I’m not much for imposing on people. Normally, I feel like someone will ask me if they want my opinion. To me, blogs were just a vehicle for people with too much time on their hands to pontificate and attempt to inform others. Honestly, it all sounds like a big waste of time.
Let me give you just little background. At age 55, I decided to make a full-length, feature film. Not a short. Not a sizzle reel. An honest-to-goodness 90-minute movie, the kind I’d like to see - a raunchy comedy - something like Clerks or Porky's! And over the course of many months, I did just that. The movie is called Army & Coop, and it will be available on iTunes, Amazon Video, and Google Play later this summer.
Check out the trailer: www.armyandcoop.com
I live in Boulder, Colorado and have no contacts in LA or the film industry in general. I was never on a set. I never went to one-minute of film school. I knew nothing about cameras, angles, lighting, production, or any other aspect of film-making. But, like everything in life, sometimes you just gotta say f-it and go for it. So I did.
And, since we completed the film, I decided to self-distribute it, using social media, email and other e-marketing campaigns to promote it. That’s where the real fun began! Again, I had no experience in film distribution, but in order to make this film a success, I had to learn fast! Much more on this in later blog posts.
A few months ago I was sitting with a friend who is an expert at LinkedIn marketing. We were discussing ways in which we could use LinkedIn to promote the film when it is released. At one point in the conversation he said to me, “How in the hell did you make a movie with no knowledge or experience?” He added, “I might pay more to hear how you actually pulled that off than I would to see the movie.” That got me thinking; maybe people would be interested in how a guy like me made a real, full-length film, and then distributed it himself.
But, why a blog? Well, short of an actual video of how I made a feature film (I’m not a very good actor!), I thought a blog might be of interest to some people who are into film-making stuff. My story is akin to a “Clerks - Kevin Smith” story, hopefully with a similar ending! Those kinds of once-in-a-lifetime stories inspire me, and I assume they inspire others as well.
So, my plan is to write a new blog post every week until I run out of material. My goal is to inspire wannabe filmmakers to GO FOR IT and not be held down by others. Believe me, if I can do it, then you can too. It really just takes passion and hard work. What it DOESN’T take is a miracle, a lot of money, or luck.
So, look for my posts over the next 10-12 weeks as I step you through every phase of how Army & Coop was produced and self-distributed. Next week I’ll give an overview of how we made Army & Coop before we dive into the specifics.
Check out the trailer: www.armyandcoop.com