How to Produce a Short Film

Video Transcript

"Hi I'm Christopher Rokosz, actor, director, producer and I'm going to give you some tips and tricks on how you can produce a short film. Guys, here is what you have got to do, first of all a producer's job is to put all the elements together. The producer is not the director, the producer is not the script writer, the producer is not the camera operator, the producer is not the tech, the producer is not the gapper, the producer is not the lighting director, he is not the director of photography. I say all that to say that you have to get those people. Now you could play the part of both of them but you are fractionalizing yourself. The first thing a producer needs to do or their main job is to get the money, the budgeting and the organization together. They produce it because they have the ability to be detail oriented, task oriented and monitor all aspects of production. A lot of people get director and producer confused. Sometimes they are both but not usually. They both are full time jobs. So even if you are doing a small shorter independent you still need all the elements whether you wear all the hats or not. So you want to put the talent together. You want to find a good local director. You want to find good local talent and audition them. You want to find some money backers. You want to decide whether it is going to be on 35 mm film, Blu Ray, DVD, how you are going to distribute it, how you are going to make your money back. Am I just going to put it on the internet and wait for the millions to come in that way? It's a good idea. You are using somebody else's money. People are going to invest in it and they are going to expect their money back, have a clear and concise plan, have a way to organize and know during the preproduction process script writing, the actual shooting process, the directorial aspect of it, being able to keep track of those guys make sure that they stay on budget, that the director to get those beautiful shots is not spending all of your money so you have nothing left in post and sound, to see the project through the post production. Normally a director disappears after principal photography. You will see it through editing, through sweetening, through mastering, through duplication and distribution and then after distribution comes the money if you do it properly, promotion, openings, all sorts of different elements that go into it. So being detail oriented, good luck being a producer, there is nothing more rewarding than to see your baby on the big screen and that's where I'll see you. I'm Chris Rokosz, we'll see you in Hollywood."