The Business of Producing Indie Cinema is a Thin Line between Love and Hate

The business of producing indie cinema like life is not always neat, clean, and fair. It can be hard the first time you realize creative vision does not always matter when producing entertainment.

It can sting as a screenwriter, producer or director when a film investor tells you basically, “screw your creative vision. We need a product that turns a profit.”

Whatever your own role is in producing indie cinema there is usually a film investor or investors you have to answer to at some point. It can get tough when balancing creative vision and paying backing film investors.

A battle veteran indie producer I greatly respect told me in so many words that film finance always out votes creative vision unless it’s your own money you are spending.

When it’s your own money nobody can tell you how to spend it.

When it is other people’s money also thrown out sometimes in 3 letters as OPM indie producers have to do their best to deliver an entertaining product that will sell.

I caught the drift of their business advice. Producing indie cinema is like the song The Persuaders – Thin Line between Love and Hate.

In true indie cinema I’ve learned there are no free rides. The zero budget indie film is like the Chupacabra it does not exist.

There are many cash costs involved with producing entertainment that need to be budgeted for first time producers would not expect.

That’s why so many indie films never get finished. Underestimating a film budget is the killer of many projects. Going back out to film investors for finishing funds is a nightmare.

The screenwriter for an indie producer and film backers is their ACE or 777. Screenwriters that use creative vision based on a firm film budget are way ahead of the game.

Writing within a production budget translates to money over creative vision. This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT