This is my third and final eMail to you. I think it’s silly that you have a filmmaking website, but when it comes time to actually help people make movies, you just ignore them… So here it goes – again!

My name is Idiot Filmmaker from another planet. I think you should invest in my movie because it is totally awesome. My friends and I are going to do everything – so all we need from you is the money…

I am thinking our budget is going to be eighty-thousand dollars, but I am really not sure. But we think you should help us because you know all that stuff about film distribution. ( We don’t care much about that stuff, ha-ha.)

Assuming that you do invest in our movie project (you don’t want to miss out, right?) – We are prepared to give you all international rights. So again, just 80K will make you as a producer. Sound good?

You can send the check to my return address.

Sincerely,

Mr. Idiot Filmmaker

P.S. If you pass at this opportunity, it’s your loss. But if you find other film financier for our project, we will still give you an associate producer credit.

P.P.S. What is your personal phone number? I’d like to call you with more details.

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This note was modified and slightly embellished to protect this idiot. However, I get at least three emails like this per week. Please don’t send this kind of stuff to me. I’m busy with my own projects… Besides, this sort of thing will never get you anywhere in business, because you aren’t focused on the most important aspect of any deal: “What’s In It For Me?”

So in the spirit of your own filmmaking success, I am going to offer you a Movie Maker Challenge for 2012 – Yeah, it might seem too early to set goals, but I think you’ll be OK. And my challenge is this – over the next 12 months, put together a movie project.

How? Plan the following commitments:

1. Get a movie script.
2. Break your movie script down.
3. Budget your movie, including marketing.
4. Put together a business plan.
5. Create a marketing plan.

If you go through this process, you will know how many units you will need to sell to recoup your budget. Additionally, you will know how much this will cost in terms of time, effort and marketing.

And… If you complete this exercise, you will be ahead of 95% of the other people who call themselves filmmakers. You might actually learn something in the process…

Time is ticking. Take Action: Make Your Movie NOW!

Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera -- Image via Wikipedia

As a filmmaker, if you’re interested in buying a Canon DSLR camera, I would go with the Canon T2i. If you have the budget to buy the Canon 5D Mark II – hold off. Canon will be making an announcement at the end of this month and then another camera announcement on November 3rd.

So if you’re on a budget – T2i. If not, hold out to see what Canon is going to announce.

Lenses

The lens that comes with the Canon camera is not really geared to DSLR filmmaking. Sure it will do the job, but there are better lenses out there. The main problem with the stock lens is that they’re not that fast of a lens (at least 3.5) and it’s not a fixed aperture, so if you zoom in it’s going to go to 5.6.

Just buy the camera body and go with a 50mm prime. The reason I like this lens is that it’s very fast and it’s an easy way to achieve that shallow depth. Canon has a 50mm 1.8 that’s around $100, which is a really great deal. They also make a 1.4 that’s built a bit better, but it will cost more.

If you’re on a budget go with the Canon 50mm 1.8. If you’re looking for the best glass to own – go with a Zeiss ZE 50mm 1.4 lens.

Another lens is something that has a good amount of zoom and is a good walk around lens. Canon has an L lens that is 24-70 and is a 2.8. Very sharp and a pretty fast lens. This lens is around 1,500 so it’s very expensive. If you were to own one lens, this would probably be it. However, rumor has it that Canon is going to replacing this lens in the next couple of months. So even if you have the budget, maybe hold out until version 2 is released.

Another way to go is with an another brand – Sigma or Tamron. Tamron has a good 28-75 2.8 lens. This sells for around $400. It’s sharp and a pretty awesome for the price point.

Some other lenses to look into would be a 70-200 and then something wide, a 10-20 or 11-16.

Filters

One of the last things to stock up on is filters. A UV filter is going to protect your lens and it is good to keep on at all times.

Another one to get is a variety of ND filters. This will help keep your lens fast and give you the ability to shoot at 2.8 in sunlight. There’s another option when it comes to ND filters and that is with variable ND filters. They will take way some of your sharpness but if you’re in hurry and need to film something fast, this is a better way to go.

So that’s pretty much my rundown of what to get and why.

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Joseph Ort is an independent filmmaker who has spent the last decade working on his own independent film projects. He is also co-owner of a small based Los Angeles Production company – Shadowmind Productions. More articles can be found at: ShadowmindProductions.com/blog

From this experience, you can better determine if anybody’s social imperfections (coupled with your own imperfections) will derail the possibility of collaborating on bigger projects.

A long time ago, I worked on a short movie with a guy. Long story short, I found out the guy was being untruthful about money. He had hired one of my friends to build our movie website. But he failed to pay as agreed. When confronted, he shared an outlandish story about Western Union sending the money to the incorrect address. This was completely stupid and untruthful.

Because he was a “friend,” I gave him the benefit of belief and dropped the subject.

Three years later, I found myself working with this guy again. And guess what? He figured out a way to steal a few thousand dollars from the movie budget. When confronted, he left Los Angeles for Kentucky or some other place. He emailed a few times, appologizing.

Thanks.

The point is – sometimes you uncover facts early on that could save headaches later. You need to have a forward thinking perspective. In small deals, when you have moments of friction, in the context of heated conversations, your colloborators will often say “This is not a big deal.”

But the truth is, small frustrations on small projects will be amplified on BIG projects to become BIG problems.

Be mindful.

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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   >>

Image via Wikipedia

Prior to producing my own movies, I worked for a producer in NYC. And I want to take a moment and apologize for never responding to your query letters. I have no excuse for it, other than I was busy paying my dues.

At that time, most of my 12 to 14 hour days were spent fetching coffee, running errands and writing coverage on the priority material that came from agents. So given the fast paced grind of the development office, your query letter probably got put on my stack. And that stack probably ended up in a filing cabinet. And? Well…

Listen. If you’re an ambitious writer, I’m going to tell you a secret. There is no better feeling in the world than the day you stop sending query letters and instead, you start producing your own work. For years and years, you have dreamed about seeing your work on the big screen. You know you’re good. So why ask for permission?

Now I know this can be a scary transition. So I want to provide you with five tips to make your journey from Screenwriter to super-hyphenate a little easier.

1. Have a well defined logline. Seriously. Most first time writer director types settle for a simple character driven story. But the story is always confusing. So here is the test, if you can’t explain your story with a log line, something is off. Fix the log line now. You’ll need it for your marketing later.
2. Everything in your screenplay costs money. So if your passion project is too expensive, write something based on locations in your neighborhood. Your true genius will come from your ability to tell a compelling story, not by how many expensive Special FX you can pack into your movie.
3. Ice, Snow, Rain, Sun, dogs, lighting bolts and children have always been a challenge to predict. If you include any of these elements in your story, I guarantee that setups that should only take minutes will take days. Avoid these elements if possible.
4. As soon as you decide to produce and possibly direct your movie, hire a seasoned Production Manager to work with you. They will read your script. They will tell you that your movie is going to cost way more than you think and they will help you alter the story to meet your budget constraints. Managing the budget is their job. Respect it. Then ask your PM if they know a great 1st AD. (They will!)
5. Hire a GREAT First Assistant Director. Not some film school kid either. Pay the money. Build a relationship. The First AD will be the general of your production. They will build off the Production Manager’s budget and schedule the movie. The 1st AD keeps the production on time.

These steps will provide you with a good starting point. Once you have your script, PM and your 1st AD, you will find that your project will start to gain momentum. Finish your feature and people will start sending you query letters. I guarantee it.

For more information on writing movie scripts that YOU produce, check out: www.WriteYourMovieNow.com

Dominant learning style of target audience - Image via Wikipedia

As a filmmaker, I think the idea of producing your own work is good. I don’t really believe in asking anyone for permission to make my movies – including traditional industry executives or other producers.

I see this in Hollywood all the time. People have an idea for a movie, but instead of trying to create their own movie business, they spend days, weeks, months, and (sometimes) entire lifetimes hoping to find someone else to do the heavy lifting.

While this may seem like an easy route, it can be a very difficult path. Why? Because you are relying on other people to do the producing for you. And in my opinion that takes way too long!

Imagine you are someone who desires to open your own business. Would you do it yourself? Or would you rely on someone else to do it for you?

Example: “Hey. I got this great idea for a hardware store. If I tell you my idea and show you my business plan, will you open my hardware store for me?”

Do you understand what I mean? Trying to create a business like this would be crazy talk.

Of course if you want to open YOUR own business, YOU would open it.

So if you happen to be one of those filmmakers with tons of ideas, but no feature credits, I highly suggest you focus less on finding someone to do the heavy lifting and instead, focus on testing the market to gain a realistic approach to your projects.

To get started, ask these questions:

1. What is my Hook?
2. Who is my intended target audience?
3. What is my budget?
4. Are there enough people within my target audience to justify the budget?
5. How do I intend to reach my target audience?
6. How much will my sales and marketing cost?
7. From this, what is my projected return on investment?

If you’re new to the modern moviemaking model, then you will either agree with me or you won’t. In the event you like what you’re reading, then you can become part of the modern moviemaking revolution by grabbing a copy of the official Filmmaking Stuff newsletter. To grab it, go here >>

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Since most people in LA are involved in some aspect of the movie industry, it isn’t surprising that most of the holiday coctail party conversations I’ve had of late, revolve around some aspect of the movie industry. That said, what is surprising to me are the vast numbers of people I meet who report spending years searching for ways to hand their movie projects off to someone else – someone who will magically do all the “business stuff” and make a movie appear.

Sometimes I think filmmakers do things just because they believe it’s the way things HAVE to be done. That doesn’t necessary make it right. And admittedly, I’m not always right. But how I conduct my movie business works for me. And if you’re reading this, I assume you’re looking for some perspective just a little left of center. So here we go.

Here are my 5 rules for modern filmmaking success.

1. Quit asking permission. It’s a waste of time.
2. Create your own business plan and budget.
3. Create the movie you can make this year, not next.
4. Learn money. (Know the difference between cash flow and capital gains!)
5. Similar to #1, quit making excuses. Grab a camera and push “record.”

And as an added bonus – because I’ve been meeting a lot of actors lately – if you’re an actor, stop handing out headshots and start producing! Then cast yourself in your own projects. Creating actual projects are a lot more fun than doing another demo reel.

Independent movie investors invest because (aside from having an appetite for risk) they want a return on their money. Creating a business plan provides your prospective investors with a road map on how the investment dollars will be spent and hopefully recouped.

In the past, trying to project returns was a pain in the butt, oftentimes based on speculative data. This is mainly because independent movie distribution was discriminatory. And as a result, after production, many independent feature filmmakers held their breath in hopes their movies would get into a film festivals, build buzz, and (hopefully) garner awesome distribution deals, complete with cash advances.

Unfortunately those old business plans, focused on what is commonly referred to as the “Sundance Dream,” were flawed – And thankfully, that dream (or nightmare) is over.

Given the birth of VOD distribution, filmmakers now have the ability to access and enter into a non-discriminatory marketplace as soon as your movie is ready. As a result, you can now create movie sales projections from day one.

To get started, answer these questions:

Modern MovieMaking Model

1. Who Is Your Target Audience?
2. How Large Is Your Target Audience?
3. How Will You Reach Your Audience?
4. What Is Your Marketing Strategy?
5. How Many VOD Sales To Break Even?

While I won’t get into the actual mechanics of marketing and selling your movie here (My Action Guide How To Sell Your Movie provides you with an actual step-by-step plan for getting your movie seen and sold), I will simply note that a marketing plan must now be included with your business plan. And in that marketing plan, you’re going to add some marketing math.

Truth be told, math is a weak subject for me (and I dare say, most of the filmmakers I know) – but luckily there are many spreadsheet templates that allow you to project the marketing return on investment for your movie. One of the early formulas I use is related to pay per visit advertising.  With pay per visit advertising, you simply pay for targeted traffic to your movie website. This works well if you have a movie with a dose of controversy and a strong hook.

Let’s assume only 1% of the targeted folks who actually visit your website, buy. Then how many visits will you need to sell 100 units?

100 units = Our goal for this ad campaign.
$.05 = Amount you may pay advertiser per visit.
X = Number of Visitors Needed to buy 100 units if only 1% buy.

(X).01 = 100 units
EQUATES TO: X= 10,000
THEN 10,000($.05) = $500 paid for targeted traffic.

So in other words, if you were lucky enough to get a 1% return, you just paid $500 dollars in pay per visit advertising to sell 100 units of your movie. But let’s go one step further. Let’s assume you’re like me – and you hate order fulfillment and shipping. So you decide to let a company like Amazon’s Create Space or iTunes (or some other popular marketplace) handle your order.

Video On Demand For Rent
100 units ($3) = $300 – 50% paid to marketplace = $150
minus $500 paid for advertising = -$350 NEGATIVE

In this VOD rental scenario, the Pay Per Visit Ad numbers don’t work, unless you like losing money.

—
Video On Demand For Download
100 units ($10) = $1000 – 50% paid to marketplace = $500
minus $500 paid for advertising = BREAK EVEN

In this VOD download to own scenario, the numbers work a little bit better. Assuming you’re lucky enough to get 1% of your money returned, at least the advertising pays for itself. But unless you can increase profits, pay per visit advertising is going to be very difficult method for returning money to your investors.

—
Physical DVD Sales
100 units ($20) = $2000 – 50% paid to marketplace = $1000
minus $500 paid for advertising = $500 in profit.

Ah ha! If you’re fortunate enough to get 1% return on your pay per visit advertising, you can see how physical DVD’s sold at $20 dollars may offer a slight profit margin. In other words, in this scenario, for every $.50 cents you spend, you get $1 dollar back.

So let’s tackle the bigger problem. Let’s try to get a return on our 1Million dollar movie, selling physical DVD sales and using pay per visit advertising alone:

Movie Budget = 1 Million dollars
Physical DVD Sales using Pay Per Visit Advertising

$1,000,000 divided by $20 per unit = 50,000 Units

Since we will give 50% to the marketplace for all sales, we will need to project for double our budget.

100,000 units = Our goal for this ad campaign.
$.05 = Amount you may pay advertiser per visit.
X = Number of Visitors Needed to buy 100,000 units if only 1% buy.

(X).01 = 100,000 units
EQUATES TO: X= 10,000,000 (Yes, TEN MILLION people.)
THEN 10,000,000($.05) = $500,000 paid for targeted traffic.

100,000 units ($20) = $2,000,000 – 50% paid to marketplace = $1,000,000
minus $500,000 paid for advertising = $500,000 in profit.

So to break even, you would need to sell 100,000 units and make $2,000,000.

Filmmaking Conclusions

Based on this scenario, as a filmmaker you will (obviously) need to expand your promotion beyond pay-per-visit advertising!

But importantly – and most AWESOMELY -  for the first time in independent moviemaking history, you can now treat your movie business like any other small business. Find the marketing formula that works for your movie and crunch your numbers until they work. Once you have a plan, then simply include your marketing costs in your budget.

While there are no guarantees in any business, having a plan for marketing, sales and distribution sure beats the old days when your only plan for ROI involved crossing your fingers in the hopes someone will offer you a profitable, traditional deal. Treating your movie business like any small business simply means you don’t have to ask permission. You can make your movie NOW!

And your prospective investors might take notice…

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