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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 28, 2011 21:43:35 GMT -5
THE FIRST RIDE OF WYATT EARP has completed ten days of principle photography in Agua Dulce and the Paramount Ranch in Agoura Hills, California. The budget was $275,000 under SAG's indy agreement. The medium is digital HD.
Val Kilmer put in a days' shooting as an older Wyatt Earp who reminiscences to a reporter about the murder of his first love Dora Hand in Wichita and the manhunt he led to catch her killer. Canadian actor Shawn Roberts stars as young Wyatt, Matt Dallas plays Bat Masterson, Wilson Bethel plays young Doc Holliday, and Diana DeGarmo appears briefly as Dora.
The film is produced and directed by Michael Feifer through Feifer Worldwide, his prolific direct-to-DVD and cable company that feeds the independent film market with low-budget horror and serial killer films like Dracula's Guest (2008), B.T.K. (2008)and Ed Gein (2007). The script is by Darren B. Shepherd from a story by Jeffrey Shenck and Peter Sullivan.
A limited theatrical release is under consideration for 2012, but a home video release is more likely before the end of the year.
Richard
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 28, 2011 22:03:07 GMT -5
Sounds interesting; thanks for posting Richard. I really liked "Tombstone" and the chemistry between Kilmer and Russell. There was talk of them re-teaming for a "prequil," but it never came off.
Allen
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 29, 2011 13:28:26 GMT -5
Don't expect the same production values, Allen. Tombstone had an historical sensibility and was written by one of the finest screenwriters around. The First Ride of Wyatt Earp is purely imaginary and is written by young newcomers. Tombstone had charismatic stars, whereas The First Ride of Wyatt Earp doesn't have any, except Kilmer, whose scenes were shot in a single day. More to the point, Tombstone was a big-budget studio film. Earliest reports stated a budget of $50 million, although that figure has since been adjusted to $25 million. It shot over the course of 90 days on 35mm film. The First Ride of Wyatt Earp is a run-and-gun shoot. It shot over 10 days on digital tape on a miniscule budget of $275,000. That's a huge difference.
Digital technology has changed the industry forever. New production companies nobody ever heard of are springing up everywhere and undercutting the big & powerful studios. The Screen Actors Guild responded to the demands of its members by initiating a low-budget contract for independent filmmakers. If the budget is under $300,000, a SAG actor can work for a $100 a day. Now a lot of popular actors who've been sitting around doing nothing are rushing toward the low-budget, independent digital filmmaker.
These digital low-budget independent films are driving the industry right now. There are literally hundreds of them being made. They feed the new markets of direct-to-DVD / Blu-ray and cable. Sometimes they get a theatrical release first, but not often. They earn a ton of money on a very small expenditure. The Blair Witch Project and Open Water opened the floodgates. Imagine earning what Tombstone earned -- over $56 million (which some experts say is only half what it really earned) -- on an investment of only $275,000. Even with the reduction in quality, it's certainly possible. If I had access to Feifer's resources, I'd be doing exactly what he's doing.
Richard
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Mar 29, 2011 18:12:37 GMT -5
"Tombstone" is one of my all-time favorite movies and Kilmer's role in that was incredible.
Richard -- what you describe as going on in the movie industry is not unlike what has been happening in the music business for quite some time. Digital recorders make it possible for small-time musicians like me to record, mix and master songs at home with the quality once only thought possible at high-cost studios. Outfits like Disc Makers charge a few bucks per CD for a packaged product. The Independent Music ("Indie") Music scene has just exploded and put total control in the hands of the little guy, and those big record companies are struggling as a result of it. Find my page over at RevernNation and check out a couple of tunes and you'll see what I mean.
Legendary surf rocker Dick Dale went so far as talking about selling your own music from the back of a car at gigs, and he's serious. No need to pay the middle man.
Paul
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 29, 2011 19:01:39 GMT -5
Everything old is new again! During the early days of rock & roll, guys like Sam Phillips drove around with a trunkful of cars and peddled them to record dealers. This was common practice for all the small indies at the time. They also pursued local DJs to play/plug their records on the air (Dewey Phillips playing Elvis's "That's All Right Mama" in Memphis is the classic example). What do they use today in place of radio? I don't really find music on the radio anymore, but I don't have XM or other satellite radio.
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Mar 29, 2011 19:24:17 GMT -5
I have Sirius Radio in my car and usually leave it tuned to the blues channel ("BB Kings Bluesville") when my missus is not with me. When she's there, it's on a country channel. I just can't handle commercial FM anymore.
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Post by Allen Wiener on Mar 29, 2011 19:53:05 GMT -5
NPR has two commercial free classical music stations here. That's what I listen to all day unless I have the iPod on. I play that all the time in the car and I have a small stereo with an iPod bay in the house. I like installing my own music and arranging playlists, or programs, of my own. Otherwise, radio is a real loser anymore.
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 29, 2011 20:21:56 GMT -5
Allen, I wasn't born yet when Sam Phillips was the young renegade in the music biz (although his records are my favorites), but I was around when his movie-biz counterpart Roger Corman was the young renegade in the movie biz. Corman is the hero of low-budget independent filmmakers everywhere; at least, those who have access to some kind of finance, however small.
Paul, did you know Bob Dylan recorded two albums at home on his DAT with a single microphone? The albums are Good As I Been To You and World Gone Wrong. I see your point about the music business, although I have never given it much thought. All things considered, I think it is a good thing if talented artists are not denied entry into the profession that is right for them. Unfortunately, the movie business requires a more expensive box of paints than a guitar and a DAT. To shoot digital films for the direct-to-DVD / Blu-ray and download markets, one still has a large expenditure in hardware that can be about the same as the production budget itself. You get to amortize it over a large number of productions, however.
These low-budget independent digital films are made on the old movie-of-the-week logistic. In the late 1960s through the 1970s, the average movie-of-the-week was shot in twelve days on a budget of $300,000 or under. Two of the most popular TV films of all time, Spielberg's Duel (1971) and Curtis's The Night Stalker (1972) fall into this category. Both were so good they got theatrical releases later. Both are still making money hand over fist in home video, forty years later. As a rule a movie-of-the-week clocked in at 73 minutes, allowing an additional 17 minutes for sponsors in a 90-minute time slot. But low-budget independent digital features films clock in at 90 minutes or longer, so they have to shoot more pages in less time than the TV logistic. In other words, 16-hour days. This is why they would benefit from another $100,000 added to the budget and another six days to the schedule (18 days shoot, or three weeks with Sundays off). There'd more time for the camera crew to deliberate, and the films wouldn't look so hurried.
This fellow Feifer who made The First Ride of Wyatt Earp really knows what he's doing. In terms of marketing, he's made the historical subject of the movie the star attraction, then added Kilmer for a bonus (although it will feel odd watching Doc play Wyatt). In terms of cost, Feifer shoots four or five low-budget digital indies in a year. He probably finances them all in the same package, say on some kind of finance deal for a million dollars. For a million dollars, he delivers five feature films to the marketplace in one fiscal year. He can't lose. Just one of them will return in excess of a million dollars coming out of the gate.
Richard
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Post by Paul Sylvain on Mar 29, 2011 20:47:57 GMT -5
You're absolutely right about equipment, tech-know-how and costs (film vs. music), of course. But at least these days, there are more opportunities for people to create and produce their own music and film without the total dependency on the big studios (film or recording). It's a whole knew world out there, and I think that's exciting.
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Post by Richard Weddle on Mar 30, 2011 18:33:08 GMT -5
It's exciting, yes.
I think it might be harder to find an audience for new music than for new movies. These small independent digital films sell themselves on the basis of cover art alone. It's all in the poster. One could sell a dry historical adventure with a cool action poster for a DVD cover and a large number of buyers and renters would find out they like it. At worst, the audience for new films is undiscriminating; they accept anything. (Of course this is no excuse for a filmmaker to make a bad movie). But with music, customers have to know they like it before they'll buy it. Or, am I wrong.
Richard
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