Planning
The production of The Bison's Legs is finished, but the project won't stop at that! I am going to show it at museums around Europe, and in the meantime I will be working on the next film. This film will be of middle duration (so 45-70 minutes). The theme will be the circle of life, and its working title is The Eternal Seasons. Below is the planning for the coming period.
Summer 2025: Thesis and Film Festivals
In the summer of this year I will have completed my Master's in Applied Ethics at Utrecht University. I wrote my thesis on the ethics of hunting, with the aim of finding an acceptable way to create a real hunting scene in the next film (see the Research page).
Over the past year, I submitted The Bison's Legs to a dozen film festivals, but in the end, all of them rejected me. This means that my film can finally become available online for free. Film festivals often want the premiere rights for the films they screen, and because of that my prehistoric film couldn't be openly published for a long time. It's a pity I didn't get accepted anywhere, but no worries: I organized my own film festival. The Jong Utrecht FilmFestival (JUFF) has become a place where young filmmakers from Utrecht can showcase their work, and The Bison's Legs was screened during the try-out showing at Park Lepelenburg. So I still got to enjoy a bit of the spotlight. (see Blog 5)
Autumn 2025: Grand Tour Préhistorique
Making the next film will be a long process. I'm basically starting at the bottom, since I don't yet have a running film company and only limited professional experience. But I'm fully confident that I can achieve this if I keep pushing forward. And it all begins with a journey.
In September this year, I will start a Grand Tour through Europe, visiting the major prehistoric museums and archaeological sites. The goal is to show my film to the experts and ask if they would like to collaborate on the next one. The collaboration I will ask for mainly consists of giving feedback on the next script: just as with The Bison's Legs, I want the next film to be scientifically accurate. In my view, this not only makes for a more interesting film, it also ensures that the project can count on broader support from society. In addition, it makes the project more appealing to investors and funding bodies. For this reason, I want to involve scientists in the production process right from the very beginning. A screening at a museum is the perfect opportunity to meet people and to show what kind of film I want to make next. Along the way, I will make short documentaries about prehistory as well as video reflections on nature.
Here is the schedule for the journey:
Next to visiting museums, I will also try to set up contact with members of EXARC, an international network of archaeologists and museums.
At the moment, the plan is to be on the road for about three months (September–November). But if it were up to me, I'd stay away the entire winter. There's so much to see in southern France and northern Spain (and the weather is so good) that I could easily spend another three months there. Whether this is possible depends entirely on my finances. After all, I don't have any obligations requiring me to return to the Netherlands. The trip will therefore be fairly low-budget. I managed to buy a beat-up car and gather camping gear, and I've saved enough money from summer jobs to last me through the first two months for sure. Though I will be sharing some costs with friends who are joining me on the trip, I will also have to earn money along the way.
One potential source of income is a small mobile cinema I've put together over the past few months. With it, I can show my film at campsites, village squares, or cafés and ask visitors for donations. It also won't be too difficult to find local jobs, and if necessary, I can pick up an online job for a few days a week. There's even a small chance that I might earn something with my videos, for example through my Patreon account. In the end, the main costs will be fuel, food, and lodging—and altogether that isn't very much. My expectation is that with good planning I can definitely travel for three months, and possibly even longer.
2026
At some point, my grand tour will end, and I will return to my home town and find a parttime job. The script will take shape, and in the meantime I will correspond with experts on the scientific background of the script. I will also continue making short films on YouTube, and with a bit of luck this will become lucrative enough to generate a serious income.
2027
Eventually the production planning comes into view. The most important part of this phase is securing the budget. There are three ways of obtaining a budget that I have currently in mind.
First and foremost, I will apply for funds from Creative Europe, the culture subsidy body of the EU. The goal of Creative Europe is to support the production of transnational and culturally diverse content. Since my film will for sure be an international endevour, with scientists and actors from many different places, it fits this general goal perfectly. To be eligible for these funds, it is necessary to form a consortium of partners from several EU member states. The more member states, the better for the application. For example, I would (at least) work together with a production company from e.g. France and one from Germany. I could then involve a casting agency from Italy, a costume producer from Spain, etc. But museums can also join in the process. Museums usually don't have a lot of money, but they can aid the project by sharing their expertise, and joining the consortium might even bring some income for them. There are too many details in the application procedure to share here, but after studying them closely, I believe I have a good chance of securing a subsidy. If you apply with partners from 3 member states, you can receive a maximum of €200K. I'm aiming for a budget between €50-100K. The subsidy can be 80% of the total budget at most, so I will have to find money elsewhere too.
One possibility is to enlist film production companies to share the load. If they see viability in my film plans, they could be interested in investing. There are also many smaller, national cultural subsidy organizations.
Third, I will place the project on Kickstarter. Through this website, I can set up a crowdfunding that is available to the whole internet. This could bring in thousands and even tens of thousands of euros. Since I already have The Bison's Legs as a proof of concept, I would make a good chance to bring in donators.
2028
If all goes well, this year the first phase actual production starts. Casting, location scouting, costume and artefact design, etc., etc. But a lot has to happen until that time. This phase has no further details yet, but that isn't a problem. As noted, project like this goes step by step.