I am looking for a fun script. Something that can be shot in a small town - very small town and that has nothing to do with drugs, violence, or sex. I want a family friendly movie.  Have a budget of $30,000 at the most. I want a movie that can be created with between 1 and 7 cast members no more than 10. If this is not too much to ask. Let me know if you know any fun scripts matcing my description or at least close.

If you want, You can email me at j.hawkins@ncw.k12.mn.us

Tell us about yourself, Jay.


Phil

Try "Abbatoir".

Quoted from j.hawkins@ncw.k12.mn.us I want a family friendly movie.

Oh, for pete's sake, whoop -- read the guy's message first....

"Abbatoir" is a good script, J.H., but I assure you it ain't what you are looking for.

Thank You All, I am just looking for something fun to do.

I want a movie that can be shot in a very small town.

Want me to tell you about myself? Ok.

I just turned 15 years old on April 12. I have been a filmmaker since the age of 14. I write movies and then produce them independently. So far, I am still up and comming in the industry. Getting to know what's what, what's good and what's bad, what's right and what's wrong, what 'to do,' and what 'not to do.' I think you get what I'm trying to get across to you. I live in a pretty small sized town in Minnesota. I will soon be relocating to Orlando, Florida. I will soon after be touring Texas with my girlfriend who lives there. Very shortly after that my two other best friends in the world are going to show me around the spectacular state of California. I have written 3 screenplays and I have to admit my first one was probably the best. Even though when writing it I did'nt even know what I was doing. Well I don't mean to tell you my life story, but now you know a little bit about me.

I am 5 feet and 5 inches tall
I have short brown hair
I have blue eyes
I feel from my peers that I am "All Around Cool"
I work full time but still manage to find time for school and personal life

Now you know a little bit about me. Or too much. I dont know.

I am happy to answer any further questions you have.

I was actually interested more in what you've produced.  Have we heard of anything you've done.


Phil

I doubt he would have produced anything we've heard of. You can always look around the site Jay. Maybe read some reviews and see if any of them describe something you might like. But if you do that DO NOT forgot to ask the author of the script. Other then that you could just wait and see of someone responds. I'm sure at least one person will do so.

Nothing that i've made is circulated in public yet. Only throught family and friends. I am setting up a website which will show all of my work and works in progress and you will be able to buy my movies there or look at my scripts. Other than that nothing of mine is mass produced and sold nationwide. So what I mean is you will not walk into your local walmart and see my movies on the shelf. You can only get them from me personally. I have just recently finished a screenplay called "The Kidnappers." And I am now writing a screenplay called "Smoking Kills!"

I have independently produced The Kidnappers and will do so with Smoking Kills! After it is finished and I get some actors.

When it comes to my movies, These are the roles I play:
Write: I write the screenplays
Film: I film the screenplays (what i can)
Direct: I direct all of my screenplays
Act: I act in my screenplays (I usually play extras or whatnot)
Edit: I edit the finished filmed screenplays into a professional hollywood style movie!
Sell: I sell the movies to family and friends and other people who are interested

I do more for my age than most pro's do it in hollywood. I am the only filmmaker I know of at my age level and I am the only filmmaker I know of who does every job there is to do.

I run a very busy lifestyle but working in the film industry is one of the funnest jobs in the world. I gaurentee it!!!

I am happy to answer any further questions you may have!!!!

I have a question for you Bigwhoop and bert; where are those scripts you talked about. Abbatoir and those others. I could not find them on this website. Are they even on this website?

You're 15 and have $30,000 to produce a film? Seriously?

Actually Jay, you're not the first young filmmaker to post on these boards.  Every now and then, someone like you pops up looking for scripts.

Have you considered entering your films in film festivals?  Or, maybe, posting a script here on the boards?


Phil

Yes, I have definately considered showing my flims in Film Festivals. I want to wait until I get a movie that is exactally what I want it to be. I have only made two movies so far and they are not what you'd think of as a hollywood movie; they were on a very low budget. My next movie that I hope to film sometime this summer is Smoking Kills! which will be running on a 30,000 budget or less. That is still a low budget but i can do a lot with $30,000 as far as props and special effects and quality and that sort of stuff.

Yes I know it seems unusual, Pete, for a 15 year old to have 30,000 dollars. But its mostly well saved money and donated money. My girlfriend is a very well paid actress in the huge budget movies like 30-40 million and she donates money to me. I also have sponsorships who donate money to me. I also save all the money I get from the movies I sell in a high interest bank account which helps a little, but ever little bit counts. It may seem that it comes easy but its not that easy to get this amount of money even if you got the connections like me.

I am happy to answer any further questions you may have!!!

Jay

Maybe you could describe the equipment and or kit you use to make your movies?

What camera or cameras do you use?

What computer do you use to edit on?

What computer software do you use to edit digitized video.

Do you shoot in HD or MniDV?

What lights do you use on set?

Do you use colored gells?

Have you used the BulletProof plug-in by any chance?

How do you direct actors? Do you use the "blocking" technique or improvize?

Do you draw storyboards from your shooting scripts?

Do you hire equipment or own it?

What's the $30,000 bucks for?

Any answers would be good..

I'm serious, just interested is all..

Yes, I must congratulate you on acquiring $30,000 for production. A producer I know filmed a movie for under $80,000 and he has now acquired a distribution deal.

If you use the 30K very, very wisely, you could actually create a decent movie.

What type of camera are you using?

Is there a certain length of script that you're looking for?

I have a 5,000 dollar professional movie camera
I use my own personal computer to edit the movies on. I use all kinds of different software.
I shoot using HD and MiniDV Depending on my budget
I use many different lights. All are professional studio lights though
I have never used color gels
Never Used BulletProof plug-in.
I use both techniques when directing. Basically I just tell them how I want it done and help them out, though most of it is stated in the script.
Yes we use storyboards
The 30,000 dollars is for all of the necesseties including props, film, food, special equiptment, etc. Mostly film. To shoot a 90 minute movie at 24p, It takes 1140 frames for one minute which is 129,600 frames for the whole movie. That is appx. 3240 feet of film at 16mm or 8100 35mm film. Usually I use 35mm film so I have to buy over a mile and a half of film and I'll give it to you straight film is NOT cheap! It can add up quickly especially when you considder bonus footage, bloopers, interviews, all that extra stuff that goes with movies. The fun stuff!
I own most of the equiptment I use. We usually take a lot of time to shoot a movie so in the end it is actually cheaper to buy the stuff rather than rent it.

When i said fun. I mean mean something that the viwers will love and something that will be fun to shoot and we'll just have a great time producing it. I have looked through a lot of the comedy scripts and most of them are not what i'm looking for. I want a screenplay with very few cast members. Anywhere between 1 and 7, 10 at the MOST. Something that can be shot in a very small town or on a set in/or a studio. No specific lengh. I dont care how long or short it is. As long as its more than 30 minutes long. I perfer a longer script rather than a short but anything more than 30 minutes or 43 pages will do good. I am currently writing a script right now called Smoking Kills!
It is about the effects of smoking. How it kills. How you can be affected by it. How many die annually from first/second hand smoke. And so on. Seems like an educational film in my description but its actually more like a sad story. Its going to be a great movie!!!! Trust me. I'll probably post it here soonafter its done!

Jay

So you've got a HD camera which can photograph either HD or miniDV mode..

If you shoot on HD or mniDV why do you need 16mm and 35mm film stock?

Surely you have a Firewire connection on the HD camera and a Firewire connection on your computer and log your shots then batch capture into your software edit program?

What do you need film for?

If you shoot on HD then do you have a HD capture card on your computer or do you transfere down from HD to miniDV to be able to digitize and capture the digital video you've shot and get this into the computer?

You'll need two cameras to dump from HD down to miniDV..

Colored gells are colored sheets of plastic, red, blue, yellow, green etc which you clip on the lights barn doors to obtain a lighting mood effects. Blue for moonlight, yellow or orange for ambient light, stuff like that.. How do you simulate the mood and or time of day etc?

I've recently transfered a movie shot on HD by a Polish Director of Photography for a British Director down to miniDV so it could be captured in Final Cut Pro on a G5 Mac. The footage is captured and edited in Final Cut Pro.. Once editing is complete the footage of the final cut is run through a plug-in called Bullet-Proof which transmogrifies the digial video footage and make it resemble film footage. Once completed the footage is transfered to DigiBeta as a complete 90 minute movie.

Once you have the 90 minute movie on DigiBeta this is then sent to a film lab and transfered to 16mm or 35mm cinema film stock.. Once this is done other prints can be produced..

This film I've worked on is called DAMASCUS and is being entered into competition at the Cannes Film Festival so this is how I know how it's done..

http://www.babyfacemedia.co.uk/

I just want to know if you shoot on HD then why do you need the miles of film stock for? It's far cheaper to shoot on HD, edit it on HD if you have the $3,000 HD card for a computer, and then dump onto DigiBeta and send the results to a lab to print on the 35mm film stock.. Makes sense cause it's saving money.. The results are the same.. The Bullet-Proof plug-in, used in Adobe After Effects, gives the digital video images the same grainy appearance as say Fuji or Kodak 35mm film stock..

Wouldn't you be better off producing a short than a feature length, given your budget?  Thirty thousand isn't much for a feature.


Phil

I am probably just jumping the gun but it seems that Kevan just OWNED j.hawkins@ncw.k12.mn.us

I'm not downing any one for hyping their own projects, it's just that I knew (or I thought I knew) where Kevan was going with his line of questioning.Like a good journalist.

j.hawkins@ncw.k12.mn.us, I hope you the best in your endeavors and keep us posted as to the success so we might learn from you.

Kevan, obviously you're a professional at this kind of work. I am not what you could call a professional. I do know what i'm doing enought to get what i want done, done! But I am not exactally a professional like you. Ok. The camera that i use puts the image i shoot directally onto film. 24 frames per second. When I shot The Kidnappers, I rented an HD camera just to try it out. I did like the results, and I will soon probably just buy one. I know what color gels are. When i am shooting i just concentrate on the lighting and what's happening. Not the mood. I could probably get color gels but right now i just shoot in the daylight anyway. I have shot a couple of scenes in the night and just used very dim lights. I can do a lot with 30,000 dollars dogglebe. The lengh doesnt matter to me. I can make it happen. As long as its what i'm looking for. I like longer movies because Its so fun producing them and you never want to stop. I dont like doing short films because they're too short. The only problem with long films is when it comes to post production!!! I am just looking for a good movie.
Perferably:
Drama or Comedy
Shootable in a very small town
30 minutes or 43 pages or longer
$30,000 budget
1 - 7 cast members 10 at most
FUN!!

Do you have a particular type of story line? There're a lot of FUN types of stories, but what in particular are you looking for?

I'm only suggesting a short as your money can go further and you would have a better chance of not running into financial problems down the road.  And you would have less problems getting it into a film festival.

The choice, of course, is yours.


Phil

and by the way, I'm being sincere.

No I'm Not. I am just looking for a story meeting my requirements. If you know any please let me know

Just want a few to look through and pick a good one!!!!

Flip through the boards then.  There's plenty there.


Phil

Jay

Fair play to you, man.. If you do what you say you do then great..

If you want a decent screenplay for a 90 minute comedy which would be ideal for you then you could do no better than read Breanne Holifield's Singles Camp.

To contact Breanne you'll find her email contact address in the list of members or in the Singles Camp thread in her avitar in her reply posts..

Here's the link for her script:

http://www.simplyscripts.net/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b-comedy/m-1124032080/s-all/

Singles Camp by Breanne Holifield - Comedy - Singles Camp follows the misadventures of Anna Lee Utah, a Kentucky girl who goes to the title place in pursuit of romance after losing her factory job. There she encounters wild animals, poachers, illegal loggers and a bizarre cult. It’s a comedy that’s way better than being gagged with a lumberjack sock. - rtf, format

http://www.simplyscripts.com/scripts/SinglesCamp-DraftII.rtf

The script wants formatting but apart from that, this is the best comedy script on the site..

Let us know what you think of it and contact Breanne if you want to option it..

Good luck..


Kevan

Please, Do Not Worry About My Budget too much. Just help me out finding a good script. That's all I need. A good script meeting at least partially what i need it to be.

Okay, on a lighter note, my creative juices are flowing trying to come up with something for you...Do you mind if it's in the vein of " Life is Beautiful"?

Life Is Fun!!! I dont care what the title is or anything. I am not asking you to write me a screenplay. I know that i can look through the boards. My main reason for posting my question here was simply to get suggestions. Do any of you lovely people have any suggestions?

When I wrote "Life is beautiful" I was referring to a movie, an oscar winner. I wanted to know if that type of narrative was right for your work?

I ask this becaue I have something in that vein.

lol, give me anything. If i dont like it, someone will!!!

ok, everyone who keeps posting here and who is reading. Please switch over to the "new thread" labeled "Smoking Kills" read the first post. OK. PLEASE!

Quoted from j.hawkins@ncw.k12.mn.us Where are those scripts you talked about...Abbatoir and those others.

Abbatoir was well-received, and it is on the boards, but it primarily concerns people (some of the naked, I believe) getting ground up into hamburger.

Not exactly what I would call "family fun".

Try "Scorcese Club", from that Greg guy.  It's about a bunch of kids trying to make a movie for a contest.  Could be a good family film for you.

It's in the comedy section.

Quoted Text Oh, for pete's sake, whoop

It was a joke. abbatoir is the complete opposite of what he was looking for.