SAGIndie

I spoke to one of the organizations that we sponsor and found out that a rumor is going around that SAGIndie is being eliminated along with the Experimental Agreement.

While it is true that the Experimental Agreement, like the Bill of Rights, will soon be extinct, SAGIndie’s funding has been approved for another year.

We took the SAGIndie show on the road on Friday, shuttling up Crescent to the DGA for the Los Angeles Film Festival’s "Meet the Guilds" luncheon. This event is one of those occasions when the Hollywood guilds join forces, Superfriends style, to let independent filmmakers know that we’re open for business with them.

Friday’s event was notable for much more than the free boxed lunches we provided the filmmakers, however.

Much, much more.

This Friday, SAGIndie Director Paul Bales revealed to the awed masses the existence of our brand new Modified Budget Agreements: the Short Film Agreement and the Ultra Low Budget Agreement, both of which go into effect July 1, 2005.

The Short Film Agreement, which is essentially replacing the Experimental Agreement, will cover short films with a budget of $50,000 or less that have a running time of 35 minutes or less. This contract also eliminates the deferred payment schedule, allowing SAG actors to donate their services to producers gratis, without saddling filmmakers on a shoe-string budget with potentially crippling back-end pay requirements.

This spirit of cooperation is extended to the Ultra Low Budget Agreement, which replaces the Limited Exhibition Agreement. This new contract, covering all features with a budget under $200,000, provides an updated pay schedule, eliminating deferred payments in favor of a flat rate of $100 per day.

Additionally, both contracts do away with step-up payments for additional distribution modes: in other words, going to DVD won’t bankrupt your company.

The Modified Low and Low Budget Agreements have also been spiffed up. To reflect the rising budgets of independent films, both feature a 25% increase in their budgetary caps against an 8% positive adjustment in the SAG pay schedule.

Of course, we are very excited about these contracts, and feel strongly that these changes will make it easier than ever to use SAG actors in low-budget films. And, in keeping with this user-friendly theme, we’ve now made sample copies of the contracts available for download from our website. You can even get the preliminary paperwork to fax to the Theatrical Department here.

Unfortunately, the limits of our technology prevent us from offering a boxed lunch for download from our website. You can, however, attend one of our Signatory Workshops, where I will personally present you with one of our ever-popular light-pens.

I’m now at the Maui Film Festival in Hawaii.

Before you envy me too much, you need to know a little history…

About a year and a half ago, my best friend and I were turning… uh… old… and neither of us had been to Hawaii, so we decided to throw a party for ourselves and go with a bunch of friends to Maui for the Christmas holiday.

The day we arrived, “the biggest storm in a decade” hit Maui and it rained every single day that we were there. I don’t mean fifteen-minute afternoon tropical showers. I mean torrential downpour from morning until night. Every day. As a result, we were stuck in our rental house with nothing to do but drink and get into arguments with each other. In fact, some of the friendships didn’t really survive the trip.

So, you see, I may be the only person who has ever uttered the words; “Hawaii sucks.”

What a difference a year and a half makes.

This is what I spent the day looking at from my hotel:

Last night was the opening night of the Festival. The main venue is amazing. It’s an open-air theatre that they’ve constructed on a golf course. The sound system is incredible and there’s nothing quite like watching a movie in the balmy tropical air beneath the stars.

The opening night film, on the other hand…

I can’t for the life of me figure out why a festival would choose a formulaic, predictable, unfunny studio film starring a certain “tween” actress to open the event. I might understand it if the stars or filmmakers were actually at in attendance… but they weren’t (Normally, I would link the title of the film… but I don’t want to give them any advertising.). Until last night, I had never walked out of a movie before… and I’ve already raved about the venue… so that has to give you some idea about just how bad it was.

The parties were fun. The food (and, yes, the drinks) were amazing and I got to hang out with some of the filmmakers I met at Waterfront, including Randall Miller and Jody Savin, the writer/director and writer/producer of Marilyn Hotchkiss’ Ballroom Dancing and Charm School (which is a great example of a really good “studio” film… and would have been a much better opening night choice, in my opinion) and dolly grip-turned short filmmaker Otis Mannick.

Today I’ve been recovering on the beach and trying to learn to speak Hawaiian. Did you know there are only thirteen letters in the Hawaiian alphabet… and one of them is a glottal stop? I still can’t figure out what "Kapu lolo haole!" means…

I hope the weather holds and the movies get better… but all in all I’d say that Hawaii has been redeemed for me.

Still, it’s no Oklahoma City…

There were those amongst us who spent the last few days at the crap tables in Las Vegas, or in the drunken splendor of the hot-tub haven of Saugatuck, MI. I, however, spent this last weekend in Oklahoma City, attending the Dead Center film festival.

Far from being resentful at this turn of events, as some (most) people might be, I went into the weekend with an open mind and found myself pleasantly surprised by what I experienced there.

It didn’t start well. The flight in took us through a long stretch of airspace that was peppered by what the gentleman in the adjoining seat colorfully referred to as "thunder-bumpers". As a card-carrying white-knuckle flyer, I found the last twenty minutes of the flight to be one of the most profoundly unpleasant, not to say panic inducing, episodes in my long, ambivalent flying career.

However, once I safely arrived (at Will Rogers World Airport, which is, appropriately enough, built in a semi-circle around a huge bronze statue of the man himself) and began interacting with the folks behind Dead Center, as well as the citizens of Oklahoma City themselves, the prospect of spending a weekend in the heartland seemed much less dismal than it had at the moment that Paul had "asked" me to take one for the team and make the trip east.

Oklahomans are truly OK. Cacky Poarch and Melissa Scaramucci of Dead Center were gracious and helpful hosts (Melissa even fronted me a Claritin tab on a day that the prairie winds were sending the pollen count soaring into the "Extreme" range), the staff at my hotel were friendly and gave mostly good directions, and even the homeless, mentally ill street folk were unfailingly polite, as evidenced by the guy who earnestly asked if I was with the Department of Homeland Security (the answer is "no"), then nodded sagely and strolled off into the night.

As my Grandma back home might say, they’re "good people".

As for the festival itself:

- The opening night party had plenty o’ free booze and food, which is always a plus. While there I ran into a couple of women from the Sundance Channel who, while their names escape me at the moment, I found to be excellent drinking companions. They were, after all, from Texas.

- Linda Dowell from the SAG Texas branch was on hand for the Chicks Rule panel, which included Patti Kelly of Scarpaci/Kelly Productions, who was in town with her film "Welcome to September". Ms. Kelly produced the film under the Experimental Agreement, a fact which I have just shamelessly exploited for SAGIndie’s promotional gain.

- Linda (as pictured above) also took the SAGIndie Traveling Roadshow and Workshop to the aspiring filmmakers of the South Central U.S., braving the hostile environs of a right-to-work state in order to spread the Low Budget gospel.

- Finally, I must mention that I breakfasted daily on the free muffins and coffee at the Filmmaker Coffee event, a great place to network and nurse a hangover. All thanks to Dead Center for helping me stretch my meager very generous per diem.

All in all, it was an enjoyable, productive trip, which is all you can really ask for. That, and a "thunder bumper"-free flight.

While Paul was clearly enjoying himself in Michigan, I was toiling in relative calm at CineVegas.  Hey!  I said it was RELATIVE CALM!  This is definitely a festival for the Swingers set.  I mean, how cool is it to be in the hottest town (possibly on the planet), hanging out at the coolest hosting hotel, The Palms – owned by those Project Greenlight saving brothers, the Maloofs??  Seriously cool fun. 

Opening night film was the much heralded Hustle & Flow, followed by a poolside party at the Palms’ SKIN Club.  Of course, every after party should have girls dancing half naked (because fully naked would just be crass) on platforms.  There was even some nice indie celebrity in attendance!  People like Cuba Gooding, Jr. (Lightening Jack COULD have been indie), Taryn Manning and John Singleton, and Eriq LaSalle, were all poolside, enjoying the good eats and drinks.  As a counter to Paul, I stuck with a cold bottle of Perrier.

Some of the films there included the intriguing Murderball and the highly touted Mad Hot Ballroom.  The WGA had a writer’s panel that boasted such luminaries as Joe Eszterhas, Ted Griffin – writer of Ocean’s Eleven remake, and Amy Holden Jones – writer of films like Mystic Pizza and Indecent Proposal.  As usual, Ted was more funny and sardonic than verbose, Amy still hasn’t completely forgiven Robert Redford for Indecent Proposal changes, and Joe Eszterhas hasn’t forgiven anyone (except, maybe, himself).  Good times. 

Amidst it all, I met some great filmmakers (that IS why I go to these things) who, between marathon sessions at the crap table, managed to talk some shop, make some connections, and just basically be……..money (and know it).  I managed to only lose half of my salary in Vegas.  And that $3,000 receipt I submitted that looks like it was written on hotel stationary……….dude, that’s TOTALLY legit!

I grew up about an hour-and-a-half from here (you can tell I’m an Angeleno now because I measure distances by how long it takes to get there).

Michigan. Where stepping outside in the Summer is like walking into a sauna. Where the mullet is still the height of men’s tonsorial fashion. Where every radio station is classic rock. When I turned 18 I couldn’t get out of here fast enough.

If there had been a Waterfront Film Festival back then I might have stayed.

Now in its 7^th year, the Waterfront Festival is one of the most unique and fun events I’ve ever attended.

Saugatuck, MI is an artist community on the shore of Lake Michigan. It reminds me a lot of Ojai (which probably means nothing to you if you don’t live in California or weren’t a fan of The Bionic Woman). Lots of galleries, antiques, ice cream and fudge shops, and the nicest people you’ll ever meet.

Oh… and did I mention the booze?

This is the bar in the Festival hospitality lounge. Not only is it open twenty-four hours a day but it’s also self-serve. Every night there is an after-party that goes until four or five in the morning. It’s impossible to sleep and I suspect that most of the staff survive the Festival by staying drunk for the entire four days. Regular readers know that I consider this a compliment.

Because Waterfront takes place in this tiny family-friendly community the film programming is unlike any other festival. There are very few “festival films.” You know, dark, edgy stories about heroin-addicted, cross-dressing, bible-quoting assassins. But if you think this is festival of Disney and "faith-based" films you’d be wrong. Although there are plenty of “safe” films here, the programmers have also scheduled a lot of smart, experimental films. One of my favorites is The Traveler. Swedish filmmaker William Olsson took an actor to a Berlin hostel and told the real people they met they were making a documentary, while actually weaving a them into a narrative story about the restlessness and the dreams of youth.

I participated in a panel on indie filmmaking with several of the directors and SAGIndie also hosted the Waterfront Lodge where most of the festival receptions took place.

I’ve got one more day of heavy drinking and then I’m back in Los Angeles long enough to do my laundry then I’m off to Hawaii for the Maui Film Festival.

I know. You feel my pain.

On Tuesday and Wednesday I was at the Sundance Film Lab in Utah.

After my plane landed in a thunderstorm (on the second attempt), I drove up to the Sundance Resort to find that it was snowing. And this is what I was wearing.

Despite the weather, Sundance, as always, was gorgeous.

The Film Lab is an annual workshop for independent filmmakers. Eight projects/directors are chosen (from billions of submissions) to spend a month at the Lab rehearsing, shooting, and editing four or five scenes from their projects under the supervision of industry advisors. This year’s advisors included actor Philip Seymour Hoffman; actor/directors Robert Redford and Harold Ramis; directors Boaz Yakin and Peter Medak; and cinematographer Denis Lenoir.

I have to admit that the jaded part of me suspected that these high-profile advisors weren’t actually going to do anything (I imagined them all sitting together in a hot tub sipping mimosas while the filmmakers slaved away at their productions), but I was pleasantly surprised and even a little moved to see just how involved these professionals were. Each day started with an Advisors Meeting (which I was allowed to watch once I was sworn to secrecy) where each of the strengths and concerns about the filmmakers was discussed and strategies were developed to help them.

Then the Advisors spent the day observing the filmmakers work, suggesting improvements, and meeting with them one-on-one to discuss their goals.

The Advisors work hard. Probably as hard as the filmmakers. Definitely harder than me (Another mimosa, waiter!).

The eight filmmakers choose scenes from their scripts that they consider the biggest challenge and set to work shooting them with professional actors (including Elias Koteas, Rae Dawn Chong, Debra Wilson, and Dylan Baker). What’s really cool is that the tapes they use are never seen by anyone outside the lab (unless everyone agrees to release them), so they give the actors and directors a chance to experiment without any risk.

It’s also really neat to realize that these filmmakers will very likely be the top indie directors in the very near future… previous films that have been workshopped at the Sundance Lab include Boys Don’t Cry, Requiem for a Dream, Maria Full of Grace, and Me and You and Everyone We Know.

We also hosted a reception for the participants (You know by now that if I’m involved there’s gonna be liquor…).

Here are a few shots from the party:

Advisors Joan Darling and Peter Medak.

Actor James McDaniel and his Director Andrew Donsunmu.

Advisor Philip Seymour Hoffman and someone I didn’t meet (sorry). When I first saw this photo I was ready to call the National Enquirer as I was sure I had captured an image of the ghost of Butch Cassidy… then I realized that it might actually have something to do with their cigarettes…

Advisor Harold Ramis and project cinematographer Rob Humphreys.

I want to thank the Staff of the Sundance Institute who took very good care of me and made me feel very welcome, and the Advisors, Crews, and especially the Directors, who let me be a fly on the wall.

Now I’m in Michigan for the Waterfront Film Festival. The humidity is 100%. And I have a cold.

I’ll tell you all about it in my next post.

Dropped by Fangoria’s Weekend of Horror over the weekend. Saw Steve Railsback and most of the cast of The Devil’s Rejects. Ogled the Ladies of The Evil Dead.

High Tension looks good.

The Janitor? Well, they tried.

Didn’t they?

Lion’s Gate had a big presence, pushing Rejects and Tension, as well as Saw 2. They trotted out a Cecile de France sorta-look-a-like, a tall blonde in a bloody t-shirt who waved a barb-wire-topped stick at bemused fanboys. Every hour or so they tossed out t-shirts emblazoned with the logo of Rob Zombie’s latest opus: sadly, all I scored was a Saw 2 postcard and a High Tension pin.

Watched Kelly Stables (The Ring, and The Ring 2) charm a surly crowd of black-clad slasher fans with a little bit of aw-shucks, a whole lot of charisma, and a impromptu version of "Happy Birthday", delivered with style to Tim from the Inland Empire.

Got a sneak peek at the trailer for the hotly anticipated Neo-Drive In flick 2001 Maniacs (shameless plug: shot under the Low Budget Agreement). It stars Robert Englund and some girls with prodigious lungs. The gathered horror aficianados loudly cheered at the imaginative variety of murders portrayed in the trailer, not to mention the cheerfully gratuitous nudity.

No distributor yet, but-

Hey, wait a minute! Lion’s Gate meet 2001 Maniacs, Maniacs meet Lion’s Gate.

Now, about my finder’s fee…

Last night the entire SAGIndie staff attended a reception celebrating the one-year anniversary of Wallman-Ridinger Public Relations.

As you may have guessed (since Rene Ridinger often posts on this blog), WR-PR is the public relations firm for SAGIndie and we are very proud to call them our Flacks.

In addition to propagating lies about us, Wallman-Ridinger represents actors including Blair Underwood, Dominic Monaghan, and Peter Dinklage; entertainment companies like Regency Television and TWI; and has represented films at the Sundance Film Festival, Toronto, Slamdance, and AFI Fest.

If you need a PR company give them a call at 323.464.7577.

They are the best!

By the way, my new relationship with Lindsay Lohan is NOT just a publicity stunt created by Wallman-Ridinger in an effort to combat rumors that I am just a pathetic old guy.

  I’M IN LOVE!!!