How to beat the indie financing system...

My film finance mentor, Keith Kjarval, was recently interviewed by the Hollywood Reporter on breaking through the Hollywood grind! Here's a link: http://bit.ly/dpfGCF

VBlog - Is casting really 90% of a director's job?

Writer and director Tennyson E. Stead pontificates on the casting process!

VBlog - How can seemingly insignificant steps make a career?

Writer and director Tennyson E. Stead discusses how a thousand little projects add up to big opportunities.

VBlog - No Rest for the Wicked

Here I am, looking for day jobs in Glendale on the eve of a very big pitch week. No deal is done until the check clears!

Flying Dream

Still your wishes for wings and let go of the ground,

'cause we come from a rock with no up or down.

She flings us away as she spins around,

and into the great blue stillness...

Are you an independent filmmaker seeking NEW MEDIA EXPOSURE?

Are you an up-and-coming entertainment blogger looking to scoop tomorrow's industry leaders?

Indie Scoop Index is my brand new Linked In Group, where rising media professionals and up-and-coming entertainment bloggers can discuss and expose projects and events through new media.

This group exists to connect film and transmedia projects that have developed a legitimate likelihood of reaching their target audience to entertainment bloggers and journalists that have built and sustained a committed readership.

Regarding Membership:
Unless links are provided with your application for group membership, all media professionals will be looked up on the IMDb to verify that they have made a genuine contribution to the media industry. All bloggers will be checked out through the links on their Linked In profiles to verify that their blog has at least 200 followers, unless a link is provided in your application.

Regarding Exclusivity:
Members are free to discuss projects on this board with the community, and all information on this board is considered public knowledge. If a media professional or blogger would like to make a given interview or piece of information exclusive to one or more media outlets, the management recommends arranging for a more private venue of discussion, such as via private messaging or e-mail.

Join Indie Scoop Index on Linked In HERE!

Exciting Horoscope

Every week, I read Rob Brezsny's column at www.freewillastrology.com. This week's is one I found particularly exciting:

French painter Paul Cezanne (1839-1906) declared early in his career that he wanted to "conquer Paris with an apple." He meant that he wanted to become a major force in the art world by revolutionizing the way that still-life paintings were done. He must have been successful, because two prominent modern painters, Picasso and Matisse, referred to Cezanne as "the father of us all." Your assignment in the coming months, Pisces, is to make a splash in your own chosen field with an innovation that's as simple and basic as Cezanne's reconfigured apple.

Can one big attachment get your film greenlit?

Of course it can. Everyone knows stories about screenwriters who got a film financed because of the involvement of one key cast or crew member. Many new filmmakers are looking for attachments as the most reliable way of getting a film greenlit.

At the same time, those filmmakers are finding themselves in a "Catch 22" when it comes to financing. Most of the big names won't sign onto a project unless the money is there, and most of the money won't consider a project unless there's a name.

Is this the most sustainable approach available to would-be filmmakers today? Are filmmakers doomed to root through all the same stars and investors, until they give up on their dream or find that one person willing to give them a jumpstart?

No. There are more sustainable approaches. What's more, trying to "break in" with one big push probably isn't going to do much for you in the long-run. Can you beat a team that takes 5 yards with every play by making one AMAZING touchdown?

Of course not. Even the coolest touchdown is still only worth a handful of points. Those five yard plays are going to stack up on you. Trying to win miles of ground with one big win will never be as effective as fighting your battle for success by inches. After you’ve gained some ground, crossing the end-zone becomes a matter of just another inch or two – instead of the hail-mary pass you’re trying to throw.

Allow me to illustrate the point by tooting my own horn:

Sam Bailey has reached a point where stars and financiers have finally started approaching the project on their own. I’m still pushing the project forward on a daily basis, and having this attention does not mean we've reached some kind of "critical mass" – that’s not the point. The point is WHY they’re approaching me.

When I started, Sam Bailey was just a script that a small group of people believed in. Our first step was getting all the believers into one room. Together, we started putting together the filmmakers, the resources, and the audience we would need to bring a great film to success in theaters. At the time, our best tools were our personal networks and the "social media revolution", so that's where we focused our energy.

After we’d compiled a sizeable crowd of online supporters, the production and distribution relationships at least to give us a chance at theaters, and had a script that lived up to the promise of the film, we began approaching key production talent and distribution partners. On the strength of our reels and our social media numbers, we opened negotiations with arthouse cinema chains, and got a clear picture of what they need from us to get the film into theaters. Based on the strength of our business plan, we got an outstanding line producer to help us with the budget. Oscar-Winning creative talent began committing to the project. Things were snowballing, and it was all in baby-steps.

Our script continues to evolve. Our social media efforts - of which this blog is a part - continue to do likewise. Just the fact that you're reading this means we've taken another step forward. Over the last year, those steps have added up into quantifiable yardage.

These financiers and actors are approaching us because they can see that we have a sustainable model for success. Why should it be otherwise? Why should they carry my business, when it's my job to provide them with an opportunity?

Now consider that building this structure into your film is the only way to secure creative control. To be an independent director, you need to be a producer – and not just in name. You need to be at the helm of these issues, because otherwise your best chance of getting the film made becomes finding someone who thinks they can do it better than you.

On the rare occasion that someone actually wants that job more than you do, is it any wonder that they wind up with all the financial and creative power? Is it any wonder they don’t give it back?

When our investor cuts the check for Sam Bailey, they'll be investing in our film and they'll feel safe doing it. Nobody else will need to step in and manage things, because up until now we've done a great job. That trust isn't something we sold them on. In fact, trust is the whole reason they're interested in us to begin with. Taking the field 5 yards at a time has convinced a lot of people that we're going to win this game. What's more, they're right. With or without their help, we will probably make this film successful. Nobody's waiting breathlessly for the "hail-mary", and that's exactly why folks are betting on us.

One big attachment can get your film made, but it probably won't. What makes your film work, in the end, is a sustainable business model. That's what the talent and the financiers are both looking for. There's no "Catch 22" here. When money sees talent - or talent sees money - they feel free to assume, at least to a point, that you've done the hard legwork of getting this film into motion.

This film is your dream, right?

If so, then making sure it works is your responsibility. That doesn't happen with one clean pass. It's a yard-by-yard battle.