Brad Moseley

Brad Moseley is the President & CEO of High Octane Productions. To date Brad has financed two films for High Octane; ALMOST HOLLYWOOD which is currently in worldwide distribution through CROWN INTERNATIONAL PICTURES and CITYSCRAPES – LOS ANGELES which is currently on the SUNDANCE CHANNEL a division of SHOWTIME cable. As a film financier Brad worked with the international film company OVERSEAS FILMGROUP to fund a Julie Taymor (Director of THE LION KING) project, entitled “TITUS.”

Brad is repped by Don Kopaloff of Soloway, Grant, Kopaloff & Associates.

Where did you grow up?
I grew up in a little town called Bronxville, NewYork. I came out here about 20 years ago seeking my fortune and glory.
I’ve had a little glory, still working on the fortune part.
Growing up did you have interest in film?
Major. Major interest. I think like anybody whoenjoys a good movie, as a kid growing up I had the opportunity to see alot of films… Saturday afternoons down at the movie theater. Starting with the movie “The Cowboys” with John Wayne. It was very inspirational to me. It inspired me to want to become a cowboy. That was when I was twelve years old. I think movies influence us in vary ways we don’t even realize. I got involved in movie making because I truly loved movies.
You came out here for that purpose?
Actually not… I came out here 20 years ago with the idea of getting involved with the investment banking business. I was a stockbroker for ten years. Then it was sort of one of those things where I’ve always had a passion to write and I started taking screenwriting classes and writing in the evenings and then it sorta just took over seven years ago.
Where did you take these classes?
Community colleges. I took my first screenwriting class at Orange Coast. I took all the various classes one could take… both as a Producer and a writer. AFI has some excellent classes. And the Hollywood Film Institute. I’d say if you can get an education at USC or UCLA or any other major college, go for it…I think the thing about it is you go into the book store and you buy books that tell you about correct format and story structure… then you progress to learning more about the more intricate story structure from people like Joseph Campbell, etc. How to apply mythology to the storyline and make it better overall. That’s where I came from and I just kept evolving that. I found my first story in the newspaper because I read this article about a guy who killed his best friend in a drunk driving crash and I thought this is really interesting. I spent six months writing and developing that. It was my first screenplay.
Did you consider yourself much of a writer before?
No. I liked writing poetry as a kid growing up. Then in creative English and writing classes I always could come up with unusual story ideas. It wasn’t something I had pursued but someone things come back to you.
What was it like doing this first screenplay for you? You read this article and then what exactly?
I took the article and I made a point of getting in contact with the guy the story was written about. I actually went and met with him and interviewed him. I got the whole story from him. I went and did what you are doing now with the tape recorder. I went and met with him. We sat down and I had over a period of two or three months I had a chance to find out about his friend and what he did. The events that lead up to the death. I really went in depth with that. Some of the spiritual things that happened to him from that experience – where he had met the ghosts of certain friends that had passed on. It became more than what I had anticipated – a straight story about a guy who had grown with a guy who he was best friends and winds up killing him in a drunk driving accident.
That’s a pretty impressive first step for a first screenplay. Was it difficult finding this person?
Right. What I did was I called the writer, the person who actually wrote the story… I got in contact with the newspaper and then got in contact with the writer who gave me the phone number of the guy and so he was only more than open and willing to the idea seeing this written into a screenplay. This is where I really got that chance to block out the scenes and write the dialogue. What was really great was that I had a tape recorder so in the conversations that I had with him it was almost like he was having open dialogue between him and his friend. And they would say things.
I actually gleaned that dialogue straight from the horse’s mouth and integrated that into the story line.

Did you have to do any contracts with him?
This was very early in my experiences. (Laughs)
It was like if this gets made will make some arrangements or if someone
is interested in getting it made we can talk about the rights. As it turned
out it never happened.
This was the first script you wrote all the way
through? Got it done?
Yes and yes. I think its important to complete a
cycle of action once you start it otherwise it kind of leaves you feeling
incomplete.
What happened then?
This was very early on when I was still stock brokering
and still more or less very unclear about where I should take this and
who should read it or what. And of course like any first draft, looking
back on it now, I realized the development end of it was something that
could be worked on significantly. I really never went anywhere with
it. I did send it to one agent, and I think she was being nice and
said it was good, but it wasn’t the kinda stuff she was looking to represent.
I didn’t know about agent directories or any of
that stuff at all, so I was really like this was a one shot deal. End of
story. Now that I look back on it, with development, it could have
been pushed into television or something like that.
So what did you do?
It showed me I could actually finish something from
start to finish. Lay it out. Write it. Complete it. And have a start,
middle and an end. It gave me the feeling that yeah I could be a writer.
Then?
The next step for me, that thrust me into this business,
was being invited to a really bad B-movie. This guy had made… but
I won’t mention any names here even though he has been drummed out of town
after making 16 bad movies and never paid anybody. Or if he did…
(Laughs)
The bottom line was I had an invitation to go and
see this movie and there were some very big name actors in this film and
they had produced it on a million to million and half budget. I sat
there and agonized for two hours watching this film. This guy had
a modicum of success as a filmmaker and as an independent producer and
a really bad B-version of a Sly Stallone type guy in the action arena.
So I thought if, and this was really naïve
thought at the time, if this guy can make this kind of crappy movie with
this really bad story maybe there is a chance for me to do something in
the film business. That was the spark that lit the flame that got me going
in the first place. At that point and time, I decided I would start my
own company. I came up with the idea of starting my own independent
production company, and that’s how High Octane Productions was born.
People have written our site before about starting
their own companies in an effort to launch or produce a script they have
written? What did it take to get your company going?
I had the benefit of coming from an investment banking
background. I had spent ten years raising money for all various kinds of
companies doing a lot of initial public offerings, private placement, limited
partnerships so I had that information in my mind and I knew how to raise
money. I was very good at that.
So I hired a securities attorney and we put together
a private placement. Incorporated the company and that was really
how it all started. I knew how to do it.
The next thing was how to find the material, which
is another sad story. Because now here is the lamb being thrown the
proverbial wolves because I knew basically nothing about where I was going
to go at that point and with what material. And I happened to meet
a guy in a screenwriting class who had a screenplay and I thought this
looks like a good enough project why not go with this. That was the
first major mistake. (Laughs)
Let’s put it this way… I was thinking let’s just
do commercial… let’s do something with a mass appeal. This guy saw me coming
a mile away. Let’s just call it an education period of time. This
was the first screenplay we set up to do and it was a huge mistake. It
was sort of like Andy Griffith meets Bambi meets a bad LSD experience.
It was not a well-written story. I thought
this was going to have commercial appeal. I can’t go too wrong. Not
enough family entertainment out there. All the wrong reasons.
We actually produced a book. Got the book into distribution
— in bookstores all over the United States. The thing is the writer was
never happy with any of the effort we put into moving this thing into a
position where it could actually get produced.
I didn’t have a clue as an independent film producer
how hard it would be to raise several million dollars or whatever for a
movie. Thus the education began. Finally, there came a point and
time when this person became part of the company. It was like your worst
nightmare. And so I wound up having to shit can the project and basically
firing the person and going back to square one. That was I want to
make movies. I don’t want to make a piece of shit.
So now back to square one?
Really what it amounted to was… about four years
ago I happen to find a book, during a visit to New York at Christmas, of
letters that my great grandfather had compiled into a book on letters that
my grandfather had written home as a fighter pilot in World War I.
A book? A published book?
Yes a book. A privately published book. I
think only about a hundred copies that had been published sitting on a
bookshelf molding. I saw that the book said, “extracts from the war letters
of George Clark Moseley.” I thought this looks interesting.
I read the book and went wow this is a great story.
There was my second inspiration. I went this is what I want to do; I want
to make this into a screenplay.
So the next thing that became part of that was how
do you make this into a screenplay? That’s the Chinese puzzle of
aspect of that. The development part of anything is the most difficult
and the most trying. So we wrote several treatments. I wrote
an original treatment. Then I brought in other people with me to write
other treatments. Blow out the basic idea and story.
I hired a writer to layout a rough first draft with
me overseeing and co-writing that draft with him. The thing about
hiring somebody to do basically what you should be doing yourself is somewhat
problematic — especially if they are not a full time writer themselves.
It took two years just to get that draft completed.
So then I decided to take complete and full responsibility for the story
and with another writer, we basically, after another two years, finished
the screenplay; this is 25 to 30 drafts of the screenplay later.
What was it like taking letters and turning them
into a screenplay? We’re talking fragments and bits and pieces here.
Right?
Exactly. The thing is… the story is about
80% things that actually happened so you have to, in order to make it entertaining
you have to create some fiction with it, but what I what I always recommend
that you get a good story editor. Somebody that is really able to guide
you draft by draft and can provide margin notes, page notes, character
notes so that you can evolve it to its highest possible potential and that’s
what we did.
About a year into it, we found someone that we really
respected and who has been a blessing.
When you say find someone, do you mean a professional?
Yes. This is a professional story editor. Here name
is Joan Liepman. Joan has worked at William Morris for ten years,
evaluating over 5,000 screenplays, worked with Ed Limato for two years
and was his personal assistant. So when they brought in a script
for a Mel Gibson or a Michelle Pfieffer she had to read it and evaluate
it and say if this was good for him or not good for him. She was
the front line of defense at the A level. Basically her background
is English, and she graduated with honors in it at Berkeley. Her sense
of story is spot on.
And that’s what you need — someone who can guide
you and help you.
So you got this script finished?
Then came the next process… finding an agent. I
took the Hollywood Creative Directory and went A to Z. Made a phone call.
Contacted the agent. Pitched them on the idea. Some did not want
submissions from unknown writers. Others were open to it. So we gave
them the pitch. Then faxed them a one-page letter with the synopsis
on it and a brief outline of story. It’s a number games.
Some agents are going to respond to it and others aren’t.
Finally we got one guy who called us back after
reading the script and totally loved it. Apparently he was excited about
it because he had a younger reader who read it and totally loved it. That’s
what sparked the flame because he came back and his response was so strong
to the material. Then he (agent) read it and then it was really just
a matter of us signing an agreement with him to represent us as an agent.
Within two weeks of him sending out just four copies
of the script, Alan Ladd Jr. optioned the script.
What else is going on besides this option?
Concurrently we have several other projects right
now, one of which we’ve delivered to William Morris, which is another project
we’ve been working on for the last two years that we actually hired outside
writers to write called “AREA 51” which is based on a book we have an option
on.
How did this project come about?
I love to read books. I read a book a week.
A few years ago, in airport, coming home from my summer home in Indiana,
I wanted something to read on an airplane. I happened to find a paperback
called AREA 51 and I thought this will occupy my attention during this
boring flight back to LA.
In four hours I had finished the book and I went
this is the best science fiction adventure I’ve ever read and I’ve read
a lot of sci-fi, so I felt qualified to make that judgment.
What I did was contact the publisher and find out
who the agent was, optioned the book, then basically went about the process
of developing it into a screenplay.
Was it a difficult option?
First of all it had been on the bookstand… generally
speaking if you find a book on the bookstand that hasn’t already been optioned
that tells you right away that someone has already seen it and passed on
it for whatever reason. But it’s like anything, there are diamonds
in the rough.
In actually, what it had going for me was that this
was his second book in sci-fi, and then I just went okay this is great.
I sent it out to a number of my friends and associates who I sent it out
to and another producer that I met at an art exhibit who had mentioned
to me if I ever got something worth while I should keep him in mind – so
I did. I picked up the phone then sent him a copy of the book and I said
this looks like a good project. He helped me find the writer Ron
Shusett who also read the book and said this was one of the greatest sci-fi
action books he had ever read.
At that point and time, he (Ron) was the writer
of such moves as “Alien” and “Total Recall” so chances are he knows what
he is talking about. So we went about the business then of hiring
him to write the screenplay. We were able to do that independently at a
reduced fee than from what he would normally get through the studio system
because it was an independent project.
Was it difficult working with someone like Ron
considering that you are not an Alan Ladd? That you haven’t been
in the business for say 20 years?
Actually not. What happened was he brought in his
writing partner – a gentleman by the name of Lee Marshall. Ron is
known for the movies his been involved in that he has done them with a
co-writer. Most of the stuff he has done has been with other writers. Ron
himself is really nice guy. Real down to Earth. And the idea was
he wanted what I wanted as a producer, which is a great screenplay. We
were on the same page there. Even prior to writing the screenplay
he went out with us and did pitches to various studios. He was willing
to bend over backwards to help get this thing set up, which was unusual
in and of its self.
I think everyone that has been involved with it
over the last couple of years has really believed in it. I think
the gist of it is, trying to convince a studio to put a book into development
is not an easy task. It’s very hard. We came to the conclusion that
we had to write a screenplay so that decision could be made a lot more
easily.
So you went out and pitched to people?
Ron even wrote a treatment gratis, but even with
that and the pitch meetings, and his reputation we still couldn’t get anyone
to take a spin on this. So ultimately we ended up raising private
money, and paying him to write the screenplay with his partner, and then
I was very involved with the development and bringing Joan into the development
process: so even from the first draft we had her in there doing story notes,
margin notes, page notes, character notes right from draft one.
It wasn’t just one set of eyes but five or six sets
really giving the story the attention it needed in order to live up to
the level we wanted it to live up too.
I’m very proud of the work and it’s everything I
wanted it to be and then some.
You’ll stay with this project as a producer?
Yes.
And you have an agent on your own?
Yes. Don Kopaloff with SKG and Associates.
Don is a great guy. A veteran. He has been in the business a number of
years and supports what we are doing.
This is the first guy you signed up with?
He’s not ICM. He’s not CAA. He’s not William Morris.
What I really like is he’s truly interested in championing my cause and
I don’t want to get lost in the shuffle with some of the larger agencies.
I’m not saying other agents can’t do that.
There were agents we had spoken to, but I didn’t get the vibe from them
that I was going to be their cause celebre. Sometimes it’s your own
intuition.
Tell me a little more about High
Octane Productions?
What we do is independent film production finance
and raise money for independent film projects. And provide finishing
funds for independent film projects. That’s obviously something
that pays the bills and lets us do what we are doing.
As we move forward into production on some of our
other stuff, I think we will probably faze that out. We can do our
own development, our own writing and then once that part of the ship takes
off we can faze out that end of the business.
So people just come to you with a script?
They bring a completed project. We recently got
a project called “Roswell Cowboys.” It came to me with a script and
a limited liability document and they are raising four million. I will
read the script and if I think it’s worthwhile, I will try to find project
money to help fund the project. However I found the screenplay to be in
very rough form, more attention should have been paid to development.
These private monies come in from wealthy people?
Exactly. It’s finding people that want to
invest in high-risk investments. You really have to find people that have
to accept the idea that if they put money into the project there is chance
they will lose the entire investment. Most people will look at it
as a right off against their other investments.
There are people out there with deep pockets who
want to take an alternate route that may or may not be successful.
But where do you find these people?
The best thing to do is get in contact with someone
who is in the investment banking business and has access to these people.
Somebody actually picks up the phone like you would query an agent. It’s
a keen to be a stockbroker. A stockbroker has relationships with investors.
They may or may not be open to investing in a screenplay or film.
So get a professional?
Yes. Everyone knows someone wealthy. If you
really want to pursue something, you have sound business plan, a well-written
project and you have a well-packaged, well-put together concept… that’s
half the battle.
Generally speaking it’s a whole perspective… we’re
talking these are very professionally packaged, full disclosure, full information
on the production company. There has to be a lot of responsibility for
the management of the monies and the end result.
And what about your writing process?
I think for me I like creative writing. I started
with poetry. I like to be a wordsmith. When you read, you find certain
writers and you get into a flow.
I think ideally it’s great to start with a treatment
and do a step outline. Really lay out the foundation. Then flesh in the
scenes.
What elements do you really like to see in a
project?
I think it has to be something that hits you at
the gut level. When I got off the plane after reading that novel I just
went, “man”… I had butterflies in my stomach. I just knew.
And when I read that book that my great grandfather
had written, I just knew. It spoke to me. If you really respond to something,
that’s the thing to go for.
The one thing I’ve really learned about the movie
business or writing or this whole process, is you really have to love what
you are doing because you have to be with it for a couple of years.
If you are just doing something for the sake of doing it and you don’t
have that love it’s going to be a real pain in the ass down the road. You’re
going to be going “Why am I doing this?” You really have to love
it to sustain you through that period of time.
What about trends? Writing for trends or what
you “think” Hollywood wants?
I think if you are going to go that route it’s like
pursuing a woman you are never going to have. Where I come from,
I don’t want to go that route. Even if I am wrong in the stuff that I am
developing and trying to get produced, well then fine.
I’m not going to try to chase after something I
can’t ever grasp. I don’t think Steven Spielberg gets up out of the bed
every morning and goes I want to pursue what the industry wants me to pursue.
He goes after what he wants to do. That’s what makes him who he is.
And makes these people unique. Your uniqueness is what makes you an individual.
Not what everyone else is doing? Not dong a clone o f the Matrix
or a clone of this or that. Do something that is unique to you.
If it’s interesting and unique enough you become
more valuable?
Exactly. It’s like selling yourself out. Are you
just going to try to sell yourself out? That’s the great moral dilemma.
I don’t want to get wrapped up in that I just want to do things that I
really respond to and respond to me – and if something happens great.
And lastly, what’s up next for you? Future
projects?
Well, I’m already finished writing another screenplay
based on another book by the same author of AREA 51, its called THE DEVIL’S
GATE. I will begin writing another personal story after writing another
book under option and then we’ll see where we go from there. Right now
I’m trying to launch the AREA 51 project, so now it’s time for me to put
my money where my mouth is.