[Watch the video interview on YouTube here]
Film Courage: Why is it important for a filmmaker to determine a story’s commercial viability?
Jason Eric Perlman, Writer/Filmmaker: Well, you want to be able to find a path to get your material made.
And like it or not, even at the lowest budget, filmmaking is an expensive art form.
It often takes hundreds of thousands, if not millions and millions of dollars, to make a movie.
And there’s going to be someone in that equation that’s going to want to know if I put in X amount of money, is there any possibility I’m going to see any of it back?
I mean, it’s ultimately unless they’re purely philanthropic and in funding a film, they’re a business endeavor.
It’s a return on investment at some point.
The problematic thing about writing to be commercial is that that’s always shifting.
We were talking about superheroes a little bit earlier.
You write like a spec superhero piece.
Now, I was just seeing an article in one of the trades earlier this week that was saying that the recent box office has started to show that the superhero model is slipping financially.
Story Questions on Payhip
It’s very expensive to make them.
The box office return is not quite as justifying of those scale of movies at the moment.
Again, no shade on superhero movies. I don’t want to suggest I don’t like them. I do.
But, the commerciality for a writer to go into doing their work is important to consider.
I think it would be irresponsible to say otherwise.
It is important to consider.
And that doesn’t mean trying to be in any way…(Watch the video interview on YouTube here).
MORE ON JASON ERIC PERLMAN’S MOVIE ‘SITE’
About:
An accomplished WGA screenwriter, feature director, producer and Emmy-recognized editor, Jason Eric Perlman has collaborated on over 20 feature films since completing USC Graduate Cinema. He has worked with major television outlets and studios like Warner Bros, Sony, and Lionsgate. His material has screened at prestigious festivals such as Sundance and SXSW. Jason was named #4 in LA Weekly’s “Top 10 Entertainment Professionals to Watch in 2023.” Jason’s latest film Site is Official Selection of the 2025 Boston Film Festival.
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