In this special one-off live event, you can find out more about indie horror budgets and revenue than you ever thought possible, plus stupid jokes and creative crowd interaction just to stop all the money stuff from getting to be too much.
Pat Higgins (“One of the Masters of Horror” – The Dark Side, “One of the key names in the British horror revival” – SCREAM) has never been good with numbers.
He got 7% in his Maths mock at school. But for 20 years he’s had to deal with numbers in the indie horror scene; specifically, bringing budgets down and making money from movies in a changing marketplace. He’s looked at hundreds of case studies of indie movies in the modern marketplace, and he’s got some gore-soaked advice to share.
In a new Exclusive Interview on Blazing Minds ahead of Horror-on-Sea I got a chance to ask filmmaker Pat Higgins a few questions about his latest live event ‘Pat Higgins Masterclass Indie Horror vs Money‘
You can attend the Pat Higgins Masterclass Indie Horror vs Money at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 3.00pm
Q. You will be returning to Horror-on-Sea in 2025 with your latest Pat Higgins Masterclass Indie Horror vs Money, but for those who haven’t attended previously what can they expect?
A. Every year we try and do something a bit different, but these sessions usually consist me standing in front of a lovely group of filmmakers and film fans and talking about indie filmmaking. Sometimes we have loads of audience participation, sometimes we have pre-filmed video bits, sometimes I get assistance from the mighty Paul Cousins. They’re always absolutely awesome and great fun.
Q. You have covered several different themes of filmmaking in your various talks over the years, but what made you choose this years theme of Indie Horror vs Money?
A. Money’s the constant, really, isn’t it? No matter how good you get at the other stuff, money’s always lying in wait to trip your creative dreams up. This talk takes the approach that you can always find ways to bring the budget down and you can always find ways to make money once the film is complete. It’s all a matter of the way you approach it. Last year’s show was about the perils of distribution and we had such a lot of heartbreaking anecdotes both in the room and on the pre-recorded bits. There are just so many filmmakers who’ve been ripped off. The atmosphere in the room felt a bit like a revolution was brewing. This year’s talk hopefully takes a more optimistic viewpoint; it’s not about ignoring the bleak stuff, but it’s definitely about avoiding it! Get your movie made cheaper, then get it to make more money so you can make MORE MOVIES!
Q. You manage to cram so much information into a short amount of time, have you ever considered doing a longer version or possibly splitting the event into 2 separate parts to cover more of the subject matter?
A. I’ve done a few one-day masterclasses over the years, generally with smaller groups than we’d have at the Horror-on-Sea talks and even more interactivity. I really dig doing all-day events, I just never seem to get the time to organise them. The perils of having an awful lot of things I want to do, combined with a terrible attention span.
Q. Looking back over the previous talks you have done over the years, are there any which you would like to do again, either because you enjoyed the talk or feel it may be beneficial to a new audience?
A. I bloody loved the two I did where I interacted with Paul Cousins’ character of The Scissors Man. They were a nightmare to organise and I was always terrified that the tech would fail (we pre-recorded the Scissors Man sides of the conversation, so I was talking to a pre-recording on a TV), but GOD they were good fun. In terms of stuff that might benefit a new audience; hopefully this year’s show will be a great jumping-on point for filmmakers or people who just want to learn more about how the industry works.
Q. Whilst the interactive nature of the talk is what keeps people engaged, is there any plans for an online version of the show?
A. I’ve sometimes done online versions. We ran ‘Write a Movie in 30 Days’ as both a festival show and a kind of Zoom call version; a maximum of 12 participants, and I’d do the main presentation whilst taking questions and discussing specific projects. That particular talk was really well-suited to that format. It was pretty cool. I’d definitely do it again if a particular talk seemed suited to it.
Q. I know in a previous interview you had mentioned that you were working on a book called ‘Write a Movie in 30 Days’. Is this still in development?
A. I guess that particular talk was suited to a number of different formats! I made a lot of progress with that book, but it hit the back burner when I signed up to do a Masters in Screenwriting, which has inevitably dominated my writing over the last couple of years.
Q. Do you have any other project which you are working on?
A. My final project for that Masters is a screenplay called Chainsaw Fairytale, which I might end up making myself or I might end up selling to a third party. We’ll have to see. It’s a fantastically fun script though! Plus, Powertool Cheerleaders vs the Boyband of the Screeching Dead has just hit home streaming on Prime Video, so I’ve been on the publicity trail for that one.
Q. If someone was looking to get into filmmaking what advice would you give them?
A. Treat every person you meet like gold and never, ever, ever give up. Oh, and come to my talk at Horror-on-Sea so I can tell you the same thing to your face.
You can attend the Pat Higgins Masterclass Indie Horror vs Money at Horror-on-Sea on Saturday 18th January at 3.00pm
You can find out more about the festival and purchase tickets here
Published in various websites, Philip is a reviewer who is best known for his interviews and media coverage of independent projects including; films, books, theatre and live events. Always on the lookout for something different to cover!
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