Alcatraz flick FINALLY underway!!!

Started by ReelHotGames, August 10, 2005, 12:49:11 PM

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ReelHotGames

Okay, so only a year and a half later I am finally actually in pre-production, we are set to shoot in October for my film "Asylum Alcatraz". Some brief info is over at my website www.fof-films.com but the big news, is I finally have a budget. $50k which may actually be increasing next week (have a meeting with a financer in LA).

Anyway, I am assembling the cast and crew, and thought I would appeal to any XIXARer's out there in the San Francisco Bay area, or people willing to travel for some work. Looking for reliable people willing to work under unusual circumstances. We will be the first feature film to ever shoot ENTIRELY on Alcatraz.

I've signed Larry Holden as one of the leads (Batman Begins, memento, Insomnia) and have some eetings in LA next week with some other talent. So more will follow.

Anyway, if you might be willing to work or want more info, send me a PM or email and we can talk.

Thanks.
"Body Count Cinema the Customizable Card Game"
A cinematic CCG coming to a coffee table near you!
www.reelhotgames.com/BodyCountCinema_Home.htm

Brazoliange

Dammit. I'm leaving the Bay area this Saturday.  :yabbse-undecided:  Congratulations though :)
Long live the New Flesh

ono

I'm very intrigued and impressed about this whole thing.  I looked at your website and don't see much information about the process.  So I'd be interested to hear anything you're willing to say.  Some questions to get you started:

Who wrote the script?
How long did it take?
What was the next step after you finished the script?
How did you secure Alcatraz?
How did you secure investors?
How did you find crew?

Be as specific as you want, and any other details about your whole process would be greatly appreciated.

Ghostboy

Yeah, that's really awesome. Good luck with the additional financing, too - I'll be entering those same troubled waters myself.

Is shooting on Alcatraz relatively inexpensive, permit and insurance wise, or did you get a special deal?

ReelHotGames

QuoteWho wrote the script?
How long did it take?
What was the next step after you finished the script?
How did you secure Alcatraz?
How did you secure investors?
How did you find crew?

To answer your questions:

I wrote the script

It took about 6 months for the first draft, and now 2 years to get to the final draft.

After I finished the script I had to come up with a budget for shooint to see if this was a project I could do myself or needed to sell.

I have an "in" on Alcatraz, which allowed me to get the island where others would be priced out.

Investors. Hmmm. Well, it started like this: I did the prelim budget and figured with as tight a fist as I could have I could get away with $20k, so I started scrimping saving and going to grandma's matress for cash, but I wasn't going to come up with it. So I decoded to try auctioning some roles on ebay, I found someone who had done it, chatted with them via email and then started early casting process. In an effort ot find good actors who would work for bird seed, I asked a friend whose brother is a working actor in LA (doing stuff like "Flightplan", "Last Castle" and costarring in new David Mamet tv series "The Unit") if he might know some poeple which led to a script read and a meeting with someone who just started a production company and his drool all over the script, and a check getting written. So... That's the fast anf furious version. Luck is the faster one.

And crew... I am looking. I have a Cinematographer, who I've known for a while, other than that, I am interviewing poeple, and using IMDB looking at indie films I respected the work of and looking up those folks.

It's been a process that once started has just steamrolled, I think it's the idea that Alcatraz is ours for the using, and that's a first and we have a smallish budget, so the prospect of seeling the film when done for release or even straight to dvd is fairly high as it's a genre flick.

Thanks for the interest.
"Body Count Cinema the Customizable Card Game"
A cinematic CCG coming to a coffee table near you!
www.reelhotgames.com/BodyCountCinema_Home.htm

ReelHotGames

Quote from: GhostboyYeah, that's really awesome. Good luck with the additional financing, too - I'll be entering those same troubled waters myself.

Is shooting on Alcatraz relatively inexpensive, permit and insurance wise, or did you get a special deal?

Thanks! Alcatraz is relatively inexpensive $600 permit, and million ollar liability insurance, fairly routine stuff - it's the paying for a ranger to be with the crew protecting the interest of the park that gets you. That runs a minimum of $65 per hour. We're shooting 28 days. (That's where I got the deal - otherwise night shoots would run about $800 a night)
"Body Count Cinema the Customizable Card Game"
A cinematic CCG coming to a coffee table near you!
www.reelhotgames.com/BodyCountCinema_Home.htm

ono

Thanks for the quick response.  Alright, let's talk equipment.  Is this a full-fledged 35mm film shoot?  Are you renting everything?  What all are you using in the shoot?  What can you disclose about the cost for that, and film stock?  All this financial stuff would be useful, too.

ReelHotGames

Quote from: onomatavivaThanks for the quick response.  Alright, let's talk equipment.  Is this a full-fledged 35mm film shoot?  Are you renting everything?  What all are you using in the shoot?  What can you disclose about the cost for that, and film stock?  All this financial stuff would be useful, too.

We are shooting on the Sony 24p HD cine alta we are renting the equipment, unfortunately I can't disclose the financial arrangements due to contractual obligations with the company, we struck a nice deal from the standard $1200 a day 3 day week standard package.
"Body Count Cinema the Customizable Card Game"
A cinematic CCG coming to a coffee table near you!
www.reelhotgames.com/BodyCountCinema_Home.htm