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Thomas J. Chavez Looks Forward To A Bright New Past
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TC: It’s very difficult to fund a short film. Realistically, festival shorts don’t make money. They have limited viewing potential and traditional funding sources simply don’t fit the model. If I have a great idea for a feature that has distribution potential, there are investors and studios that I can seek out for funding. Documentaries have a number of foundations, grants and programs (as well as traditional commercial sources, depending on the project). Short film has very little, and it’s such an important first step for so many filmmakers.
As to what we offer, I’d say a lot. Strikeset is mostly a funding source, but we would like to be a good resource for production staff as well.
MM: How will you decide which movies to fund?
TC: As a matter of fact we’re working on our first. Do you mind if I plug it? A Bright New Past… Financing Available is Strikeset’s first project. It’s an exciting film that addresses the future of race relations in this country by asking, Would there still be racism if there were no race? It is [set in] 2018 and a series of new laws make the mere fact of one’s ethnicity illegal.
Like everything Strikeset does, this is a pilot. Once we get this project out, we’ll be opening up a call for scripts/pitches. Our own slate depends on our projected earnings for the quarter, but we want it to be a quarterly selection process. Filmmakers can pitch us with scripts and budgets and we have a selection committee that makes the final determination as to which projects to fund.
MM: Strikeset asks the key creative contributor to forgo any salary. That’s putting a lot of faith in writers-directors to follow Strikeset’s lead. Do you think a lot of writers and directors will be as generous as Strikeset is when it’s their idea on the line?
TC: Oh, good question. Well, the ideas are theirs and any net revenue they make off the film is theirs, too. When we’re talking about salary, we’re referring only to pay for their production work—they still own the film.
My background is in theater. I remember a mentor of mine told me, “You’ll make a living in theater when you’re passionate enough to do it for free.” I couldn’t agree more. We want to encourage talent. Maybe a filmmaker is fresh from film school—maybe they’ve never been to film school—but they have a great idea. As writers, we have to love our characters more than ourselves; as producers, we have to love our casts and crews more than ourselves; and as directors, we have to love our audiences more than ourselves. From our eyes, that means others have to be enriched before we will be. The filmmakers get a great opportunity and just maybe, a career out of it—even if we have to keep our day jobs for now.
MM: Why T-shirts first How did the idea come about and, of your designs, which is your favorite shirt or accessory on your site?
TC: Every DP, PA, AD, recordist and grip I know has a closet full of black T-shirts—that’s a uniform on set. But I had never before seen T-shirts made just for filmmakers. Sure, you have your branded products and production company tees, but nothing that spoke to the community, the fun of being on set and the ridiculous things that happen. Strikeset came out of that. Of course, I’ve seen “Director” or “Indie Filmmaker” shirts before, but crew members—essential crew members—had nothing. These folks make the film—they have a valuable asset, a trade that makes great movies happen. Could you imagine a Jaws without Verna Fields’ editing or a Star Wars without Ben Burtt’s sound? Every member adds something vital. I wanted to give them something of their own.
To me, that’s the most fun part. As I review the orders, I see names I recognize from IMDb, some big, some small, but all a part of the industry. My favorite? It’s a tie. We have one with the phrase “You Light Up My Life.” I’m also a big fan of “Writer. Director. Barista.” We all need a back-up plan while we’re waiting for Sundance to get back to us.
MM: You said you hope this encourages moviemakers to think outside the box when looking for forms of funding. Is this the future of film finance?
TC: Wow, I hope not. Strikeset is a lot of fun, but I have to remind myself that honing my craft is the most important part of my professional life. We filmmakers are so easily distracted by the non-creative elements of the business, we should take a cue from Musashi, and “do nothing which is of no use.” Building a whole company to pay for your film would be, in my mind, a gigantic diversion from a filmmaker’s true path.
Finance is going to go on the way it has. Film’s a risky business, but the risks entail great rewards when it works right and investors know that. I’d love to see more federal and state tax incentives, but the money for making movies is going to continue to come from banks, studios, advertisers and investors who rightfully expect something back. Strikeset isn’t going to change that; we never meant it to. We’ll fund the un-fundable and hopefully help encourage the kind of filmmakers who will keep the industry profitable and viable. Writers write, filmmakers film—finance is just a tool. We built Strikeset to get filmmakers on their way. They can pay us back by making great films… and by wearing our shirts.
For more information on Strikeset or to order their products, visit www.strikeset.com.
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