The Art of Power

First Element Entertainment - Overcoming the Odds

by: Dan Mahoney

University of Michigan graduate and Automotive Engineer, Adrian Walker, had been practicing screenwriting artofpower skills for five years when he founded First Element Entertainment. He started out cold-calling to pitch his scripts and was told to get an agent, but he could not get representation having never made or sold a film.

Adrian was looking to produce a feature right away. However, Michigan filmmakers advised him against it. He was told a feature would cost at least $750,000. It would be too hard to secure funds, and he didn’t have the right education. Further, his application for the Michigan film tax credit was denied.

Walker then had the opportunity to share his plans with filmmaker Spike Lee, who advised him to go ahead and do it himself. First Element’s first feature film, The Art of Power, is now complete and headed for festivals and a regional theater release.

The film is a suspense thriller featuring three characters in Washington D.C. who become entangled with politicians, business people, and a high-class escort service. “We made a quality feature length film from zero script and zero money to ‘in the can’ in 8 months while shooting over 50 locations in two different states (Michigan and D.C.),” Walker said. “This was possible by planning well and being smart about our goals.” The film was produced for less than one third of the estimate Walker received when he was seeking advice, and the money was raised without state incentives.

Consistent with many emerging indie film success stories, The Art of Power is a collaboration between Walker and other local talent. The director, Nathanael Sherfield (Motion Picture Institute 2006), was drawn to the project after reading the script. “It depicts three people living in a big city, and although many people surround them, they are ultimately very lonely,” Sherfield said. “They all wear masks, concealing from even their closest relationships, who they really are.”

Sherfield described some of the screenplay challenges that enticed him. “One of the first challenges I noticed when reading the script was its non-chronological structure,” he said. “It was an exciting task to find ways to visually communicate to the audience where they are in the story. It’s not about selecting cool shots, it’s about selecting appropriate shots for the scene’s drama and being economic with your choices. Camera placement is writing.”

The film also features other regional talent. “We were incredibly lucky to find such a talented and hardworking cast and crew,” Sherfield said. “The collaborative process is one of the best parts about filmmaking. You come as prepared as you can be from pre-production, then on-set someone throws an idea in the mix, a light, a prop or a line of dialogue, and it inspires a whole new idea for the scene.”
Walker, Sherfield and the rest of The Art of Power’s talented cast and crew have now accomplished what many other aspiring indie professionals are trying to. They have successfully developed a film concept, raised the money, and produced a quality film that appears to have cost much more – defying the odds presented to them when they were seeking early advice.

Michigan Movie Magazine asked Walker to share some of the lessons he learned from making The Art of Power with other interested aspiring film professionals:
1) Get a great director.
2) Get a talented production team. They don’t need to be the most experienced in film, but they do need experience in project management.
3) Make sure your director and production staff can motivate others. It’s a grind, and morale can drop on low budget films. It’s important to figure out ways to keep people excited and motivated.
4) No matter who you approach for whatever you are looking for, you have to learn how to create a win-win situation for all parties involved.
5) Use common sense.
6) Have passion for the project.
7) Get a good cast and crew. You can’t make a good film without good ingredients. How to do this? Network, network, network. Find out where talented film people are.

You can discover more about The Art of Power at
http://www.artofpowermovie.com.
Keep an eye out for The Art of Power, coming soon.