Building a Film Crew (without any film crew contacts)
If you’ve read my previous blogs, you’ll know that, after six months of work, I had everything I needed to make a movie except for a cinematographer, gaffer, sound recordist, grip, and filmmaking equipment. Other than that, we were all set (that’s sarcasm)!
One of the guys who auditioned for Army & Coop a few weeks earlier (and who did not get a part) stayed in touch with me. He's a great guy. I told him I was looking for a co-producer and he gave me two names. I called both and hoped at least one would call me back.
DK Johnston called within a few hours. We set-up a one hour meeting, which ended up lasting over three hours. I told him that, primarily, I needed someone from the local film community to buildout the crew and help me with budgeting, a shooting schedule, etc. I gave him a copy of the script and he committed to reading it.
A few days later he called to say he was “in”. He already had a few people in mind for the crew and he immediately started working on a solid budget. Within a few weeks we had a crew, equipment, a budget, and a schedule. That was awesome! And just what we needed!
Incidentally, months after the movie was shot I asked DK why he agreed to come onboard the project with me. I had no experience, no schooling, and no contacts in the film industry. He said there were two reasons. One was that my son, Andrew, and I had done a ton of work prior to meeting with him. We had the cast, locations, sponsors, wardrobe… a 1980 Jeep! The second reason was that he really loved the script. He said he was laughing out loud when he read it. In fact, he said his wife yelled in and ask him what the heck he was laughing about in their office.
[By the way, the other potential co-producer did call me back a week or so after DK, but he was "a day late and a dollar short!"]
Now we had everything we needed to make a film, except I was still very concerned about my ability to make a movie – even with DK and the professional crew he had in place.
Next week we’ll talk about being on set and directing actors – having never been on set before and no idea how to direct!
Checkout the Army & Coop Trailer at: www.armyandcoop.com.