Jeff Dowd is The Dude. Jeff's last name, Dowd, kind of sounds like ñdude,î so it's not surprising that he was given this nickname in elementary school. He's been known as Dude ever since. He has enjoyed a lifelong love affair with movies, having fallen in love in the theater when he saw Some Like it Hot at age nine. The Dude will also tell you that he has a passion for life. This guy knows how to party. And Jeff's very often the life of the party. There is always that one guy who gets everyone fired up „ the one who cranks the music, taps the keg, or starts the conga line. Jeff Dowd is that guy.

The Dude has been at the center of the indie scene at its very beginnings having helped an astonishing number of films and filmmakers including Blood Simple, The Black Stallion, Chariots of Fire, Gandhi, Hoosiers, The Stunt Man, Desperately Seeking Susan, and too many more to name. When the Dude talks, people listen. He knows how to get a film into the hands of the right people and form the necessary strategy to put that movie into the best possible position to get noticed and sell. It's hard to say exactly what a producer's rep like The Dude actually does, but it is a rare talent. His job involves everything from script evaluation to marketing to publicity to just plain sweet-talking. And he's damn good at all of it, especially the sweet-talking.

More recently Jeff's been involved in such films as The Cockettes, Scratch, Neil Young's Greendale, Metallica: Some Kind of Monster, and selling films like Two Family House (Sundance Audience Award Winner) to Lions Gate Films, Dream with the Fishes to Sony Pictures Classics, and Eight Days a Week to Warner Bros., Kissing Jessica Stein to Fox Searchlight, and Better Luck Tomorrow to MTV Films. The Dude also finds time to sit on the boards of the Independent Feature Project, the International Documentary Association, the Sundance Film Festival, and the Sundance Institute. Currently he is writing his autobiography.

Jeff is such a well-known and strangely unique person that filmmakers Joel and Ethan Coen paid tribute to The Dude by basing a character in their film The Big Lebowski on him. Anyone who has spent more than five minutes with The Dude will notice that Jeff Bridges' mannerisms in that film are strikingly similar.

I met The Dude at the SXSW Film Festival where we ended up on a panel together. This resulted in a night I only half remember, bar-hopping through the streets of Austin, Texas. I don't recall everything that happened, I only know that I had an amazing time. Jeff is the cowboy I want leading the wagon train through a flurry of parties. He's also the perfect guy to have on your side when making and selling a movie.

What can a really good producer's rep do for a filmmaker?
What you do is prepare the filmmakers for what lies ahead in the marketplace. What their strategic choices are. What that means is that you help them creatively get as much feedback as they can on the movie „ have screenings so they can make creative adjustments. And believe me, the best movies have made creative adjustments in post-production. Whether that means extra shooting, whether it means music addition. At the same time, it's strategic planning. How are we going to show this movie the first time? Are we going to show it at the festival? Are we going to show it to all the distributors at once? Or are we going to show it to only one distributor? What are we going to do in terms of domestic versus foreign? What's the filmmaker's agenda? There are going to be different people involved in the filmmaking team, and each one will have a slightly different agenda. Is this a stepping stone to their next movie? Do they want to get the investors' money back? Both? It's helping creative discussion so the people can focus in on the very important decisions they have to make. There are no right or wrong answers, but most of the time, people don't understand the alternatives. So, I try to get them all the information they can use to make good decisions. Also, we discuss all the things they have to do...whatever it takes to put your best foot forward. I essentially join the team in every aspect of it.

Can a filmmaker sell a film themselves without a producer's rep or an agent or lawyer?
Of course you can, if you are very lucky. But even Michael Jordan tended to like to go on the court with four other guys. You're just absolutely insane if you try to do it alone. I'm all about trying to build a team. I'll work with all the agents and lawyers to put together the best possible team. Anybody who goes out into today's extremely competitive, expensive, harsh world without a good team „ well, they might as well take a gun and just start shooting off the body parts of all the people who helped them make the movie. It's the most irresponsible thing to do, but it happens all the time.

The problem with independents is that they're independent. In today's world it's important to make strategic alliances. I would recommend that independents also make strategic teamwork alliances. In the worst case, it's going to get them more information.

And by the way, any smart investor really wants the best team to protect their investment. A lot of producers have underbudgeted the production and a lot of directors have underpaid themselves and so they start to think, ñWhy should I let someone else get involved with this and take another piece?î And that's a legitimate feeling, but they're not seeing the big picture. The big picture is getting your film into the marketplace in a proper way. It's great to have a whole team of passionate, smart players.

Before the filmmaker even begins shooting, what do they need to know?
Just because anyone can make a movie, doesn't mean everyone should make a movie. I can't believe someone thinks people would actually go see these movies on an opening Friday night as opposed to all the other choices in the world! If your movie isn't enough for people to see over every other choice, then it's never going to go theatrical. Is it so special that it's going to get on some cable show? And there's really no direct-to-video anymore, so what makes it so special?

1. Ask yourself, ñWho is my intended audience?î

2. People really don't do enough dramaturgical work on their scripts. They should do readings and more readings and not just get the advice of a couple friends. Actually pay for some advice. If you're going to spend $100,000 on a film, you can use $5,000 on dramaturgical feedback. It could make the difference between the film getting released and not getting released. That's why we started the Sundance Institute. We try to say to people, ñDo not make your film yet, stop. Reassess it. Put it on its best feet. Try filming some scenes here to get some feedback.î

Paper is ultimately cheaper than film.

Right! The problem is, a lot of filmmakers are filmmakers first and storytellers second. Hitchcock, Sayles, Tarantino „ these filmmakers were all writers first, directors second. Audiences go to stories, not to films. Form may be equally exciting as content sometimes, but it's still about the way the story affects the audience emotionally and viscerally. Most of the people who end up being successful in the independent market are phenomenally well-versed in the history of cinema and they bring that to the table „ Tarantino and Spielberg „ these people could be working at the film library as archivists. People don't pay enough attention to stopping to get all the dramaturgical feedback that they can, studying films, and talking to people about the marketplace. I guarantee I can personally increase peoples' chances 1000 percent if they talk to me earlier rather than later in terms of whether a film will get to distribution.

So, what is a distributor looking for?
Several things: distributors are looking to see how it plays for an audience. They are assessing how it plays for critics. That's why distributors often like film festivals. They are able to get a sense of how a movie plays for audiences and how critics are likely to respond. The other thing that's important at the end of the day, is how the distributors emotionally respond to the film, how they feel about the filmmakers. They're not going to do it just for economic reasons, believe me. And, of course, there are critical and economic evaluations. So, how you assess your first showing is: maybe there's one distributor who is perfect for your film and maybe they don't like film festivals and they like to see things in their own screening room so that's the way to do it. Maybe a film festival is. But, you often want to screen a film in front of the target audience. It depends on the kind of film it is and what kind of experience you want to have. Sometimes a particular actor or director is going to be the key to selling the film. That's one thing that distributors assess. Who is going to represent this film in the media for us? They often need to see that person in action at a film festival or something. You need to come up with a way to screen the film that helps convey what it's going to do in the marketplace.

Then perhaps the distributor screening, basically a few people sitting in the room, is not the best way to go?
Maybe not, but there are certain films that have been very successful, and that's how they were sold. It really is case by case. It's also what you do before you screen the film. How do you position it to the distributor? How do you describe it? They are very busy people and you have to do some of the homework for them. That might mean press, artwork, trailers – coming up with a way for them to get a feel for why or how the film might interest the public. That's all part of the process. The key thing is for the studios to understand how the continuum goes all the way through to the public.

Are there other ways to get to distributors?
You can screen it at a festival, but the critical thing is what you do before, how you position it. You can do a one-two punch and screen it at a festival and then screen it right afterwards in New York and Los Angeles with audiences. Or they're going to want to screen the print so other people in their company can see it. No one is going to buy a film until the president of marketing makes a decision. That's how a big film is acquired. The other route is having distributor screenings in New York and Los Angeles and there are lots of variations on those. The other alternative is to pick one or two distributors and just screen it for them. The advantages of that are quite obvious. The disadvantages...well, you've only kissed one girl, so to speak, and you'll never know what everyone else might think.

What are the best ways to create buzz and build interest from distributors?
One way is to have certain people in the media doing it (e.g., Variety, The Hollywood Reporter ). Try to position the movie for them. You can also sometimes show a film to select members of the press.

Obviously, everyone sends out postcards and faxes and things like that. A website. You can have other people, who may not be interested parties but who have some credibility with distributors, call on your behalf. You could also have a couple of screenings that don't include distributors, but include people who have relationships with distributors.

If you're in a film festival, hiring a publicist is 100 percent recommended. If you're not in a film festival, there isn't really much for a publicist to do, to be honest. If you have one magazine article or something to generate some advance interest, that's okay, but you really don't need much more than one piece. You only need one or two examples of the buzz the film might generate. And, between the producers, the producers' rep and the publicists, that information will get to the distributors. Film festivals are a one-time opportunity to have people look at your film.

What are some of the important things for a filmmaker to be aware of in any distributor negotiation?
Meet the people at the company who are going to be marketing your film! The people who are involved acquiring your film are going to have a lot of contact with you ahead of time, but when your movie is coming out, they may be off in Cannes. The people who are marketing your film, those are the people you're going to be married to. The person you're going to be working with everyday is the head of marketing. So meet those people in the company, and have them sell you on the plan of how they are going to market your movie. Brainstorm a little, even have some disagreements. The success of the film isn't about the price of the film, it's about how it is handled in the marketplace.

The real test is in the extra marketing things that the distributor is going to do. How much are they really going to put into screenings programs for word of mouth? How much are they going to put in at a local level?

Ultimately, you're really looking for an individual in the company, an actual person, who is involved in the marketing who is going to give you a personal commitment as to how much they're going to do and how much they're capable of doing. You're looking for a strategy for your film. And someone with the ability to be flexible. Can these people be focused in the season your film is coming out? How many other films are coming out then? This is a human business. The biggest part of the deal you're looking for is who are the human beings you're going to be dealing with and then pray that they're going to be there when your film comes out and that the company doesn't change hands.

What are some of the things a filmmaker needs to do to build a career?
One of the things you want most is to have some idea of what your next movie is. Either have your own script ready or go buy one. There never seems to be enough time in the day, but make time. There isn't much an agent can do for you, except maybe get you work for hire, unless you have another product they can help get made. You have to be ready for the next effort.

You want to build your team. You want to have your agents and your lawyer and your producers. I think some of the people who build a career have a team of people to work with and that team keeps them going. For example, Quentin Tarantino has Lawrence Bender.

At the end of the day, an actor will be attracted to a great script. So, doesn't it all come back to the screenplay itself?
The absolute best way is to write great parts, because actors will be your best friends. If you write a really good script, with really good parts, you can get really good actors to do it. Agents can become great allies if you have a good script. There are enough smart people who are producers, actors, agents, etc. „ if you can build a good enough team, you can get your film to the critical mass. It's almost a litmus test. If your script is good, you will be able to get a name actor.