[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: What made you think that the only way you were going to get Don’t Tell Larry made was if you made it yourself?
John Schimke, Filmmaker/Screenwriter: Well, it was pretty easy to come to that conclusion because we had pitched Don’t Tell Larry to a lot of people and nobody wanted to make it.
It was a dark comedy so it’s risky or we didn’t have a big name attached to it.
Greg [Porper] and I were just sick and tired of asking permission to make the movie.
We needed to take matters into our own hands and just make it.
We believed in the movie and so we were willing to put our own money into it to get it started.
Then ask everyone we know to raise money to make it and make it ourselves.
We first tried to pitch it around.
We pitched it around.
It was first like a TV show and then nobody wanted to do the TV show even though there was some interest.
If you believe in something enough, you have to be willing to take the risk yourself
Eventually wrote the feature script and then pitched that around as well and just no bites. No bites or just being scared.
It wasn’t it wasn’t a guaranteed hit, whatever that means.
But we decided just to make it ourselves.
Some of the best movies, well, I’m saying like Don’t Tell Larry is the best movie. I’m proud of the movie, but I’m just saying, even George Lucas with Empire Strikes Back, he made that himself. He financed that himself. That was not a studio financed movie.
I just learned this a little while ago. There was all sorts of drama behind the studio head who greenlit the movie and everything else.
That was an independent, it was independently financed.
If you believe in something enough, you have to be willing to take the risk yourself to do it…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
About:
An AFI Directing alum, John Schimke is an accomplished writer/director whose work spans the realms of both film and television. As the lead editor and producer of the Emmy Award-winning TV series Red Table Talk, Schimke has demonstrated a keen ability to shape impactful, emotionally resonant stories for a global audience.
In the world of independent film, Schimke gained critical acclaim with Don’t Tell Larry, which had its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival and went on to win Best Picture and Audience Choice at the Pasadena International Film Festival.
John’s inspiration to develop Where the Wind Blows into a feature film was deeply personal, sparked by a meaningful gift from his mother. She gave him the book and suggested it would make a great movie—a sentiment that continues to drive the project forward. Years later Ashley Elaine read the script and immediately green lit the film with her production company, AE Productions, INC.
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