How Much Does Netflix Really Pay?

Can I ask a question, I don't know if this is too in depth, but how much did this new one cost, like the one with the patent in it? I Love My Dad? Yeah. Uh, it cost like millions of dollars. I mean, it costs a lot. Yeah. I mean, it's still a hard, it's hard to do. And it's always a question of like, how to get the right person to partner with you to make it. I mean, they're taking a lot of risk. You know, it's, it's, it's a, it's horrible and fun at the same time because it's hard to find somebody. And then once you, but once you find somebody, it's fun cause you're partnering, you're both taking a risk. You're putting yourself out there creatively and they're putting a lot of their money into the... Do you feel bad if the movie doesn't make its money back? Yeah. 100%. I mean... Cause I felt bad. Yeah. I felt real bad. Oh, I remember that call. It's right. And we didn't even spend a million dollars and I felt bad. My movie that came out, it, uh, it sold six copies. Six? Is this before like streaming too? So like you, this was an iTunes thing, right? It was like on iTunes. Yes. So people had to buy the movie because yours is on Hulu right now, right? It's on Hulu. That's where I watched it. Is the Hulu check enough to pay for the movie? Hard to say. I don't know. Yeah. Cause that's what I always wonder about. Most films are in the red. Yeah. Right? Yeah. Ours did really well. Yours did really well. And you get that money from streaming basically, not from ticket sales. Well ours had a limited theatrical run. Oh, it did? Yeah. And then it was, most of its audience is from Hulu. Got it. Yeah. And then, is there other ways to make money on a film like, would someone in France call you and get the international rights to that movie and you can make money that way too? Did that happen? Magnolia has an international distribution arm and then it's selling territories off. So it'll sell to France for however much money. And then they just own, it's like a distributor that's then based in that country that has total ownership of it. Amazing. Go ahead, Brian. My question was, for these streaming services, do they tell you analytically how many people saw your movie? Because that's always something I've wondered, is Netflix doesn't really do that. I think that information, they like to keep super close to the chest. So you don't know how many people have seen your movie? I have no idea. There is, the statistic I use, I guess, is on Letterboxd. You can see how many people have viewed it and how many people have watched it. So I think like, alright, one in every 300 people or one in every 500 people probably have Letterboxd. So then I just think, alright, however many thousands multiplied by 500 or whatever. Then I'm like, oh, I have a decent sense of how many people. Why can't they just tell you? That's so interesting. I don't know. I think it's a good question. I feel like you would have the right to know that as the filmmaker. I know, we should call them. It's kind of nice that he doesn't know. Because he doesn't have to live in that space. Yeah, yeah. Which we live in. Yeah. Because we do the internet. So we see the numbers every day. Yeah. And we're like, ****. This isn't working. This isn't happening. I make it and then I just go, here it is. And then I'm like. That's kind of nice. I move on to the next thing. Did you make, how do I ask this delicately, have you made any money doing this job? Yeah. You have. Yeah. You're doing okay. Yeah, I make a great. Oh, great. I'm extremely. So you can. Yeah, dude. I mean, when I first graduated theater slash film school, I waited tables and bartended and. He made some money there. And I made some incredible. That's the money he's talking about. And then I started making, and then it like the acting was, you know, I was able to make a living there. And then the filmmaking supported that. Yep. Yeah. Good, good, good, good, good, good. So you've made a lot of money. Have you thought about investing that maybe into another film? Possibly. Like maybe be a producer on something. Yeah. I'll give you my card after the broadcast. You don't have a card. No, I don't have a card. It's just crayon on a piece of paper. Have you ever had a card before? I did. I had a card for a while. It was real cringe. Oh, like a card, like a Patrick Bateman kind of card. Yeah. When I was like, when I was just starting out as an actor, I had a card that had a head shot on it. Ooh. That was rough. Like, it makes me sweat just thinking about it. It was so tough. What's wrong with that? It's just pre-internet. It's just like kind of thirsty. Like I remember passing it out and then someone like took a picture of it and they were like kind of making fun. Because my headshot was like real serious in it and I just felt like, oh man, I felt so embarrassed. It was just rough, man. I mean, you got to do what you got to do. Yeah. I had a friend the other day who was going to a meeting with an agent and she was like, should I bring a headshot? I was like, I don't think so. Oh no. Because that's like, they're looking at you. Yeah. You know what I mean? It's like, how does this, in this modern age, how, because you're an actor also, with auditioning, is it all online or do you do anything in person anymore? It's kind of a mix. I'll sometimes go and meet with directors in person and we'll just like get a coffee and talk. Other than that, I think it's tapes and stuff, which I'll do if I'm really gunning for a particular project. Have you ever had a casting director walk out in the middle of your audition? Because I have. Really? What happened? Why did they do that? Did you fart? That wasn't any good. But they walked out in the middle? They left the room? She left in the middle of it. But what, how did, what did they say? Maybe she got a call or something. You were in the middle of it? I was in there, it was like a dramatic scene. And she just walked out and the tape's still going and I'm like. Did she come back? Yeah, she came back. Did she explain what happened? No, she didn't say anything. No, when I was acting, I was like so fearful that I would have known. So scared. If I did it now, I'd be like, what the ****. But back then, I was just like, I needed a job so badly. That's the other part about being an actor is like, you know, you need the job. You need the job. Yeah. Right? Yeah, I remember the first audition I ever had, I was pretty young. It was for an Emerson student film. Yeah. And I was, I was trying to be dramatic. Yeah. So, and I was also really nervous. And so I was starting the scene by going. And I did that. And then they were like, it's okay, honey, you're doing great. And that, but I was like making a choice to do that in the scene. And then I got to know the space where I was then explaining that to them. I was going, no, no, no, I'm not nervous. I'm doing that because I'm the character. And they were like, all right, man. I know what I'm doing. I'm very good. You're the weird one. Why are you comforting me? Let me act. The fact that you think I'm in despair means that I'm really ******* good. This is not me being nervous. This is me being very good. Give me the role. Let me do it again. And then I remember deliberately going again and just watching them like shift kind of uncomfortably. Yeah. I got your beat. My first acting job, I did a short film. And we were dressed up in like the 1920s. That was like a period. Yeah. And I, this is so ******* insane what I did. So insane. I was acting fast like black and white movies were sped up. So you were like Charlie Chaplin-ing it? I was like acting like I was in a Charlie Chaplin movie. Why were you doing that? I don't know. Wait, but was it called for? What do you mean? Not at all. Yeah, did it say- It was supposed to be like the 1900s. So you thought they were- But we're not shooting it in the 1900s though. Yeah, I know. Like, yeah. Do you think- Like an absolute brain ****. What was your process in this? All I know is they stopped and they were like, what are you doing? Whoa, whoa, whoa. It's really interesting. Let's slow it down. She was like, what are you doing? You're like, because the film is faster back then. So it would look like I'm going really fast now. If you haven't ever seen a film from the 1920s before. They're very fast. And I'm going fast too now. That's also why I brought cue cards to show what I'm actually saying in the dialogue too. I brought my own hand crank bolex with me too. I think it's cool, man. It was awful. I was young. I was like 35.