We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Christopher Schrack a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Christopher, appreciate you joining us today. Alright – so having the idea is one thing, but going from idea to execution is where countless people drop the ball. Can you talk to us about your journey from idea to execution?

My film “For Sale” was originally conceived as a comedy-horror vehicle with Andrew Roth in the starring role, and was written to be a small as possible in order to self-fund it entirely. I also knew that since I was going to find myself wearing 27 of 30 hats in the production process, I wanted the story to be as funny and entertaining as possible. I partnered with comedy screenwriter Jordan Friedberg, who wrote the first several drafts. We then would take turns re-writing each draft until we ended up at a place we liked. In total we wrote 10 drafts of the screenplay.

Next up was pre-production. This was a massive undertaking for one person to do, so I had to give myself as much time as possible to get everything in order. This meant finding and securing locations, getting props purchased and tested, organizing a food plan, creating a shot list for the entire 95-page script, auditioning and casting actors, and creating a continuity plan that not only included which costume the lead actor should be wearing, but also a plan around his facial hair growth!

Filming began on July 11 2021. During this time, I was not only directing but also doing all of the cinematography myself – that meant creating the lighting as well as controlling the camera. My brother David recorded sound, and occasionally a friend or two would drop by to act as a production assistant for a day, but for the most part the crew consisted of just David and myself. There were many long nights and exhausting filming days, and I often found myself getting only 2-3 hours of sleep per night. But we took it each day at a time, and principal photography concluded on July 30.

After this was a year and a half of post-production. I was also the editor, and it took 8 months to edit the first rough cut. From there, it was many months of re-editing, occasionally adding new insert shots, doing color correction, doing audio cleanup, and hiring a composer to create a great score for the film.

Christopher, love having you share your insights with us. Before we ask you more questions, maybe you can take a moment to introduce yourself to our readers who might have missed our earlier conversations?

I am a film director and screenwriter, mainly focusing on horror and comedy films. I combined my two loves into a comedy-horror feature film, “For Sale”, about a shady salesman who is tasked with selling a haunted house. I have been a lover of cinema and horror ever since I was a small child, and am still very much in love with it as a 39-year-old.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Making films means you are constantly solving problems at every stage of development. Right from the beginning when you are writing your story outline, all through pre-production, filming, editing, and right up to prepping the final master for distribution, you will encounter frustrating obstacles every day. What’s most important is that you have to treat the experience as if you do not have a choice but to see the film through to completion. You may find problems that present solutions that are less-than-ideal, but you have to quickly find the next-best solution, implement it, and move on. If you have trained yourself to think that they only possibility is to finish the film, you will end up solving each problem.

Are there any books, videos, essays or other resources that have significantly impacted your management and entrepreneurial thinking and philosophy?

Filmmakers need to stop thinking about cameras, lenses, and cinematography — and start focusing much more on screenwriting! The script is 70% of the finished film, so it is much more important to immerse yourself in the knowledge of proper story structure than how to create a beautiful image. For this, I would recommend the book Story by Robert McKee, and the YouTube channel Lessons from the Screenplay.

Contact Info:

• Instagram: @forsalemovieofficial
• Twitter: @ChrisSchrack