This will only be up for a short time…
Vegan Love from veganfilmmaker on Vimeo.
As you might have guessed, I have been hard at work on the development of my first feature film. It has been a full-on endeavor as I have elected to do the producing, writing, and directing. I will be hiring more help as I go along, but I feel it is necessary to have complete control of the project at this stage.
The majority of my time lately has been devoted to fundraising and writing (two things that don’t go very well together by the way). To my surprise, the fundraising has been coming along steadily. I should reach my first 25% of the budget by the end of December. For my other job, scriptwriting has been less successful. I would like to address a few of my issues in the hope that writing them down with offer me some perspective to fix the problems. As always, I am open to any recommendations or advise from those reading this article.
My main issues are as follows:
-Trying to make the story be directly about promoting veganism. The subject matter always comes off as being preachy if I am too direct about the issue. Or, if any of the tenets of veganism are included subtlety, they appear un-necessary.
-Trying to please too many people by making the story universal and not offend non-vegans.
-Trying to make an incredible/innovative story from the outset of the process. This only creates writers block for me.
These were all the same problems I had when coming up with the idea and script for Vegan Love (further explanation). I am adamant about not repeating the mistakes from that shoot, so I have decided to make some slight alterations in the way that I approach the story development of my feature film.
Here are a few of my ideas for a solution to the problem:
-From now on, I would like to take a more liberal approach to the script writing.
I will not restrict myself to including vegan themes or situations in the script. That doesn’t mean I will be changing the name of this blog anytime soon! I just need to concentrate on writing about what I feel is most interesting and compelling to myself regardless of context. If I am not enthralled by the idea, I doubt anyone else will be either…vegan or not.
-From now on, I will be taking a much more personal approach to the script writing.
Every writer draws on their own life’s experiences in developing a script. As a vegan for 8+ years now, I have my own set of experiences and perspectives that I am sure people will find much more engaging than something generic. I also feel that my perspective on life is firmly entrenched in a vegan philosophy…meaning the advocacy will naturally come out in anything I write. I don’t need to force it. A personal approach doesn’t just have to do with writing about my own experiences in life, it also has to do with personal expression. An essential and obvious ingredient to filmmaking that I have neglected to address most of my artistic life.
-Hold off on writing entirely until I reach my initial goal for the budget. I think that I will be more efficient in both fund-raising and script writing if I focus on each area separately. I will concentrate fully in fund-raising until the end of December then switch to focus on the script writing for 1-3 months and then switch back to fundraising until I have a completed script and budget in place to shoot the film.
This may all seem like more generalizations and common sense, but they are things that I easy forget if I am not constantly reminded of them. I will let you know how these new approaches pan out.
So, I’ve just returned from my trip Rio de Janeiro, Brazil for the 12th International Vegan Festival with no jetlag, sunburns, or hangovers. May sound like a pretty uneventful trip, but I had a great time! The purpose for attending the festival was to show my short film “Vegan Love” along with a little speech about my approach to vegan advocacy with filmmaking.
I did have great Portuguese subtitles for the film with the help of Beatriz Medina from the SVB (the Brazilian vegan association). However, as the concept and humor in my film are very English in nature, I was a bit concerned about how the film would be received with the language and culture gap.
To my surprise, most of the audience laughed in the right parts and many even came up to me afterwards to tell me how much they enjoyed the film. The icing on the vegan cake was when someone told me that watching the film had reinforced their vegan lifestyle by being able to associate with the
main character. In hindsight, I would say that the trip had also reinforced my passion and drive for vegan advocacy by seeing firsthand how large the movement is becoming around the world.
It was a very uplifting moment to see that my film was having a positive impact
with vegans on the otherside of the planet. I have taken that positive momentum with me and am now back in the US and back at work on developing my feature length film.
In all, I had a wonderful time in Brazil and was astonished by the warmth and openness of so many different people in Rio, vegan and non-vegan alike. I am already thinking of how and when I can return.
Other tidbits:
If you are ever in Rio and want to try some great raw vegan food, I highly recommend Universo Organico. The raw lasagna is amazing.
Also, there were two people that I was supposed to send a copy of the film to in Brazil. If you are reading this blog, can you please forward your address to me again and I will send along a copy. Your address was lost in my journey back to the US.
So, now that I have finished my graduate schooling at LFS, you might be wondering what is next for Ryan Vance, the vegan filmmaker extraordinaire. Well, I am not one to stroll into the unknown abyss of post graduation without a plan…
In fact, I do have a very specific plan that been in the works since before I began my higher education. It has been something I have wanted to achieve with every fiber of my being for many years, and now after finishing film school I am closer than ever.
As you might have already guessed, my next goal will be to climb Mt. Everest. Yes, that’s right. Well, not exactly. Not at all really 
It is actually to develop my first feature length film (which I believe will be no less challenging than climbing Everest).
In fact, I have already begun the process of writing and fundraising for this film. Like Vegan Love, I will be directing and producing the project. I will also be writing the script treatment (story outline), but I will be working a professional writer to pen the drafts. With my graduation short film, I found the writing process very educational but also very arduous. That along the many other jobs I undertook in the production of the film delayed finishing the film for much longer than expected. This time around, I hope to hire the appropriate experts to streamline the production of the feature film.
My time limit to have all of the funds together and begin pre-production full time is June 1, 2010. I am off to a great start already but there is still an incredible amount of work to do before June.
What will it be about?
I cannot say what the film will be about at this time, but I can assure you, the concept is extraordinary. As with my short film, the film will use humor and high entertainment value to raise exposure of the concept of veganism to the general public. That said my single most important priority is to make the story as interesting and compelling as possible. I am aiming for a wide theatrical release with all the bells and whistles of a proper PR campaign from an independent distributor.
And the Budget?
The budget for the film will be $250,000 and the film will be approximately 90 minutes in duration. I will be gathering financing on three different levels:
1.The largest proportion of the financing will consist of many small investments from the family, friends, and the interested public (i.e. vegans and raw foodies). $20-500 investments that will be see a return of double the original investment from the net profits of the film. I will be setting up more information about this investment opportunity and a Paypal link on this site shortly.
2. The second method of fundraising will involve sponsorship from various vegan and raw vegan companies. These types of sponsorships will range from free food during production to direct investments as tax write-offs from companies.
3. The final portion of the budget for the film will come from larger investments from selected investors. More on this option later…
The Road Ahead
It is never easy to raise money for a feature film by a first time director. As a matter of fact, it is pretty close to impossible for most that try. However, the odds aren’t really a concern of mine. I will keep trying with 100% of my energy everyday regardless. If I get there soon then great, if not I will keep working until it happens. I have to keeping working towards making these films because I feel that I have a moral obligation to spread the message of veganism to as many people as possible as soon as possible. The best way I know to do that, according to my knowledge and abilities means using cinema.
Fortunately, I also have the backing of many passionate people around the world that also want to support the cause. I am making films that are socially progressive with important and timely messages. I hope that I will be able to work together with other like-minded individuals to be as efficient as possible in spreading the message in the best possible way.
I am not trying to make a teen horror flick for a quick buck with my first feature. Money is not even a driving force for me to make the film. If it were about money, I would be in a different line of work entirely. In fact, the entire film production will effectively be a non-profit entity. All of the proceeds from the film, after repaying expenses and investors, will be put towards the development of a second film, and then a third and so on.
So, it’s one step at a time and back to work for me to make things happen. Please stay tuned for more details about the film and my progress.
