Make a Movie - Danielle Villegas

Well hello again, you adventurous soul, you!
For the last several weeks we’ve been sending you information on Trying Something New. Some of you have taken us up on the ideas and written in about your exploits (keep ‘em coming). But have you ever thought about actually filming your first attempt at something? Imagine having it all there for everyone to see. Is that scary or exhilarating…or both?

Today’s interview is with Danielle Villegas, who recently wrote and directed her first short film. Listen in to find out why this project was so important to her, how to hustle it to get things done on a budget, and how to handle the necessary pain that is fundraising.

Be sure to check out the resources to this week’s issue in the sidebar if you are interested in trying a similar project. We love our Kodak Playsport video camera and Gorilla Pod for our own low-budget productions, and it might be just the thing to practice with at your holiday gatherings this fall and winter. By this time next year, you could be in postproduction on your own short film for Cannes!

To our readers in the US, we hope you have a very happy Thanksgiving this week. We’re certainly thankful to have found a tribe of adventurous people like you.

Until next time, we hope you try something new.

PS - Did you miss an issue? You can now check out the archives here.

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“Ever since I was a little kid I wanted to be a filmmaker.” ~ Danielle Villegas

Danielle Villegas is a force of nature, and it surprised us that this accomplished writer, performer, and business woman had not yet fulfilled her greatest dream: to be a filmmaker. She started filming Super 8 films as a kid and even studied film in college, but life got in the way and she stayed on the periphery but never got to make her own film. Hey, it happens to lots of people. It did not surprise us, however, that she didn’t let the dream die and jumped right into the domain of the 20-something indie filmmakers and made it happen. Danielle’s story is the perfect one to be told this Thanksgiving, as she not only shows her gratitude for the outpouring of support she’s had with filming and fundraising, but because she is also bringing an important story about Native American heritage to light.

We hope you’ll watch the entire interview not only for the great insight into filmmaking, but also to reinforce that a dream is never dead until you stop trying and that you cannot wait when you see that tiniest opening of opportunity. Analysis leads to paralysis, and Danielle says we can learn a lot from those 20-somethings who just hustle it and make it happen without a lot of planning for every little scenario. It inspired us, and we think it will inspire you, too.

What Danielle did right:

• She had a story tell
• She had recent experience and connections working on film crews and in theater
• She assembled a really strong team of key people and made it easy for them to do their jobs
• She really hustled on the fundraising through Kickstarter and exceeded her goal
• She used her network to make it happen - she met the cinematographer back when she was selling life insurance, for example - and she really worked her connections on Facebook and email to get financial backing for her project.

What Danielle wished she had done:

• She wished she didn’t have to function as her own producer, but many first-time directors have no option but to do that.
• She wishes she had gotten all the crew members she needed, but she is glad she got the most important ones. A script supervisor would have been nice, though!
• She would have liked to control the weather to prevent rain during the entire shoot.

What Danielle would recommend for you if you want to try this:

• Have some background, skill, or experience with storytelling and directing
• Assemble the very best team you possibly can
• Really hustle with your fundraising and make sure your cast and crew is invested, even a small amount. If they aren’t other people will be hesitant to donate. You cannot be scared to ask for money, and if you really believe in your project it will be easier to do.
• Use a site like Kickstarter or Indie-GoGo to handle the financial transactions of your fundraising efforts.
• Set up your fundraising at a reasonable level, or in stages for your project. With Kickstarter, if you put up a $20,000 goal and raise $18,000, you will not get any of it. You have to meet your goal to get the funds.
• Short films generally don’t have a big distribution. Shorts are a way to get attention from producers and studios at film festivals to make bigger projects.
• You typically have to submit to a film festival 4-6 months in advance. Keep a calendar of all the film festivals throughout the year to know where you can submit. Some are better than others for future projects, like Berlin - a bunch of European and American producers go there looking for stories and directors.
• Make sure you do your part in the project because if you ruin your reputation or make your cinematographer be a director you won’t be able to assemble a quality crew again.
• Don’t wait for everything to be in place. Take a clue from the young filmmakers who just hustle it and cobble it together to get it done
• Earn your chops by working with filmmakers or in theater - write, photograph, stage, act - do all the things that will help you become a better director

Would she do it again?

Danielle says she has hundreds of stories to tell, and she would like the opportunity to film all of them. She’s excited about showing the film next year at the festivals and seeing what kind of interest she can drum up in bigger projects.

You can follow along with her Two Spirit Kickstarter diary as she finishes the postproduction on the film this fall in time for submission to the Cannes Festival in the spring. (There is also a short clip of the film there.) We’ll be checking back with Danielle this time next year to see how Trying Something New in making a short film impacts her life.
And that, my friends, is a wrap! If you were going to make your own short film, what would it be about?

Stay tuned for our next edition where we get a little bit wild…

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Trying Something New on a regular basis is key to living the good life. If you want to know how to save the cash to try something *really* big that you’ve always dreamed of, like making a short film, then this is the book for you. As a subscriber to this ezine you get a $10 discount just for using the code DREAM. What are you waiting for? That movie isn’t going to fund itself!