Hi everyone! This is Eugene John Bellida up in Connecticut. I spent my 20's and some of my 30's ADing and Line Producing indie projects in and around NY, shooting short films and teaching a film production class. Since then, I've been focusing on my "day job" in Data Science, though I have recently written and am now pretty deep into pre-prod on my first feature (self-financed), scheduled to shoot up here in early October!
Big thanks to Jeff for his insights and now for creating a place for us to all meet and collaborate!
Hello Everyone, Glad to be part of such a cool indie film community. I started out as an Actor in LA, moved to Vegas many years ago and have since transitioned to filmmaking. Myself have the production company have produced two feature films and are currently shopping a tv pilot. Met with Jeff after seeing his interviews on youtube and he helped us look at ideas for getting our TV pilot out there!
Natalie Rix here. I’m an actress, director, and screenwriter here in Texas. My husband and I met with Jeff after researching the hows of getting a film made. I don’t remember how I came across his website - I think I may have seen an interview with him on the YouTube channel Film Courage. I went to his website and made an appointment. After the initial getting-to- know-you introductions he asked me some questions to determine what my goals were. He gave me valuable information and reality checks as what was doable and what was not and guided my thinking in a productive and helpful way. He gave me things to do at that moment of production.
I tell my kids the number one character trait they should strive to develop and I try to live by is honesty. It’s huge. If you can be trusted, you’re golden. I trust Jeff %100. He is one of the most straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is people I have ever met, which I truly appreciate. He gave me practical advice on the best possible way for my movie to succeed. . Thanks Jeff for, number one, being someone I can trust, and two, plowing the way and helping those behind you succeed.
I am Zohaib Pervaiz, professional filmmaker and a writer from Dubai UAE. I belong from Pakistan originally.
It was very interesting and eye opening session with you and a lot of questions that were bothering me for a long time got answered. I wish I could have booked a longer session with you since I felt it helped me avoid wasting my time on a number of things which I had
Very little knowledge about. furthermore, this platform will definitely aid our careers by sharing experience and ideas. I look forward meeting new people and working on new exciting projects.
The highlight of my like has been a documentary securing 2.3 million views on YouTube and 8 thousand comments. This documentary has bagged 8 international awards so far.
for those who are interested I will leave a link.
Karakoram Highway Where Men and Mountains Meet (47 mins).
Hi, Jeff and everyone! I'm Michael Martin-Dillon, I am an amateur film maker from Toronto Ontario currently in pre-production on my first short film. I am producing and writing, I will also be a background actor in my piece. Jeff helped me with the "where to begin" phase and was generous, humble and kind towards me even though I am a genuine amateur with no background in film. I have a lot of ideas that dance around in my head and I absolutely must make them into movies before I die. I have written one feature, and I'm writing two more currently. I also write a lot of short stories and comics and jokes constantly, sort of compulsively. I spent about 14 years doing standup in Toronto, which has been both fun and horrible depending on the evening. I have 7 years theatre experience, but all as a kid, doing community theatre stuff and one professional play. I think certain lessons were imprinted on my brain during that time though and left me with a beautiful addiction to theatre and art and so on. I have a masters in history from a very small northern Ontario university and a day job nobody wants to hear about. All in, I'm happy to be here and interested in learning more. Cheers everyone
Hi, Jeff. I'm Bob Pondillo, a screenwriter/director out of Madison, WI. I've written, produced, and directed six short award-winning films (via the festival route), but have seen very little interest in my work from the bigger players. I've authored eight full-length feature screenplays, and I'm working on scripts nine and 10. I had a great chat with you last year, and sense you're a straight-shooter, and a no non-sense guy. I look forward to your upcoming seminar on June 28. Thanks!
Jeff, glad to see this forum. I'm Jason Furrate of Media Furrate, a production company in Louisiana that creates TV commercials and corporate videos. I wrote, produced and directed a feature film in 2010 (LA308 Assassin Redemption) that was put on Amazon and Apple in 2017. The best and most direct advice I have received to date has come from Jeff. I was entering the funding stage of a film set in Ireland ( a personal story for me) and he convinced me that the cost would be hard to recover. Jeff hit me with a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious)... you own your own gear, have great tax incentives - create a story that can only be in Louisiana. I'm moving forward with a project. I look forward to learning about other filmmakers and their journey.
Someone from Louisiana! Even though I'm a Canadian, I have recently come to love Louisiana's history and political culture. Huey Long "the kingfish" has a lot of alternative history sci-fi about him. And the Christmas myths from Louisiana are a lot of fun. I hope to someday tour the state.
Thanks for creating this forum Jeff and for your insights about film and distribution. I'm Mark H Stewart, Founder of Stewbean Productions and Producer/Partner with United Front Films. Films that are in distribution with my involvement include Mock & Roll, Christmas Collision, and Cadia: The World Within. We also have a couple of films in post-production and another for which we just signed a distribution deal. Looking forward to meeting other filmmakers in this community.
Hey all, this is Sripal Sama. My debut film 'How is that for a Monday?' is in the final stages of post production.
Follow me at sripalsama on twitter. Usually, I follow back all filmmakers who follow me.
Also, here is the movie's IMDb: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt16751646/
Hi guys, I'm Dave Aquino. Glad to join this community! I'm a freelance Illustrator. I do concept art and key art:
https://www.facebook.com/dave.aquino.7967/
https://daveartstore.wixsite.com/my-site
Hi everyone! This is Eugene John Bellida up in Connecticut. I spent my 20's and some of my 30's ADing and Line Producing indie projects in and around NY, shooting short films and teaching a film production class. Since then, I've been focusing on my "day job" in Data Science, though I have recently written and am now pretty deep into pre-prod on my first feature (self-financed), scheduled to shoot up here in early October!
Big thanks to Jeff for his insights and now for creating a place for us to all meet and collaborate!
Eugene
www.mimagepictures.com
Hello Everyone, Glad to be part of such a cool indie film community. I started out as an Actor in LA, moved to Vegas many years ago and have since transitioned to filmmaking. Myself have the production company have produced two feature films and are currently shopping a tv pilot. Met with Jeff after seeing his interviews on youtube and he helped us look at ideas for getting our TV pilot out there!
Hi Jeff and Everyone!
Natalie Rix here. I’m an actress, director, and screenwriter here in Texas. My husband and I met with Jeff after researching the hows of getting a film made. I don’t remember how I came across his website - I think I may have seen an interview with him on the YouTube channel Film Courage. I went to his website and made an appointment. After the initial getting-to- know-you introductions he asked me some questions to determine what my goals were. He gave me valuable information and reality checks as what was doable and what was not and guided my thinking in a productive and helpful way. He gave me things to do at that moment of production.
I tell my kids the number one character trait they should strive to develop and I try to live by is honesty. It’s huge. If you can be trusted, you’re golden. I trust Jeff %100. He is one of the most straightforward, tell-it-like-it-is people I have ever met, which I truly appreciate. He gave me practical advice on the best possible way for my movie to succeed. . Thanks Jeff for, number one, being someone I can trust, and two, plowing the way and helping those behind you succeed.
Natalie Rix
www.natalierix.org
Hi Jeff,
I am Zohaib Pervaiz, professional filmmaker and a writer from Dubai UAE. I belong from Pakistan originally.
It was very interesting and eye opening session with you and a lot of questions that were bothering me for a long time got answered. I wish I could have booked a longer session with you since I felt it helped me avoid wasting my time on a number of things which I had
Very little knowledge about. furthermore, this platform will definitely aid our careers by sharing experience and ideas. I look forward meeting new people and working on new exciting projects.
The highlight of my like has been a documentary securing 2.3 million views on YouTube and 8 thousand comments. This documentary has bagged 8 international awards so far.
for those who are interested I will leave a link.
Karakoram Highway Where Men and Mountains Meet (47 mins).
Hi, Jeff and everyone! I'm Michael Martin-Dillon, I am an amateur film maker from Toronto Ontario currently in pre-production on my first short film. I am producing and writing, I will also be a background actor in my piece. Jeff helped me with the "where to begin" phase and was generous, humble and kind towards me even though I am a genuine amateur with no background in film. I have a lot of ideas that dance around in my head and I absolutely must make them into movies before I die. I have written one feature, and I'm writing two more currently. I also write a lot of short stories and comics and jokes constantly, sort of compulsively. I spent about 14 years doing standup in Toronto, which has been both fun and horrible depending on the evening. I have 7 years theatre experience, but all as a kid, doing community theatre stuff and one professional play. I think certain lessons were imprinted on my brain during that time though and left me with a beautiful addiction to theatre and art and so on. I have a masters in history from a very small northern Ontario university and a day job nobody wants to hear about. All in, I'm happy to be here and interested in learning more. Cheers everyone
Hi, Jeff. I'm Bob Pondillo, a screenwriter/director out of Madison, WI. I've written, produced, and directed six short award-winning films (via the festival route), but have seen very little interest in my work from the bigger players. I've authored eight full-length feature screenplays, and I'm working on scripts nine and 10. I had a great chat with you last year, and sense you're a straight-shooter, and a no non-sense guy. I look forward to your upcoming seminar on June 28. Thanks!
Jeff, glad to see this forum. I'm Jason Furrate of Media Furrate, a production company in Louisiana that creates TV commercials and corporate videos. I wrote, produced and directed a feature film in 2010 (LA308 Assassin Redemption) that was put on Amazon and Apple in 2017. The best and most direct advice I have received to date has come from Jeff. I was entering the funding stage of a film set in Ireland ( a personal story for me) and he convinced me that the cost would be hard to recover. Jeff hit me with a BFO (Blinding Flash of the Obvious)... you own your own gear, have great tax incentives - create a story that can only be in Louisiana. I'm moving forward with a project. I look forward to learning about other filmmakers and their journey.
Thanks for creating this forum Jeff and for your insights about film and distribution. I'm Mark H Stewart, Founder of Stewbean Productions and Producer/Partner with United Front Films. Films that are in distribution with my involvement include Mock & Roll, Christmas Collision, and Cadia: The World Within. We also have a couple of films in post-production and another for which we just signed a distribution deal. Looking forward to meeting other filmmakers in this community.