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Interview With: The Producers

Provincetown International Film Festival

A large crowd waited patiently to enter Waydowntown for the “Breakfast With…Producing Independent Film Series” during last week’s fantastic Provincetown International Film Festival. I really was excited. The nuts and bolts of film production are fascinating, risky and sexy.

The nuts and bolts of film production are fascinating, risky and sexy.

A standing room only audience noshed on eggs with panelists Stephen Raphael, President of ‘Required Viewing’, producers Brian Benson (‘All About Evil’ and ‘Howl’) Christine Vachon, (‘Cairo Time’) and Andrew Peterson, (‘Howl’), Director of Programming for PIFF and VP of Production for Werc Werk Works.

Q: What are your current projects?

The crowd gathers for the ''Breakfast With'' panel.

Christine: My most recent project is ‘Mildred Peirce’ with Todd Haynes as a mini-series with HBO. The shoot took seventy days with Kate Winslet in every scene. A lot more is happening on TV that I gave it credit for.

Brian: We are touring ‘All About Evil’ with Joshua Grannell as “Peaches Christ” opening the show.

Stephen: I am marketing multiple projects.

Andrew: We produce four films a year at Werc Werk Works.

Q: What are your challenges?

Brian: PIFF’s opener ‘Howl’ is a film about an animated poem and presented many challenges in its production. It is a hybrid film which made it tough to get financed.

Stephen: I balance between multiple films in a changing marketplace.”

All agreed that making film is half the battle but the other half is marketing.

Christine: When you can see ‘Lawrence of Arabia’ on an Iphone, the world is different. Marketing film is now like the Wild West.

Stephen: There is a new breed of distributor who also manages auxiliary markets; someone who is hungry and willing to work harder.

Q: Foreign financing has collapsed in the new economy. How are you responding to the crisis?

Brian: There is a new model for self distribution. We are touring a live show with the movie. It is a great way to retain distribution rights and create an event.

Christine: Working with HBO is great for an independent producer. They provide an ample budget for production and marketing. “The air date for ‘Mildred Pierce’ is already set for March 27th.

Stephen: I feel the market will become more script driven than talent driven.

Christine: The niche market of independent film is evolving, not dying. People will always want to experience the authenticity of going to a theater. We [independent producers] need to stay open to all the ways that people see a film.

Stephen: Filmmakers need to get recognition through awards. This is a part of a cohesive marketing campaign and that happens at the festivals like this one.

Being the impish reporter with an unfinished screenplay, I asked:

Q: What do you look for in a screenplay?

Brian: I have a three step process. What is the quality of the script? Is there a market for the project and a director attached? Does it have the drive to be a success?

Christine: If a director is attached, does he(she) have a relationship with another living thing? It could be a gold fish or a plant.

They all agreed that the movie has to cost the right amount of money for the audience that it will serve.

Andrew: We have to decide between three or four scripts that we LOVE. Marketing is the tipping point; it has to have potential.

Brian: One of the biggest mistakes that people make is rushing a script for a festival deadline.

The panel ended with a resounding applause. This great event is available to view on WGBH.

Artistic bon vivant Laura Shabott loves to write about Provincetown. A graduate of the SMFA, Boston, she is practiced in writing, acting and painting.

www.ptownfilmfest.org
www.hbo.com
www.killerfilms.com
www.wercwerkworks.com
www.allaboutevilthemovie.com
www.wgbh.com