Chapter 7

Soft Prep

WHAT IS SOFT PREP?

You may have heard the statement, “The lower the budget, the longer the prep.” Well, is it absolutely true. However, when the budget is as low as a SAG ultra-low, like the projects I was producing, there is certainly no money at this stage. I don’t want to start spending money and writing checks until the first day of preproduction. I promised my investors that I would not start soft prep until 80 percent of the funding was complete; in the case of the first one, Candy Stripers, I had promised the investors that I would not be moving forward on the film until 100 percent of the funding was complete. So the minute I knew we were in good shape percentagewise, I started soft prep. To me, it means doing a ton of work and getting plenty of what would normally be considered preproduction done without spending money.

In the case of my low-budget films, Kate and I – together with our line producer – decided that our actual preproduction would be three weeks. Our shooting schedule was fourteen days. So Mike would be moving into my office exactly three weeks before we started shooting each film. However, there was no way I was going to wait until then to start the casting process or location scouting. I would not be able to sleep nights. My goal was to have the entire casting process over, complete with signed deal memos as well as the major locations penciled in. We wouldn’t be able to write a check for the locations, but at least we could get the initial deals in place so that on the first day of preproduction, we could have them signed and locked in.

I thought that four weeks would be a good amount of time for what I was calling soft prep. I had a list of things that needed to be done and I used every minute during that four-week period. Here are five specific items that I feel need to happen during this time period and that can be accomplished with almost no money – all of which will save you a lot of stress during preproduction. Believe me, you will have enough to do during preproduction, so why not get some major items off your plate now? Here’s an approximate time line:

1) GET SAG SIGNATORY NUMBER

In the case of Candy Stripers, with 33 speaking roles and a budget of $200,000, there was no way we were going to be SAG. However with Séance and Portal, we wanted to use SAG actors, so that meant getting a SAG signatory number for these films. It is one of those jobs that your line producer is responsible for; however, please check in to make sure the paperwork has been ordered and handled. Mike was so busy doing multiple jobs for us on Séance prior to soft prep that he had filled out the paperwork but had not had time to send it back to the SAG office. So here we were four weeks from preproduction and a week away from starting the actual casting process and we didn’t have a SAG number. I had Mike send it to the SAG office immediately and I called them and asked if we could get our number as soon as possible because we really wanted to get our character breakdown into Breakdown Services so that we could begin scheduling auditions. They were very accommodating and got us our signatory number within a couple of days.

It is important that you have your number assigned to you by the beginning of soft prep, four weeks before preproduction, so that you’ll be ready to begin casting well in advance of preproduction. Also, it is always wise to learn about the guilds and unions you will be using on your film. So call them to see if they are offering any seminars on their policies. I know that SAG has a seminar with a question and answer session at least one evening a month. At the very least, go online and do some research on their rules and regulations. Or feel free to call and speak to someone at the Guild office.

Even working under the low budget that I am discussing here, I wanted to know as much as possible about SAG. That was the only guild we would be using, so why not spend time learning about their policies? If you are using other guilds or unions, I recommend that you do the same for each.

Please note that the SAG signatory is only for each individual film that you produce. Do not use your umbrella company if you have one. For example, Snowfall Films, Inc., and WindChill Films, Inc., are not signatory companies. Each time I prepare for a new film and I want that film to have SAG actors, I will have that project, which is an LLC (like Séance, LLC), be the signatory company.

2) TABLE READ

We’d already had a table read during script development. That table read was for a couple of reasons: to tighten the script so that we could keep the budget where we wanted it and to catch any areas that needed to be enhanced in any way.

This second table read served a different purpose. At this one, we would of course be looking for any additional ways to enhance the script, but the main reason for scheduling the read was for the heads of department who were now on board to get a chance to hear the script out loud and for us to sit and discuss the project in detail following the read.

I was not going to be paying anyone at this point, but believe me, anyone on board will want to be there. We invited our director, writer, line producer, DP, stunt coordinator, special effects artist, and 1st AD. I could have held the meeting in my office, but in the interest of having an uninterrupted read, I booked a hotel for three hours for the read and discussion. We paid for it personally, and as always, kept the receipt. It was only $100 for a small room, so it was well worth it, and when we started preproduction, we reimbursed ourselves as part of our operating costs and not out of the film budget.

Don’t even think about getting and scheduling the actors yourself. Remember, you are the president and manager of this company, so you have to learn to delegate. It is essential. There are tons of actors out there who would love to take on this job for free. They will get to meet the producers and director. An actor friend of ours offered to schedule the actors for the table read. In the case of Portal, I told her that there were sixteen speaking roles, so booking seven or eight actors would be fine. I emailed her the script, gave her the location and the time they needed to show up, and I left the rest up to her. She ended up doing such a great job that the director asked her if she would be interested in being a reader during casting. Of course she said yes, and then she ended up getting a major role in the film!

A table read at this stage is invaluable. We were seven weeks away from principal photography and four weeks away from preproduction. This gave us some time to take a serious (really serious) look at the script and have a realistic discussion with the heads of some of the major departments. What was working and what wasn’t? During the discussion following the read, we looked at what could be done, what couldn’t, and where we might have to cut back or make some changes. Better now than during principal photography.

Mike had done an excellent job of creating the initial budget and schedule, but now we had the special effects expert sitting with us. We had the stunt coordinator and the director all talking about what we could make happen. At this budget level, some things seemed crazy and impossible, so it gave us a chance to brainstorm together and get really, really creative. Instead of saying “That’s impossible at this budget,” we thought up ways to make those scenes happen. Of course, your director has been working on his or her storyboards to date and perhaps the director has even had the opportunity to work with the DP and first AD, but there is nothing like having them all together in one room where you have just heard the script read aloud. It’s kind of like when the rubber hits the road: you have to get real about what can be done at this budget, but you also get the opportunity to create. It’s one of the best parts of the entire process of filmmaking.

Something else that came out of this table read was a surprise to me. I think in the first read, we were all so focused on where we needed to cut and trim that we never really concentrated on the emotional impact of certain scenes. At the end of this read, we invited the actors to stay for a few minutes and give us their take on the script. Was there anything they noticed that we should be aware of? We were so close to the script at this point that it was great to have a fresh perspective. During the Candy Stripers table read, the actors brought up the fact that our male lead, Brian, had no real emotional reaction to his girlfriend’s transformation into an alien. Even though he had to act quickly and kill her in order to survive, the actors at the table read thought that there should be a moment where he gets to express his sadness and therefore give the scene that emotional punch for the audience. It was a great point; the writers and director totally agreed and made immediate changes to the script.

If you have a script supervisor on board at this point, please invite him or her to attend this table read. I wish we had done that on Candy Stripers. We had a ton of “hallway” shots, but there was no description differentiating one hallway from another, which posed a real problem for the script supervisor during our shoot. Hearing the script out loud at this early table read might very well have caught and solved that problem.

3) LOCATION SCOUTING

Although we were not spending money to lock in our locations until pre-production, but – like with casting – I would have had a nervous breakdown if we didn’t at least have our locations penciled in well in advance. Figure 7.1 shows a deal memo that we did with the motel we used during the entire filming of Portal.

FIGURE 7.1

On one of the projects, we paid for a location scout, but as it turned out, we got most of the locations by just putting the word out about what we needed. And our line producer was instrumental in securing some great locations as well. If you can put $1000 or $2000 in the budget for a location scout, go ahead, but if there is a way you, your director, and your line producer can pull it off, all the better.

You will be amazed at how helpful people will be if you start spreading the word as to exactly what you need. Even I forget to do this at first, so make a note of it. In fact, during soft prep I was mentoring a lovely young woman as part of the Los Angeles Women in Film mentor program. At the end of every one of our meetings, she would thank me for being her mentor and then she would ask if I needed anything. I always said no. I know, that was stupid. We were having such problems finding tunnels for the chase scenes in Séance. Everything we found was too small or too expensive. On her last mentor meeting with me, just around the end of soft prep, she asked me again if I needed anything. I was so concerned about our location problem that I started telling her about it and she started to laugh. When I asked what was so funny, she said, “Oh, by the way, I am the locations manager for the back lot of Universal Studios.” I couldn’t believe it. I had known her for months, and we were so focused on her future career in the mentoring program that I never even asked what her current job was! Anyway, we got a great deal, as you can imagine. Watch Séance and you will see a fantastic chase scene, as our killer ghost played by Adrian Paul chases our two female leads through the basement hallways at Universal Studios.

Any time you can save money, go for it! It also happened that our line producer was excellent at doing the negotiating and the paperwork involved in securing locations as well as city permits. Don’t try to get around or avoid permits when they are required. It is a business like any other, so we don’t have the right to cut corners when it comes to legal commitments.

4) LIST YOUR FILM IN THE TRADES

Another item to handle in soft prep is listing your film in the trades. This task is so much fun, and it’s easy to do. Call your local industry trade magazines and get the information necessary to post your film. I think this is important for a couple of reasons. It is fun to see your film listed in the trades as being in preproduction, and it is also important, as you are about to start casting, that agents and managers see that your film is real. In addition, sales agents and studios will start tracking you. It puts you on their radar. It’s also a great idea to scan a copy of the listing once it’s been posted in the trades and email it to your investors.

5) INFORM YOUR INVESTORS

It was at this point, the first week of soft prep, that I started weekly emails to our investors. We were about to start the casting process, which was exciting. We were looking for locations and the film was getting listed in the trades – all great fun stuff to share with investors. As I really wanted to keep my investors informed and involved, I ended each week with a detailed email. I also informed them that the schedule would be available in a month and reminded them that they were welcome to come out to the set. I would be making recommendations for what days would be the most fun as we got closer to locking down the schedule. I continued this weekly email until well into postproduction. Without your investors, you don’t have a movie. I know you are busy during soft prep, preproduction, principal photography, postproduction, and delivery, but don’t forget to make a point of keeping your investors updated and informed.