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Show Wed/Thurs/Fri, January 27-29, 2016 C-3 The Park Record Local website helped fund film By SCOTT IWASAKI The Park Record Continued From C-1 DIY method discussed at Slamdance told The Park Record. "Both of those are very successful, but they're really do-ityourself companies that offer no real assistance, help or advice to the person who wants to use crowdfunding to raise money for something that they are most passionate about," Tilson said. "FundAnything.com was founded on the idea of providing a turn-key, complete-boutique solution for someone who may be an expert on making movies or creating music albums, but has no they liked the script, but wanted to replace [me] as Herbie," Jillette said. The last thing Teller counseled was to have a clear head. "Don't drink alcohol," he said. "Don't do drugs and don't believe in God. Those things are extremely helpful in getting things accomplished in the real world." Director Rifkin's DIY road took him on a similar journey. "Ever since I was a little tiny kid, living in Chicago, all I ever wanted to do was make movies," he told the audience. "I didn't understand what a director was, what a producer was, but I knew that movies got made somehow." He started making his own films when he was in elementary school. "I commandeered the family's home-movie camera and stared making movies with my sister and my friends," he said. "I thought when I got old enough that I would move to Hollywood and learn how to do it for real." The first film he made was called "The Lady Giant," which starred his sister. "She was about four or five and I made a city out of an Erector Set and put in some Matchbox cars," Rifkin said. "She was going to wander into the city and smash all the buildings and cars." Before the shoot, Rikin got into a huge fight with his mom. "It was cold out and she wanted my sister to wear a jacket, and I said, ‘Giants don't wear jackets,'" Rifkin remembered. "It was my first battle with a producer and the producer won. My sister wore a big puffy jacket." His amateur filmmaking experiences in his backyard and neighborhood proved valuable when he moved to Los Angeles where he attended filmmaking classes as USC. "I learned that I had taught myself all the principles about filmmaking, without knowing it," he said. "I figured out how to do those things just by doing it." He Ieft school and started writing scripts. "The first script I wrote was the ‘Dark Backward,' and it was the first time in my professional career that was entirely void of professional Hollywood influence," Rifkin said. He didn't think about whether or not it was a financeable idea, if the characters could be cast, or if it was a genre that anyone was interested in. "I realized the only magic of making movies was getting mon- ey to fund them," he said. "I wrote something that I wanted to see, but had no idea how to raise money." So, Rifkin rifled through the Yellow Pages and looked for people with the biggest ads, because he knew they would have money. "I called up doctors, lawyers and would tell them about the movie," he said. An established Hollywood lawyer, who had been connected with "Easy Rider," agreed to take a meeting and told me Rifkin he was doing it all wrong. "He gave me a list of production companies and I started sending scripts to them," he said. One of the readers referred the script to an up-and-coming producer who got in touch with Rifkin. Innovation and hard work can produce results, Rifkin said it's a mistake not to see the value of failure. He was once hired to direct a movie called "Barbed Wire." The funders, however, were incensed that he was hired because they had their own director in mind. So he was fired before the funders saw anything he shot. "When you get hired for a job, Variety will put that on the cover," Rifkin said. "When you get fired, Variety will [also] put that on the cover. And all the people who called me to congratulate me for getting the job wouldn't return my calls once I got fired." After feeling sorry for himself for a day, Rikin decided to do something creative. "I realized the only power I had was my ability to write," he said. So, while the production company that fired him was still making "Barbed Wire," Rifkin penned four scripts. "The first three didn't sell at all, but the fourth sold in a big way in a bidding war involving multiple studios," he said. The script became Dreamworks' first family hit, 1997's "Mousehunt." "What gave me quiet personal satisfaction was the editor who I hired for ‘Barbed Wire' was in a meeting after the first test screening and told me it pulled in the lowest numbers ever. He also said the producer who fired me was in the room, looking at the test scores, and looking at Variety, that had the front page story that said ‘Rifkin Sells ‘Mousehunt' to Steven Spielberg.'" Slamdance will run through Jan. 28 at the Treasure Mountain Inn, 255 Main St. Tickets are on sale now at www.slamdance.com. Hall • Prugh Real Estate Team SHEILA HALL ALEX PRUGH, J.D. Associate Broker 435-640-7162 cell sheila@hall-prugh.com REALTOR® 435-901-9504 cell alex@hall-prugh.com Please see Film's, C-5 mOTORIzaTION | DesIGNeR DRapeRIes | CUsTOm shaDes | WINDOW COveRINGs The WORlD's NeWesT TeChNOlOGy IN mOTORIzeD WINDOW COveRINGs INTRODUCING smaRT shaDes. exClUsIvely aT paRk CITy blIND & DesIGN. Smart Shades is the only innovative motorized window covering technology on the market by combining a motorized sunshade with motorized drapery. 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"So, the advice I would give to filmmakers is: If you are going to have people help you out with financing or investing and want people to see your movie, cultivating a respect, an affection and comfort with your audience is rare and is going to be, in the next 20 years, very important things for entertainers." Another major DIY element is to have patience, Teller said. "For the first six years of our first 10 years, Penn and I had lots of time when we talked about ideas that didn't get realized until 10 or 20 years thereafter," he said. "That's good to know, because you may be haunted by an idea and that idea might not have it's time, yet, so you should keep your eyes open." Also, Teller advised, don't be afraid of creative tension. "[Penn and I] fought a great deal and that's something I highly recommend," Teller said. "If you work with somebody else, don't work with someone who just agrees with you. You might as well be working by yourself. Work with someone who is going to take you to someplace that is very different from where you are." Thirdly, Jillette told the audience not to wait for talent scouts if you want to go into show business, and cited his and Teller's career as an example. "The only way we got to be in a magic show was by being the producers, the writers, the directors and having complete control over the cast," he said. "If [someone was] putting together a Broadway show with two magicians that would eventually run on Broadway three times and be successful in Vegas, we would not be cast. We wouldn't even get the audition, because we're not attractive at all. "As a matter of fact, when we were pitching ‘Director's Cut,' we were told how many times that The irony surrounding Adam Rifkin's Slamdance film "Director's Cut," which was written by Penn Jillette, is that it's about a fictional crowdfunded film that is, in reality, crowdfunded. The point of pride for Park City is that the crowdfunding facilitator, FundAnything.com, is based in town and founded in 2013 by Parkites Scott Tilson and Bill Zanker. The two established FundAnything.com to fill a void in the market that was left by other crowdsourcing websites, Indiegogo. com and Kickstarter.com, Tilson JAN FundAnything.com raised $1.3 million for ‘Director's Cut' YourParkCityAgents.com All Homes Valued Over $1M COME TOUR HEBER CITY'S MOST COVETED PROPERTIES LOCATED 20 MINUTES FROM PA R K C I T Y & S U N D A N C E &TO WIN: BE ELIGIBLE 1920 East 2400 South 2226 Hidden Creek Lane SUNDANCE RESORT LIFT TICKETS & DINNER AT FOUNDRY GRILL 2001 Hidden Creek Lane JUST VISIT 1075 North Chimney Rock Rd 2314 Flat Top Mountain 599 North Copper Belt Circle 445 North Red Ledges Boulevard 9 PARTICIPATING HOMES INFO@HEBERLUXURY.COM 3060 East Horse Mountain Circle 347 N Greenerhills Rd ore m nd ic a d's s u e m Recor v i l Find e Park dar in h n on T ts Cale line at lendar a n Eve and on com/c t . prin record k par HEBERLUXURY.COM 435.625.0075 pa t ts a nform n e n ev missio w o ur sub o t y n t e mi ev Sub .com/ d cor e r rk |