BTS: New Projects, Big Ambitions, & a Sustainable Model for a NonDē Production Company
Time to get serious.
<record scratch>
And now for something completely different!
There’s a lot to catch you up on, Dear Reader.
And a lot of financial BTS I want to share (in a thoughtful, considered, behind-the-paywall-sorta-way). We’ll soon get back to your regularly scheduled programming of philosophical pontifications, practical applications, and the self-deprecating humor that makes the world go round.
But for now, there’s stuff you should know because it has to do with YOU. The TL;DR:
FilmStack Daily Digest
Messier Objects
The NonDē Film Movement
She's Making a Feature Film
The Future of Queens Bird Films
A Sustainable Model for a NonDē Production Company
1. FILMSTACK DAILY DIGEST
If you want to know more about FilmStack, but feel overwhelmed by the prospect of digital digging…
I edit and curate a community project called FilmStack Daily Digest alongside Ted Hope, Sara's Soliloquies, Amanda Sweikow, Avi Setton, and Alex Rollins Berg. In it, we round up the latest essays from FilmStack. Consider it your Sheetz or WaWa or Cumbie Farms of the ‘Stack. We’ve got it all from beef jerky (budgeting) to iced coffee spit out of a machine by way of large button (marketing). Except, FilmStack Daily Digest (FSDD) is far more nutritious, fulfilling, and good for your skin.
Subscribe to this and be happy:
2. MESSIER OBJECTS
If you want to scratch your spirituality itch and make death fun again…
Alright, I don’t know if death was ever fun, but this is perhaps my attempt to rage against the dying of the light by making it so.
I’m writing from my guts about all the unknowables — life/death, ghosts, NDEs, signs, ghosts, aliens — because other than the non-dependent (NonDē) film movement and the relentless making of snacks for the small ones, The Meaning of Life is mostly what I’m consumed with these days. (It’s what my feature is about.)
If you like that, you’ll love this:
3. THE NON-DEPENDENT FILM MOVEMENT
If you want a simple explanation about this NonDē thing and how to pronounce and explain it…
Non-dependent film shortens to NonDē (pronounced like “indie”). And if you’re thinking, what’s the difference between independent film and non-dependent film, you’re on the first step to fully getting it. Independent film has become, according to Ted Hope, a “farm system for the studios”.
Bloated budgets, bad distribution deals, and completely unsustainable career paths for anyone who don’t have F@@@ It Money have made it impossible for an independent filmmaker (one who works outside the studio system, but still relies on distribution deals to get their work seen) to make a living, much less make a film.
The NonDē filmmaker takes the responsibility and control back into their hands to run both the artistic execution and business execution of the film — from script to release. But they don’t go it alone. They share institutional knowledge, they value collaboration > competition with other filmmakers, they work collectively with other NonDē filmmakers to get this done.
Oh you wanted a series of video explainers where I’m holding an incredibly large mic? Gotchu.
And it’s why we’ve organized the NonDē 50 Films Project:
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You can read more about it here:
4. SHE’S MAKING A FEATURE FILM
If you’ve ever felt lonely, sad, or hopeful, I’m making something specifically for you…
I’m making my first feature! What a thrill, what a delight, what a 3am panic attack to review every life choice that led to this moment! Anyway, here we go.
The film is about an alien who makes a documentary about human beings. It’s a love letter to many people:
those who’ve lost one of their Greats and are deep in grief
seekers who’ve probably accumulated 15 decks of tarot cards and 17 meditation apps on their spiritual journey ~so far~
nurses, hospice workers, and anyone in the care professions
working class Americans
rogue NonDē filmmakers and film lovers
the good people of Providence, and New England at large
lonely folks
sad folks
hopeful folks
I don’t think this film is for everyone, but it’s 1000% for sure for the people I just listed.
In fact, if you feel at all like you’re in any of the above groups listed, I want to talk to you and find out about you. I want to make this movie as much for you as I can.
If one of those buckets caught your eye and you’re up for a 20 minute phone chat, I would be so honored to ask you a few questions. DM me?!
5. THE FUTURE OF QUEENS BIRD FILMS
If you’re curious about what the long term game plan is for a NonDē filmmaker in this economic, political, extremely-online climate…
Shall we discuss the future? I have three scripts in total I want to make. They each raise political critiques in increasingly heavier-handed fashion.
Each one articulates a fight (in varying degrees of directness) between the powerful and the powerless.
The first one you know about: alien making doc about humans.
The second one is set at a 2010s MLM conference. (When they ask me on the grant, “why you?” I can’t wait to write… because I wasn’t just an attendee of that MLM conference. I wasn’t just a participant in that MLM conference. I performed, and this is true, a KICKLINE at that MLM conference. You can’t make this stuff up.)
The third one is set at a near-future dystopian awards ceremony that sounds eerily similar to Richard Rushfield’s recent critique of the Golden Globes.
So in the next few years, we’re going to make these films with partners and collaborators who are as fed up as I am about the demise of democracy in this country. But we’re going to wrap up our cultural critiques in a bunch of sick laughs and Sorkin-adjacent monologuing and absolutely FABULOUS clothes.
The critiques! They’ll never see ‘em coming!
How’s that for fun?
And not only will these films be made, but they’ll be made non-dependently. That means we will
keep our rights
expand the life cycle of each of the films
go directly to our audiences
create relationships within the community
and by god, light the ancient flame of the proverbial campfire so we can reconnect to what it means to be HUMAN again.
Is that so much to ask? I humbly suggest: no.
And now the curtain will peel back and you’ll get to dig through my financial plans…
I have this constant desire to put out everything I write for free, which battles with this other constant need to allocate my time wisely and make sure I’m able to support my family in both my time/energy and my financial contributions.
If you’re able to support the work at this time, I would be honored to have you as a paid sub.
Some of my most personal ideas/plans/documents are paywalled.
I usually hold the BTS part of my projects pretty close while I’m in it, not even sharing in a paywall-capacity. But I’m experimenting to see what happens, and hopefully you (my dear paid sub) feel that you are very special for getting to look at this.
(That was copywriting bait, don’t listen to that, you are special regardless.)
Enough dilly-dallying! Paid subs, below you’re going to get a look at the notes from my current conversations around the financial foundation of my film and production company.