My parents are trying to seize control of my money, but...!

Post Reply New Topic

It's sort of a serial rapist/killer on the loose that has to be caught, crime/thriller genre.

I would add it in my portfolio for sure, but the amount of money it would cost to make it, I would like to sell it to a distributor ideally.

Then contact distributors before you make it and maybe pitch your idea to them. The industry is very competitive so if you don't get any interest before you make it, you may end up wasting a lot of money on something that doesn't get you what you want.

Put 10k away and make the movie. s**t flops you still have 10k.

Assuming you can afford to buy your own home (no mean feat), as implied by one of your posts above, I think that should be your main priority.

As regards your parents, I don't know you or them, so I won't direct this at you personally, but if MY parents threatened to touch a penny if MY money, I'd tell them that they're to desist from their efforts to do so immediately, or I'll refuse to step foot in the same room as them again for as long as I live - and they'd know I meant it and had the strength of will to go through with it; these latter two things are indispensable, however. Luckily, I'm blessed with parents who would never dream of something like that.

Okay thanks, but I don't think distributors are that interested in ideas, they are mostly interested in buying movies that are already made I think.

Also, it seems that this whole having to use a lot of money to make a movie is normal. I talked to a few filmmakers in film school and they said that you wouldn't believe how many of them had to put their house on the line to get a movie made.

Last edited by ironpony on 23 Dec 2018, 4:23 am, edited 1 time in total.

Do as much research as possible beforehand so you can find someone suitable to pitch the idea to. Someone who believes in you and that your idea has potential. Since that genre has been done so many times, the angle will have to stand out in some way that makes it unique or different.

Okay thanks, but it normally does not work like this in the industry. Distributors are interested in buying movies, not ideas most of the time.

Well now my parents are really putting the pressure on me, constantly trying to get me to move all my money into an account where I won't be able to touch it for a year now, in order to make more money as a result. The gloves are off with them now. How can I get them too back off?

Move out. Either find cheap rent as a roommate or buy your own small place and rent out one of the bedrooms to help make ends meet.
Move your money and do not divulge that information to anyone.. Kerp your finances private from everyone.
Save up again and be happy realizing your dream.
Your parents may be concerned and also get the privilege of nagging you becuase they are still partially supporting you.
Is this a workable solution?

Well I don't want to tell them that I am making the movie anymore, and just do it without them knowing hopefully. But at the same time, they try to set up savings plans for my money, but then when i tell them no, they got all suspicious and wonder if i am still making the movie or what am i doing with the money then, that i don't want to do this.

Such an important project will be hard to o hide. I'm not quite sure what you were saying : " that I don't want to do this". Are you holding off on making your movie for now?

Sorry, when I said "I don't want to do this", what I meant is that I don't want to set up these saving bank plans, that they want to enroll me and they are getting hugely suspicious if I tell them no, that I am up to something.

Your parents are trying to help you. You should listen to them. They are not trying to "seize control" of your money. They are trying to keep you from pissing it away for no reason. You may not be insane, but you are not acting reasonable either. By all means, follow your dreams, but not like this. It's not just "risky" - it's extremely risky AND competitive, and not something you just dive blindly into. You WILL lose money that way, I can assure you. You are in way over your head, and would be far better off putting your money in an account like your parents want. In the meantime, before you go spending any money on your move, actually finish writing your movie, which to my understanding, isn't done yet.

I don't mean to be harsh, but I couldn't stay quiet in the face of what I see as a serious mistake. This is not the right way to go about things, no matter how much pressure you feel to start your film-making career. I will also mention that someone already made a movie with a similar premise to yours - it wasn't very popular - it's not a premise many people feel comfortable with, even for entertainment purposes. Fair warning.

I would rather you be mad at me for telling you something unpleasant, than you end up dumping all of your money into a poorly planned project, and losing all of it, and having no movie, and no money. I once wasted $10K on something I thought was important, and lost it all cos I didn't plan well enough - I still kick myself for it.

Trust your parents on this one.

The screenplay is written I was just doing some rewrites before based on reader's opinions. I talked to my parents and said we can put half the money into the account and can be frozen for savings plans, but the rest I want to be able to take out at my discretion if I want to. That's half, so that's not unreasonable of me, is it? Plus following your dreams means doing what you have to do to break in. You either do it or you don't, there is no sort of follow your dreams. The only way to do it is to go all in, unless I am missing something.

Another thing is, I talked about this before on here, and other users say to go for it, or I will regret it if I don't, which is what I have been doing. And I even went to a therapist about it, and he said that if I don't do it, I will always look back and regret it as well, so I feel like the majority opinion so far, has been to go for it and give it a shot.

As for what movie was like my premise but wasn't popular, which movie was that out of curiosity?

I think you will regret it if you don't but I also think you will regret if you do it & it doesn't work out.

Perhaps but I feel I would regret it less if doesn't work out cause then at least I tried, rather than not try at all...