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“Makin’ It!” - A Special Awards Season Panel
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
6:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Maggiano’s Little Italy
3rd & Fairfax (189 The Grove Drive)
Hollywood, CA 90036

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Join us in welcoming:

Romell Foster-Owens, Award winning Producer-Director (Moderator)
Millicent Shelton, Award winning Director
Forrest Murray, Award winning Producer
Richard Kiratsoulis, Film Finance Consultant

A Networking Reception will immediately follow panel presentation

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**Use Discount Code “Affiliate” to receive a $5 discount off your pre-confirmed ticket.

Yesterday we threw a “Tom Sawyer Entertainment is 4″ birthday party at our favorite local bar. We have survived one strike, one defacto strike and a recession, so it seemed like a great reason to celebrate.

And as I sat in a packed bar surrounded by all our clients, friends, former assistants, and interns who had come out to support us, I thought about all the things I’ve learned in the four years since founding Tom Sawyer.

• Find good people that you want to work with.

This applies to both executives, producers, lawyers and clients. A lot of people complain that there are no good people in Hollywood, but that is simply not true.  There are just less good people so it takes longer to find them. That’s why it is worth spending your time and energy meeting everyone so you can find the truly greats in this business.

• Work on material you love.

I can’t repeat this enough. This actually applies to both clients and projects. By working on material you love, when you get the first 100 passes, you will be just as passionate to make the next 100 calls. In the long run, it will be so much more rewarding when you see it through.

• If you are going into business with someone, make sure you know that person inside and out.

My business partner and I like to say we “dated for four years before we got married.” What we mean by this is that, as assistants, we worked as a team (at separate companies but combined forces to cover more ground) for four years before we started a company together. And even in the worst days, when we want to kill each other, we always make up before the end of the day and never walk away mad.

• Have fun.

This business is hard and you will get a lot of rejections. An important thing to remember is that we aren’t curing cancer — we are making entertainment. To entertain is literally in our job description. So take the work seriously but don’t take yourself too seriously. Have fun, enjoy yourself!

I have been hearing some passes that, if they weren’t true, would be really funny.  Here are some:

(Responding to a script similar to the Oscar-winning movie BEING THERE) “I don’t know if we would have made BEING THERE.”

“It’s going to be so successful and we don’t really know how to handle that.”

“”Since you don’t have a kid, you would be unauthentic in writing this show.”

“In the changing brand world, this doesn’t make sense.”

Seriously? How do executives think up these things to say?

However, I do think this brings up a great point. Everyone gets passed on no matter how big or how small you are.  And underneath all the ridiculous things executives say, what they are really saying is “this isn’t right for us no matter what way we spin it; we just don’t want to make this.”

Now you could argue till you are blue in the face but that doesn’t change anything.  If you love a project and believe in it then you have to move on to the next person.  And keep moving on until you find the person who does get it. Because at the end of the day — as we tell our clients — it only takes one person to say yes.

In fact, we know this from first-hand experience.  Everyone in town said “no” on our movie HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE. Then we finally found one company to say “yes,” and that company had the last laugh at Sundance when the movie won the Audience Award!

Here’s a clip of writer-director (and lead actor) Josh Radnor speaking at the premiere of the film at Sundance, which was already an amazing accomplishment to have this film accepted in the official competition.  Days later he flew back to the festival to accept the Audience Award.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m2W2WqhQRTY

This just goes to show you, never give up!

I just got back from my first trip to Sundance, where we premiered our movie HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE in dramatic competition. What an amazing experience!  To get a standing ovation on your first movie is pretty incredible. And all six screenings were sold out!

After an exhausting five days, here is what I learned from Sundance — and what I wish I had known before I left:

• Hit the slopes. No one is skiing or snowboarding during Sundance because all the locals have fled the city, none of the real skiers are there because they know to stay away during Sundance, and no one who is there for the festival is getting on the slopes. You pretty much have it all to yourself.

• Talk to the locals. See what movies they are seeing. If the locals are buying tickets to certain movies, you know those are the ones with commercial appeal.

• Pack lots of protein bars. I’ve got to be honest:  If you aren’t eating in the high-end restaurants, the cheap food there is disgusting — and expensive (let’s call it the tourist tax.) If you pack some protein bars you can save yourself a lot of money and stomach aches.

• Prepare for the altitude change — 8000 feet is really high up. If you aren’t used to it, you will get winded very easily. (I never thought I would exhaust myself so quickly from walking up hill). Drink lots of water and rest when you get tired.

• Pack warmly. Seriously, it is cold. And coats you buy in LA just don’t cut it. But instead of buying a coat that you use for two days, borrow from a friend who has lived in cold weather. Trust me, you will thank me for this because it is no fun standing in line when you are freezing cold.

Most importantly, have fun, meet new people, take in the beautiful scenery and enjoy the experience!

PS. And in exciting news, we just found out we won the Sundance Audience Award for HAPPYTHANKYOUMOREPLEASE!

Now I know many of you reading the subject line of this blog will think I am crazy. Yet if you stop to think, both of these huge successes are based on well-known stories.

*    Twilight is the story of Romeo and Juliet
*     Avatar is the classic conqueror vs. natives story…. very similar to Last of the Mohicans or Dances with Wolves (in my opinion Avatar is the former; many of my friends weigh in on the latter).

Both of these movies have taken age-old stories and updated them with vampires, werewolves and aliens.  These are just two examples of the old adage that people want a story that is recognizable yet feels updated and current.

Also, both of these are the story of underdogs winning. In Twilight, it’s a story of the awkward, klutzy, not-the-most-social girl who gets the guy, and in Avatar it’s the story of a cripple who unites with the natives to overthrow the big bad conqueror. Most importantly, these stories are utterly universal.

The success of both these movies points to trends in the marketplace.

1) People want a story that feels familiar yet told in an updated way.

2) People want to be uplifted.

In these times of economic hardships, people want to believe that the little guys can win.  And people want to believe that the ugly duckling can get the prince — even if she never turns into a swan.

More importantly, people want to go to the movies to be entertained — to escape the hard realities of their daily lives.  And both these movies provide just that — a story that is inherently familiar yet told in an updated way and where the little guy wins. Everyone can walk out of the movies in good spirits!

If  you are struggling to find an inspiration for your next project, think of a universal story that can be updated in an exciting way and can entertain people and give them hope!

As the entertainment business wraps up for the holidays, many people are asking what’s next in 2010 in entertainment?

Here’s my prediction:

Interactive is where entertainment is going.  Audiences want to be connected to the story — from beginning to end. They don’t want to just be told what the story is — they want to be active in its evolution.

This will have a huge effect on everything from movies to tv to web to advertising.  Think about it this way:

What if it wasn’t just a handful of people at a network deciding what shows get made and if the shows stay on the air or get canceled?  Or what if instead audience members got to decide which movies got made instead of one person who controls all the decisions at a studio?

In fact, Mountain Dew let consumers pick a new flavor in a hugely successful massive multi-player online game. The response to the campaign was amazing.

Perhaps if we brought this idea into entertainment — movies, tv, even all content could do much better because, if done right, audiences are already active participants and will want to promote the content and will have a valuable stake in its success.

This idea is already being incorporated into indie movies.  The film THE WEATHERED UNDERGROUND comes out January 26th and could open the doors for more content to go this route.

Check out the film’s trailer here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wpPCS8yZBJ0

No matter what type of content, if you allow audiences to be involved, you are creating an active conversation with the audience and can help push your project to huge success.

Have a great holiday!!

Since the dawn of the movie business, less established producers have teamed up with more established ones to help set up projects. However, as budgets shrink and studios strong arm producers, directors and talent into smaller and smaller deals, it is imperative that, if you are teaming up with a producer, you figure out in the very beginning what the deal will be.

This will save you time, money and huge amounts of frustration.

Here are some questions to ask BEFORE you agree to team up with a producer:

• How does the big producer split his/her money? (Often there is just one pot for all the producers and it is up to the individual producers to split it. Some big producers might demand a 90/10 split — 90% to them and 10% to you.

• How will the produced by card work? Does the big producer demand a single card or will he/she share a card? If the big producer won’t share a card, what happens if a buyer asks the producer to share a card?

•  Will you get to be on set?

• Will he/she be mentoring you?

Once you are equipped with the answers to these questions you will be able to analyze the situation and figure out what is best for you.

You might decide to walk away from the producer — even at the risk of not setting up your project — or you may decide that, even if it is a bad deal, the big producer will help set up your project and this is worth it to you.

No matter what your decision, it is important you have all the information upfront so you know what situation you are walking into.

Sometimes it takes out of the box thinking to get the results you want.

Here are two great examples of people who tried something different and got exactly what they wanted:

TJ Miller, an LA-based comedian (CLOVERFIELD, “Carpoolers”) shot the below video after two unsuccessful auditions for the Warner Bros’ YOGI BEAR movie. Studio boss Alan Horn and producer Donald De Line saw this footage and offered him a major part in the film. He’s now in New Zealand shooting.

Watch the audition video here:
http://www.deadline.com/hollywood/actors-will-do-anything-to-land-a-role/

Fede Alvarez scored a million-dollar deal based on the heat generated by “Ataque de panico!” (Panic Attack), a four-minute, 48-second short about an apocalyptic robot attack that Alvarez directed through his commercial production house for less than $500. After the short found its way to the Internet, it generated a huge amount of buzz and suddenly Alvarez had every agent, manager, lawyer and producer calling him.

Ghost House Pictures quickly made a seven-figure deal with the director for a feature film — which is almost unheard of in today’s marketplace.

Further, Sam Raimi will be in a mentoring role to Alvarez similar to the one that Peter Jackson played in Neill Blomkamp’s directing debut on DISTRICT 9, an under-$30 million film that’s grossed over $180 million worldwide!

Watch the short here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-dadPWhEhVk

These are just two examples of what a little ingenuity can do for you.

I was just in an interesting situation that reminded me why this business needs a reboot or will fail.  We sold to a network an animated tv idea that “had the potential to be the next Simpsons” (the network’s quote).

Excitement! Bubbly champagne! Celebration!

Now here is what actually happened: We sold the project with the attachment of a production company that had a deal at - let’s call it Studio A.  But we sold the project to a network that only wants to work with the network’s own in-house studio — let’s call it Studio B.

Now this network told us that Studio A had to partner with Studio B or the deal couldn’t be done.  Of course Studio A had never before partnered with Studio B on an animated project.  And rather than figuring out a deal that would make everyone happy — neither side could come to an agreement so the deal fall apart!

Which to me seems crazy.  Because in this marketplace why let go a great project that has the potential to make, literally, billions of dollars. Wouldn’t it be better to find a solution that works for everyone instead of just walking away from an amazing project?

Apparently not…

Clearly, this is another example of how it is extremely important to think outside the studio system in order to put projects together and actually have these projects see the light of day. If you rely on the studio system — you are liable to work hard on a project and even be lucky enough to sell it — and still never see it come to fruition!

So get creative when you are working on a project and think of several ideas on how to sell it!

As the studio system shrinks and the studios have less and less money for film production  — Sony stopped buying in October — more and more people are going outside the studio system to find investors and they are having success with this strategy!

For example, I just read a great article in the November 16th Wall Street Journal by Lauren A. E. Schuker about Sarah Siegel-Magness and her husband Gary Magness, a pair of novice film investors who put up roughly $12 million to finance PRECIOUS directed by Lee Daniels.

It is a dark movie about an overweight African-American teenager dealing with incest.  No studio was going to touch this movie with a 10-foot pole.  Yet the producers cold called Sarah Magness, who runs her own clothing company, and convinced her to invest in director Lee Daniels (who produced MONSTERS BALL and earned an Oscar for Halle Berry).

Now with Tyler Perry and Oprah Winfrey promoting the story there are projections that the film could make $25million or $50 million.  That is a huge return! (You can read the article at http://bit.ly/4AvdYh)

There are countless examples like this.  In fact, another top-grossing film that is out right now did more than $50 million on a very small production budget. PARANORMAL ACTIVITY was made for $11,000 and grossed over $61 million in 31 days!

These successes just go to show you that you don’t need to wait around to get your movie made.  You can go out and find the money to make your film now!

P.S. If you want to hear more about independent film financing, come hear me speak at Ascent-Hollywood this Wednesday, November 18th, at 6 p.m. FilmIndustryBloggers.com members get a discount!  Register at http://nov09-ascent-hollywood.eventbrite.com now to reserve your space and pay at the door where you’ll get your discount off the $15 fee.