Independent Filmmaking from the Beginning: Part 1

The Reading of the Script

As the screenwriter and director of the independent feature City Garden I'm in a unique position to give away all the details of making a feature length film. My previous experience behind the scenes of independent filmmaking includes producing the Beijos Production Chosen as well as the Southlan-Films production Bad Land. I've also been the production manager on several Southlan-Films Productions including Hell's End, Creatures of the Night, Bad Land, and most recently Shudder, but for the purpose of this series of articles I will stick to the CenterSeat Entertainment production City Garden, which is being produced by Safaa Sammander and myself under my Broken Lighthouse Pictures banner.

City Garden is unlike my previous films in that it is made up of ten (10) vignettes all linked through one theme (of which you'll have to watch it to find out) and it is the first non-genre film I've been involved with in some time. All the previously mentioned films are in the horror genre as it is the one genre that most independent filmmakers gravitate towards since there is little need of a star. All you need is a new concept or the re-evaluation of an old one and you're more likely to sale your film than say in the romantic comedy or dramatic genres, but nevertheless any genre of film can be marketable if it finds the right audience.

Instead, I've decided to craft the one type of film an independent filmmaker should never do which is an anthology. Major studios have trouble marketing anthologies to audiences so what makes me think that mine will be any different? Nothing, I suppose, but I did want something that would allow me to work with a lot of different actors in different locations and not be tied down to scheduling difficulties due to a large cast. City Garden is made up of ten vignettes in which the cast is only two to three actors per vignette in a unique situation that allows each actor to showoff their unique talents and abilities.