r/Filmmakers • u/charlesVONchopshop • 2d ago
Film Just released the trailer for my new project after 14 months of work! What do you think?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=spd1_38CYl0More info on the production in the comments!
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u/M_O_O_O_O_T 2d ago
Ah wow, you got Henrietta himself! That's awesome, looks fun!
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u/charlesVONchopshop 2d ago
Thanks! Ted was great. We've had a blast collaborating and also doing press for the show together!
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u/oh_no_the_claw 2d ago
It looks great. I'd watch this.
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u/charlesVONchopshop 2d ago
Thanks! Hope you can tune in. There are some really great discussions about filmmaking with some of the guests!
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u/quietlythenLoud 1d ago
Very impressed! Ted Raimi seems like a blast
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u/charlesVONchopshop 1d ago
He is very kind and also a total goofball. He was down to get weird, haha.
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u/dangit8310 1d ago
Ted Raimi is such a treasure. This looks absolutely delightful! Congrats on pulling it off independently, such a hard thing to do. Ca t wait to see the series!
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u/BrockAtWork director 2d ago
Congrats! Looks awesome! I hope it gets picked up for a season 2!
I'd love to come on!
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u/DementiumFilm 2d ago
Congratulations! This is a huge accomplishment, and the trailer is really fun!
I just released my first feature, DEMENTIUM, in August, and there are some remarkable similarities in our experiences. I also directed and edited the film myself, spent about 18 months in post, and relied heavily on people contributing their time and equipment to make the production possible.
Your comment about the sustainability of the production model really resonated with me. It’s something I’ve thought about a lot.
One thing we did differently was structure contributed labor and equipment as an investment in the film, with participants receiving a defined position in our revenue waterfall. It allowed us to make a film we couldn’t otherwise have afforded while giving collaborators a contractual opportunity to participate in its financial success.
Of course, whether that ultimately translates into meaningful compensation depends on how the film performs. We’re still early in our distribution cycle, so I don’t want to pretend we’ve solved that problem.
But I do think there’s an interesting conversation to be had about how independent filmmakers can make ambitious projects without asking the same talented people to repeatedly subsidize them.
I’m curious whether you explored any backend or equity participation for your crew, and whether you’d approach the financing structure differently on your next feature?
Either way, congratulations again. Getting a feature through production, 14 months of post, and into distribution is an enormous achievement!
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u/charlesVONchopshop 1d ago
Congrats on your movie! I'd love to see it. Giving the crew equity is definitely a better way to go and my other shorts and film projects have actually used an equity model. I had no choice on this project as it is funded and distributed by the streaming service Screambox. I didn't have a lot of negotiating power. I was mostly focused on getting final cut as well more budget to pay the people I needed. That said, we are working on getting the Illinois Tax Credit which will be distributed among the crew as a bonus. It's not a perfect solution but at least everyone will get a couple extra days-worth of pay in a few months.
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u/DementiumFilm 17h ago
That makes complete sense, and honestly, I think it’s great that you’re finding a way to share the tax credit with the crew. Especially when you’re working within a financing structure you don’t fully control.
I think that’s one of the interesting challenges with independent filmmaking: figuring out how to build a model that provides industry-leading cash compensation AND meaningful ownership participation, rather than treating those as mutually exclusive.
That’s ultimately the direction I’d love to see more of us move toward.
And I’d love for you to check out DEMENTIUM! It’s available on Amazon, Apple TV, and most major digital platforms. I’d be interested to hear what you think, especially given how similar our experiences in post-production were.
I’d love to check out your film when it’s available as well. Always good to connect with other filmmakers who are thinking seriously about how to make this work sustainably.
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u/FreewheelStudios 2d ago
Zero idea who that dude is but it looks like you did a killer job. Congrats.
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u/charlesVONchopshop 2d ago
Thanks so much! Not surprised that some people don't know Ted. If you aren't into schlocky horror then he is somewhat under the radar. His older brother is director, Sam Raimi. Ted has done bit parts in tons of Sam's movies over the years, like Evil Dead, Spiderman, Xena Warrior Princess, etc. etc...
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u/charlesVONchopshop 2d ago edited 2d ago
After years of making ultra low budget shorts, touring festivals, and networking with filmmaking peers, I finally received a (tiny) budget to actually produce and co-direct a project for a streaming service. I've spent the last 14 months working with Ted Raimi on his new show. This was a super scrappy production made for about $180,000 for Screambox by a ragtag crew of my closest film friends and collaborators. We really tried to punch way above our weight and pull off a more expensive look than what our budget and schedule allowed.
We are all low budget filmmakers working in the Chicago and central Illinois film scene. I called in just about every favor I could to pull it off. We borrowed grip gear, used our own cameras, and took extremely low rates just for the chance to make something cool with Ted. We shot everything over the course of 6 days in a haunted house during the off season, though we completely redesigned and rebuilt a number of the sets from top to bottom for the show. Because our budget was tight I also edited, post-suped, and even composed a lot of the music for the show. It was awesome working with puppets for the first time and I plan to do it again soon.
This production is one of the hardest things I've ever done, but now I finally get to share it with the world. Let me know what you all think of the trailer! I'd love some feedback!
I'll do another post after the show is out about the realities of making a show this big with this small of a budget. It's not necessarily easy or fair to anyone involved (except the streamer/distributor). I'm glad I did it, but I don't know if I'd ever do it again without a bigger budget. Either way, I just wanted to share the trailer for now and see what my fellow Reddit filmmakers think.