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So a few months ago I found out that this was a thing...
You may or may not know that Stephen King offers many of his short stories up for adaptation and production through the Dollar Baby program. It's all pretty simple, you apply to get the non-exclusive rights, they send you a contract and you send the signed contract back with $1... a few weeks pass and you get the go-ahead to make the film. Pretty damn cool if you ask me.
I've been thinking about making a short film for some time now and have decided that I'm going to take a crack at a Dollar Baby, specifically "All That You Love Will Be Carried Away" from Everything's Eventual. I've been doing a ton of work in the background and am really now just waiting for some rewards to be finished up and then I will be looking at funding through Kickstarter later this year.
I do have a 'Official' Facebook page if anyone would like to check it out and maybe give it a like/follow if you like what you see.
For SK fans I'm going to have some pretty cool rewards.
I looked into that a long time ago, but never did anything since it seemed you're rather limited in what you are aloud to do with the film. Is that still the case or has he loosened up some of that?
I looked into that a long time ago, but never did anything since it seemed you're rather limited in what you are aloud to do with the film. Is that still the case or has he loosened up some of that?
Thanks, I'll need it
But yes you're right the contract is extremely limiting, that hasn't changed it seems. It's film festivals or private viewing and that's it. I think that's why the crowd funding route is appealing for this as you end up making the film for people who specifically want to see it.
I looked at the contract again and it says, only non-profit film festivals. Aren't most of them for profit?
Either way, I wish you the best of luck.
My understanding is that you are not allowed to profit financially from the film so film festivals where monetary prizes are on offer are out. Could also mean any prizes at all, but I've seen Dollar Babies that have been screened at a lot of festivals. Either way, this isn't about festivals for me, it's about having a crack at making a film from the greatest author on the planet
Is this your first time making a film? If so, you will be amazed how you'll look at writing afterwards. Joined the page too, btw.
Thanks for joining!.
And yes this will be the first time I've actually made a film. It's pretty daunting but I've got some pretty amazing people involved so far so I'm hoping we can pull it all together.
The Kickstarter for my Stephen King Dollar Baby was approved which means the pre-launch page is up and running for anyone that wants to be notified when it goes live
We're still a few months away but I'm trying to get everything well and truly sorted before launch.
I'm going to be giving away a ton of stuff if this gets funded including some limited edition King books and a custom tray case housing an Advance Reader's Proof of Everything's Eventual that will have a genuine King signature laid into it. It's being made by Paul Michael Kane from 19th Edition who does amazing work.
Still a little while before my Kickstarter goes live, but I think I have the bulk of the work done. I'd love some feedback on how the campaign looks and comes across and on the rewards on offer. Costing of each reward tier might still change, but that's roughly what I'm looking at. The vast majority of backers are likely to come from the US.
1) The storyboards are all going to be inked up with the "Stephen King" bit in read ink. 2) My artist is doing a custom piece that will be offered at every reward level in either digital or physical copies. It's a representation of the 14 stories collected in Everything's Eventual with The Dark Tower related story taking front and center. 3) Paul Michael Kane, a creator that runs 19th Edition, is finishing up some rewards for me so they will be listed once complete.
Here's the pencil progress on the art piece, still some changes happening and then ink and colour will go down.
Wasn't sure if I should comment on the kickstarter page or here. Maybe both, if you want?
... editing, colour grading, sound mixing, and score can really make or break the feel and atmosphere of a film,
So true! You're going all out and it's impressive. Will check out the guys individual bios and (samples?).
Couple of things I'd add, but this is personal preference obviously.
You need more colour on the KS page headers in particular. That drippy font is great but I'd love to see it in red. This is King after all.
And the poster with Michael Albrecht at the top - something about it is a bit unbalanced imho. I'd go for a tagline I think and save credits for below (like in your other samples).
Content is great.
Storyboarding is great.
Like I said, the colour palette of the actual Kickstarter page is a little washed out for my liking.
I'm not on FB but you'll definitely have my support on the KS. Already looking forward to seeing this!!
Question: With regard to adapting SK's short stories, are their guidelines re actual story component? Can you add, delete much? Just curious.
P.S. I read your teaser script adaption and wanted more. Typical.
Wasn't sure if I should comment on the kickstarter page or here. Maybe both, if you want?
... editing, colour grading, sound mixing, and score can really make or break the feel and atmosphere of a film,
So true! You're going all out and it's impressive. Will check out the guys individual bios and (samples?).
Couple of things I'd add, but this is personal preference obviously.
You need more colour on the KS page headers in particular. That drippy font is great but I'd love to see it in red. This is King after all.
And the poster with Michael Albrecht at the top - something about it is a bit unbalanced imho. I'd go for a tagline I think and save credits for below (like in your other samples).
Content is great.
Storyboarding is great.
Like I said, the colour palette of the actual Kickstarter page is a little washed out for my liking.
I'm not on FB but you'll definitely have my support on the KS. Already looking forward to seeing this!!
Question: With regard to adapting SK's short stories, are their guidelines re actual story component? Can you add, delete much? Just curious.
P.S. I read your teaser script adaption and wanted more. Typical.
Thanks for the great notes!! Very much appreciated. I'm the only person who would see comments on the Kickstarter so here is fine really.
I think they team I've got for most of the post production are really great and I'm hoping they can fineness any issues I might have as a new filmmaker. None of them come cheap but it's my first film and it's a King and I don't want it to be crap.
Totally agree with the colour thing, I knew it wasn't just me! I tried the red lettering actually and I couldn't convince myself it looked good. I go away to Uluru on the weekend but when I get back I'll swap them out and see what you think.
I'll take a look at moving Michael around.
Thanks.
Thanks.
Much appreciated!
No guidelines for story content so you can do whatever you want, it just needs to be shorter than 45 minutes.
I finished the script quite a while ago now, but will be changing some things around and will be rewriting the ending completely. I do have a complete picture in mind of how I'd like this to look and sound, and I have already booked the filming location for December (I realize that's very presumptuous but it was a no deposit and cancel up to the day situation). The location is amazing!!!!! And will give this story a super unique Aussie feel. So fingers crossed this all comes together.
Ugh, can't believe I missed this one. Wow, wonderful, and very inspiring! It all looks amazing so far. Luv to see people get rewarded for their work. Can't wait. Congrats, Warren.
Wasn't sure if I should comment on the kickstarter page or here. Maybe both, if you want?
... editing, colour grading, sound mixing, and score can really make or break the feel and atmosphere of a film,
So true! You're going all out and it's impressive. Will check out the guys individual bios and (samples?).
Couple of things I'd add, but this is personal preference obviously.
You need more colour on the KS page headers in particular. That drippy font is great but I'd love to see it in red. This is King after all.
And the poster with Michael Albrecht at the top - something about it is a bit unbalanced imho. I'd go for a tagline I think and save credits for below (like in your other samples).
Content is great.
Storyboarding is great.
Like I said, the colour palette of the actual Kickstarter page is a little washed out for my liking.
I'm not on FB but you'll definitely have my support on the KS. Already looking forward to seeing this!!
Question: With regard to adapting SK's short stories, are their guidelines re actual story component? Can you add, delete much? Just curious.
P.S. I read your teaser script adaption and wanted more. Typical.
Ugh, can't believe I missed this one. Wow, wonderful, and very inspiring! It all looks amazing so far. Luv to see people get rewarded for their work. Can't wait. Congrats, Warren.
Thanks, still a bit of a way to go but it's getting there
Warren, I think I can see why you originally weren't convinced with going with the red. The dripping font oddly seems to show up more with the white. That said, I still think the red looks better.
Michael's name above the movie title in the poster still looks odd imho. I think it's the font and placement. When I first saw it I honestly thought it looked like a book cover with author's name above title and it threw me. Feel free to disregard if that's just me.
Oh, wow. You're really rolling on this. That's awesome.
I'll check out the Kickstarter page.
If you need eyes on the script, let me know. Happy to provide notes.
PaulKWrites.com
60 Feet Under - Low budget, contained thriller/Feature The Hand of God - Low budget, semi-contained thriller/Feature Wait Till Next Year - Disney-style family sports comedy/Feature
Many shorts available for production: comedy, thriller, drama, light horror
60 Feet Under - Low budget, contained thriller/Feature The Hand of God - Low budget, semi-contained thriller/Feature Wait Till Next Year - Disney-style family sports comedy/Feature
Many shorts available for production: comedy, thriller, drama, light horror
Warren, I think I can see why you originally weren't convinced with going with the red. The dripping font oddly seems to show up more with the white. That said, I still think the red looks better.
Michael's name above the movie title in the poster still looks odd imho. I think it's the font and placement. When I first saw it I honestly thought it looked like a book cover with author's name above title and it threw me. Feel free to disregard if that's just me.
Hope the travel is going well.
I originally had the red on the blue but do think it looks better on the black.
I totally misread the Michael issue. I thought you meant his section in the body of the campaign which I did move down the page and do think it works better. Looking at the poster it really is unbalanced, will get rid of the name and move the title up the poster some as it's very crowded in the middle.
Thanks again, you've been a great help, when you look at something for months on end it can be hard to spot the issues... just like a script I suppose
Still two days of work unfortunately, leaving Saturday morning.
I mean it's old school in that it's been around a while but it's still a very effective platform that I've personally crowdfunded on before with success so I think I'll be staying for the moment. Kickstarter also has a baked in following, is trusted by users, and is very easy to navigate. I also personally like the all or nothing model.
I had a look at the link you posted and I found it to be a mess, I can't imaging something like that would be very effective. There would also be a lot more legwork involved in getting that in front of people so it's a hard pass from me.
I used GoFundMe a couple of times, but quit when the people raised a lot of money, but didn't reach their goal and then kept the money. Didn't feel real good.
I used GoFundMe a couple of times, but quit when the people raised a lot of money, but didn't reach their goal and then kept the money. Didn't feel real good.
I'm not a fan of that at all. Indidgogo allows people to keep the funds if they don't reach their goal as well, but I think they charge them a higher fee to release the funds.
I think any responsible creator will know, at least ball-park, what they need to make their project come to life, so if they are settling for something less questions need to be asked about how they will find the rest of the money, how the lack of funding is going to affect the quality of the product you helped fund, and if the project is actually ever going to be completed because of the lack of funding.
Good luck with all this. I must say, I think it’s interesting and perplexing all at the same time. I read the story you’re planning to make. While I liked it I am curious how well it translates to film. Caught a glimpse of a couple versions of it online already. (One was 42 minutes long). I don’t know how you make this without a ton of voice over and I can’t help but think that even a seasoned film maker will have trouble keeping the visuals interesting.
Why aren’t you making one of your original scripts instead? You’re obviously limited by shooting this material and you’re not showcasing your own writing skills or even pitching an idea to be made into something bigger.
I’ve never done crowdfunding but I always kick in when I see some local film makers do it. I can’t help but think it’s a well that would run dry rather quickly if you go back to it two or three times. So, I figured I would save that for when and if I try to make an original feature without backing.
I’m sure you’ve thought about all of this and I won’t change your mind. And I will kick in for you whenever I see it live, but it’s still my opinion that it would serve you better to make your own material. If the film is great people will say it’s because you had a great story from one of the greatest writers of our time. And if it looks bad, well they certainly won’t blame the writing.
I mean it's old school in that it's been around a while but it's still a very effective platform that I've personally crowdfunded on before with success so I think I'll be staying for the moment. Kickstarter also has a baked in following, is trusted by users, and is very easy to navigate. I also personally like the all or nothing model.
I had a look at the link you posted and I found it to be a mess, I can't imaging something like that would be very effective. There would also be a lot more legwork involved in getting that in front of people so it's a hard pass from me.
I'm not sure it's clear from the link I sent you. So, try this one instead.
Warren, I think I can see why you originally weren't convinced with going with the red. The dripping font oddly seems to show up more with the white. That said, I still think the red looks better.
Michael's name above the movie title in the poster still looks odd imho. I think it's the font and placement. When I first saw it I honestly thought it looked like a book cover with author's name above title and it threw me. Feel free to disregard if that's just me.
Good luck with all this. I must say, I think it’s interesting and perplexing all at the same time. I read the story you’re planning to make. While I liked it I am curious how well it translates to film. Caught a glimpse of a couple versions of it online already. (One was 42 minutes long). I don’t know how you make this without a ton of voice over and I can’t help but think that even a seasoned film maker will have trouble keeping the visuals interesting.
Why aren’t you making one of your original scripts instead? You’re obviously limited by shooting this material and you’re not showcasing your own writing skills or even pitching an idea to be made into something bigger.
I’ve never done crowdfunding but I always kick in when I see some local film makers do it. I can’t help but think it’s a well that would run dry rather quickly if you go back to it two or three times. So, I figured I would save that for when and if I try to make an original feature without backing.
I’m sure you’ve thought about all of this and I won’t change your mind. And I will kick in for you whenever I see it live, but it’s still my opinion that it would serve you better to make your own material. If the film is great people will say it’s because you had a great story from one of the greatest writers of our time. And if it looks bad, well they certainly won’t blame the writing.
James.
Thanks!
I've watched every version I can find online, including the 40 minute one (side note: I'm not sure how they get away with putting them online as it goes against the terms of the contract... anyhoo), I do think mine will bring something sightly different to the table. You are correct though there is quiet a bit of VO involved but I hope to keep those moments interesting and think I have for the most part.
I'm doing this particular film for several reasons:
1) I'm a die-hard King fan. 2) The material is pretty easy to make with minimal cast and minimal locations. 3) Stephen King obviously comes with massive name recognition and I am quite involved in almost every King FB page there is (totaling hundreds of thousands of members). In the months leading up the the Kickstater I have been working tirelessly to spread the word about the film. I've enlisted prominent creators in the King community to make some rewards, I've held giveaways to incentivise people who may not have had the bother to sign up for Kickstarter to open accounts, and I am holding giveaways of some pretty amazing King items if the Kickstarter gets funded. I've built the All That You Love FB page from nothing to 1413 Followers in 3 months and the Kickstarter has 238 Followers just for the pre-launch page. I've also run a successful Kickstarter campaign in the past and have earned both Backer Favourite and Superbacker badges so people can have some level of confidence when supporting my campaigns.
I would not have been able to do any of that without the King name. No one would care that some random guy that has never made a film before was making one of a thousand random short films that get made every year. No one would want to part with their hard-earned cash to fund a filmmaker with zero film-making experience. People care about this because people care about King and people care about this because even if the movie bombs I have some great rewards and even better giveaways.
But... lets say the Kickstarter gets funded and I manage to make a great film that people like... now I already have an audience on FB, an audience on Kickstarter and the hypothetical potential to now incentivise people to fund my own projects in the future based on the quality of my film, based on how well I ran the Kickstarter, and based on the quality of the rewards I make.
Sure this whole thing is a gamble, the Kickstarter might not get funded, I might make a terrible film and lose everything I've built, but I'm willing to take the gamble. I know I will give 100% to this and I have been for the last 4 months. If you go on Kickstarter and Indigogo and search Stephen King or Dollar Baby films you will see that, for the most part, zero effort is put into the campaigns and the rewards, my campaign isn't one of those.
I am also showcasing my writing skills to some extent as I have not stayed completely true to the source material. I think it's my additions that are going to set this apart. The core of the story is still very much there, but I added to the beginning and end and fiddled with the middle somewhat.
I've definitely thought about all of this, it's kind of all I've been thinking about and working on for the last 4 months. I'm too far in at this point to back away, and I wouldn't anyway.
I really don't have too much to lose here, I don't have any aspirations of making it big, this will always just be a hobby (the writing for now and hopefully the film making in the future), but if it succeeds then it has potential benefits down the line.
I am also showcasing my writing skills to some extent as I have not stayed completely true to the source material. I think it's my additions that are going to set this apart.
One question here about this. Isn't this what people always complain about? The film didn't stick close to the book? Either way, you know by now (hopefully) I'm a big supporter of new filmmakers and a huge Constant Reader.
One question here about this. Isn't this what people always complain about? The film didn't stick close to the book? Either way, you know by now (hopefully) I'm a big supporter of new filmmakers and a huge Constant Reader.
It's definitely something I have considered and is obviously always an issue. I think I have a little more leeway here as it only a 15 page story with a relatively simple plot.
When people take a novel like Firestarter and complete change the nature of key characters relationships to each other... that's an issue
When people completely mess with the structure of The Stand, gender and race swap for no reason, and completely neuter characters.... that's an issue.
When people suck the horror out of It Chapter 2 but putting way too much comedy into it... that's an issue.
I do think there is a difference between taking beloved source material and beloved characters and completely messing with them and changing a few things up on a 15 page short with a character I don't imagine too many people are overly invested in. I could be wrong but only time will tell. Fingers crossed.
Here's the completed Everything's Eventual print I'll be giving away on the Kickstarter. It's a visual representation of the 14 stories in the book.
Eli knocked it out the park as always...
Also, in some pretty awesome news, Bridget Aleen Kenney, the founder of the largest King group on Facebook (Stephen King Lover SKL) has come on board as an Associate Producer. That means I get to advertise the campaign to a group with over 150 000 members.
As a side note, this is how I pitched my idea for the print to Eli. He's very good at making sense of my nonsense
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