This is a transcript of SYS Podcast Episode 184: Screenwriter / Director Tony Germinario Talks About His New Thriller, Bad Frank, Starring Tom Sizemore.
Ashley: Welcome to episode #184 of the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.” I’m
Ashley Scott Meyers Screenwriter and Blogger over at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com. Today, I’m interviewing Writer/Director, Tony Germinario. He just did a low budget, action, thriller film called, “Bad Frank” and we talk through his entire process for writing the film, directing the film, getting the film funded, and producing it. So, stay tuned for that interview.
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I’d just want to mention a free webinar I’m doing on Wednesday August 9th at 10:00a.m. pst. It’s called, “How to Effectively Market Your Screenplay and Sell It?” I’m going to go through all of the various online channels that are available to screenwriters, and give you my unfiltered opinion of them. I get questions all the time, about “The Blacklist” about “Ink Tip” about various screenwriting contests. So, in this free webinar I’m going to be talking about my experience with these various services. Again, this webinar is completely free. Don’t worry if you can’t make it to the live event. I will be recording this event. So, if you sign-up, you’ll get a link to the recorded event after it happens. To sign-up, just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/freewebinar. And “freewebinar” is all low case letters and all one word. I will of course link to it in the show notes as well. Also, if you are already on my Email list, you don’t need to register. Anyone who is on my Email list will get all of the details so that they can attend this webinar if they would like to. So, once again, if this sounds like something you would like to learn about. Just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/freewebinar.
I’m going away for most of July I do want to mention a live webinar that I’m going to be doing in August, where I will be going through all the steps to producing a micro-budget feature film. The webinar is called, of all things – “The Pinch” Producing the Micro-Budget Feature Film.” I’m going to go, I’m going to do this online webinar on Wednesday August 23rd at 10:00a.m. pst. I’m going to charge a small fee to attend. But, if you are looking to produce your own
micro-budget film? I think you will get tremendous value out of this. I’m going to go through all and every aspect of production, how to write the micro-budget feature film script. How to raise money for it, a micro-budget project, pre-production, and every aspect of post-production. As I close in on completion of my own micro-budget feature film, “The Pinch.”
I think this is a great time to do this webinar. As everything is fresh in my mind. I will be answering any and all questions that you have about this process.
I’m going to be going through my own budget line-by-line, so you can get a first-hand look at exactly where I spent the money. If this sounds like something you might like to learn more about it, just go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/class, again that’s – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/class. Of course, I will link to it in the show notes as well.
So, now let’s get into the main segment. Today I’m interviewing Director/Producer,
Tony Germinario. Here is the interview.
Ashley: Welcome Tony to, the “Selling Your Screenplay Podcast.” I really appreciate you coming on the show and talking with me today.
Tony: Yeah, thanks for having me, looking forward to it.
Ashley: So, to start out, maybe you can give us a little bit of an overview of your background. Where did you grow up, and how did you get into the entertainment business?
Tony: Sure. Well, I actually grew-up in New Jersey, just where I was born and bread. I went to college out Connecticut, at the University. And I took my first screenwriting course there, it didn’t go well. So, I actually made my way to music. Was actually a musician for a number of years. I played in a touring band, that toured all over New York City in the Northeast, out in L.A. and Vegas, never quite made it. But, as I started getting a little older and people started settling down a little bit. I still needed that creative outlet. So, I started making may way back into screenwriting, and film making. So, a number of years ago, I wrote a script that was terrible. And then I wrote another one that wasn’t as terrible and they slowly progressed in got a little bit better. And then eventually one day, I was kinda trolling the websites looking for opportunities. And, I came across someone who said, hey, we have the idea or are looking for someone to write this screenplay for us. So, a gentleman, by the name of Choice Skinner. That was actually on the West Coast, out in L.A. But, he’s a New York guy. So, we hit it off right away. He actually hired me to write a script, all of $100.00. So, at that point I was a professional screenwriter. So, I was pumped. But, you know, the script never really got anywhere, sitting on somebody’s desk, somewhere out in Hollywood. But, we really hit it off. So, he’s actually an acting coach as well. I once went to one of his acting classes, of which I had never been to before. And just totally blew me away. I had never seen the process and what it, and actors go through. And you know, how far they are willing to go, as part of the process. So, I came out of there on my plane ride back to New Jersey, I wrote 2 short scripts. I sent it over to my, a I said, hey if you ever want to use this with your class, feel free. And Choice called me as soon as he had read them. These are great, we should make them. I said, what are you talking about? I’m just a screenwriter, I don’t know how to make movies? He said, come up with a little bit of scrap and we’ll film them all over a weekend. So, we did that, and they did pretty well on some festivals that we were in. We did another short film, after that. And that did really well. And then we actually did a feature film, that Choice directed. And then after seeing what Choice did on the set. You know what? I want to keep writing, but I want to direct one myself, and see how I could do that, at it. And they were all, “Bad Frank” and “Bad Frank” was actually the first feature film I directed.
Ashley: Okay, perfect. And so, with this movie that Choice directed and you wrote, was that “Wingman Inc.?” Because that was your other
Tony: Yeah, yeah. “Wingman Inc.” So, basically that was a romantic comedy. Which is a lot different than “Bad Frank.” “Wingman Inc.” was basically the professional wingman’s falls in love with a professional cop daughter. You know, so kind of tongue in cheek, very funny, film it out in L.A. with some great actors. You know, came out, very good, very happy with the way it came out. But, I got used to direct. After seeing the process and how learning a bit about it. I thought I could do something a little smaller, but just as effective out here in Los Angeles, there was some challenges around cost and how you do things. You know, I was able to film
“Bad Frank” in New Jersey, for next to nothing. So, our entire budget was $80,000.00. So, we had to do things really quick, and really efficiently. And it worked out really good.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Perfect and I just want to touch this, you said you were trolling the internet where you met this fellow, Choice. Maybe you can elaborate on that? I know there’s going to be a few people saying, well gee, how can I meet someone like Choice? You know, to help me with my career. So, maybe you can give some specifics on that? Was it a specific site, exactly how did you find him?
Tony: You know, gosh it’s almost 8 or 9 years ago. I don’t remember the site? It might have been, there’s a form or a website, independent screenwriters or something like that? It might be where I found him. But, there’s plenty out there, if you just do a search on screenwriting opportunities, or things like that, I’m sure you’ll find it. And then the owners along with it? There are plenty out there, so any screenwriter’s that are out there with courage, look out there. Because there are a lot of people that have ideas but, don’t have the time or resources to go write it themselves. So, there is always good opportunities out there.
Ashley: I see, so just, Choice he put some sort of a thread up saying, hey, I have this idea for a script, I need someone to write it. And then some says, hey, I’m a writer, I’ll give it a shot.
Tony: Yeah, no. you want to send them some samples. I wasn’t the immediate selection. We went through a whole process. So, he went through a whole couple of different rounds. We actually spoke on the phone, to talk about how to develop this script, how to highly develop the characters. And I was fortunate enough, for it to work out.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. And I’m wondering just for a moment we can talk about that process of working with someone. Obviously $100.00 is so little as to almost be no pay. You know, how did that process go? Were you happy with it? It sounds like the main thing you did was cement your relationship with Choice. But, maybe you could talk about that, and I know as a writer myself. I get very disappointed with when you put a lot of time and energy into these projects and the reality is most of the scripts you write will never see the light of day. And it’s very disappointing. And I would say, as someone going into screenwriting, they don’t fully understand this. And it’s still even to this day, it’s very disappointing, when you spend a lot of time on something. And it basically ends up on someone’s shelf. So, maybe you can speak to that a little bit?
Tony: Yeah, it’s, screenwriting ain’t easy, right? Like you said, there’s a probable for every script that gets made, there’s probably a 1000, or 10,000 that don’t get made right? So, you have to go in it, expecting that hey, I might not make it, but I’m going to get everything I can out, right? But, with that said, you got to give it everything you got, if you really want it do it. You have to put maximum effort into it. You can’t go into it thinking, oh, I’m going to write a draft, and it’s going to be great and immediately get picked up. Because that’s not the way it works, right? It takes a lot of elbow grease, it takes a lot of time and energy, in order to do that. When I worked with Choice. You know, we spent a lot of time going back and forth developing a script. We spent you know, countless hours on Skype and all that, over the phone just to developing it. I really rough draft needed to make some changes and wrote another draft. Went back again, wrote another draft. And you know what? Yeah, it was thought, it was a little frustrating that it’s never gotten made. Actually think it’s a pretty good script. But, for me it wasn’t really only about that one script. It was about the relationships that you made and the people you run into. Right, so I was able to meet up with a whole bunch of people there, still part of my team today. Or the people I consider on my team really, you know. People I consider on my team there, in my corner, the people I want to work with. So, to me that was really important because like I said, not every script is going to get made. So, if you are working on it, a script, do what ever you can to work with other people and make them part of the process. Because you never know when you might come back me, and wants you for something else. Like, hey, this script didn’t workout. But I’m going to hire you for this. I remember this guy wrote this 5 years ago. And he was fantastic to work with. So, he’s on the next project that I want. You never know when that’s going to happen? You know, I’m starting to get people reaching out to me now, because they are hearing about what I’m doing on this, and other things. And you know, when you have a little bit of success, people want to be a part of that. And I also think it’s a part of how you work with people, right. If you’re pain in the ass to work with, no one is going to work with you. And yet Hollywood can be a lonely place like that. If you make out a $100-Million-dollar film, then yeah, you can do that. But, if you’re making $100.00 films. Then you gotta be the most-easy guy to work with on the planet. You got to be very efficient when you do things. And then things will open up for you.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. So sound advice, that’s for sure. So, let’s dig into “Bad Frank” that’s your latest film.
Tony: Sure.
Ashley: Wrote it, also directed it. May just to start out, you can kinda just tell us where this idea came from? What was sort of the kernel of the idea, how did that idea develop?
Tony: Sure. It’s kinda funny. So, “Wingman Inc.” was kind of a romantic comedy. And
“Bad Frank” is antithesis of a romantic comedy. It was kind of a dark thriller. And when I first showed it to friends, they basically said, “Dude, what’s wrong with you?” Because it’s really different from my all personality. And maybe that was the reason behind that was when you get rid of that dark, dirty, piece of your personality, so it doesn’t come out. And I think that’s how, you know, I’ve been asked this question before. And the best answer I have is, I woke up one night I don’t usually remember dreams at all? I don’t know if I am kinda unique in that way? But, I almost never had any recollection of any dreams that I have at all.
I woke up in the middle of the night, one night. I just had this idea about a kidnap thriller. I wanted, you know, major scenes around just the guy, who kidnapped a girl and the two of them elect to go in through the basement right. See, that’s where the original script really was. So, Kevin Interdonato, who is the star of the film, “Bad Frank”, I had worked with him before. So, he was in “Sibling Manning” we had done a short film together. I reached out to him and said, “I would love for you to be bad Frank.” And I read the script. You know, he loved the concept. He was like, I think we should think about doing some of this, and some of that. So, you know, with Kevin’s help we really reshaped the script, right. It became relative to what you saw on the screen. And Russ Russo was another Co-Writer/helper, some of those, some of this change as well. But, you know, that’s where it came from. It was just this, I wanted to come up with something that was just like totally different. And I guess maybe in some consciously I was thinking about that ideas. Let me do something completely different. And then boom, I just woke-up with it. And that’s kinda where it came from.
Ashley: Okay, and maybe you can just give us quick pitch or a log-line for the film.
Tony: Sure. So, “Bad Frank” is about a guy who has Impulse Control Disorder. And he’s ruined all his relationships in his life. But, now he’s a little bit older he’s trying to go back and repair all those relationships. But, just as he is about to do that with his wife in hand. And repair relationships with his father. His old boss comes back and everything just goes to hell from there.
Ashley: Alright. So, let’s talk about your writing process, a little bit.
Tony: Sure.
Ashley: So, how much time do you spend preparing, you know, doing an outline, mulling things over, versus how much time you spend actually in “Final Draft” just cranking out script pages.
Tony: A, it changes per script. I mean, “Bad Frank” was a little bit unique. Because we had, I had the original script. Even though we kind of redid it. I try to work from an outline. Where I’ll get the original genesis of an idea. And then, I’ll just try and lay out my acts. You know, what I want to have happen in the first act. What’s the major change that’s going to propel me into act two, you know. How am I going to get to the conclusion? So, I do try and set myself up with an outline. And then, set-up the key points that are going to be there along the way. And you know, sometimes, if I come up with a good scene. I’ll write the entire scene out. And just kind of you know, just put that out on a the side, till I know where I am going to place it? You know, because a lot of times I’ll start developing the character. And the character gets in your head, right? So I just try a new project that I am working on, that the character. Such as the female character is developing with another actress. But, you know, her and the characters are in my head. And I just kept having to write down dialog and scenes even though I didn’t have the entire outline laid out. I knew some of the scenes that were going to be in there. And just started to write the
write-up away. Because you, once you feel like, geez you don’t want to cut it off. So, I went out and did that. Then I go back to the over-all outline later.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. And when you get into a flow of things. Like once you actually start writing what does your day look like, when you’re in the writing. Do you have other projects you are working on? Do you spend two hours, do you spend a full 8 or 10 hours. Or some writers spend 18 hours, you know, once they get into the flow of things. What do your actual writing days look like?
Tony: Wow, I wish I had that kind of time. Unfortunately, I still have a full time job. So, writing for me takes place anytime I have a possible moment. So, I’m usually writing from about 9:00p.m. at night till 12;00midnight, 1:00a.m. in the morning, and on the weekends. You know, if I am on a plane, sometimes I’ll actually do that as well. But well, anytime, every time I have a free moment, that’s when I’m actually writing. You know, the hard part is, during the day, when I have all these ideas. You know, you never really turn it off, the ideas are always there. It’s kinda odd, I got a great idea here, I got to remember that. I’m just going to jot it down, I can’t really flesh it out completely. Now I got to remember that, at 9:00p.m. at night. See, so you kinda have to you know, regenerate that whole, alright, I was thinking about this at that time. And this is where I was alright I got to get back in that mode, and mind set so I can get the whole recollection of where I was?
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. And just so I, and I think this is an interesting question? Because there are a lot of people listening to this that already are also have full time jobs. And I’m always curious, what kind of production someone can do while they are doing a full time job. How many scripts per year do you typically finish? Feature scripts per year do you think is a good goal for you, or what do you actually accomplish? Even while still working another job?
Tony: A, that’s a great question? I think I could probably do 2 a year. I’m a little bit unique because I’m not, you know, “Bad Frank” I made it knowing, we wrote it knowing we were going to make the film, right. So, it’s not like I was writing multiple scripts, hoping that one of them would be a hit. So, the current script that I wrote, I knew we were making the film. So, I wasn’t focusing on other scripts. I mean I’ve got a bunch of other scripts that are in partial development. But, you know, once I knew that this was happening. My primary focus was here. So, for the most part, over the last years, or so? I’ve had a couple of other projects, that I’ve done a little bit here and there. I’m actually Co-Writing with a couple of other people. They’ve been doing some other work, and doing some work. But, you know, over the last year I say I have one complete script. And probably 3 maybe 4 others that are in varying stages of being towards completion.
Ashley: Yeah. yeah, yeah. Let’s talk about the re-writing process. And you kinda just described that “Bad Frank” a little bit of working with the actors. So, we can be specific to “Bad Frank.” But even just in general on some of these other projects. How do you know when you’re script is ready to just start showing to others, and other people? You know, when is that rough draft become something that’s polished enough that you can start to get notes back.
Tony: I have a couple of people that are, that I really trust. And you know, after, the first draft, I’ll never share it with anybody, for the most part. Usually the second draft is when I’ll go to the trusted people that, you know, is like 2 or 3 people that I really trust. I’ll have them read it. And I can tell from them, the reaction. Whether or not it’s really ready, and when I say ready, a script is never done. But, it’s kinda, I’m always tweaking, always making changes.
So, when I say it’s ready, I mean, that I can show it to people outside of my comfort circle. And the people that I trust, it’s not like they’ll say, man this is shit, you shouldn’t show this to anybody. I can tell from the reaction, like, hummm, there’s a couple of things that you might want to work on. And then I have, oh, it’s not ready right? But, if they say, man this is really good, and you should maybe put a tweak here, and tweak there. But, if it’s all minor stuff. Then I know I’m pretty solid, and it’s time to kinda be expand the breathe a little, good.
Ashley: Who are these 2 or 3 trusted readers, that you send it to. And we don’t need names, but just.
Tony: Names will not be revealed. (Laughing)
Ashley: Yeah. What type of people are they? Are they people in the industry? Are they people not in the industry? And how did you maybe meet those people? Again, we don’t need specific names, but just in general, what type of people they are?
Tony: I mean, one of them is not in the industry at all. It’s just somebody I really, trust and we been friends forever. It’s just they know it, they know the process. And they know exactly what is a good story line, what’s not a good story. And then there’s a couple of people that are in the industry, that I share my script with. And they are not big industry names or anything like that. But, they are people that I know what they are doing. You know, being in New Jersey. Is how I have contacts our west, or in high places. But I know some people that I really trust. You know, there’s a couple of people that are important to me, to more as people than industry people. And you know, those are kind of the people I gravitate towards. You know, when you’re in
New Jersey, and you don’t have that many industry contacts. You know, when you have some people, that you can really trust. Those are kinda the people you hang on to.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. So, I’m curious with this particular project, how did you approach genre? You’re calling it sort of dark thriller. But, was there any sort of talking to distributors, or talking to producers saying, well, this is a film that we think we can ultimately sell. Like what was sort of in your mind set of making this. Or was it purely, this is the best idea, I have right now, so that’s where I’m going. Were there some sort of you know, talking to producers, talking to distributors, trying to figure out something, that would actually have a place in the market.
Tony: I think originally, we wrote this script we were kinda thinking, you know, kind of a dark psychological type of thriller, was the genre we were trying to target specifically. You know, when I came up with the kidnapped idea. There really wasn’t much on the place where we could go, right. But, we signed on with, “Lotus Entertainment” thoroughly early on, actually they came on even before the film was made. Or just saw the script and liked it. A gal by the name if Daniel Brett, came on-board, saying, listen, we want Lotus to be a part of this. Which was great. Having them behind this has been very beneficial. Once we start getting ready to film it, from the marketing perspective, if we did look at, you know, this is extremely low-budget. So, we know we don’t have a lot of funds we can really place towards real actors. But, we are very fortunate to get it, with Tom Sizemore, you know. We are very fortunate to get Brian O’Halloran and Burks. And you know, World Champ Boxer Ray “Boom-Boom” Mancini. I mean, those are probably people you don’t get on a 1K budget. But, we specifically wrote those parts a little smaller.
So, we wouldn’t have, you know, big out lays of money. But you can get the marketability to have way laying those people in the film. You know, so not only did they do fantastic performances. But, just having them associated with the film, gave it celebrity credibility that you don’t typically get on these types of films. I think that was more of how we started thinking from a marketing or a group we were targeting perspective.
Ashley: Yeah. And were these, and what type of company is “Lotus.” Are they a distributor, or are they a production company like, what was their help?
Tony: They are a sales agent.
Ashley: Okay. So, when you are having conversations with them, like some of the cast. You were bringing on, were you having those conversations with them? Saying hey, would this person help our sales potential?
Tony: Yeah, yeah. They were very helpful there in regards so. You know we kinda said, hey we know someone who knows Tom Sizemore, is that good for us. And they were like, “Yes! That helps with you international sales.” Right so, you know, with when you are making a film, there is so many things that come into perspective. For me, number one, I want to make the quality film. But number two, you also have to think, oh well, if I’m going to spend “X” amount of dollars, for this particular actor. I hope that they can bring “X” amount of dollars back, right. And you know, you do have some what of the business perspective. Especially since I was wearing a hat only of a Director, and Writer, but also you know, Executive Producer of the film. So, I have to kind of think of all of those different perspectives, right. So, that, Lotus was very helpful, in that regard, it didn’t say, okay, that’s a good name. That’s someone that led to the film for you.
Ashley: Okay, and how do you meet the folks at Lotus, this Daniel?
Tony: Kevin actually met them. So, Kevin he’s a hustler and a planner. So, he goes, he’s all over the place. And he had met Daniel, when he was at a previous company. And he was just coming over from Lotus at the time. And you know, I met Daniel and I gave him a copy of the script, he loved it, he really wanted to be a, really a part of something that was. You know, it really was a smaller film budget wise. Anyone who looks at it, would never think we spent that little amount of money on it. I mean, the quality was on this film, phenomenal. Which has been showing, you know, the amount of festival wins that we’ve had. And we got distributions, Grab-a-toss, which is great. We are just about to come out on a full release in July. I mean, so it’s been blowing up really. And to me that speaks volumes, now with the level of talent that we had in front of the camera, and a look behind the cameras as well.
Ashley: Yeah. Let’s talk about sort of the next step? You have the script, it sounds like you know your talking with Lotus, you’re getting your cast. How did you go about raising the $80,000.00?
Tony: (Chuckling) I spoke to my wife. When I said, “Honey, we got a little nest egg. I think this is a good investment. So, that’s as far as the conversation went. I have a very understanding wife. And we really pulled it together almost enough, we got most of it anyway. A couple of people who put up a little bit of money in. And that was very it so, we were very fortunate. That’s part of the reason why, the budget was so small. I mean, if you saw the crew that we had one the film? It was crazy, what we were able to accomplish. We had a couple of PA’s. We had, you know, 3 camera guys, 1 sound guy, and 2 producers, and that was it. You know, it was as bare-bones as it can get. But, you know, everyone was there for one purpose which was to make a great film. And you would be surprised what you could accomplish when you have a, you know, such a dedicated and resourceful team together. So, that’s why anyone who writes a script, don’t necessarily wait around you know, for Hollywood to come pick it up. You know, go on out and make it yourselves. Because by the end of the day, You probably have a better chance of realizing the vision anywhere else.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. Just out of curiosity, what kind of camera did you guys use?
Tony: We shot it on a “Red”
Ashley: And then, who or where did you find your cinematographer?
Tony: A, he’s someone that Russ Russo had worked with before. So, we reached out to him. And said, “Hey, we’re doing a kinda a micro-budget film here. But, we really love your work, we would love for you to be a part of it. And we had a couple of good conversations with him. And he just jumped on board, and man, they did a fantastic job. I mean, every camera work that these guys did, for what we had was unbelievable. We, I was at a festival, and the guy still swears up and down there is no way we spent that little money in the budget. He said, we had to have at least a million dollars. I said, I laugh, no but I appreciate that. It’s kind of, that makes us feel really, really, good as film makers.
Ashley: Yeah, yeah. How did you hook-up with “Gravity Toss?”
Tony: A, through, Lotus.
Ashley: Okay.
Tony: So, Lotus actually had that relationship and you know, they really liked the film, and they came on board. And it had been great. We really felt a good relationship with those guys so far. They are just about when we start pushing the film now. Because we about, just a little less than a month away from official release. We are on pre-sale on all of the server things like iTunes, so you know, we’re excited, we can’t wait. We still haven’t officially released our trailer. So, we can get that out there. And we think that people are going to be really excited. Because it’s pretty sick and demented, so it’s the way we like it.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. So, what’s next for you after “Bad Frank.”
Tony: Actually in a little less then 2 months, I’m starting my next project. So, we got this put in place, we’ve got the lead actress in place. It’s a film called, “The Price For Silence.” And very similar to “Bad Frank” it’s going to be kind of a dark thriller, it’s a rape/revenge story. So, we’ve got a, about to bring on a couple of old interesting characters/cast members. So, I think the great thing about this is, “Bad Frank” is a allowed me to step my game up a little bit. Bring a little bit more into this project. So, the visibility on “Bad Frank” has been great. You know, whoever really likes “Bad Frank” I really want to make sure that we make something else. The next one that they are really going to gravitate towards it as well. So, I’m really excited to get this one started and let people start seeing what we are doing next.
Ashley: Perfect, perfect. And when you get done with that movie we’ll have to have you back on and we can talk about that, when.
Tony: Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Ashley: So, how can people see, “Bad Frank?” Maybe you could just tell us what the release schedule is like?
Tony: Sure. A so, it’s right now, it’s out there for pre-order on iTunes. If you go to iTunes. And just look up “Bad Frank.” You’ll find it easily there, and just click pre-order and it’ll magically appear on your laptop or iTunes on July 4th. It’s also available on Amazon, pretty soon it’ll be on all the other platforms as well. Amazon is on DVD right now, and Blue Ray.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. So, what’s the best way for people to keep up with what you’re doing, from: Twitter, Facebook, a blog, anything you feel comfortable sharing. You can give us that now, I round everything up, I’ll put it in the show notes. People can just click over, if you just give us those handles now, I think that would be helpful.
Tony: Sure, yeah, awesome. So, well, the movie is “Bad Frank” movie. So, we’re on Twitter – #forbadfrankmovie. Personally, I Have Tony Germ, so – T-o-n-y_ G-e-r-m, that’s my Twitter account, it’s my Instagram account, it’s my Facebook account. So, I think just about any social media account. If you go to Tony Germ, you’ll see me.
Ashley: Okay, perfect, perfect. So, as I said, I will round all that up and I’ll put it in the show notes, and allow people to click over to it. Tony, great interview, congratulations on this film, and the best of luck, on your next film. Thanks for coming on and talking to me, I really appreciate it.
Tony: Ah, thanks so much, this has been great, I really appreciate it, it was a lot of fun.
Ashley: Thank you, thank you, we’ll talk to ya later.
Ashley: I just want to mention two things I’m doing at “Selling Your Screenplay” to help screenwriters find producers who are looking for new material.
First I’ve created a monthly newsletter that will be sent directly to producers. Every member of SYS Select can submit one log-line per newsletter, per month. I went and Emailed my large list of industry database. And asked them if they would like to receive this monthly newsletter of pitches. So far, I have well over 400 producers who have signed-up to receive it. These producers are hungry for new material and are happy to read new material. And how they get to read scripts from new writers. So, if you want to participate in this pitch newsletter? And get your script into the hands of lots of producers. Sign-up at – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
And secondly, I’ve paid on of the premier paid screenwriting leads sites. You can syndicate their leads to SYS Select members. There are lots of great paid leads coming in each week from our partner. Recently I’ve been getting 5 to 10 high quality paid new leads every week. These are producers, and production companies that are actively looking to buy new material. Or are looking to hire a screenwriter for a specific project that they may be working on. If you sign-up for SYS Select, you will get these leads Emailed directly to you several times each week. These leads run the gambit of production companies looking for a specific type of spec. script.
To producers looking to hire a screenwriter to write up one of their own ideas or properties. Producers are looking for shorts, features, TV, and web series, pilots. It’s a huge aray of different types of projects that these producers are looking for. And these leads are exclusive to our partner and SYS Select members. To sign-up, go to – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/selelct, again that’s – www.sellingyourscreenplay.com/select.
On the next episode of the Podcast, I’ll be interviewing, Writer/Director, Aaron B. Kuntz. He just did a low-budget horror thriller script called, “Camera Obscura” He’s got a great story, which I think a lot of people will be able to relate to. He had a career working outside the film industry, and just decided to walk away from that career and pursue his passion as a film maker. So, we talk about that transition as well as digging into the specifics of his new project. So, keep an eye out for that episode next week.
Anyway, that’s the show, thank you for listening.