u/movieman1108

Hear me out. In an alternate reality with dragons, their hoards are the country's gold standard monetary system. The dragon backstocks the country, preserving its wealth. They have to ask the dragon to draw from it in hard economical/war times, and only if given permission, they are allowed to. However, if the leadership of a country is irresponsible with their money and they go into debt, and have to draw from, but didn't ask permission, the dragon burns the leaders responsible. So there's a real fear in making sure the government adheres to sound economic policy.

Hear me out. In an alternate reality with dragons, their hoards are the country's gold standard monetary system. The dragon backstocks the country, preserving its wealth. They have to ask the dragon to draw from it in hard economical/war times, and only if given permission, they are allowed to. However, if the leadership of a country is irresponsible with their money and they go into debt, and have to draw from, but didn't ask permission, the dragon burns the leaders responsible. So there's a real fear in making sure the government adheres to sound economic policy.

For me, it’s Shadow’s of the Empire with the snowspeeder level being pristine. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I love the rest of the game, but I’m also very aware that it’s not good. It’s like the entirety of the budget went to the first 20 minutes of gameplay and they just phoned in the rest.

I don’t get it. So you pay money to go into a different line? If the point of airport security is to keep passengers safe, how does a pre check do that? Like, are they pre looking at the bags? I don’t see any difference from one passenger to another with how the security works. It just seems like a way to make extra money.

I recently had a quick back and forth with someone on Instagram who believed that the gate keeping wasn’t that bad, and if you just worked hard and had skills you could achieve any level you wanted to.

Now, I personally know a lot of great content creators who have worked their butts off for years and are excellent at what they do, and are still circling the runway with promises from execs and other top people who make promises but never deliver. I myself bought my way in by self funding my movie, but his massive roadblocks during the festival and distribution route.

Are we just all looking at this the wrong way? Are we not finding the success because we’re just not working hard enough, or good enough? What are some of all of your experiences with gate keeping?

Hey Las Vegas. Long shot post but figured this community was worth trying.

I'm a filmmaker and I'm screening my indie psychological thriller Abductee at Spckrft (310 W Utah Ave) on June 12th. Doors at 6, film starts at 7. I'll be there in person for a Q&A right after.

The film is about a man whose lifelong sleep paralysis leads him to believe something is taking him in the night, and what it does to his relationship with his sister. It's not a big effects-driven alien movie. It's quiet, psychological, and grounded in the kind of experiences a lot of people in the experiencer community actually describe.

June 12th is also the release date of Spielberg's Disclosure Day, which felt like the right night to bring this one out.

To watch the trailer go to: AbducteeMovie.com

It's RSVP to attend, seating is very limited.

https://preview.redd.it/9rpjrksmlv2h1.jpg?width=1080&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=5899295305d8a528f79ad052e75bce7bb1737caa

I’m not talking about the big plot holes, or anything that just ruins the story. But the smallest ones.

Some examples:

1. Ice in a drink - it always looks fake. Either it doesn’t float, or it’s too clear, or too angular. Only real ice in a glass looks like real ice.

2. The straw sipping sound from a new drink - seriously, why does everyone sip from a straw need that?

3. Not saying goodbye at the end of a phone call - the .8 seconds it takes won’t make or break the running time of the movie. Give us the goodbye.

4. Wearing clothes after a sex scene - who puts their bra back on? Apparently everyone in a movie.

5. Ordering a nondescript drink at a bar - sorry, but “get me a beer” doesn’t make any sense at all.

6. Playing a generic game - nobody has Monopoly? I get it, licensing, blah blah blah, that’s an excuse. I produced a movie and all I had to do was send them the scene to get their approval to feature it.

Those are some of my biggest small gripes, what are yours?

We wrapped our movie Abductee in 2014. What followed were years of post-production hell, from lost footage, to a distribution dropping out. There were a lot of times where I thought my movie would never see the light of day.

Then, in 2024 we had it. A fully finished film. We did a red carpet for friends and family, and after that, entered the festival circuit.

But the rules for what movies got seen at festivals had changed. It was more pay to play, or you’ve gotta know someone just to be considered.

And then came distribution. It’s all bulk distributors who just want to stick it on the cheap/free streamers, where a thousand views gets you a buck.

So, I’m making my own rules and taking it to theaters myself.

But I want to know, for the veteran indie filmmakers out there, how much has the industry changed? How much harder has it become for indie films to actually be seen by a reasonable amount of people?

We’ve all heard that there are really only two types of movies:

A man goes on a journey

A stranger comes to town

But while watching My Cousin Vinnie last night, I realized that this is both of those. Either it’s Vinnie going on the journey, or it’s the townspeople having their lives upended by this funny dressed city man who sticks out like a sore thumb.

Made me wonder what other movies fit this bill.

Die Hard

The Thing

It’s a Wonderful Life

I mean, it’s all about perspective, right?

What other really interesting ones perfectly fit in both categories?