Networking in the world of indie cinema is one of the coolest parts of it all. You get to connect with a colorful cast of real like characters that share an addiction to making movies like you.

I get a rush being part of the world of indie cinema. It’s the action of trying to get a movie done and working with new people.

There are so many roles people have to fill in front of the camera, behind the camera and in post-production you meet all kinds of interesting sorts.

Social media like Twitter has allowed me to connect with people rocking the world of indie cinema. I continue to learn from different people all that I can.

I’ve become a fan of some indie filmmakers and am impressed on how well they are able to market films online. They’re making movies happen produced with limited budgets.

That’s golden.

It’s hard to secure film financing to produce an independent project, but talented producers aren’t letting that stop from making movies.

They’re finding creative ways to shoot and distribute movies using the resources they do have.

I’m really learning a lot about how indie filmmakers are aggressively marketing their movies. I also like to ask them questions about their movie distribution encounters.

Networking in the world of indie cinema can help one producer from making a mistake another producer did. Not all people part of the world of indie cinema are open to share information, but many are.

I don’t do it much as I should, but I do try to reply emails I get that ask questions. Much of what I have learned making and selling entertainment is covered in the book “The First Movie is the Toughest.”

It’s an easy read that covers every area of filmmaking I’ve dealt with. If another indie movie producer can learn from my mistakes I say, “cheers!”

I’ve made more than a few mistakes kicking around the world of indie cinema. I’m grateful for the good and bad times producing entertainment. It continues to be a part of my life that I hope to stick with until it’s my time to go.

I couldn’t imagine not writing or producing entertainment. It’s not all crimson and clover, there are times where you get down or frustrated, but when you finish a screenplay or movie you feel like you’re on CLOUD 9.

This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT

SFX Artist Paul While

I would like to share an interview with SFX artist Paul While (Graphic Delusions) I read on a killer horror blog from the mind of Reely Bored (@ReelyBored).

It was a cool piece that is loaded with quality images of SFX gore at all stages.

Read Original Interview with Special Makeup Effects Artist Paul While Here

If you are horror fan of practical gore FX please pass the word along on this image loaded interview with London based SFX artist Paul While that delivers bloody gore that rocks. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT

I think indie filmmakers and screenwriters are creative Kung Fu drifters like the old Kung Fu TV show. They work on a project until it’s done. When it’s finished it’s time to move onto to the next creative adventure.

Indie Filmmakers and Screenwriters are Creative Kung Fu Drifters

During any indie filmmaking or screenwriting travels you will meet people that you build a creative a bond with that has enough glue to stick for future projects and other people that fade out.

It keeps making indie films and writing screenplays fresh and interesting. Psoro the movie has wrapped in the U.K. and in southern California.

I speak uncensored from the heart saying that this indie movie project has expanded my mind on making movies by working with U.K. based filmmaker Wayne Daniells (LiarDice Films) and SFX artist Paul While (Graphic Delusions).

Other really good people have been a tremendous support to the making of Psoro the movie in front of the camera and behind it as well. Badass cast and crew that pushed through the bullshit to finish an indie film.

But with most movies it comes down to a core of people that are in it from screenplay to movie distribution sales. I’m in with Wayne and Paul on Psoro until it’s distributed and we cash the first royalty check.

To once again quote a good friend from Hungary because it’s a moment in Las Vegas I will never forget, “Sid, we are both in the same SHOE.”

I know he meant boat when he said it, but there was no friggin point to correct him. I got it and appreciated what he was saying.

Psoro post is in the hands of its creator Wayne “UK Diablo” Daniells now. I’m not an editor. I know we’re all in the same shoe, but now I’m thinking about the next projects Slice of Americana Films is involved with that are different stages from idea to post-production.

I get a call from a guy that I respect that has earned his stripes in production. He’s short on bullshit. We’ve kept in solid contact for years now.

I would never write a screenplay on spec unless I was writing it to attract outside financing from film investors I knew or it was going to be funded in-house by coproducer Tim “Timbo” Beachum and I.

The exception to never is when you know someone is not bullshit and has a real opportunity to pitch for film financing directed at backers in mind.

Now that I’m out of my writing funk that hit me the other day this feels good. I know what the screenplay needs as far as elements to appeal to the potential film investors.

They already have a brand and industry that has to be the backdrop of the entire story. I don’t mind writing screenplays this way.

In a way I would be too worried writing a screenplay without a movie budget in mind or making sure that certain elements needed to be included to get funding.

This afternoon before writing any part of the spec screenplay I have a spot on film title, tagline and synopsis taking into account what I talked about with the guy short on bullshit told me about the shot at film financing and what needed to be included.

I got the drift. We’re not going to pitch “OUR” screenplay to them trying to sell them a movie story they never heard. We’re going to pitch “THEIR” screenplay. A story they know and live.

I never feel it’s less creative to write a screenplay that needs to fold in film investor wants.

Talented copywriters of the world have my respect! They’re the ultimate wordsmiths for hire. They have to use their writing talents to create gold using what the client wants first.

I was working on a novel. I’m going to see if my mind is wired to work on both. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT

There are going to be tough times in screenwriting and movie making. Fear, stress, frustration and anxiety like to come out and play when you’re at a low point feeling mentally exhausted.

It’s impossible to be upbeat and positive all the time when you’re writing a screenplay or producing a movie despite what any famous self-help guru claims.

Life seems to be a series of ups, downs and in-betweens. This is mirrored in the creative life of screenwriting and movie making.

Screenwriting and movie making stress is always there lurking and waiting, but you can beat it if you know it’s coming around the corner.

I follow lots of open and honest people pursuing their screenwriting and movie making dreams.

They love what they do and enjoy the process, but we’re all only human. I think it’s impossible to love and have fun at what you do all the time every single day. You would have to be superhuman or enlightened beyond 99% of the world.

One creative community blog that really has had a series of insightful and uncensored personal writings lately about the struggles we all face with screenwriting and movie making is called Seven Sentences (good blog for creative souls).

The road of screenwriting and movie making is filled with struggles. We often cross path with people that are not always kind or genuine.

In fact there are some downright mean and nasty folks out there who prey on screenwriters and filmmakers that are too eager and trusting to be able to tell shit from Shinola.

Other times it’s a struggle we have with ourselves. It could be we’re beating ourselves over a decision we made or action we took that didn’t get the results we had hoped.

We usually end up feeling lower and sometimes even too depressed to really make good creative decisions when dealing with screenwriting and movie making to move ahead and past our mistakes. We’re stuck in the mud digging ourselves in deeper.

Then there are other times something happens that momentarily derails your screenplay or movie that is beyond your control.

There was absolutely nothing you could have done to change the outcome. It was truly out of your hands. That happened to me once with film financing that went south.

This post on the highs and lows of screenwriting and making movies wasn’t anything I planned on writing today.

In fact I had received a couple of emails over the weekend asking me about movie distribution contracts, actor agreements and nudity riders. I was thinking about writing a post from those emails, but really didn’t feel the energy.

Today I wasn’t feeling in the greatest mood. Not depressed or sad and not happy. I guess I would call it even and going with the flow of the day.

I accepted how I felt and didn’t try to fight against it. After all everything passes in life from people to emotions. I put on some classic rock music to tune my mind out while I did some stretching.

It felt physically good to get the blood going after I finished, but my mental mood wasn’t any better. Mentally I felt flat.

There are things to work on like notes for Psoro the movie we have in post-production with U.K. based LiarDice Films and Graphic Delusions. I have copies of the raw footage I could be going through.

I could be working on a novel I’ve started or a spec screenplay I’m going to be pitching with a director of photography I respect. We’re going in as a creative team and it has a real shot at film financing.

But I wasn’t feeling much like working on much of anything. It looked like I was going to waste a day and sit listening to music until the mood passed.

I ignored a number I recognized calling two times as I sat listening to classic rock. Third time I saw the number calling I answered it even if I didn’t feel much like talking.

It wasn’t an earth shattering conversation or anything profound said. Instead it was just two friends catching up and talking about old times.

After hanging up my mood did feel lighter and I was able to think about writing today.

This blog post is nothing great or probably helpful to any visitors that read it, but just being able to get my mind stringing words together and letting my fingers work has me moving back down the creative path.

Writing a screenplay and producing a movie are going to be moments of highs and lows.

The experience is worth it because when you do finish a screenplay or make a movie there is a creative climax that explodes when you’re done.

It beats the hell out of always talking about writing a screenplay or making a movie and never doing it.

Like one person’s names that escapes said in a quote someplace, “Don’t let your highs be too high and lows too low.” This indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE TO BLACK

As an indie producer I’m always looking out for ways to market the entertainment Slice of Americana Films is involved by spending little or no money.

I operate in the world of indie produced entertainment where production budgets are always stretched to the limit.

There’s never an extra cushion of production money to hire marketing gurus to create a buzz online.

It’s pretty much just me blogging like countless other filmmakers out there trying to hopefully connect with potential viewers.

Marketing indie produced entertainment takes lots of energy and constant work. If you’re a screenwriter, director, editor or producer then marketing movies will take serious time.

All the time spent marketing entertainment online will eat time you could be spending working on new screenplays and movies.

So, I’m talking to my good friend Tim Beachum aka The SEO Bully the other day on Skype and he’s telling me about his new SMS Text Marketing business.

We’re producing partners under the banner of Slice of Americana Films, but he also has a thriving and diverse online marketing business that’s really been taking off financially.

He’s offered many times to handle all of our Internet marketing needs for entertainment we produce. I know he wouldn’t mind the extra work, but I didn’t want to slow his progress with his marketing business.

Besides I figured it was time I learn some of the marketing stuff. It’s been painfully slow for me to get what Tim’s talking about sometimes.

Now he’s talking about SMS Text Marketing.

Honestly, it’s probably because I don’t have a desire to really learn online marketing. I’m not on fire for it at all, but realize it’s badly needed for indie produced entertainment made on smaller budgets to survive and be seen.

Even though I realize online marketing is essential, I also realize I’m a bad student. Tim Beachum aka The SEO Bully has shared a wealth of great information on marketing online, building a fan base and countless other tips.

Hell, I’m such a bad student that I still haven’t taken the first bit of advice he gave me for my blog a few years ago. He told me to add a subscriber box or something like that. I still haven’t.

Like I said, online marketing doesn’t excite me, but by not getting excited about it I’m only hurting Slice of Americana Films ability to connect with viewers.

I’m starting to come around to it more lately. Anyway, I’m talking to Tim and he’s telling me about SMS Text Marketing. To borrow a line from Tim, “he’s killing SMS Text Marketing.”

His SMS Text Marketing clients love what it’s doing for their businesses. The SEO Bully is feeling pumped and tells me, “Amigo, I put some money in your personal bank account.”

We’re friends first and foremost and business partners in entertainment second. If he makes money outside of the entertainment business I get a taste and vice versa.

It’s been that way for over 7 or 8 years now. All this SMS Text Marketing stuff he’s telling is going over my head. I use an old Pantech on a 3G AT&T network as my mobile device.

I don’t use it to go online. I was out the other night and saw someone pointing their phone at a thumbprint bar code. I’ve seen the thumbprint things more and more, but never scanned one.

I’m not even sure my phone can. I finally ask Tim What Is SMS Text Marketing?

Tim breaks it down for me and I kind of get what it’s all about. There are some cool features to it all.

Now my next move is to see if SMS Text Marketing can be helpful with marketing, promoting and selling indie produced entertainment. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT

The underbelly of indie movie production in my experience is unavoidable unless you’re making and distributing movies in a bubble as an independent wealthy indie film producer, or funding a movie through donations of outstanding film fans that support the spirit of indie cinema.

A toast to those film fans that support indie movie production through crowd funding. Many entertaining indie movies would not be made without that kind support. It’s awesome!

The Underbelly of Indie Movie Production, Exotic Dancers and Hard Money Lenders

Making indie movies with film investor money is not clean and neat where people always behave kindly or honestly, at least from my own filmmaking experiences. I’ve dealt with the underbelly of indie movie production.

I’m completely removing the creative side of producing entertainment. From time to time I get nasty emails from people that don’t like that I stress the business side of producing indie entertainment as much as the creative side.

I feel you can’t have one without the other unless you’re producing movies for free and giving your work away for free. That’s a film post for another day on indie movie production.

My first experience dealing with the underbelly of indie movie production was hitting up investors for production money. Most indie movie producers don’t have access to money from established production companies and producers.

It’s a tight money circle most people are shut out from when it comes to securing indie movie production money. That’s a big reason for the explosion of crowd funded indie movies. It’s easier to get a donation nowadays compared to getting film investor money.

It’s becoming clearer to indie movie producers that finding money to produce entertainment is getting harder and harder. It’s too risky an investment for people that want a rate of return. Indie movie production is really not fueled to feed the hunger of money investors.

When I was starting out my background was industrial and corporate videos. I had a tiny small no frills office in the sticks of the Inland Empire.

My partners and I had one room with an editing suite, one room with a couch and desk and reception area with no receptionist.

The clients and people we dealt with had ZERO interest in financing indie movie productions. I had a screenplay I was itching to make. Industrial and corporate videos were killing me mentally.

I did what a few filmmaking books told me to do. I contacted production companies to see if I could submit my screenplay for production consideration.

I sent out lots of requests using the contact info in The Hollywood Creative Directory and only got a few invites to submit the screenplay. Two biggest chances were Andrew Stevens Entertainment and Steven Seagal’s  Steamroller Productions (name at the time I think).

The screenplay gets passed on and film investors are not banging down my door to produce this indie driven action story. I don’t want to sit on my hands, so a friend tells me he knows a group of guys that have money to spend.

They’re pissing away money at strip clubs, casinos and generally acting like money is meant to be spent fast as it’s made. I’ve been around a little in life and knew I was going into the underbelly of indie movie production.

My friend takes them hard copies of the screenplay, simple top-sheet budget and we set a meet for a week later.

Straight out of a Slice of Americana I meet this group of potential movie investors at their office. They’re nothing like the free-spending party animals my friend described he had partied with.

They were serious faced and not very friendly people. I’m sitting in an office in the underbelly of indie movie production smiling with hat in hand to get my movie funded.

A nervous smile at best is what I had on my face. My mind was racing and heart pounding because I want to get money to make a movie so damn bad.

I have never pitched for film financing in person before and was green. These guys were as far removed a money source from the entertainment business as you could get.

I didn’t ask what their business was and didn’t want to know and they didn’t have business cards or a name on their office door. All they gave me were their first names.

I was in a shabby industrial park office that was too stuffy and smelled old. Last place I thought I would be looking for indie movie production cash to bankroll a project.

The king of the room turned out to be a guy from Russia who had been in United States for 5 years. The rest of the group was born in the United States. The shot-caller flipped the script on me.

I thought I was in the underbelly of the indie movie production to get money from film investors not to get pitched a hard money loan. It was like a fly in a spider’s web type of situation. I did have to smile seeing how they tried to do it smooth.

I was proposing the normal no guarantee that they would see a return on their money, if the movie made money they would get their film investment back first before I ever made a dollar.

Then they would get a certain percent of any profits I would get. I thought I made a fair offer since I would not a make a single dime until I had paid back the original movie budget.

The guy controlling the room basically pissed on my film financing pitch. Funding an indie movie production was too risky with not enough profit. He called indie movies, “foolish spending of money” or something like that.

Or maybe he was just calling me a fool in his own way. Years have passed since the meeting, but I still remember it because you never forget your first film financing meeting.

The reason for the meeting wasn’t about the movie like I thought, but to get me on the line for a hard money loan.

I was offered a hard money loan without a credit check. My friend’s endorsement was enough for them. Hard money loans can work in real estate development, but for indie films it doesn’t in my opinion.

You’re on the hook for the principal money borrowed at super high interest. Lenders like these expect to be paid back in full and not with excuses. They’re not loan sharks, but legally close as the United States law will allow.

No way that I was going to take a hard money loan to produce an indie movie from these people. But hearing this let me know they did have money and weren’t puffers.

Remembering what my friend said about these guys I decided to pass on the hard money loan and pitch them a racy reality program that had exotic dancers and nudity I wanted to produce called “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties.”

(Quick update: America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties 2 is in post production for a Summer release on PPV. It’s hot and funny!)

The mood in the room changed when I was done telling them about the project and how much I think it would cost to make. It got less tense and these guys lightened up. They liked what I said.

We ended up going to a dive bar in the area and they agreed to invest money in “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” with the deal points I had pitched for the indie movie they shot down.

The only problem I had was not having connections to exotic dancers. The casting for “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” took me deeper into the underbelly of indie movie production.

I wanted to keep my money backers as far removed from production as possible, so when they told me they could handle the casting of exotic dancers I said thanks, but no thanks I would handle it.

I met some very shady talent managers that represented exotic dancers willing to appear on camera in this realty program. It’s harder to get exotic dancers to agree to sign a release form to appear on camera than you might expect.

One talent manager I met with at his office for a casting call gave me the creeps right off the rip. I’m not a prude and am not against nudity in entertainment as my movies show on Mr. Skin. But something about the guy just made me feel uneasy.

His total control over talent was odd to me. He carried himself very professional in a slick office that was nice, but two women talked to me privately they wanted to cut a side deal with me outside of him.

That’s not my way of doing business. It told me there was something funny going on with this talent agency. Casting went well as far as talent that auditioned.

He definitely represented many beautiful exotic dancers comfortable appearing on camera nude and signing a release form and nudity rider.

I knew a big chunk of the production budget would be dedicated to hiring exotic dancers that viewers would love. I was going to pay top-dollar to get the best talent the budget could afford.

In the back of my mind I already knew through a friend we had a meeting set with Playboy TV when the program was done. They were interested in turning “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” into a series.

I wanted to make sure we had quality talent that would appeal to Playboy TV.

After we had it done we were slated to meet with Eric Deutsch, Vice President of Production, Playboy TV. I think he left Playboy to go with Girl’s Gone Wild. Really cool guy that knows his business. I learned at that meeting.

(Quick update: At meeting we wanted to keep “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” funny with only nudity. Playboy TV wanted it more hardcore with on camera sex. No deal could be made.)

Let’s shoot back to the talent manager meeting. We were negotiating where I would pay his talent agency a flat fee for 8 exotic dancers represented by him to appear in “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties.”

Then he got shady, power hungry and greedy on me. He wanted to be added as a producer for an additional fee and be at all the bachelor parties we were going to film. Deal breaker.

He wanted too much control for being a talent manager. He over played his hand just because he was in control of the on camera talent appearing. He even tried to strong-arm me a little bit with veiled threats about he’s not to be screwed with.

He got more worked up about how I wasted his time and he wanted a fee to be paid for the casting right now.

I’m not going to go into details what I said politely, but after we spoke honestly we both understood I was not going to pay any type casting fee he made up out of thin air to hustle me. It was a bad experience for sure I will never forget.

I closed the book on his talent agency and moved on. Luckily I ended up meeting a fitness model on my casting journey that liked that “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” was going to be funny with nudity and not hardcore.

She brought a girlfriend of hers to the first shoot and they had a blast. The bachelor party was fun. Word of mouth spread that we paid cash on the set and everything was ran professional. No games or bullshit.

We treated talent with respect in a safe environment. I started getting contacted by other models, exotic dancers and porn actresses wanting to appear in the series. You treat people right and good things happen.

I met some really cool people that had vibrant personalities and kind spirits. Narrow thinking about people that are comfortable in their own skin to get nude on camera I will never understand.

We finished “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” and secured a distribution deal with a company that was also releasing Girl’s Gone Wild videos, so it was a good fit.

Things were looking up, but dealing with the underbelly of indie movie production is always a fight. My investors kind of came at me hard about money. They didn’t like that distribution companies only pay producers quarterly.

They wanted me to start paying out of my pocket until our first royalty payment came. They also wanted to own a piece of the entire “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” franchise series.

I was specific in the contract we signed this was a one-time investment for them. That I would legally own the rights to the “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” name and all future programs related to it.

I knew the program was going to make money, but they had no patience to deal with being paid quarterly. I had to cut myself free from these investors or we end up in some kind of problem. Even though this was a reality TV style program I approached like an indie movie production on camera and off.

Then the situation changed for no apparent reason. I get a call inviting me to go with them to a Sam’s Hofbrau on 1751 E. Olympic Blvd., Los Angeles, CA. I left address in here because it reminded of a Slice of Americana type of place you would like.

Dodgers were playing that night and we ended buying tickets from one of the scalpers. After that night we weren’t friends, but were more social. Russian investor agreed to relax until we got paid from the film distributor.

They were going to stick to our original deal and “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” was to remain mine. I would love this to be a happy ending, but at the end of it the film investors made more than I did off the release.

The video sold really well and royalty payments were good, but even the accountant who was doing my taxes said everyone else is making more than you from this.

Turned out I gave away too high of a percentage to my investors. I should have known better. Their rate of return was damn good on their money. So good they wanted to do it again, but I said no go.

After the distributor took their cut and film investors took their cut I was left with what was left on the plate. I was green back then and too eager to get financing to produce something. So, I gave away too much to get the money.

It stung to go the bank with healthy royalty payment checks and then have to see lots of it gobbled up by my investors. It’s never easy, but you have to honor your agreements.

The bright side is I would never have been able to produce “America’s Wildest Bachelor Parties” without visiting the underbelly of indie movie production.

I did take the money I did make from the program to help launch Slice of Americana Films and set the stage for the movies we have produced and sold since.

I look at experiencing the underbelly of indie movie production as a creative and business blessing. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE TO BLACK

Living under the dome of indie movie distribution is wildly entertaining, unpredictable and strangely addictive for most indie filmmakers that make movies way outside of Hollywood.

The cast of real life characters you meet dealing with indie movie distribution is like a storyline out of a Spaghetti Western. You know you’re going to get in an indie movie distribution agreement gunfight at some point as a movie making gunslinger outlaw.

Lots of indie movie producers have to deal with movie distribution companies on their own. There is really isn’t the money when an indie movie is finished to hire an entertainment attorney gunslinger as extra firepower.

Under the dome of indie movie distribution it really is the quick and the dead when it comes to getting an indie film distributed after signing a fair movie distribution agreement.

Movie distribution companies that cater to releasing indie films are not all villains and not all indie movie producers are heroes. It’s just my opinion that indie movie distribution can cut both ways because deals signed or not are really only as good as the people involved.

If a movie distributor operates using creative accounting to screw indie movie producers out of movie royalty money there is nothing that can be done to change their way of doing business.

Movie distributors out to hustle filmmakers already know how to work the film sales numbers and boost movie distribution fees to make sure an indie film producer is always in the hole when they get their film royalty statements.

It’s the ugly side of indie film distribution. That’s why having an entertainment attorney or film sales representative helps keep everything on the up and up when negotiating a movie distribution contract and later getting paid from movie royalties.

Indie movie distributors that are sharks know they can take a bite of producers that can’t afford an entertainment attorney. But not all movie distributors are sharks. Many are straightforward and can be dealt with if you know what you’re doing.

Even though every movie distribution company that caters to releasing indie produced cinema does have a standard contract, it doesn’t mean they don’t negotiate deal points.

This is the part of indie movie distribution where an indie movie producer can be unreasonable and unrealistic about the marketability of their film when trying to get a deal for distribution.

Like the song lyrics, “There ain’t no good guy, there ain’t no bad guy, There’s only you and me and we just disagree.”

Movie distributors are not concerned how much blood, sweat, tears and MONEY you put into making your movie. They are in the entertainment business to make money with movies that appeal to film buyers.

Where indie movie producers shoot themselves in the foot is overestimating the appeal of their film. It could be harsh reality that a movie is only marketable enough to get a standard contract.

I’m not saying that it is only good enough to get a standard deal, but I’m saying marketable enough. The movie could be great, but have very limited sales appeal to film buyers at movie markets like the American Film Market (AFM).

There are so-so indie produced movies that get better deals and make more money than much better produced indie movies. Reality of the movie distribution business at all levels.

It’s damn hard as an indie movie producer not to think what you created deserves a great movie distribution deal that pays.

It’s even harder to be brutally honest when looking at a movie from a strictly financial and marketable viewpoint to say, “Yeah, I can see where the movie has limited sales appeal.”

I know a couple of indie movie producers that have passed on indie movie distribution deals because they couldn’t separate the creative and business side of making indie movies.

There movies have been shown at a few film festivals and it’s been a few years now, so the shelf life for their indie movies is expired.

Even though they told me the money being offered upfront in advances for their movie would not even scratch the itch of their budgets got me thinking they passed up on having lots more people see their work.

I like to think that securing meaningful indie movie distribution always helps you negotiate better deals for your next projects and at the very least feel good that more people saw your movie.

Bottom-line from my experience and talking to other filmmakers who shopped and sold movies is indie movie distribution is the Wild West. Just like they say about life, it’s not fair.

From talking to different movie distributors and other indie movie producers that have sold movies there are a few things to help strike a better deal or give you peace of mind on what to expect.

Hire an entertainment attorney or film sales representative.

If self-representing your movie make sure to read books about movie distribution.

Pay attention to all distribution fees. Ask for a list because some crafty distributors will hide them in the definitions section of a movie distribution agreement.

Separate your creative self from your business self when looking at your finished movie.

Ask for an advance against future sales it might be the last money you see from your movie.

Ask for a sample of the royalty statement the distributor uses.

Don’t get down on yourself if every movie distributor passes on your movie because rejection is 99% of the entertainment business at all levels.

There are a lot of honest indie movie distributors out there that deal fairly with indie movie producers. Taking time and not rushing into a deal is said often, but the good advice usually is. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT

All projects come to an end for people and then they find themselves moving forward to create new things.  The siren’s song for me is the book publishing world to get a novel and novellas out.

Producing a variety of entertainment in different genres for viewers continues to be something I enjoy and will keep doing.

Up to this point in my creative life writing, directing and producing independent feature films, erotic cinema and racy reality programs has not fully satisfied me.

It’s not because I haven’t had joy producing entertainment. It’s because unfinished business. I told myself I would one day write a novel, but still haven’t many many many days later.

It’s time to stop screwing around and putting off a creative dream that I can’t ignore anymore.

Now I’ve finally decided to pursue novel writing or to put it a better way, finishing at least one novel. It’s something I’ve always wanted to do, but let fear hold me back.

I also want to explore taking some of the short stories I’ve written over years and enlarging to them to novellas. I have no idea on the differences between short stories, novellas, short shorts etc.

My goal is to finish the current novel I’m writing titled “Crazy Love Story” that’s based on a screenplay of the same name and to figure out how to package short stories to readers that enjoy the genre.

This is all new to me, so what I’ve been doing is visiting writer’s blog that already have experience in those areas to learn about self-publishing books and book marketing. It’s been a rewarding experience researching because I’ve been a book junkie since I was a kid.

I’m coming across talented writers that I relate to as independents on the way they write novels, short fiction and poems without holding back.

These independent writers are also creative and resourceful on how they market their books outside of the big publishers with big money to market writers.

Reminds me of the independent film scene where people outside of the big studios with big money to market movies have to get creative when it comes to promotion.

Don’t get me wrong. I enjoy popular mainstream writers like Stephen King, John Grisham and Conn Iggulden. I buy books in lots of different genres that are best-sellers.

I also like to read stories from writers that aren’t household names yet, the go-getter independent writers who self-publish their work and don’t give a shit if they’re writing in a popular genre or not.

I’ve always felt there is enough room for mainstream produced movies and published books and independent produced movies and self-published books to connect with viewers and readers.

I’ll see where this novel and short story writing road takes me. I was talking to Tim “Timbo” Beachum about books. He already knew I was going to hit him up to cut a book trailer for “Crazy Lover Story.”

It’s hard for me not to think like an independent filmmaker. Tim has had recent success with writing and selling eBooks that deal mostly with information. I’ve strictly been a writer that focuses on creative entertainment and not how-to or informational books.

Except for the book I wrote titled “The First Movie is the Toughest.” This book only really came to be because I started to see how many emails I would get about indie filmmaking from screenwriting to movie distribution that I would sometimes answer the same question to 10 different people.

I had fun writing the book because I shared information more like a memoir compared to a movie making text book. I pretty much put it all out there on what my indie film movie experiences were like.

If anyone really wants to make an indie movie and wants honesty it’s a book to read. Not because I wrote it. Because I was brutally honest and covered areas of making movies that I’ve never personally read in most filmmaking books.

Enough on information books for now. I’m looking forward to finishing “Crazy Love Story” novel. I’m finding great resources being part of the social media on Twitter where writers with lots more experience than me have blogs that are inspirational, entertaining and informative.

All I do know right now is when I finish the “Crazy Love Story” novel I’m not going to fight what I am or know. That’s indie entertainment. So I’ll try to market the novel like a movie.

But another part me of is saying it’s time to listen to Tim Beachum aka The SEO Bully on book marketing. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE TO BLACK

I have received tremendously helpful and practical advice from novel writers using the social media of Twitter. Writing a novel has something I have wanted to do for a long time.

In life some of things we want to do seem to get away from us as time goes by. My feeble excuse for not writing a novel has been I did not know the format.

I think it was fear of the unknown that has screwed with my mind and kept me from saying what the hell and going for it.

My writing comfort zone is short fiction, screenplays and copywriting. Novel writing has been a passion I had not pursued until this year. There was not big bang or earth shattering revelation I experienced.

Like other aspiring novelists and publish book authors I have talked to it kind of just felt like the right time to take action and write a novel.

The story idea for the novel is being taken directly from a screenplay I had written titled “Crazy Love Story” that fell out of film production twice after being green lighted to shoot.

There are so many indie movie producers out there can to relate to a project falling out production. It sucks flat out.

Here I was with a completed screenplay that wasn’t going to be produced. It’s friggin exhausting mentally to pitch to film investors over and over.

Good friend Tim “Timbo” Beachum is a real motivational type of guy. He reads books with positive messages and spreads those around to his friends and family. He’s turned that love for life into speaking gigs to motivate people.

He threw something my way he had read or heard about turning a negative into a positive. To me that was taking on the journey of turning the “Crazy Love Story” screenplay into a novel.

I don’t know all the genres of novels yet, but I would call the novel I’m working on contemporary fiction. I’m working off the finished screenplay and movie synopsis for “Crazy Love Story.”

Original Movie Synopsis for “Crazy Love Story”

Mike Luna earns his living in the brutal game of underground street fights. He’s bankrolled by his criminal brother Benny.

Mike is unbeaten in the game of street fighting and is hungry to break into the MMA. Benny introduces Mike to a connected fight manager with ties to a Russian mobster that operates in North Hollywood, California.

Success comes quickly for Mike after he signs a deal with his new Russian mobster backed fight manager. With his star on the rise he falls hard for ambitious and sexy Japanese fight publicist Kiyoko.

They marry within weeks igniting a toxic relationship. Mike’s fighting career starts to cool. He’s dropped by his fight promoter, money gets tight and Mike starts working odd jobs in construction.

Not satisfied with their new life away from the action his wife Kiyoko gets caught up in the fast lane pushing the limits of his love. Mike knows he has one fight left in him. He just doesn’t know who the opponent is. (© Slice of Americana Films 2012)

The screenplay and movie were going to have some fight scenes, but the toxic love story was going to dominate what was shown on camera.

It wasn’t going to be a fight movie with a love story, but more a hard-hitting love story with some fighting in it.

The novel will be different than the screenplay because the film’s shooting script was written with a strict movie budget in mind. There were creative elements we could not afford to shoot.

Now that “Crazy Love Story” is being adapted into a novel the story can open up with things I wanted to put into the story, but couldn’t because of movie budget restrictions.

Novel writing has already humbled me greatly. I was struggling with the format and stuck in the mud. Three authors from Twitter helped me get out of the mud and write.

George Pappas (@GPWriter) writer, a raconteur, author of erotica fiction novels “Monogamy Sucks”, “Dear Hef” and “Indulgence.”

Everett Powers (@EvPowers) author of “The Mighty T” and “Canals.”

Both of these published novel writers shared with me to not sweat the format so much. The novel formatting would come later.

The first thing to do is get a raw rough draft of your story done first. Let words hit the page and then go back to edit and format.

I learned from Eden Baylee (@edenbaylee) author of literary erotica and bestselling novel, “Fall Into Winter” by reading some of her work on her blog.

I was having trouble how to write dialogue in a novel format and saw how smooth Eden did it, so decided to follow her example.

I have a long way to go to finish my first novel. I am hoping that some of things I’ve learned writing, directing and producing movies will help my journey as an aspiring novelist.

I can say I am having a great deal of creative satisfaction working on a novel. It feels good to be able to write a story without movie budget in mind.

I’m going to be honest it’s not all puppies dogs and ice cream. It’s tough creative work where you’re alone with your own thoughts for hours on end. There are times writer’s block kicks in or what you’re writing is crap. Fight through it!

If you’re an aspiring novelist who has never written one it’s great to be able to use social media to connect with novelists that are open to sharing a couple of novel writing tips with you.

I’m in the dark about novel writing software and if it is helpful. I know I can’t a screenplay without using Final Draft. But the few novel writers I do know mostly write using WORD.

But going back to what authors George Pappas and Everett Powers told me. Get your story down first then worry about the ins and outs of formatting and editing. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE TO BLACK

Mental horror and bloody gore is being produced by a small tribe of indie film souls from the UK and US.

The movie is Psoro (Itch) and is a coproduction between UK based LiarDice Films and Graphic Delusions with west coast Slice of Americana Films.

Psoro is going to be a badass indie movie viewing experience taking people back to 80s and 90s SFX gore, but that’s not what this post is about.

Through the making of Psoro I’ve been impressed with ink many of the cast and crew on both sides of the pond are showing. The tattoo artwork looks sharp.

I know I’m on the outside looking in at the tattoo culture as tourist because I’ve never got one yet. Many of my friends are sleeved or have lots of ink work.

I’m talking to a friend named Shilo Sutton from Rated Ink earlier today. When it comes to producing indie movies I like to reach out to indie music labels and clothing lines to cross-promote.

Shilo tells me about his Rated Ink venture. Sometimes in life we are only focused on a project we have going, so I’m consumed with finishing Psoro with director Wayne Daniells and SFX artist Paul While and forgot Shilo had this new indie clothing line Rated Ink.

This about Rated Ink pulled directly from their site:

Rated Ink

About Us – Rated Ink was started in 2011 by Lito Vargas & Shilo Sutton out of California. Rated Ink prides itself on its unique approach to the clothing Industry. We will get you the best gear at a reasonable & affordable price.

–Our vision – here at Rated Ink is very simple, we will design the hottest gear on the market today.

“New designs will be made frequently so you always have the newest & hottest gear.”

–Tattoo Shops – Rated Ink also gives love to our local tattoo & Piercing shops. We would like you the customer to give us & them your feedback & comments as well as RATE those shops with a Thumbs UP or a Thumbs DOWN.

–Art – The tattoo artist have their own personal collection of art that is unique to the industries. You are able to purchase these one of a kind art pieces. Check em’ out!!

Thinking about how many of the cast and crew take pride in their tattoo art I thought Rated Ink is a clothing brand that fits the Psoro production mentality.

The Rated Ink philosophy on their brand shares the Psoro production team mentality of being unique in creating something.

Yeah, this could read like a shameless plug for Rated Ink, but that’s a good thing. I shot straight with Shilo that the clothing line Lito Vargas and he created can’t be shown on camera because it doesn’t fit the Psoro setting since we’re covering decades.

Where we got creative as an indie movie production is figuring where Rated Ink (official site) fit. Behind the camera crew will be wearing Rated Ink on our last day of shooting to help promote the brand to an audience of worldwide viewers.

I’ll tip our hand here too. While we have actors and crew on set I’m writing a promo video we can shoot on the fly with Rated Ink gear.

I always think that indie movie producers should reach out to indie music labels and clothing brands. Slice of American Films coproducer Tim “Timbo” Beachum has a way always getting original music tracks for our movies.

We’ve also had success with a couple of clothing brands in the past. I just think that cross-promotion at the indie level is lacking. It seems too many people hold back from striking deals that help each side.

Hell maybe we can get Rated Ink to do a Psoro movie shirt.

This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT