The “Floridiana” Short (aka. To Make a Long Story Short)

Hello my long neglected Floridiana Fans!

Let not yourself be troubled, the film project is still chugging along. Not as quickly as I’d like, but it is what it is. And one of the larger parts of my goal-set on the way to making the Floridiana feature is coming to a head very soon... the Floridiana short film! 

“But I thought you were going to make a feature silly! Not a short!”

Yes, this is true. However, I’ve learned that in the indy filmmaking world, part of building support and finding the funding we need to make an acceptable feature is making a proof of concept (in the form of a short or a trailer) BEFORE shooting the feature. This CAN help build this kind of support you need and can make your quality soar much farther than what otherwise would be possible. Don't start worrying that this is me realizing I've bit off more than I can chew and I'm backtracking! By no means. I already knew I was way in over my head ages ago! LOL! I know that this is just part of the game as an indy filmmaker. There is however, tons to learn from this.

For example, I've seen lots of indy projects find Kickstarter funding 'finally', but only AFTER running many larger, failed campaigns which were too ambitious for their team to support. Either they didn’t have the fanbase, or the amount they were asking for seemed to be exorbitant or unreachable for some reason. So, what do they do? They ask for less. And eventually as they pare their budget down they finally get funding. But it's barely enough to make a passable film. 

The fact is films are incredibly expensive, that is, if you want to be in the ‘professional film market’. But in the indy market it can be extremely cheap. And unless you have the equipment already, or the cast and crew base already established who are willing to work for free, making this micro-budget film is near impossible. Because these films represent a commitment already made to invest thousands of your own dollars, as well as thousands of your own minutes, to a lifestyle or a side-business that is supported by other dollars, entirely independent of a film project’s dedicated investment funds. This is the only reason a micro-budget film of any consequence can be made… other dollars, such as investments in equipment, training, time, and human resources, are necessary, and often have already been made. Additionally, this, by itself, is no guarantee that this micro-budget film will have any sort of craft, talent, or sense of story embedded in the finished product. In fact, it is almost a sure thing that it will be devoid of it. Because good talent costs money. A sense of good craft takes time to develop. Costing months and often years of training and dedication. A good product will cost a great deal, no matter how you slice it.

So, how does one build an investor's confidence to take the plunge and invest in you, the filmmaker, to create a professional product? You must impress on them that you are a professional first. And the best way to do this is in the form of some high quality, professional product. Show them the good outcome. Show that proof that a high-quality, professional work can and will be created, and by doing so, show that if investment is made, an even better product can be produced as well. A short subject can accomplish this with a fraction of the cost of a feature.

And this model has already been followed numerous times. So, we can see that this is a common avenue by which directors and producers find more substantial funding. An example of this can be seen in this article here: http://bit.ly/2i9HoOX . And articles on shorts that have been or will be made into features are here: http://bit.ly/2huO2OJ & http://bit.ly/1gCRjD3 .

This is not a long shot. It's been happening for a long time in the film industry... 

To make “a long story short”: 1. Write the Feature, 2. Make a short, and then, 3. Make the Feature. 

So this is what I intend to do. I’ve clearly got the script finished already. But now I need to determine my plan to make, not just any random short, but a short film that exhibits the ‘proof of concept’ of the feature film idea very accurately. In other words, it gives a small taste of what the actual feature would look like, feel like, and be about. You can do this by making a traditional short, making a trailer, or making a proof of concept which contains the tone or showcases the main idea behind what inspires the feature film project. 

Is it the 'world-building', like a sci-fi/fantasy film might need? Or is it a new film production concept that inspires experimentation in the medium? Typically, though, a good feature isn’t formed around technical ideas. It’s formed around story and characters, just like any other successful feature film. Film investors know that their money will be best spent on good writing, huge talent, and competent directing, which will best help produce films with an emphasis on strong story and compelling characters, not on just new, fun ideas. But having both is definitely a plus. So, don’t leave out these new ideas. But, especially, don’t leave the story at home. Show it off as much as possible! But for now, do it in a short format. Get to the small grain of your idea and try to distill it into this short product.

So, for Floridiana, I will be writing, directing, and producing a trailer, and possibly an additional clip, showing an essential scene from the Floridiana feature script. The idea is to get the short to have the same tone, style, and quality I am aiming for for the feature film. If I can accomplish this, I just might have a chance to get this thing fully funded. And that would be an amazing feat! 

It would be an honor just to work on the short and clip with people. But to make the fully funded feature with my local filmmaking friends along-side would be just fantastic! In the very near future, I’ll be providing more details to get involved! 

Thanks for reading and being there for me! And soon, we might be on set really making stuff happen!!! Wish me luck!