New Venture Lab: Equipping Christian Entrepreneurs

Three Entrepreneurs Score with Their First Movie Project

This profile features, Brian, Daniel and Gary - three entrepreneurs that creatively collaborated on a movie project.

Name:

Brian Lohr, Daniel Bittner and Gary Voelker

Family Description:

• Brian Lohr – 27 – Director, Writer, Actor
• Daniel Bittner – 22 – Producer, Cinematographer
• Gary Voelker – 36 – Director of Photography, Editor, Visual Effects

Business Name:

Dialtone

Business Description:

Dialtone is a 41-minute drama narrative that prompts a thoughtful look into the priorities of life, the balance between the fear of God and the fear of Man, and the urgency of sharing the Gospel every chance we get.

Location:

Olympia, WA

Formal education/training:

• Brian Lohr: Home Educated. Law Degree from Oak Brook College of Law. Passed CA and WA Bar.
• Daniel Bittner: Home Educated. Two years of college education at Central Texas College.
• Gary Voelker: Bachelor of Science in Pastoral Theology from Hyles-Anderson College in Indiana.

Prior work experience:

This was the first major project for any of us. Brian and Daniel had very little prior experience in film other than shooting for fun while growing up and volunteering with church video ministries. Gary had started his own production company prior to being asked to be a key part of Dialtone.

Forming the Idea:

• Daniel: Three years prior to Dialtone, Brian and I worked together in the same office in the Legislature and soon found out that we each had a passion for film. We eventually shot a few small projects for fun and then started to seriously consider what it would take to produce a "real" film.
• From the very start we knew that we had extreme limitations in experience, money, acting talent, and film equipment. However, Brian knows how to write great stories and I know a lot of people, and neither of those things cost money!
• Because of these limitations we knew that we needed to write a short story as well as base it on locations and people that we could get to work for free. In fact, our key location (the warehouse) was secured even before the story was formed. Thus our story weaved in the elements that became available as we pressed ahead.
• Brian came up with the initial idea and wrote the script, while I worked to find the key people and locations that would bring the script to life.

How you got started:

• While Brian worked on the script, I worked on building an online forum focused on bringing together local talent among fellow believers who were interested in lending a hand and helping to spread the word.
• We started a website and added a feature to raise money through online donations via PayPal. We had no idea how much we were going to need, we just knew that we were spending more than was coming in, and we were barely in pre-production!
• While we had a great script and enthusiastic volunteers, we had no equipment. We did a lot of research on the highest-quality cameras that were available at the lowest possible cost. We ended up choosing the Canon HV20, which sold for around $800. At times, it was a pain to work with because of a lack of manual controls, but under the circumstances, we would certainly use it again because of the camera’s fantastic quality.
• Once a good camera was secured (using our own cash), it became apparent that we were going to need much more equipment…for little to no cost. I called up Gary Voelker, whom I had worked with in a church video ministry, to ask about equipment. He was now running the ministry as well as his own production business on the side. I soon found out that he had some of the equipment I needed so I sent him our script, hoping that he would jump on board because of his production experience. He bit. We then made him our Director of Photography.

What was it like in the beginning:

• All three of us were working full time during production, so right from the start we were torn between spending our limited time on production and raising funds. It became obvious that both actually needed to be done at the same time and as we made larger and larger steps forward and were able to show people the quality of the project that they were going to invest in, they became more interested.
• Our first shoot was very exciting and stressful. We had a total crew of 20 people who had all driven at least 2 hours to our warehouse location. It was freezing cold, which made for a very miserable 13 hour shooting location, however, everyone spirits remained relatively high. After surviving that day it seemed like nothing could stop us, and indeed with each shoot that followed we became a more efficient team.

What stage the business is at now:

• The film premiered at a theater in October of 2008, and it’s first festival was the San Antonio Independent Christian Film Festival in January of 2009. The film is now being distributed by the Christiano Film Group and is available on Netflix, Family Christian Stores, and various online outlets. In addition, Dialtone has made an impact in South Africa and is coming soon to Brazil (currently being translated into Portuguese.)
• Dialtone had a budget of about $10,000, half of which was raised through donations. The other half of our budget was funded through Christian investors (once we had proof of concept.) After just the first 6 months of distribution, we have been able to repay our investors 25% of their initial investment.
• We are told by our distributor that the "life" of a Christian film is very long, and to expect initially slow but steadily increasing sales.

The biggest challenge you’ve faced:

Lack of "adequate" resources, including equipment, time and money. There especially never seemed to be enough time or money, but that is usually the case with any project. We were determined not to use this lack of resources as an excuse for not getting things done. We met for scripting and storyboarding almost daily at 6 am before work and planned our shoots out for the weekends and late at night.

Key steps that made the difference:

Doing a film that we loved. Dialtone was made almost in spite of us, but we all loved the craft of filmmaking and did everything within our limited and inexperienced power to make it the best film that we could.

Lessons Learned:

• You will never feel that you have enough time, money, or resources. But it's not about what you don't have; it's about what you creatively and resourcefully do with what you do have. If you have that time of mind frame, that you will get it done regardless of the then more often than not your resource.
• You can never do too much planning or pre-production work. Don't even think about going on location without fully thinking through every shot and every detail. Taking the time to think through everything doesn't cost nearly as much as it does when you show up on set unprepared.
• Try to make "now" the deadline. Otherwise you'll never be fully prepared for the real deal when it inevitably shows up. If you find that you are ahead of schedule don't let that fool you into taking it easy. There's always more work than time.

The best advice you received:

What your work and family life was like before:

What your work and family life is like now:

• Shortly after Dialtone was completed, our team participated in a 36-hour Christian film competition and ranked in the top 10 out of over 65 entries. The 3-minute film has been shown at several churches nationwide and has been used as part of Bible studies and Youth camps.
• We are currently working on our third film which will be a comedy based on people's many misconceptions about the afterlife.