Matthew Currie Holmes is an active member of Innovatrs and founder of Darling Films. He talks about how he became a film producer and financier.

Darling Films brings great screenplays to the people who have the power to make them into great films. Its goal is to purchase and develop scripts, work with writers to create the best possible version of their work and to produce and pitch feature films with people who are passionate about what they do.

Innovatrs: What made you do it? Why did you take the plunge, became an entrepreneur and give up that cozy corporate job opp?

Matthew: First off, I never had cozy job opportunity, as I am not even remotely wired that way! I have always fancied myself a bit of an artist and a narcissist. That combination usually leads to trouble.

Innovatrs: Is this your first business? What past experiences helped you take this fast route to masochism?

Matthew: This is my first LLC but I have spent most of my adult life being, somewhat self-employed.

I started off trying to be a rock star in my early 20’s and I found some artistic success touring across the country with my band… key word being ‘artistic’ in that last sentence. It was my tenacious ambition and almost pathological need to be adored that brought me to my next career: Acting… because clearly being a musician wasn’t masochistic enough.

I had been a performer my whole life from plays in high school to a musician on the road so this seemed like the next logical step. I read a book by the great playwright David Mamet called Hersey and Common Sense for the Actor. In it Mamet says if you’re going to become an actor (and I believe this with every fiber of my being) you must commit to being an actor; or a painter, or an accountant or a CEO 100%. You shouldn’t have a Fall Back/ just in case job. Mamet said: “If you have anything to fall back on… you will fall back on it.”

(As an aside… I recommend this book for anyone starting a business. It was written for actors but you could easily exchange the word ‘actor’ for ‘brick layer’ if you want and still get a lot out of it.)

So I just acted. I didn’t know how I was going to pay the rent, but the rent always found itself paid and eventually, after years of working exclusively as an actor I was able to carve out a nice little career for myself.

Like most endeavors there are ups and downs, the slings and arrows that acting presents are very hard to take so I decided that I needed to expand my repertoire as an artist and become a writer and a producer of film and television. Again, fulfilling my bizarre need for self-flagellation.

Seriously, having spent the past 10 years acting in a number of movies and television series and having spent time with and having created solid friendships with great directors and producers it seemed like the next logical step. Through their tutelage I began to understand the business of filmmaking. The nuts and bolts if you will.

I feel that all great ideas come from an artists’ sense of possibility and wonder and from there the business sense of how to make it profitable is simply the next phase in developing that ‘idea’ into fruition. It may sound naive but I believe, especially in this industry, ‘smart’ work, perseverance and trust in your ideas is what will make you successful as an entrepreneur.

That was my very longwinded response to a simple question.

Innovatrs: What does your venture do?

Matthew: Darling Films exists for one reason and one reason only: To put the printed page on to the screen. All great films come from great screenplays. As a writer and a story editor for hire, I understand how to structure a great screenplay… that’s not to say everything I write is brilliant, but at the very least all the pieces are in the right place

I package independent projects to make them more enticing for financers and other producers. This is done in a myriad of ways and on a project-to-project basis. Sometimes we attach cast, other times we crunch some numbers to make the project more appealing by finding the proper tax incentives, other times we just concentrate on the script and try to make it bulletproof.

Currently we have four films in various stages of development. The one closest to fruition is kick ass horror film called P5YCH.

www.canthe5survive.com

Innovatrs: What was the original @ha Idea?

Matthew: My EUREKA moment came when I finished a screenplay and wife said: This is really, really good. She’s my toughest critic! If she likes it… it’s good!

Innovatrs: And when/where did it hit you?

Matthew: It was during the 2007-2008 writer’s strike that I took the plunge. Because I was unable to work as an actor (I could have been a scab but that’s not who I am) and because I have this shark like feeling that if I stop moving I’ll die, I created Darling Films. Necessity is the mother of invention.

It was baptism of fire, as I had no idea how to produce or package a film. Luckily no one in the industry was doing ANYTHING so I was able to ask bigger A-List producers and writers for their guidance. No one was able to get paid but everyone was willing to have coffee and talk! I spent the 100 days of the strike learning how to develop films.

Innovatrs: What was running through your head when you started up?

Matthew: Are you nuts? You have no-idea how the other side of the camera works!

Innovatrs: What crises hit you early on?

Matthew: I can do everything in my power to created compelling, cost effective, risk mitigated, fantastic projects but the hurdle is ALWAYS money. Last June our film P5YCH was fully financed. We were ready to start shooting and our investors pulled the funds due to the ‘state of the economy’. It was heartbreaking. We had to start all over again.

The hardest part about making independent movies is finding someone to finance them. So every day is a crisis!

That being said, if there is someone out there on Innovatrs.net with a couple of million burning holes in your pocket… I have some great news for you.

Innovatrs: What are the long-term goals for your company?

Matthew: The long-term goal is to become a lucrative, full service, content-based production company that caters to all genres. We welcome submissions from new writers and other producers.

This is a collaborative industry and I believe that Independent Film is seeing an amazing resurgence. People are starving for entertainment and the studios are just not producing films like they used to. There is a content hole that needs to be filled. We want to fill it!

Innovatrs: Have you felt pangs of fear or anxiety when building your business? If so, over what and how did you deal with them?

Matthew: Everyday. I deal with them by simply believing that what I’m doing is the right thing. I know it sounds simple and maybe a little flaky but hey, I’m an artist! So far in my life things have seemed to find a way of working out.

I believe very strongly that no man is an island and if you feel you cannot do a particular job then at least be smart enough to find someone who can. I have been fortunate enough to befriend many professionals who know more than I do. I trust in their wisdom and try and learn from whatever mistakes they may have made in the past.

Innovatrs: What big ol’ failures have you had in the past and how have they helped you get to where you are?

Matthew: My acting career DIED during the writers strike. I mean D-I-E-D. And it seemed that every choice I made kept me further and further away from resurrecting it. So… that happened.

How it helped me was simple. I was able to ‘flip the script’ and say: “My acting career didn’t ‘die’, my writing career has simply taken flight.” Just believe that you’re doing the right thing. Period.

Innovatrs: Have you looked for investors? If so, how?

Matthew: The film industry is like the lottery. While I can reach out to potential investors for Darling Films, to help keep operating cost down, the pay out once a film is financed is enough to actually bank roll our other projects currently in development.

For example: We are currently seeking $5 MM for the production budget of our film P5YCH. Once the film is financed, my fees as a writer, actor and producer get rolled back into the company and that becomes the capital needed to purchase other properties and develop future projects.

Any takers?