Helllllllllllllooooooooo!

Yup. I’m going to dish my some dirt about the seedier side of Hollywood. I know that I’m not not a deep insider to be able to talk about the inner circles like say someone much higher up could. But I can tell you what I learned being on the outside and what how I’m setting up my new film company to remedy this.

See… Hollywood and the Entertainment does all sorts of marketing around you being able to have the big house, big car, shiny people, more shoes than Imelda Marcos (yes – old reference), fancy clothes, getting to eat at the best places ever, win awards where the whole world applauds IF YOU TOO SHARE YOUR ART WITH THEM. I put “art” cuz this is consistent throughout the ENTIRE entertainment industry – not just Hollywood.

IMPORTANT CAVEAT: NOT EVERY COMPANY IN THE ENTERTAINMENT INDUSTRY AND HOLLYWOOD BEHAVE THIS WAY. SOME GOOD ONES EXIST – THEY DON’T NEED TO MARKET THEMSELVES TO BE “GOOD” CUZ THEY HAVE MORE WORK THAN THEY KNOW WHAT TO DO WITH.

Off my soapbox and disclaimer now.

As part of making our indie feature MY APOCALYPTIC THANKSGIVING (MAT) and working on my various projects . Here’s my IMDb And what’s NOT on my IMDb is just as important. See… I ran around about the time that we were going to release MAT to have a follow up cuz our distributor Freestyle Media HEAVILY promised during our distribution negotiations that they could get an article about MAT in Deadline. And common wisdom is what else do you have in the works. This is an important news outlet for Hollywood. Disclosure: I think Deadline was significantly better when Nikki Finke was at the helm cuz she had a way to get information that the current staff can’t. And in all fairness? She may not have put in an article about our movie either.

Yup. Deadline didn’t run the article. As far as I know? Freestyle has only ever put one of our trailers on their YouTube Channel and their website. They haven’t done anything else that they let us know. They hooked us up with a publicist and moved onto other projects. TRUTH? None of our actors were established in the industry enough for our film to get traction. And a quirky dramedy horror feature that doesn’t easily fit into a marketing campaign. ALSO IMPORTANT: Freestyle has a reasonable commission and handles the SAG-AFTRA paperwork. If you know anything about that paperwork? You know that’s a massive blessing. So? No. I’m not mad at all at Freestyle: It is what it is.

And??? This is how it works. If we had had more established talent or made an easier to market movie? They more likely had helped us more cuz it’s reasonable to assume that a bigger payoff could be expected. But shit… A movie about autism and zombies? Dude. Like you don’t see dollar signs when you look at that combination cuz well? It’s not a typical part of the culture. AND when you watch the movie? It doesn’t fit into the inspiration porn model either. They frankly took a big risk to even distribute our film. Yes. I also had five other distribution offers cuz when you watch our movie? You understand why we were willing to take the 12 years that it took to make it. Sure. Some folks may think it sucks. Great!! I’d rather have people LOVE or HATE our movie rather than not remember it.

NOW: The parts that you can’t see…

Part of my running around was looking into what are called “presales” for our next movie. These are “guarantees” to get funds to make movies. How is the best way to get them? Line up established talent. How do you get access? One is a pay to play fee to casting directors. A different way? Reach out to the talent’s agents. A thing to know about agents? I’ve heard stories about how some of the bigger agents demand CARS for themselves BEFORE they EVEN CONSIDER telling the talent about it. I’ve other nasty stori3es like this too. This gives you an idea. If you’d like to know more: look into the WGA battle around packaging fees.

Cuz see… Hollywood overall is a “closed” system when it comes to the big studios – you really need to be a member of the Writer’s Guild or Director’s Guild or Producer’s Guild to have access them. They can do this cuz of their long run marketing campaign of you being able to be in the 1% if you play their game:: The competition was insanely fierce. Why did I put the word “was” instead of “is?” Things like YouTube, Instagram, and TikTok let people realize that they can make their own content instead of only being able to access the old Hollywood system.

And more stories are coming out about the Bob Igers of world making millions of dollars while people under him receive a fraction. AND there’s the expectation of the employees to thank him for exploiting them since they “all get to be a part of the Disney brand.” How fucking condensing. EXCEPT? It’s true. And this is how a lot of the industry works.

An exception is Jason Blum. He’s the powerhouse behind Blumhouse. They have done so many incredible horror films. His feature film model is simple: pay people scale and honor points from the box office. As this cuts down massively on start up costs? It allows productions to happen MUCH FASTER. And it gives people skin in the game when it comes time to market. See cuz if people get get paid upfront – it lacks the same incentives. And it puts insane pressure on productions to be “perfect” cuz SOOOO MUCH is riding on the line. This is used to exploit people.

Other things used to exploit people? I worked on a project where someone saw themselves as an “auteur” and wanted us to indulge their every whim at the expense of everyone involved in the entire project. As we was new to producing while thinking this person knew what they were doing, we allowed it. And whenever tried to correct them cuz we started to wake up from their gaslighting? We would receive a poison pen letter the next day. In the end? They see themselves as the wronged victim rather than acknowledging that their lack of preparedness with an unwillingness to take feedback and work with the entire team on every level of making the project, their narcissism, and their temper tantrums are why we have the dynamics that we have today. I’m using the term “We” cuz it was when I was in a team with my ex-husband Richard Soriano. Yes. Richard and I worked on multiple projects together. It’s up to you if you want to figure out who I’m talking about. And this personality type? Part of the very unattractive part of the Industry. Bottom line: He ultimately wasn’t willing to do the necessary work of what it actually means to be an auteur – uplifting everyone for the greater good to make an amazing project for everyone to celebrate – it was all ego for him. If you don’t know anything about me and my view on work and team work? That’s unacceptable to me.

A different situation that I dealt with? I worked with someone a lot cuz I was caught up in their potential rather than see them where they actually are. Part of this was their game of saying that we’ll be a great acting/directing team like the famous ones in Hollywood. And to say they have a great sob story about that discount about their potential and their current state? That alone could win them Oscars. Very convincing. So? I did what I did: I invested a ton in this person to the point that I was building a feature film around them. Until four things… They didn’t realize that if you’re getting photos? Chapstick is important. Dude. This isn’t even 101 when it comes to photos. Likely seriously? Duh. If they have $20,000 their financial situation will be righted. to me? That means that they’ll sell me out for not even pocket change. And they had already started to do that. When I gave them the space to explore their idea of what we were creating? His ideas were C level or B level at best. When I gave him solid examples of what I was thinking after that space? He tried it once and went back to the C level/B level acting. And last but not least? He has an active addiction that he has normalized instead of being willing to address. My ultimate conclusion? I’m done. And I wish him well – you never know? He may pull his head out of his ass one day. No longer up to me to help him.

So… I’ve laid out some unattractive shit. I’m also responsible for my part in how things ended up the way that they did. AND YES!!! I’m grateful for having had these experiences since they taught me an absolute ton. They have helped me think long and hard about my company culture for my indie film company Darkness and Joy Productions. I’ve been developing what I call a “cowboy code” – simple and direct language with no emotional hooks and based on dignity and respect. As I also want to come from abundance rather than scarcity? That’s the reason for the coaching and other cashflows – they give me resources to allow creativity to flourish. I’m also tossing out that idea of “below the line” and “above the line” that exists in Hollywood cuz it’s class system bullshit: If you don’t understand that there’s artistry in things like being a key grip and a gaffer and all other film production positions? You don’t understand jack about art.

Whew! I’ll breathe now. And now? You understand the other reason why I’ve been slow about putting together my company website: I’ve been struggling how to put this all together in simple terms easy to communicate. It’s still waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay too long. But writing all this out? Helped a ton. I feel like I can better distill all this for my website.

As always: Have a great day on purpose!!

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