How to Make a Hit Hollywood Film

I’m sure you’ve been there, sitting at home or in the office, daydreaming when ping, an idea comes into your head that you just know would make a smash hit at the box office. The likelihood is that you discard the idea as foolish and go about your life, maybe through lack of confidence, lack of skill or even a lack of energy to invest time into making a film. There are those of you however, who will want to push forward with the idea, if you find yourself in that elite group of dreamers then here are some tips on creating the ultimate Hollywood hit movie.

Script

The likelihood of you having million of pounds to throw at CGI and special effects is rather low, therefore it is imperative that your script is on point, after the script is finished you should allow several others to read it for feedback, listen to their advice and edit the script as many times as possible until you reach perfection. Here are some things to consider when assessing the script.

• What message are you trying to put across in the story? Have you managed to do it?
• Will the audience know enough about the characters? Have you given enough detail?
• Who is the film aimed at? Does the quality of the script target these people?
• The script should cover around 2/3 of the movie, have you left enough pauses and silent moments?

Financial Costing

Starting out can be tough but you don’t need a monster budget in order to create a smash hit at the box office, especially in today’s world of technology. There have been films that have grossed millions at the box office recorded solely with an iPhone. The best course of action is to assess how much you can afford to invest into the project, from there you should consider what pieces of equipment are the most important, for example you could shoot from a smartphone as long as you have good quality production equipment. Here are some ideas for saving money during filming.

• Props can come from a charity shop, loaned from friends and family or bought at cheap prices on the internet, get creative and you can save some money.
• Can you borrow recording or production equipment from a local school or college, perhaps you could encourage a student with access to use you as a project.
• Actors, use all resources available, friends and families for extras or lead roles, drama students looking to improve their CV or perhaps stage actors who won’t charge much to appear in your movie.

Filming

Planning is imperative during filming, once you have your script, your actors and your locations in place, it is time to plan how, where and when you will shoot. Remember that it is unlikely that you will filming in chronological order so a story board is important to keep you on track. The filming process will be time consuming and sleep will be hard to come by but if you truly believe in your project then plan well and work hard.

Getting the Deal

Once filming and production are wrapped up you need to start pitching it to film companies, my advice here would be to find as many companies around the World as is humanly possible and send your script or the finished product to all of them. Do not, I repeat do not take no for an answer, whatever it takes is what will be required of you. If you receive advice from any of the companies who have viewed your work then take it on board and amend appropriately. This will be a painful process but all it takes is that one company to like your work and you are on the path to success.

Here are some other helpful hints to help you smash the box office.