Posted on August 31, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Financing, Producing | 1 Comment
Being a filmmaker is like starting your own business and you need to think of it that way. The role and responsibilities of a filmmaker can be abstract and over glamorized for many starting out. They only see the artistic or technical aspects, but when it comes to the business side they don’t have a clue.
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Posted on August 20, 2010 in Financing | No Comments
Edet Belzberg explains the ins and outs of applying for grant funding for a documentary film.
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Posted on August 5, 2010 in Storyboarding | 1 Comment
Ben and Paul from Blunt Productions demonstrate the important process of storyboarding as a tool to plan your film.
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Posted on August 3, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Internet, Legal & Copyright | 1 Comment
Margaret Gould Stewart, YouTube’s head of user experience, talks about how the ubiquitous video site works with copyright holders and creators to foster (at the best of times) a creative ecosystem where everybody wins.
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Posted on July 26, 2010 in Location Scouting | 3 Comments
Urban Decay can be great locations for guerrilla filmmakers, but they don’t come without risks and challenges. This is an interview with David Horbach, talking about lost places and evaluating their pros and cons.
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Posted on July 16, 2010 in Storyboarding | No Comments
Alan Natale of Tech Burrito demonstrates the Autodesk Sketchbook Pro for the iPad ($7.99 in the iTunes App Store). This could be a very useful tool not only for creating storyboards, but sharing them digitally and instantly with the entire crew. If I where Wacom, I think I would be a little nervous.
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Posted on July 16, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Selling Your Film | No Comments
For many filmmakers when it comes to contracts and other legal matters they are totally lost and negligent it, only to find out later that the damage caused by these missteps can’t be easily undone. Check this short list of things to watch out for created be The Independent.
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Posted on July 16, 2010 in Budgeting, Financing, Selling Your Film | No Comments
What is my film worth? I meet many filmmakers at various stages of the fimmaking process, all of whom have varying approaches to the tricky question of valuing their films. Here are some typical scenarios…
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Posted on July 6, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Financing | 1 Comment
For many independent filmmakers, the LLC is the best choice for forming a film production company. It can be taxed as either a corporation or a partnership, and its operating agreement is more flexible than corporate bylaws for structuring the film company’s operations, but it limits personal liability as effectively as a corporation. Another advantage of the LLC and partnership forms is the ability to allocate gain, loss, deductions, and credits to participants in a way that maximizes their value to investors.
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Posted on June 15, 2010 in Financing, Selling Your Film | No Comments
Unlike other industries, the motion picture business presents a second type of financing sale in addition to the typical model of equity financing. It involves selling the film’s distribution rights. In this form of financing, the company sells its assets in exchange for a present or guaranteed payment.
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Posted on May 17, 2010 in Contracts and Law, General Production, Marketing | No Comments
By Jon M. Garon
Gallagher, Callahan & Gartrell, PC
The challenge for the film producer is that potential distributors may have different goals regarding the marketing of the project. If the pre-release campaign does not work, the failed marketing will add an additional impediment to the sale of the film. In essence, the independent producer needs two [...]
Posted on May 3, 2010 in General Screenwriting, Producing | No Comments
How do you make a documentary when you have no script? I was faced with this problem when I shot my first unscripted documentary for a class in documentary filmmaking. We had the assignment of making an 8-12 minute unscripted documentary. I started by visiting a friend’s farm and shooting some footage. I quickly filled up 3 one-hour tapes.
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Posted on May 3, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Music | No Comments
Copyright rules define much of the music business, shaping the practices that drive recording and touring deals. Washington understands the importance of the music business, passing and amending copyright laws to benefit and manage the music industry for well over a century.
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Posted on April 29, 2010 in Storyboarding | No Comments
This video creates a split screen between the live action and the original storyboards used by Martin Scorsese to direct Taxi Driver.
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Posted on April 14, 2010 in Contracts and Law, Legal & Copyright, Marketing | No Comments
Although film is an expressive art form, it is also an increasingly international and highly commercial business. As a result, filmmakers should be very selective regarding choices to use a third party’s property—copyrighted works, trademarks, readily identified individual names or corporate names—without express permission. Permission is not always difficult to come by. Without the express permission, the errors and omissions insurance may be drafted to exclude any liability for the use of such content, and the lack of coverage may discourage distributors or exhibitors from buying or showing the work.
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