The Stories of DTS

What Does it Cost to Make a Movie?

This question came to me as I was watching Shaun of the Dead, a great little comedy horror zombie movie that I'd heard called "low budget."  The movie appeared low budget by normal Hollywood standards (I'm not knocking it), but I wondered what exactly "low budget" means.  I found out here, on The Numbers.  Shaun cost $5M to make, which seems like an awful lot of cash to me, but in the big picture, it is not.  The movie has already grossed over $26M worldwide.  Clearly, it's a profit deal!

I've come across The Numbers site in the past but had never really taken a close look.  The most expensive movies to make were Spiderman 2 and Titanic, each at $200M.  On the other end of the spectrum, The Brothers McMullen, a movie I liked and featured recognizable actors, only cost $25K.  Clerks, a classic, cost just $27K.  Blair Witch Project $35K.  Blair Witch was also the most profitable movie based on return on investment.  Not bad for a movie that has gotten mocked to no end -- a movie I enjoyed seeing in the theater with absolutely no preconceived notions.  Napoleon Dynamite is the 6th most profitable movie in history and should continue to rise as its following grows.

In keeping with a common theme of this site, the first two Project Greenlight movies:

The Battle of Shaker Heights -- $1M production budget, $280K U.S. gross (no data for worldwide).

Stolen Summer -- $1M budget (not actually on The Numbers site), $120K U.S. gross.

I posted this information because I found it interesting and because I wasted an hour or so on The Numbers today -- I thought I'd share the Time Suckage with you.

More Film School

It seems Film School originally aired in September 2004.  It's freakin' old news, but it's all I got.  This past week's episode showed the end of shooting the films, editing the films, and submitting them for the First Run Film Festival.  The episode began with Leah's minor actress trying to prove that her mom doesn't care if she has sex in a movie.  I guess everyone was satisfied -- even Mr. Assistant Director who sobbed because he was involved in child pornography signed off on the shots.  Much ado about nothing. 

Vincenzo's professor saw his film before he submitted and didn't like it.  In response, Vincenzo added some voice over work and animation to give the story more of a fable quality.  I applaud his efforts.  The voice overs would have been better, perhaps, if one without such a strong accent did it, but the animation looked really cool.  He had a lot of sound and music issues, but did get the film in on time. 

Alrick tried to get some last minute footage but was thwarted by city ordinances and Mother Nature.  It was hard to get any kind of feel for his movie, but the scene when his protagonist gets shot was captivating and looked professional. 

Next week IFC will show the final episode from the season.  It will be interesting to see how the movies play in front of an audience.  Evidently, the three come up empty handed award-wise, but there are only so many awards to go around.

A Father's Story, by Lionel Dahmer

  In high school, I went through a bit of a serial killer phase.  Now, before I get profiled by the FBI or put on some government watch list, I should point out that I didn’t actually kill people -- merely that sociopaths intrigued me and I would read anything I could about them.  This fascination is likely widespread given the volumes devoted to the subject.  Serial killers, by their nature, are interesting people.

It’s easy to understand why other murders happen: drug-deal-gone-wrong killings, revenge killings, murder for money.  They're all tragic in some way, but a certain logic flows with them.  If a man kills his wife and collects $2.5 million in life insurance, it’s logical -- it's a terrible thing, but we can wrap our minds around it.  If a wife kills her husband who she learned was cheating it's, again, logical.  Chris Rock's HBO special includes some analysis on O.J. -- Nicole Simpson let her new boyfriend drive around in the Ferrari that O.J. bought her -- Rock said "I'm not saying he should've killed her, but I understand."  It’s logical. 

When someone is murdered randomly people take notice.  We all do. 

The Invisible Dog

I'd like to congratulate long-time friend Chris Lazzaro for his role in making the movie short, The Invisible Dog, an award winner at the First Run Film Festival 2005.  Laz is now living in New York making his bones as an actor.  The Invisible Dog, Jonathan Watts' creation, won first place at the fest and will be shown tomorrow, May 25, in Los Angeles.  If you happen to be in L.A., check it out.

Again, congrats Laz.  The boys of Baker-Park are proud.

Film School on IFC

Last week I mentioned that a replacement show for Project Greenlight might be Film School on IFC.  It chronicles four NYU film students as they each make a film.  I've only seen one and a half episodes, but it is very PGLish.  Lots of stressing over the lack of money and the lack of time.  The show only runs ten half hour episodes, so there's not a lot to it and I can't tell you at what stage of the show the series is right now.   Hell, for all I know these are all re-runs.  Old news.  Well, like that '84 Chevette I bought in '92 -- it's new to me.  The website claims Film School will be on this Friday night if you're interested. 

Last week, Alrick, one of the filmmakers, broke up with his girlfriend because he was spending all his time making the movie and she was jealous.  Vincenzo couldn't get more money for new sound, so his odd film about a street person with a fake spider sounds like shit.  Vincenzo yells a lot and has trouble being nice to anyone.  He's good for television. 

The most interesting segment featured Leah, whose film is filled with teenage strife, angst, and lust. 

My Blockbuster Queue

Nearly two months ago I joined blockbuster.com for $15 per month.  At first I felt guilty for giving my money to the evil Blockbuster, but recently WalMart bought Netflix (or “joined forces with Netflix”) and there’s no way Blockbuster is any more evil than WalMart, so I felt better about my decision.  Plus, it’s a great service and I save $2 a month compared to the same plan on Netflix.

We figured that if we watched at least four movies a month we’d recoup our money.  Any more is gravy.  Two months in and we’ve watched twelve movies.  We’re stealing from the dirty bastards.  Ha!

I think it’s sort of ridiculous to full-on review movies that have already made their way to DVD, so I’m just going to rank the twelve movies and briefly comment on them for you.  In order to drum up a little suspense, I’m doing it from worst to first:

12.    Ladder 49.  What drivel.  Seriously, all I learned is that firemen are saints.  They made the whole movie and forgot to add conflict.  Painful.

Project Greenlight, Vol. III, Episode 9

It looks like last week's episode was not just the last for Volume III, but the last for the Project Greenlight series.  Based on Chris Moore's comments, the future of the television show is bleak given this year's ratings.  Not even my Arrested Development type tactics could save it.  It's a shame.

Why did it fail?  The audience just didn't travel from HBO to Bravo.  While Bravo is available to 78 million homes compared to 30 million for HBO, the ratings dropped substantially.  The HBO Project Greenlight averaged 1.7 million viewers.  The Bravo Project Greenlight averaged 254,000.  That's a dropoff of post-Phil Hartman on NewsRadio proportions.    Further, that's 36% less than the average Bravo prime time show.  Wow.  I mean, really, holy shit!  Other than Queer Eye and the show with the dogs, I'm not sure what Bravo has on prime time.  Whatever it is, it’s more popular than Project Greenlight.

What's done is done.  The final episode was excellent, even if it was condensed as hell. 

Just A Few Things

Before I get to the recap of the final Project Greenlight (should be completed tomorrow night), I've got a couple things to cover.  First, the picture to the left is the view from our Colorado Springs hotel room this past weekend.  Nothing like Pike's Peak out your window.  Beautiful.  Anyway, we only got to stay for a couple days, but had a good time on our first ever overnight venture away from the kids. 

Second, last Thursday night I attended a benefit for a local filmmaker drumming up money for production.  The movie, Godhead, starts shooting later this month here in Kansas City.  The filmmaker, Rossana Jeran, is being helped out by Panic Button, a nonprofit entity (part of the Independent Filmmaker's Coalition of Kansas City) devoted to helping local filmmakers obtain the funds necessary to make their movies.  It's a cool organization.  The benefit was a blast with plenty of beer and a sneak peek of the movie's trailer. 

Finally, I'm back online at home.  After much cursing, I got my computer to accept the new software.  It was a battle the whole way. 

Time Warner Cable Issues

We were finally lured into the Simplicity of One -- TWC's campaign to monopolize our home with their media:  digital cable, high speed internet, and phone service.   The cable guy came to my house yesterday to install a new modem.  I wasn't there to make sure it worked -- and of course, it didn't.  Turns out, he should have left a CD with the appropriate software.  I was on the phone with a national customer service guy for a half hour last night before he realized I wasn't supplied with the proper software.  He transferred me to the local office so I could get the right stuff and was on hold for 45 minutes.  I finally gave up.  No Internet access at my house.  Makes me sad. 

I might not even go home today. 

I Did It!

Well, you can thank me.  I worked hard to get the word out -- to tell all who'd listen to watch Arrested Development.  My little blog and I have done the impossible.  Well, hopefully.  E!'s reporting that Arrested Development is not just renewed for 22 episodes next season but also is signed for 22 after that.  Forty-four more Arrested Developments!  I am not worthy.  Of course, it's on the "gossip" page of E!, so we probably shouldn't start ordering our Girls With Low Self Esteem videos just yet, but it's the first positive news I've heard regarding the life span of my favorite show since...well, since ever.

E!'s Always Reliable Gossip Page

[Ed note:  good news/bad news -- when the column was initially published, it was not nearly as definite regarding the return of AD.  It's definite now, so that's good. Also, when it was originally published, the rumor was two full seasons, not just one. But, beggars cannot be choosers.  I'll take it.]