Is Your Film Headed Towards A Black Hole?
One of the big lessons in Producing I learned in 2016 is that unless there is a clear leader of a project, someone who is charged with moving the ship forward, things can very easily fall apart. I...
View ArticleWhen Your Dream Cast Just Isn’t Gonna Happen…
Earlier this week we left off talking about whether your film could be headed towards a black hole which relates to idea of leadership of your team, and I mentioned that was one of the big lessons I...
View ArticleSundance…Is It Worth The Wait?
With Sundance kicking off a lot of us start reflecting on whether when you have a completed film, is it the ‘right’ choice to wait for a premium festival premiere and what impact will that have on the...
View ArticleSundance One Stop Shop & Debt Disguised As Equity
As Sundance winds downI’ve enjoyed following along in the trades the films that are getting bought and for what amounts. Seems like the acquisition price sweet spot this year in all-rights buy outs is...
View ArticleWe Got Into SXSW (& the art of patience)
Hope you’ve had a great week so far! We left off in my last newsletter talking about Sundance as a One Stop Shop and Debt Disguised As Equity. Now with Sundance behind us, attention has turned to...
View ArticleSundance Feeding Frenzy (& buy low, sell high…)
Last week I told you about getting into SXSW and the art of patience to getting there, and since the official announcement it’s been interesting to see the amount of emails I’ve gotten, mostly from...
View ArticleBerlin/EFM & Why Distributors Are Pre-Buying Again
Last week we talked about the Sundance feeding frenzy and the buy low, sell high philosophy. Then we went right into Berlin and EFM, the first major actual market of 2017. For those of you who haven’t...
View ArticleMore Shooting, Less Talking….
I hope you’re having a great week! I’m still out and about on this crazy round the world shoot but one thing I’m certainly enjoying is being in ‘execution’ mode again after long periods of development...
View ArticleAre You Self Distributing (& why Cannes matters)
I was talking to a client yesterday about self distribution and what’s amazing to me is how many more tools are available right now versus even a year ago for promoting a self release. While the...
View ArticleLooking Towards SXSW (& last day Cannes promo)
Yesterday I wrapped on a long and complex round the world shoot. I’m still processing everything I learned from the experience in order to share it with you guys, but suffice it to say I’m more...
View ArticleThe Upside Of MIPTV (as a diversified producer)
I received some questions last week when I released the Film Market Consulting about MIPTV because let’s face it, Cannes Film Market is more ‘obvious’ but I do feel the MIP markets (MIPTV and MIPCOM)...
View ArticleSXSW & Why You Should Always Be Pitching
Tomorrow SXSW kicks off and as I’ve mentioned before I have a film premiering on opening night, and I’m looking forward to taking you guys along on the journey with me on things work out for us...
View ArticleSXSW Take Aways Part 1 – A Sellers Market
I’m fresh off SXSW and what a whirlwind it was! I said I would be giving you guys my take-away’s and I have so many that I’m going to be parsing them over a few different emails … mostly because I’m...
View ArticleSXSW Part 2: Financing Essentials + Branded Entertainment
In Tuesday’s newsletter I gave you Part One of my SXSW Take Aways and I wanted to continue the conversation and talk about another big topic prevalent in all the panels I went to and conversations I...
View ArticleSXSW Part 3 + Financing Your Own TV Pilot
I wanted to wrap up my SXSW take away’s series with another strand I enjoyed exploring at the festival and that’s independently financed TV pilots. But first – my office informed me I got the date...
View ArticleFinancing A Low Budget + 24 Hours Left For Financing Essentials
One of my projects is a feature we’re prepping for a summer shoot. Budget is in the $1-$2 million range and we’ve spent close to two years putting the package together (yes, it takes a lot of patience...
View ArticleSXSW Update + How Films Make Money
I’ve been getting questions about SXSW and what the results have been of my film that premiered there. The only update I can share with you at this time is we are negotiating with a handful of...
View ArticleFinanciers, Naked Projects, & Cannes
I was in a meeting with a financier yesterday and she was telling me from her perspective, what a financier’s biggest challenges are right now. I leaned in….what gold! Plus insights to share with you...
View ArticleFilm Financing….w/ A Deposit?
If you missed my email over the weekend, we were talking about Financiers, Naked Projects, & Cannes and before that How Films Make Money. We’re also in Week 2 of the Film Financing Essentials...
View ArticleAre You Relying Too Much On Sales Estimates?
So where were we? We were last talking about Film Financing w/ a Deposit (an unsavory practice) and I was sharing a few experiences I’ve witnessed in the community with regards to that. But something...
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