A short script I posted on here titled: Cigarette Break was fimled in late December.

The owner of the restaurant was kind enough to let me use his place..so basically I had an easy-to-shoot script, taking place in one room and with very few charactors, and a couple of film makers liked the whole package and decided to do it.

I've never had anything produced before so this was kind of exciting for me. Then trouble started. There was no casting call, so basically the cast was people that other people knew or heard about from other people... On the night of the shooting, Hot Chick showed up to work "stoned" and was let go. Fat Guy never made it so we basically picked up one of the customers from the restaurant who looked kind of big and hungry, I bought him a pizza and chicken wings and convinced him that he will be a movie star after that night... Cashier was having issues with his teeth so he couldn't smile and he was kind of let go... what else went horrible that night..hmm...well anyways. Hot Chick was replaced and the director ended up playing Cashier (WTF!!)... and no, we couldn't postpone the shooting because we were not guaranteed the owner will let us use his restaurant another time. It was do or die..and we picked (do)...

The film is currently in post-production... How long does post-production take?? How do you guarantee that unpaid actors will actually show up to work? How do you go about picking the right producer for your movie? The same guys liked my other script " Night at the Pizzeria" not because it's great but because I have the location and this one is also easy to shoot (even though I'm getting slammed about the ending)...so, for you guys who have been produced or guys who know about this subject, what do you suggest I do? Do I use the same producers? Do I wait to see what happens with the first movie and then decide if I want to use the same people again? I live in Hollywood by the way, so finding small-time film makers is not really that hard, everyone around here seems to have an HD camera and a girlfriend who wants to be an actress.

I would hold off and see what the end product looks like before going with them again. By all accounts, the end product is going to suffer from all the trouble they had, so there is a good chance that you'll be less than impressed.

I would play the wait and see game. If you're impressed with this end product and you insist that no further mistakes can be made (casting call, etc..), then go with them.

Stew

Hey, Stew. Thanks for the insight. Very good points.

Quoted from Ayham The film is currently in post-production... How long does post-production take??

One of my shorts, Dreams in Dust & Marble has been in post since October 2006.  For the past few months, when I e-mail the director to see what's new, he blows me off.


Phil

Quoted from dogglebe For the past few months, when I e-mail the director to see what's new, he blows me off.

Same thing happened to me when my script The Plan was produced.

~Zack~

Quoted from Zack Same thing happened to me when my script The Plan was produced. ~Zack~

Oh, come now, young one.  You got the dvd in the mail about a month after you were contacted.

I seriously have a crapload of these stories currently in progress.  Unfortunately, some of them involve money, as if the waiting game wasn't bad enough.

Stupid Batman Movie.

is Mike Shelton really Batman??

So post production could take up to few months! I guess this is fair as long as they stay true to the story and not turn comedy into drama, which is what the director hinted to me the last time we spoke, he said for some reason the story on-screen isn't that funny... Which isn't that surprising especially with Fat Guy. He was supposed to be somewhat comical with the way he's eating and collecting food from the floor and keeps stuffing his mouth. The guy who played him was very aggressive and fought for food ( we thought his gun was a toy, it wasn't )... He was REALLY hungry!

Quoted from Ayham is Mike Shelton really Batman??

Nah, I'm more like Clark Kent or Woody from Toy Story.

Post Production can take quite awhile.  One project of mine has been moving along at a pretty steady pace and should be done soon after about 6 months.  Another was done in about three, and one more (the one where Batman has screwed me) has been going on for about a year and a half.  It seems to me like more of them do fall on the shorter side, but it all depends on the ambition of the filmmaker and what exactly they're trying to accomplish.

The reason I keep mentioning Batman is because they kept taking the lighting kit that was supposed to be used on my film, and by the time things wrapped up, the weather had gotten to cold to keep going with the outdoor scenes.

Quoted from Shelton The reason I keep mentioning Batman is because they kept taking the lighting kit that was supposed to be used on my film, and by the time things wrapped up, the weather had gotten to cold to keep going with the outdoor scenes.

Did you pay for this equipment, Mike?  If so, you should just grab it from these guys.


Phil

No, why would I pay for the equipment?