2016 Film Development Update for Liberty No. 5 Pictures

Hello my friends! So many things have changed since I last updated you on my company's development projects awhile ago. That is, until I announced Floridiana just days ago. So, what has happened to my other projects? Well, I'm about to tell you...

I have fewer current projects slated since I am getting closer to focusing exclusively on Pre-Production and Production for my first picture, Floridiana. I am also working on getting funding for Blood Covenant/The Double Edge. I will act as Producer/Writer on this picture. But what of my past projects?

The Logical Diary has been scrapped. This one was a very ambitious project dependent upon an idea to make a year-long struggle to make a short film every month for a year. And then combining those 12 shorts together to make an anthology feature. Certainly an engaging and original idea. Yet the story eluded me. Not to mention the most important feature, the inspiration for this project, faded. Also, I can accept now, that I really don't have the time to produce such a demanding project.  I think its a good idea for someone who wants to build support for their feature by making numerous short projects culminating in one large push for a feature film release. But, the true issue is that the feature film is enormously more valuable than even 12 shorts. So, why not just focus on making one feature? It would be easier to focus on one story and have one moment of principle photography rather than a short every single month for a year. But, thats just me. Traditional feature filmmaking would be more valuable in this case.

The Good Grief has been for the most part scrapped. This was a passion project for me dealing with my college years and accepting myself as an artist. It was great to work with Linda Roser the short time we worked together on it. But, I just had too many things calling me away, story-wise. I am still interested in continuing the basic idea with a different story. Especially if it means working with Linda again on this film.

The Darkened Door was basically just an idea, and it still is. I had a few conversations with Davina Reid about this idea, and she gave very positive feedback. But I haven't written it yet. And I'm still not secure about the plot or characters yet. It is, also, not as high a priority as many of my other scripts and ideas. But I'm still attracted to it's neo-noir thriller tone. 

In This Sign Conquer is a strange conglomeration of story ideas that deal with war, loss, wealth, poverty, and religious extremism. I have taken about 4-5 old ideas and new ideas and shoved them together into a concoction of mystery, revelation, mysticism, and moral death. And I'm still not sure what to do with it. Ah, well. It may be some time before I return to this one.

Adaptation ideas such as C.S. Lewis' "Out of the Silent Planet", George MacDonald's "The Light Princess", "Day Boy/Night Girl", "Lilith: A Romance", "The Shadows", and ancient and legendary tales such as "The Nibelung" are still on the drawing board, but I have decided that they will best be served by attempting to get support and recognition for other films FIRST. And then, attempting to get these projects FULLY FUNDED in order to do these classic stories justice. You don't want to mess up a CS Lewis, JRR Tolkien, or George MacDonald tale. To be honest, I'm a major fan of these works in general and would cheerlead any of them getting directed by anyone who I felt could make these films best. Meaning, I may end up attempting to source an adapted script and then possibly helping to produce these works. These will certainly require a full-sized fantasy/sci-fi budget in order to bring these vivid, VFX-laden dreamscapes of wonder to the big screen. And it will need a full marketing budget to take advantage of the nascent fanbase out there who would gladly go to these films in theaters. So, this is still a major goal I have for the future.

Beach Baby is still in the works. In fact, it is the next script I am developing, God-willing. It's another local tale that must be told, like Floridiana. Except it takes place in the late 50's, and hopefully, some A-list talent will grace Beach Baby, even moreso than Floridiana. It will require a bigger Production Design budget and VFX budget in order to recreate 50's Florida.

Pirate Planet! is my first bigger budget project, which could end up being a ton of fun. It's a pirate adventure in space. I've already written an entire backstory, a Pirate Planet Bible ("The History of the Pirate Order"). What more do I need to say? It will be tons of fun... BUT it will require a LOT of VFX work, character design, costume and production design. But it will be enormously rewarding. Especially since it can lead to a larger story exploring the universe of the Pirate Order and High Space culture!

There are a lot more, such as The Wake, The Light of My Early Years, Redshift, The Inheritance, Mirum Lux, The Knight's Pilgrim, The 1%ers, and the mother load, The Triumvirate. I am ever hopeful that all of these are still in my future. And my current projects will hopefully bring them further into my reach. So, I look forward to completing Golden Foot, and Floridiana, and I look forward to producing Blood Covenant/The Double Edge first. Then moving on to bigger things later, such as Beach Baby. :)




A. PROJECTS CURRENTLY IN DEVELOPMENT:
1. Floridiana (In the role of Writer-Director/Producer)
2. Blood Covenant/The Double Edge (In the role of Writer/Producer)

B. PROJECTS CURRENTLY BEING WRITTEN:
1. Beach Baby
2. Pirate Planet



C. PROJECTS BEING DEVELOPED IN MY CURRENT FILM JOB:
A lot of projects being developed in my job working for an Executive Producer to help develop projects for fundraising. But I am bound by an NDA, so I can't talk about any of them.

Once I get a few of my current projects completed, I will be finding time again to write on these other projects and will be finding new opportunities through an agent or through offers of work to direct or write. I'm maturing into this and happy about where I'm going. ;)

FLORIDIANA: 1st Phase of Development

"I am still in the land of the dying. I shall be in the land of the living soon." - John Newton
~

This is a BIG deal for me. My feature script is completed and ready to be developed into my first feature. But I shouldn't expect much interest. As all those who clamour over creation are few. But all of those who expect to eat the fruits of your labor are readily seen, climbing in through your back window, pilfering your pockets as soon as they test that the gold is real. Oh, well.


"Welcome to Paradise," as they say.


But, I know there are many of you who ARE interested. Many who wonder what I've been doing. Many who covet the creation experience. Yes, I've had two children in the past three years. Yes, it's been fun and stressful. But the kind of stress that is good for the soul.

During Violet's growth in her mother's belly and after she was born, I wrote my first feature script, Blood Covenent, aka. The Double Edge. And as my son was about to be born and he was brought into this world, I wrote this new feature, convinced it will be enormously more producible than my first script. I've had some great inspiration for another lost script, thank you Linda Roser.

But this one stuck. Probably because I live right next to a park that helped to motivate this script. A park with a skatepark and tons of kids. It's like so many places I've known in Florida. Just laying about waiting to be discovered. Even when seeing them you dont discover them. Even when visiting weekly. There is something in them that is intangible, and intransigent. A part of the natural beauty of Florida which refuses to become like any other place. It's certainly not a paradise, but it is very much like one. If only our people weren't such travelers and strangers, we might see the beauty around us. But we are busy, as though we were stranded on a desert isle, stuck, in the struggle to survive life.

As is the beauty of these characters in my script. They are caught in the struggle to survive something that used to be so apple pie. Something called high school. The only way to survive, in reality, isn't to struggle. But to stop and notice the grain of the wood. There are beautiful things everywhere we go. Now, to survive them. To outlast them all. To become the wind, the sea, the trees ourselves, is to see if your island can survive you. Will it?

The film is called FLORIDIANA. It is made up of random people, places and things that I've discovered in Florida, and so far it's my best chance to make a mark, for a micro-budget price. I'm now starting to package it for fundraising and Pre-Production.

Want to be involved? Your best bet is to weigh in, make yourself known, and keep reading my stuff. If you are an aspiring actor, please rely on the casting process. Do not try to get cast before it is time. If you are crew, please let me know what you can do, provide me with your reel, your resume, or your link to your work. Thank you for your interest.

So, here's some of my upcoming development process.







PHASE I.
Incl. Steps 1-11.

1. Register & Copyright Script. 
DONE. WGAW Reg. Number 1838546. Copyright pending.


2. Logline
Four teenage delinquents living in Florida have a difficult time finding their place in the world, but together they learn to be good neighbors.

3. Synopsis

This indie drama follows the friendships between a charismatic skater, a homeless artist, a social outcast, and a homeschooler in their senior year of high school.

For many, the prospect of finishing high school is a relief, except for these four kids in Florida who fully expect they will not graduate. Hunter uses the thrills of skateboarding to distract from the wreckage of his abusive home life. Donovan has lost his sense of community. When he no longer feels welcome, he makes a new life in a new neighborhood, and he gives himself a new name. Apollo is a sheltered and homeschooled kid whose obsession with filming skaters threatens to effect his grades. And Terra is a mysterious artist who lives in public parks and hides the stigma of her homelessness from her fellow high schoolers.

For these four, high school has been a burden, but when Hunter, Donovan, Apollo & Terra meet for the first time in their senior year, their lives are changed forever, through the simple act of helping each other.

4. Mock-up poster.

So, this is where I am right now.

-------------------------------------------------------

TO COMPLETE NEXT


5. Complete 1st Top Sheet & Prospectus
This is basically the first part to help raise funds. A quick summary of funds needed and the summary of the film production proposal. Hard numbers are achieved with the Full Budget. We will probably end up making 2-3 of these eventually.

6. Set up limited corporation? 
If we are moving along nicely we may feel like setting up the business sooner rather than later. If I meet a producer and possibly a Line Producer who seems interested early on, I may start the business right away. If I still need to find a few people, I may wait to register the business.

7. Hire Line Producer/Production Manager?
If I can find one of these quickly, I will get the business rolling and then, immediately hire a LP or PM to start working on the budget, scheduling, breakdowns, and legal forms, etc. I may have found one already. ;)

8. Complete 1st Full Budget

I can do this, but i'd prefer if an experienced LP did this for me. I'm working on it now.

9. Complete 1st Business Plan

This would be the whole business plan, required to help raise the funds to make this film right. So far, I'm looking at about a $500,000-$750,000 budget. Probably Non-union but possibly SAG/AFTRA interested.

10. Complete 1st Electronic Press Kit
I like doing this work fairly early on, since it is like a press-ready version of the business plan. I think it's good to start thinking about how others should see our project fairly early on. Which can also help me write a better pitch.

11. Write & Practice 1st Pitch
With all of the advantages of this project well defined and how to sell it to others well established, I can now form a great pitch for investors, distributors, & other industry types.

So, there we have it! Right now we're moving along ahead of schedule!!!


So what do you think? This is just ONE of 10 phases for this film. And there are no doubt, things I have forgotten. Production comes in at Phase 8. So, its gonna take some blood, sweat and tears until we get to Paradise.

Wish me luck!!! What do you think of my next steps?

Jon's 2016 Summer Movie Wager

Hey everyone! Here's my 2016 Summer Movie Wager- which applies to DBO numbers for all films released between May 1st and Aug 31st.

I am going to bet that these films make the best Domestic Box Office numbers in this order!

1. Captain America Civil War

2. The Secret Life of Pets

3. Finding Dory

4. Suicide Squad

5. X-Men Apocalypse

6. Angry Birds

7. TMNT 2

8. Conjuring 2 

9. Ghostbusters

10. Independence Day Resurgence

Dark Horses:

1. Warcraft

2. The BFG

3. Ben-Hur

Here’s how they score the wager:

• Getting number 1 or number 10 dead-on gets you 13 points (each).

The rest of the scoring goes like this:

• 10 points for numbers 2-9 dead-on
• 7 points if your pick was only one spot away from where it ended up
• 5 points if it was two spots away
• 3 points if your pick is anywhere in the Top 10
• 1 point for each dark horse that makes it into the Top 10

The scoring is tabulated so that you get the SINGLE HIGHEST point value for each pick- that is, if you get number ten right, you don’t get 13+3, you only get 13.

Last year, I got this terrible score… 33 points.

I got…

7 points each for Avengers Age of Ultron and for Mission Impossible (1 place away)=14 points.

5 points each for Jurassic World and for Minions (2 places away)=10 points.

3 points each for Inside Out, Ant-Man, and Mad Max: Fury Road (on the list)=9 points.

14+10+9=33 points. This is HALF the score I made last year. Ha ha ha! ;)

Hopefully I’ll do much better this year, even though the season is PACKED with blockbuster fare. Every week has a new different 4-corner spectacle film or genre film. A decade ago we couldn’t do that. We have so much content that instead of wagering on a top 10 we’re gonna have to start wagering on a top 20! LOL.

What films are on YOUR list?