Hi lovelies! It gives me great pleasure today to host Usher
Morgan and his new book, “Lessons from the Set”! For other stops on his Goddess Fish
Promotions Book Tour, please click on the banner above or any of the images in
this post.
Be sure to make it to the end of
this post to enter to win an autographed copy of the featured book!! Also, come back daily to interact with Usher
and to increase your chances of winning!
Thanks for stopping by! Wishing you lots of luck in this fabulous
giveaway!
Lessons
from the Set
by
Usher Morgan
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GENRE: Filmmaking
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BLURB:
Lessons
from the Set: A DIY Guide to Your First Feature Film, From Script to Theaters
is a step-by-step filmmaking guide that takes a cinephile’s “Do It Yourself”
approach to low-budget indie film production and distribution. This book will
offer you some valuable, practical insight into the process of making a
commercial feature film on a low budget and releasing it to theaters – whether
you’re starting with $1,000 or $1m.
Lessons
from the Set will guide you through the process of writing, planning,
directing, producing, marketing, and releasing your first feature film. You’ll
learn how to overcome writing challenges and improve the quality of your
screenplay, how to make $0 budget short films and perfect your craft, how to
plan your film, master filmmaking tools, and set the stage for your upcoming
shoot.
This
book is peppered with life-saving tips, tricks, and filmmaking techniques that
will save you a lot of time, money, and energy on set, in pre-production and in
post. You’ll learn how to release your film to theaters, how to tackle
festivals and win awards, how to handle press and get reviews, execute
marketing efforts, and approach the filmmaking process with both an artistic
soul and an entrepreneurial mindset. Lessons from the Set was designed to give
you all the tools and resources you’ll need to complete and release your film
successfully in any market and help you set the stage for a prosperous career
as a full-time indie filmmaker.
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EXCERPT TWO:
The Revenue Game
Making
movies for a living is something that a lot of filmmakers aspire to. Being in a
position where you can make films and release them to theaters or straight to
video on a consistent basis is the ultimate dream for most, but it is also a
cause of frustration and anxiety to many. I believe it to be the main reason
why so many good people who venture into this business quit before their time.
The cost associated with making films, along with the pressure and artistic
skill demanded, and the obligation to adhere to budgets and generate revenue,
can prove to be a challenging feat that many people assume is beyond their
capabilities. There are plenty of people who proudly wear the “broke artist”
tag and look with distaste upon those who go into this business for the dollar.
The one thing that many “broke artist” types fail to keep in mind is that the
movie business is a business and, like any other business, your job is to
produce a great product, cost efficiently, sell it to consumers, and generate
enough money so you can make more products. More products mean more revenue –
that is the nature of any product-based business. The only way you can sustain
your business is by making movies that generate revenue, and if you lose money
on every film, you won’t last long.
Now,
as far as I know, there are two key ways by which you can derive your income
from making and selling feature films: (a) you can make a movie and sell it to
a distributor; or (b) make a movie and sell it on your own. That’s it, really.
However, when most independent filmmakers think about the prospect of getting
their movie made and sold, they’ll opt to go for option A. They’ll send it to
major film festivals in hopes that during their circuit, the movie will hit a
cord with a capable distributor who would show an interest in buying it. If the
distributor is big, they may get a theatrical release, and a good deal of money
could follow. They’ll be featured in the press, be courted by agents, and have
an easier time getting funding for their next project – and life will be grand!
And if the distributor is small, the movie will go straight to DVD/VOD/Blu-Ray,
and they’ll make a little less money and maybe have to work a little harder to
get their next movie lined up, and the next one – it will be the big break
they’ve been waiting for.
Take
any of those filmmakers and offer them the opportunity to distribute their own
films and they’ll snigger, “I’m not interested in doing marketing or handling
sales; the business side of moviemaking is not something that I’m really
interested in. I want to focus on making movies and let other people worry
about selling them.” There is nothing wrong with that approach, it is, as the
name states, an approach – it’s just one way of doing things. In fact, it’s the
go-to approach for a big chunk of the filmmaking population. However, what do
you think will happen if you take that very same filmmaker and give them a
failed festival circuit? Meaning their film got accepted into festivals, but no
one bothered to buy it; no one licensed it or showed any interest in
distributing it... Well, now these very same filmmakers are in “panic mode.”
They’ll eventually make their way to signing a deal with an online film
distribution company, and their movie will most likely die in obscurity. These
online, independent film distributors are the kind that’ll put your movie up on
VOD and leave it there for seven years without doing a lick of marketing or
promotion. They call themselves “film distribution companies,” but in reality,
they’re more like vanity book publishers. They’re “movie brokers” – meaning
they take your movie, put it on iTunes, Amazon, Xbox, Google Play, and other
VOD channels via an aggregator (to which you, as a filmmaker also have access),
and maybe send a press release out via their website and social media channels,
and that’s it. The offer you get when you sign the contract is usually $0 in
advance but 30% of the net, and you feel confident in the fact that you have a
distributor and that your movie will finally see the light of day.
A
month later, the film comes out to VOD, and this “distributor” didn’t put a
dime into P&A (Print and Advertising). They didn’t market the movie, they
didn’t sell it, they didn’t build a marketing plan for it, and they don’t
intend to push it, promote it or sell it. It gets very few reviews from the
indie-fans who might buy it online, and after two years of selling, you still
haven’t seen a dime – because the distributor had “marketing expenses” that
kept you from actually seeing a profit. Believe it or not, that is the actual
situation that many independent filmmakers find themselves in after spending
years of their life pouring their hearts and souls into the making of their
indie features. They hope and pray that it’ll get picked up during the festival
circuit and are willing to give up their rights to do so because the thought of
leaving the festival circuit without a deal is terrifying.
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INTERVIEW:
Good morning Usher!
Welcome to Fabulous and Brunette!
We are thrilled to have you here and can’t wait to learn more about you
and your new book, “Lessons from the Set.”
Describe the evolution of your writing habits and how you have grown
into a better/more experienced writer.
Well, I’ve been writing for
a few years now and the progression is evident. I would like to think that I’m
getting better at editing my own work with every new project, and at the end of
the day, the judgment is mine to make and for others to criticize, I guess
we’ll have to see how good I can get in a few years when I’ve had a number of
screenplays under my belt. With regards to education, I think that If anything
I learned how to write in my own voice, whereas before I was trying to
“imitate” authors and writers that I admired, now I think that the material I
create very much comes from the inside. Finding your voice is a challenge, and
I want to believe that I found mine, and am now ready to unleash it. On top of
that, I am constantly learning. Taking new courses, seminars, and spending a
good deal of time reading and practicing my craft. I follow the “hour a day
rule” and make my best effort to watch other people read my own work by sharing
my scripts and writing with actors, friends and colleagues. Trying to become my
own best critic.
Who inspired your love for books?
Oh, the list is quite long.
From childhood I’ve been a fan of J.R.R. Tolkien, J.k. Rowling, Elmore Leonard,
Stephen King, James Patterson, etc. Recently I’ve been obsessing over Gillian
Flynn (who also writes her own screenplays). And speaking of screenplays, I am
in love with anything written by the likes of Wes Anderson, Quentin Tarantino,
Aaron Sorkin, and The Coen Brothers.
Why should we read your book?
My book takes a realistic
DIY approach to filmmaking, and just as importantly, film production and
distribution. It gives you a step-by-step plan to take your feature from
concept to production, as well as post, marketing, publicity and distribution.
So if you want to learn how to produce and sell feature films in the real
world, you’re aught to check it out.
Thank you so much for spending time with Fabulous and Brunette
readers and sharing your exciting new book with us! We wish you all the best on your book tour!
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AUTHOR BIO:
Usher Morgan is an award-winning
screenwriter, film director, producer and studio executive residing in New York
City. Morgan started his career in book publishing and later became involved
with film production and distribution. He produced his first documentary film
The Thought Exchange starring David Friedman and Lucie Arnaz in 2012, followed
by his directorial debut, the award-winning short film Prego.
Morgan’s
first feature film, Pickings was released to AMC theaters on March 2nd, 2018
and made its way to VOD in August of 2018. His directing style is influenced
primarily by film-noir and spaghetti westerns. The Los Angeles Times calls Usher
Morgan, “a talent to watch”.
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CONNECT WITH USHER:
Website:
Blog:
Website:
IMDb Website:
Wikipedia Website:
Email:
info@ushermorgan.com
Facebook #1:
Facebook #2:
Twitter:
Instagram #1:
Instagram #2:
YouTube:
Vimeo:
Goodreads Author Page:
Goodreads Book Page:
Amazon Author Page:
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BOOK BUY LINKS:
Amazon Kindle eBook:
Amazon Paperback:
Barnes and Noble Paperback:
The Book Depository Paperback:
BAM! Books-A-Million Paperback:
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GIVEAWAY INFO:
Usher will be awarding an autographed copy of
the book to a randomly drawn winner via Rafflecopter during the tour.
**This post contains affiliate links and if clicked and a
purchase is made, I may receive a small commission to help support this
blog. This does not cost you anything,
it just helps pay for all those awesome giveaways on here.**
This contest is sponsored
by a third party. Fabulous and Brunette is a registered host of Goddess Fish
Promotions. Prizes are given away by the
sponsors and not Fabulous and Brunette. The featured author and Goddess Fish
Promotions are solely responsible for the giveaway prize.
Usher ~ Hi! Welcome! It is so great to have you here! Congrats on your new book and good luck on the book tour! :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting!
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