#1. The Script

It all starts with the story. Any investors will want to know that your script has gone through rewrites, readings, and has been given the professional blessings of several experienced directors, line producers and actors, effectively telling them that the final script is thoroughly tested and viable for production.

#2. The Shooting Schedule

Remember the line producer we just mentioned? When you find a line producer who sees the potential and marketability in your script, keep her number and start negotiating her fee. A good (read: experienced and with several credits) line producer will be able to take your script from words to numbers. Your line producer will break down the script, create a shooting schedule and subsequently a defacto production budget.

#3 The Production Budget

This is a puzzle you don’t want to put together on your own – and investors will want to know that the budget you present them with has been done by someone who knows exactly what they’re doing. Your line producer should completely describe all costs of production, including editing, writing, post-production, directing, producing and marketing. Check out this leaked budget for M. Night Shyamalan’s The Village – not that your first business plan should be in the $70 mio. range, but it should be detailed and professional.

#4 The Marketing Plan

Describe who the film is targeted and why they are gonna love it. Describe how you are gonna reach that target and which similar films has done the same thing successfully. Describe the cost and the timeline. Creativity is great, case studies and proven methods are better. Together they are unstoppable.

#5 The Distribution Plan

This is one of the most important parts of the business plan, but also one of the most tricky. After all, how is your film ever going to make any money if no one is going to see it? You need distribution and you need to describe exactly how you are going to get it. Describe how you can guarantee a theatrical release, PPV sales, cable rights, overseas rights, DVD rights, subsidiary sales and any other avenues of distribution you have planned for your film. Don’t sign a distribution deal before securing financing – it might turn out to work against you in the long run – but know exactly how, why, when and with whom you are going to secure one.

#6 The Cast and Crew

Now comes the fun stuff. Numbers alone are not going to make your film a success, you need a team that investors (and the general public) can believe in and rally behind, and this is your opportunity to showcase them. Though there may not be any actual contracts signed at this point, you would do well to get letters of interest from key crew members (director, cinematographer, production designer, composer) and include biographies, as well as samples of their previous work. Same thing goes for the key cast. Though not signed onto the project, you might be able to get letters of interest from the actors and actresses you believe would make this film everything it can be. In some (read: most) cases this will not be possible, but don’t fret. You can still include cast pictures, biographies, resumes and samples of previous work simply as examples of your vision. Don’t include A-list talent unless you have a letter of interest. Be realistic, be reasonable and be smart. Include cast fees and availability, if you can get it from their respective agents. Your investors are going to want to see that you can make your vision a reality without Jennifer Lawrence and Joaquin Phoenix, and that you can do it with a reasonable budget.

#7 The Visuals

Consider this the one-two punch of business plans. You start out presenting the facts and the plans and the market research, then you make those numbers come to life by attaching cast and crew. You have piqued your investor’s interest – now you start sweet-talking. Adding visual components to your business plan will make your project more tangible and give it a certain sex appeal – and we all know that sex sells, right? Include a couple of storyboarded scenes, pictures of locations, samples of your previous work and distinct visual style – even a professional film poster. You can add additional visuals and look-books as an addendum to the business plan so the numbers don’t get lost in flair, but make sure that what you are presenting – the complete business plan as it reads from start to finish – is a clear vision of your film.

#8 The Revenue Projections

Back to what most filmmakers might consider a bog of eternal stench, but which your potential investors will find just as sexy as the visuals described above: The revenue projections and rock-solid market analysis. Show how 15-20 recent films comparable to your own performed in theatrical release and on VOD/PPV. Be specific. Do lots and lots of research using resources like boxofficemojo.com, the-numbers.com and filmspecific.com. Go the extra mile and include revenue from product integration and state film production rebates. Companies like brand-inentertainment.com and Entertainment Partners will be useful resources.

#9 The Letter of Intent for a Completion Bond

If you have all of the above-mentioned sections sorted out and you have (tentatively) secured your locations, you can get a quote from a bonding agency. Your line producer will likely be the one to do this, as she will (hopefully) have done it before and have a working relationship with a good agency. Providing a letter of intent to get a completion bond will give your investors added piece of mind.

#10 The Letter of Intent for Insurance

Investors are not going to want to bet there money on anything but an (almost) sure thing. One way to eliminate risk is to have your film insured. Get a quote and a letter of intent to insure your film from a reputable insurance company. Again, this will be something your line producer can/should help you with.

#11 Wrap it up nicely and get it out the door

Rarely will you need to have a physical copy of your business plan handy, but make sure that your digital package looks and feels like the real thing. Check and double check spelling, grammar, formatting, graphics, alignment, colors – and then click “Save as PDF”. PDFs cost $0 to send, so make sure this gets into a lot of hands. If you attend film markets or social events where angel investors may be present, carry USB sticks with the complete package or an iPad with a presentation-ready package.

Please, please, please be aware that there are many hopeful filmmakers looking for easy money, so there are just as many scammers looking for the same. If you find yourself in negotiations with an interested investor, always require proof of funds and only ever go into business with investors that have a proven track record. If something is too good to be true, it’s because it is. Do your due diligence.

h/t Bright Hub and Nancy Fulton

First, a bit of history. Starting out in the early 1900’s simply as placards outside movie theaters listing the films being showcased within, film posters quickly began including illustrations of a film’s scenes, and with the advent of Hollywood stardom also portraits of the actors and actresses. Where the early posters were very literal representations of what the moviegoer could expect to see on screen, they later became an opportunity to tease the moviegoers by way of symbolism or suggestive imagery. The visual marketing of a film had become another creative level of the filmmaking process. And it still is. With the current need for quickly digestible promotional content on social media, the iconography of a film may be less prioritized now than it was 20 years ago, but all the more reason for you to explore and use the art of the film poster. A picture is, after all, worth a thousand words.

So what makes a great film poster? Let’s see what some of the great posters of decades past have in common.

The Clockwork Orange poster hints at the central themes of the film (good vs evil, light vs dark, danger, violence, sexuality) while much is left to the imagination. Why the triangles? Why the dagger? Why the eye? Why is Alex lurking in the shadows?

The image used for American Beauty also hints at the central themes of sexuality and desire, while the tag line suggest that not all is what it appears to be. ‘Look closer’ at what? The American dream? The rose? The naked body? Yourself?

Most of Forrest Gump unfolds as a story told by Forrest as he’s waiting for the bus, so it’s only fitting that the poster recalls the iconic bench. But the image says so much more. Many of the film’s central themes are hidden in plain sight: the loneliness, the journey, the anticipation, leaving the past behind you.

This epic poster for National Lampoon’s Vacation is all about intertextuality. The style is an homage to the film posters of yesteryear, with several of the film’s highlights depicted, but it also calls upon the viewer’s knowledge of iconic film posters like Barbarella or Conan The Barbarian to add humor and kitsch. But even with the lighthearted illustrations, the themes of the film are present: feeling powerful vs feeling inadequate, love vs lust, disaster vs triumph, patriarchy.

One of my favorite posters, the Pulp Fiction poster is as ‘meta’ as they come. The design is that of the cover of a pulp fiction novel, which Mia Wallace also happens to be reading. It’s a book in a book, that’s actually a movie. The style invokes the kind of pop-culture nostalgia that Tarantino is famed and loved for, but it’s not ‘all style no substance’ either. The image is not a still from the movie, so why is it there? It’s presenting the themes. Crime. Violence. Seduction. Pop-culture. Aah. Star Wars. An iconic poster if ever there was one. Notice a familiarity with the one for Vacation? Certain elements of the plot are hinted at, without revealing too much. Our main characters are introduced. Luke and Leia are both in white – as opposed to the darkness surrounding Darth Vader. Recognize a theme of good vs evil here? What about Luke fighting to get out of the shadow cast by his father – recurring theme in Star Wars? Oh yes. Add to that the alien landscape, the spaceships in motion and the droids trekking through the desert and you have the theme of ‘the journey’.

So there you have it, folks. Even if it’s not staring you right in the face, the best film posters will somehow hint at the themes of the film. Keep that in mind next time you sit down with your graphic designer.

The main point Devin is trying to get across, is that you always want to start with a solid strategy. Nobody wants to pay for it (true), but everybody needs it (also true). Why would you spend your – probably pretty tight – marketing budget blindly? You wouldn’t and you shouldn’t. Your target audience may not be used to making their decisions where you think they are (on Facebook, twitter, at the grocery store), so make sure you do your research before you begin (what you think is) targeting.

The options are plentiful when it comes to social media and various (paid) ways of promoting yourself and your project to the masses. But we also know that funds – especially marketing funds – can be limited on an independent production. Enter Devin and his knowledge of social media mechanics. Please enjoy his insight on how to make the most of what you got. Comments are welcome below.

About Devin Buttner:

As CTO, Devin oversees all technological aspects of Screenpush’s internal and external projects. Devin is an expert in information architecture and LAMP stack development.

With more than eight years of experience in technology development, Devin leverages his in-depth knowledge of computer languages to design, build, test, implement, and support applications utilizing programming languages and development tools. Devin has worked on IT projects and large scale integrations for brands like US Cellular, Magento, and Sales Force among others.

Prior to joining Screenpush, Devin had a career in the music business, working for major record labels developing and marketing artists, representing such brands as Universal Music, Sony Music, and Hollywood Records.

Connect with Devin on Twitter @drumit84

Now more than ever, you have to smart about how you reach your target audience and build those valuable relationships. Saying that Social Media is the future of communication would be flat out wrong. It’s the present. So get on it.

More videos with Devin are coming soon, so check back (or even better, subscribe to our Youtube channel) for gems like “How To Effectively Spend Your Time And Money On A Social Media Campaign”.

About Devin Buttner:

As CTO, Devin oversees all technological aspects of Screenpush’s internal and external projects. Devin is an expert in information architecture and LAMP stack development.

With more than eight years of experience in technology development, Devin leverages his in-depth knowledge of computer languages to design, build, test, implement, and support applications utilizing programming languages and development tools. Devin has worked on IT projects and large scale integrations for brands like US Cellular, Magento, and Sales Force among others.

Prior to joining Screenpush, Devin had a career in the music business, working for major record labels developing and marketing artists, representing such brands as Universal Music, Sony Music, and Hollywood Records.

Connect with Devin on Twitter @drumit84

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