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Fade In and : A word from Chris Moore
Greetings Potential Filmmakers!
We are thrilled that you have decided to experience the filmmaking process with us from the inside. My name is Chris Moore, and I have had the great opportunity to be a movie producer for the past 5 years. I have also had the pleasure of working with Matt Damon and Ben Affleck for the past five years. When we made "GOOD WILL HUNTING", we were a lot like you might be right now. We had little experience and only a few industry relationships, but we had what we thought was a great script with two talented actors attached to it. After Castle Rock and Miramax picked us out of the large pool of aspiring filmmakers, it turned out we were right. We fully believed in our project, and this level of belief is what we are asking from you.
It is so hard to get into Hollywood, and it is so hard to get a movie made even if you are in Hollywood, that Matt, Ben and I along with Miramax and HBO decided to build a way for you-the struggling screenwriters and filmmakers-to help us pick an underdog with us every year. We will all make that movie together and help keep new voices coming to Hollywood. That is the purpose of greenlight.
We were lucky enough to convince Harvey Weinstein and Miramax that this would be a good idea, and then together we convinced Chris Albrecht at HBO that the behind-the-scenes story of how this all happens would make a good TV show. I want to tell all of you that this project would never be happening if it wasn't for HBO and Miramax supporting us in this idea. It also will not be possible if you, the aspiring filmmakers, do not remain tuned in, and interested and supportive of your fellow filmmakers. I mean, do we just want to watch studio movies for the rest of our lives? Don't get me wrong, I like big movies, but I also like new and different points of view, characters that I might never know about, and places I might never see in movies. I love movies and I want to see all kinds of them keep coming along.
So Matt, Ben and I wish you all luck and inspiration. We want you all to do your best work so we have some great movies to choose from. The rules for greenlight are on the site-please follow them. We hope to run many more greenlights in the years to come, but it only works if we all do our best.
-Chris Moore
Fade Out: greenlight Hints
Hey, it's Chris Moore again. I am writing an unofficial few suggestions for all of you to think about. The first is: Send us a screenplay that people will want to go to see in the movie theater. Our goal is to find a movie that we think someone might actually buy a ticket to-so, if there are only 5 people in the world that might see your movie and your family has 10 members, then maybe you should send us a different script. After all, whether you want to admit it or not, films are a business. They are art, and artistry is what makes them stand apart. But all of us need people to get off their asses and go see the films we make. So we are looking for a movie people will go see. Now, this does not mean "THE TERMINATOR" is the best or only kind of movie. Remember, Matt, Ben and I are successful because of a movie about two guys talking in a room full of books. But it is important to think about who you think your audience is going to be.
Our second hint is: Be practical about the size and budget of your movie. When we say we are only going to make the movie for one million dollars, we are serious. So you must take that into consideration. If you write "TOTAL RECALL" and it is awesome, we're real happy for you, but we cannot make that movie. Some things to think about are: How many locations and characters are in your movie? How much of it shows things beyond what we find in everyday life, like things in the future or the past? How difficult will the action or special effects be? This movie will be like building a house--you could have the greatest architect in the world, but if you can't afford the wood, or paint, or tile, you do not have a great house. I want you to know that enough people will be paying attention to the greenlight Contest that we think it will be worth it for you to hold off on a really complicated production for your second movie. Don't worry, we will be providing the Contest winner with a bunch of ways to learn more about movie budgeting, so you don't need to do the full nitty-gritty of budgeting your film right now. I am just saying to look at the big picture. Any movie can have a large range of budget possibilities. For instance, when we were doing "AMERICAN PIE", it could have been made for 1 or 20 million dollars, and "GOOD WILL HUNTING" was originally going to be 2 million. So just be conscious and know that fitting your movie into the $1 million budget provided in the Official Rules will be one of the criteria we'll be considering in selecting the Contest winner.
Thanks again for participating.
-Chris Moore
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