Slate of Films - Plan of Action

When I moved to Los Angeles in 1999, my goal was to be an action director. There are two routes: 1) stunt performing > stunt coordinating > 2nd unit directing > directing, and 2) screenwriting > producing > directing. I pursued both concurrently.

I started my screenplay journey in 1997 with my teen abstinence comedy. That writing sample got me accepted into ActOneProgram.com in 2001, but the standard of excellence they taught was so high that I felt handicapped. So I focused on my bread and butter, which at the time was special effects and stunts. 

The advice I received regarding screenwriting was to have three screenplays ready to go before shopping any around. This took me two decades.

I was invited to help produce two features, Vengeance Trail in 2002 and Acts of Violence in 2006. I wasn't a part of developing or selling, and I didn't really want to learn then because producing was hard work. There are so many learning curves in this business and I picked my battles; stunt performing was fun, paid the bills (eventually), got me health insurance, and even had backend participation that was like manna from Heaven. Three cheers for passive income.

I tried to quit three times. As I aged, I realized some of my injuries from stunts were chronic, and I started planning for my career after 50. By this mid-life marker, I had had half a dozen feature screenplays to shop, half with business plans. And I'd tried my hand unsuccessfully at crowdfunding and equity crowdfunding.

I made lots of short films (my film school), and they made me some side money through Ad Sales on YouTube. But the no budget feature became the calling card, and the prevailing indie film advice is to make a slate of films to spread the risk. 

Vengeance Trail started as a $10K student film, then grew many times over with reshoots. It landed in Blockbuster and Walmart in 2006, but many mistakes were made such as not having stars and shooting on MiniDV, and it didn't find much of an audience. Fast forward to today, I now have a 1080p streaming version with an updated trailer, titles, music, etc. (I'll explain in another post about how, using AI software). It's time to exploit the movie.

Eyre Films' goals are to make a slate of genre movies. Vengeance Trail will be my trial to build momentum and prove I can make money at it. Above are a few posters to get you excited.

I've been studying indie film marketing. The old way of selling a movie at film festivals and to the streaming giants is gone. The new way is changing every year, but includes branding, targeting a niche audience of super fans, four-walling, direct sales funnel, targeted international sales, blogging, building an email list, etc. And also festivals and streaming in their proper place.

If you're a filmmaker, ask me questions and challenge my reasoning.

If you like horses, I'll dig up behind the scenes horse footage from Vengeance Trail. 

If you like guns and Western movie history, we already made a documentary about the vintage movie guns used in Vengeance Trail.

Best, Ian

VengeanceTrail.com

PreyForMason.movie

SmashAndRun.com

RunCholo.com

FoolCircleMovie.com

THE HUNT Movie

When The Hunt came out (original trailer https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tzgfDLJUhw), my first reaction was; Yes! I do believe some liberals want to wipe out conservatives, but the conservatives in this movie fight back and win!

As per usual, the uproar came from people who hadn’t seen the movie. Would conservatives rather the roles were reversed and conservatives were hunting liberals a la The Most Dangerous Game, and the liberals then righteously killed the conservatives in self-defense?

I want to see a movie where conservatives actually fight back!! As compared to the lame conservatives in DC politics who lie down and give up (not all of them, and certainly not as often as before the Trump era).

I just watched this interview between Jason Blum and Ben Shapiro regarding The Hunt. I actually celebrate Jason Blum for doing this interview, and both he and Ben made some really great points. Start with these soundbites, then watch the whole interview: https://youtu.be/kQ3Yb3nYVyY?t=623

This: We have to laugh at ourselves when we laugh at the other side, then listen to each other.

I once heard Brian Coley of Art Within speak at a Faith in Film Breakfast in Atlanta. My understanding (paraphrase) of what he said is: If Christians want to tell stories that gain cultural acceptance, we must start with cliches so that people recognize our subculture (Hey that's me - aka Christian exploitation) before we can reach a tipping point and leave our subculture for mainstream (and be heard outside our choir). The way to do this is first through comedies, Coley says, but where are the Christian comedies? Mom's Night Out, Believe Me, and Blue Like Jazz are not enough. 

I moved to Atlanta from Toronto when I was nine. I was a fish out of water and didn’t sound or dress like anyone in the South, so I got made fun of a lot. My defense mechanism was to make fun of myself before others could (maybe that’s why Canadians are considered to be so funny). Christians have plenty of material to make fun of. The world makes fun of us, partly because the Gospel is foolishness to those who don’t understand (1 Corinthians 1:18), but especially because we don’t recognize how crazy we act and how confusing we make the Good News of Jesus.

I don’t know if Christians made the movie Saved! (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aiV-pvjOc_w), but that was a funny movie! Best line, as Mandy Moore throws a Bible at a classmate while judging her; “I am filled with Christ’s love.” The Hunt had two writers, one on the left one on the right. It makes fun of both groups and has authenticity toward both groups. Where are the Christians making comedies, admitting to the world that we’re broken, messed up, stupid at times, but learning to reflect the Messiah who calls us, forgives us, saves us, and perfects us?

I can’t wait to announce my teen abstinence comedy and my monster comedy, both self-mocking, speaking to culture, and outrageously funny. Meanwhile, here are a couple of short comedies inspired by Scripture for you to enjoy: “Don’t Talk About Jesus!” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Tmt1r4LpHI, “Joseph’s Wheel of Destiny” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NJPWoAtUmXI

Ian

Filmmaking Addiction

What does someone do when they spend every extra cent on self-funded short films, as I used to when I was single? Might as well tax-write-off the expenses. Eventually, I formed EyreFilms, LLC in 2014 as a tax haven. 

YouTube.com/EyreFilms channel grew as a fluke. I threw a few videos up, starting in 2009. One day, in 2019, I got a notification about a comment on “Be Brave, Daddy!” and went to look. Unbelievably, there were 3 million views. The video had been online for seven years getting a few hundred hits per year - then it became hockey stick.

Who knows why? Maybe someone blogged about it. I quickly monetized it and connected it to my other videos, and in the next two years, that spot grew to 24 million views and the channel to 33 million views overall. 

Then the Covid shutdown hit and I started putting up short mockumentaries starring my kids, to get them out of the house. But the quality wasn’t as good as my other shorts. That and being more focused on feature films which is taking years, so I didn’t have regular content to add. I lost my audience, and I lost a small amount of ads funding.

I’m starting this blog to share my journey as a storyteller. A feature length movie is way bigger than the sum of a bunch of short films. This blog will share behind-the-scenes of my short films and the exploits of my pursuit of feature films. As well as adventures that may only partly connect to my career, or true stories and influenced part of a movie.

I just migrated Eyre Films, LLC to my new hometown Memphis, TN, this time more specifically as a holding company for my IP and the Eyre Films Channel on YouTube. I am working on a slate of feature films that will one day require an umbrella production company, some of which are the Eyre Films Website.

To start, I want to share this awesome logo designed by my friend Audra Esch. I’ll tell some stories behind the elements in each quadrant, but the lower right symbol should be self-evident.

And I’ll explain if and how my filmmaking urge is an addiction or a calling.

Ian “Max” Eyre