The first thing I want to do this week is to wish Rick Stevenson a good shoot. He just began principal photography on a $450,000 independent feature called Expiration Date. You may know Stevenson as a cofounder of TheFilmSchool, the intensive series of classes and workshops devoted to storytelling and screenwriting, which I've heard nothing but great things about from people who've been through it.
Anyway, Expiration Date promises to be the first in a slate of 10 films over the next five years from Decathlon Films, all of which will share a similar budget. It's a producer-friendly model of production made popular through the successes of the New York company InDigEnt, where crews work for a reduced rate and then share in the profits if (and only if) the film makes money. Considering the fact that Seattle crews often work for a reduced rate anyway, the possibility of extra money at the end is alluring. Plus, if this model brings more work to town, all the better.
For those interested in filmmaking, on Saturday at noon the Northwest Film Forum is putting on a workshop called Career Opportunities in the Film Biz. It'll tell you how much or how little you can make in the film industry in Seattle versus L.A. or New York, and other practical matters. The instructor is Jennifer Roth, a friend of mine, and she has an East Coast bluntness to her that is refreshing in a town where too many people say, "If you wish hard enough all your dreams can come true." The workshop is a little spendy ($30-$40), but the information will be rock solid, and Ms. Roth is definitely one of the people you want to know in town if you want to give this film thing a go.
Speaking of TheFilmSchool, one of the teachers there is local impresario Warren Etheredge, founder of the screening series and website the Warren Report. Occasionally he will host a local screenplay reading when he finds material worthy enough. On Monday, January 17, at On the Boards he will present a reading of Outsourced, the story of a man who not only loses his job to an overseas competitor, but is also forced to go to India to train his replacement. Written by George Wing (50 First Dates) and John Jeffcoat (who better finish that Bollywood documentary because I really want to see it), this is a script they hope to move into production sometime soon.
The week of film education finally comes to a close on Wednesday the 19th at 911 Media Arts with something called a Budgeting and Scheduling Seminar. This is a MUST ATTEND for anyone thinking of making his or her own film or producing somebody else's. Sponsored by 911 Media Arts, IFP/Seattle, and a group called Directors Ltd., this free class will teach you how to do all that pesky preproduction work--breaking down a script, budgeting, scheduling, etc. --to help your shoot go smoothly. See you there.
