My interview with James Hunter was very insightful. He recently produced a short film called “Juxed” with a budget of about 50,000 dollars. This film featured the big name actors Sean Nelson and Duane Finley. They appeared together in the movie The Wood. He also used music from Babs from Making the Band 2. I learned a lot from my interview with him. One of the most important aspects of getting a film accomplished is networking. He conveyed that having important connections is crucial in this business. He actually was able to get the actors Sean Nelson and Duane Finley to participate in this film because Sean Nelson was a friend of a friend.
Sean Nelson proposed that he should become a coproducer of this movie with him. James asked him, “Well what do you have to bring to the table?” Because of all the industry connections and funding sources that Sean Nelson had, James agreed. I asked him how a film like this typically gets funded. He said the way to do it is to contact investors. The people who will typically invest are those who know you and will do it as a favor. He also discussed the importance of having a thorough prospectus.
In order for James to get the publicity he needs for this story to be turned into a feature film, he plans on entering it into the American Black Film Festival and the Peachtree Village International Film Festival. Entering into these contests allows people in the industry to see the film, including Samuel Jackson. If the person wins, they may get the funding to turn their project into a feature film.
There are two main challenges that James described to me in any type of project likes this. The challenges are scheduling and budgeting. He said that it is very difficult to have all the crew and cast that’s needed to be there at the same time. Just this issue alone causes production to cost more money. He said that all movies go over budget. Advertising for a feature film is usually 1.5 million at least.
James has a lot of ambition and more importantly he has confidence. He said he wasn’t intimidated to be working with and directing big name actors. He also understood, however, that now that he’s in this position that he has to do everything in his power to take full advantage of the opportunity. For him to come right out of college and begin to take steps this big was very inspiring to me. I feel like I can do the same thing because I have the same resources available.
