I used to work with these guys at another film company a few years back.

Message for millions: Brent Green’s company produces its first film
By Kirby Lee Davis
The Journal Record
Posted: 03:17 PM Friday, May 7, 2010


TULSA – With his first business, David Green founded what evolved into Hobby Lobby – the Oklahoma City retailer ministering to more than 20,000 employees and many, many times that in customers.

His son Mart followed his steps by launching the 34-store Mardel chain. He then branched into film, university restructuring and other mediums.

Now Mart’s son Brent has extended that entrepreneurial run, starting a firm that, with its first product, may reach millions.

Toy Gun Films, a production company started last year by Brent Green and Jeff Goldberg, just topped 875 other submissions to win the Beverly Hills Film Festival Best Short Film award for
En Tus Manos
. Santiago Diaz also won Best Actor for his portrayal of a young man rising above the violence in both his home and neighborhood.

Produced in Colombia at a cost of about $100,000 – “Filmmakers don’t ever like to tell their real costs,” said Brent – the 27-minute
En Tus Manos
(translated as “In Your Hands”) will soon broadcast over 700-plus channels in that South American nation.

“People want to see something different, especially the people in Colombia,” said Green. “They don’t want to keep perpetuating the stigma of violence. It’s still going on, but it’s getting better.”

With several more Latin American nations seeking access to the film, as well as Hispanic populations in the United States, Green said more than 8 million people could view it over the next three years.

“We’re actually looking at expanding it beyond Latin America,” he said. “We’ve already had requests from Russia and other areas where you wouldn’t think it would typically be shown.”

Green said its attraction lies in a universal message of hope and redemption, drawn from several true stories.

“It’s a story of nonviolence,” he said. “I think everyone can kind of get behind that message that life, love and beauty are more powerful than death and destruction.”

As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, Toy Gun happily gives away En Tus Manos to schools, churches and other organizations.

“I would rather give it away rather than sell to someone like HBO and make millions on it but see it sit on a shelf for years,” Green said. “Here it’s being seen by millions.”

But the partners are taking steps to maximize a return on their investment.

Platforms like the Beverly Hills Film Festival allow Toy Gun to gain not just visibility, but industry contacts that may benefit future projects. Toy Gun doubled its marketing budget to $30,000 this year to tap more festivals and broaden its exposure.

Since the volume is not enough to violate festival entry restrictions, Toy Gun offers En Tus Manos DVDs for purchase from its website. The Oklahoma City-based company also hopes to generate cash flow through on-demand delivery and other methods.

“This year that could be 5 to 10 percent of our revenue,” Green said. “I’d love to see that in the 25-percent range.

“The short format is such an emerging format due to cell phones, the iPad, the Internet,” he said. “There are different ways to monetize this piece. But we’re not 100-percent sure we’re always going to be able to do that.”

Green expects donors to remain Toy Gun’s primary revenue source for years to come.

“I would like to figure out a way to make it more sustainable and that we’re not as reliant on a donor,” he said. “We definitely think that if we are successful, people would want to pay for it.

“But I don’t want to get hung up on trying to make money on these things,” Green said. “Right now the whole focus is on making quality films. We hope that will attract donors. If they are really great, there will be some return on investment.”

Green will direct his first film with Toy Gun’s second project, a script written by Goldberg on the Japanese phenomenon of “enjo kosai,” or compensated dating, where men give women money or gifts for dates.

Now in preproduction, Green hopes to start filming the Tokyo project in the second week of July. That could allow him to finish postproduction by the end of the year.

The Colombia film involved about four main characters and up to 20 speaking parts. The film crew ranged up to 30 or 40 people working 12- to 18-hour days over a week of preparation and a six-day shoot.

Goldberg’s script uses two main characters and eight speaking parts. Green estimated the crew could range from 25 to 50, depending on the location.

Since Japan claims generally higher operational costs – for example, $400-a-night hotel rooms in Tokyo versus $20 in Colombia – Green said Toy Gun’s film budget could range around $175,000.

“I’m finding how expensive Japan is,” he said. “I may have to cut a day. So we’re not really going to slow down much.

“There’s hardly any margin for error,” Green said. “Every day is super-expensive to run the camera, have the lights, pay the crew, have the food.”

Like his father before him, 26-year-old Brent started his company with limited financial help from his dad or family. To maintain costs, the co-founders started with no office, sleeping and working from Goldberg’s apartment while in Los Angeles.

“We’re just going year to year trying to be super-smart with our money,” said Green. “I’m doing everything from shipping DVDs to writing contracts to doing our accounts.”

After Goldberg’s script, Green said Toy Gun would develop a story based in South Africa. Other ideas under consideration would draw from the U.S., India or Russia.

“This year we’re trying to get two done, but hopefully we’ll get one a year,” he said. “At some point we’ll expand in the future. We’re only in our second year of operation. Hopefully in a couple of years, I’ll know what it takes to run this company financially.

“We want to focus on being lean and mean and operating with a super-low budget and focus on making a good film,” he said. “We’re both young. This is all I do, all the time, so I might as well go for it.”