Or Are We Caught In The Station Trying to Find A Track Out?
Some filmmakers come to me in a situation where they have “all trains arriving on all tracks at one time.” This is because creating a film is a very complex endeavor with many parts and tasks, and often few demarcation lines between those activities.
So, I thought I would conduct a review of these tasks, how I view them and hopefully aid the filmmaker’s situation. When a filmmaker comes to me, I assess where they are and array activities into buckets. Some activities are in Development, and some of them are in Packaging, Finance, Production, Marketing, and so on. This helps clarify what needs to be done and helps with order. What is in these buckets?
Development:
- Development encompasses all the activities, creative, legal, mundane and practical that make a film project a tangible item that can be contemplated as a viable and achievable endeavor. (think of this in the context of construction: the land option, the soil surveys, architectural plans and preliminary govt. approval of the plans). All of these items inject value into your film. They are not just tasks. In film:
- It is a script, but it is not just a script. It can be many rewrites.
- It is all the legal protections, contracts and filings, but it is not just these protections and so on.
- It is things like a budget based on a breakdown and a Day Out of Days schedule, but it is not merely these things.
- It is a plan for business that illustrates for others that the producer(s) have knowledge, have savvy, have partners, advisors and experts and have a clear path to pursue.
- (I did not mention gumption and determination, but those are absolutely required to complete these stages).
- Depending on the abilities and connections of the producers it can reach into packaging, that is, the attaching of viable creative team members and accomplished production team members, a producer’s rep and so on that further point out a path to execution of the film and its artistic vision.
Packaging:
- Packaging encompasses primarily those items mentioned in the last bullet point above and then includes a lot of preparation for the sales side of the business, including sales agents, producer’s reps, and so on, which is then leading in the direction of equity finance, locking incentives if possible or desirable and the rarified sales, equity and banking stages.
The lines are not clear and rigidly drawn. I recently read a good post by Randy Greenberg that triggered me to want to bring all of these points together and share them, to help folks see the tasks and relationships in mounting a film. Randy’s post: Independent Films: The Bankable Paper Problem was about three identically budgeted indies, with or without certain attachments, with or without distribution Minimum Guarantees, with or without banking relationships, locked in incentives and so on. The core question came down to who could or could not CLOSE FINANCING. Bankable film packages are not the apples on trees, found everywhere; they are handmade artisan tarts, desirable, and the result of a lot of work.
I worked with Belle Avery and Randy Greenberg on The MEG. That work spanned a handful of years and many refinements and revisits and illustrated the grit and gumption and focused effort needed to develop and package a film all the way to production and release., and then to a sequel.
The low-budget films Randy uses in his article have been through development and packaging to arrive at this financing crossroad. It can often be that a film is pursuing both sides of development and packaging simultaneously. And the tasks of polishing the script and packaging can continue feverishly until the last piece of finance is in place and production has begun. Having no clear lines of demarcation causes, increases and exacerbates the anxiety about what tasks to pursue now and next and RIGHT NOW that constantly present themselves to independent filmmakers.
For a new producer, even a smart, determined one, to complete these tasks, there is a lot of expertise that will be needed. I am all for entrepreneurs taking things in hand and accomplishing things as far as they can effectively take them, but I have also seen a lot of producers try to complete steps they are not ready for, and that the project is sure not ready for.
The wrong deal can impede your progress in the future or cause you to abandon what you thought were key elements and have to start over.
When I first entered this business, I knew I would never know it all and therefore would never get bored of it. After 20 years of FilmProfit, the business is still changing around all of us, so it has always met that goal for me. I am pretty certain it will meet that goal for you. It will definitely challenge and make demands of you.
To succeed, you will need helpers, peers, advisors, counselors and experts. Choosing them wisely and listening for the best advice at each juncture will be your saving and will greatly increase your chances of success.
How Can a Filmmaker Make a Plan to Get Trains Out of the Station?
- First, as I mentioned, you need folks who can help you.
- But like I discussed above, you need to be savvy and determined, and insightful. What is fast-talking, what is sweet-talking, and what is honest, direct advice? Does what you hear come from real experience, and can it move you and the project tangibly? What is just emotionally seductive, even if emotional support seems to be what you crave?
- Second, you need money.
- Nobody can work for free. The baby always needs new shoes. Understand and respect that, but don’t spend blindly, and don’t fall for things that do not move you tangibly toward and through the proper series of goals.
- Third, and likely few want to hear this, you need time.
- Time to accomplish the tasks in front of you. You have an internal timeline, and everyone you will connect with, partner with and so on has an internal timeline. I always say that every picture has its own internal timeline, and you are at the mercy of that and need to adopt its rhythm. If you cannot commit to investing time, anything else you invest can be lost.
When A Client Comes To Work With Me
I am not merely agreeing to deliver them a stack of paper. I am internalizing the project and scrutinizing the path the individual filmmaker and film will have to traverse. This leads to a decision tree that will need to be worked through, so that we foster real tangibles that will end up in a financial analysis, up to a proposal/business plan.
- These include, but are not necessarily limited to:
- Everything that describes the project and enables others to see its creative value.
- Everything about the core team that helps folks know they are in the hands of determined and savvy partners who will pursue the project diligently, doggedly, to success.
- What are current film audiences and what is the target audience of the film being born?
- What are the financial realities of the film marketplace, and what are the financial possibilities of the film at hand?
- What past films and models are our targets?
- What is the current film business, how does it work, what is the current state of it and its various layers of markets and deals?
Every bullet point above needs to be actively analyzed regarding the project, with real-world data illuminating, illustrating and guiding the project. Information and realities ensure the team can understand and gain insight and hew to a plan toward success.
Dreamers
Every filmmaker, screenwriter, producer, director, and many of the other folks that work on a film are dreamers, folks who seek to have a creative impact on the world. But many of these dreamers are vulnerable to folks who are promoting the easy way to achieve their dream. Often touted as “coaching” and the like, many of these coaches sell the concept of the “pitch” or the “pitch-deck” and other simplistic and attractive, paths to achieve the longed-for dream. A coach can deliver emotional returns for a filmmaker, but cannot get a film through actual development, and certainly not through packaging.
Likewise, do your due diligence before bringing on counselors and advisors. In pursuing independent filmmaking, be prepared to take on and execute many tasks, make many decisions, and learn new things every day (if not every hour) of working on the film. Then you too can begin to have desirable problems like fighting through how the last portion of your financing will be achieved. Dream of that, work toward that.
–20 Years of FilmProfit® = 20% Off Everything*–
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This is a limited time offer! *Does not include Comparable Pictures Reports
If you want to find out more about these services, you can visit www.filmprofit.com, or more efficiently, send us info about yourself and your project and we can help walk you through what we are best able to help with. Join our clients!
Onward and Upward
Jeffrey Hardy
