If you’ve ever entertained the fantasy of leading a large team of professionals in creating a short film or proof of concept that could blow people away, know that the reality is far different…and could be better than what’s in your head.
In my pre-production experience of our latest short, “Bubbles & Boots” for the 48 Hour Film Project in Cape Town, South Africa, I toiled away for months contacting many friends and colleagues in our belleagured little city of Cape Town, trying to coerce interest and intrigue into my vision of a utopian film experience where everyone had a say and their ideas shone brightly under the colonised African sun.
What I discovered was how important a producer was. As a director, I’m thinking 10 steps ahead of what the shots should be, and finding inspiration in old shows and new. But after nagging messages to potential partners who could understand and hustle the nuances of putting the resources together to prepare for the unpredictability of the 48 Hour Film Project, wearing a producer’s hat is both daunting and weary.
From visiting locations pleading for use of their space, to creating pitch decks and chatting about ideas in short message format, a producer has so much to do. So never think that they are just greedy corporates trying to find their 20% of your back-end just to lounge around and smoke cigars; they are crucial to the process.
Switching over to Spielberg-mode on the weekend, returning with a freshly unfolded “Musical or Western” genre to a small writing team, we toiled for hours trying to find the right way to communicate our vision. Gleefully, one writer sparked a topic that lit a fire among us; we couldn’t imagine how it would spear the whole production ahead, and from then on laid out the story in cohesive beats. By 11pm, we had a script, the first of many phenomenal feats that weekend.
9am on Saturday, and all were gathered in Basecamp to discuss blocking, cameras, costumes and an overflowing craft table. Spend your only budget on food for the crew, and even the actors will do some heavy lifting with aplomb.
The real pressure came when our lead actor needed to leave by 1pm to join his family, and some miscommunication moving the crew to the Location lost us some pressure time. It spurred us on not to waste what we had though, and shooting out of sequence was a burden in organisation, again something an experienced Producer could’ve handled.
Somehow, the cinematic gods smiled upon us, and we shot all his scenes with minutes to spare before his fingers tapped rapidly on his phone for an Uber to join his kids. Feelings of abandonment are not allowed on my set.
The rest of the day was filled with a relaxed air as we far more fun shaping and conceptualising the remaining scenes before wrapping for the day at 4pm, a time unheard of in this competition. The location was clean, and we were done at Basecamp by 6pm, somehow letting everyone have their crucial weekends back.
The road to the editing process was paved with minimal hiccups. We had a rough cut by 9am on Sunday, picture lock by 3pm and even had the cheek to play some Mario Kart on the Nintendo Switch while our Sound Engineer worked on the final mix offsite. And by 7:25pm, we handed in our USB to the organisers and toasted with a refreshing can of wine (don’t ask!).
Coming down from the high of such an intense experience comes the real force of reality; full-time jobs to fulfil, bills to pay and relationships to maintain. But the fun doesn’t stop, as I continue with marketing the film, trying to attract audiences to watch our masterpiece at the local cinema. Not a small feat, considering I still lacked a producer.
Two weeks later and the screening occurred at one of our local cinema chains, and hearing the laughter and reactions from the audience buoyed my spirits. Both screenings received full houses, and initial reactions were positive.
Some profanity and hilarity were certainly guaranteed.
And then, out of the blue, the awards ceremony gave us the biggest surprise of this whole situation. We expected to receive more nominations than our failed attempt last year.
Not only did we top our achievement with 8 nominations, but even received THREE of those awards! We managed to be the best at Best Use of Line and Dialogue, Best Ensemble Cast and Best Supporting Actor for our last minute entry, Duane Behrens. A stunning result!
So we’re happy, and I’m certainly happy.