Thursday, June 5, 2008

Nashville Trip - June 4

Rob, Phil, Dirk, Joe, and Jim (not seen) go over the 'Endure' budget.

The boys final full day in Nashville was spent in production meetings and interviewing some people for key department head and crew positions. The trip was closed with another great evening of food and fellowship at Paul's home. Over these past few days of meetings, everyone seems really excited about where we are in the process and how things are coming together. More photos are available for viewing at our flickr account.

Nashville Trip - June 3

Joe, Cat, and Rob and the gang scouting some locations in the woods.

Tuesday was spent touring various possible shooting locations in the Nashville area. The group started the day out at the Natchez Trail area, which could end up being the location for the majority of they woods scenes. We also spent the some time during the day looking at some houses for possible locations in Franklin and Nashville. To view more photos visit our flickr account.

Nashville Trip - June 2

Fred, Phil, and Joe at one of Paragon Studios ADR sound rooms.

Joe, Jim and Rob arrived in Nashville at around 8:00 a.m. on Monday, June 2, to begin our soft pre-production visit. Shortly after landing they hooked up with Dirk and headed to the offices of Hi-Def. After a short meeting at Hi-Def offices and the opportunity to finally meet Paul, the gang headed to Paragon Studios. Paragon will most likely be the location for all post-production operations. It is an amazing facility with all of the technical components to handle most of the films post needs. At around 11:00 a.m. everyone headed to Advantage Talent Agency which could handle some of our extras needs for the film. After a quick lunch the rest of the day was spent looking at some possibilities for production office space. That evening was spent around the dinner table with some great food and fellowship. To view more photos, go to our flickr account.

Wednesday, May 21, 2008

NFocus Pictures Signs Contract With Hi-Def Entertainment

Article taken from The Ledger, Written by Gary White.
Published: Wednesday, May 21, 2008



PIERRE DUCHARME | THE LEDGER
From left, Jim Carleton, Joe O'Brien and Rob Tritton with NFocus discuss "Endure", a movie they are in preproduction process for.


To an outsider, it might seem a disappointment that three Lakeland filmmakers must go elsewhere to make their first full-length movie. Anyone inside the movie business, though, would understand why the three are thrilled at the prospect of actually making their movie, no matter the location.

The trio from Lakeland-based NFocus Pictures signed a contract last week with another production company, keeping alive their hopes that the detective thriller "Endure" will become a reality this year. The joint venture with Hi-Def Entertainment, an established production outfit based in Tennessee, means the film will be shot in the Nashville area rather than in Polk County as originally planned. Such are the trade-offs of the film business.

"We're excited about it," Rob Tritton of NFocus said of the deal. "The Tennessee part of it is just one of those things you accept to make the project better. We would have loved to shoot it in our back yard, but that will be our next film."

The newly signed deal requires NFocus to contribute $750,000 of the planned $3.1 million budget. As of Tuesday, Tritton, the company's financial chief, said NFocus remained $80,000 short of its total, having secured $670,000 from local investors.

The Ledger has been following the "Endure" project with occasional updates on the filmmakers' progress, a Weblog from the filmmakers and online video reports. Previous stories focused on the creation of the story and the quest for financial backing.

"Endure," written by Joe O'Brien, was originally scheduled for shooting next month in Polk County with a budget of $1.2 million. But as the deadline neared and NFocus, the company headed by O'Brien and fellow producers Tritton and Jim Carleton, remained well short of its financing goal, and the trio sent out feelers to possible production partners.

Tritton said Hi-Def expressed interest, and representatives from the two companies began talking by phone. After about three months of negotiations, they met in Lakeland earlier this month and exchanged contracts by mail last week. Phillip Glasser, CEO of Hi-Def, was out of the country and could not be reached this week but had earlier confirmed the two companies were close to reaching a deal.

Hi-Def's production credits include "Kickin' It Old Skool," a comedy starring Jamie Kennedy released in 2007. Tritton said Hi-Def is aligned with a major Hollywood distribution company, relieving the filmmakers of the burden of finding a distributor once the movie is finished. Neither NFocus nor Hi-Def wished to reveal the name of the distributor.

"A mutual friend told me the other day, he said for a company's first film we are fitting in with maybe 1 percentile of how it would go," Tritton said. "On your first film, you just usually don't have it that nice."

The deal means NFocus will no longer have complete creative control over "Endure." But Tritton said Hi-Def agreed to keep O'Brien on board as director - a point NFocus considered non-negotiable, though O'Brien's only previous credit is as co-director of the award-winning short film "Blackwater Elegy."

O'Brien's screenplay involves a small-town detective's frantic search for a young woman who has been kidnapped and tied to a tree somewhere in a desolate forest - originally Central Florida's Green Swamp. The nearly tripled budget increases the likelihood of landing a name actor for the lead role. Tritton said a casting director is shopping the script around to actors.

Tritton said Hi-Def executives have assured O'Brien that they don't foresee making any substantial changes to his script.

"Of the umpteen scripts they see and read each week, one of the things they liked about Joe's script is it's ready to shoot - Joe wrote it from a director's perspective," Tritton said. "The other thing they said they really liked about it is all three acts are very balanced, and that's another credit to Joe."

The NFocus team said it set four parameters for any join venture: protecting investors, maintaining their integrity, making a great film and making a profit. Members said the deal with Hi-Def satisfies all those concerns.

The NFocus team had planned to shoot this summer to be eligible for a rebate of production costs from the state of Florida. But Tritton said Tennessee will reimburse the producers for 32 percent of qualified costs, compared with 20 percent in Florida.

"This deal beats out the other," Tritton added. "It's strictly a good business decision to shoot in Tennessee."

Tritton said NFocus tentatively plans to visit Tennessee in June for "soft pre-production work," including some location scouting. He said if all goes smoothly the 21- to 25-day shoot will take place in September.

Tritton said the increased budget will allow as many as six roles to be cast with Hollywood actors, as opposed to one or two on the original budget. He said the financial infusion will also yield a deeper lineup of professionals among the technical crew.

While some investors might be disappointed they won't be able to drive to local shooting locations, the NFocus team said in the long run it's better to make a movie in Tennessee than fall short of making a movie in Polk County.

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

Development Phase Wrapping Up

Endure is entering the home stretch of the development stage. This means the filmmakers are close to securing the funding necessary to begin pre-production. A handful of investment units ($10K ea.) remain available for an equity interest in the film. With a worldwide distribution deal already in place and the full tax deduction for 2008, these last units will go quickly. For more info, contact Rob Tritton, rtritton@getnfocus.com.

Friday, February 15, 2008

Lakeland Filmmakers 'Endure' to Get Funding for Film


RICK RUNION/ THE LEDGER
NFocus staff members Joe O'Brien, left, Rob Tritton and Jim Carleton talk with investor Randy Larson about the movie project Endure at the NFocus office in Lakeland, Florida, Wednesday, February 6, 2008.


By Gary White, The Ledger

The film "Endure" already exists in the mind of Lakeland screenwriter Joe O'Brien. The detective thriller has tangible form as a 101-page script on paper.

As with any movie, though, the chasm between conception and reality consists of dollars - in this case, a projected budget of $1.2 million. Since deciding last year to make the film, which would be O'Brien's first feature-length effort as both writer and director, he and the other two members of a Lakeland-based production team have been racing against the calendar to secure the funding they need to shoot the movie in Polk County in June. The Ledger has been following the filmmakers on their endeavor to produce this feature-length film.

Several factors conspire against changing the planned 19-day shooting schedule, and with the start date just 3 1/2 months away, the trio of filmmakers is pushing for the financial commitments it needs to make the project a reality. As of Thursday, they had raised a little less than a half-million dollars, according to Rob Tritton, co-producer and financial leader for the project.

Tritton and co-producers O'Brien and Jim Carleton have only about a month left before they must decide if the money is in place to proceed with pre-production work, including casting and hiring technical crews. Tritton said it has been a challenge to win over potential investors in Polk County, where most are unfamiliar with the movie business.

"Investors have had little opportunity to get in on film projects, especially ones generated locally," said Tritton, 43. "Exposing them to a market that deals with creative property, as opposed to real estate or securities, becomes our main focus. But it's been both encouraging and exciting to see the faith investors have shown in us."

The filmmakers, determined to produce a commercially successful movie, began by studying the budgets of existing low-budget films. They contracted with an Oregon company to produce a business plan based on O'Brien's script, the story of small-town detectives racing to find a young woman they know is bound to a tree somewhere in the Green Swamp.

The filmmakers divided the $1.2 million budget into 120 investment units and created five levels of involvement, ranging up to the executive producer slot, requiring a $300,000 investment. The contract specifies benefits for different investment levels. For example, $10,000 yields a "special thanks" in the closing credits and limited access to the set. The executive producer gets a title in the opening credits, a walk-on appearance in the film and complete access to the shooting set with a designated chair, among other perks.

The "Endure" team enlisted Lakeland resident Marsha Vass to set up meetings with potential investors. Vass, whose husband, Bill Vass, collaborated with O'Brien on the idea for the award-winning short film "Blackwater Elegy," has led fund-raising campaigns for schools and nonprofit groups.

Vass, the film's associate producer for investor relations, set up meetings at which the filmmakers gave an informal summary of the project and offered to let potential investors read the screenplay. She said some investors read every word, while others are uninterested in the project's details.

Vass said people have invested for one of three reasons: They know the filmmakers and want them to succeed, they see the project as good for Lakeland or they're arts enthusiasts.

Investment also yields tax benefits. Federal tax codes allow a dollar-for-dollar deduction on investment in small-budget films, the same benefit given for charitable contributions.

Still, a movie is a riskier investment than, say, Wal-Mart stock. If "Endure" is made and fares poorly, its backers might lose all of their investments. If the movie is made and earns money, the first returns will go toward repaying the principal investors. If the film isn't made, money will be returned from an escrow account.

Randy and Chris Larson of Plant City are enthusiastic investors in "Endure." Randy Larson, an executive with an engineering company, got to know O'Brien when he was teaching an after-school film class at Lakeland Christian School, where Larson's son Jesse was a student.

Larson, 53, invested in a previous project, "Miller Grey," and when the project stalled he received his money back with interest.

"It was at that point I became really impressed with these guys, their business acumen, their business ethics," Larson, former mayor of Plant City.

Larson was already inclined to get onboard the next project, and the deal was clinched when he received a copy of O'Brien's screenplay.

"I got the script for the new project, 'Endure,' and I don't know that I've ever picked up a book or a script in my life and read it cover-to-cover without putting it down," Larson said. "I was just mesmerized by that script. ... It was a no-brainer at that point. I'd had a good business experience with them in the past; there was no reason to believe it would be any different."

Larson would say only that he and his wife invested more than $10,000. "I think of my investments, this is probably the riskiest one I've ever invested in," he said. "But ... this is an investment where I knew all the players and knew what we were trying to accomplish. I like to learn new things; it's just very fascinating to me to watch all this come together."

The filmmakers, working with a veteran casting director, are seeking an established actor to commit to the lead role of Emory Lloyd, a detective in his late 40s or 50s. Roughly one-sixth of the budget is allocated for the star.

The "Endure" team knows securing an actor would help with fundraising, but actors often seek "pay or play" contracts requiring a nonrefundable deposit of at least part of their payment. The "Endure" team's agreements with investors forbid breaking into the escrow account until they reach full funding.

William L. Whitacre, the trio's legal advisor and the man who brokered a distribution deal for "The Blair Witch Project," one of the most lucrative independent films ever made, seems confident "Endure" will materialize.

"I think they'll put it over," Whitacre said. He described O'Brien's script as "a perfect low-budget premise because you can use generic, low-budget locations, you don't need a cast of thousands and the story is compelling."

Whitacre predicted the film would make money on DVD even if it doesn't land a deal for theatrical release.

Larson is equally optimistic about the film's prospects. Assuming all goes as scheduled, he plans to be on location for the shooting in June.

"As an engineer, it will be fun to watch all the stuff that goes on," he said. "I'd certainly like to be able to get my money back out of it and it will have been a fun experience. But the script is so riveting and has such an incredible story, I can't imagine in my wildest dreams it's not going to have some success."

WHAT'S NEXT FOR "ENDURE": Trying to land a recognized actor for the lead role.

[ Gary White can be reached at gary.white@theledger.com or at 802-7518. ]

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Randy Larson



This video is an interview with Randy Larson, an investor in the Endure film project. The interview was conducted by Gary White of The Ledger.

Sunday, January 13, 2008

Ledger Video Interview



This video is an uncut version of the interview with Gary White of The Ledger.

Ledger Article - Lakeland Trio 'Endures'

Lakeland Trio 'Endures'

What Does it Take to Make a Feature-Length Film?

By Gary White
The Ledger

Somewhere amid the 560,000 acres of the Green Swamp, a young woman is alone, bound to a tree and terrified. The authorities know of her existence only from a photo found at the scene of a late-night car accident. The driver, the only person who could reveal her whereabouts, is dead. The scenario poses a bewildering challenge for law-enforcement officials in the nearest city.

Fortunately, that city is not the actual Lakeland but the fictional Lake-ridge. The woman, the dead abductor and the detective leading the desperate search all exist only on paper, having sprung from the mind of Lakeland's Joe O'Brien.

more>>

Friday, January 4, 2008

"Endure" Screenplay Attracts Industry Attention

When writing the screenplay, it was very important that we design it in such a way that it would attract not only the attention of actors with some star power, but we also wanted the distribution side of the industry to take notice as well. And that's exactly what happened. Two sales agencies that represent films in the marketplace have requested the script, read it, and are now tracking the film's progress. We've had ongoing communication with one in particular agency that has very good success with marketing and selling films in our budget range. We're very optimistic about the industry interest. It's critical we attach the right actor to complete the package.

Talent Update

Casting Director, Shari Rhodes sends good tidings before the holiday season! Initial responses from the script have been very positive. William Morris, a high profile talent agency in Hollywood, responded to the script with a list of names that would make your head spin. We're working now with this list and other names from other agencies to create a short list to narrow our choices. When we've pared down our list we'll make the offer. This is a very exciting process and we're looking forward to finally securing the lead actor. Once again, Shari's experience and Hollywood clout have really made the difference.

Endure Pictures Inks Deal With Major Casting Director

Casting director, Shari Rhodes (Jaws, Close Encounters, The Sandlot) has recently signed on to serve as principle casting director for "Endure." We couldn't be happier. Shari's expertise and ability to get our script in front of the major players representing talent is very exciting for us. Equally exciting, Tanya Sullivan, a long time associate of Shari, will be handling Florida casting. Together, Shari and Tanya discovered Reece Witherspoon while casting the film "Man in the Moon." Shari's initial response to the script gave us the first indication that we had a project that could stand out in a very competitive industry. She said: "I do love this script so much and really want to be involved in any way I can." Shari will be working primarily to cast the leading roles of Emory and Sirena Lloyd.

Tuesday, January 1, 2008

Gary Gross, Technical Director, Interview



An interview with Gary Gross who served as Technical Director. Gary worked closely with Joe O'Brien, Writer, during script development.