I’m 29. And a half (for any small children reading this). I am, by most standards, pretty young. Still able to fully enjoy sports (Tecmo Super Bowl being my favorite). Still able to avoid the allure of Matlock. If it weren’t for the possible return of shingles, I’d be in peak shape.

No, it’s not a rectal problem (7). Shingles have to do with chicken pox, and are supposed to arrive during times of intense stress on the body. In my case, they’ve set up shop on the bridge of my nose. So, what is it exactly that’s making me this stressed? WAITING. Or, more precisely, WAITING FOR OUR FUNDING.

PROLOGUE: December of 2005. I was in the kitchen breaking dishes when I was pulled into an interview with the Polish Brothers on NPR. If you haven’t heard of them, they wrote and directed Northfork, as well as Twin Falls, Idaho. They were promoting their book, The Declaration of Independent Filmmaking, and discussed some of the most valuable lessons learned from producing three independent films. One of the most compelling lessons was:

DON’T WAIT AROUND FOR FUNDING. Everybody does. Everybody in this world, not just those of us out there making a film, mind you… EVERYBODY is waiting for the bling. But it should not be so, say the Polish Brothers. They believe young filmmakers need to shoot for a start date rather than a budget. Once that date comes, whether you’ve got five thousand dollars or five hundred thousand, you are shooting that damn movie. “And why not,” I thought. I was proud of the script, I was confident in my abilities as a director, I had no recurring chicken pox virus with which to contend. Seemed like a grand idea.

And for that reason, I decided that we were going to shoot Take Me Home in 2006! Nay, SUMMER of 2006!!! Call the rental houses! Get my mother a baker’s cap! We’re making what is sure to be one of the Greatest Road-Trip Movies of All-Time!!!

FLASH FORWARD: July 2006. Ain’t happenin’. This is not, afterall, going to be a summer road-trip movie, but a FALL road-trip movie. We were to start shooting on August 7th. That has been pushed. And why, among other reasons? We are WAITING. Or, more precisely, WAITING FOR OUR FUNDING.

I FELL FOR IT. The Polish Brothers told me not to, and yet here I am; the throb of shingles starting to work its way into my forehead. In December, I loved the idea of just making this movie on a certain date. So we set our date. And come hell or high water, we were going to start on that date. However, about three months ago we got involved with a great guy who has ties to a solid group of investors. And, because I’m such a good boy, such a smart boy, I started to dream about actually PAYING our crew. Y’know, keep them happy. At the very least, keep them from rioting. If it was going to be as easy as it seemed at the time, I thought “why not?” What could be the worst that could happen?

So we started planning to make our film with not one, but two budgets. The first budget with the prospective investment, the second with my own money. With an unpaid crew, with stolen locations, props, possibly even equipment. You can start to see how easy it was to attach ourselves to shooting with the first budget.

So…

-TWO MONTHS AGO we contacted a lawyer to draw up a contract between ourselves and the investors.
-A MONTH-AND-A-HALF AGO we were to have that money in our film’s account.
-THREE WEEKS AGO, we decided to postpone the movie in order to square that money away. -TWO WEEKS AGO we were told the money was to be transferred in the same day.
-LAST WEEK we stopped hearing from them.
-THIS WEEK I have shingles.
-Any bets on what bodily malfunctions occur NEXT WEEK?

There is still promise. I’m “mildly confident”, if such a term exists. Our tie to the investors happens to be (did I mention?) a GREAT GUY. And being a good boy myself, I’m inclined to believe the Great Guy when he says the money is coming in very, very soon. In the meantime, I offer you all this tidbit of advice:

DON’T WAIT FOR THE MONEY. Keep doing the work; work on the script, work on finding locations, work on assembling a good crew that knows what a fiasco they’re getting into. In hindsight, we tried preparing for two different films, but we only focused on the big one.

EPILOGUE:
My friend Jeff Passino wrote a great script. It took place in one room with two characters. After he had slaved over the last draft, I asked him what he was going to do with it. “Find financing,” he said. When I asked how much he was hoping to get, he said five hundred thousand. “What could you possibly need $500,000 for?” He told me he wanted to pay the actors and get a great cinematographer. But…500K? He better be resurrecting Conrad Hall for that much.

That said, I understand where Jeff’s coming from. My man spent a year writing and re-writing his baby. He wanted to get it done right. I certainly do. But…

IT’S NOT GOING TO BE PERFECT. Never. You’re making a film; it’s a very tenuous process. Just work the budget; get that sucker taught. Then shoot the damn movie. I agree with the Polish Brothers; don’t wait around for money. If you can get your story across for ten grand rather than 500 grand, do it.

Your body will thank you.

-Recommended Viewing: Primer. Shot for $7000 on Super 16mm. Marvel over how Shane Carruth and Co. crafted this metaphysical thriller for scraps. Featuring an excellent director commentary.

-Sam Jaeger