I was kicking around my ideas to produce my own script Vivre Sa Vie!: My Life to Live in Post-Consumerism since I found that we got 2 months free before the graduation in August. Although my script was in final four selected/voted for 35mm thesis productions at Full Sail Production, it declined to make the final cut, probably because of the logistic reasons that requires many locations and the nature of the script was satire/parody. However, the whole thing jump started when I found that Shaun is producing his own script, titled Vedas, with couple of other classmates. I was surprised of how much pre-pro work he has done and the budget! His budget is like blockbuster-esque enough to rent a generator that cost $400 per day. With a lot of special effects with green screens. Yup. It's gonna be grand. The reason I didn't vote for his script was that his idea for the script was abstract to convey to the classmates as we voted for the final four. It will be interesting to see how the film turns out for it is generating quite a buzz around the campus. In entertainment industry, buzz can make/kill you.

I quickly went around and assembled a crew from the guys I've been watching since Digital Cinematography class. I'm glad that I got most key people/positions down, including Renassiance-Man Ron who got nearly everything I can ask for an indie project like mine. However, the budget became a problem as my modest $1000 budget blew up to $1500 to cover the insurance. I thought of it as the license to shoot, but I still need to get permits around the cities and locations that we are going to need in order to shoot. It's gonna be tough enough that I wonder if I will ever get this film off the ground without crashing and burning. However, it's nice to know there are confident and talented crew members to help you out, and rediscovered the joy of collective creative process of making a film. Yeah auteur theory is soooo dead.

As I pull favors from people I know, it became apparent that I may need to put up more than $250 from my own pocket to support this production if I truly believed in this script, this crew, this production, and ultimately myself. It's a make-it-or-break-it test. I never dreamed of myself as a producer, but it is exactly what I'm doing now, before writer-director-editor thing. It's nice to get thrown into water, and trying to swim my ways out of it, because my inertia would've not put myself in this place voluntarily. Sometimes you need little a shove to push yourself forward.

Although someone from Hollywood said you should never make a movie out of your own money, I found myself doing exactly the opposite in order to make it, and see the damn film as I've envisioned when I wrote the script. Will it come out as I have seen it? Will it entertain people? Will it make an impression? Failure is not an option. Nope.

BTW, FYI, this film will be produced by First Step Production. I need to ask my bro to make me a logo out of this. If this production becomes successful, I have ANOTHER nifty idea that I can write-direct-produce for a low-budget indie film. Like the name of my new production, it will hinge on this brave new first step.