You’ve Delivered … Now What?
Just a few years ago, when you had delivered your film and all necessary delivery items to your sales agent, you were pretty much done. It was the sales agent’s job to do the trailer, poster, and additional marketing. They did the festival submissions, and if your film was accepted, you would attend the festivals, but the paperwork was left to the sales agent. Well, things have changed.
You may very well decide to self-distribute your film, in which case you are 100 percent responsible for sales and marketing. These days, even if you have a sales agent, the producer is far more proactive than ever before. And that’s a good thing. No one knows your film better than you do, so it makes complete sense that you should be more involved with the marketing and promotions.
A WHOLE NEW WORLD
Today, we have our film website up months and months in advance. Even before we start raising the funding for our films, our websites and social media networks are active. In the last chapter, as JC noted, he started a year in advance. And as Marc mentioned, there is now software available to track your followers, so that by the time your film’s in the can, you’ve got a built-in fan base. You can use these numbers to approach sales agents and distributors or for your own self-distribution purposes. It’s a whole new world, and technology today offers producers opportunities that weren’t available even five or six years ago. In fact, you may well decide to use the number of fans you have to entice a domestic distributor, putting you – the producer – in the driver’s seat, giving you the leverage to do a better deal and to take full advantage of a possibly split rights deal where you get to hold on to partial rights of your film. What a great opportunity we now have available to us.
FESTIVALS
As noted in an earlier chapter, in the case of Candy Stripers, Séance, and Portal, there were a number of festival deadlines that happened while we were still in post on our films, so I sent off the pre-postproduction DVD with a note explaining that the final copy would follow as soon as it had been completed. Once each film was ready, I sent them off to the various festivals that we had submitted to with a note telling them to now replace the old version with this final copy.
We also keep our eyes open for other festivals that were a good fit for our genre. Our sales agents on each of those films were on the lookout as well. If you do get accepted and think that you have a good chance of winning, I recommend that you attend. It’s great press and an excellent place to meet buyers if you’re self-distributing (and sales agents and producer’s reps if you need them), and the networking you’ll be doing is well worth the time and effort. If you do decide to attend, make the most of it and make a point of going to parties and other screenings. If any of your actors go along with you, make sure there are plenty of photo opportunities. Really prepare for the festival in advance and talk to other producers who are old pros with festivals and get some advice and suggestions from them before you go.
COMMUNICATE WITH YOUR SALES AGENT
Just because you might have done a deal with a great sales agent doesn’t mean that you can assume that you are the number-one film on their list and that they are out there selling your film at every market. Like everything else, it’s your job to stay in communication. Call them a month or so before each market and discuss their plans and strategy at length.
I happened to be at the American Film Market a few years ago, and I stopped in to see our sales agent on one of our films. They had had our film for less than a year at that point, so when I walked into their suite, I couldn’t believe that there was no poster, no trailer, not even a postcard or one-sheet highlighting our film. They said, “Oh sorry, but a few bigger projects came our way and we are focusing on those.” If I had been on the phone with them a couple of months before discussing their plans and strategy for selling our film, I could have found out early that they had moved on and were no longer interested. That way I would have had time to take it to a new sales agent who would have had a fresh approach to selling our film. So be in communication with your sales agent long before each market and find out what they are planning; also ask if there is anything that you can do to help.
ATTENDING MARKETS
Like festivals, film markets are an excellent venue for networking and an invaluable source of up-to-date knowledge of what’s happening in the industry. Try to get to at least one market a year – and I would highly recommend that you attend the American Film Market (AFM). Even if you just get a day pass and then spent a few additional days setting up meetings, attending a couple of parties, and even just hanging out in the lobby, it is all extremely valuable. Also what is great about the AFM is the fact that it is exclusively a film market. There is no film festival happening simultaneously, so it is the buyers and sellers – and all the suites are located in two hotels in Santa Monica. It’s the first week of November, so the weather is excellent as well. Check out their website at www.american-filmmarket.com and make plans to attend.
PROMOTING YOUR DOMESTIC SALE
It’s always great to get a domestic sale (United States and Canada) of some sort. Whether it’s a DVD, VOD, theatrical, home video sale, or whatever, it’s all good news. Not only is it nice to get the money from the sale, but as any sales agent will tell you, a domestic sale helps increase the amount of money you can get from the foreign territories and helps sell the foreign territories. When you do get a domestic sale, be sure to get a press release out about it right away. I had a friend of mine who was an actual publicist write it and get it out on our behalf. I strongly recommend that you have money set aside in your operating budget to handle this sort of publicity. Figure 14.1 shows the press release we did about our Séance release.
FIGURE 14.1
INFORM INVESTORS ALONG THE WAY
Of course, you will be updating your investors in the letters you send to them with their payments from territory sales. However, it’s important to keep them up to date on any other news that happens along the way – for instance, if one of your actors gets another film or TV series of note, if you or your sales agent are doing any new types of marketing of the film, if the film has been accepted at festivals, and certainly if the film has received any awards. Be sure to copy them on any press releases that go out and update them on every bit of great news that relates to the film.
SAG RESIDUALS
If you decide to use SAG, or the actors’ guild is in your country, then you will have to be responsible for the residuals that come with being a signatory. Something to note here is the fact that you will be paying residuals on the entire amount of the territory sale. I realize that sounds a bit crazy, but it is part of the guild rules. So let’s say that your first sale comes in at $75,000; what happens is that your sales agents takes his or her full agreed-upon expenses off the top and their commission as well. So if the amount of their expenses is $30,000 and their commission is 20 percent, you are not getting $75,000 into your account – you are getting $30,000 from that first money in. But you still have to pay residuals on the entire $75,000.
Also, these residuals should be handled through a payroll company. As soon as you choose your payroll company, you’ll be required to send them the list of SAG actors from your film with all the pertinent information regarding each actor. As soon as your sales agent sends the check and territory payment report, you will send the report to your payroll company. In a couple of days, they will send you back the amount that is due plus their fee. It is fast and easy and all you have to do is send them the check and they will handle all dealings and paperwork with the guild. Even if you are self-distributing your film and handling all the money that comes in, it’s still important and efficient to use a payroll company for any and all guild payments.
ACCOUNTING AND TAXES
Stop crying – it’s not that bad. The most important thing here is to be extremely organized. Even if you are able to set money aside from your operating budget, there is absolutely no reason to now spend it all on an accountant. It makes me crazy when I hear that a producer took their box of check stubs, receipts, and all related tax information to an accountant to sort out and organize. That bill will be $5,000! You can do the basic work yourself and save a ton of money.
When I was doing the first set of taxes for Séance, I took an entire week and sat down with the checkbook and my detailed check stubs and proceeded to create categories of all the different departments and aspects of the film. I then totaled up the amounts that related to each area. I made a point of listing every possible category and I trusted the accountant to sort out which areas were taxable and which were not. Here are the categories for Séance:
Accounting fee
Advertising and promotions (EPK)
Audience testing
Bank credit card finance charges
Bank charge/check charge/processing fees
Camera expenses
Casting consultant
Cast salary (includes payroll services and pension/health)
Crew salary (includes design salary, makeup effects salary, teacher salary, and post sound and music salary)
Craft services on set
Catering
Color correction on film
Copyright film registration cost
Director salary
Editing equipment (includes hard drives)
Executive producer fees
Film tape stock
Film tape transfer
Executive and finder’s fees
Gifts
Insurance (film)
Insurance (office)
Legal costs (includes title report)
Lighting for film
Make-up and effects items
Meals and entertainment
Medical costs
Messenger
Pan-and-scan, HDD5, DigiBeta, DVDs
Petty cash
Postage
Printing
Production design
Postproduction supervisor
Power and water (office)
Rent (office and table read hotel)
Rent (film location and permits)
Snowfall Films reimbursement (for LLC formation & office expenses)
Sound equipment (production)
Sound design
Supplies (office and film: includes additional production supplies)
Taxes
Telephone
Transportation/rentals/gas for film
Wardrobe
Writers’ salary
Once I totaled everything, I moved on to the investors list. I wrote their names in the first column, and under each name, I included all of the information the accountant would need. For example, the investor’s address, phone number, email, and Social Security number. Next to their names, I listed the number of units (shares) that they had purchased and what that totaled. In the next category, I listed how much money they had received in that tax year. Given that it was the first set of taxes, I didn’t have to worry about this category, as no money had come in from any territory sales yet. Our sales agent had actually done a few sales, but it takes a while for the payments to arrive.
That was it. Once those few pieces of paper were ready, I emailed and mailed them off to the accountant. And just so you know, instead of the $5,000 bill that I’d heard about, the bill we got from our accountant was for $470.00!
Something else you will need to handle regarding your taxes are the 1099s. I didn’t need them for the SAG actors because their pay checks had been handled through a payroll company during the shoot. But everyone else on our film who had made over $600 needed to receive a 1099 by January 31. If we had used a payroll company for everyone on the film, this wouldn’t be necessary, but at our budget level, the payroll company was used only for the SAG actors. These 1099s are necessary for only the first tax year following the production of your film, and they are extremely easy to do. The tax forms are readily available at office supply stores and come with computer software that is easy to install. This form is required in the United States; be certain to check government regulations in your country.
CLOSING YOUR LLC
Kate and I choose to leave our LLC open for five years from the date we delivered our film, in other words, from the date it was ready and available to deliver and sell. Candy Stripers was delivered in the fall of 2005, and we closed the LLC in December 2010. Any sales that are going to happen usually happen within the first two years from delivery, with maybe a few in the third year – if you’re lucky. So I think that five years is fair. You don’t want to be paying taxes, bank charges, and accountant fees when there is no money coming in the door. Our investors were well aware of this fact when they came on board, and we reminded them well in advance of closing the LLC.
FINAL NOTES
Be Sure To Get A Mentor (Or Two)
You don’t have to do this alone. Human beings have been making movies for over a hundred years, so there are plenty of great producers out there who would make excellent mentors. Let’s get very clear about what a mentor is and what his or her job entails. A mentor is someone you respect and someone in a position to advise you on how to accomplish your goal. He or she is someone who can give you advice, suggestions, and guidance. Mentors can share what worked for them on their films and what didn’t. A mentor is not a coach. They are not there to push you outside of your comfort zone or make you accountable for your actions.
Here are a couple of tips to consider while choosing, contacting, and meeting with your mentor. First, decide who would make a good mentor. If you are producing a horror film in the $200,000 range, then I suggest that you list four or five producers who have done that at least once and preferably a few times. They don’t have to be in your city or country because you can certainly have conversations over the phone. Also, make it easy for them to say yes. Ask for perhaps three 15-minute conversations, on the phone or in person. Or ask for a one-hour lunch or office meeting, or two half-hour coffee meetings. Whomever you choose, I’m sure he or she will be busy, and you want to respect their time.
I suggest you write a letter (by email or mail) focusing on three items: (1) start with the request, telling them why you are approaching them in particular; (2) tell them what it means to be a mentor, such as three 15-minute conversations; (3) introduce yourself; tell them what you are doing, what you’re committed to, and the general timeline of your film production. Then tell them that you will be calling them within the next day or two to see if they are available and interested in being your mentor.
I want to stress a few items regarding mentor etiquette. Once you have a mentor, follow through. Call when you said you’d call. Be professional. Keep your word at all times. It is a business relationship. Always acknowledge them and always thank them for their time. Please be prepared; it is important that you have questions ready and that you generate the conversation. Finally, don’t put them on the spot. Don’t ask them to read the script or go over your budget, and so on. If they offer to do that, no problem, take them up on it, but don’t be the one to ask.
I never take on a new learning curve without a mentor or two. They truly are valuable, so make sure to give some serious thought to getting yourself a mentor before you launch into producing your film.
Surround Yourself With Winners
Trust your instincts here. Surround yourself with people who are fun to be with. Look for people who are passionate about what they are doing, hungry for the experience, extremely creative, innovative, and willing to put in the hours and go the extra mile.
Keep Your Eye On The Prize
Congratulations; you’ve made it through the entire book! You’re ready. It’s time to produce your own movie and spend some quality time patting yourself on the back as you move through this amazing experience. I truly believe that the process of film producing is a joy and can be easy and fun if you follow my lead and take it a step at a time.
What’s important is remembering why you’re doing what you’re doing. When your parents suggested that you be a doctor or a lawyer and you confidently said, “No, I’m going to be a film producer”: why? Why did you say that? What made you want to produce movies? It is important that you get in touch with that dream, that vision, that passion before you begin and then reconnect with it repeatedly throughout the entire filmmaking process.
As the producer, it’s your job to constantly stay in touch with possibility. Remember, you set the tone, not just on the film set but at every stage along the way. So if you’re feeling frustrated, negative, or discouraged, it shows and it affects your team. Keep your eyes on the prize, as the saying goes. There may be some stumbling blocks along the path, so reminding yourself of the possibility of having your film in the can will keep you turned on, inspired, and excited – even if the going gets tough.
It has been a pleasure, an honor, and a joy for me to write this book for you. To share with you all the information, facts, and stories that have gone into the making of Candy Stripers, Séance, and Portal has really been fun. I wish you the best in your filmmaking endeavor. Remember always that films touch the hearts, minds, and souls of millions and millions of people around the world. What an incredible, magnificent, magical journey you are about to embark on.
To quote Abraham-Hicks, “Like the dog who sticks his head out the car window and risks getting bugs in his eyes … it’s well worth it for the joy of the ride.” That is what film producing is for me, and I hope that your love of and passion for this medium and industry will be contagious as you produce films that inspire, inform, and delight!