Is it possible to pay to have covid tests done faster for a movie project?

[Happy Lemming]

Then take the next step. When you get re-employed, secure an apartment (month to month)... see how you do on your own.

If you want help budgeting, PM me... I was an accountant for 30 years, I'll be glad to assist you with a basic budget.

[basil67]

@ironpony you spoke earlier about having more confidence for the project.   The amount of confidence you have should equate to the amount of knowledge and skill you have.   When you are at the point of having completed a business plan which has been reviewed positively by a couple of people who are skilled in this area, you will be at the stage of being able to be quietly confident.    However, at this point where you have more questions than answers, I would recommend erring on the side of caution.   And by 'caution', I mean "don't do it"

Keep researching.  And find yourself a mentor. 

[basil67]

1 hour ago, ironpony said:

of the filmmakers I helped out, the investor wanted them to work with certain actors and one of them was really difficult to work with, instead of being able to pick someone easier going, if it was her own money.  

Yes, I mentioned investors wanting certain actors earlier when referencing a friend who writes for the small screen.   The reason they want particular actors is because those actors will bring in the viewers.  And bringing in the viewers is crucial to financial success.   You want the best actors you can afford, not the easiest actors you can afford.

If you're going to direct and produce this, you need to be able to work with all kinds of egos and personalities.   And I would imagine that in the film industry, big egos are extremely common.  You will basically have the role of CEO of a medium sized company and all the complexities which go with it.    What previous experience do you have in managing people?  

[ironpony]

3 minutes ago, basil67 said:

Yes, I mentioned investors wanting certain actors earlier when referencing a friend who writes for the small screen.   The reason they want particular actors is because those actors will bring in the viewers.  And bringing in the viewers is crucial to financial success.   You want the best actors you can afford, not the easiest actors you can afford.

If you're going to direct and produce this, you need to be able to work with all kinds of egos and personalities.   And I would imagine that in the film industry, big egos are extremely common.  You will basically have the role of CEO of a medium sized company and all the complexities which go with it.    What previous experience do you have in managing people?  

oh okay. Well the only experience I have in managing is the projects I directed so far.

I was told by other filmmakers I worked with though do not hire people that are too difficult to work with though if they have a point?of course you want the best you can afford, but you also don't want difficult if it's going to bring down the production, is that right?

[NuevoYorko]

20 minutes ago, ironpony said:

Oh I have books on how to attract funders and can follow those steps.  But have my own money in case that doesn't work.  Who says I don't buy my own food or cook it.  Who says I can't hold up a job?  I had a job for 9 years once, isn't that being able to hold onto a job?  I just don't know where things like that are coming from.  I can open my own mail, it's just my parents get to it first while I am working.

What are those steps,  in brief?  I'd like to hear particularly about how you'll approach making your proposal; what resources you have at your disposal, what contacts you have, how you will get them interested enough to even see you or look at what you've prepared.  Have you made a trailer or are you planning in submitting a script, or a synopsis of a script?  

People I know have submitted well crafted synopses to production companies, which have purchased the rights to the content.  Whether a movie was ever made based on the synopses was not discussed as it was now the property of the company which purchased it. 

I have one friend who made an independent film on their own.  They were able to attract a well known cinematographer ( László Kovács) who believed in the project, and worked for basically free, but this guy's family ALL had to go in debt to get the movie made.  It cost about $400,000 USD (in the '80's) Guy also played several roles in the film.  The movie theater in our hometown premiered the movie.  We were all proud and excited for our friend for his accomplishment but that was as far as it got.  I don't know what happened regarding the financial burdens on his family.  

If you have amassed enough money to finance  a feature length film all on your own, I am impressed.  I think the lowest budget for a movie that got any commercial success was "The Blair Witch Project," which cost about $60,000 USD.  The average independent film at Sundance, though, is $750,000 USD

I agree with others that you need to get this all done before worrying about COVID testing.  We may have vaccinated a large percentage of our populations by 12/2021.  That is a whole year from now.  A year is probably how long it will take you to put together a viable, professional proposal.  You'll want it to be very well done in order to achieve your goal.

I'm sorry about the job assumption but we only have to go on what you write here, so that's where I got my opinion.  

As an adult, you do need to open and deal with your own mail, whether you live with your parents or not.  If this is not "normal" for you, I'm concerned that you aren't ready to organize and carry out all the intricacies of filmmaking.

I don't mean to put a damper on your dreams but it takes a great deal of reality to realize big dreams.

 

[ironpony]

It's a book on how to get government grants where I live.  I will have to look for it and dig it out.  I've just been concentrating on other aspects of the film, since I didn't think I would get the money.  The problem with government grants in my opinion, is that those people are in competition too much.  For example, I live in Saskatchewan, Canada, and you can only get a grant, if all the shooting is done in Saskatchewan, and the people who work on it are from here.

But what if I need to bring in actors and crew from different provinces in Canada?  That's the problem with grants, is that they only want Saskatchewan everything because they are in a political competition rather than wanting to make the best movie they can.  I feel that things like that will limit the quality of the movie, if I have to operate within political competitions like that.

As for Sundance, a lot of movies have made had distribution without going to Sundance.  The feature film I helped out on got distribution without sundance.  So I didn't think I needed Sundance therefore.  As for opening my own mail, it's not that I can't do it, it's just when they mail carrier puts the mail in the mail box, I cannot get it until I come home from work.  That's when the parents open it.  So it's not that I cannot do it, it's just I work at that time.  But I can get a seperate mailing address, as advised.

Edited December 31, 2020 by ironpony

[Happy Lemming]

56 minutes ago, ironpony said:

I've just been concentrating on other aspects of the film, since I didn't think I would get the money. 

 

You've had the script for FIVE years... any re-writes, adjustments or "other aspects" of this film should have been done ages ago, along with a viable business plan.

 

[ironpony]

Well I was wanting to save more money for it, but is that bad?

[Happy Lemming]

What does money have to do with completing the preliminary paperwork,  the script modification, the business plan, etc.??  You can do all of those items (in advance) of receiving or saving up any money.

 

[ironpony]

14 minutes ago, Happy Lemming said:

What does money have to do with completing the preliminary paperwork,  the script modification, the business plan, etc.??  You can do all of those items (in advance) of receiving or saving up any money.

 

Oh yes I made changes to the script as well, but is that bad?  As for the business plan, I thought I should get a line producer or someone more experienced than me to handle that part, and I can concentrate more on the more technical things I feel I would do better at.

[Happy Lemming]

3 minutes ago, ironpony said:

Oh yes I made changes to the script as well, but is that bad?

How would I know, I've never read the script.  The idea of "serial rapists" leaves me cold and I wouldn't watch a movie with that subject matter in it, not my thing.  Perhaps start a thread and ask people's opinions about whether or not they would go to such a movie.

6 minutes ago, ironpony said:

As for the business plan, I thought I should get a line producer or someone more experienced than me to handle that part, and I can concentrate more on the more technical things I feel I would do better at.

You've had the script for 5 years, why haven't you completed both the business plan and all of the technical aspects??

[ironpony]

Oh well I was busy during those years learning a lot of the technical aspect as well, which is why I haven't had them done before.  I went to film school less than four years ago, so I felt I had things to learn first.  I've discussed the scripts in writing and filmmaking circles, but I could on here as well.  I just didn't think this was the site for that.

Edited January 1, 2021 by ironpony

[NuevoYorko]

21 minutes ago, ironpony said:

  I went to film school less than four years ago, so I felt I had things to learn first.  

did you get a degree from film school?  This generally requires a completed project, at least if the person is going for directing rather than a tech aspect.  

I'm aware that Sundance doesn't represent all independent filmmakers, of course.  The average cost of making movies that are shown there is a decent starting point for budgeting.  

In any case, what this thread clearly demonstrates is that the cost of COVID testing is nothing you need to be concerned with at this point.  By the time you are ready to hire people I'm sure that North America will have come very close to herd immunity if we're not already there.  

Edited January 1, 2021 by NuevoYorko

[ironpony]

I got a diploma, since they handed out diplomas, not degrees.  Herd immunity?

[NuevoYorko]

7 hours ago, ironpony said:

I got a diploma, since they handed out diplomas, not degrees.  Herd immunity?

Yes.   The vaccine will be widely circulated.  You won't have to worry about getting tests done extra fast.  That said, this is really no place to be asking this question.  Call up the COVID information line in your area and ask them.

[ironpony]

Oh okay, the covid information line didn't have any info on the vaccinnes last time I checked but I can call.  Thanks.

Well on the topic of the script, I was told by a friend of mine I should try to market the script and the movie making plan to Europe and Asia, because the North American market would not be open to such a script compared to Europe and Asia.  Does he have a point perhaps?

Edited January 1, 2021 by ironpony

[Happy Lemming]

3 hours ago, ironpony said:

  Does he have a point perhaps?

I have no idea... I think just about any culture (European or Asian) would be turned off by a gang of "serial rapists". 

As a side note, you need to stop relying on "one off" comments.  Just because a friend said "this" or a film director said "that" or my film teacher suggested "this" doesn't make that action the norm nor does it guarantee success. 

It is very hard to earn and save up money, don't waste it on some endeavor that has zero chance of completion and less of making a profit, especially when you have not secured your own basic needs.

Let's face reality... you are no closer to making this film then you were 5 years ago when you obtained the script or 4 years ago when you completed some film school class.  You've done nothing once you obtained your film school diploma. 

 

[Cersei]

Ironpony I think you need to face reality and move on from this pipe dream of yours. You have many people telling you to move on but you choose to ignore their advice. I live in Canada too. (The province next to you) and I can tell you the The Gap is not the best place for these types of contacts. You need to be in Vancouver or Toronto.   Whats wrong with a 40 hour work week and a "regular" job?

 

[ironpony]

Oh okay.  Nothing is wrong with a 40 hour a week job, I just wanted to to try to pursue the goal I wanted anyway in the mean time.  Toronto and Vancouver are too costly to live in everytime I do the math and it would actually cost more to live there, than make the movie and live where I am it seems.  I guess I just feel that trying to achieve the goal is something I have to do otherwise I will always look back and think what if, and I'm tired at looking back and thinking that so far.

Plus all the other filmmakers I know from film school did, so why is so it bad if they gave it a shot I figure.

[ironpony]

It's just when other people do it, you realize it's not a pipe dream, it's possible.

[Happy Lemming]

53 minutes ago, ironpony said:

It's just when other people do it, you realize it's not a pipe dream, it's possible.

You've pointed out that the other people that have made their films don't live at home with their parents and have secured their basic needs, you have not. 

What are the titles of these other films? Are they at on Hulu or Netflix or TUBI? Are they in theaters? How are these films making money, if any?

You have also mentioned that your autism is a factor and holds you back in various aspects of your life. One of which is budgeting/math and I understand.  There may be other aspects to making a film where your autism will get in the way and you'll be unable to finish the project.  All of your hard earned money will be wasted.

Why don't you try to live on your own, first. 

[ironpony]

Yeah I would want someone else to do the budgeting for sure.  The one film that got distribution was Patient 62 and it was sold to Amazon Prime a few years ago.   I do not know how much money it has made.  Yes I can live on my own first, but still wanted some money to make the movie of course as well.

Edited January 1, 2021 by ironpony

[Happy Lemming]

40 minutes ago, ironpony said:

Patient 62

"Patient 62" was made in 2016, you do realize that was 4 (almost 5) years ago.

Is that all you got??  One film from your whole class that made it to a rental service.  And surprise... there are strippers in it.

[Pumaza]

You cant buy your way out of everythingaking movie is not priority.

And you had long time i guess before to get everyone tested.Since movies are projects.

Just go with the flow

[ironpony]

17 minutes ago, Happy Lemming said:

"Patient 62" was made in 2016, you do realize that was 4 (almost 5) years ago.

Is that all you got??  One film from your whole class that made it to a rental service.  And surprise... there are strippers in it.

No that's not all I got.  I mean that's the one I worked on so far that got distribution.  I have helped people on their projects in the mean time, but that's the one that got distribution so far.  What do strippers have to do with it?