IFH 553: How to Build a Production Company with Michael D. Ratner

Sean S. Cunningham had a successful career of starting films cheap and fast. Originally from New York, Cunningham had a vast knowledge of directing films and came to Hollywood. He started about the same time Wes Craven did. Cunningham meets Craven and decided to make a comedy-romance film called Together (1971).Then they both shocked the world with the rape and ultra-violence of The Last House on the Left (1972). Craven directed the flick and Cunningham financed and produced. However Cunningham wanted to get a mix of comedy and horror and made Case of the Full Moon Murders (1973) and then started other comedy films like Manny's Orphans (1978) and Here Come the Tigers (1978) .Struggling in Hollywood Cunningham saw John Carpenter's Halloween (1978) and wanted to make a follow up type film but would possibly regret it. Cunningham brought Friday the 13th (1980) into the cinema in 1980, a year of many other horror films. Friday the 13th (1980) was a shocking, gory and violent film about camp counselors being slashed by a killer and had Betsy Palmer in the lead role. Little did Cunningham know that Friday the 13th would have never ending sequels. Cunningham gladly avoided all of them and Friday the 13th remains one of the most popular horror films in history. Instead Cunningham wanted to make it big when he brought a best-selling novel to the screen, A Stranger Is Watching (1982) with Rip Torn, but it was a disappointment. Cunningham went downhill with the over sexed teen comedy Spring Break (1983) and The New Kids (1985). Cunningham then produced House (1985) and several of its sequels. Cunningham next entered the world of underwater terrors after The Abyss (1989) was released. Cunningham did a follow up called DeepStar Six (1989), but it was a flop, however it beat another 1989 underwater thriller Leviathan (1989) at box office receipts.Cunningham was finished with directing and moved on to producing films and teaching. He produced The Horror Show (1989), My Boyfriend's Back (1993) and Friday the 13th's last sequel Jason Goes to Hell: The Final Friday (1993). Cunningham then did yet another follow up to Friday the 13th with Jason X (2001).Enjoy my conversation with Sean Cunningham.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

25 Okt 20221h 15min

Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

24 Okt 20222min

IFH - American Film Market 2022 Badge Giveaway Contest!! AFM Badge giveaway - Two Executive Plus Badges. It's a full 5-day badge with access to all the panels. https://americanfilmmarket.com/badges-prices/ that sell for $995 each. Below are rules: M𝘶𝘴𝘵 𝘣𝘦 18+ 𝘵𝘰 𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘳. 𝘖𝘱𝘦𝘯 𝘵𝘰 𝘜.𝘚. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺. E𝘢𝘤𝘩 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘸𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘈𝘍𝘔 2022 𝘌𝘹𝘦𝘤𝘶𝘵𝘪𝘷𝘦 𝘗𝘭𝘶𝘴 𝘉𝘢𝘥𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘢𝘵𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘵 𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘳’𝘴 𝘰𝘸𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘱𝘦𝘳 𝘈𝘍𝘔 𝘎𝘶𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘦𝘴. 𝘕𝘰 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘤𝘩𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘯𝘦𝘤𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘢𝘳𝘺, 𝘷𝘰𝘪𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘩𝘪𝘣𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥. Open to ALL IFH Tribe members. Submit to support@indiefilmhustle.com why you and your film deserves to get one of these coveted Badges that cost $995 each.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

23 Okt 20223min

I am extremely excited to have on the show today a fellow podcaster, established producer, director, and writer, Mick Garris. Mick’s podcast, Post Mortem with Mick Garris, dives deep into the devious minds of the greatest filmmakers and creators of your worst nightmares to bring their distinctive visions to life in fascinating one-on-one conversations. He’s renowned for his classic screen adaptation of Stephen King’s books like Sleepwalkers (1992), The Shinning and The Stand. and creator of 2005, Masters of Horror series.The California native began his passion for storytelling as early as 12 years old - writing short stories. He launched his passion onto the journalism path at just 16 years old. Driven by curiosity, he freelanced as a film and music critic and landed interviews with the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Rod Serling, and Ray Bradbury in the 70s. It’s remarkable what Mick accomplished in a time where everyone needed to know someone to get a foot in the door, let alone that early in life and without the help of social media. I guess folks were intrigued by his talent and drive.While doing film criticism, Mick wrote specs, publications for magazines, and did some filming on 8mm. The guy lived the dream. The hard work began to pay off. His agent, Rick Jaffa read some of his specs, believed in him, and introduced Mick to Steven Spielberg. Mick ended up writing the first episode of the Spielberg sci-fi series, Amazing Stories, and seven other episodes.He's credited for writing screenplays like Psycho IV: The Beginning, Fly II, and the She-Wolf of London series. He was also was an editor on Spielberg’s other project, *Batteries Not Included, in which aliens help a feisty old New York couple in their battle against the ruthless land developer who's out to evict them.Garris has written and directed a lot of other horror classics such as Halloween comedy favorite, Hocus Pocus. The film follows a villainous comedic trio of witches who are inadvertently resurrected by a teenage boy in Salem, Massachusetts, on Halloween night.Garris and I talked about his incredibly difficult yet fun experience shooting his small budget directorial debut, feature sequel Critters 2. In the film, Eggs of the small but voracious alien creatures called Crites are left behind on earth and, after hatching, set their appetites on the small farm town of Grover's Bend.The man's contribution to the horror genre has amazing. Can't wait for you to catch up on my conversation with Mick Garris.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

20 Okt 20221h 16min

Blair Witch Project: Directing an Indie Film Phenomenon w/ Eduardo SanchezWho hasn't heard of the now legendary indie film rags to riches tale of  The Blair Witch Project? Every film student from Los Angeles to Mumbai heard the story of how two young film students spent $27,000 (mostly from friends, family and credit cards) to make a little indie horror film that ended up grossing $250 million worldwide.Directors Eduardo Sanchez and Daniel Myrick shot The Blair Witch Project in a new way which would later be called "found footage." Without The Blair Witch Project, there is no [easyazon_link identifier="B00304LF0W" locale="US" tag="whatisbroke-20"]Paranormal Activity[/easyazon_link], No [easyazon_link identifier="B00AEFXNGE" locale="US" tag="whatisbroke-20"]Cloverfield[/easyazon_link], No [easyazon_link identifier="B003L20IEW" locale="US" tag="whatisbroke-20"]The Last Exorcism[/easyazon_link].Today's guest Eduardo Sanchez goes back to the late 90's and shares his experience on what it was like to be in the center of The Blair Witch Project hurricane. What it was like being on the cover of Time Magazine and how did it feel to be the toast of Hollywood...for a period of time.We also discuss the aftermath, how his career grew post Blair Witch and crazy stories of Hollyweird.Enjoy my conversation with Eduardo Sanchez.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

19 Okt 20221h 34min

Matthew Gentile is an award-winning filmmaker based in Los Angeles.He most recently wrote and directed his first feature, AMERICAN MURDERER: a true-crime drama about a charismatic conman who became the FBI’s most unlikely and elusive top ten fugitive. Photographed in Utah during the height of the pandemic, AMERICAN MURDERER stars Tom Pelphrey, Ryan Phillippe, Idina Menzel, Jacki Weaver, Shantel Vansanten, Paul Schneider, Moises Arias, and Kevin Corrigan. Traveling Picture Show Company produced the film with Gigi Films, Productivity Media Inc, and Radiant Films International.  A graduate of the directing program at the AFI Conservatory, Matthew’s thesis films FRONTMAN (which won 12 awards including the Student Emmy for Best Directing), and LAWMAN played over 100 festivals worldwide.A Brooklyn native, Matthew holds a BA in English & Film Studies from Connecticut College and an MFA in Directing from the American Film Institute.Please enjoy my conversation with Matthew Gentile.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

18 Okt 20221h 2min

Monday Motivation! We all need a kick in the butt sometimes on our screenwriting journey. These episodes will do just that. Never stop chasing that dream and keep on hustling.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

17 Okt 20222min

In 1980, Stephen Simon produced the film Somewhere in Time with Christopher Reeve, Jane Seymour, and Christopher Plummer. In 1998, he produced What Dreams May Come with Robin Williams, Annabella Sciorra, and Cuba Gooding, Jr.Stephen Simon graduated from UCLA and Loyola Law School, entered the movie business in 1976, ran the film companies of legendary producers Ray Stark and Dino de Laurentiis, produced such films as Somewhere in Time and What Dreams May Come, co-founded The Spiritual Cinema Circle in 2004, and wrote the books The Force is With You and Bringing Back the Old Hollywood.Please enjoy my conversation with Stephen Simon.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

13 Okt 20221h 24min