Alchemist spinoff 3: The amazing Mr. Espektro v.s. the burocracy terror!

Espektro — Tue, 22 May 2007 23:05:14 +0000

Okey, this is a spinoff with a long subtitle... because Im just so pissed off! It was a bad day.

I recieved a package this morning, it was the female wrestler suit I designed for a photoshoot Im planning to use in my website, but like a premonition it came wrong. I designed the suit to be all in red, instead of that it came in black. It doesn't looks so bad, but is not what I designed. The wrestler mask Im using in my avatar is actually the logo of my little studio, and seems I now have to change it to black. That was the smallest of my problems.

Today I present myself into the Secretary of Culture of my state/region to bring my project THE INVENTION OF THE HOMUNCULUS into the Coinvertion program I'd been talking to you all this posts along. A coinvertion program is about the Goverment and the Particulars making a coinvertion on an artistis project, and mine is a shortfilm production. In the coinvertion, the particulars try to afford as much they can in work, equipment and services... and the goverment trows some money, arround 15 000 dollars. I'd spent the last two months trying to get as much coinvestors I could so papa goverment would not say NO to my offer. What I got is:

-A free use of a record studio. Woah! Im still amazed of that, record studios are really, really expensives and Felipe (my coproducer) got it for free.

-An exhibition guarantee in our local college, the Universidad Michoacana, to show our short during all their festivals and cultural events arround the next year. Besides that, Im going to pay myself all the envys to local film festivals, INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS like the one my city organices each year. The last year we got Guillermo del Toro, Tommy Lee Jones and Gus Van Sant, so we're going big each year.

- A free rent local I can use each day of the year at anytime of the day, to work on the animation short. It's something like saving $3600 bucks a year.

-My own computers, buyed with my work for a year. They're very powerfull machines and ready for hard work.

So, wen I came to the Secretary of Culture they took my project, noding like if they had a pain in the ass and guess what? They say "Your coinvertion can't be your computers". I said "what? why is that? in your contest bases you NEVER mentioned I couldn't mark my equipment as part of the coinvertion".

Because we say NO. Type it again.

That's the most stupid answer I ever heard in my life. Really. I'd deal with mexican burocrats each day, and they're hatefull people most of the time who's inferiority complex makes them treath you like shit because they're in a power position and you need their authorization in order to obtain a benefit. But this ma'm was the worst, she was like my second grade teacher pulling my ears off. Im 25, I studied Laws and Social Sciences and she speaks to me like a school boy? fuck! Only in Mexico, baby!

I'd been thinking what should I do in case the Coinvertion program rejects my project forever. Should I do it for free? sacrificing more time and resources? Dunno... but at least that would be the honorable way to take. Im going to take the "corrected" project tomorrow (and notice my sarcasm) and hope this time they just nod okey.

Many americans ask themselves why mexicans keep coming and coming from down the border :) ... this is one of thousand reasons. I love Mexico, but sometimes I just wish things could be more easier arround here, geez. Less autodestructivity, that is.

FADE OUT

Alchemist spinoff 2

Espektro — Thu, 10 May 2007 14:06:45 +0000

Yesterday Felipe Ochoa(my coproducer) and I reached the director of periodism career at a local college, the UDEM (University of Morelia) to ask for an sponsorship/ coproducing favor. The UDEM has a very cool record studio they use for educational purpouses, and this guy knows Felipe since a long time ago (beer partners, that is ;) ) and he said: GO AHEAD!

This is very encouraging! he said there's no problem since their goal is CREATE, CREATE, CREATE. It's nice to know people out of the bussines with the resources and the attitude to break inside without all that crap you have to deal to make your vision come true.

Anyway, maybe we'll be having problems to get an sponsorship because this is a long project and there's no way they can see their ads as sooner than a year. We need to find the right people, not only looking for the brute money. It's gonna be difficult. The deadline to apply in the goverment production program is may 24th and we still need get some documents. I hate paperwork.

I decided to take off the 35 mm filmprint from the original budget, it was consuming at least the half of the total and they only can give us 15000 dollars for a year of production. 7 minutes in 35 mm costs arround 8000 dollars in Mexico, no way. I'll invest more money in men/hour than materials, since we'll do it all digitally and we already have the hardware and software to do it, I'll make my bet for a filmprint sponsorship once the short is finished. We'll manage only DVDs by moment.

Why we need a filmprint? many festivals only accept exhibition copies on 35 mm, wich I think is very stupid since most of the people who goes into festivals are short in money; we live in the digital era and DVD, VCD or HDV are more affordable formats, and many festivals already give you a free filmprint if your work is selected. Maybe I'll just skip those festivals.

Well, let's see what happens. Espektro out.