Rene212121

Hey Phil! No, that's a good question. You don't get to break even with theatrical or video alone but I still have TV in all the windows and then I sold it to other markets, so in the end I'm pretty sure I'll be able to break even, perhaps even make a small profit, but another problem is that this process takes too long to keep working with the same money so you have to find new ways of financing unless you want to wait three years to start working on another film... In mexico (that's where I'm from and where I am at) the Goberment has a new fund to promote film production, and it's very simple really, if you have a project whit detail budget, shooting schedule, script and it all makes sense, you can send for approval and they would give you 49% of the budget (up to around 650K) if you can prove you have either in cash or specie the other 51%, ( in México films budget average a 1.2 million dollars), So if you're able to get some one to give you hotels rooms for credit, or some one lend you a camera, some else to let you use their homes or offices as location for free on paper everything has a cost and all goes into the 51% you have to get, And if you are able to get all of this for free then you're maybe only worried to get 200k on cash if your film is under a million. Almost half the project send get approved, and the comity is form by members of the actual industry so you can't fool them with and impossible budget or shooting schedule, or if it doesn't make sense with the script you're planning to shoot... And yes I have a small production company (I make TV commercial) so I have some equipment like camera, edit suite and stuff that makes the project much easy to accomplish, all though I do have to rent trucks and all that stuff when I have to make a feature film... Good luck! Rene

Hey Andrea! Great to find out that a Mexican woman is trying to make cinema somewhere else in the world... Ok, to give you some answers: 1.- Today 8 out of 10 people see mexican films in our country, ten years ago it was only 2 out of 10, also in terms of people per showing mexican films do very good but you have to keep in mind that most national features are release with under 100 prints against 600 copies of american films and the difference in advertising budgets is huge... 2.- Government is doing an effort to lend economical resources to promote production under a system that will give you 49% of the movie budget if you're able to come up with the other 51% either on cash or specie, almost half the projects presented to IMCINE are approved. On the other hand government seem very uninterested on defending producers from exhibitors and distributors who get around 90% of the BOX OFFICE. About the rest of Latin America, Mexican films don't do good in other spanish speaking countries, but this has to do with the fact that what we call "New Mexican Cinema" is fairly new and we haven't invested in developing those markets as we must, is a matter of time but at this moment it's not happening... 3.- Biggest obstacle I thinks is the ticket share we the producers get, it makes it almost impossible to return investment even if the movie makes several times it cost in box office, also the fact that most distributers are international and their priority are the American films and they will pull the Mexican film even if it's making good money on the Box Office to put an American movie instead. You have to consider that Mexico is one of the biggest markets of films and logically international distributers don't want their share to diminish so they handle Mexican film more as a public relations strategy then as a business venture... 4.- The biggest obstacle for the ones starting is the lack of work in actual films, you're wrong when you say 50 films are made in Mexico each year, there are 10 on average. But basically every movie is independent and that's really a blessing 'cause you get to keep the control, of course distributor will tell you his observations and suggestions but it's not a matter of change it or else! 5.- You see woman mostly as producers, 1st ad, scrip and directing, I can tell you they're doing good! 6.- It all depends how you want to approach it, if you want to get a job can be very difficult if you don't know anybody, but if you want to raise a project you don't need much contacts aside from the money people. Mexican film cost on average 1.2 million dollars, that's not much and if you remember that IMCINE can put half you can talk some hotel owner to give the rooms, some one to lend you a camera and so on, so maybe you're only looking for 300k cash which is a lot of money but not in terms of cinema. I live in Tijuana just across the border from California and very far away from Mexico city so obviously didn't knew no one and still was able to make my film get it distributed by 20th Century Fox and that with no financing from IMCINE, so I guess it's really a matter of how strong do you want it as anything in life I think... Good Luck!

It's true, no one will pick up the tab but you, some distributor may be willing to advance some cash if he sees he can get it back asap but in the end the money will be deducted from your share of the "profits", I made a film in Mexico and got it distributed by 20th Century Fox, the movie did fairly good in theatrical and video so far, but I get just a small parts of the profits, not enough to break even and that's considering the film made in box office three times as much as it cost to make. But you have to keep in mind that this is a long run and can't expect to "make it" on your first film, I'm about to start shooting my next feature and things seem to be getting less difficult second time around... And about straight to video, I guess the range of quality you can expect is very wide depending on the budget you're working with and how much care and attention you put on the actual production, post production for theatrical is very expensive and may not be the best investment. You may want to find out first the technical requirements of the companies you'll try to sell your film too. We made DVD and VHS for video release from a DigiBeta master and looks great. What I mean is that the money spent on a high end "theatrical" quality post production can be better expend on the next project and still have great master to deliver either on DigiBeta or HD. If you're shooting on 35mm most likely is going to look great anyway, just think about big budget films like "Collateral" or "Episode III" with all that money they still look like Mexican telenovelas... Great luck!

I can tell you for my experience that the BL2 is a very good option, I own one and so far had shot many commercials and a feature film theatrical release by 20th Century Fox, it's true that it isn't the most quiet camera but nothing a barney or a blancket can't handle, I even shot a whole scene inside a small bathroom and didn't had to re record audio on that or any other scene, there are lots of primes sets in excellent condition on B mount. You'll have to use a blimp though but who cares? what you need is that your images look great not your camera. With 400' magazine and a prime is actually very compact. There's the option to convert it to PL mount so that's another choice, you can get a good package for around 20k so it's also very cost effective. I bought mine with 4 400's mags and primes blimp housing for around that number, and so far the investment has return many times over. And if you want to impress clients just wait 'till they see it with 1000 mag, zoom blimp housing and matte box...

I got also a BL2 and have the zoom blimp but the lens is the angenioux 20-120 and the screws goes on the moveable rings and the two rubber holders shouldn't get in the way...

I got a Konvas M2 and it sure is a MOS camera, I even had a barney made but isn't much help...

I got one and I'll do scrow, it even has a blimp, doesn't help much with noise but looks very cool! hehehe... The thing is that I have also a BL2 so I don't have much use for it, let me know rene@hispana.com.mx