I will get back to the history of the scriptwriting, but I thought I’d quickly pop in and keep y’all up to date.
Full of possibilities!
Christopher, Courtney and I had a big ol’ meeting on Thursday to try to keep on top of all the tasks we have to do between now and launch. Things are busy now, but August is gonna be insane! Hopefully as we get into production and launching things will settle into a rhythm and we won’t be mental juggling 18 things at once.
There are really 3 big things that could still derail the whole project if we don’t figure them out.
One, is the costumes. This being about comic book heroes, the costumes are key elements to almost everything we need to do. Working with our Art Director, Stephanie Avery, we think we may have found the perfect wardrobe person to get our costumes done. (As a quick aside, Stephanie Avery, is a key collaborator who has been our Art Director on every live action shoot we have done.)
Two, office space. Between working with interns, each other, and an ongoing Transmedia writing team, having a dedicated working space for Tights and Fights: Ashes is a must. Just after our meeting on Thursday we found a place that, while it may be small, would meet our basic needs and come in under our utterly ridiculously small budget for office space. It seems like a miracle. We’ll know soon if we get it and you, dear reader, will be the first to know!
Three, sponsorship and advertising. Big stumbling block. We’re talking with a few very talent and exciting people, but we honestly aren’t sure about how close we are to nailing this down. This is a tough one because, push come to shove, we could squeak by if we do everything else ourselves. We could even continue to work out of our living rooms and probably deliver all we promised to the IPF. But we’re not just looking to “squeak by” or even deliver our minimum requirements for this one project. We’re looking to use Tights and Fights: Ashes to jumpstart a profitable, on going concern making narrative content in the digital space. And to do that, we need an ad guy (or girl) that knows that world and speaks that language. We can’t do it ourselves with any reasonable expectation of success. And if we want money coming in before Christmas, we need to start now. Like I said, we have some very exciting candidates, but I’ll feel a lot better when someone is actually picking up the phone on our behalf.
On the plus side, so far everything is coming together. We’re getting some enthusiastic responses from our early, informal requests for volunteers and interns. Our lawyer is looking over the contract with the IPF, once that is signed the money starts flowing. The scripts are done (more or less) and we’re going over them with a fine toothed comb. Production plans are being laid out. Web sites are being programed. Oh, and we’re forming a new company for the production.
And speaking of the new company, the need for one came out of a meeting with our lawyer, Martin Krys, who raised many interesting points but here’s one all producers (big and small) would do well to help in mind; just because a worker is working for you short term (i.e. your entire crew on a film shoot) doesn’t mean the government doesn’t consider them employees. Which means you are on the hook for taxes and benefits, something that very few producers actual pay, assuming the worker is being contracted and not employed. The questions that are asked to determine whether a worker is an employee or contract worker are these;
1) Does the worker have any input into how the task is completed, or are they required to follow your directions to complete it?
2) Does the worker provide their own “tools” required to complete the job, or are they provided by you?
If the worker has a large amount of latitude in how they complete the task and they provide their own tools required to complete it, they are a contract worker. Otherwise they are employees, even if only employed for a short term, and you gotta pay taxes and benefits.
Please remember that I’m not a lawyer and I only understand this stuff on the broadest possible level, if at all. My point is film crew members are often treated by productions as contract workers, when legally they are employees, leading to more than one producer being handed a massive tax bill after production has wrapped. Not fun.
Lots to learn, lots to do! Exciting times and no catastrophes yet!
