My 5 Favorite Field Apps for iPhone

Below are my five favorite apps I like to use when working in the field. I use an iPhone 6, so sorry, Android users. Some of them are on Android, but I’m not sure which ones.

• DSLR Filmmaker Toolkit is a app that includes a slate with shot log, a viewfinder, and a depth of field calculator. I mainly use it for the slate and shot log, as I can email the file to myself as an Excel sheet. It’s a paid app. 
• The Magic Hour app alerts me an hour before and during the magic hour. It also gives me the angle of the sun at my exact location and a countdown to sunset. It is free. Can’t beat that.

Magic Hour

• Dark Sky tells me almost to the minute when rain is coming my way. On the Gulf Coast, this is useful, whether you are shooting or not. You can request a weather report for a particular address and even receive UV and wind reports. I received it for free at Starbucks, but it's a paid app.

Dark Sky

• Google Maps is a no brainer, but it just gets better and better. The app can now calculate your drive time while on route and can let you know if a faster route is available. You can also get public transit routes and bike paths if you lack a car.
• Adobe Hue CC is the newest app in my toolbox. It only came out days ago, but I have already fallen in love with it. It allows you to make LUTs on the go with your phone’s camera. If you are an Adobe Creative Cloud user, you can sync your LUT collection to use back in Premiere Pro or After Effects. App is technically free, but is better with the Adobe CC.

Adobe Hue CC

 Happy Filmmaking!

Preproduction Research Photos for "C'est la Mort"

Preproduction is moving along. Because C'est La Mort is a historical documentary, I visited some of the Mobile's long-time residents at the city's historic Church Street Graveyard. Many of the city's more famous residents currently reside here, including Joe Cain and Eugene Walter. This cemetery peeked around the mid-to-late 1800s. Following Mobile's strong Catholic tradition, the northern third of the graveyard (and the best ground) was reserved for practicing Catholics. Protestants were buried in the back. Unbaptized individuals seemed to be buried to the west due to all the baby-sized graves on that side, even though some babies seem to be buried with mom or other family members.

Thought I would share my fabulously creepy photos taken with my phone.

Joe Cain.

Lopez Family graves.

Young woman who died at 26 in 1847.

Eugene Walter.

Catholic grave.

Possible Mason grave.

Child named "Louise". Mom and dad weren't too far.

Another child or children's grave.

Happy Filmmaking!

Common Payroll Mistakes

Thought I would share this email I received a couple of days ago. Has some great information in here about the business part of show business. Too often, like I said in a previous blog post, we forget that this fun and exhausting business is indeed a business.

3 Common Film Payroll Mistakes

If you're a newcomer to the business side of filmmaking, investing a little time upfront with a payroll professional can save you big bucks during, and after, production. At PayReel, we've worked with a lot of independent filmmakers and have seen pretty much every mistake in the book. Here's our list of the three avoidable mistakes we see most often:

Mistake #1 — Not Reading Your Union Contract
Meal penalties, forced calls, per diems, oh my! Labor unions exert jurisdiction over a wide variety of job functions and geographies in the entertainment industry. You may not even be aware of which unions will expect to be involved with your project. This lack of knowledge often results in production delays and unexpected expenses.

Mistake #2 — Inadequate Payroll Budgeting
We've seen "surprise" labor costs cause many productions to simply run out of money. This happens because the true cost of employing workers was not fully understood. "Overhead" expenses can easily add 35% - 50% to your payroll budget. And because these amounts vary by location, it's a good idea to work with someone knowledgeable about where you plan to be shooting.

Mistake #3 — Misclassifying Workers
If you don't already know what this means, we really need to talk because a state or federal audit can be a very expensive and scary thing.
What happens if you get audited and it's discovered that you've misclassified workers? We'll begin by calculating back taxes, then add penalties, and then throw in any back overtime wages. Can your production afford this?

This was sent to me by Moviemaker Magazine advertising a service called PayReel. I've heard of them before and they are worth checking out to avoid payroll mistakes. They have not contacted me for any endorsements, and I am mentioning them from word-of-mouth, so please do your own research and find the company that is right for you.

Happy Filmmaking!

Do I Smell a SCAM???: Wrong turn at Albuquerque

Local Albuquerque news broke quite an intriguing story: a former local filmmaker was "loaning" out his insurance policy to other filmmakers in exchange for producer credit. Talk about copy and credit!

The former filmmaker also made some scratch on the side, charging filmmakers for the use of his insurance policy. Herein lies the grey area: Mr. Porter is not an insurance agent and therefore cannot provide insurance to anyone, yet he asked for co-producer credit on all the films, cementing his "involvement" on the film or films. Dare I say, scam???

This is fraud, plain and simple. You can be sympathetic towards the filmmakers and to Mr. Porter, but Mr. Porter can't name himself co-producer on a project AND collect a fee. Most producers and filmmakers here in Los Angeles would've laughed him out of their offices and hire someone else with a license. Even if Mr. Porter did not know what he was doing was illegal, the insurance company--who knew--should have taken responsibility. The company merely informed him it was illegal (or, at least, that is what it told KRQE).

Listen, s**t happens. You're gonna need insurance on your shoots. If you drop your camera off a cliff, your main actor breaks his arm, or have your tripod or dolly stolen (my God, please steal ANYTHING!), you might want to have a little insurance to back you up. In fact, it's the law in many places. But please, buy insurance from reputable sources. Even State Farm sells insurance for filmmakers. In the unlikely event one of the above occurs, your policy will actually cover you, instead of covering some guy who knows close to diddly squat about your film.

Here is a short list provided by my alma mater (Fight on, ol' SC!) for film insurance providers:

Abacus Insurance Brokers

ISU Vansa Insurance Services

Truman Van Dyke Company

Happy Filmmaking!

Blacklisted? A Good Thing!

Used to be if you were blacklisted, you were branded a commie and shamed from "ever working in this town again!" Those days are long gone. Today, it is an honor to be blacklisted. This new Black List is just shy of five years old, but what a tot it is!

The mysterious and exclusive Black List is an annual list of unproduced screenplays that are making waves in development departments across Hollywood. Think of it as the slush pile from Heaven. Last December, LA Times revealed the history behind the name and its founder. The "Black" in "Black List" is to counter the connotation associated with the word (is that a little of Malcolm X I hear?). I agree that Black is Beautiful, although it's clear I have a bias.

If on the list, there is a high probably you might receive an option. Although, not everyone likes the idea of the Black List. Here is an blog article slightly critical towards it, as well as the commenters.

Films created from the Black List include:

Juno

Charlie Wilson's War

The Kiterunner

The Queen

Million Little Pieces

Black Snake Moan

Babel

Dan in Real Life

We Are Marshall

..and many many others.

Happy Filmmaking.

Holding out for a hero: Pulling the Plug on Recession Filmmaking

Is it really smart to invest in independent filmmaking during a recession? Sure, the Indie industry is always risky (everything from risky investors to one-hit wonders), but how smart is it to actually shoot and produce a film in times like these?

I personally am taking the time to venture very carefully. Just as in the Writer's Strike, I am concentrating on planning and writing. Besides, both of those activities require virtually no money. Also, now is a great time to check out how well your competition is doing. That is the studios.

Recession is very vulnerable to indies because of the niche audiences. Even studios are cutting back on production. Production is not where it is at!!! But I know the time will come when the demand will rise again.

Post, on the other hand, is something worth investing. You should finish any cuts started since an unfinished film is more money down the drain. Your editor (or just you) should be mindful of wasteful cuts, while keeping the "when in doubt, cut it out" rule.

Be prepared by prepping your film package and laying out the groundwork for your production company. You know what they say: failure to plan is planning to fail. Investors are getting harder and harder to entice, so make the package as concise as possible during this time. And maybe one day, the money will flow freely once more.

Happy Filmmaking!

Legal permits vs. good ol' fashion shoot-and-run

Coming home from work today, I noticed a "Notice of Filming" posted on the front door of my apartment building. I am very familiar with these signs, and every time I see one, my face lights up. They bring me back to my film school days, when students always ran into one universal problem: permit, or no permit?

Fundamentally in Los Angeles, it is illegal to shoot a film in a public area without securing a permit. Especially if you would be obstructing the normal traffic or pedestrian flow. Thus, Los Angelinos expect the notices. If you don't have one of these, there is nothing you can do when some asshole decides to take a shortcut straight through your shoot.

But permits take time away from your shoot, they cost money, and sometimes you find a locale you love, but you can't secure the location through a permit. What are you gonna do? Go guerrilla, of course! Guerrilla filmmaking tends to happen quite often in indie and student films. I did it myself. And despite the clearly laid-out rules at USC about shooting without permits, the school itself turned a blind eye to it in regards to its students. There was even a class at 'SC about Guerrilla filmmaking. Guerrilla filmmaking only works if you have a small cast and crew and very few equipment, or if you are shooting a documentary. That way you can shoot and move more quickly.

If you are caught by authorities, however, you could face legal issues. Big legal issues. And who wants that when they are trying to make something meaningful to humankind? The compromise is to secure a permit with a small crew. Here in LA, if your crew is small enough and you have no stunts or SFX, your permit may be free. Small crews are favored over large ones, and you can control the locale to your liking. In other cities, you may even get the support of the local chamber of commerce or film commission, and even some soft financing (that's price cuts and in-kind donations). Sometimes it's worth following the rules. For a list of film commisions, click here.

Happy Filmmaking!

Finding your rich uncle

The hardest thing about making a movie is finding the money and resources to do it. Film finance is an artform in itself that should be taken very seriously. It can be done, however. Just remember these helpful tips to make the daunting task easier:

• Write a business plan. Would you give your money to a stranger or not-so-close acquittance who didn't do his homework? Have something to present to your potential donor.
• Be organized in your business plan. Present a set budget. Know why you need money and how much.
• Don't ask for $50,000 from one person. Ask for $500-1000 dollars from 50 people. Donors are more likely to give in smaller amounts.
• Set up a website where people can look at your teaser trailer. On that website set up a donations box through Paypal. If your stuff is good, strangers would love to see the rest.
• Look for and research film grants. State film commissions, non-profits, and patrons of the arts have plenty of film grants out there for the struggling filmmaker. Most are for making a documentary, but some out there do exist for narratives.
• Look for local and state tax-incentives. Tennessee just announced great tax-incentives and resources for people who make a film in their state.
• Consider in-kind donations. In-kind donations would be free food, free shooting location, free costumes, free props, anything of that sort. These are usually in exchange for promoting the service or product shown in the film. In-kind donations can cut your cost tremendously.
• Consider product placement. Don't go overboard like I Robot or Minority Report, but you could present your script to companies and marketing houses for ideas on where to put certain products. For example, Forrest Gump drinks gallons of Dr. Pepper throughout the film.
• Consider selling distribution rights in exchange for finishing funds. Hopefully, your main goal for your film is to get as many people to see it as possible. Selling distribution rights to the right company or studio grants two of your wishes.

Happy Filmmaking!