Five fan film releases in five weeks! Last week, POTEMKIN PICTURES had gone four-for-four, releasing a new fan film for three of their six (soon to be seven!) active fan series…including two from the STARSHIP TRISTAN creative group. Well, make that THREE from Tristan, as “Distant Echoes, part two” completed their first-ever mutli-part episode late last week.
As explained previously, the run-time of the full episode was 18 minutes, above the 15-minute limit set forth in the fan film guidelines. So the Potemkin folks decided to cut this fan film in two.
I asked show-runner RANDY LANDERS whether we’d be seeing a sixth new fan film next week…
This pretty much gets us caught up for the time being. (All hail the time being!) We have six in post-production. Oh, we shot one last Saturday. Make it seven in post-production. Two nearing completion. We generally release six months after we film.
I then asked what “caught up” means….
“Caught up” is six releases. It takes six months for a production to go from the completion of principal videography to release:
- 1st month: capturing and editing
- 2nd month: sound and ADR
- 3rd month: final edit with sound (color correction and other tweaks are in the 3rd month as well)
- 4th month: VFX guys
- 5th month: music guys
- 6th month: release
So if we have six in post, then we’re on target. It’s a PROCESS. And it’s what works for us. This is why so many fan films never make it. They don’t know what to do after they shoot their movie.
Also, we use the 96% rule. If it’s good to the point of being 96%, then it’s time to move to the next step. The remaining 4% is not worth the expenditure of time and energy required to get to 100%. That 4% is the law of diminishing returns. That’s a harsh measure to produce by, but it’s what works for us.
I’m aware of everything in our films that’s not perfect, believe me. We have five producers with eagle eyes, but we ask ourselves: “Is the problem worth fixing?” Most of the time, we can do it immediately. But when an actress or actor is not available for ADR or reshoots, then guess what? Time to cut your losses.
Coming up next: Endeavour and Kupok!
In the meantime, you can access all the dozens and dozens of Potemkin Pictures fan films from their website. And check out the conclusion of “Distant Echoes” below…