From the "Biz" Archives:

by Mark Rabinowitz

Gill Holland is broke. Well, nearly broke. "I think I have one more month before something has to start popping. I almost started typing up my resume yesterday." Gill is, if not the busiest producer in indie film, then certainly among the top two or three, and last week he took some time to chat on the phone with indieWIRE about his current slate of projects -- welcome to the world of low-budget, independent film production.

By his own count, he has three films in release (Morgan J. Freeman's "Hurricane Streets," Tim Kirkman's "Dear Jesse" and Rob Tregenza's "Inside/Out"), four in post-production (Freeman's "Desert Blue," Jamie Yerkes' "Spin the Bottle," Julie Lynch's "Remembering Sex" and "Bobby G Can't Swim"), five in production (Tom Gilroy's "Spring Forward," "Kill By Inches" by Diane Doniol-Valcroze and Arthur Flamm, "All Shook Up," "Depraved" and "Snow Days") and two in pre-production, including Elizabeth Schub's follow-up to "Cuba 15" entitled "American Girls", and Ryan Deussing's documentary about the confederate flag, which is tentatively titled "Confederate Theory."

His title on all of these films varies from co-producer, to producer, to associate producer to executive producer -- but the line tends to be blurred, especially in independent films. "'Dear Jesse' we've worked on for three years," says Holland. "I'm the only executive producer, there's a producer who's down in North Carolina, so a lot of the day-to-day stuff I ended up doing, but (director) Tim Kirkman is probably the real producer." However, even defining what a producer does, is difficult. "A lot of things come down to delegating and surrounding yourself with wonderfully talented people," he remarks, continuing, "and having the confidence to know that they're wonderfully talented and letting them do their jobs."

Sometimes, even when films are done, they aren't really done, as is the case with "Remembering Sex." "We played three fests and did really well and got a ton of press," says Holland, "and even got an offer, but we wanted to change the ending a little bit and we wanted to kind of recut the first act. So we're back in post-production."

If the pedigrees of cast and crew count for anything, Holland should be (financially) fine by this time next year. For example, "Kill By Inches" co-director Doniol-Valcroze is the daughter of French New Wave actress Francoise Brion ("Rosebud," "Nelly & Monsieur Arnaud") and director and Cahiers du Cinema co-founder, Jacques Doniol-Valcroze ("A Question of Rape"). Additionally, according to Holland, the swing grip's mother produced "Breaking the Waves," and the production coordinator's grandfather was three-time Best Director Oscar Winner, William Wyler ("Ben Hur," "Mrs. Miniver").

The major pitfall of independent film production is, of course, lack of funds. "Spring Forward," which Holland is producing with Jim McKay ("Girls Town") and Michael Stipe, had a shoot over the summer, will re-convene for a three-day shoot in the fall (Holland says that the fall shoot "is color of leaves contingent."), and again for a week in the winter. "We can't afford to create fake seasons which a Hollywood film might be able to do." Holland added that director Gilroy "wanted the actors to have a chance to inhabit their characters for an entire year." The film stars Liev Schreiber ("Scream 2," "The Daytrippers"), Ned Beatty ("Deliverence," "All the President's Men"), Campbell Scott ("Big Night"), Lili Taylor ("I Shot Andy Warhol," "Girls Town"), Peri Gilpin (TV's "Fraser" - in her first film role) and Ian Hart ("Backbeat," "Land and Freedom").

"I am insane. To work in independent film, you have to be insane," Holland said bluntly. For example, his salary for "Desert Blue" was $5,000 up front with the rest deferred. His salary on his other films is also deferred. "Which is insane," he explains. In addition, having so many projects going at once means 19 hour days for days on end. When I mentioned that most people work their salaries into the budget of their films, Holland is typically magnanimous. "Their budgets are so small, it just seems so silly when I have some more credit cards I can live on for like one more month."

Now....where's that damn resume?