Filmmaker looks deep in the budget and finds copy / credit for composer.

"Musicians should be happy that I am allowing their music to be involved!"

Darius Jéan-Jéan, a 26 year old filmmaker from London Ontario, was in the final stages of post-production on his latest feature film EYE FOUND (a found footage film about a ghost that is haunting an abandoned house) when he realized that he had not yet hired a composer. “We just kinda grabbed some blockbuster temp stuff that we liked but then realized we couldn't just use it. We knew a composer was needed to change a 'few notes', you know, because of copyright.”

Darius explained how he read, or someone told him, that as long as you make it different before the 8th note, it’s not copyright. He searched for a composer in London Ontario, with no luck. Frustrated at the lack of response, he posted this ad on social media

COMPOSER NEEDED
Must be able to recreate a blockbuster soundtrack, not exact, but very close. 
Serious inquiries only. Must have own gear. We have ZERO budget left as we spent it all during production.  Trust me, we looked deep into our budget. No one else is getting paid. 
You get copy / credit and we will be submitting to Sundance and more!

The ad has since been deleted as there were several hate messages posted, mostly by angered musicians, towards the director. 

We reached out to a musician, that performs under the name 'Super Sky Duster', who answered the ad and had this to say. "He paid for food, he raved about renting the location for a day, and paying for a special-effects person. We just want what is fair -- to be compensated for our work. Even Spotify has .0006 for our music, surely Darius can find the same."

​When told about this comment, the angered filmmaker turned his pockets inside-out and offered an A&W gift card and a bus pass. 

"This is all I have! I’m just trying to make a great movie here and I don’t know why people are so angry. I’m not getting paid! All the money I spent is put on the screen. What you see is the most important part! Musicians should be happy that I am allowing their music to be involved!" said Jéan-Jéan.

The budget for EYE FOUND was reportedly $2346.84 and shot on an iPhone in portrait mode. “We accidentally started filming it in portrait mode, and then realized it gave it a modern look, so we kept it.” Douglas is credited as the director, editor and cinematographer. 

The "jack-of-all-trades" artist has since decided to compose the music himself by editing together royalty-free loops. The film is slated for a summer release and when asked what his submission strategy is he replied, “I’ll just throw it up on YouTube and see what happens!” 

Quiet On The Set! is a monthly blog post about happenings in the indie film world. Any resemblance to any persons living, or dead, or in limbo, or who identifies as being alive, or dead, or in limbo, is purely coincidental. 

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​Photo: istockphoto.com/ocusfocus