DEMON
AT LEEDSPOINT was, like RULERS OF THE APOCALYPSE, a
started feature film shot on film that couldn't be
completed because of a lack of money.
We built
an 8 foot tall demon puppet and shot some decent scenes.
I had no crew of course, and I was running the Super 16
camera and Nagra III sound recorder while trying to
direct, so the situation was I couldn't give much help
to the actors and it shows.
This was
before I got in the habit of re-writing dialogue to
fit the actor so it came out of his or her mouth natural
sounding. So the actors in DEMON said the scripted
lines as written whether they could say them correctly
or not.
Again, I
have nice looking Super 16 film footage I hope to use to
raise the budget required to shoot the movie from
scratch.
The only
thing that survived from the demon puppet and I still
have today is the pictured Demon head that I made. My
father gave it mouth and eye movement via cables.
I worked
just as hard on the situations that didn't happen, like
RULERS and DEMON, as I did at all the movies that did
get finished and distributed world wide.
I hate
hitting a wall like that. I hate not being able to
complete something I start. I hate not having the
investors. I do everything in my power to complete
everything I start out to make, but film stock costs
money and lab work is very expensive and despite the
money I threw into starting up these two movies
personally, I just couldn't, as one person, bankroll
them to completion.
I
seriously need a good business partner. Someone
effective at raising money and allowing me to do what I
need to do.
Making
movies for me is a need. I am a creative person. Some
people need to write books, some need to paint, others
need to write music, I need to make movies. It is part
of who I am.
What I am
not is a businessman. I'm lost when it comes to raising
money or cutting deals or handling contracts or dealing
with the accounting aspect. I need a business partner to
free me up so I can produce quality movies that
entertain and generate solid profits.
George
Romero was $650,000 in debt after making several movies
including his classic NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD (from
which the distributor Walter Read stole millions from
him in unpaid profits). What turned his career and life
around was meeting Richard Rubinstein who became his
business partner. Suddenly there was cash flow and
movies went from budgets that just covered the minimum
to get something shot, to millions of dollars with name
stars involved.
MARTIN,
his vampire movie released by Libra Films in 1977, had a
$70,000 budget. DAWN OF THE DEAD went up to $400,000
budget and made $55 million world wide. Romero had more
money to make a more polished production and show what
he could do and made $55 million. KNIGHTRIDERS was
roughly $ 3 million to make and starred Ed Harris,
and DAY OF THE DEAD(1985) was roughly $3 1/2 million.
Budgets kept rising for Romero with Rubinstein's help.
CREEPSHOW's budget was $8 million and featured an all
star cast who flew in from LA to Pittsbourgh where
Romero lives to shoot on sets built in the gymn of a
local school. CREEPSHOW was originally going to be
released by United Film Distribution, like his previous
two had been, but instead Warner Brothers picked it up
and released it.
I am very
much like Romero. In all his first movies he was mostly
the crew. He wrote, directed, phgotographed and editing
movies like NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD and JACK'S WIFE. On
JACK'S WIFE he personally financed it on bank
loans he was accountible for.
In fact
when I met Romero I told him I was in the same boat he
was before he got a good business partner! He was making
movies on shoestring budgets hoping for the best and so
am I. His movies got released and so do mine. Now I am
at the point where, like Romero, I want to move up to
larger budgets and make bigger movies because I have
proved myself with the small films.
So one of
the things I need to accomplish in 2005/2006 is find my
Richard Rubinstein. When that happens I may end up
owning three houses like Romero now does!!!
