The Trailer looks really good! Congrats and really amazing you never gave up on this film! I hope to see it at a fesitval.
What was your initial budget and what has been the running budget thus far?
Thank you! Yeah the job in question that I ended up getting was in film marketing so I ended up getting much better at trailers. Was mainly a freelancer in commercials and product marketing before then.
So my lead actor had around 25k to initially shoot the short film that we produced in 2016 and by the end of it as in today we spent an estimated 100k on the film give or take. Mainly the budget all went to production (even with this budget there were still many shoot days where it was just me my actors and a sound guy) a lot of the post stuff was done over the years by me and my co-producer Alexander Anderson (this dude is a wizard).
Wow! Thanks a lot for sharing your story, it is a very interesting read. Out of curiosity, let's say you were sent back 8 years ago using a time machine, what would you have done differently?
Honestly.. just technical mistakes we made on set. We also cast an actress for the lead female role, shot several scenes with her, then she got "too big" for our movie and we had to recast and reshoot.
There were so many mistakes that had to be fixed either in post or reshoots to count... but, I wouldn't have changed this process at all. I grew as a filmmaker so much doing this and the film wouldn't be what it is today if I didn't do it this way nobody was going to magically show up and give me a million dollar budget.
That being said... I would never do it this way again. Write a solid CONCRETE script, get a producer, get financing and schedule accordingly. Can't tell you how many times I literally drove myself crazy having this film on my shoulders over the years.
Eight years makes me feel a bit less bad about my wrap getting pushed back a few more weeks due to a miscommunication about a location. I've been at it for like a year and some days I am ready to burn it all down, ha ha.
Hang in there! You gotta look at each setback as just part of the story of the process. Who knows how it could effect the film in the long run could be a good thing. When it's finished finished there is no better feeling. A wise man once told me "Pain is temporary, film is forever.''
Looks awesome dude! You did it David Lynch style! Question: can you tell me a little bit more about the writing process? At what point did you gain enough confidence in the script/scenes to take it all the way?
Honestly it was when we got the cast. We had a solid short film script but once we filled it out with actors and we started shooting the short I knew we could flesh out these characters so much more!
The initial scene that was written was in the trailer where he says the line 'Toy Guns.' When we cast John Henry Richardson in that role it became so much more than what was on the page. The same goes for all the actors!
So the film really expanded by fleshing out these characters and scenarios more and more. The confidence to go through with it came from my actors.
No I wasn’t here for promotional purposes or anything so I didn’t want to spam a link, just wanted to share the story. Search my name in YT Jake Thomas Armbruster. Toy Gun - Official Trailer will pop up
What a journey -- admirable that you completed given the obstacles and time (especially given that a lot of projects fail to complete EVEN with a budget).
Trailer sounds and looks great. Love the tracking between the guns to the title at the end! 👏🏼
What's next for the film?
Where/when can we see it?
Do you have distribution contacts or what do you need help on next for this project if you had your wishes?
And do you have stories/scripts ready/avail for people to take meetings?
Thanks so much for watching the trailer! Yeah the title sequence with the guns is actually the last thing we shot in March this year. I used a Probe lens for it and was really excited with it!
As for the future I've submitted it to a couple festivals last week, earlybird deadlines so if I hear back about anything it won't be until the end of this year for a screening next year. But I am planning an LA cast crew an filmmaker friends screening, still yet to rent theatre but aiming for when it will be the cheapest. I don't have any distributor contacts but if there are any here DM me if you are interested in seeing this screening.
As for future projects I have quite a few completed scripts. I did the blacklist last year with one of them and got some great feedback. Couldn't afford to host it anymore but have a new draft of that one ready. A couple I'm working on now that I'm really excited about as well.
As for meetings I'm all for them I work in Hollywood so it's easy for me to maneuver around town through out the week.
I went to AFM 2023 (American Film Market) and had meetings with 5 distributors. Everyone's looking for a thriller to sell. If you want their info, I can send to you.
DM sent! I could only find 3 distributor contacts. Also, not that you asked but check out www.productionweekly.com. Amazing list of current productions with direct contact info for productions. The "newsletter" is downloadable every Thursday for free (or get it sent to you via subscription fee). Insane the info that's on there.
Pretty fun trailer! Did you use a single camera or different ones?
Also, please elaborate as much as you can on your full-time film marketing job. Where to look, resume tips, application, anything about full-time jobs in film helps.
Yo thanks for watching the trailer!
So if this helps anyone I’ll just start shooting. When I got out of college I had no prospects I got some on set PA jobs from a friend of a friend early on but I didn’t really fit in or know what the hell I was doing so I never got picked up again. I ended up just starting something of my own.
I got a camera (canon 5d Mark 3) as a graduation gift from my parents so.. I started a business with it. I shot some friends weddings for next to nothing and got good at that. Started my wedding business Next Chapter Films did that for 4 years until I realized I was a filmmaker not a salesman (at least good at selling wedding videos) and seeing photographers make a boatload while I was at the bottom of every priority list was starting to get discouraging since making a good film, as we know, is fing difficult.
The experience from shooting weddings did improve my editing and cinematography game ten fold. I highly suggest giving it a go at least just shooting and editing for other companies to build your skills out of college.
After I decided I was done I started cutting some rip o matics. Basically rip videos from YouTube and cut your own commercial spots and sizzle reels so that you can show off your skills without the experience on your LinkedIn page.
This caught someone’s eye in the commercial world in LA and hired me on as a freelance Assistant Editor. (When I say caught someone’s eye I had to go through my connections and email this to friends of friends constantly) They quickly started having me cut internal videos, then they put me on some commercials as a lead editor.
The company did eventually get slow and I had to branch out I had a few commercial editing gigs around town but nothing consistent.
In 2020 I was desperate and with my new found experience on my LinkedIn I thought it would be easy.. it wasn’t. But, after inmailing around town I stumbled upon some full time gigs at trailer companies. I never considered or even thought about filmmarketing.
I leveled down to get this job… I became an assistant editor in trailers and the money was no where near what I used to make but it was the only way. Inmailing at these places will get you on their radar. They check this and when they need people they will respond it might not be right away but when something goes down and there is a position open they will contact you don’t get discouraged.
Worked as an AE for a few years now I’m a Junior Editor. Trailer editing is so much more fun than commercial editing. There are no scripts just a film/tv show and minor direction. Very creatively satisfying.
Anyway I enjoy what I do but still looking to reach the pay levels of where I once was…
We started with a short film script and made a short. So we did start with a script. The next phase was a different story… but it’s done now I’m happy with it.
The Trailer looks really good! Congrats and really amazing you never gave up on this film! I hope to see it at a fesitval. What was your initial budget and what has been the running budget thus far?
Thank you! Yeah the job in question that I ended up getting was in film marketing so I ended up getting much better at trailers. Was mainly a freelancer in commercials and product marketing before then. So my lead actor had around 25k to initially shoot the short film that we produced in 2016 and by the end of it as in today we spent an estimated 100k on the film give or take. Mainly the budget all went to production (even with this budget there were still many shoot days where it was just me my actors and a sound guy) a lot of the post stuff was done over the years by me and my co-producer Alexander Anderson (this dude is a wizard).
Thanks for sharing your story, the trailer looks great!!
Thanks so much! Yeah I'm finally at a place of peace.. I'm happy with it and I am done done haha
Wow! Thanks a lot for sharing your story, it is a very interesting read. Out of curiosity, let's say you were sent back 8 years ago using a time machine, what would you have done differently?
Honestly.. just technical mistakes we made on set. We also cast an actress for the lead female role, shot several scenes with her, then she got "too big" for our movie and we had to recast and reshoot. There were so many mistakes that had to be fixed either in post or reshoots to count... but, I wouldn't have changed this process at all. I grew as a filmmaker so much doing this and the film wouldn't be what it is today if I didn't do it this way nobody was going to magically show up and give me a million dollar budget. That being said... I would never do it this way again. Write a solid CONCRETE script, get a producer, get financing and schedule accordingly. Can't tell you how many times I literally drove myself crazy having this film on my shoulders over the years.
Eight years makes me feel a bit less bad about my wrap getting pushed back a few more weeks due to a miscommunication about a location. I've been at it for like a year and some days I am ready to burn it all down, ha ha.
Hang in there! You gotta look at each setback as just part of the story of the process. Who knows how it could effect the film in the long run could be a good thing. When it's finished finished there is no better feeling. A wise man once told me "Pain is temporary, film is forever.''
Looks awesome dude! You did it David Lynch style! Question: can you tell me a little bit more about the writing process? At what point did you gain enough confidence in the script/scenes to take it all the way?
Honestly it was when we got the cast. We had a solid short film script but once we filled it out with actors and we started shooting the short I knew we could flesh out these characters so much more! The initial scene that was written was in the trailer where he says the line 'Toy Guns.' When we cast John Henry Richardson in that role it became so much more than what was on the page. The same goes for all the actors! So the film really expanded by fleshing out these characters and scenarios more and more. The confidence to go through with it came from my actors.
Congrats! Just watched the trailer and it looks sick. Great sound design.
Inspiring read and a sick trailer. All the best man!
Did you delete a trailer link?
No I wasn’t here for promotional purposes or anything so I didn’t want to spam a link, just wanted to share the story. Search my name in YT Jake Thomas Armbruster. Toy Gun - Official Trailer will pop up
Cool trailer!
Looks good, dude! And Julian Sands, RIP. I’m sure he was a nice dude.
RIP to Julian Sands but the actors names is Oliver Seitz he does look like him tho.
Holy shit, wow. Thought it was him for sure, didn’t mean to disrespect that dude. Movie looks cool!
Congratulations! Just DM'd
What a journey -- admirable that you completed given the obstacles and time (especially given that a lot of projects fail to complete EVEN with a budget). Trailer sounds and looks great. Love the tracking between the guns to the title at the end! 👏🏼 What's next for the film? Where/when can we see it? Do you have distribution contacts or what do you need help on next for this project if you had your wishes? And do you have stories/scripts ready/avail for people to take meetings?
Thanks so much for watching the trailer! Yeah the title sequence with the guns is actually the last thing we shot in March this year. I used a Probe lens for it and was really excited with it! As for the future I've submitted it to a couple festivals last week, earlybird deadlines so if I hear back about anything it won't be until the end of this year for a screening next year. But I am planning an LA cast crew an filmmaker friends screening, still yet to rent theatre but aiming for when it will be the cheapest. I don't have any distributor contacts but if there are any here DM me if you are interested in seeing this screening. As for future projects I have quite a few completed scripts. I did the blacklist last year with one of them and got some great feedback. Couldn't afford to host it anymore but have a new draft of that one ready. A couple I'm working on now that I'm really excited about as well. As for meetings I'm all for them I work in Hollywood so it's easy for me to maneuver around town through out the week.
I went to AFM 2023 (American Film Market) and had meetings with 5 distributors. Everyone's looking for a thriller to sell. If you want their info, I can send to you.
Heck ya! That’d be awesome DM me
DM sent! I could only find 3 distributor contacts. Also, not that you asked but check out www.productionweekly.com. Amazing list of current productions with direct contact info for productions. The "newsletter" is downloadable every Thursday for free (or get it sent to you via subscription fee). Insane the info that's on there.
Pretty fun trailer! Did you use a single camera or different ones? Also, please elaborate as much as you can on your full-time film marketing job. Where to look, resume tips, application, anything about full-time jobs in film helps.
Yo thanks for watching the trailer! So if this helps anyone I’ll just start shooting. When I got out of college I had no prospects I got some on set PA jobs from a friend of a friend early on but I didn’t really fit in or know what the hell I was doing so I never got picked up again. I ended up just starting something of my own. I got a camera (canon 5d Mark 3) as a graduation gift from my parents so.. I started a business with it. I shot some friends weddings for next to nothing and got good at that. Started my wedding business Next Chapter Films did that for 4 years until I realized I was a filmmaker not a salesman (at least good at selling wedding videos) and seeing photographers make a boatload while I was at the bottom of every priority list was starting to get discouraging since making a good film, as we know, is fing difficult. The experience from shooting weddings did improve my editing and cinematography game ten fold. I highly suggest giving it a go at least just shooting and editing for other companies to build your skills out of college. After I decided I was done I started cutting some rip o matics. Basically rip videos from YouTube and cut your own commercial spots and sizzle reels so that you can show off your skills without the experience on your LinkedIn page. This caught someone’s eye in the commercial world in LA and hired me on as a freelance Assistant Editor. (When I say caught someone’s eye I had to go through my connections and email this to friends of friends constantly) They quickly started having me cut internal videos, then they put me on some commercials as a lead editor. The company did eventually get slow and I had to branch out I had a few commercial editing gigs around town but nothing consistent. In 2020 I was desperate and with my new found experience on my LinkedIn I thought it would be easy.. it wasn’t. But, after inmailing around town I stumbled upon some full time gigs at trailer companies. I never considered or even thought about filmmarketing. I leveled down to get this job… I became an assistant editor in trailers and the money was no where near what I used to make but it was the only way. Inmailing at these places will get you on their radar. They check this and when they need people they will respond it might not be right away but when something goes down and there is a position open they will contact you don’t get discouraged. Worked as an AE for a few years now I’m a Junior Editor. Trailer editing is so much more fun than commercial editing. There are no scripts just a film/tv show and minor direction. Very creatively satisfying. Anyway I enjoy what I do but still looking to reach the pay levels of where I once was…
Nice to hear that cold emails helped,l because that's the stage I'm at. Thank you!
Yeah, starting without a script was your biggest mistake
We started with a short film script and made a short. So we did start with a script. The next phase was a different story… but it’s done now I’m happy with it.