Posted Oct 16th 2006 8:15AM by Brian LiloiaFiled under: The Little Guy, DIY, Interviews
Drawing inspiration from the punk rock music scene, Sujewa Ekanayake has earned his title as an independent filmmaker and enthusiastic promoter of the DIY filmmaking ethic. His recent feature comedy, Date Number One has been on a successful, self-promoted screening run throughout the US and Sujewa frequently writes about his DIY experiences and exploits through his informative blog, DIY Filmmaker. Determined, vocal, and energetic, Sujewa has high hopes for no/low budget filmmakers willing to go the self-reliant route in producting and distributing their work. He is based out of Washington D.C., and I was happy to have the opportunity to solicit his thoughts on DIY filmmaking, DV, and Date Number One.How did you get into filmmaking, and what is the draw to DIY-style filmmaking in particular?
I decided to become a film director at 18. I was motivated to select that goal by the successes of Spike Lee and Steven Speilberg. I thought to myself that if those two dudes can do it, so can I. Rick Schmidt's book Feature Filmmaking at Used Car Prices pointed to the practical way to go about becoming a filmmaker, a way that I could access. Jim Jarmusch's film Mystery Train gave me permission to think freely about casting and storytelling through film and also about new technical possibilites (editing, shooting, etc.).In 1999 I made a feature flick called Wild Diner on 16mm, submitted it to Miramax, was rejected. Around the same time Dogme 95 broke - with The Celebration in '98/'99, and I have always been a fan of DC punk rock - which is a very DIY thing - they've been DIY since the early 80's (see the new doc American Hardcore for more on that scene). So, the availability of digital video as an affordable production medium and with having DC punk as a model for DIY distribution, I slowly formulated my DIY approach to film production and distribution in the early 00's. If I had used DV for Wild Diner, it would have been a better film due to having the ability to do more takes, and self-financing it would have been possible if it was shot on DV, so all around, there were very good reasons for going DV and DIY on the next feature, which was Date Number One, a comedy about several first dates.A big draw of the DIY-style is the self-reliance thing. I don't have to wait around to get permission from other people/Hollywood/Indiewood to make and show movies, I can just go and do it myslef, with the help from likeminded people.
What are the advantages/disadvantages of low/no budget filmmaking?
If properly done, there are no disadvantages to low/no budget filmmaking. Except, obviously if there were more money for production, then things may be easier - but then we are not talking about low/no budget filmmaking any more. If your choices are not making a movie because you do not have the money or making a movie with whatever resources you can round up, then for me, the choice is always making the movie with what I have/can get - 'cause you know, I am a filmmaker, so I must make movies.
Let's talk about Date Number One. Can you share some details of the actual production of the film? What did you shoot on, and what did you edit with? Why?
We shot Date Number One over a 1.5 year period - from summer '04 until fall '05. Very small crew for most of the shoots: 2-3 people. I operated the camera and directed. The five stories in DNO were shot separately, sometimes months apart. It made for a better movie I think - I had the time to re-work the script as each segment of the flick got shot. It was important for me to create many links between the five stories so that the audience gets a fuller feature film experience out of the flick - you know, as opposed to like feeling you are at a short film festival. I shot on an XL1S camera - thanks to a local (DC area) production company Winfield-Scott Media, and also on a VX2000 - thanks to Alex Ramsey. I edited on Final Cut Express on a Mac Mini. That equipment was the best I could get, and it did the job well. I had some excellent actors, and some difficult actors - but all in all I was able to get the performances that I needed. The crew - for the most part Fritz Flad - who also acted in Story 4, was excellent. Now about a year after wrapping the shoot, I look back fondly on the experience, glad I got to work with the people I did. I also had a lot of help from people in Kensington, and also DC - as far as locations went. Could not have made the film without those locations being easily available - thanks to Bossa, Cory & housemates, Jen B., the Tea Room & Hong Kong in Kensington, among others. I like shooting on DV with a small crew - looking forward to doing it again.How much money did the film cost to produce, and how did you go about raising the cash?
The film cost less than $10K to make. I used money from my day job paychecks, and loans/investments from friends to finance the movie. The biggest expenses were buying the editing gear, and meals for cast and crew. Also some equipment rentals. I plan on following the same low key financing approaches for future projects. Also, I am going to use some of the money we make from Date Number One to pay for the production of the next feature. I also did a benefit concert at a DC restaurant - featuring some of the musicians from the movie - Cory and Shervin and co., to raise cash for the movie - made $800 or so at that event. Which is a lot of money for a $10K film.
How long was the filmmaking process? Production, post-production?
The script was written starting in early '04 - starting in January. The film had its world premiere in May '06. So the film took 29 months to go from script to premiere. Yeah, about 2.5 years.
Can you describe your experiences with self-distributing the film? How difficult has it been to arrange and promote screenings?
Self distribution has been a joy and also a fair amount of work. I love self-distribution so I don't mind the work all that much. Producing and promoting the eleven screenings so far for Date Number One (including in Seattle, NYC & DC) has been relatively easy - the screenings were either venue rentals (or 4-walled events, as the "pros" like to call it) or bookings made by the venue (in the case of Pioneer in NYC) or free venues or almost free venues in exchange for a very small admin payment. Promotion has happened mostly through the Internet, also using fliers, and a couple of newspaper ads. I plan on doing a twelve week US tour in '07 with the flick; that will of course require more promotion. But due to the press I've gotten from the '06 screenings, I do not think getting venues to show the film will be a problem. Each screening I do raises the level of interest that venues have in the film. At this point I have over a dozen requests for screeners, from some of the best and best known indie film screening venues/theaters in the country. So, as far as press and development goes, the '06 screenings have been very successful. I've also made a few hundred dollars from the screenings so far, not a profit, but some cash to help manage the debt - always a nice thing. I expect the film to be in profit within the next twelve months and I expect to be able to make and distribute films full-time within the next twelve months. A cool thing about DIY distribution is that I get to keep a lot of the money I make, and I do not need to sell 100,000 DVDs to make a lot of money, 10% of that (or 10,000 DVDs sold - 200 DVDs per each of the 50 states in mainland US) will put the project waay in the black, will get all the actors and crew and investors paid off, and will give me plenty of money to make and distribute another feature. Plus there is the possibility of making a very useful amount of money through US and foreign cable TV licensing, and through merchandise. And perhaps some money through VOD (video on demand). I'll let you know in about a year how on-target all these financial projections are. :)A couple of people I know have made a very healthy amount of money from self-distributed features. So I know that turning the DIY filmmaking and distribution lifestyle into a full time job with good pay is very much an attainable goal.Touring with the film is nice, makes me feel like an indie rock star. :)
You ever hope that the film would be picked up for distribution?
That's a question that does not apply for this project, not really - before I wrote the script I decided to self-distribute the finished film. Self-distribution is how I do distribution, so there is almost no chance of anyone else picking up the film. I will collaborate with other companies - theatrical distro, retailers, cable TV in getting the film out - but they will be real collaborations - with me retaining the ownership of the film and having a say in how the distribution and all related work happens. I actually would be disappointed if I get to the point where I have to sell the film to someone else for distribution - in the traditional indiewood way, I would consider that a kind of a failure on my part as a DIY filmmaker.
I know that you are in the process of getting DVDs of Date Number One produced. Can you describe how that experience has been?
It's pretty easy. You can duplicate the DVDs at home on your computer or hire a mass replicating company to make hundreds or thousands of them for you. You can also make the packaging at home or with the help of a print shop or you can have the packaging made by the replicating company - Nationwide and Disc Makers will provide all those DVD making services, and there are many other companies who do the same. I should have DVDs of Date Number One available for sale in late October.
How has digital video technology and the internet helped in producing and promoting your film?
Date Number One could not have been made or distributed without digital video or the internet. Both those things are extremely vital for what I do. DV offers an affordable and high quality filmmaking medium for poor people, and the internet is a free publicity and community building tool.
Any advice for aspiring DIY filmmakers?
Yeah, plenty. 1.) Make a film that you would pay to see. 2.) Make a film that can compete with any similar kind of movie from Hollywood, Indiewood or foreign, or the DIY arena. As in: your comedy should be as funny as a Hollywood comedy, or better. 3.) Explore new ways of doing things - of doing everything - production and distribution - because low budget DIY is THE field to try new things out, because the risks are relatively low. 4.) Develop a community, help other people out, they may help you out in return. 5.) Don't worry about failure, select your targets (a film to produce, a screening) and move through them (get them done without worrying too much about it). You'll fail at times, and will succeed at times, and will learn how to do things better. 6.) And as Jack Kerouac once wrote in a book: "Be in love with your own life." 7.) Indie/DIY filmmaking and distribution can be difficult, but it's not like being a surgeon or a soldier or a school teacher - less risky and more fun, so don't complain too much and try to enjoy yourself.
No comments:
Post a Comment