Interviwe with Doug Ranie

Doug Raine has been in the film industry for 30 years.  He has worked in a variety of production positions, mostly as an assistant director. His first film was STARMAN and his most recent film, THE LIFEGUARD premieres this week at Sundance in the dramatic competition. Some of the nicer films he has worked on were THE PROGRAM, GHOST AND THE DARKNESS, MEN OF HONOR, and REIGN OF FIRE. His first feature as writer/producer/director, FROM A PLACE OF DARKNESS has won a few awards including “Best Horror Film.”

Question 1: When dealing with people you don't get along with how to you separate the person form the problem?

He has knowledge of all the jobs in the film industry, even though he may not know all the facets of every job, he knows enough to get through problems that may arise. If he doesn’t get along with someone, he makes sure they have all the information to get their job done. If they have trouble getting their job done, he then strives to make sure problems don’t arise… even if that means more work for him. Raine say’s that “the main objective is to get the film done in the safest and most productive way.” 

Question 2: When dealing with Objective Criteria how does 3rd party standers help you in negotiations? 

Raine utilized experience from past films as the “3rd party standard” in dealing with Objective Criteria in negotiations. He usually relies on two or three examples to back up his side of the negotiation. However, he also tries to remain open to the big picture that the other person may be offering.

Question 3: How do you avoid dirty tactics and deal with them in negotiations?

He has found that being upfront and honest works the best to avoid dirty tactics. Again, he will back up his facts with examples from past films. Often, in talking with someone in a negotiation… if you listen to them you may be ale to determine their knowledge and their honesty. This information helps him decide if he wants to work with them. 

What can Product Managers Learn from Film Directors?

Lets discuses “Blade Runner,” Ridley Scott didn’t run the camera, or write the screenplay, he even didn’t act in it, but he did make sure that the “vision” of Harrison Ford’s character caught our “emotions and our intellects.”  Again, he was responsible for the vision and to make sure it all worked together.

Just like any project there is always somebody, lots of bodies, telling you what you should and shouldn’t do and this can work against you when it comes to making decisions.  So, when it comes to the keys to success it is better that one person takes the rains rather then a whole bunch of people.  Product managers share the same vision as film directors do with three key experts, “business director, experience director and technical director.”  When it comes to the limitations of the vision, the experts are allowed to be creative.

Just like in any other professional setting, workers know what their position is and they stay there, the same with the film industry, they do not hinder someone else skills.  The director has so much on his or her plate that they need to know the crew is doing their job, so the director can keep his attention on the “big picture.”

It’s not up to the camera crew to decide what shots need to be filmed or not.  The director is responsible for the budget but the camera crew would be consulted on the difficulty and the cost.  Think of the famous speech that Rutger Hauer wrote in “Blade Runner” this is a demonstration that it takes more then one person to make a film, but a “creative team.”  A creative team, which uses all professionals to the full degree of their creativity.

It is comforting to see that the word ‘vision’ is being used in the film industry again.  Think of the vision it takes for a software company to come up with a new product, like the AppleiPhone, it encourages feelings to think about what can be done.  It is easy to lose your vision, so you need to be carful.  Because this “vision” the director has is the “key to success.”  He or she is responsible for the image and should only be restricted by the budget.

"The Princess Bride’ Movie or a Mini-MBA?"

We have all done it.  Been in a conversation and quoted a movie.  There is an article by Jim Foxworthy call “’The Princess Bride’ Movie or a Mini-MBA?”  Foxworthy talks about how when we are in our everyday life someone ask you a question and we answer with a quote from a movie.  He tells of how he has applied eight of his favorite to the “product management and marketing world.

1.     “You rush a miracle man, you get rotten miracles.”  Think of it this way the product you are going to release is going to miss its date by six months.  You are beside yourself but you keep the quote in mind and as Foxworthy says, “it’s not throwing a light switch.”

2.     “We are men of action. Lies do not became us.”  When it comes to business or home, telling the truth does not always get you where you want it too.  Do you have the courage to say what you want?  You have to be able to look yourself in the eye when it comes down to it.  As Foxworthy says, “it’s difficult to strike that balance between telling the truth and rocking the boat.” 

3.     “I wonder if he is using the same wind we are?”  “Competitive threat” when it comes to business is part of the game.  Just like in any game there is always someone out there who wants to take it away from you.  So you have to pay attention to them.  As the movie says there is a wind out there and you have to get it in your sails as well.

4.     “You know how much I love watching you work. But I’ve got my country’s 500^th anniversary to plan, my wedding to arrange, my wife to murder and Guilder to frame for it. I’m swamped.”  We have all had those days where we can’t get all the work done.  “Product management and marketing” is one of those jobs where you don’t seem to get all your work done. 

5.     “Life is pain, Highness. Anyone who says differently is selling something.”  We have all heard the saying “life is not fair,” and if you think it is you are setting yourself up for disappointment.  The more time you spend on conditions that are ‘unfair’ the more time you waste, so move past them as quickly as you can. 

6.     It’s not my fault being the biggest and the strongest. I don’t even exercise.”  Unfortunately there will always be someone who knows more then you. Someone with better possession’s then you.  

7.     “Ha ha! You fool!  You fell victim to one of the classic blunders-the most famous of which is ‘never get involved in a land war in Asia’-but only slightly less well-know is this; ‘Never go against a Sicilian when death in on the line!” We all have rules and experiences to learn.  We learn as we go. There is always someone out there that is “bigger and stronger” then you and we all make mistakes but it keeps you humble.

8.      “Sunny, true love is the greatest thing in the world, except for a mice MLT-mutton, lettuce and tomato sandwich-where the mutton is nice and lean and the tomato is ripe.  They’re so perky!  I love that.”  When it comes down to it at the end of the day a lot of stuff does not matter.  When you have a release date and it is late, and everyone is yelling at each other a good product manager keeps thing in perspective, because life is worth so much more then just a release date it’s about a “simple delicious sandwich.”

“Goodnight. Good work. Sleep well. I’ll most likely kill you in the morning.”

What the movie industry does for the economy…

What the movie industry does for the economy…  More goes into making a movie then what most people may think.  There is more to making a movie then just a few big name actors and directors.   Have you ever watched the end of a movie, you know the part with the credits?  Look at all the people that it took to make that movie and all the people that got paid.  But still, there is more then just that, there is local business like carters, locations and printers, to name a few, that also makes money off the movie.  Making movies boosts the economy “drastically.”

A lot of states offer tax incentives.  Michigan is one of those states.  Former Governor Jennifer Granholm invoked a state tax incentive in 2008 in an effort to help the state economy grow after the fall out from the automobile industry.  In 2008 we had such films as Grand Torino, Up in the Air, Scream 4 plus a hundred other movies to the state.  But all good things must come to an end.  When we elected a new governor, Rick Synder, he decided that the state could not afford these tax incentives and put a cap on the incentives that films could get.  The incentives that Granholm put in place brought new studios and schools, not to mention jobs, to the state. 

Maxsar Digital Studios a 1.6 million studio that opened 14 months ago is threatening to close.  A lot of industry people moved back to their native Michigan when the tax incentives came about, but they are relocated back to Los Angeles.  This decision of Snyder has affected more then just the film industry.  It has affected businesses like hotels, catering business and vehicle rentals. 

These new tax incentives have affected me personally.  I attended one of the new schools that came to the Detroit area.  Oh, did I mention that the state paid for me, along with many others, to go to school to work in the film industry.  But the job outlook in the state in no the same as it was just a few years ago.  But I will not give up, because I have a great love of making films.

Movies And The Economy

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Movies And The Economy: Courting Adults In A Time Of Declining Film Attendance 

There is a dilemma facing American theaters today.  In 2002 at it’s peak of admission of 1.57 billion movie goers to 15% less in the last decade.  American theaters are in the “recessionary era of shrinking paychecks” and dull Hollywood fare.  Think of what theaters have to compete with today.  With technology making it easier to watch movies from the comfort of your home to cable companies getting movies to you sooner and sooner, theaters are having trouble competing. 

In 1948, 67% of Americans went to the movies at least once a week, today that number is less then 10%.  Movie going is one of the cheapest forms of entertainment, cheaper then lets say sporting events or concerts.   

“If movies are to stay in the black,” they need to persuade adults to come.  How do they do that you ask?  Well, food is an important factor to the profit making.  Most theaters make up the difference by rising popcorn and pop prices.  If you think about it theaters are more in the snack business then they are in the movie business.  

Video on demand is threatening the “livelihood” of theaters.  The possibility is that, film lovers that like to stay home no matter how attractive the movie is will spend a few dollars more and rent it on demand, if it is offered at the same time. 
The days of hundreds of people amercing themselves all at once in a theater is vanishing.  Something needs to draw people back to the movies.  It needs to be a “special experience.”  In 2011 there were a lot of remakes and sequels, there has been little “originality and inspiration” to bring people to the big screen.  Something needs to happen to bring people back to the theaters.  The question is, what?

Six Things the Film Industry Doesn’t Want you to Know!

Six Things the Film Industry Doesn’t Want you to Know!

First is tricky Hollywood accounting.  This may sound ridiculous, but it happens quit often.  “A studio makes a movie,” and then distributes the movie, but however the distributor is basically a separate company and both belong to the same parent company.  And they also set whatever fee they want.  This is the interesting part if they want to charge themselves eleven “quintillion” dollars for distributing the movie they can.  It doesn’t stop there, even if they, in the box office, earn billions of dollars, they are still in debt, to themselves, and have not turned a profit. 

Take for example David Prowse, who was the guy in the Darth Vader costume in the original Star Wars trilogy, get this he has “never been paid for Return of the Jedi because it hasn’t turned a profit” in 30 years.  Think of all the home movies and theatrical re-releases that movie has had and he never got paid.  That is just one example of how Hollywood accounting has screwed someone over.

Next is extorting theaters.  We’ve all been there at the movies and spent $7 on a box of popcorn.  The truth is movies theaters had to look for ways to “increase revenue,” upping the prices on things like candy and adding ads to the start of films.  You may ask yourself why is this when new releases are continually breaking records and make “obscene amounts of money?”  It’s simple, film studios don’t want theaters getting a break.  

Third, fake reviews.  You’ve probably never seen a trailer for a movie that is dumb.  Think of one critic’s review of “Live Free or Die Hard” got cut from “hysterically overproduced and surprisingly entertaining” to “hysterically…entertaining.” 

Then there’s, copyright bullshit.  The thing is big companies use copyrights as a way to keep people from what they right. 

And strangling consumer choice, you see Hollywood studios don’t like companies like Netflix, Redbox or Hulu because they don’t want you to watch you what you want when you want at a reasonable price.  The reason is because it cuts into their profits of DVD’s and pay-per-view rentals. 

Last, stealing scripts.  It’s “almost commonplace.”  There are many examples of writers pitching an idea to Hollywood producers including a big name for the movie.  And then a few months later a similar movies with, that you guessed it, the big name actor, comes out.

How are Hollywood Blockbusters Financed?

How are Hollywood blockbusters financed?  That is a question that any independent filmmaker want’s to know.  There are lots of ways that Hollywood movies makes money, like when viewers go to the movies, rent it, when accessible by DVD, or they buy the soundtrack.  You can also get money from television, domestic and foreign, pay-per-view or cable.  But please keep in mind that a percentage of these revenues are split up to different parties, like the actors.

Another way that money can be made is by merchandising and licensing contracts.  Studios usually get a portion of this money.  Paying for a movie is more then just making the movie.  There is a lot of money that goes into marketing a movie.  This is why you can’t just depend on ticket sales from the movie you need to rely on other investing avenues.    

When you think of movies being made you think of them being made in Hollywood, but when it comes to financing “the shoot spread across the world.”  Take from example Germany’s tax code.  Investors looking to manipulate finances invest in a movie to get tax reductions “right away.”  What they do is buy a movie and then lease it back to the studio.  So we all need to look to the Germans to finance a movie.  

You can always try to get independent backers on your film, like doctors or dentist.  But that is easier said then done.  Another great way to cover costs is through product placement.  Now don’t be to in your face when it comes to product placement and remember to blend it into your movies plot it can help with cost.  Just “keep in mind that backing movies is always something of a gamble.”  So when trying to find a backer make sure you have a solid pitch, have a business plan for the movie.