I started writing screenplays in the sixth grade. I’ve always wanted to be an actress, and with limited work opportunities in a small town, I had to get creative. Back then my friends and I would make our original stories come to life with a borrowed video camera and some pirated music. Not much has changed today. It’s a very liberating thing, being able to create your own work. I love telling stories that mean something to me. The things I write about usually have some of my experiences or my ‘might have beens’ in them. I’m currently writing a web series with a friend about a girl that decides to stay in the small town where she grew up and run the family farm. In an alternate universe I could have done the same, so I get to explore what that life would have been like through this character.
I get to collaborate with a great group of artists/friends on all of my projects. Our first indie web series was created as a way to survive through side jobs and lackluster auditions. We saw that working together was a new type of success out here. It became a survival technique for us. Being able to create your own future with a glass of wine in a writer’s meeting was something that we all needed.
As far as actually creating the work, I do as much research as I can before jumping in. I love the library. I try and read as many screenwriting books as possible throughout the year. I find movies and books that are in the same genre as my story. I read every blog having to do with making your own films. Although, at times it will feel as though you’re always planning instead of doing. You have to think of it as if you’re running your own small business. You’ve got to build it up and get creative in the way you make it grow.
Like most other small businesses, money is our biggest obstacle. We save throughout the year for the next project. We did our first indiegogo campaign on our last film. It was an amazing tool for us, though something we can only utilize every few years so as not to annoy friends and family. This allowed us to pay the holy grail of $100/per person, per day. Not much, but it’s the difference of having a boom operator or your boyfriend holding the boom. Location scouting plays an important role in the creating and logistical side of the story. For our next series we’re trying to figure out how to shoot for two weeks in Nebraska. I’ll let you know how that goes. Free is nice, so try and build and maintain relationships with as many people as possible. You never know who will have an aunt up north with a farm who loves movies.
When the days finally come to film, they are going to be stressful, but try and enjoy them. Step away from your role as a producer/writer and focus on your performance. My wonderful group even gave me an actor call time instead of a crew call time on our last shoot. It helps to have a great team behind you that can completely take over when you’re onscreen that day.
Being an actor requires a certain amount of courage in the unknown. There are days when I think about the future and find no real answers for myself. It’s easy to get discouraged and feel as though you’re climbing an uphill battle with no guarantee of a life at the end. So it has honestly been a saving grace being able to make my own work. Something that I know will be there for years to come. If I only made one movie a year with my friends, that would be a good life.