Ultrasonic, a film I made on an $800 camera is now available on Netflix Instant. I am writer/director Rohit Colin Rao. AMA!

Added it to the queue. What kind of compensation do you get from netflix? I always wondered that. Do you get anything for the number of views or is it just the studio that profits from its deal with it?

i'm not sure, i need to discuss it with my distributor.

No idea whatsoever?

Not sure I didn't know it was on there until this morning. I need to ask my distributor

What would you say was the hardest part of the process of creating the movie?

i think the most difficult part was continuing through til it got finished. there were a lot of times where it got quite discouraging and tiring.

Would you care to expand? Was it more the beginning of creating/filming or near the end with the editing and whatnot?

Also, would you consider going through the whole thing again?

well, don't get me wrong i really enjoyed the process as a whole. however, there were so many phases, it started out small with just a couple of us writing it. there were challenges there, where at times it felt like maybe we didn't have a good enough script. my funding got knocked down from 50k to 10k, i had to convince my wife to let me put 10k of our savings in it. 20k is not a lot of money to try and make a feature film, so with that came a lot of its own challenges. i had to edit the thing myself, and the person who was going to do the post-audio had a family emergency so he had to go out of the country for a few months. i ended up hacking my way through apple soundtrack to get audio in there. it was pretty nuts all in all.

i would do it again, but i think my wife would leave me if i try making another feature for no money. we shot the first 4 weekends in my house, so she had to take my kids for those entire weekends and stay with my parents. she was not happy :)

budget?

i made the film with really crappy audio for $22,000. when the distributor picked it up, they had the sound re-done for another $20k

i looked at the trailer it doesn't look half bad

any other plans for a film?

want a free screenplay?

i'm slowly working on writing another screenplay with my co-writer mike. i'm hoping to have the script done this year and will try and find some real funding for the next one.

would love to read your screenplay!

Sounds really interesting and high-concept, I'll check it out. Sorry that it didn't get the reviews you were hoping for (just surmising from the edit in your original post).

Did you ever consider telling your story in a different medium? It could make a really cool comic book or novel; I'd read it.

thanks re: the reviews. yknow i never really thought about a different medium as film and music have always been the mediums i've been comfortable with creating in.

What did you edit with? PC/MAC and what program?

I'll check it out on Netflix...

Thanks for checking it out. I edited on Final Cut Pro 7

Mistake number one...

i love fcp7 actually. fcpX came out right when i was in the middle of editing, glad i didn't go that route.

What DSLR did you use to make the film? And. How did you go about promoting this?

i used a canon T2i.

i submitted to festivals, it didn't get in the big ones. finally the dc independent film festival (great folks there) called and asked if i wanted to do the premiere there. i did, and just myself and the cast and crew promoted the screening. it sold out. a local distributor was there, saw it, contacted me and essentially took it from there.

what's the name of your distributor? Or can you not mention that?

Because if they took you straight to netflix/amazon it shows they have a decent sense of what's going on in the media landscape.

they're called garden thieves pictures

What lenses did you use?

4 lenses total...

tokina 11-16 canon 28mm canon 50mm canon 100mm macro

the 28mm ended up being the staple, with the 100mm being pretty nice for closeups

I like the synopsis. Checking it out now.

Congratulations on finding the discipline to see the project through. I envy that.

thanks!

What's the log line?

A musician with hyper-sensitive hearing goes in search of an ominous sound that plagues him, but is inaudible to everyone else.

1) Do you have a favourite film? A top 3?

2) As a small time independent, how would you feel if tomorrow you found out your movie had a couple thousand downloads on The Pirate Bay? (I'm not saying it does, or that it is even posted there, just wondering how it would affect you.)

1. i'll give you directors instead as i'm a fan of most all their films. all time favorites: stanley kubrick, paul thomas anderson, quentin tarantino.

2. i believe that no-names like myself need new paradigms of getting our work out there. it's not about the money. i'm working on building a site where i can post the film for free.

The question I ask everyone who is experienced in a field I'm not is: What are the three tips you would give someone who wants to get started in the field? So, three tips for a person who wants to start making films on their own?

1. buy a cheap dslr camera
2. start shooting
3. learn how to edit

What's your day job?

Did you have any formal training or education in film making before you started making Ultrasonic?

Have you seen any return on your financial investment since the distributor picked it up?

What's the worst reaction you've ever had to your film?

What's the best?

Have you seen Gareth Edwards Monsters? If you have what did you think? I ask only because the relatively "low" budget was a big talking point about the film and he specifically set out to make the film on a low budget.

• i'm a software engineer by day
• not a dime, unfortunately
• i've had a lot, but the one that i still think about was a reviewer that said the soundtrack was tone-deaf. given that i take my music-writing [somewhat] seriously, that one stung.
• i've had a few of the good ones too. i think the review i posted up in the description was my one validating not-someone-i-know-already reaction
• i have not, but i'll look for it.

How many times do you think you have seen your own movie?

Did making the movie change the way you see big budget Hollywood features?

What's the most interesting audio commentary you've ever seen on a dvd/blu-ray?

If you could work with one established actor who would it be?

What do you think is the "best" written TV show?

Is there a movie, besides yours ;), that you feel is under rated/unfairly obscure?

Feel free to answer all these in separate posts, or not at all. Just typing them in between sips of Hemingways Lemonade.

• while editing, i watched each clip countless times... but from start to finish, probably 20-30 times

• i watched a lot of audio commentaries during the pre-production of ultrasonic. one that i remember enjoying a lot was for the film "the secret in their eyes" (amazing film, btw)

• actor... hm. not sure. i really like daniel day-lewis but it looks like he's getting his cummupance, so joe gordon-levitt

• best tv show. i've been enjoying happy endings and key & peele a lot lately. drama... i was a big lost fan.

• pootie tang

hemingway's lemonade... nice

Hah, can't take credit for it. It's from an episode of Community.

ah community. yes, community was up there until this current season. i'm still trying to come to terms with the new writing style.

Sine your piddy on the runny kine!

sa da tay my damie

What movie director gives you the largest boner?

quentin.

Any tips on how to make it in the industry? I want to write for tv...what tips do you have for me?

still trying to figure that out myself :) i would say start writing and finding indies to produce your work

Well as a writer what do I need? Should I be searching for directors? Producers? or try and go right to Production companies?

well that's a tricky one, you would need to find someone who is interested in producing your script. i would start small by getting involved in the filmmaking goings-on in the closest city to you. the idea is to find people that are also just starting out that you can collaborate with. you're looking for a filmmaker or someone who wants to maybe create a web series or something like that. if you feel like doing it yourself, then i'd say buy the camera and get started on pre-production yourself, otherwise you would need to align yourself with an aspiring filmmaker.

Hi! Sounds like a good movie, but could you also get it available outside the U.S? On Netflix in Sweden I just get "Ultrasonic is unavailable to stream". Would be better for us to watch it legally than to pirate it, no?

pirating ultrasonic is NOT ILLEGAL. i own the movie, and would make it available for free immediately if i could.

i will try and put up an actual free version somewhere soon and let you know

Let me clarify: I don't know the legalities of ripping this movie from something like Netflix, but I do own all the rights to the movie and I'm going to figure out how to get it somewhere downloadable.

edit: so don't rip it from anywhere until you know the legalities of that. thanks, had to clarify.

Sweet! And thanks for the quick reply. Also:

if i could

What's stopping you? Why don't you create a high-quality torrent and put it on the Pirate Bay? I'm pretty sure they'd put it on the front page, as they've done for filmmakers and musicians in the past.

because i've never created one and don't really know how yet.

I dug it! It has a great story line. I hope you guys keep working together!

thank you very much!

What does your distribution deal look like? Any cash up front or how is it working?

no cash up front. basically was a 10 city theatrical deal, comcast on demand, fios on demand, along with all the online outlets in exchange for a percentage.

Nice. Way to go, man. Good job!

thank you

Someone may have asked this, but what does it feel like to make a movie that is poorly reviewed by critics? Does it bother you at all, or even offend you?

Shitty... But I've really tried to take what I consider constructive criticism and let go of what I think is bogus. One reviewer said it had a slack mid-section. I can see why they would say that. The reviewer that said I was tone-deaf.. Well whatever, that I disagree with.

what inspired you to get into movies, especially in DMV area?

always wanted to, and when i saw the dslr footage i jumped at the chance to make a feature. dmv is where i grew up..

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ah too bad!

Why didn't critics like it?

i think it should have been marketed for what it was, a film made with a whole lot of limitation. the critics i think reviewed it on the level of normal films that come out of indie studios

Shouldn't you want critics to be treating your movie on the level they did, rather than to ignore it.

yes, in hindsight i'm glad it was gauged at that level.

even if most of them didn't like it

As someone that has actually produced a feature length film, did the experience change your view on film critics? Is there a critic you respect above others?

Do you think the latest round of 3D is yet another fad, or is it finally here to stay?

With the advent of On Demand and streaming services, do you think movie theatres will die out all together? Or will there always be a place for them?

Can you point to one specific film or moment that made you want to make movies, or is it something you've always wanted to do?

-critics... well it really is important to have critics to help find jewels in the rough etc. sometimes i think critics abuse their power. there were a few different occasions that i remember reading something that was like "oh man dude... you coulda just said it sucked"

• i'm legally blind in one eye so i'm hoping 3d isn't going to become the standard

• not sure if they will die out, maybe thats because i'm from a generation that still views theaters as a magical experience... and even though my kids are all about the ipad watching etc, they still enjoy the theaters

• watching indiana jones and the temple of doom in the theater is my first memory of a theater. i have been in love with movies ever since.

What did you get monetarily from being on Netflix Instant?

Do you get any royalties based on how many users stream it?

Trying to be as objective as is humanly possible, on a scale of 0 to 100, what would you rate your own film?

i honestly dont know. my distributor didn't tell me it was on netflix! my co-writer texted me this morning saying a friend of his found it on there!

I too am looking to see if I could get a movie on netflix. Are there any tips you could give me?

i've heard netflix is tricky, unlike itunes and the like where you can find an aggregator and pay them to put it on. netflix requires a demand for the film before they stock it (hence the awaiting dvds), but things might have changed now. i'm not sure how he got it on there!

I assume you are of Indian descent, how did you get the middle name Colin?

What do you think about piracy, obviously it sucks you get no money everytime someone torrents or downloads your movie but do you think every extra person watching your movie is good? Have you ever pirated a movie?

i'm indian, yes. when we moved to the states and i didn't have a middle name my parents said we could pick our own. my sisters and i picked our middle names from a list of pen-pals in our church's weekly youth guide

Indian, as from India? Oh so is there singing and dancing in the film like any good Bollywood production?

no singing and dancing but a LOT of music, and def some homage in the title credits.

i wouldn't care if ultrasonic was pirated, but i can understand if people who have made movies feel differently about their.

back in the early aughts i remember watching a couple of pirated movies, could never get over the bad quality.

How much does Netflix pay you per view?

dunno...

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it was a percentage deal for rights to certain outlets including netflix, amazon etc.

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i'm indian

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Hah my dad is telegu and my mom is Gujarati

Could you give a simple list of how you spent your budget? I've never known where all the money goes when making a movie.

i bought a lot of equipment. camera, dolly, monitor, sound gear, lights, etc. the rest went to key cast, key crew, craft services etc...

Pontypool and The Sound of Noise are both pretty good films about sound/audio. Worth watching.

interesting, haven't heard of them, i'll check them out.

You mentioned in another comment that your original budget had "really crappy audio". Did you know going in that your audio was going to be an issue and were hoping to fix it in post or were you surprised by the quality afterwards? Also what were you guys using gear wise?

P.S. I just put ultrasonic in my que!

The recorded audio wasn't crappy actually, we did our best to get good field audio. It was the mix that sucked because I'm not an audio mixer and just did the best I could on it. When we put it in the hands of a good post mixer I think it turned out pretty good.

We used a tascam DR-680 to record through a sennheiser mkh-416

And thanks for putting it in your queue!

AMA is now less about finding interesting people and more about pimping out the PR :(

Well for what it's worth, there is no PR agency behind this. Just a guy who has been working really hard to try and make it creatively in a DIY way. But yes, with the freeman debacle, I understand.

I think a guy that set out and made his own movie and got it onto netflix is pretty damn interesting.

thanks!