Slamdance (which gets underway this week) is the quintessential festival for misfit filmmakers. So when the festival asked me to shoot Harold’s Bad Day–which won their short film screenplay writing competition, I agreed faster than an account exec to a wardrobe change.
My first film, Dill Scallion, premiered at Slamdance back in the pre-Google era. A handful of my then-unknown actors, including Lauren Graham, Peter Berg, and Kathy Griffin, all came to Park City on their own dime. LeAnn Rimes, who also had a cameo in the movie, sat in the crowd. When I pointed her out, she stood up and blessed us with a spontaneous, a cappella rendition of “Amazing Grace”. Yes, it was odd, but we landed a nice home video deal on the spot.
Afterwards, we held a swanky private party, which was what filmmakers did before the Great Recession. We flew up Sheryl Crow, who scored the film, to play live. We created such buzz, that I leaked a rumor that Harvey Weinstein would arrive at midnight on a jet pack. Hearing it spread by an ICM agent was pure gold. We had pulled the red carpet out from under Sundance. More importantly, we secured two cable sales and an art house theatrical run.
My not-fake documentary about comedians, I Am Comic premiered at Slamdance ’10. As before, several stars made the voyage to Park City on their own dime. If we had premiered at Sundance, they might expect a chalet, per diem and free lift tickets. Comedians Tommy Davidson and April Macie handed out freeze pops when the packed screening room’s air conditioning suddenly broke.
The crowd went nuts. After a 45 minute Q&A, we marched everyone across the street to our free pizza party for 1,200 fans and fellow filmmakers. Sheryl Crow was replaced by an iPod. But we licensed the movie to Showtime and snagged a great distributor, Monterey Media.
Cut to making Harold’s Bad Day. This wry, dark comedy was a tart creative sorbet after two years of steady spotmaking for the likes of Doner, AKQA, Tracy Locke and Barkley. I seduced my crew into helping me. Luckily, we shot a nice gig for Cramer Krasselt/Phoenix earlier in the week.
Tapping into the Slamdance voodoo, we got a stellar cast: Nick Sadler, comic Doug Benson and two young guys destined for greatness. I wanted the writer, R.J. Buckley, to enjoy the full Hollywood experience, so I bastardized his dialogue and ignored him on set. We used no video playback. No approval. Just my crew capturing great actors doing one, maybe two takes.
We just screened at Hybrid Editorial for finicky friends and strangers before locking the cut. Test screenings are always crucial. Charlie Chaplin screened for tired coal miners; I tapped creatives and offline editors. Big shout out to Brickyard VFX for the helping hand.
More fun than dropping names and making mediocre deals is witnessing that packed house of indie film lovers enjoying your film. The Slamdance crowd is there to celebrate the accomplishment of making a film. They want it to be great. They laugh at all the right places, soak up the drama and cherish the Q&A’s. Okay, got to start packing.
(Director Jordan Brady is co-founder of production house Superlounge.)
L.A. Location Lensing Declines In 2024 Despite Uptick In 4th Quarter
FilmLA, partner film office for the City and County of Los Angeles and other local jurisdictions, has issued an update regarding regional filming activity. Overall production in Greater Los Angeles increased 6.2 percent from October through December 2024 to 5,860 Shoot Days (SD) according to FilmLA’s latest report. Most production types tracked by FilmLA achieved gains in the fourth quarter, except for reality TV, which instead logged its ninth consecutive quarter of year-over-year decline.
The lift across all remaining categories came too late to rescue 2024 from the combined effects of runaway production, industry contraction and slower-than-hoped-for post- strike recovery. With just 23,480 SD filmed on-location in L.A. in 2024, overall annual production finished the year 5.6 percent below the prior year. That made 2024 the second least productive year observed by FilmLA; only 2020, disrupted by the global COVID-19 pandemic, saw lower levels of filming in area communities.
The continuing decline of reality TV production in Los Angeles was among the most disappointing developments of 2024. Down 45.7 percent for the fourth quarter (to 774 SD), the category also finished the year down 45.9 percent (to 3,905 SD), which placed
it 43.1 percent below its five-year category average.
The two brightest spots in FilmLA’s latest report appeared in the feature film and television drama categories. Feature film production increased 82.4 percent in the fourth quarter to 589 SD, a gain analysts attribute to independent film activity. The
California Film & Television Tax Credit Program also played a part, driving 19.2 percent of quarterly category activity. Overall, annual Feature production was up 18.8 percent in 2024, though the... Read More