"Butchers Hill" teaser trailer...

I got an email a few days ago from Jason Noto, one of the filmmakers involved in "Butchers Hill", an indie horror that's currently in development. Here's the link to their teaser site and I have to say, the artwork is pretty damn cool and the trailer looks amazing. To make it, they shot a 10 minute short, based on the opening to the feature, then cut the teaser from that. Check it out, it does look good...

This is almost the exact same route that James Wan took with the original "Saw" film and look what it did for them. If you haven't seen the original 10 minute film that Wan made, check it out here. James Wan and Leigh Whannel were originally going to make "Saw" on an ultra-low budget, instead they dumped all that money into making that 10 minute teaser. They shipped the teaser around with their proposal and feature length script then, subsequently, a lot of people passed on it... until it came across the desk of Gregg Hoffman. (I think it's Gregg Hoffman, I'm not sure... either way, the story's accurate) He gave it a budget of $1.2 Million and it was filmed in only 18 days. It was first shown at Sundance in 2004, then went on to gross $55 Million in the U.S., $102 Million worldwide... and it spawned 3 over-produced, money making sequels and everyone's making big-time dough. A true Hollywood success story!

If you can afford to put together a great looking trailer, it really can make your proposal. Writing an awesome script and shopping it around is one thing, but being able to actually see part of it adds a whole new layer. Investors, venture capitalists and financiers tend NOT to be filmmakers and, therefore, they aren't that creative and probably won't be able to 'see' your vision through written words alone. Having a teaser or something visual will not only make the idea jump off the page, it will help them see your vision.

**By the way, I should mention, if you're an indie filmmaker with a film in any stage of production, let me know about it. I like seeing what's going on out there and chances are I'll mention it on the site...