income. Some years have been big earners and others have been quiet. The best year turnover has been close on $400,000 when films have sold well and the worst has been $80,000 when I first started. I know I have not become rich financially, however the lifestyle has made up for the lack of money. Doing what you love and been around exciting creative people who love their job certainly keeps you young. Also it is certainly more money than most people earn in jobs, they do not like.

I see the future as very exciting in the film world with the Internet now converging with Television. Many star film makers will have their own channel where they actually build wealth directly in the future. Even YouTube is now moving into movie areas.

Building your audience slowly over many years is a tremendous investment in your future. If you start now, over a ten year period you could build up an audience of close to 50,000 subscribers. How do I know this? Well knowning nothing and learning how to do it over the last two years, I have built a subscriber list of 3500 people and that is only in Australia.

With our expansion overseas and the start of our online film school, we are expecting to attract many more subscribers. Now that we know how to attract an audience, we expect to build about 10,000 new subscribers per year. Twitter now also allows you to get your message to hundreds of thousands and not to mention fan pages on Facebook.

Yes it is a very exciting new world for the up and coming film maker and the earlier you start to build an audience, the better. If you have 50,000 subscribers and 10,000 buy a copy of your film at $15, that equates to $150,000 before you even make money from your film release and the Film Market. You can learn more about this area on our 2011 Film Courses or by visiting our prime website International Film Base

For the next few weeks I would like to go through the best ways and clarify the paths that earn money and how you could go about breaking into them. For this week I would like to list them off and in next weeks post go into more detail about each area

1. Independent Film Production Micro Budget – Low Budget Feature Films (100k – 5 Million Dollar Budgets)
2. Freelance DOP and Editor Work on other peoples short films and feature films
3. Music Videos Corporates and Commercial Film Making
4. Crew Work on mainstream Film Shoots for TV & Feature FIlm
5. Working for Film Distributors and Government Industry.
6. Mega Directing, Screenwriting or Producing on the big budget Hollywood films.