Here is the trailer:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdmKQfWYsyA

FILMMAKER’S STORY

The day we started filming Bigga Than Ben we had £77K in the bank. This may sound a lot (depending on your ambition) but it’s never enough and it shifts – fast. By the end of the shoot we raised a further £45K (loan and remortgage) and shot the film for £122K.

PLAN POST PRODUCTION

The post cost the same again. Sort out your post deals up front. Make sure every element you need for delivery is pre-agreed and signed off. On paper.

FILM EQUIPMENT HOUSES

The great thing about equipment houses is that they’ll lend out their stuff gratis when it isn’t being used. You of course offer them a stake in the film – it’s going to be a success after all – and they accept. They’re experienced enough to know their stake will amount to diddly. It’s the relationship that counts. They won’t lend anything without insurance and this is one cost that can’t be avoided.

Make sure generosity is rewarded. Equipment houses like theatrical posters for their halls and invites to screenings (whether they attend or not). This relationship is going to serve you extremely well in the future. Nurture it.

HAVE A PHOTOGRAPHER ON SET

I might be kidding myself, but the actual shoot turned out to be the easiest part of the whole process. This is because it’s the only time you have an entire team behind you. You need one throughout – you just won’t be able to afford it. Make sure you cover all the potential PR angles.

Have a photographer on set. You will forever thank yourself that you have hundreds and perhaps thousands of pictures to accompany your PR campaign. And get someone to film an EPK/making of. Make sure the actors know there is someone filming the EPK and limit their exposure to this – downtime is just that and they don’t want a camera in their face 24/7.

KEEP CURRENT WITH TAX INCENTIVES

Producing is thankless – especially if you feel grubby & cheap asking for money. After all, both you and the investor know how hard it is to make money back from film (it doesn’t need to be – we’ll get to middle men later) but there are enough tax incentives to make it attractive – in the UK risk outlay can be reduced by 70% depending on tax position through the EIS scheme. We didn’t run an EIS for Bigga, but it’s worth it.

Keep up-to-date with all available tax incentives – makes the job of raising money a lot easier. You’ll sound more professional if you understand and can explain the financials. Run your business plan by an accountant/lawyer. Chances are you won’t be sued. But you can if you offer the world in a legal document and fail to deliver.

BE PATIENT WITH YOUR SCREENINGS

A common mistake (guilty, your honor) is to rush your film out too fast. You’ve sweated over this thing. You want to pay back your investors and your creative ego would like some rave reviews and an active imdb feature credit. Remember, at this stage YOU CANNOT SEE THE WOOD FOR THE TREES. Luckily, if you’re not a studio pic, you’re not tied to a timetable. Screen the first cut to friends, take notes. Do not (as I did) end up re-editing after the sound mix. It improved the film, but it cost me £25K and that’s a loan + interest I’m still paying off – to Nat West/RBS – a bank being sued by companies and individuals on both sides of the Atlantic…but that’s another film.

Hold fire. Be sure. Even if everybody tells you it’s great. If you know in your bones it can be improved, do it. I know you’re tired, but this is crucial.

PLAY TO YOUR PR STRENGTHS

So, I’ve now spent £225K (approx) of other people’s (and my) hard earned money. And I have two trump cards in the two leads. Andrei Chadov who has huge value in Russia (as does the book Bolshe Bena by Sergei Sakin and Pavel Tetersky – on which the film was based – and which outsold Harry Potter in one Moscow bookstore, apparently) and Ben Barnes who won the role of Prince Caspian while we were recutting. Great. Slam dunk. However, the audience for The Chronicles of Narnia: Prince Caspian is never going to buy into Ben Barnes as a racist, drug dealing Russian. They’re not even old enough to see the film. Dull of them, but there you go.

When considering PR angles, play to your strengths. Andrei was the one to push in Russia. His brother Aleksey (Nightwatch, Daywatch) attended the Moscow premiere – they’re both big stars there, so it really helped. The film took $500,000 at the Russian box office and the investors got back half their money – from one territory. Knowing which are your strong territories for whatever reason will help you focus and target PR campaigns for those territories.

ENJOY THE PROCESS (OR WHY MAKE MOVIES?)

So things are looking rosy. The Russians (a joy to work with and uber-professional) paid up-front so the investors are happy. But just when things are going swimmingly, some guy pops up to say he owns the rights to the book as it was he who first printed the extracts. This is true. I’d met him early on in the proceedings and when he proved impossible to negotiate with, I gave up on the book (nearly broke my heart). It was only a couple of years later when one of the writers approached me to say the rights had reverted back to them (I saw the contract) that I decided to pursue it.

But the law is a strange thing. In Russia, if anyone makes such a claim, the film has to be pulled (whether they own the rights or not) which meant a deal had to be struck. Which was basically, cough up $50K or don’t leave Russia (I was in Moscow at the time and I embellish). Thankfully, those being the heady days when it was two dollars to the pound, I was able to rustle up $20K which was enough for a hasty exit (I’ve been arrested in Russia before – it’s not pretty). The rest could come out of the TV sale.

I have to admit to a slight tear on the train to the airport (no car this time, I’d fucked up after all). I put this down to tiredness – I’d been drinking all night with the Chadov brothers and their impossibly beautiful girlfriends – but it could as easily be the sheer effort it takes to sometimes get nowhere. As I looked from the train’s net curtains to the lady selling old books from a shopping cart (in the UK they sell old sandwiches) and the Moscow workers, hands dirtied from manual labor, it struck me what a privilege it is to make films. It cost me money, time and some friendships. But I only cried twice during the process – less than in any relationship. And at least I have something to show for it. Enjoy it.

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To find out more about Bigga Than Ben and how you can help, check out the crowdfunding campaign here: www.indiegogo.com/biggathanben

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Filmmaking Tips: PART TWO

Pretentious as it sounds, filmmaking isn’t something you choose. It chooses you. So this isn’t something you can give up on, no matter how many of your friends & family send links to teacher training sites, dating agencies and various cash incentive opportunities. For the content providers, it’s about love. For the sales agents and distributors, it’s mostly – and as it should be – about money. The trick is finding a relationship which benefits all parties and unless you’re a banker, there is such thing as a win-win deal.

If yours is a micro-budget film with no stars but a great PR angle – you have to consider whether the PR angle is strong enough to a) generate enough publicity and hype to sell directly online – all proceeds go to filmmakers and therefore investors or b) strong enough t be taken up by a sales agent/distributor/studio. They’ll do the work, conjure up the razzamatazz and keep the money.

It may have the possibilities of both. But there can be only one. The choice (if you’re lucky enough to be offered one) as to which direction to take is yours and (depending on your contract – and you’d better have one) that of your investor(s).

Don’t underestimate perception. If you take the a) route and you generate good traffic to your various sites, you may keep the investor happy, but the lack of razzamatazz could make financing your second film harder. That said if your contact list and conversion rate is better than the sales agent with the offer on the table, you probably don’t need that sales agent.

If you take the b) option, more people will hear of your film and you. You’ll get a fuzzy feeling from seeing a Lionsgate or Universal or whatever logo before your film (or on the DVD case), you’ll probably get an agent (or a better agent) and after seeing you in the LA Times your mom will finally get what you’ve been up to all these years.

Films with no domestic release are a harder sell overseas, so if you’re opting for a) make sure there is one – no matter how small – reviews are free publicity. If option b) check the contract – it may not include theatrical.

Again, these decisions depend on a multitude of variables, not least the type of film (sci-fi and horror have strong direct platforms) and your relationship with your investor(s) who may be more excited about having his/her name on a Sony picture than actually seeing a ROI (return on investment).

I have no advice on this. It is your own personal take. I can however pass on the advice I was given from a very successful producer (behind one of the biggest hits of all time) who, on hearing I was about to turn down a particular sales agent in favour of going it alone, said ‘Suz, bend over, take it up the *** and for God’s sake, don’t forget to thank them afterwards’.

THE SHOOT

Get good actors (by this I mean ones that can deliver) and give them as much time as is feasibly possible when on set.

Get a great, ambitious and fast DP.

Get top quality sound recordists – bad sound will affect your ability to sell the film and you’ll have to fall back on ADR which actors hate and is always horrible. Don’t ever go over the top on this (filmmakers can get addicted to studios – don’t get too comfortable on that sofa that’s bigger than your apartment, because it is you paying for that sun-dried tomato brioche).

Don’t forget the on-set photographer – seriously worth their weight in gold. If you only have silver, bring them in on the super-visual days and make sure the actors are covered – in character.

SALES AGENTS

1. Make sure there’s a get out clause

2. Cap costs (% of sales)

3. Get money from first dollar – corridor

4. Don’t skimp on their commission or they’ll have no incentive.

5. Don’t agree to expenses/year or they’ll spread their bet

6. Sales commission from net not gross (they’ll always say ‘no’ to this)

7. No option to refuse a sale unless OK’d by producer

8. Limit the rights term

9. Hold back a territory or two

10. Go via a collections agent

PERSONAL FILMMAKING TIPS FOR YOU

Don’t pick fights you don’t need.

Don’t hate people who don’t like your movie. They might like the next one and one day, you might need them.

Stay focused on The Work. The rest is as enjoyable or miserable as you wish to make it.

STAY ON GOOD TERMS WITH EVERYONE. You’ll be surprised who you need later down the line.

FOLLOW THROUGH. Essential if you’ve opted for option a). After working so hard on the film, raising the money, casting, crewing, kicking yourself that you were too busy to perfect the script – don’t be fooled into thinking the film has suddenly developed a momentum of its own. You are the momentum. It won’t go anywhere without your input. It won’t get itself into festivals, Walmart or onto IndieGoGo and Kickstarter. Never give up until the fight is done!

And if you’re still getting nowhere, change your mindset from ‘why won’t anyone help me?’ to ‘who is going to stop me?’

Never, ever, give up.

THE CROWDFUNDING CAMPAIGN

To find out more about Bigga Than Ben and how you can help, check out the crowdfunding campaign here: www.indiegogo.com/biggathanben

A little disclaimer: There are many filmmakers who may disagree with the above. So just know that these observations are based purely on my own experiences.

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Suzie Halewood’s first feature screenplay One More Kiss starred Gerard Butler (300, Machine Gun Preacher), her second The Filmmaker was optioned by Andrew MacDonald (Trainspotting) and further screenplays have been optioned including two co-written with LA Times correspondent Richard Marosi The Fortress (TV Pilot) and Death & Deliverance. She also directed a number of award-winning shorts, commercials and the Bafta nominated interactive web series Running Time produced by Simon Beaufoy (Slumdog Millionaire). Bigga Than Ben starring Ben Barnes was her first feature as director. It made The Times Top 100 Films of 2008, showcasing at Edinburgh (Best of the fest) Moscow, Cinequest, Los Angeles DIYFF (Winner), and Austin (nominee). Her follow up film is science fiction thriller Division 19 with Dougray Scott, Neve Campbell and Jamie Draven.

If you’ve been reading filmmaking stuff for any length of time, you know how much I obsess over distribution. Why? Because it is essential to your movie business. Without distribution, it is difficult to get financing. So as you plan your next project, if you do not create a marketing, sales and distribution plan, you do not have a filmmaking business – You have a hobby.

On Saturday, October 15th you can find me at the New Hampshire Film Festival. I will be sharing the stage with a group of industry executives and distribution gurus – talking about the current state of movie marketing and distribution and what YOU need to do to get your movie seen and selling.

Film Distribution Topics Covered

• Distribution Tools for filmmakers
• How to get your movie into the popular marketplaces
• SEO for filmmakers
• How to optimize your movie website for maximum sales
• Email marketing for filmmakers
• Leveraging social networks (Twitter and FaceBook) to promote movies
• And more…

In the event you cannot attend the New Hampshire Film festival, I suggest you grab a copy of the Indie Producer’s Guide to Digital Self-Distribution. The step-by-step system contains nearly a decade of movie marketing and distribution tactics so YOU can get your movie seen and selling ASAP.

The Indie Producer’s Guide To Distribution This guide provides a step-by-step resource for getting your finished feature seen and sold. This site contains resources on how to leverage the ever changing world of digital distribution and internet marketing.

Happy Filmmaking!

While the timeline is different for all filmmakers, it may take you months or years to:

1. Raise the financing.
2. Package your movie with cast and crew.
3. Get your movie seen and selling.

If you aren’t willing to commit at least a half-decade to getting your movie made, seen and sold – then filmmaking may be the wrong business for you.

If you like these tips, check out my filmmaking tools.

For those of you interested in more ideas on modern movie distribution, my friends Jon Reiss, Sheri Candler and Orly Ravid have put together a wonderful resource, titled: Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul.

The book provides valuable guidance for those of you interested in understanding the new model of film distribution.

Orly Ravid stopped by Filmmaking Stuff to share her experience publishing the book, and how it compares to her experience in movie distribution.

Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul as a model for looking at film distribution

By Orly Ravid

The traditional model of book publishing is to find a book agent and get a deal with a publisher. There’s usually a lot of rejection and if or when you get a deal, the publisher normally gets the better end of it, especially if you don’t have a name as an author. And often one is frustrated that a publisher has not done this or that and usually the author does a better job marketing the work anyway.

It’s the author’s name and creativity that is selling the book, not the publishing house. The fact of how many publishing houses passed on Harry Potter is a great lesson about how the fat cat corporate gatekeepers don’t always know what time it is.

We did for about 5 seconds consider seeing if we could publish Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul in a traditional way, through a publishing house. Then we thought we would either be turned down since the book is for a very niche interest audience or receive a small advance (most first time authors receive less than $5,000 in advance money. There are 4 authors of this book.) and never see another penny. Sound familiar?

Also, if we are going to champion filmmakers who are using some form of self-distribution for their work, it would be pretty hypocritical to go the traditional route with a publisher.

Here is what we did do and why:

We created a production budget that made sense for the scope of the book and the audience it was made for. We could have budgeted more money for it and waited until we scraped that budget together. It could have taken more than a year to do that. We decided to spend a reasonable amount that would ensure the book was available on all key digital platforms and now even in print. BUT, we decided not to do an iPhone App because that would have cost more and put strain on the budget given that this book is very specific and for a very specific audience.

We clearly defined our audience: filmmakers who are interested in DIY or Hybrid or P2P distribution methods. Not everyone and not even every filmmaker.

We set out to find sponsors to help pay for it. With this reasonable budget in mind, a clearly defined audience and a way to reach them ourselves, we knew what kind of sponsors would appreciate this. We also decided that the way to make it worth their while was to make the book FREE at least for a time and at least in one format always. It ensures the likelihood that the book will be shared widely. We also decided the sales price would be low cost in any case so that price was never a barrier to the book finding its audience and its readers seeking it out.

We did not pursue random sponsors, but rather carefully considered the ones that made sense given the defined audience target. This made sponsorship success much smoother and easier.  We could persuasively communicate that our audience was their target audience and how we would reach them (through our many media and personal contacts) and when (launch during IFP Week) and where (New York and all over the world via the internet). We gave them clear information that they could feel good about and see as a perfect fit for their brand.

We published the book ourselves and it’s available today on all key digital platforms where eBooks are sold. It is about one year to the day from when I first conceived the idea to having it out for all to read. The print edition will also soon be in retail stores via an aggregator, much like going through an aggregator to get onto Netflix, Hulu and iTunes (though we managed our own iBookstore inclusion).
So if you are making a film, there is a strong likelihood you can follow this model but you need to prepare for it well:

1. Who is your audience?
2. How will you reach them? Specifically as we did, targeting certain press, certain blogs, certain podcasts whose readers and listeners match those for the book.
3. What is a reasonable budget for your film that is fundable, recoupable and profitable via these methods of self-financing and self-distribution and/or financing via sponsorship?
4. If you want to try the sponsorship route, you will need to create a presentation deck and go out to companies a minimum of 6 months in advance of your release, but more likely more. Big companies make decisions a year in advance often.
5. For sponsorship to be attractive to a brand, they will need to know a specific distribution plan in order to see how being involved with your film achieves their marketing objectives. It takes planning and advanced thinking that doesn’t rely on hoping a gatekeeper “buys” your film.

This is how we did it for a book and some films can be done this way too, even if they cost 5 or 6 figures or even 7. It’s really just a question of the right pairing between content and audience and brands and above all things, advance planning and TIME and EFFORT that can and will pay off.

I am proud that we did not have to adjust our content for anyone, that we did not have to rely on anyone to give us access to our readers, that we have full control of the book we wrote and above all, that we are in the black before we have even released the book. How many artists can say that?

I would not have done it any other way.

The book Selling Your Film Without Selling Your Soul is available starting today. Please visit www.sellingyourfilm.com and pick up your free digital copy or preorder a print edition coming soon. Find us on Facebook and follow our hashtag #syfnotsys on Twitter.

Should Filmmakers Move To Hollywood? Image via Wikipedia

“My filmmaking friend in LA told me NOT to make anything in my small town because I would just be wasting my time. He told me no one in the industry will take me seriously if I make my 1st feature outside of Hollywood. So instead of making what I CAN make right now, I’ve been working to move to LA to start doing something… My question is this: is he right?”

My response to this question is a big fat NO!

Unless you plan on working for a major studio, you no longer need Hollywood.

If you are a filmmaker with an idea and the passion to create a feature film, you can do it from anywhere on earth. And here are a few reasons why:

Getting Money In Hollywood Sucks

Everybody in Los Angeles is competing to find someone (or some studio) willing to back their movie project. Can you imagine a town where your waiter is an aspiring actor, your cable guy is an aspiring screenwriter and your taxi driver is an aspiring producer? Hollywood is saturated with a supply of willing, talented, aspiring workers. And they are all waiting for their big break.

Even if you do raise the money to make your movie, you’ll have to raise a lot more to shoot in LA, because everything (locations, equipment, props, and permits) makes making movies in LA cost prohibitive and a royal pain in the butt.

What a mess!

On the other-hand, if you live in small town and you have good material and ambition, you’re in luck. If you can get past the fact that all your non-filmmaker friends think you’re crazy, you can build a team, find cheap locations (and other resources, including free food) and you can take action.

Heck, you might even make the nightly news (If this happens, just make sure you advertise your movie website and start building your audience list!)

Also, unlike trying to get a meeting with a busy, semi famous studio executive who never heard of you – If you call up the local rich guy to make a pitch, your odds of getting a lunch meeting are pretty high. As I detail extensively in my film financing program, getting meetings does not guarantee success. But it’s a start!

And let’s pretend for a moment that your town has no rich people. Well, thanks to crowdfunding sites like indie GoGo and Kickstarter you can now reach an entire global audience of people who may be interested in sponsoring your work.

Filmmaking Equipment is Now Cheap

When I was getting my start, I saved up an entire summer to buy a used Arri BL 16mm Camera. I shot a short film over a weekend. And then I spent the entire winter saving up enough money to process and transfer the film to video.

That sucked.

Times have changed. These days, if you want to create cinematic quality content all you have to do is go to your local electronics store and pick up an HDSLR camera and start producing your backyard indie. As long as you take time to understand lighting and camera angles, your end result will look pretty amazing.

Distribution Changes Everything

Read this carefully. Everyday I am amazed that more filmmakers are not getting naked and running into the streets cheering (Ok. I’m kidding.) But here is the deal…

The biggest, most awesome change in cinematic HISTORY is distribution. And modern movie distribution changes EVERYTHING!

Thanks to companies like distribber (my affiliate link is  MovieSalesTool – they pay me to promote) – Anyway,  you can now get your movie into sites like Hulu, Amazon, iTunes and NetFlix (and other cable VOD outlets) without giving away all of your rights (for life) to some bottom feeding distributor who will likely never pay you what they promised. This is BIG.

What does this mean for Modern MovieMakers?

This means that instead of raising money and crossing your fingers for a dream distribution deal, you can now create a marketing plan within the context of your movie business plan. This is important and liberating. Non-discriminatory distribution allows filmmakers to treat their movie business like any other business. You do not need to ask permission to create a product, access a marketplace and make sales!

In other-words, as long as you have a camera and internet access, you can now make, market and sell your movies without asking permission. (Ok, if you really want to get naked and run into the streets, I won’t stop you.)

A few words about marketing.

Whenever I put on my  film distribution talks, invariably someone will ask me about marketing. And it’s a good point. Because distribution is now part of your movie making business, you will need someone on your team who can market.

Here is the big disconnect. Hollywood (and traditional sales agents and distributors) will tell you to leave distribution to the experts. They will tell you to give up the rights to your movie because their company has been in business for a gazillion years.

But this kind of talk is crap. I mean, obviously if these guys offer you a huge cash advance, it might make sense. But if there is no money involved, what value are they giving you? The promise of getting your movie seen and selling on iTunes and Hulu? You can just as easily access iTunes and Hulu too.

My point is, unless these old-timers know how to source the appropriate target audience (and they openly share their marketing budget with you and are fully transparent with each marketing step) then there is no value to give away your rights in exchange for validation. Validation and a crappy distribution deal does not pay the bills!

In MovieMaking Conclusion

Wow. I intended to write a quick reply to Jake’s question and I totally blasted you with my filmmaking passion. Just remember, the best question to ask is this:

“Given the resources that I have now, what is the movie that I can make this year?”

Hopefully you are now inspired to make, market and sell your movie from anywhere on earth. If that’s the case, I’d love to read your comments below.

One last thing…

After reading articles like this, I get a lot of email from filmmakers who need my help marketing and selling their movies.

If that’s you, here are some options:

Option 1 – Hire Me

In the event you want to hire me to help market your movie, please know that my fee is roughly $10,000, plus expenses. Compare this to what studios spend on marketing. When you add up all the costs and labor necessary to build buzz (including advertising and social media and blogging and outreach) – it’s intense. So 10K is actually a bargain.

Option 2 – Apply For Inner Circle Coaching Program

A lot of you don’t know this (because I haven’t promoted it) but I also have a movie marketing coaching group open to a dozen filmmakers. The group coaching lasts for six months. And the fee is $2,000 dollars. Aside from working on a marketing plan that you can implement for your movie, the group coaching includes a weekly call and group strategy session. The coaching group is a good way to share ideas with other filmmakers. And inturn, they share ideas with you.

[Note: If you are interested in the coaching program, you must first be selected. Please send an email providing an overview of your movie, as well as the reasons why you want to be included in the next coaching group. ]

Option 3 – Just Grab Your Action Guide

If these options are out of your budget, you might just want to grab a copy of your movie marketing system.

How to Sell Your Movie Action Guide

Also – Special thanks to filmmaking Jake for the question. Hope this helped!

Image via Wikipedia

As a filmmaker, independent film financing is a major mystery. When I was starting out, I met with quite a few producers who refused to share their money secrets with me… I don’t know why they were so secretive. But it really annoyed me.

Then there were other “experts” who talked about asking my dentist for money. Ugh.

Even though many filmmakers think getting money is somehow limited to the arena of filmmaking, it’s not. The truth is, all budding business professionals need to shake the money tree from time to time. So luckily for filmmakers, the world of business provides us with rules and resources for getting money.

The traditional ways people raise money in the United States, aside from going to a bank, is by meeting with an attorney, putting together some complex paperwork in-line with SEC regulations (Securities and Exchange Commission), meeting with prospective investors, building relationships and then asking for money – and hopefully getting a signed check!

If you have an idea for a screenplay you want to produce, or you have the rights to a screenplay, I hope you’ve taken some time to figure out how much money you’ll need to make your movie. Will you need over a million dollars, or can you make your project for much less?

This factor alone will determine your strategy.

If you don’t have a clue, then I suggest you contact someone to help you take your screenplay and perform an initial breakdown and schedule. From this information, you’ll be able to know (roughly) how much money you’ll need to complete your project.

Just keep in mind – If you’ve worked really hard to get your hands on a great script and you performed your initial breakdown, schedule and budget, your next step is to find ways to cut costs.

Why? Because with good business, any money you spend should be considered an investment that potentially brings in a good return. Think about it – if your movie is projected to return a mere 1.5% of investment dollars, then why invest in a movie? Why not just get a great savings account?

You must figure out ways to save money without sacrificing production value and story, and you’ll be closer to profitability. I emphasize cost cutting early in the process, because if you’re creative, then it’s possible to make a fancy looking movie for far less than the initial budget. How much less? That depends.

Remember, in many situations, you can replace cash limitations with creativity.

If you are looking for ideas on raising movie money, you might want to sign up for the official Filmmaking Stuff newsletter. I share a lot of modern moviemaking tips.  Find out more by clicking here   >>

A new website is being launched today that will help take filmmaking out of Hollywood, and put it into the hands of everyday, creative people so that they can combine their life’s ambition of being a filmmaker with owning their own business.

makeyourmovienow.com is the brain child of Jason Brubaker, a Los Angeles-based independent filmmaker and an expert in Video On Demand distribution. He has hosted another filmmaking website, Filmmakingstuff.com for years and is taking his experience to the next level.

“makeyourmovienow.com is focused on helping YOU make, market and sell movies more easily,” he says. “The ways movies finally make it to market has changed. makeyourmovienow.com is specifically designed to help grow your fan base, build “buzz” and create community around your title.

“If you want to make a living making movies, you need to realize that your library and the subsequent audience you source (over your career) are your major assets. And, as a result, your most important filmmaking focus (aside from doing good work) is to acquire and keep a customer,” he emphasizes.

For filmmakers in need, makeyourmovienow.com covers the four key areas of film production: screenwriting, film financing, filmmaking and distribution.

Tell your filmmaking friends!

Image via Wikipedia

Have you ever wondered how filmmakers raise money for their movie business?

Last week (while back east for the holidays), I set up a meeting with a very successful businessman (who I met in 2004). My goal was to pitch him my current business idea.

Here are the steps I took to set up the meeting and make the pitch:

1. I emailed and asked for a meeting to discuss an “interesting business idea.”
2. Then I got a response. We scheduled the meeting.
3. Prior to the meeting, I worked liked crazy to refine a PowerPoint presentation. The PowerPoint followed a standard business plan outline. Once complete, I acted out the presentation about a dozen times. I also visualized how the meeting would go. And I also created and answered sample questions.
4. On the morning of the meeting, I dressed to impress. In my car, on the drive there, I rehearsed the meeting. (Yes. I talked to myself). I also prepared a printed copy of the presentation and created a Plan-B just in case the projector malfunctioned.
5. When I got to the meeting, I requested that their IT person help me set up the projector. Then I flipped through each slide to made sure the overhead projector worked.
6. When the decision maker arrived, I gave a firm handshake and we exchanged some friendly conversation. I asked a lot of questions about his current business.  (As an entrepreneurial filmmaker, you must always consider your audience. If your prospective investor manufactures widgets, you should know about his business and then find ways to bend your pitch so that your project may benefit his core business.)
7. I then began the PowerPoint. I presented each slide with enthusiasm.
8. After the presentation, the prospective investor had questions. (Questions equal interest. Lack of questions equal lack of interest.) Here are some questions: How will this project garner ROI (return on investment)? How long will it take to get the money back? What multiple will this investment potentially return? (If your business idea can not garner a higher return than  a savings account, why do business at all?)
9. After questions were answered, I ASKED what he would need to move forward. He mentioned that he would need to see how the money would be spent and exactly how I plan on returning it. (I provided a basic overview in my slides, but he wanted more granular detail.)
10. I told him I would circle back with more details and provide him with a copy of the business plan.

Some of you may ask why I didn’t take my refined business plan to the meeting. The reason is, getting money for a movie is not the same as selling a car. Since we are talking about a long term business and a lot of other people’s money,  I first wanted to gauge his level of interest and see if we could build rapport. I also wanted to find his red flags. And I also wanted to keep him wanting more…

I will address all of his points in the business plan and circle back for the next meeting. I will also ask him if he would kindly introduce me to some of his successful friends.

Why do I share this?

FIRST: Assuming you have met with a lawyer and figured out a way to protect yourself legally -This is important – then here is my question:

If you aren’t afraid to hear the word “NO,” then what is stopping you from setting up a meeting and presenting your ideas to prospective investors?

It doesn’t always mean you’ll get the money (if it were easy, everybody would do it.) – but it does mean that every NO is one no closer to YES!

If you want to find out more about my system for meeting prospective movie investors, check out The Independent Producer’s Guide To Financing Your Movie.

Image via Wikipedia

A few weeks back, I came to the realization that selling movies on the internet was no different than any other kind of eCommerce. So using the same forumlas I utilize to market my Action Packs, I plugged some numbers into an internet marketing ROI calculator.

I did this because the prospective investors in my life often ask how their money will be spent and recouped. Given the discriminatory nature of traditional distribution, I wanted to see what it would take to make internet distribution a viable sales channel. So I started crunching numbers with one assumption – if filmmakers can make the numbers work for each project, filmmakers would no longer have to rely on the glaringly flawed: “Gee, I sure hope we get into a film festival and garner a great deal” distribution strategy.

That strategy is a lottery. Not an investment. And it’s outdated.

So I got down to business and crunched some numbers. To my delight, I found some answers – but after publishing my article on internet movie distribution, many people kindly wrote to tell me that my numbers are incredibly unrealistic (and that is putting it nicely.) And I totally agree.

Looking at my results, it became quite clear that recouping even a measly 1M dollar budget by selling $20 dollar DVD’s in Amazon, relying solely on Pay Per Visit advertising  at  $.05 cents a visit, while, at the same time crossing our fingers for a 1% conversion would require that, firstly – you would need to sell 100,000 units (which allows for a 50% marketplace fee). And secondly, assuming a 1% sales conversion, to get these numbers, you would need 10,000,000 site visitors, visiting your website. (Yes, ten Million people) – which WE ALL AGREE is outlandish!

But in all of the debate, despite the negative responses, and the haters who took special care in hating me, and the seasoned producers who took meticulous care in ignoring the math and instead, decided to point out my spelling mistakes and poor use of grammar – Despite all the backlash – very few people (OK, pretty much nobody) even tried to offer a better solution.

So I decided to provide YOU with the chance to save the independent movie industry. If YOU can answer the following questions, you will help push indie filmmaking into the next era. In fact, YOU will help us make indie filmmaking a profitable business.

Are you ready to change the world of independent filmmaking forever – for the better? Here is your chance!

Here are the MAJOR Filmmaking Math Problems:

1. With no promise of a traditional distribution deal, how do filmmakers justify a budget large enough to pay freelance day rates, while at the same time project enough direct DVD and VOD sales to recoup the initial investment?
   
2. And assuming only 1% of your website visitors buy your movie, then how many people must visit your website so that 1% recoups your initial investment? (Don’t forget to include marketplace costs.)
   
3. How much will this cost in advertising?
   

The Formula:

To possibly help you,  I provide my formula (below) in hopes someone with more math experience can test and tweak until this starts to make sense. Here is what I have so far:

Movie Internet Marketing Formula

U = Unit Sales Goal.
A = Amount you pay advertiser per website visit.
C = Projected conversion percentage rate.
X = Number of Visitors Needed.

(X)C = U
EQUATES TO: X= ?
THEN:  X(A) = ?

–>Thank you. Please click here if you would like to comment or offer your own formula and results for the world to see!

Jason Brubaker Got Punched-Out!! (Wii)

When I published my article on leveraging VOD sales to finance your movie, I had no idea that a simple internet marketing formula for filmmakers would be such a polarizing issue. I can’t tell you how many Los Angeles based movie producers responded negatively through email.

One guy even told me my grammar sucked.

So to clarify, I was not trying to ruffle any feathers. I was simply applying a standard internet marketing ROI formula to a product available through video on demand. Nothing more.

All of this was based on the premise that selling movies on the internet is no different than selling any other downloadable product (where you are lucky if you convert 1%)

This is based on experience. I learned how to market and sell movies on the internet when our first feature did not garner a traditional distribution deal and we ended up selling on Amazon. Back then I personally knew a bunch of filmmakers in a similar situation – all had titles but no deal. Since that time, even more filmmakers have flooded the market with titles. Couple this with the decline of various DVD sales channels, and suddenly a crappy $25 backyard indie can now share virtual self space with $25M movies.

For those of us who produce features without any sort of pre-sales, instead of telling prospective investors “If we are lucky, we might get into festivals and garner a distribution deal.” We can finally reach our audience without asking permission. And to me, this makes the indie movie business like any other small business… Produce a product and then market, sell and distribute your product.

This said, I totally agree with one of the readers who said my equation for returning a 1M dollar budget was preposterous. He was right. Anybody who thinks you can magically generate the mass amount of sales needed to recoup even a 1M dollar investment without a substantial outlay of cash towards advertising is mis-guided. Which is what those formulas reveal.

I wasn’t trying to present an indie movie panacea. We are all trying to find profit in business competing with (what I think is the indie movie equivalent) of sweat shop labor produced goods. So in terms of the person who said I’m trying to seduce “starry eyed producers,” I would say that finally having non-discriminatory VOD sales channels like Amazon, and especially iTunes finally gives us producers something to get excited about.

Whether or not we can find the marketing formula to justify our budgets remains the ongoing challenge. I for one am working my butt off to find the balance between budget and the amount of marketing needed to recoup the money – and hopefully create an ongoing stream of revenue.

My model of moviemaking isn’t for everyone. In fact, many of you have great relationships with distributors and are still making money in DVD and theatrical. Awesome! But if you are a filmmaker still relying on the “Sundance Dream” to recoup your budget – or if you are a filmmaker with a title collecting dust in your bedroom closet, I hope my article offered a little optimism.

At the same time, feel free to share your own thoughts on VOD distribution.

And spelling an grammatical tips are welcome from filmmakers too.