The first book I’ll be reviewing is From Reel to Deal by Dov S-S Simmens. Dov is the creator of the Two Day Film School, and is claiming to be the “Champion of Independent Film.” I recently purchased and watched his Two Day Film School DVD Box Set, and it was eye-opening to say the least. I am not going to base my review off of how much new information his book offers, but rather how it presents it and how much information is there.

The due date for this review is going to be November 21, 2008.

I’ll be making an additional post later tonight with a movie review (Probably Madagasgar 2: Escape to Africa) and a post updating on everything I have been doing — including the three short films and feature film I’m producing as well as the first film that I’m acting as co-producer on.

One last note, I’ve created a new RSS Feed for everyone who wants to subscribe to this blog in their favorite reader. You can subscribe by clicking here.

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• 24 Directors Featured
• 59% of Directors Majored in Film
• 71% of Directors Went to college
• Youngest Directors Start was 22
• Oldest Directors Start was 38
• Average Start Age was 30
• 2 Directors Attended USC
• 1 Director Attended UCLA
• 1 Director Attended LMU
• 1 Director Attended CSULB

I am leaning towards attending school, and trying for USC… but I’m not entirely sold on it yet. Many film makers (29% to be exact) were very successful without any degree or any college. Ron Howard (The Grinch, American Graffiti, A Beautiful Mind), Jon Favreau (Elf, Ironman), Peter Jackson (Lord of the Rings, King Kong), Larry Wachowski (The Matrix), Sam Raimi (Spiderman 1, 2 and 3), Martin Campbell (Casino Royale, Goldeneye, The Legend of Zorro), et al.

But does that mean I shouldn’t try because of them, or try harder despite them? It’s true, they aren’t the majority, 29% is in fact the mintority.

The old saying goes that if you are talented and have the desire, discipline and dedication to be successful in this business, you will be.

What do you think? Do you plan to attend film school, or the school of life?

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The following information was obtained from Wikipedia:

• Birth Year
• College
• Major
• Degree Type
• Age When they had their first hit

For the purpose of this spreadsheet, and the purpose that it is supposed to serve. The Director MUST have been born AFTER 1944, and must have had at least one film that had a wide theatrical release. For this reason, directing legends such as Alfred Hitchcock, Orson Welles, Jean Renoir, et al. have not been included.

The reason for this is that during their era of film making, Film School was not an option. The best way to get into the industry at the time was an apprenticeship at a studio, or lower level job.

For the purpose of the graphs and stats below, the term “of Directors” really means, “of Directors featured in the survey.” For a full list of the directors used, as well as seeing the raw data, visit the link at the end of the article.

• 45 Directors Featured
• 69% of Directors Who Attended College Majored in Film
• 64% of Directors attended College
• Average Start Age (No college) was 29
• Average Start Age (College) was 29
• The Youngest Director Started at Age 23 (Ron Howard)
• The Oldest Director Started at Age 38
• 82% of Directors Born Between 1930-1949 Attended College
• 85% of Directors Born Between 1950-1959 Attended College
• 40% of Directors Born Between 1960-1969 Attended College
• 40% of Directors Born Between 1970-1979 Attended College

If you take away anything from these stats it should be this, those that went to college and those that did not were just as successful as those who did not go to college.

I’ll be doing some more in depth look at the differences between those who attended and those who did not attend. What’s your opinion of Film School? For or against it? Post a comment and let me know!

For a full look at the data, check out this spreadsheet.

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This became a HUGE annoyance for me, so I worked a little PHP magic and came up with this baby.

CommaIt!

Enter the keywords into one of the two boxes, click Submit and out pops the other. Not to spectacular but it gets the job done. While I’m still trying to find out how keywords work best for Search Engine Optimization and how I can best use it to market and distribute films, this might come in handy for some of you.

I’m sure I’ll update in the future on SEO and Film Distribution/Marketing, but for now this is all I’m going to post.

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But if you have any interest in the aforementioned topics, then read on!

So, here I am. Just turned twenty-two a week ago and I’m starting to rethink the way I’ve tried to get into the film industry. Let me give you a little background about myself, since I was eight years old I wanted to be a film maker. Making shitty films with my handy miniDV camcorder, using my brothers and cousins as “actors” and making the worst possible movies you can imagine.. including a documentary following the neighborhood cats in their “Natural Habitats”.

Fast forward to graduating high school, my High School didn’t offer much in terms of film making programs and despite my attempts at starting a “Future Film Makers of America” club, and being the only person there, they didn’t offer any more. My first girlfriend seemed to think it was a smart idea to put me down in every way and tell me that there was no way I could ever make it in the film industry, worst of all, I believed her until I got sick of her put downs and left her (and that city) in the dust.

After graduating high school, I met the woman of my dreams (Kayla) whom I have spent the last three and a half years with. I attended college for a few semesters majoring in Computer Science before realizing that my dream was to work in the film and television industry, I dropped out to follow my dream.

Thinking that the best route is to go to the “school of hard knocks” I got a job at a new media company in Santa Monica called the Global Gaming League working as a production assistant in their production department on their daily video game show “Epileptic Gaming.” After a years worth of work there (Working in live-to-tape new media and pre-produced media (Such as the new media show “Up All Night,” which featured the hosts of Epileptic Gaming giving their real time reactions of a video game) the production department was shut down and everyone moved on.

Shortly after that, I decided that it was time for me to try my hand working as a production assistant on something bigger. That’s when I got a job working for the television show “High School Musical: Get In The Picture,” where I grew to love the big approach to things. Many people all working together to accomplish something. I loved going there everyday, including the day I had to be in at 4:30 AM.

After the production was over, I started to feel what the industry was like. After a production is over, you move on to your next project. The way of independent contracting! Shortly after that I got a job working on a television pilot for MTV called “Name That Tune” which was a remake of a 1980s show. While it never got picked up, working on it was still fun.

After that project I moved on to work for The Tony Rock Project, where I got my first taste of “on-the-street” productions. Working on Hollywood Boulevard, interviewing them for a comedy skit show was interesting, and although the sunburn wasn’t pleasant, the experience was.

Fast forward to the present, I produced/directed three short films “Dare,” “The Bindler” and “Truth of Reality.” A few months went by and I got a call from the producer of the Global Gaming League offering me a new job. I got back together with the lead writer (Erik Even) and the producer (Chachi Ramirez) at the Global Gaming League working for another new media company doing daily news. While this isn’t my “dream job,” it pays the bills in this tough economy, and I’m not one to look a gift horse in the mouth.

After three years of life in the “school of hard knocks,” I have decided to head back to school. My goal is to attend the UCLA Film, Theatre and Digital Media school.

This blog is meant to educate those who are in my same position, those who will come after me and run into the same problems as I did. My goal is to have a successful career as a producer and director of feature films, and to help as many people get to where they want to go in the process.

I’ll be posting film and television reviews, information that I’ve learned and wish to pass on, video clips and short films that were posted online as well as daily updates when it comes to films I’m producing.

I invite you to join me on the journey to make a career out of films, to follow me in my dreams and my road to get to them, and in the process learn how to accomplish yours. I hope to bring you inspiration, entertainment and knowledge!

Welcome to my journey, welcome to my Independent Life.

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Netflix is increasing the subscription price on November 5th by $1.00, plus any taxes (Which, in California comes to around $1.08). A small price to pay indeed, but kind of annoying.

Below is the email I received from Netflix regarding the price change:

Dear Tyler,

As you may know, Blu-ray movies are more expensive than standard definition movies. As a result, we’re going to start charging $1 a month (plus applicable taxes), in addition to your monthly membership charge, for unlimited access to Blu-ray movies.

The additional charge for unlimited Blu-ray access will be automatically added to your next billing statement on or after November 5th, 2008 and will be referenced in your Membership Terms and Details. If you wish to continue getting Blu-ray movies for $1 a month more, you don’t need to do anything. If not, you can remove Blu-ray access anytime by visiting Your Account at the Netflix website.

If you have questions about this change or need any assistance, please call us anytime at 1-888-638-3549.

-The Netflix Team

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My next project is untitled as of yet, but is being written for the next Filmaka contest, the topic? “On The Road”. It is being written by an up and coming writer, Ryan McLeod. With almost the same crew as last time, I’m really eager to get started, unfortunately the ball has just started to roll and it’ll be a few days before anything comes my way.

This morning I had a bit of a heart attack, aside from trying to track down a talent release form from Jessica Montanez (Officer Miller in Dare), my bank decided to temporarily delete my checking and savings account, which held my entire life savings in it. After a few phone calls, getting the run around and sitting on hold for 45 minutes.. I decided to become a member of Washington Mutual… screw Bank of America.

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I went location scouting today for “Dare,” and while I still need to confirm the use the house/kitchen I found THE PERFECT ALLEY. I cannot express this enough, what I saw in my head when I wrote the script is a real place and we’ll be shooting there.

Of course, it’s an alleyway and therefore probably belongs to fifty different people so we’ll be going guerilla on this one. The bare bones, Matthew (Talent) and Rance (Director of Photography) is all we need on this location so I’ll probably have the rest of the crew and cast call later in the day.

I still cannot believe how I found the alley though, I had the idea so I drove around my town and couldn’t find it. I remembered there’s a cool alley in Venice off of Superba Ave so I started to drive that way but got lost. I made a few lefts and a right and BAM saw something out of the corner of my eye. Drove over to it in, and instantly fell in love with it.

The closer we get to Sunday the more excited I get and the more I start to envision the way this film is going to turn out. Like everyone who is going to enter this contest, I think it’ll win. After looking at some of the competition I might be going above and beyond what is needed for this film… but at the end of the day this isn’t just another entry.

This is being made as a teaser for a longer short/feature, it’s meant to tease at the end (So, you’re probably going to say “Oh damnit… how’s it end” once you watch.. but that’s kind of the point.

Even if I don’t win on Filmaka I can still make up a press dossier, and along with this film shop it around like a calling card to try to get funding for a major one.

At the same time, I’m writing my next two projects. One is another contest entry called “Vibrations,” and another which has no name but it’s a feature film being written by my brother, my best friend and myself and pertains to vampires.

Enough for tonight, time to relax. I might post some photos of the alley tomorrow, or make a video on youtube for it.

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I need a 1st AC familiar with focus pulling on the HVX 200, slating and helping the DP. We’ll be shooting to digital so tapes wont be an issue.

I also need a 1st AD, someone who can make a schedule and make sure I’m on it (I’m coming from an AD background so I’m usually good, but just in case).

We’ll be shooting at 4 locations, all on Sunday. Hopefully we can make it in 10 hours but we might run to 12.. nothing more than that.

Students are absolutely welcome, if not preferred. This should be a really fun shoot, you’ll learn a lot and get to work with some great people. If you’ve never 1st before and want to, now is your chance!

This is a short film (4 pages) for Filmaka.com, the director is an award winning new media director making the jump to narrative films.

Food will be provided, but no pay, we’re all working for free. I know, it sucks, especially with the SAG strike looming, but if this film is chosen as a jury level winner you will receive a portion of the $500 as well as paid work on the 2nd level project ($1,000 budget).

If you have questions, feel free to email (spam@leisher.net) me and we’ll discuss.

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