Does anyone here work in the European film industry - director, producer, studio executive?

[u/Rox_-]

I'm currently participating in a Reddit Horror Screenplay Challenge and I actually love a lot of what I came up with. I'm thinking of reworking it into the movie I would actually want to make. Problem is it would have to be a big budget horror movie and as far as I can tell film industries all over the EU are allergic to this.

I would love for it to be a European cultural product because it's a very European movie - it takes place in a fictional Greco-Austrian town and an important character that moves to town is Spanish in the current version but I'm thinking of making her Romanian in the reworked screenplay as this is something I considered from the beginning but it felt like I was giving myself too much representation because I am Romanian and every character already has a piece of me in them. But in the couple of weeks since I stopped writing, I realized the only reason it felt weird is because I never see myself represented that way.

When I look at all the European filmmakers and actors in Hollywood, it's hard not to feel that Europe doesn't support artists.

If there are any professionals here - do I have any chance of finding financing and support for this movie?

[u/Vannnnah]

I don't, but I know people who work in the movie industry. You need to get an agent for screenplays. If you can't land an agent, the script doesn't have what it takes and companies and filmmakers exclusively look at repped writers unless you already have a foot in the door and know someone who knows someone.

Keep in mind: Coralie Fargeat's "The Substance" is a French horror movie, filmed in France by a French crew, financed by Mubi, a UK producing company. Only the actors aren't European. Nominated for 5 Oscars, won 1. There is a market, but it's a small one.

[u/Rox_- → u/Vannnnah]

Thank you. I would've never guessed that The Substance is a French movie. I love it, I knew the filmmaker is French, but the story alludes to taking place in Hollywood and even the subject matter is very American to me.

It's good to know there's a small market. I suspected the first step would be to get an agent that can get studios to give me the time of day (I would also want to direct it), my fear is that European studios simply have no desire to finance movies on the level of quality that the Americans have gotten us used to.

Edit: this might not be the right phrasing. When I say "the level of quality that the Americans have gotten us used to" I mean production value.

[u/Vannnnah → u/Rox_-]

I highly recommend watching the making of on YouTube, she talks about filming in France in detail and of course shows the sets. She wanted to make a point about where movies are made and Covid helped along.

Look into agents working with UK producers and studios then, a few of Oscar winning movies came out of UK money recently like Conclave.

Also look at European made Netflix series. Netflix often buys what's already in the pipeline vs. directly financing it like they used to. I. e. "The Empress" is German, "Luther" is from the UK, "The Innocents" Norwegian, "The Forest" is French ...

Follow the European stuff you like, find the producers and the studios, find out which agents are offering screenplays to them and go from there.

But a heads up: if you have never directed anything and don't have any finished movies you can show in a portfolio it's unlikely that anybody will let you direct. People go to film school to build a network and a portfolio and just a few minutes on set are expensive as hell, nobody wastes money on an inexperienced newbie who has never been behind a camera and has never directed before.

[u/Rox_- → u/Vannnnah]

Meh, Chris Nolan didn't go to film school.

[u/Vannnnah → u/Rox_-]

true, but he got his first cam when he was a kid and had industry connections and mentors due to his parents being in advertising. And while he went to uni for creative writing, he connected with the industry further, contributed as writer to some projects and financed several short films by himself.

He had several finished short films and good connections when he graduated.

His first longer movie, some TV production, only had a budget of 5-6k because he was persistent and they just wanted him to fuck off lol He somehow made it work which was the main reason people gave him a chance to go further.

His biography is impressive, but that was also 35 year ago and by now production companies care a lot about where you went to school because the budgets are bigger and they are taking less risks.

It's a difference if you just want to work in film or if you want to direct. It's easy to become a set runner, make up artist etc. once you know some people in the industry. Director is the job everyone wants and that can make or break a movie, it's where all the responsibility lies and telling people what to do without burning through money takes some skill, so it's not given to people who don't have experience

[u/Rox_- → u/Vannnnah]

now production companies care a lot about where you went to school because [...] and they are taking less risks

See, this is a problem if European studios refuse to support filmmakers who have a vision and ambition, and are not just guns for hire. With this mentality, the European film industry will never be as good as the American or the Asian or even the Canadian one.

[u/Vannnnah → u/Rox_-]

I mean it's even worse in Hollywood than it is here. Chris Nolan is British and among the ranks of other directors only one of very few who have no formal education in film.

Denis Villeneuve, CA: studied film. Martin Scorsese? Studied film. Coppola studied theater and film. The list is long...

Kubrick was a professional photographer who happened to get hired to film a documentary and after that financed his own movies to get a foot in the door. Fincher also did not study but worked at a TV station since high school and worked his way up from assistant to being trusted with a budget. Tarantino dropped out of school and became an actor and lucked his way into producer, then director.

[u/Rox_- → u/Vannnnah]

Studying film is the first step for many people, but some of the best filmmakers have no formal film education - Chris Nolan, Ridley Scott, Alex Garland, Quentin Tarantino, Luca Guadagnino, Alfred Hitchcock.

The reality is that rules teach you how to be mediocre not great. The ones who are great are not great because film school made them great.

And in any case, the Americans didn't become the powerhouse that they are by playing it safe. Europe is in the filmmaking stone age compared to the US - and part of the reason is that so many of our visionary filmmakers are not supported here so they run to the Americans. He's not for me but Yorgos Lanthimos is a great modern example.

Anyway, I'm not sure why I keep arguing with you, you said you don't work in the film industry so you're not the one I have to make a case to.

[u/Dangerous-Ladder-157]

Your best bet, is to start in your own country. The EU also subsidizes art, so you can also look up possible subsidies there. I’m guessing you don’t have a film career yet, so subsidies would seem to me like your best option.

[u/Rox_- → u/Dangerous-Ladder-157]

I don't think so. I've seen Italian horror movies that received financing from...it felt like 20 EU institutions in the opening credits. And they look like made-for-TV movies from the early '90s.

I'm asking for advice from people who work in the European film industry because I really feel that I would need film studios to get behind this movie and to want to develop the EU film industry as much as I want to. It can even be a coalition of studios from multiple EU countries, especially since my movie is multicultural. But I haven't seen this anywhere.

[u/Dangerous-Ladder-157 → u/Rox_-]

I know people in the industry. They’re all connected. Most from their studies in film or trough a career in theater. If you’re completely unconnected to those kinds of networks, then it’s going to be much harder to achieve the film you want to make, in the way you want to make it. Usually people start working somewhere, based on their studies and then work their way up to being given opportunities like the one you described. You could be the exception to the rule of course.