The Business of Filmmaking, Part I
by Glen Berry, Film Underground
Adapted from articles originally posted on the Film Underground website.
Independent filmmakers traditionally aren't too business savvy. Filmmakers tend to focus on the creative phases of the process, mainly pre-production and production. While post-production is much more technical, dedicated producers find a way to get their projects completed. However, the two business bookends of development and distribution tend to elude and mystify.
Development
Development of a project begins with a completed script. Although everyone will agree this is the way to go, few actually adhere to this rule. Most filmmakers are eager to get a camera in their hands and spend little time thinking about why they're making those images. Although describing the script-writing process does not fall under the scope of this article, you should come out of that process with three things: a premise (or logline), treatment, and a completed script.
Reducing your completed script to a 2-3 page summary provides you with the basis for your treatment. Do the math: 24 scenes at 4-5 pages per scene make a 96-120 page script. 24 scenes at 4-5 sentences per scene leads to a 2-3 page treatment. If you developed a scene outline during the script-writing process, comparing the two should not define too many differences.
The biggest stumbling block for many writers at this point is understanding that all of the subtleties of the story can't be described in your treatment. This is an opportunity to put your creative writing skills to work crafting an essay that pulls the reader inexorably from paragraph to paragraph, drawn against their will through the enthralling twists and turns of your story.
A premise is a 2-3 sentence description of your plot. It's the opening to your pitch and the most important part of your entire project. Many neophyte writers balk at the idea of reducing their masterpiece to a TV Guide blurb, but it ought to be viewed as a creative challenge, not an affront to art. Keep in mind your premise is your one shot to capture the interest of your private investor and spark their imagination with a few well-chosen words. If that puts you under some pressure, don't worry. Crafting pitches takes time and experience.
If you're serious about getting your film made, you'll have plenty of both to hone and refine your pitch. Develop a half-dozen pitches and try them out on cynical friends and colleagues. You don't want to walk into a meeting with a pitch that's less than perfect. You need one that rolls off the tongue like golden honey. You may have to swallow a lot of bile to produce that pitch but that's what the game is all about.
Do not compare your film to other films, or describe what you intend to do with your film. Your goals are not important at this point. If a producer or investor finds your concept interesting, they'll ask you about that and many other things later. The premise is simply a means to draw potential partners further into your project. The objective is to entice them to read your treatment. The objective of the treatment is to entice them to read your script. It's a process to draw them further and further in until the time is ripe to sell them a piece of your project.
Film Finance
Many young filmmakers find film finance odious, which is understandable. Development has little to do with the creative process of filmmaking and is perceived to lie in the realm of business. However, films cannot be made without money. If you want to realize your creative vision, you have to be prepared to accept the fundraising challenge. The truth is it really isn’t that difficult if you understand the mechanics of the process and, more importantly, understand where your potential investors are coming from.
According to Michael Harpster, a 30-year veteran of film finance and distribution, the producer has two responsibilities to his investors. The first one is to get the film made and the second is to make money for the people who helped get it made. Period. According to Mr. Harpster, “Many films can be made with a relatively small amount of capital if leveraged properly but a lot of attention must be paid to making money for the participants and that always involves distribution.”
One can look at filmmaking as a five step process, consisting of:
1. Development/Finance
2. Pre-Production
3. Production
4. Post Production
5. Distribution
Although Development/Finance and Distribution are on opposite ends of the equation, an intimate link exists between them. The first question an experienced investor will ask is what your plan is for distribution, since that is where their opportunity to recoup their investment comes from. You can bet your bottom dollar that “I’ll submit it to Sundance” is not an answer that will satisfy them. Many finance organizations will require that a Letter of Intent be signed with a distribution company. A Letter of Intent is not a binding contract but rather a formal (but usually conditional) expression of interest in a project.
“The most effective way to get the film made and to make money is to use all distributors as pure mechanics – not financiers,” according to Mr. Harpster. “This means that you must be in a position to drive the process – not let it drive you”.
Driving the process forward on your own means putting all the items in place that make your project viable. The following list describes many of the items that participants will be interested in: Business Plan, Budget, Letter of Intent from international stars, Letter of Intent from a known director, clear copyright chain, Completion Bond, and a Distribution Agreement or Letter of Intent from Distributors.
Investors want to minimize the risk behind their investment and these items make a certain level of success probable. Of course, all of these items are not required to secure financing but the more you have in place, the easier it will be to convince investors to back your project. Unfortunately, no one can link you with private investors. Agents will represent you to production studios but if you want to be at the helm of your film, you will need to find your own funding sources. How is this accomplished? Networking. Show your short films at festivals, become active in local arts organizations, throw fund-raising parties. Use your creative side to dream up ways to catch the imagination and attention of the people in your community.
The most important thing is planning for the long-term. “Remember that the business is more about staying in the game than just making one film,” Harpster says. “Getting times at bat is crucial”.
For many filmmakers, raising the necessary funds to make their movie often takes longer than the entire production process. The independent producer should be prepared for an extended campaign instead of one-pitched battle. Spending several years in development is not unheard of and a long, slow grind that one ought to be prepared for. Patience and perseverance is the name of the game, even when it seems like no progress has been made. On the upside, there are thousands of ways that the deal could come together and victory will come eventually if you are willing to stick it out and make adjustments to your game plan.
Marketing and Public Relations
Although most filmmakers treat marketing and public relations as an extraneous drain on their resources, you cannot be financially successful without it. Good independent films don’t fail because they are sabotaged by “The Hollywood System.” Good independent films fail because they aren’t seen by the right people. Properly promoting your project will save you from this fatal short-coming and an unnecessarily short career in film.
It starts with a website
While there are myriad forms of marketing you will need to explore to be successful, your first efforts in marketing your film can be found right at your fingertips. The Internet is by far the most powerful marketing tool available to the independent producer. It goes without saying that independent productions are hopelessly outgunned when contending with a Hollywood marketing campaign that involves TV, magazines, radio, billboards and newspapers. The Internet is proving to be the one form of media where your production can compete on the same level as a major studio.
Creating an effective Internet presence does not necessitate having an immense staff or a mammoth budget. The greatest advantage of the Internet is that a single individual can create the same footprint as a Fortune 500 company with a cleverly designed and executed site.
However, it is important to remember that although your site can be built in a matter of days, it takes months for it to grow into an effective marketing tool. For this reason, your site should go up as early as possible. If you wait until the film is ready to distribute, you've missed the boat. As a general rule of thumb, web sites take six months to mature. In your first three months, you will see very little traffic. In each of the following months, sharp increases and bursts in activity are typical. Somewhere in the six-month range, assuming you’re doing the work to promote the site, traffic begins to become consistent and visitor averages are roughly the same from day to day. This is a sign of maturity and a result of word-of-mouth and other online marketing techniques that I will address later. This is why it is so important to have at least a few brief pages up as soon as you know your film is going to production.
The first step towards building your site is to obtain your own domain name. Although you would normally want to be consistent in branding the name of your project, don't be afraid to truncate your domain names. Instead of the full name thebighit.com, it should be simply bighit.com. Always make domain names as short as possible so your visitors can easily remember and enter them.
Part II of this article focuses on marketing your film, and will run in the October edition of indieEdge.
Glen Berry is a producer and entrepreneur with experience in film editing, post production, and guerrilla marketing for independent producers. Berry is the director of the Video Production Program at Western Washington University, teaches Streaming Media/Video for the Internet at Whatcom Community College, and is the director and founder of the Northwest Film School, which hosts Film Underground.
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