Returning for WonderCon 2024, the 2nd Annual Scene Breakdown: Behind the Camera of Film and TV Shows panel brings con-goers an exclusive look into some of the industry’s biggest projects. Moderated by writer/ producer Victoria Male, these creatives break down their work on various scenes spanning multiple hit projects and offer valuable advice for those trying to break into the industry. Check out all the panelists below!
The Panel
Blaine Morris (producer, Dark Obsession) discusses her role as producer and the various steps involved in getting her first studio film (The Noel Diary) made for Netflix, and producing for indies:
. . . [W]hen working with a studio, a lot of it is that there is just so many more meetings. You have your studio executives who have to approve everything. The indie filmmaking side, when I’m producing, I have to self generate everything. As much effort as I put in will push the movie as far as possible. So for Border Hopper (Morris’s Sundance Film Festival entry) . . . once it was in, I put together our entire publicity campaign, I made sure we had a trailer, our EPK (electronic press kit), I reached out personally [via email] to all the organizations I knew. It’s a Latino film, so I reached out to LatinX House or the Latino Filmmakers Network. But a lot of the producing was how much effort I put in to make that successful. [For Dark Obsession] . . . [T]hat was me and my other producer basically reaching out to as many sales agents as we could, going to networking opportunities . . . to find someone who would want to distribute it. Then once it’s in the hands of your sales agent, they’re kind of shopping it around to different networks.
The panel covered various topics including inclusion and diversity, advice on character development and world building, and the best ways to break into the industry in our modern, uncertain times. Gary Kordan (production designer, Key & Peele), says finding a mentor and leveraging social media is a great way to network and make connections in the current climate:
. . . [G]et a mentor immediately. How do you get a mentor? . . . [G]o on IMDb, go on the department that you love the most, whether it’s [the art department or the set decorator] and say I’m a big fan of your work, I follow you on Instagram, how can I do what you do? You’ll be so surprised to know how generous people are with their time . . . but at the same time, you have to have a good Instagram, you have to have a website, and the website can be your student film, and one credit . . . you have to show someone like me that you want to do it. Mark my words; if you hustle like that, and if you are focused and have the goods [and the passion], and someone like me will say I’m doing this music video this weekend, there’s no money and I can only pay you a hundred dollars, are you in? You’ll say yes, there, you’re in, and that starts your career.
About the Moderator
Victoria Male is a writer and producer whose short stories have been published in over a dozen literary magazines around the world. She created and produced the Your Biggest Fangirl podcast for three years, and worked in development with Ivan Reitman (producer, Ghostbusters, Space Jam: A New Legacy) on the Ghostbusters franchise for five years. She was also a finalist for the Academy Nicholl Fellowship, the Oscar’s screenwriting competition, in 2023.
We also had the opportunity to chat with Eric Litman (editor, Netflix’s One Piece) on his process and his history with the franchise.
Be sure to check out more of our coverage from WonderCon 2024, including other interviews and cosplay galleries!
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