October 7, 2009
FNB Innovators: Paul Cotter
This week FilmNewsBriefs had the pleasure of speaking with writer/director Paul Cotter, who made his feature film BOMBER on a micro-budget (aka, under $150,000). Funded by private investors, Paul discusses the reality of being an independent filmmaker in today’s climate.
FilmNewsBriefs: How did you decide you could move forward and make your film with this micro budget?
Paul Cotter: After making several successful shorts that had gone to festivals such as Sundance, Berlin and SXSW, I was called into a bunch of meetings with the usual industry suspects about making my first feature. But the meetings kept going in circles and I soon realized, no-one was going to help me make my first film. So, inspired by filmmakers I’d met on the US Festival circuit (the Duplass Brothers and Joe Swanberg have become good friends/allies), I decided to follow their example and make a micro-budget feature. It really came down to being a trick of the mind. I picked a day nine months ahead of where I was, marked it on the calender and said to myself, I’m going to start shooting my feature on that day. If I only have $5 in my pocket, then it is going to be a $5 feature. But it’s funny, once you start, it’s like a snowball rolling downhill – it picks stuff up and gets bigger.
FNB: What technologies did you use making the film?
PC: It was simple, really. A Sony EX1 camera, an iMac, Final Cut Pro and two 2TB Hard Drives. That was it. We had one light – a tiny battery powered light to use inside the van, otherwise it was the great key light in the sky.
FNB: Do you think working at this budget level added to the film?
PC: Without a doubt. It was a beautiful experience really. Of course it was tough – production is always hard work – but within that it was a pleasure. We shot chronologically; we were able to reshoot something the next day if we weren’t happy with it. In a normal production, if I were to say, “you know, I think I can do that scene better tomorrow,” it would be a huge palaver. A production manager would be freaking out about getting trucks back, or locations re-booked, or schedules re-organized. If I wanted to change something on Bomber we would sit around the lunch table (all 10 of us – three actors and seven crew) and the discussion would be over in less than a minute.
This was important. I wanted us to be able to fail, to try something and if it didn’t quite work out, have the flexibility to have another go, or change something else. We re-shot very little, but having that feeling that you didn’t have to be afraid was super important. As for efficiency, having seven crew means you can work incredibly fast. Communication was easy and setting up was quick, giving us more time to work. I used to be a focus puller on indie features in Chicago, and I always hated the fact that for every hour in the day you would set up for 50 minutes and shoot for 10. I like it to be the other way around. Set up for 10 minutes and shoot for 50.
FNB: Having made this film on your terms, what aspects would you be willing to give up to make a larger budget film?
PC: I think I’m pretty okay with the idea that you can’t necessarily expect to make your living from your art. The two don’t mutually co-exist. So if someone were paying me a lot of money to make a film, the first thing I’d have to do would be to listen to them. And I’m okay with that. I’d still apply my craft, and still push hard to put my best foot forward. But it’s like this: I’ve shot commercials, which taught me some great lessons. The main one being, it’s not “my” commercial. It’s the client’s commercial. They are hiring me just like you would hire a plumber to fix your pipes or an electrician to lay out your wiring. The plumber is going to do what you ask them to do, but – and this is important – you are still going to be able to differentiate between a great plumber and a complete “cowboy”.
I love what Soderbergh does. Whether you are a fan of “Bubble” or “The Girlfriend Experience” or not, I really admire the fact that here’s a guy who is shooting Matt Damon in a Hollywood Blockbuster one month and the next he’s running around with a camera experimenting and exploring his craft, expanding his artistic base. He’s probably not making money on these films, but he’s improving his knowledge and his craft. That’s great.
So what would I be wiling to give up? I guess, by necessity, it would be “the final say.” I would try very hard to control casting and final cut, but as in life, everything is negotiable. At the end of the day, I can always have the final say on my projects – I just might not be able to find someone to pay me to have that privilege.
FNB: How was your experience at film festivals with Bomber? Did you feel it connected you to distributors?
PC: So far, awesome. SXSW (our world premiere) was a blast. Munich was great. Raindance too. SXSW definitely connected us to distributors. The others not so much. As far as exposure for my next film, the fact that I’ve made a feature definitely gets people asking you, “what are you thinking of doing next?”
FNB: Have thought about self-distributing?
PC: Not yet, but I wouldn’t rule it out. Some interesting models are emerging and I think the way independent music structures itself could be a pre-cursor to what happens in film.
FNB: How have you found building your audience on Facebook?
PC: Facebook has been really handy for promoting BOMBER. I use it for updates all the time. I’d say 60% of our fanbase comes from girls (and some fellas) around the world who fancy Shane Taylor (who plays “Ross”): He was the medic in A Band of Brothers. The rest are people who have seen the film at Festivals and are keen to support it. It’s cool. The word spreads and now we have a dedicated and growing following.
FNB: What do you have on the horizon?
PC: I want to see if I can do a real genre film with this lo-fi, personal form of filmmaking. I loved American B-movies as a child. “Gun Crazy,” “Detour,” “The Killers.” Genre is a fascinating form for telling stories. Kind of like adult fairy tales. I wonder if I can do a film like that Bomber style. I have some bigger projects too, but who knows? Let’s see what happens.
Posted in: Bomber, Facebook, Innovator, paul cotter, raindance, sxsw