Moving on… and back to yesterday. So I had been going through hell with this other project all week… terse emails, uncomfortable phone conversations and was feeling like ‘what’s the point?’. So I decided in my mind to just let it go. The best part about letting a project go is the space it leaves for other opportunities to enter into the picture.

So after letting this project go I woke up yesterday to an email in my inbox from an agent that casually stated his A-list client was interested in playing the lead role in another one of my projects. I almost fell off my chair! I quickly replied and confirmed details and before I knew it – bam! – I’ve got a much bigger and better project on the fast track. The best part about getting an A list actor attached to your project is how quickly the other pieces come together. Suddenly people aren’t as ‘busy’ as before and are flocking to attach themselves to your project. My phone hasn’t stopped ringing since. Momentum rocks!

I learned the art of letting a project go and perseverance, patience, and having several irons in the fire at once from studying what other successful producers (whom I admire) do. I’ve never had a mentor or anyone formally say ‘i’m going to teach you how to do this’….rather, I’ve spent years studying what other successful producers do, and then do the same. Success leaves clues.

I think if you want to be successful at making movies – whether you’re a writer, director, or producer – create ‘virtual’ mentors for yourself….. people whom you admire and whose careers you want to emulate, and do what they do. Study how they got their movies made, and copy them. Like I said, I spend inordinate amounts of time every day reading and studying what’s happening in the market and how others are getting their films made. For the types of films I want to Produce, it’s all about attaching A-list talent, and then financing the 2.0 way - and I don’t reinvent the wheel. 

The best is if you can find several ‘virtual mentors’ to study, and try to identify the commonalities in what they’re doing. Inevitably, you will find that some of the habits of successful producers are outside of the normal patterns that most people follow. 

So all this reminded me of what I hear from filmmakers all the time. They’ve spent $500K or $1 million on their film and by golly they want/need to recoup that much to break-even. Well guess what – here’s the cold hard truth: 

Distributors don’t give a rat’s patooty what you spent on your film, they only care about what the film looks like and more importantly WHO IS IN IT. That’s right – distributors will only acquire your film for the market price or what the market can bear at any given time, and most of the time, it’s a lot less than what you think you’re gonna get.

So what can you do about this conundrum? Well first of all, study Sales Projections BEFORE you make your movie. As a former sales agent myself and someone who is in constant contact with sales agents about market trends, I’ve developed a set of realistic sales projections for indie films. You can take a look at them on the Film Specific site HERE. 

What you want to do is get a grip on what the market is paying FIRST before you go building or renovating your condo (in your case, making your movie!). Get in touch with what the market is paying before you pour an amount of money into a project that you’ll never recoup. 

Second you want to only put money into the areas that count – in real estate that’s Kitchens and Bathrooms. In filmmaking it’s CAST and CAST. I had a client come to me the other day determined to make a $500K movie and asking me how he could recoup that on a horror film with no names. I said YOU CAN’T (or most likely won’t). But he keeps trying to fit a square peg into a round hole rather than do the easy thing – lower his budget. Spend less! Like $450K less if you’re not willing to go after ‘names’. Heck, even at the $450K level with names, I know someone who has been trying to recoup for 3 years, and is only halfway there (sigh). You can listen to an interview I did with him HERE.

So the bottom line is this – make your film according to what the market can bear not the other way around (trying to get the market to cooperate with your film). Remember, buyers don’t care how much you spent – they are going to pay what they’re going to pay and could care less if you spent a million or ten thousand. They only care about what is on the screen!

Now over to you. Anyone have an experience like this where they spent more on their film than the market could bear? Or any questions about this topic? Just post in the comments section below!

Additional Resources

1. Learn how to completely reverse engineer your project so you never make a movie for more than the market can bear in my flagship on-demand course Distribution In Reverse. Completely FREE for FS Pro Annual members. Check it out HERE

2. Speaking of FS Pro Annual Membership, our 5th Anniversary Promotion that extended through the month of April is coming to a close on Monday April 30. Join the largest community of serious filmmakers on the web and get access to training audios and videos, sample contracts, sales projections, online courses, get all your questions answered in our private forums, and more! Plus get 3 free months of membership + a 2012 Film Distribution Kit shipped to your house during the last couple days of this promotion. GO HERE TO GET STARTED.

The key to raising money for your crowd funding campaign is to engage your target audience to the point that they want to give and help you make your dream a reality. Not to beat random people over the head with ‘give me, give me, give me’! That strategy doesn’t work and in and my opinion, unless you have a target audience plan…and by that I mean an email list of at least 1000 strong, a FB fan base, a Twitter following and your cast and crew all have the same, then you shouldn’t really be embarking on a crowd funding campaign in the first place.

Yes it takes time! What this means is that you can’t decide you’re going to do a crowd funding campaign and kick it off the next day. I would say you need at least 3 months prep time (assuming you’re starting with an existing email list to promote to)…if you don’t have that existing list, it could take 6 months to a year to develop one. I’ve been working with a particular client of mine for just over a year while he builds up his target audience email list and FB fan base. To build up that base he’s spent money – and lots of it – both in FB ads and in traveling the country to different conferences and gatherings where his target audience hangs out, and he’s collected email addresses one by one that way. It’s been a long slog but guess what – a year later he’s in prime position to promote anything he wants to this audience. They are extremely targeted and interested in what he has to offer….they want to see the film get made….and he’s kept them engaged the whole time.

So I ask you – what is the promotional plan for your crowd funding campaign? I hope it doesn’t involve emailing bloggers in the filmmaking space — as discussed, they are not your target audience. Other filmmakers? They are busy trying to raise money for their own films and could care less about yours! Come on – time to get your hands dirty and do the work yourself even if it takes a year or longer. And if you can’t figure out who your target audience is to even begin this process, then guess what – you probably shouldn’t be making the film.

Over to you….thoughts? questions? comments? Let’s discuss this further in the comments section below!

Additional Resources

Tomorrow, Wednesday April 24 I’ll be holding a Virtual Seminar on crowd funding entitled Crowd Funding & The U.S Jobs Act: What It Means For Independent Filmmakers with entertainment attorney Corky Kessler. We’ll be discussing the implications of the newly passedU.S Jobs Act and now it relates to indie filmmakers. If you are planning to do some crowd funding for your film, don’t miss this seminar! You’ll also have a chance to get all your legal questions answered during our Q+A period. CLICK HERE for more info.

“I’ve got a film with some private equity and B list talent attached, and now I would like to bring on a distributor or sales agent and ease the mind of my investors….how do I go about doing that?”

Well my answer to this question is always the same – what’s in it for them? Why would a distributor or sales agent want to partner with you at this early stage of development – what’s the incentive for them to take a risk this early?

Ironically, I’m actually working with a client right now who is in the financing stages and is signing a deal with a sales agent for future representation – but in this particular case it makes sense (for him) because the deal he’s getting is sweet…and as for what’s in it for the sales agent? The filmmaker has a track record of making successful family films…and good family films are always in demand….so the sales agent is being smart and locking up rights to this now, contract to deliver in Nov so he has a guaranteed family film to launch at AFM. Very smart!

But back to you – do you really need to partner with a distributor or sales agent in the early stages of development? Unless you’re playing the Pre-Sales game, no you don’t. Your best bet is to go make your micro budget film and then look for distributors and sales agents when your film is completed. You’ll have more leverage then, and if your film is good enough, you might be able to get a better deal then you would have otherwise.

With the Cannes Film Market coming up people are more curious than usual about this because they are eager to go to Cannes and shop their project. But what you have to remember is this – unless you’re a known quantity, with a track record, and have major talent and directors attached to your projects, what you’ll likely hear from every distributor and sales agent you meet at Cannes (or any market) is - “Sounds great! Send me a screener when it’s done!”. And that’ll be that.

In Chapter 5 of my book Insiders Guide To Independent Film Distribution, I talk in detail about finding producer reps and sales agents, navigating international film markets, and the three paths to distribution…. and the bottom line is don’t waste your time trying to sign with a distributor or sales agent while you’re financing your film – there’s likely nothing in it for them!

So over to you – what are your thoughts on this topic and have you ever signed with a distributor or sales agent in the financing stages of your project? Would love to hear from you in the comments section below!

What drives Distribution value? This is a question I get asked quite frequently. People want to know what they can ‘do’ to their film to make it more distribution-worthy and quite frankly, this is a very valid question!

Pre-production is the ideal time to start thinking of distribution for your film.  By planning in advance, there are so many things that you can institute at this stage of the game that will give your film infinitely better chances at distribution later. I like to call it ‘distribution in reverse’ or simply reverse engineering your film for distribution. There are many examples of filmmakers operating with this mindset and finding much success with getting their films made, seen and distributed worldwide. Later on this chapter, you will see some specific case studies of this.

Distribution in reverse has been going on for some time. Historically, this was called Pre-Sales and although they are quite uncommon for low budget films these days, I know of a few filmmakers who have managed to get one or more pre-sales for their films during pre-production, and therefore are guaranteed a certain amount of distribution when the film is completed.

By contrast to today, in the 1990’s it wasn’t uncommon for an independent film to get several foreign distribution deals before going into production, and then U.S distribution was always the icing on the cake. Films of all genres were able to benefit from this, as long as there were a few names attached to the script. Today pre-sales work a bit differently in that they are reserved for films by big Producers and Directors with serious track records. Distributors got burned in the past with films they pre-bought that subsequently never got made or got made very poorly. Hence the necessity of having a track record before a distributor will ‘trust’ you enough to do a pre-sale.

Don’t despair though if you are unable to secure distribution during pre-production because you are not alone. Most filmmakers do NOT secure distribution for their films at this stage and instead, work on things that can significantly improve their chances of getting distribution after their film is completed. Yes, there are some horror stories out there of filmmakers who sink their life’s savings into making their film, only to have it never see the light of distribution. However I am a firm believer that there are precautions you can take in advance, which will significantly increase your chances of making a film that sells.

The following are five ways you can improve the chances of distribution during pre-production:

1. TARGET YOUR AUDIENCE

The first thing you want to ask yourself during Pre-Production is this “Who is the target audience for my film”? You want to focus on who the end user/market is for your film FIRST, and THEN go through the process of creating it (but ONLY when a distinct and target audience can be established).

WHY? For 2 reasons:

1. Before any traditional distributor picks up your film they are going to want to know what their ‘marketing hook’ will be, and that is predicated on having a distinct target audience. Distributors are already thinking about how they can market your film before they acquire it from you, and marketing a film is an expensive proposition that can delay profitability. So it makes sense that a distributor would only choose to pick up films that they see they can market efficiently and cheaply to specific target audiences, and thus decrease their overall spend as much as possible.

2. If you don’t end up getting traditional distribution then you’ll need to know who your target audience is so you can execute a DIY campaign efficiently and cheaply. Just like a traditional distributor, you’re going to be looking at how you can save money on your marketing and promotions while self distributing your film – and it’s a heck of a lot cheaper to market to a specific target audience rather than trying to market to everyone.

Also….

You’ll notice that even at the Studio level films are being made for specific target audiences. Look at films like TWILIGHT and THE HANGOVER. Those are made for very specific audiences. So if you aspire to move up to making studio level films, or selling your films to the mini majors or major distributors, then you need to focus on making films for specific target audiences at a smaller more independent level, and work on building up a track record for yourself.

Let’s face it though – in most cases in today’s market you are going to be doing some sort of DIY distribution whether it’s a hybrid strategy or 100% DIY. Obviously you can’t just get your film on to iTunes or another digital platform and hope the sales will magically appear. Nor can you put a DVD for sale on your website and have traffic automatically show up on your front doorstep. And neither can you do your own theatrical screening tour and people automatically show up.

So this is where having a target audience comes into play and the key thing to remember is you don’t want to wait till your movie is done before you start building an audience because building an audience takes time. You want to start in Pre-Production building your audience — building an audience is like your insurance plan for the film.

How do you start to build your audience?

Look at who the audience is for your film – is it sci-fi geeks? horror fans? do you have a documentary with a social cause? Where do these people hang out online? Which blogs, forums, Facebook groups? Find out where they congregate (both online and offline), mingle, connect, and interact with them there with the ultimate goal of driving them back to your site and Facebook page so you can start aggregating them as your own audience. Do this consistently over a period of several months so you have that ‘insurance policy’ of an audience by the time you’re finished with your film.

2. GET IN TOUCH WITH THE MARKET

The second thing you can do during Pre-Production to improve your chances of distribution later is Get In Touch With The Market.

What does that mean? Well let’s have a reality check. The reality of today’s marketplace is that acquisition prices for films are a fraction of what they were   5-10 years ago and even though new distribution models are emerging and revenue sources are shifting, the new revenue sources aren’t fully developed yet.

In today’s marketplace as filmmaker you basically have 2 potential paths to follow. You either:

1. Make a film and sell it into the traditional system, or
2. Make a film and pursue DIY or hybrid distribution

Unfortunately I find that in general, most filmmakers and producers are out of touch with market realities. And of course they are. It’s not their job to know what particular market forces are in play at any given moment. However, if you spend just a little bit of time studying what kinds of films ‘sell’, you will be able to glean enough insight to assist you in making educated decisions throughout your production process.

Here’s something you can do: this may seem overly simplistic but have a look what’s playing in the theaters, what’s still for sale on the video shelves, what’s showing on cable, and what’s premiering on cable and internet VOD. Look at the quality of these films, the actors they’re using, the artwork used to promote it. It’s cliché but it’s true: there has to be some kind of ‘hook’ in order for your independent movie to find distribution, Whether it’s star appeal, a popular genre like horror, family, or sci-fi or a ‘niche’ film (gay, sports, children, etc.), there has to be a special ‘hook’ that makes your film stand out from the rest.

Here’s a story that illustrates what I’m talking about. I was working with some filmmakers who wanted to make a romantic comedy to go straight to video and cable. Despite potential red flags, the filmmakers were very attached to their story and did some basic market research before even writing the script.  They started by taking a trip to several video stores to see if there were any independent romantic comedies on the shelves that hadn’t already had a U.S theatrical release. Red flag #1 -there weren’t any. Next, they made a target list of 10 cable networks where the movie might air, including HBO, Showtime, A&E and IFC among others. They visited the websites of these 10 cable networks and scrutinized their programming schedules. What they found was that most of these networks aired only films that either had a major U.S. theatrical release, or were one of their own original productions (which are becoming increasingly more common). In the rare cases where we saw an independent film on the program schedule that hadn’t had a U.S theatrical release, the film had either a star-driven cast or was in the ‘family’ genre category (red flag #2).

After researching video stores and cable networks the filmmakers made a list of some romantic comedies they had seen in the last year and indicated what the ‘hook’ was in each of them that garnered them distribution. The most common reason on the list was ‘cast’ followed by ‘remake’ or ‘adaptation’ of some previous film or book.

The last thing they did in the market research process was visit the American Film Market (AFM) and visit the booths of foreign sales agents and distribution companies to see what was being sold at the market. How many posters for romantic comedies did they find? Red flag #3: not many. In talking to a few foreign sales agents and even buyers visiting the market they ascertained that romantic comedies were not a popular sale at the time and incidentally didn’t translate well to overseas markets.

In this particular case, the results of a little basic market research were clear. The only circumstances under which it made sense to move forward with a romantic comedy would be if  they could raise enough money through private investors to attach at least two A-list cast members. Since the filmmakers were so committed to the project, they decided to give it a shot by increasing their budget and reformatting their business plan to raise the money they needed to hire A-list actors.

And don’t forget to carefully consider genre….

Certain genres of films do better than others at certain times. For example horror, action, thriller, and sci-fi films have been doing well for a while in the straight-to-video market (while dramas, comedies, and art-house have not). Therefore, it makes sense to engage in market research for the particular genre you have in mind and if you find there is low demand for it, consider switching to a genre that is in higher demand. Seems like common sense right? Keep in mind that the market is continually changing – one year horror may be a hot commodity and the next year it’s saturated. The market is a fickle place so chances are a project you put on hiatus now can most likely be resurrected at a later date when there may be a place in the market for it.

There are some genres though that I find to be consistently in demand.  Family films, animation, current affairs documentaries, and action films (with B-stars or higher) are generally wildly popular genres nowadays since they can always seem to find an audience.  (Please keep in mind, those genres are just a partial list and represent what is currently happening.  When it comes time to make your film, research the market and find out what the hot sellers are as the results may be different. )

To be continued….

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*** To pick up a paperback or kindle version of the full “Insiders Guide To Independent Film Distribution” just CLICK HERE.

*** For more on Developing a project that sells….. check out my interactive Virtual Seminar scheduled for this Thursday March 8 entitled Financing Your Film Without Pre-Sales – *free* for Film Specific members. CLICK HERE for details.

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In celebration of the official launch, I’m posting an excerpt from the book here on IFB. If you want to order your very own copy of the book – either paperback or Kindle version, you can head over to Amazon although at the time of this writing there’s only 17 copies left. They’re already flying off the shelves! Amazon also allows you to download the Table Of Contents as well as a Sample Chapter for free…. so head over and see what’s all included in this new version.

If Amazon is out of stock, you can also pick it up online at Barnes & Noble – available in paperback and for the Nook.

Updating the Insiders Guide was a lot of fun, and I especially enjoyed interviewing all new case studies and real world success stories. It includes interviews from people like Jon Reiss, Adam Daniel Mezei, Orly Ravid, Thomas Mai, Laura Kim…and many more!

And now without further ado….here’s the sample excerpt. I hope you enjoy and I’d love to hear your comments below!

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The Three Paths To Distribution

My experience has told me time and time again that once you’ve completed your film you’ll start getting anxious to find distribution for it. You’ve put in all this hard work and it’s time to get your film out there and to find its audience.

Many filmmakers’ instinct once they have a finished film is to immediately start shopping it to every distributor in sight. However, ‘shot-gunning’ distributors is not an effective approach! I would advise taking a more methodical approach to finding distribution for your film, which I’ll outline below.

For example, the first thing you want to do before you even start approaching anyone to distribute or represent your film is to put a solid strategy in place.  You don’t want to be haphazardly submitting items to distributors and reps, without taking into account any type of protocol.

In today’s market there are effectively three paths to distribution. They are Traditional, DIY, and Hybrid:

1.    Traditional

Traditional distribution is what we all normally associate with film distribution – theatrical, DVD, and Broadcast. Unfortunately as the market has changed, traditional distribution has become more and more rare for independently produced films. Where a filmmaker used to be able to rely on the tried and true method of premiering at a big festival followed by being picked up for theatrical distribution, DVD, and/or Cable distribution, those days are few and far between now and occur for fewer and fewer films. Furthermore, many filmmakers even reject traditional distribution deals given the choice nowadays because the offers may be so low that they feel they could do better distributing the film themselves (more on that in a minute).

An example of this is the movie Bottleshock that premiered at Sundance in 2008 and when the Producers got no real offers from distributors they decided to strike out on their own and implement a DIY strategy. The result is that they were able to make far more than they would have with any of the traditional deals they were offered.

So something to keep in mind is that even though you may still view traditional distribution as the ultimate goal for your film, it may not always be the best choice for your film and in most cases, isn’t totally realistic in today’s market.

2.    DIY

DIY distribution (do-it-yourself) has replaced traditional distribution as the go-to route for most filmmakers with independently produced films. Like I mentioned above, due to supply and demand in the marketplace, there’s just too many films and too few traditional distribution outlets left, so what has surfaced in its place is this new DIY route. DIY (or sometimes called self-distribution) has now supplanted traditional distribution as Plan A, whereas it used to be Plan B.

But don’t worry – DIY doesn’t have the ‘stigma’ that it once did and now many mainstream films are turning to DIY voluntarily because they wish to keep more control of their film and release it how they want to, when they want to, and on their own terms.

Of course there are both upsides and downsides to self-distribution. The biggest upside in my opinion is that any sale you make, any distribution deal you sign, you get to keep all the money for yourself. It goes directly to your bottom line, in paying your investors back and towards your profit. Conversely, the biggest downside to self-distribution that I can think of is that in exchange for not having to pay anyone a sales commission or fee or percentage of sales, you have to do all the work, which can be an enormous amount.

Don’t be fooled, the DIY route takes a tremendous amount of work and patience, but it can pay off handsomely to those who are consistent with their efforts. Before I got a publisher for this book, I self-distributed it as an eBook online. And the number one thing that made it a successful venture for me was my consistent efforts at tirelessly marketing my product. Some weeks were good, some weeks were bad, but being absolutely consistent in my marketing efforts I believe was the top contributor to the book’s success.

With all the new DIY platforms out there remember that since you do not have a distribution company behind you, you will have to do all the marketing, promotions, and advertising yourself (or with a team you hire) – whatever it takes to drive sales of your film. I will talk about specific ways to market your film with each self-distribution method I discuss.

3.   Hybrid 

There is a also a Hybrid distribution model that is part Traditional, part DIY.  For example, if you make a film that doesn’t immediately get distribution you may choose to do your own platform theatrical release. While you’re doing your own platform theatrical release, you may decide to sell your own DVD’s at the screenings. At this point, you will probably also want to sell DVD’s or Streams/Downloads off your website to capitalize on the fact that you are out there creating a buzz doing public screenings. With all this in place, you are completely self-distributed.

Suddenly a traditional DVD distributor picks up on all the buzz you’re getting, and sees that there is a market for your product, and that you are actually selling DVD’s, and they want in on the action! BUT…you have a nice successful online operation going and you don’t want to give up that revenue. After all, for every DVD you sell off your own website, you could be pocketing $5-$15, depending on the selling price of the DVD for. Once a DVD distributor picks up your film, you will only make perhaps $1-$3 per unit sold, at most.

So, you are left with a conundrum. While you always wanted a DVD distributor to offer you a deal, you also are enjoying the revenue that you’re making while self-distributing. The perfect solution is to negotiate in your contract with the distributor that you the filmmaker retain online distribution rights to your film. This would have been unheard of a few years ago, but surprisingly DVD distributors are realizing that they have to acquiesce in this area if they want to be able to acquire hot-performing niche films that are already out there collecting a buzz in the marketplace. Distributors are also realizing that filmmakers who are heavily promoting a film online, will only help their retail sales in the long run anyway. So everybody wins.

Distributors don’t have a choice anymore rather they absolutely have to alter their business models to accommodate filmmakers in this area. Traditional DVD distributors will be more like retail partners in the future, and filmmakers will leverage the new technologies available to them and handle their own online distribution.

Another part of the hybrid distribution model that has become popular is known as House Parties. For example, while some filmmakers are taking their platform theatrical release to art house and independent movie theaters, others are choosing to do targeted screenings in peoples’ homes.

A great example of this model is Robert Greenwald’s Wal-Mart: The High Cost Of Low Prices. Robert really wanted to get his message out there and knew how to find his target audience online. By galvanizing online support he organized grass-roots screenings at people’s homes all across the country and built a tremendous buzz for his film.  He ended up having somewhere around 1000 house parties, each with around 10-15 people in a living room. Within a couple of months he had sold 100,000 DVD’s from people buying them at the parties and off his website.

Granted, the house party strategy works very well with documentaries that lend themselves to strong grassroots opinions and campaigns, BUT you could also apply this strategy to a narrative feature if your film applies to a core audience (ie: surfers, teenagers, sports enthusiasts…whatever). Think about what groups people belong to online and how you can reach them. Then capitalize on that enthusiasm and organize screenings around it.

It almost makes sense these days to think in terms of what types of films could appeal to which groups online, and word backwards from there. At least that way, you will always have the insurance of direct sales of your DVD online and know that you’ll be able to make the revenue that way to pay your investors back. Even if a traditional distributor never picks up your film, you know you can do some grassroots promoting and selling all on your own.

Something else to think about is that while you’re out there doing grassroots screenings, building an audience for yourself, you may well be able to raise money for your next film. I know of a few filmmakers who while screening their films to a targeted demographic at private screenings met investors for their next films. So keep your eyes open and be prepared!

Stacey Parks is a film distribution expert with over 15 years experience working with independent producers. As a Foreign Sales Agent for several years she secured distribution for hundreds of independent features and programs worldwide. Stacey currently specializes in coaching independent film professionals on financing and distribution strategies for their projects, and works with them both one-on-one and through her online training website www.FilmSpecific.com. Stacey’s clients have secured deals with U.S Studio divisions, large international broadcasters, and worldwide DVD distributors, and have premiered their films at Cannes, Sundance, Toronto, Berlin, SXSW, San Sebastian, and other major film festivals worldwide. Stacey is the author of ‘The Insider’s Guide to Independent Film Distribution” 1^st & 2^nd editions (Focal Press) and presently divides her time between her clients, FilmSpecific.com, and producing projects of her own.

Well folks I’ve been pretty quiet here in IFB since AFM and for good reason. I’ve been hustling with follow up and trying to get actual deals signed. You see, getting ‘interest’ in your projects is one thing, but closing an actual deal is something else entirely.  I’m happy to report though that since AFM I have heard from several clients specifically that they have long form agreements on their desks ready to sign (distribution deals, one screenplay option, and several pre-sale contracts). As for me, I’ve got 3 or 4 deals in the works as we speak so I’m very happy about that but still hustling every day nonetheless….

One of things that I’m noticing is that these days you need to be a lot more flexible and definitely more creative in your thinking when it comes to deal making. For example, terms of a contract may not be to your liking but as a new Producer or Filmmaker you need to realize that at this stage in your career, you’re not going to get the best deal on the planet in terms of money and control. You’re just not. So you must go into things knowing that these initial deals are about making a name for yourself and developing a track record so that hopefully you can leverage this for bigger future deals down the line. And always (I mean always!) invest in an experienced Entertainment Attorney (not attorney who ‘dabbles’ in entertainment) to review your contracts and fight for what’s ‘realistically’ yours….

What about creative thinking? Well I can tell you that I’m in the middle of a few deals right now where flexibility is certainly the order of the day. For example,  budgets, deal terms, and financing plans are subject to change at any time (and usually do). When one part of the financing plan falls through, time to get creative. Go with the flow and be ready to pounce on Plan B when Plan A falls through. My advice to you is never stop just going going going at it and you’ll find that solution.

One other thing to keep in mind … and I know I’ve said this before but you definitely want to have several irons in the fire at once. Five or Six projects on your producing slate is not too much – you’ll need it. Yesterday I was bummed out for a minute about something not working out on one project, and ten minutes later I got an email about something going through on an even bigger project on my slate. I wasn’t bummed out for long because with all the projects I’m juggling, there’s always something happening.

So what about you? What type of creative thinking have you found working well for you these days in your deal-making? Please comment below…I’d love to hear from you on this!

And for FS Members... if you missed my AFM Wrap-Up Seminar where I went over all the new trends in marketplace, you can catch the replay RIGHT HERE. There’s also a killer AFM round-up written by a Sales Agent which in my opinion is quite *illuminating* to say the least. You can catch that write-up in the FS Forums HERE.

But you may be wondering what my overall insights are from the market right? Like what were some of my major take-away’s and A-Ha moments. Well I’ll be going through my full analysis next week in a Virtual Seminar for Film Specific members, but in the mean time I’d like to share with you the following notes below… (taken directly from my notebook by the way that I carried around everywhere with me!)

Stacey’s AFM Insights…

• If you’ve got the goods, you’re not going to have a problem getting financing! There’s plenty of money out there circulating right now…

• If you run into financing road blocks, lower your budget…

• If you’re going for the bigger budget indie with name talent, then start with Pre-Sales – all other financing will be easier to come by after that…

• No matter what budget you’re making your film for, who the target audience is still needs to be made abundantly clear…

• Don’t make things more complicated than they are! Get some private equity, add a few pre-sales, get some gap… and lower your budget if necessary to make it all work!

• When trying to package your film, focus on creating a network of relationships you can leverage since gaining access to managers and agents is all about relationships…

• If you’re pitching a ‘branded’ project or one based on source material (like a book or graphic novel) – what is the level of awareness that is already in place?

• Before approaching a packaging agent at one of the major agencies, be sure you have at least 1 element in place in order to get their attention (that element could be name cast, director, or producer)

• Remember that when going the packaging route it can take years before your project gets off the ground – so be patient…

• A Producer who knows how to package their own projects is in very high demand right now!

• If you’re a new Producer and can’t make headway or are facing road blocks and catch 22′s, then go get an experienced Producer or EP on board that has the relationships in place that you need. Don’t be afraid to partner and collaborate with someone else until you make a name for yourself…

• Add value to your project by shooting a sizzle reel or have previous work to show your talent – this will help get potential partners interested in working with you…

• Relationships, relationships, relationships! It’s the most important thing to getting your film off the ground – work on building key relationships and you’ll fast track moving your project forward…

• As a new Producer optioning source material is a great way help get your foot in the door when you’re first starting out – everyone’s looking for a ‘brand’ to go on…

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So what about you? For any of you that attended AFM, what were your major take-away’s? And what was your experience at AFM like in general? Please share below!

One thing is for sure though – if you’re out there raising money for your film in today’s market, you probably don’t want to be going the 100% private equity route unless you are a micro budget film. Otherwise, you need to be mixing it up with everything from crowd funding to tax incentives to pre-sales to debt financing….. but check it out - it all starts with a realistic budget and realistic sales projections for your project.

I have to emphasize this because almost every day I read a Business Plan that knocks me off my feet with how out of touch it is with today’s market. Literally! Over-inflated revenue projections, unrealistic and outdated distribution strategy, budget that doesn’t ‘fit’ the production, and so on…..

Eventually I decided to teach a course on how to prepare a proper Business Plan for today’s market. And not just any plan — one that incorporates Distribution 2.0 distribution revenue…. so that it’s not some outdated template for sale on the web….it’s custom to today’s market realities. I also created this course to give people an affordable option for getting a Business Plan done. To hire someone to create one for you (including me!) it can cost in the thousands of dollars (and for good reason).

So here’s the deal — for a few hundred bucks you can join me in a small group intensive, delivered by phone and on the web (so you can ‘attend’ from anywhere in the world),starting on Monday where I’ll walk you through the process of creating a real (and realistic) Business Plan for yourself…. I’ll even through in sample Business Plans, revenue tables, projections charts and other stuff for you to emulate…. so it’s really plug and play.

Why do you need a Business Plan now? Because if you have any intention of trying to get your act together before the end of 2011 and start the process of moving your project forward, then putting your plan on paper is the obvious first step. Nuff said! 

So you want to read more about the Business Plan 2.0 Boot Camp and register in the next 48 hours so you can save $50 on registration? GO HERE NOW. 

And so you don’t just take my word for it, here’s a little video from a past participant of the course….