Filmmaking Stuff Filmmaking Stuff provides resources for independent filmmakers. The website includes articles on how to take a story idea from script to screen, including articles on scriptwriting, producing, finance, shooting, editing, directing, marketing, distribution and how to build an audience. Filmmaking Stuff also has articles detailing how to make money making movies – including interviews with Hollywood Producers, Directors, writers and other filmmaking professionals.

I’m back from Sundance. This was one of those trips that you don’t plan. But when you get a call from someone in Utah asking if you would like to participate in a panel on crowd funding and modern movie distribution (at Sundance) you have to go!

So picture this. My bags are packed, I’m loading my car – and then I get a call from the airline. My flight has been canceled! UGH. Thanks United Airlines…

Never one to let obstacles get in my way, I pretended I didn’t know my flight was canceled and I drove the airport. I parked my car in one of the many airport parking lots, boarded the shuttle and proceeded to the United terminal.

Turns out whenever you have fog in San Francisco, (and San Francisco is your connecting flight to Utah) it becomes very difficult for airplanes to land. It also turns out that whenever San Francisco is shut down, you will have an airport with more than fifty displaced passengers presently looking for alternate flights.

At this point, you realize there is nothing special about you. And even though you may think of a gazillion reasons why you should get more of a privilege over the forty-nine other passengers in line (like wanting to attend some cool Sundance parties), you also realize that nobody cares. It is at this point when you fantasize about things you can say to get some leverage. For example, I thought about telling the ticket agent I was friends with the CEO of United Airlines – I didn’t actually tell her this. But you get my point…

While waiting for your chance to chat with ticket judge, the only real asset you have is kindness and the unyielding hope that the ticketing agent is in a good mood. When I got to the agent, she seemed to be OK with me… But she also told me that all alternate United flights were booked. So she suggested that I stay in LA for the night and come back the following day.

Had I agreed, I would have missed the Filmmaking panel at Sundance. Heck, I would have missed Sundance.

If this happens to you, I suggest you act as though you don’t hear the word no. Because sometimes persistence pays off and the universe really does provide. Ask the following question: “Are you sure you can’t do anything?” Then SHUT UP! Don’t say another word. Let the pressure of the silence build tension… Until…

“Well, we could try to get you on another Airline. What if we put you on a Delta flight to Salt Lake City?”

Bingo! Thank you United for the rare customer service!

After a two minute flight from LA to San Diego (not kidding. It really was like two minutes) and a short lay over and two White Russians – I hopped on my final flight and arrived in Utah – instantly blasted with a cold air I haven’t felt since my days living in New York City.

I’m pretty sure the airport was filled with a gazillion other filmmaker types wandering around. Maybe it was my imagination. But in some strange way, I felt at home. This feeling was further amplified when an attractive young woman smiled at me and asked if my name was Jason. I thought she was hitting on me. Turns out…

“Yes. Do I know you?”
“No. But I read your newsletter.”

And as I would soon learn, she wasn’t the only one at Sundance who reads these words. Which is surreal. I mean who are you people? Really?

Anyway, I really wish I could have stayed at Sundance for like all week. But the short notice prevented me from really planning a proper trip. So let’s focus on making a successful Sundance plan for next year.  And in this regard, in your next filmmaking article, I’m going to share the top 10 tips you need to know about a successful trip to Sundance film Festival.

In the meantime, if you feel like introducing yourself – please feel free to drop a comment below…

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Independent moviemaking has changed forever. If you are still holding out for the Sundance dream, you are wasting your time. What is the Sundance dream? It’s the thought that you’ll make a movie, get into Sundance and garner a gazillion dollars.

While I encourage you to think big, if you are basing your movie business on the Sundance dream, you are making a BIG mistake in filmmaking.

To help you, I got together with a few other cutting edge modern moviemakers. Together we created a book entitled the Modern MovieMaking Movement  – We think it is a valuable filmmaking resource. And because we are giving it away for free, there is no reason not to grab YOUR copy.

As of today, the Modern Moviemaking Movement has been downloaded around 10,000 times. That is a lot of filmmakers! So I am raising the bar. With your help, I would like to get the book into the hands of 30,000 filmmakers.

But I can’t do it alone. If you would like to help spread the Modern Moviemaking Movement, could you kindly tweet or email or post the following link to every filmmaker you know? >> http://bit.ly/pQSxoG

Thanks for being a Modern Moviemaker!

Posted under FILMMAKING

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I love Kevin Smith’s attitude towards modern movie distribution. If you’re like most independent filmmakers, what Kevin was able to accomplish from his days of Clerks has been amazing. Back then, he not only dreamed the Sundance Dream, but he realized the dream.

The Sundance dream is the idea that you will make your movie, get into Sundance, sell your movie and live happily ever after. As I have been telling you all along, the demise of DVD sales channels, replaced by ever evolving VOD marketplaces are impacting Filmmakers everywhere.

These days, if you are going to make movies and profit, you must now view your independent movie business in ways akin to how any business owner handles their business. You must source and grow your own audience list.

In the following video Kevin Smith shares his perspective on modern movie distribution and how the brave new world is impacting indie filmmakers.

Please feel free to comment.

Posted under INTERVIEWS

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As a filmmaker, you probably know that most prospective investors are business savvy and inevitability, one of their pressing questions will be: “How do you plan to sell this movie and return my investment?”

In the old model of filmmaking, traditional distribution was a lottery. So to answer that question, most filmmakers, especially first time filmmakers said something like this: “Filmmaking is risky. If we are lucky, we will get into Sundance and get a distribution deal.”

Investor: “What? That’s not a business – that’s gambling!”

THE NEW MODEL FILMMAKING (EXAMPLE)

Disclaimer: What I’m about to share is total FICTION and should NOT be used in any business plans you create because I am neither a lawyer or an accountant. And I express my right to free speech as I share this imaginary scenario. 

Filmmaker: Well, in our business, we hold the rights to an outstanding screenplay that taps into a well targeted, genre specific audience. We have budgeted the movie for $100,000 dollars. And given the genre, we do not need star talent. We are keeping the budget low – most folks have agreed to work for a salary, and all have agreed to residual compensation in the back end.

At present, our crowdfunding campaign has allowed us to test the concept. And with sixty days left in the campaign, we have already sourced several hundred donations, giving us $8,000 dollars to pay for our website, marketing and PR.

Upon completion of our movie, the title will available in all the popular marketplaces, including Amazon and iTunes. And as we speak, in addition to crowfunding, we have already contacted our audience list of 20,000 people (from our last movie in a similar genre) who have expressed interest in this upcoming title. Combine this with several partner filmmakers which will roughly expand our audience footprint to well over 250,000 targeted viewers.

So at the time of release, if we project sales at 2% of 250,000 people. This means that 5000 people will download the movie at 9.99… which will be close to 50K minus a 40%  marketplace fee and a 10% commission to our partners – and we should be able to immediately return $25,000.

Each subsequent quarter, we would like to continually re-invest 10% of the revenue into further list building efforts. And we would like to keep 30% for the producer and crew compensation. Which should leave you with a 60% cash dividend, to be paid quarterly. Assuming we can bring in $30,000 per year, in 7 years we will have more than $200,000 in revenue for this title. At that time, $20,000 would have been paid to marketing, $60,000 would have been paid to cast and producers and $120,000 would have been paid to investors.

As soon as we pay back the initial investment, we would like to split our revenue 60/40. In other words, the producers and crew would get 60% and you would continue to get 40%.

Prospective Investor: I see…

Filmmaker: Of course, there is always the small chance that we could get lucky – if we got a 5% return on our initial campaign, and 12,500 people immediately downloaded the movie at $9.99, our revenue will be close to $125,000 – minus expenses. But I need to remind you that this is not likely. And we would still have to pay a commission.

Prospective Investor: Oh. This makes sense.

Fimmaker: Great. Would you like to invest?
- – -

While I have provided a FICTIONAL example of how some filmmakers may decide to navigate this new movie business, my whole point here is this:

It is important to realize that success of a movie is no longer based solely on handing off the movie to some 3rd party distribution company. If you want to make it in this new world of filmmaking, you need to stop waiting for someone else to manage the business aspects of your movie and your career. Instead you now need to take a vested interest in the success of your project.

If you’re helming your movie project, nobody cares about it more than you. But if you aren’t afraid to provide everybody on your team with a bit of ownership too – you’ll soon be surprised to learn that word of mouth spreads a lot quicker when your entire cast and crew has a vested financial interest in the project.

In this regard, when you win, everybody wins!

- – -
Three resources you can grab right now:

1. Fat-free Movie Making ideas for those of you who hate asking permission:
www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com

2. Follow me on Twitter to get cool micro-ideas on how to make your movie now:
www.twitter.com/filmmakingstuff

3. Connect with me on FaceBook so you can tap into my 2000+ Movie Maker connections:
http://www.facebook.com/pages/Filmmaking-Stuff

- – -
DISCLAIMER (again) – I’m a filmmaker – not a lawyer or accountant. I’m expressing my freedom of speech for your entertainment. If you’re still reading this, I want to make it very clear that I made most of those figures up as a fictional EXAMPLE. You’ll have to figure out your own numbers and crunch your own data and make your own relationships with prospective investors. And always speak with a qualified professional before you do anything.

Posted under FILM FINANCING

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Most filmmaking business plans are stupid. Why? Because most filmmakers have no idea how to project a possible return on investment.

Don’t feel bad. It’s not your fault.

Until five years ago, distribution was discriminatory, abusive and monopolistic. As a result, the old business model for indie filmmaking relied heavily on some 3rd party, middle-man distribution strategy. “If we are really lucky we will get into Sundance and get rich.”

These days, relying on a 3rd party middleman to buy your movie is like waiting for the Tooth Fairy. It’s a nice thought, but it’s not solid business. Instead, I recommend you answer these questions before you go into any production:

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?

After you answer these questions, then make sure you incorporate your marketing costs into your initial budget.

You might ask: “What if I just want to make movies and sell my movie?”
My response: “1995 called and they want their dumb distribution plan back.”

Like it or not, the world of filmmaking has changed.

If you hate asking permission to become successful in your own moviemaking business, then make sure you sign up for the filmmaking stuff newsletter.

Posted under FILM FINANCING

Filmmakers often utilize film festivals as a way to get their work seen and hopefully sold. And while acceptance to top-tier festivals is super exciting – the reality is, many filmmakers do not get in.

As a result, many of these semi-dejected filmmakers take a shotgun approach to their festival strategy. They start applying for most every regional and local film festival, everywhere. And aside from outlandish application fees, upon arrival to these festivals – instead of  meeting a bunch of VIP acquisitions executives, most second tier festivals are populated by a bunch of other desperate filmmakers shoving postcards in your face, eagerly advertising their screening times to, well, other filmmakers.

Sometimes this includes free beer. (Most times not.)

While having delusions of distribution grandeur is still part of the film festival fun – with the demise of DVD distribution, and the odds that you won’t get into Sundance – it is vitally important that you create a film festival strategy PLAN B.

What is a film festival strategy PLAN B?

Simply put, if you are serious about making your movie profitable, YOU are now responsible for marketing, promotion and distribution of your movie. And inline with this strategy, you must view regional and second tier festivals as an opportunity to build your audience list. But instead of handing out postcards to other filmmakers, your marketing strategy will be smarter.

Here are five tips on making film festivals relevant to your movie business:

1. Write a press release specific to the festival and then distribute to the local press. This also involves picking up the phone and personally inviting the press to attend your screening. Many festivals will have a press list. You can use this – but I would also advise conducting additional internet searches for other press outlets.
2. Many local towns have a filmmaker community. Reach out to them. If you are traveling, it’s great to have someone to pal around with. The secondary benefit to this is, many of these same people will have relationships with the festival staff – always good to know people on the staff.
3. If the festival allows it, see if you can take several clipboards into your screening. You’ll want to collect the names and email addresses of each viewer and get their permission to email them. Later you will enter this data into your audience list.
4. If your film website does not include a blog component, add one. Then update frequently. Add pictures and video. Let the world know your movie is screening. People like this stuff.
5. And finally, most regional festivals have panel discussions with industry experts. Make sure you attend these. Take your business cards. And then try to build relationships with whomever is on the panel. (And as a side note, if you know anybody looking for a panelist – I suggest inviting Jason Brubaker from Filmmaking Stuff? Just sayin’)

Out of everthing I mentioned, the most important strategy for your movie and your modern moviemaking career is grow your own fan base. This way, when you focus on building your audience list, you stress a lot less about the traditional distribution deal you may or may not have received at one of the notorious festivals.

So yes. Film festivals are still relevant. They offer a great way to source an audience for a minimal marketing investment.

Also, I’d like to thank one of our filmmaking stuff readers named Michael for this question. If you would like to get on the filmmaking stuff VIP list, click here >>

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

If you’re already a seasoned feature filmmaker, take a moment and think back: Do you remember when the idea of making movies seemed like a far away dream?

Do you remember when you first got the idea for your movie? Do you remember Your first day of production? Do you remember your first screening and how well everyone loved your work?

That happened to me with my first feature. Like you, I thought our movie would get into Sundance, play well, build buzz and if we were really lucky, we had hoped the movie would garner us a 3 picture deal. But that didn’t happen.

Sure, we got some offers, but they were not “deals.” (A deal actually pays money!)

So instead of exchanging our movie for an empty promise, we decided to try selling our movie on the internet. Little did I know, this one decision has changed the course of my movie making life. That was five years ago…

And since that time, the internet as evolved. If you’re a filmmaker with a movie, you need to get it selling in all the popular internet marketplaces, including Amazon and iTunes.

You don’t need a middle-man to make this profitable. I am going to show you my internet marketing secrets…

You can check out my “How To Sell Your Movie” system by visiting the website here.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

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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!

Posted under DISTRIBUTION, FILM FINANCING

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Think back to a time in filmmaking history when your greatest challenge was actually making a movie. At least the idea seemed easier.

For those of you new to independent movie making, let’s review. In the past, many first time feature filmmakers were driven by something I call “The Sundance Model.” This is the idea where filmmakers went out, acquired or wrote a screenplay, got money, made the movie and then hoped like heck they would get into a major festival and garner a significant (and profitable deal.)

From a pure business perspective, this was a crazy way to make movies. I mean, can you name one other industry in the world that produces a product without having a solid distribution channel in place? Can you name another industry that, once the product is made, relies on other outside people for ALL of the marketing, sales and distribution of the product?

These days things are a bit different. These days DVD distribution is dying. And with this death, the days of relying on some outside distributor to validate your work and sell it are numbered. The upside to this modern moviemaking movement is, you can finally put all those years of creative accounting and bad deals behind you. The bad news is, as an independent filmmaker, you are going to have to add yet another hat to your overflowing rack. This time, the hat you wear will be sales and marketing.

[A side note: Before you leave a gazillion comments telling me that foreign DVD territory sales and (even) pre-sales are alive and well - I provide this disclaimer. Consider any deal that makes sense. But in the event the deal only pays you validation and a copy of your DVD, hopefully this series helps you create a more profitable plan. I also want to caution both new as well as veteran filmmakers of the following: The day is fast approaching when DVD retail will eventually join VHS, CDs, Cassette Tapes, 8-Tracks and the silly stores that used to sell them  in the great abyss of a bygone era. And rightfully so!]

So all of this said, if you’re just reading filmmaking stuff for the first time,welcome! In this community we don’t over complicate the filmmaking process. We make movies and we work to sell our movies without asking permission. And in this respect, you are reading article 5 of my 7 step process for selling your your movie on iTunes, Amazon and Netflix for Maximum profit.

So to recap, once you have sharpened your hook (pt. 1),  targeted your target audience (pt. 2),  set up shop (pt. 3) and created a movie sales funnel (pt. 4) you are ready to begin the process of driving traffic to your movie sales site.

Step 5. Refine Your Trailer (And Promote It)

Take a look at your trailer. Is your trailer congruent with your hook and the marketing elements we covered earlier? If not, I suggest you recut and refine your trailer to make sure your marketing message is consistent. In doing this you will have to find the balance between showing enough to sell your movie and giving away so much that you spoil the story. And since your movie trailer will be posted on various websites, you should also add a title card with a link to your movie website.

The internet is full of places where you can upload and post your trailer. But out of all of them, YouTube is top-notch. Aside from being the second largest search engine on earth, the service also incorporates a built-in social networking component that allows people to comment and discuss your movie and create community around your title. This is important because word-of-mouth indicates what people like and dislike about your movie. And as you will soon learn, more
discussion (good or bad) equals more sales.

Since YouTube records the number of views, this is also a great indication of how well your trailer is being received. If viewership is low, refine your title, tags and description to complement your niche subject matter. Martial Arts Movie? One tag might be “Karate” or “Kung Fu.” After tweaking and re-tweaking your description, if viewership is still stagnant, consider cutting, tweaking and testing multiple versions of your trailer.

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Posted under DISTRIBUTION