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00:00:00 [MUSIC]
00:00:10 [MUSIC]
00:00:35 I just wanna apologize to Mike's mom and Josh's mom and my mom.
00:00:45 [MUSIC]
00:00:49 I am so, so sorry for everything that has happened.
00:00:55 [MUSIC]
00:00:57 Because in spite of what Mike says now, it is my fault.
00:01:01 [MUSIC]
00:01:03 And it's all because of me that we're here now, hungry, cold, and hunted.
00:01:12 [MUSIC]
00:01:15 I'm scared to close my eyes, I'm scared to open them.
00:01:19 [MUSIC]
00:01:25 I'm gonna die out here.
00:01:26 [MUSIC]
00:01:32 At the point that you were hired, what exactly did they hire you to do?
00:01:35 They hired me to write the business plan.
00:01:38 What was the budget for the film in your business plan?
00:01:41 The budget in the business plan was $300,000.
00:01:44 So let me get this straight. You're writing a business plan, there's no screenplay.
00:01:47 Right.
00:01:48 There's no movie stars.
00:01:49 Right.
00:01:50 There's no name director.
00:01:51 Right.
00:01:52 It's this weird genre which is documentary.
00:01:54 How the heck do you go raise $300,000 on that idea?
00:02:00 I think I've been thinking about it very carefully.
00:02:02 The business plan is the thing that gets people excited that why this film is gonna do well.
00:02:07 So when you were sitting there writing this business plan, did you think, oh my gosh, the Blair Witch Project,
00:02:13 this is going to be the highest grossing independent film ever made, the highest return on investment,
00:02:18 or did you think, well, it might work?
00:02:20 What was going through your mind when you were putting the business plan?
00:02:22 It might work.
00:02:24 One of the things that filmmakers were aiming for from the beginning was for people to believe that this was a real story.
00:02:31 And what I said to investors was that the budget was low enough that there was a good chance
00:02:38 that they would at least make their money back because everybody who saw it believed it was a true story.
00:02:44 Sometimes people will ask me if it was a true story all these years later, and I will say no,
00:02:49 and they'll say, who are you projecting?
00:02:51 What was your top projection for the Blair Witch Project?
00:02:54 My projection for the revenue was $23 million worldwide.
00:02:58 And what did it do?
00:02:59 $350 million worldwide.
00:03:02 So why would anyone ever hire you for a business plan?
00:03:04 No, the whole point is that you wanted to make more.
00:03:07 I've always said if I was going to forecast they would earn $350 million off a $300,000 film,
00:03:14 they should never hire me. That would have been insane.
00:03:17 My name is Louise Leveson. I'm a film finance consultant, and I write business plans for independent filmmakers.
00:03:25 I don't want to put words in your mouth, but in many ways, you were one of the architects of the entire film
00:03:32 since there was no script, no star, and you sat down with a blank piece of paper and created an entity called the Blair Witch Project.
00:03:41 There's a lot that's been written, what we might call fake news or misinformation about the film,
00:03:46 the truth is it was shot on 16mm.
00:03:49 Well, it's Super 8 and 16.
00:03:51 Right, so they had like a $300,000 budget.
00:03:54 There was something like $89,000 in there for the transfer from 16 to 35.
00:03:59 A lot of people thought they just went and got a video camera, went out in the woods, made a movie.
00:04:03 But that was sort of the big part of the marketing and the joke.
00:04:09 Which was bummed, because I'm over here on the side, yeah, I did that.
00:04:12 But over time, the numbers that they said the budget was has even gotten lower,
00:04:17 so that right now, someone on the internet is saying the budget for the Blair Witch is $15,000.
00:04:22 I'm going, wow.
00:04:24 But the truth is, as innovative as it was in concept, it was a traditional business plan, a traditional budget,
00:04:31 shot the way films are done traditionally.
00:04:35 It just pretended not to be.
00:04:37 The thing that filmmakers have to remember is that you have to make something you really care about.
00:04:42 You can't say, well, now horror films make a lot of money, so I'm going to make a horror film.
00:04:47 It's really hard work.
00:04:49 Even though it looks like, well, they didn't do much, it's very, very hard work raising the money and making the film itself.
00:04:56 You really don't want to be doing that unless it's something you really care about.
00:05:01 Because if you don't care, you're going to be making a lousy film anyway, no matter what it is.
00:05:06 And no matter who's in it, you can have stars in it.
00:05:09 They can't really overcome a really bad film.
00:05:12 The Blair Witch was a cultural and media and box office phenomenon.
00:05:18 It was on the cover of Newsweek and Time.
00:05:20 Right.
00:05:21 And it was made by five unknown regional filmmakers.
00:05:26 Right.
00:05:27 Do you believe, based on your experiences today, the same situation could occur again?
00:05:33 Absolutely. Absolutely.
00:05:54 My name is Scott DuPont.
00:05:56 I'm a professional actor and a film producer.
00:05:59 There's a lot of secrets to raising money for movies.
00:06:02 The first thing I think is you've got to have the right psychology.
00:06:05 Everyone seems to think that people out there you're talking to don't want to give you money for a high-risk investment.
00:06:14 I believe it's the opposite.
00:06:16 I believe every single person I talk to actually wants to give me money.
00:06:21 Now, with that said, not everyone is in the position to give you money.
00:06:26 There might be liquidity factors.
00:06:28 There might be a husband and wife that talk you back.
00:06:30 I believe you have to talk to every single person you run into.
00:06:35 I was working on a movie many, many years ago, an Adam Sandler picture called The Waterboy.
00:06:40 I'm sitting up in the stands with 5,000 other extras.
00:06:43 I end up sitting right next to this guy.
00:06:45 He had kind of a grungy T-shirt.
00:06:47 He had some holes in his straw hat.
00:06:50 I ended up talking to him because I talk to everyone.
00:06:52 That gentleman, Jeff, ended up giving me $780,000 for my first feature film.
00:06:59 So you can never, ever prejudge anyone.
00:07:03 My name is Maggie Phipps Pamplin.
00:07:10 I'm a producer, production designer, and artist.
00:07:14 I think the advice that I would give to a beginning filmmaker is to gather a team around you.
00:07:20 I think there's a misconception that there's one producer and he or she brings in the money.
00:07:26 People think that they're not the ones to raise the money.
00:07:29 I just think anyone can.
00:07:31 Anyone can have a relation or a friend or acquaintance or business acquaintance
00:07:36 that can come in and help bring money for an independent film.
00:07:39 You can be part of a team.
00:07:40 You need more than just yourself.
00:07:42 You need to start gathering people around and really have everyone pitch in
00:07:46 and have everyone have ownership in that film.
00:07:48 This is extremely important.
00:07:50 I've done this on every single one of my 12-plus films over the last 20 years.
00:07:54 The first thing I do in my production office is I build what's called the wall.
00:08:00 I literally take up an entire wall.
00:08:02 Sometimes it's 10, 20, 30 feet wide, and I write different columns of people that I know.
00:08:10 I start with my family.
00:08:12 In Magic Marker, I write a big column of family members.
00:08:15 I write St. Andrews, people I went to high school years ago, cousins.
00:08:20 So you have all these different categories of people.
00:08:23 You start writing down their names, and you never, ever prejudge anyone.
00:08:28 [music]
00:08:39 My name is Rick Pamplin.
00:08:41 I am a screenwriter and a motion picture director.
00:08:44 I was teaching seminars, and I met a very interesting man
00:08:48 that was distributing movies direct on video to places like Blockbuster
00:08:53 and United Artists, Pay-Per-View and Showtime.
00:08:56 And so I was one of the pioneers.
00:08:58 My very first film, Provoked, was made under that guaranteed distribution
00:09:02 and under that new methodology of how to make a motion picture.
00:09:06 I just started telling every single person I knew, every student, every faculty person.
00:09:11 I said, "I'm making my first feature film as a director,
00:09:14 and I would like you to invest in it."
00:09:17 And one thing led to another, and eventually we raised the entire budget.
00:09:21 So we made the picture for $115,000,
00:09:24 and on the figures that I've seen, the picture made about a 50-to-1 payback.
00:09:29 This small, little, independent film with virtually no names,
00:09:32 which was kind of a feminist diehard.
00:09:35 I love making motion pictures. I love writing.
00:09:37 I love working with talented people.
00:09:39 But I hate the concept of raising money, asking people for money.
00:09:42 You know, lots of very wealthy people have told me that you have to get over that fear.
00:09:47 So when I needed to raise larger amounts of money,
00:09:50 I had gotten everybody I knew to invest.
00:09:52 So I, at times, would bring in funders or finders
00:09:57 and pay them a percentage of the money that they would raise.
00:10:00 And I've been very successful at that,
00:10:02 and I prefer to work through a producer or an executive producer
00:10:05 who has the skills to raise money.
00:10:08 I think the reason I'm probably successful in raising money is persistence.
00:10:13 I never, ever give up.
00:10:16 And one of the reasons why this producing team--
00:10:20 we'd had a lot of trials and tribulations through the years,
00:10:23 and a lot of it was totally unfair.
00:10:25 I see this movie as redeeming the partners of this movie.
00:10:30 So I just said, you know, I'm going to lock myself into my office.
00:10:34 If it takes two years, I'm going to sit there and make over a thousand phone calls,
00:10:38 do a thousand meetings, and here we are.
00:10:41 We finally got it funded.
00:10:43 A lot of times when you raise money in a movie,
00:10:46 it gets a little bumpy, like this ride,
00:10:48 and people think they're going to give you the money,
00:10:51 they sign the contract, and then they aren't able.
00:10:53 You don't decide what order your films are made.
00:10:56 Your investors decide in what order you're going to make your films.
00:11:00 I think there's something really true.
00:11:02 If you get up in the morning and you think you will just die
00:11:07 if you cannot get out and make your own film and produce your own film,
00:11:11 if you don't think that every day, then you might not be a producer.
00:11:15 But if you get up in the morning and all you're thinking about is how to make a film
00:11:19 and how to get your film out there, then you're probably a film producer.
00:11:23 I had the great fortune of directing a film with Ernest Bordnight,
00:11:28 Academy Award winner, living legend, over 200 motion pictures.
00:11:32 So I had a group of investors who came to the set, saw me make the movie.
00:11:37 The movie opened in theaters.
00:11:39 The movie was nominated on the ballots for the Director's Guild and the Academy Awards,
00:11:43 and people got very excited.
00:11:45 And one of those people was the great Ernest Bordnight, who said,
00:11:49 "Kid, you're done making little pictures. Let's make bigger pictures."
00:11:52 We had all kinds of stars calling us, knocking on my door at Universal Studios,
00:11:57 wanting to come in and be in my movies.
00:11:59 We really try to communicate with investors.
00:12:01 I try to always be responsive, but sometimes investors become abusive.
00:12:06 My son came up with an idea called Crimebusters,
00:12:13 which was basically Little Rascals Meets the Police Academy.
00:12:16 So we designed Crimebusters as the most commercial film I could ever make
00:12:20 that would be an instant slam dunk, and we would make the film,
00:12:25 and then we would go on to making more artistic films,
00:12:28 more representative of what I wanted to make.
00:12:30 Here I am 10 years later. I've been smeared on the Internet.
00:12:33 I've had my life threatened.
00:12:35 I've had people sue me simply because it's taking too long to raise the production funds.
00:12:41 I had very dark, terrible thoughts, but faith and a great wife saved my life,
00:12:47 and my revenge is making this movie.
00:12:50 I'm not dead. You haven't destroyed me. You haven't bankrupted me.
00:12:55 I'm still going to make Crimebusters.
00:12:57 I'm still going to make the other two films, and I'm going to make this film.
00:13:01 The best people I've ever met at fundraising in my life are in this motion picture,
00:13:09 and I'm so thrilled, so I'd rather let them talk about it.
00:13:13 [music]
00:13:24 I think it's a great business to be in.
00:13:28 It's full of heartache and all those cliché things.
00:13:34 You're going to get beat up pretty good,
00:13:38 but still it's a wonderful business because you're--
00:13:45 what are you giving? Joy.
00:13:48 Hopefully a few laughs, or hopefully you scare somebody
00:13:53 or whatever the hell you're trying to do in your picture.
00:13:57 It's a wonderful, wonderful thing.
00:14:00 Did you ever try to raise money for films, or did you have to?
00:14:03 No, I never did. I never liked that idea.
00:14:07 I wouldn't be good at it.
00:14:09 What's the secret of getting a project funded?
00:14:12 Is there a secret, either in Hollywood or as an independent?
00:14:16 Well, you've got a script that is a commercial script,
00:14:22 commercial in the sense that it's got the things in it that people want to go see.
00:14:29 What advice would you give to a young director starting out today?
00:14:34 Find something that's good,
00:14:40 that you believe in, that you'll fight for.
00:14:45 Don't let them tell you how to make your movie. You make your movie.
00:14:49 Where does Hollywood get their money?
00:14:51 Hollywood gets their money from banks.
00:14:54 What's your take when people say the Jews run Hollywood?
00:14:58 Does it offend you? Does it not offend you?
00:15:02 It offends me because if anything goes wrong, it's like, "Let's blame the Jews,"
00:15:07 which, since I've grown up, of course, was the original cry.
00:15:11 When anything was going wrong, it's, "Let's blame the Jews."
00:15:14 But I don't think it's-- I think at one time it was true.
00:15:19 I don't think it's so true anymore, if you look at who all the executives are.
00:15:23 Conversely, then, is it easier for a Jewish filmmaker to make a film than a non-Jew?
00:15:29 No. It's a money-driven thing.
00:15:31 Is it easier for a liberal to make a film than a non-liberal?
00:15:35 No, that's another thing.
00:15:37 "Oh, yeah, and nobody likes my idea because all those people are liberal."
00:15:43 Now we're talking about Hollywood, and we're talking about studios.
00:15:46 Independence is a whole 'nother place.
00:15:48 Is it easier as a white male to get a film made?
00:15:51 Probably, yeah.
00:15:53 Harder as a female?
00:15:55 Yeah.
00:15:56 Harder as a minority?
00:15:57 Yes, definitely.
00:15:58 But I think that's changing.
00:16:00 Yeah.
00:16:01 No, I know it is.
00:16:02 And again, it really changes more from people starting with independent films
00:16:09 because they just need to-- they can start with small films.
00:16:12 They can just find people who believe in their film, put it together, and make a film.
00:16:18 And once they're successful, when you're talking about studios, then again, they're right.
00:16:23 They don't care who you are as long as they're going to make money.
00:16:26 Yeah, I think I know what's commercial, and I hate that word,
00:16:31 but you have to have a little bit of that sprinkled around in the screenplay.
00:16:40 What do you think of the movies today?
00:16:43 Not much.
00:16:45 Why?
00:16:47 Well, I see them trying to be commercial.
00:16:53 Trying to-- what can we do to make this picture make money?
00:16:58 Well, let's see, we can have some bare boobs, we can have a rape scene,
00:17:06 or we could have a chameleon, say, Wisecracks, or the whole movie.
00:17:15 My name is Russell Cardinal.
00:17:17 I'm a location manager.
00:17:19 Well, I think Los Angeles, everybody wants to get something for nothing.
00:17:25 You know, when I first went out there, I went to a lot of potential opportunities out there,
00:17:30 and they all expect you to work for free when you're young or you don't have a really strong IMDB.
00:17:38 Los Angeles is an expensive place to live, very difficult to get around, everybody's always late,
00:17:45 very difficult to stay professional out there, there is a lot of greed and a lot of cutthroat
00:17:49 and stealing of ideas, I believe, but there's also the greatest people in the world,
00:17:53 the most talented people behind the scenes, and it's a really great place.
00:17:58 I want them to understand that when you go to New York, whether it's for a year or two years,
00:18:06 two years, better than one, and then you go to L.A., you're a New York actor.
00:18:13 And is it because of the stage work that they would maybe do off-Broadway, do stage?
00:18:18 They'll do off-Broadway, and they'll do...
00:18:24 Also, there's a network with New York actors that's very important.
00:18:31 They don't have any other place, certainly not in Hollywood.
00:18:37 In Hollywood, they're out to find out where the next party is or whatever's going on,
00:18:45 but then it's not about the work, whereas in New York it's about the work.
00:18:51 But you still believe they need to go to New York?
00:18:53 I do.
00:18:54 And then from New York to Hollywood?
00:18:56 Yes. The last time I was on Broadway, I was in a play that... it was a good little play.
00:19:04 There were five of us, and we were all newcomers.
00:19:10 And I remember Richard Watts said, "We hope these young people don't go to Hollywood."
00:19:20 I left the next day for Hollywood.
00:19:23 [laughter]
00:19:26 What is wrong with you? What possesses you to do this?
00:19:30 You have to do it. If you want to be a legitimate film producer, or if you're a writer,
00:19:35 and you're frustrated with some big studio picking up your script,
00:19:40 if you're a director and you want to direct something, sooner or later,
00:19:44 if you or your team of people with you don't talk to every single person you run into,
00:19:51 or if you don't ask for money, you're not going to have any money.
00:19:56 And whether you're a writer, whether you're a director, whether you're a producer,
00:20:01 any end of the business, if you want your project to get out there,
00:20:05 it's very unlikely that some studio, "Oh, we love that script.
00:20:08 Out of the hundreds and hundreds of scripts we're getting in Hollywood, we'll just pick yours."
00:20:12 Or if you're a director and you're trying to break through, the quickest, easiest way to make it,
00:20:18 especially in the independent world, is just talk to people and get your own money.
00:20:23 I mean, the equipment's a lot smaller, it's a lot cheaper, there's all these new platforms.
00:20:28 It's never been easier to distribute, but it all starts with the money.
00:20:33 If you don't have the money, there is no movie. It's just that simple.
00:20:37 [Music]
00:20:52 So I want to ask you guys a couple questions.
00:20:54 How many people here want to make motion pictures, make movies? Okay.
00:21:00 How many people want to write movies, be screenwriters? Raise your hand. Screenwriters.
00:21:05 How many people want to be directors, direct a movie?
00:21:09 How many of you want to act, be actors? Okay.
00:21:15 Let's talk to you guys about things that you're interested in.
00:21:19 Hi, I'm Alex Essig. Do you think it's important to go to school for acting,
00:21:23 or do you think it's easier just to go to school for something else
00:21:27 and then find opportunities around cities and such?
00:21:30 Great question. I think when you leave here, wherever you go, undergraduate,
00:21:35 if you want to study theater or acting, I think that's great. I didn't.
00:21:38 I was actually an economics major. I fell into my passion for acting later.
00:21:42 But I think whatever you do, you also need to take some business classes,
00:21:46 to take some marketing classes, to be very, very well-rounded.
00:21:50 I became the busiest, most working actor in the entire state of Florida.
00:21:56 And I'm not a great actor, but I knew how to market myself, and I knew how to network.
00:22:01 So I think all that stuff is really, really important.
00:22:04 What's your name?
00:22:05 Brendan Asaph.
00:22:06 I was wondering, for a junior director, what you think might be the best place to start.
00:22:10 For example, would it be a good idea to try directing in theater
00:22:14 before directing in film or television,
00:22:16 or are these mediums that are entirely different from one another?
00:22:19 Theater and motion pictures are two different mediums completely.
00:22:22 Number one, you've got to have a sample of your work, a student film.
00:22:26 Number two, it helps if you're a writer, if you have a spec script.
00:22:29 And number three, I think assistant directing is a great way to learn,
00:22:34 to get in, to really learn your craft.
00:22:37 Grace Sodi.
00:22:38 Okay.
00:22:39 So as an aspiring screenwriter, there's always this fear
00:22:43 of just rewriting as you reference the same one story that's been done over and over again.
00:22:47 How do you overcome that?
00:22:49 I'll tell you one way to avoid it.
00:22:50 I've had people come to me with stories that are essentially
00:22:54 the Blair Witch in the submarine, the Blair Witch on Mars,
00:22:57 and I keep trying to tell them, "The Blair Witch has already been made."
00:23:01 You don't want to remake somebody else's film.
00:23:04 You can learn the format and the technique in about an hour,
00:23:08 but you've got to open up your heart.
00:23:10 There's a great quote by an old sports writer named Red Barber.
00:23:13 He said, "Writing is easy.
00:23:15 You just take a razor blade and cut open a vein and bleed on the page."
00:23:19 And having faith is not having any fear.
00:23:23 And you need to be bold as a filmmaker.
00:23:25 You need to say things that other people aren't saying.
00:23:28 If you want to make a film, almost always there's some good that somebody wants to do.
00:23:34 Don't get corrupted by the money.
00:23:36 Don't get corrupted by Hollywood or the fake propaganda.
00:23:39 Make that film.
00:23:41 Angela Lodato, I teach film studies and broadcasting at St. Andrews School.
00:23:53 In film studies, what I love to do is analyze film in ways that students don't think to,
00:24:01 in terms of screenwriting, in terms of music cues,
00:24:05 in terms of what actually puts a film together in ways that can make an audience empathize with characters.
00:24:14 Not in terms of what's entertainment, but in terms of what can actually reach an audience,
00:24:20 what can actually touch an audience.
00:24:22 What kind of films do the students talk about wanting to make?
00:24:26 We watch a lot of dialogue films, and we watch a lot of older films with a slower pace.
00:24:31 Prior to coming in, all they can think about is action.
00:24:34 And something that's pure entertainment.
00:24:37 After taking some of the courses that I teach,
00:24:40 and learning how you can touch an audience through deep emotion,
00:24:44 they start talking about how to find their own inner voice,
00:24:49 and start expressing it in that fashion, rather than just flash.
00:24:54 Some of them really are appreciating independent films.
00:24:58 And what they like about them is that they're more accessible.
00:25:02 Particularly if you look at all the female objectification that has gone on since the beginning of print media.
00:25:09 And now of course we're seeing so much of it now with male objectification.
00:25:13 A lot of them are starting to rebel against it, which I'm happy to see.
00:25:18 So they're starting to think more about independent films,
00:25:21 by which they can create films that are using more real people, if you will,
00:25:27 and just reflecting more of human nature the way it really is.
00:25:30 I'm Ty Hammer. Does all of your advice and more extreme ideas also apply to television and all of its respective jobs?
00:25:37 Do you want to work in television?
00:25:39 Maybe.
00:25:40 Aim high. I went to prep school, I went to this school called Cranbrook.
00:25:43 It always pounded into our heads. Aim high, aim high.
00:25:46 Shoot for movies and if you fail you can always work in television.
00:25:49 Alright.
00:25:50 Never start in television.
00:25:51 If you start in television you're going to end up, I don't know, selling oranges in the freeway or something.
00:25:55 Go ahead.
00:25:56 My name is Nikita. You mentioned a few times writing business plans for Motion Pictures
00:26:00 and it's an interesting path for me that I would like to consider.
00:26:03 Is there any advice that you could give me, what majors to take along with finance or business, that would help me start up?
00:26:10 Finance and business is good.
00:26:12 I worked in other businesses for 20 years before I got into film and I've been doing this for 30,
00:26:19 so I like to say that I graduated from college when I was six, in case everybody can add.
00:26:24 Yes ma'am. What's your name?
00:26:25 I'm Avery Stark.
00:26:27 How do you come up with the ideas for films, characters, and ideas for issues inside the movie to make it long enough?
00:26:35 I was hiking up the Hollywood Hills with one of my business partners, a place called Runyon Canyon.
00:26:40 This was, God, probably 10 or 12 years ago and we came back down the hill.
00:26:44 In the parking lot there was this brand new Tesla Roadster
00:26:49 and a bunch of us had seen this documentary a couple years prior called Who Killed the Electric Car?
00:26:55 which is a really provocative, interesting, edgy film.
00:26:58 So we're sitting there and within 10 minutes this guy, the owner, showed up.
00:27:03 He had 30 people crowded around his car asking questions.
00:27:08 You mean it runs on no gas? How do you plug it in? How far does it go?
00:27:12 So we got back in our fossil fuel car and we looked at each other and said,
00:27:16 "Someone's got to make a movie about these new cars that we thought at that point were coming out."
00:27:22 We took a big gamble with our investors, but we had a pretty good inkling that in the next two years
00:27:28 the market was going to be flooded with electric cars and thank God every single car company now has different plug-in models.
00:27:35 So that's how that whole documentary came about. It's just a story that had to be told.
00:27:39 Hi, I'm Jenny Hemmert.
00:27:41 Personally, I want to get into costuming and makeup stuff for film and theater.
00:27:46 Do you have any advice on getting my work out there as a costumer?
00:27:50 Yes. Work on everybody's student films, build your reel, learn your craft, and you'll be very in demand.
00:27:56 I expect to hire you in a couple of years.
00:27:58 All right.
00:27:59 Thank you.
00:28:00 My name is Timur.
00:28:01 Yes, sir.
00:28:02 So in a short summary, what would you advise on how to make your potential investor care about your project?
00:28:07 You put together a business plan that shows him what a wonderful project it is.
00:28:12 What would you put in your business plan?
00:28:14 The most important things that are going to make him care are going to be the story, the audience,
00:28:18 and then all those numbers I was talking about that are at the end.
00:28:22 You have other things you have to put in there that are just business things.
00:28:26 But basically, the story, he has to care or she has to care about the story.
00:28:32 If they don't care about the story, then they're not going to care about the money.
00:28:37 After that, then they worry about the money.
00:28:39 You've got to start with a story that you're passionate about, like Rick said.
00:28:42 And then after that, I really think it's a numbers game.
00:28:45 So getting back to what is the electric car, I called up hundreds and hundreds of people.
00:28:49 A lot of people said no.
00:28:51 And then I made a phone call to an old fraternity brother.
00:28:54 I went to Rollins College.
00:28:55 He said, "Wow, you're making a documentary about electric cars?"
00:28:57 Next thing you know, he came on board as the executive producer.
00:29:00 Sometimes it's about just reaching enough people.
00:29:03 It's going to spark with one person who puts up most of the money.
00:29:09 I've been teaching here for 26 years.
00:29:11 And what I find fascinating is that something happens to a student when they have a camera in their hand.
00:29:17 They find that they're able to speak in a way that they never did before.
00:29:21 I had a student once--I'm going back maybe 12 years ago--great guy.
00:29:25 He was just always sort of on the wrong side of the administration, if you will, in terms of discipline issues.
00:29:30 And we used to talk after school.
00:29:32 And I remember one time I asked him, "Could you describe yourself to me?"
00:29:36 He couldn't do it.
00:29:38 But I gave him a camera, and I said, "Could you do it with a camera?"
00:29:42 The next day he came back to me with an image that I still remember.
00:29:45 It was his shadow on the ground.
00:29:49 And he put down his half-smoked cigarette on it.
00:29:53 He just threw it down.
00:29:54 He stepped on it, and he walked away.
00:29:59 Go put that into words.
00:30:02 Do you tell your students that they can incorporate their faith into film?
00:30:07 Yes, absolutely, absolutely.
00:30:09 Nothing is off limits.
00:30:11 If it's deep in your soul and you want to express it, even just for yourself, as a catharsis, go right ahead and do it.
00:30:20 Nothing's off limits.
00:30:22 It seems like this would be a really tough time to be a kid, to be growing up.
00:30:27 And this is kind of a loaded question, but are the kids all right?
00:30:34 They're facing challenges and situations that I never experienced in my life.
00:30:42 In terms of whether they're all right, it's hard to say.
00:30:47 If you take, for example, just even coming to school and feeling safe, in terms of the violence in schools, the school shootings.
00:30:55 When they talk to me, I always just try to be quiet and still and listen.
00:31:00 And they're expressing anxieties that I never experienced.
00:31:05 So when I hear their choices of music, books, entertainment, I understand why they're gravitating towards the harder, edgier things.
00:31:15 I think it's expressing what they're feeling inside.
00:31:18 Are they okay? I think they can be.
00:31:22 They just need guidance. They just need to learn how.
00:31:26 And it's finding that still inner voice, that deep character within them, whether it be faith in themselves, faith in a higher power, whatever it is.
00:31:36 They just need guidance.
00:31:38 Hi, I'm Samantha. And I was just wondering if there were any times when you felt like giving up and how you overcame that?
00:31:45 Yes. I've been very depressed at times. I've lived in my car. I've been broke.
00:31:50 I've had people slander me on the Internet because when I cast a movie and I audition a hundred actors and 99 don't get it, they like to write bad things about me.
00:31:59 I have anonymous people that are jealous of me. It's very hurtful.
00:32:03 But I have bigger fish to fry.
00:32:06 I have bigger stories to tell. And I think that if you look at what happened to Jesus or what happened to Gandhi or what happens to anybody who advocates something in our society, in our world, sometimes, you know, they're vilified.
00:32:20 And I just think you have to be strong.
00:32:22 I go through a lot of periods where just no one wants to do it. And you just really learn to get through it.
00:32:29 A lot of people have mentioned going to Hollywood. You do not have to go to Hollywood.
00:32:34 There's films being made all over this country, besides other parts of the world.
00:32:38 And you can be an actor, you can be a director, you can be a producer, you can be in the business I'm in, whatever, without ever going to Hollywood.
00:32:46 Hi, my name is Colin Finney, and I am an actor here at St. Andrews.
00:32:50 And I was just wondering where I could go or what I could do to start transitioning from the high school stage into more films and more professional things.
00:32:57 I heard that Tom Cruise, when he first started out, worked on 50 student and short films.
00:33:03 So when I first started, I wanted to transition away from commercials.
00:33:07 Up in Orlando, where I was living, there was eight full-time film schools, including Full Sail, UCF, Valencia.
00:33:13 I did over 50 student films, mostly on the weekends.
00:33:17 I really wasn't giving up a lot of income. And that's really how I polished my craft.
00:33:22 I had a reel, and I got the respect, and I was networking. And then from there, that's kind of springboarded my whole film career out of those short films.
00:33:29 Yes, sir, what's your name?
00:33:31 Tristan Moss.
00:33:32 What's your favorite film?
00:33:33 That's too hard to decide.
00:33:35 Napoleon Dynamite, isn't it? I can tell.
00:33:37 I like that film.
00:33:39 So my question is, I was just wondering, like, if you have a short film, what would be the very first thing that you would do to make your work more well-known?
00:33:48 If you can, if it's not too far, go to a film festival. I've gone to Sundance for 30 years.
00:33:54 And I keep telling people, now that's a more expensive trek to take.
00:33:59 But I learned so much early on. I was already trying to do what I did, but nobody knew who I was.
00:34:07 I didn't have a book out, and I started going to Sundance and talking to people.
00:34:12 That's the biggest thing, and send your film into film festivals and get the experience of knowing how to do it.
00:34:19 All right, thanks so much. There's somebody else. Yes, sir?
00:34:22 And your name is?
00:34:24 Hi, I'm Will Hagen.
00:34:25 Hi, Will.
00:34:26 I just really wanted to know, what is your favorite movie?
00:34:28 My favorite movie?
00:34:29 And why?
00:34:30 Well, when I'm really depressed, Citizen Kane.
00:34:33 And when I'm depressed and don't want to be depressed, It's a Wonderful Life.
00:34:37 Those are probably my two favorites.
00:34:39 In the old days, there were great role models, men and women of character.
00:34:44 And today, it seems more exploited, and it seems harder to find role models.
00:34:51 Do you see a yearning at all for the kids for that?
00:34:55 Interestingly enough, I do see it when I show them some of the older films.
00:34:59 They identify with the older films in a way in which they never thought they would.
00:35:04 And when we have the class discussions, I hear them identify with the role models to which you're referring.
00:35:10 So, yeah, I do.
00:35:12 They may be absent in the present films, but they now know where to find them in some of the older films.
00:35:18 Are you hopeful and optimistic that this new generation will create movies that will provide moral leadership, role models?
00:35:30 I think I'm optimistic in the sense that there's starting to, I think, be a backlash of all the violence that they're seeing.
00:35:39 I mean, look today on campus.
00:35:41 We just had a demonstration against the gun violence that just took place in this little shooting that happened just a little while ago, only 30 minutes away from here.
00:35:49 I think what the kids need to do is not just deal with the externals, networking, so on and so forth.
00:35:57 That's wonderful.
00:35:59 I think they need to learn how to develop an inner strength.
00:36:03 They need to learn how to identify with who they are, and that's something that's truly missing in our society.
00:36:11 And I think that needs to go hand in hand with the external.
00:36:16 While we're rolling, I just want to say that this is an extraordinary experience today.
00:36:20 The school, you really, really went to bat for us.
00:36:25 This might have been the most important interview we've done in the movie.
00:36:29 I love you.
00:36:30 I salute you.
00:36:32 You are a courageous person.
00:36:35 You're a leader.
00:36:36 You're a person of faith.
00:36:38 And you gave us a great blessing today.
00:36:40 I want to thank you.
00:36:42 Thank you.
00:36:44 Thank you.
00:36:45 You're awesome.
00:36:46 Thank you very much.
00:36:49 It's a difficult time to be growing up.
00:36:51 It is.
00:36:52 You know it is.
00:36:53 It's going on around you in this community.
00:36:57 You can change a lot of that.
00:36:58 You can do things better.
00:37:00 Do not squander the opportunity you have here.
00:37:04 Soak in every bit of knowledge you can get from this institution, from your faculty, from your classmates, and realize the power that you have.
00:37:17 Every one of you is significant.
00:37:19 Every one of you is here for some purpose.
00:37:22 A purpose greater than what you may think.
00:37:25 As a kid, I went out to Hollywood, and I let Hollywood convince me otherwise.
00:37:30 And I learned to play their games.
00:37:33 You don't have to do that.
00:37:34 Make a better world.
00:37:37 God bless you.
00:37:38 Thank you for coming.
00:37:39 [MUSIC PLAYING]
00:38:01 My name is Nicole Weaver Hanson, and my occupation is entertainment attorney.
00:38:07 First of all, it's a good idea to hire an entertainment attorney, because entertainment attorneys know the ins and outs of the financial aspects that are involved with investors.
00:38:17 You have SEC complications to look into.
00:38:20 You have various states with different regulations to look into.
00:38:24 So it's important to have somebody who knows the ins and outs and the possible pitfalls that you can fall into as an investor and as a producer.
00:38:34 The best advice I could give a producer from an entertainment attorney standpoint would be to make sure that they have their contracts written correctly for their investors.
00:38:46 To make sure that they have all the state regulations and the federal regulations taken care of, because there's not just the civil aspect of somebody's money being taken.
00:38:56 In other words, that you could sue me if I was a producer.
00:39:00 It's also that there are federal issues involved, and you can also have federal charges and state charges brought against you if you don't handle film investors' money correctly.
00:39:10 My name is Richard Troutman, and I go by Rick.
00:39:12 I'm an attorney here in Winter Park, Florida.
00:39:14 And I think so long as the person raising the money finds people who can understand that language, that they're probably going to lose all their money, they are aware of the high risk, and they sign that document knowing what they're signing.
00:39:28 I can't imagine how the producers of the movie or the people that raised the money for the movie could have any legal liability.
00:39:35 I don't think people that are giving money to a film really think of it as a business.
00:39:42 I don't think a business plan is that helpful, because I think they realize that it's high risk.
00:39:47 Hopefully with the chance that if it hits, if it gets popular and people watch it, then they're going to make a lot of money.
00:39:55 And they probably shouldn't put more money in it than they could easily lose and not lose any sleep over it.
00:40:02 My name is Kevin Dineen, and after graduating from the Wharton School, I spent the majority of my career as a real estate investor and attorney.
00:40:11 I think a business plan is very important, but I do think it's much more difficult in the movie business than in others, because I don't think anybody candidly knows what's going to catch on and what your gross is going to be.
00:40:25 You know, I think it's the same as in any investment, a previous track record and a person who really has a little consciousness of budget and to keep the costs out of control.
00:40:35 Because even a great movie, if the budget's three times what it's supposed to be, isn't going to do much of a return for the investor.
00:40:42 I think you better have a little fun in it, too, and I think you better sort of believe in the project and that even if the movie doesn't make a fortune, at least you're proud that you're a part of it.
00:40:51 [MUSIC]
00:40:56 Let's talk about Salma Hayek. How did that come about, "The Prophet"?
00:41:00 Khalil Gibran was considered one of the most popular poets, in a sense, behind Shakespeare.
00:41:07 He lived in the Middle East, and then he moved here and taught, and he wrote this book, "The Prophet," which were essays on life.
00:41:17 And they took this book and decided to make it into an animated film and had a different animator animate each chapter in the book the way they saw that chapter.
00:41:29 It's just, it's a terrific film. It was a fascinating way to do it.
00:41:34 I wrote the business plan, and it was a gentleman who'd been in my UCLA extension class who was the executive producer on the film, Will Nix, who then called me and hired me to do the business plan.
00:41:49 And how did Salma Hayek become involved?
00:41:51 She became another executive producer. She was a fan of Khalil Gibran's writings, and she helped raise the money for the movie.
00:42:02 You cannot even begin to imagine how difficult it was to try to... It's a film that breaks all the rules.
00:42:12 Yes, there were many times where I said, "What was I... Am I crazy? What was I thinking?"
00:42:22 But whatever happens with the film, every headache, it's been worth it because I am very proud of the film and for the people who have seen it.
00:42:35 There's been people who tell me it is the most inspiring film I've ever seen in my life.
00:42:41 Maybe not for everyone. Not everybody wants to seek for the best side inside of them.
00:42:48 And not everybody wants to remember to be a child. Not everybody wants to have a moment with themselves as they have a good time.
00:42:59 But for the people who do, there's nothing out there like it, and this is for them.
00:43:08 We're gonna be alright.
00:43:25 My crime? Poetry.
00:43:28 As a Lebanese woman, as a Mexican woman, what's misunderstood in general is that we have to look at individuals as individuals.
00:43:44 We have to create art pieces that make people remind themselves of how precious we all are and give them the courage to explore their uniqueness.
00:43:58 So we can find new ways of thinking. So we can change the world.
00:44:04 I hope the film makes people curious about their perception about the Middle Eastern people.
00:44:11 Yeah, and particularly when it comes from you because everybody knows you, you're well known around the world.
00:44:17 And so when you come, and I loved it in Cannes, you stood up and you said, "I'm also an Arabic Lebanese actress, not only Mexican."
00:44:26 It's true. But I always say that.
00:44:28 And that means a lot to people to understand that even Salma Hayek is...
00:44:32 I'm proud. Proud to be.
00:44:36 Greg Hopner. I'm the founder and CEO of the GSTAR School of the Arts and GSTAR Studios.
00:44:48 Let's go back to when you were a producer. Did you ever invest in a motion picture?
00:44:52 Yeah, that's how I got into the business. I was actually working with Burt Reynolds up at the Burt Reynolds Theater and it was around a lot of movie stars.
00:44:59 And I was doing hair. I was a hairdresser back then. And a bunch of people in the movie industry were there, obviously, all the time.
00:45:07 And they came up to me one day and said, "Do you want to be a producer on a movie?" And I said, "Yeah, great. What do I do?"
00:45:12 And they said, "Well, the producer comes up with all the money." And I said, "Oh, really? So you want me to put on money?"
00:45:18 "Yeah, sure." So I did. And I found out later that wasn't true.
00:45:25 My name is Alistair Hunt. I have almost 10 years of film and television production experience from on-set production assistant
00:45:34 and assisting with two or three production companies in all aspects of production.
00:45:40 I am trying to be an independent filmmaker. And I can tell you that as I have tried to raise funds for my projects and colleagues' projects,
00:45:50 it has been by far the biggest challenge and undertaking I have ever considered.
00:45:55 And why is that?
00:45:57 Rejection.
00:46:00 Do you ever regret pursuing the motion picture business as a vocation?
00:46:05 I absolutely don't regret pursuing the motion picture industry. The ups and downs, the good times, the bad times have been fabulous.
00:46:15 [Music]
00:46:23 I'm John Zeitz. I'm a producer, director, and president of Think Visual Group.
00:46:27 Almost every project I did in middle school and high school was a film, some kind of short.
00:46:32 So I loved it. I knew that's what I wanted to do with my life. But at the same time, I needed to be practical.
00:46:36 And I went to the University of Florida where I majored in finance.
00:46:40 I took every film media studies, every film course they had.
00:46:43 My parents always encouraged me to follow my dreams, but also have something to fall back on.
00:46:48 And so while I was going to school, while I was getting that degree, I would come home on the weekends, summer breaks,
00:46:55 and work on first a short film and eventually a feature-length film.
00:46:59 We created a feature-length independent film on a $3,000 budget.
00:47:03 I wrote, produced, and directed the movie with a friend and fellow filmmaker.
00:47:06 And that experience ended up being the film school that we both never had.
00:47:10 I like to call it a psychological drama. A kid who's in college finds out that his twin brother,
00:47:14 who he always thought was dead and had died when he was younger, is actually still alive.
00:47:18 There's a lot of twists and turns in there, but essentially that's what it is.
00:47:21 A feature-length psychological drama, very independent.
00:47:24 And what happened to this $3,000 feature film?
00:47:29 So we had a big premiere for the film locally at Cinema Paradiso.
00:47:33 It was part of a couple of small film festivals. And eventually we actually secured a distribution deal.
00:47:39 Went through the entire process of packaging it and getting it ready for distribution,
00:47:43 only to have about a year later the distribution company actually go out of business.
00:47:47 My name is Eddie Cabrera. I'm a co-founder of Think Visual Group, and I serve as DP.
00:47:52 Well, I can trace it back to high school. I was in a school where they had a magnet program,
00:47:57 and they had the largest broadcasting studio back in 1996.
00:48:02 And so my background, you could say, it was broadcasting.
00:48:06 And immediately after that, one of my teachers hooked me up with a company that was,
00:48:10 they would shoot events, social events.
00:48:12 I started with that and built basically a business for a little bit over 10 years, like 13 years.
00:48:20 And it was something that it taught me a lot.
00:48:23 Eddie and I first met each other in 2001.
00:48:27 And actually the funny thing about it is the night that we met, we made an award-winning short film.
00:48:32 And so we worked together on a number of other projects through the years,
00:48:35 but we didn't fully join forces until after 2007.
00:48:38 And ultimately what prompted that was a trip that we took to the Grand Canyon.
00:48:43 What? Wow. If we fall, we die.
00:48:48 And we just decided that let's take this trip and let's try to formulate something
00:48:52 and come up with the start of what it's going to take for us to fulfill our dreams.
00:48:57 [Music]
00:49:04 We, at the time, had very troublesome relationships.
00:49:09 And I think it was almost like a spiritual thing that we wanted to go all the way down
00:49:14 and I guess bury those relationships.
00:49:17 Leave them at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
00:49:19 Leave them at the bottom of the Grand Canyon.
00:49:20 December 29, '07, we're inside the Grand Canyon.
00:49:25 It's very cold. We still have like four and a half miles to go.
00:49:30 I got to go back to try to sleep.
00:49:33 Peace.
00:49:37 But we have that energy, nature, getting there.
00:49:43 Spirit.
00:49:44 Accomplishment.
00:49:45 Spiritual.
00:49:46 Adventure. It's very spiritual.
00:49:47 Spiritual.
00:49:48 Very much rejuvenating trip.
00:49:49 Exactly what we need to end the year, right?
00:49:51 End the year, right.
00:49:52 Look at this. Look at this scenery.
00:49:55 Once we were there, we realized, it's like, look, we both want to get to the entertainment industry.
00:50:01 We want to make films.
00:50:02 We had a realization there.
00:50:04 We said we're going to leave our past lives behind
00:50:06 and we are going to concentrate full force on how we're going to make it into the entertainment industry.
00:50:11 How we're going to realize our dreams.
00:50:13 But we also realized we're not going to do it quickly.
00:50:16 We'd already learned when you try to do something too quick, that's typically when you fail.
00:50:20 We both agreed that it would take us at least a decade to transition our company from corporate to entertainment.
00:50:25 In fact, it has been over 10 years now.
00:50:27 Almost exactly 10 years right now.
00:50:29 And we're finally producing this feature, which is 15 years after we produced that last one.
00:50:34 Right.
00:50:35 My name is Kujitele Kwele.
00:50:41 Most of the people in the industry call me Kuj.
00:50:44 I'm an empowerment educator.
00:50:46 I'm a producer. I'm a director. And I'm a writer.
00:50:49 Filmmaking is both an art, a science, and it's also a business.
00:50:56 And if you're not prepared to excel in all three areas, this isn't the business for you.
00:51:02 What are they interested in?
00:51:04 There are people that are interested in not eating animals, not killing animals and wearing them for clothes.
00:51:12 There are people that are interested in this whole immigration struggle that's taking place.
00:51:17 There are a lot of people interested in various political issues.
00:51:22 So what you want to do is put together a community of interests.
00:51:27 Number one, I teach that you have to have a compelling story.
00:51:34 Content is king.
00:51:36 So if you don't have that, it doesn't make any difference what you're pitching.
00:51:41 It's got to be good.
00:51:43 Then you've got to be able to tell that story well.
00:51:47 You can have a compelling topic, but you don't know how to tell it well.
00:51:51 And telling it well means telling it visually.
00:51:54 I had hair salons, and I got divorced, and it was a mess, and I had to sell them all off in one thing or another.
00:52:00 And pennies on the dollar, and I wound up being absolutely broke.
00:52:04 All I owned at that point, I had a--I don't know if anybody remembers--a G.O.
00:52:08 But it was a little car. It was this big.
00:52:11 I had everything I owned fit in the G.O., including my clothes, a computer, and I had a two-drawer file cabinet in it also.
00:52:19 I was just broke, and I was cutting hair.
00:52:22 And I thought, well, this is the end of my life.
00:52:24 I'm not making any money, hardly got any hair.
00:52:27 I don't have any skills.
00:52:29 What do I do?
00:52:31 And in the middle of the night, I woke up, and I thought about my son, whom I love dearly, and he's here now with me.
00:52:40 He was 12 at the time, and I want to do something for him.
00:52:45 And he loves--when we were doing movies, he was always on set, and he loved running around and doing all that kind of stuff.
00:52:51 So I said, I'll start a small little video program for him, at least make him happy.
00:52:56 And I'll call it G-Star, because his name is Gregory.
00:52:59 So it'll be Gregory, and then the star will stand for Students in the Arts.
00:53:03 We started a summer camp for middle school students, and we turned out a little half-hour video cassette format show.
00:53:12 We finished it, and darn if PBS didn't pick it up.
00:53:15 And that show lasted four years on PBS.
00:53:18 What advice would you give young filmmakers just getting started looking to raise funds for movies?
00:53:25 I was taught to don't ask for money.
00:53:29 If you ask for money, you'll get advice.
00:53:31 If you ask for advice, you'll get some money.
00:53:33 [music]
00:53:42 Somebody came up to me and said, "You should start a school, a charter school, literally."
00:53:47 And I said, "What do I want a school for? What's a charter school?"
00:53:50 So anyway, I went down to the school district to sign up for this thing, and they wound up giving me a school.
00:53:58 I walked out the door, and I had a piece of paper, and I went, "Uh-oh, I think I really made a mistake here."
00:54:04 And six months later, we opened. We opened with 156 kids.
00:54:09 So I knew I was in profit.
00:54:11 So each year, we added more kids and more kids, and now we have over 1,000 here.
00:54:15 And we built our soundstage, we started doing other things, and it just grew into a full, regular motion picture studio.
00:54:22 [music]
00:54:24 We want to change certain things that we see that are wrong or are not being done right
00:54:29 and put them in the most beautiful form of art that I believe the world has ever seen, which is filmmaking.
00:54:36 You get to play with all the spectrum of things, you know, from sound, lighting, camera work,
00:54:42 through all of the different arts that have existed, and we get to play with them.
00:54:46 So it's phenomenal.
00:54:48 I think there is no end, because ultimately, I'm hoping that the films I make will live on forever,
00:54:53 and that is ultimately my legacy.
00:54:55 I believe that the power is there in filmmaking and in film.
00:54:58 To do that, you can change the world with what we do.
00:55:01 [music]
00:55:03 [music]
00:55:30 My name is Kim Carol Zink, and I'm a Senior Account Manager here at Production Hub.
00:55:34 Production Hub is an online directory at its core.
00:55:38 We're a global network of local crew and vendors.
00:55:41 Production Hub is a resource for kind of both sides of the supply and demand chain.
00:55:47 We work with people that are looking for crew, vendors, freelancers, facilities
00:55:53 for any of their production, post-production, live event needs.
00:55:57 And then we work with the people that provide those services.
00:56:00 My tips for people that are trying to finance and get money for their own film is to ask.
00:56:04 If you don't ask, you don't get.
00:56:06 I think a lot of people passively ask these days.
00:56:09 I think there are great tools for that with social media and Kickstarter, and it's wonderful.
00:56:13 But focus in on specific people and ask them.
00:56:17 It's just like sales.
00:56:18 You're trying to sell your product.
00:56:20 You're trying to sell yourself and have people believe in you and invest in you and your film and your project.
00:56:25 So ask them directly.
00:56:27 If they say no, that's only going to help you move on to the next person.
00:56:31 So just ask them. Just come right out.
00:56:33 Call up, you know, everyone.
00:56:35 Call them. Pick up the phone and call them.
00:56:37 If they say no, they say no.
00:56:39 But it's going to be very hard for someone to say no if they've been asked directly.
00:56:43 People have no problem ignoring a social post or an email.
00:56:46 But if you pick up the phone and call someone, I bet you'll get a yes.
00:56:50 I bet you get something.
00:56:51 My name is Janelle Jordan.
00:56:53 I'm a production manager at Production Hub.
00:56:55 We work with folks that call in or, you know, fill out our web form and find out their needs, their budgets,
00:57:03 and then help in any part of the process, you know, whether it's just finding the cameraman and handing off the information
00:57:09 or, you know, helping out with call sheets or scheduling, you know, visits to studios, site visits, you know, event logistics, anything like that.
00:57:19 For filmmakers trying to raise money, my first go-to, you know, resource is always your local government.
00:57:26 So whether it's a film office or film commissioner or your local representatives, you know, see if there is any incentives locally.
00:57:35 If not, you know, start researching grants.
00:57:37 You'd be surprised by the amount of even small, couple thousand dollars grants, but that adds up quickly.
00:57:43 You know, every little bit helps.
00:57:45 And then, you know, you have great things like GoFundMe, you know, philanthropic, you know, different opportunities for documentaries and stuff like that.
00:57:54 So there are a lot of different resources.
00:57:56 Use your local resources and network and build relationships with people.
00:58:00 Don't try and do everything online.
00:58:02 Even though we are, you know, a very Internet-focused world, meet people face-to-face.
00:58:07 Go to trade shows.
00:58:08 You never know who you're going to meet, what you're going to win.
00:58:11 I've met so many people that win cameras and equipment at trade shows because they go in and they put their name in and they come back and there's a drawing and there you go.
00:58:21 And support those local organizations.
00:58:23 They need your support, too.
00:58:24 You don't know how you can help them later on down the road.
00:58:27 There might be people that are looking to do the same thing that you're trying to do and meeting up with them, collaborating, joining forces, that might, you know, be the secret ingredient to getting you where you want to go with your project, with your career as a filmmaker.
00:58:40 With your career as a whole.
00:58:41 My name is Ken Hickman.
00:58:49 I've raised millions of dollars for the movies.
00:58:53 After 20 years in California, I knew a lot of the movie people and a lot of the actors and a lot of the producers.
00:59:01 I ran with them.
00:59:02 I would never invest in a movie.
00:59:06 Last thing I would ever do.
00:59:08 I moved to Orlando to expand our insurance company and I met some fellows from Universal.
00:59:16 They kept after me for about a year to invest in a movie and I just wouldn't have anything to do with that.
00:59:23 But we became good friends.
00:59:25 And after about a year, I went home one night and I told my wife, I said, these guys are different.
00:59:32 They have a passion I've never seen before for the movie business.
00:59:37 And I said, I'm going to take a small plunge.
00:59:41 And I did.
00:59:44 During the premiere, I was so impressed.
00:59:48 Again, with the drive and the passion and the professionalism.
00:59:53 And they asked me to help them out, raise some money.
00:59:57 I got involved.
00:59:59 We had some successes.
01:00:02 And 20 years later, still involved.
01:00:06 Well, basically, I've raised a lot of money.
01:00:09 Primarily, I've raised money from either the federal or the local government.
01:00:13 I've raised money, for example, from the Department of Justice for anti-drug prevention campaigns.
01:00:20 From the Orlando Tech Health Department for teenage pregnancy prevention.
01:00:25 I've raised money from foundations for a documentary series on resident ownership of public housing.
01:00:35 Most students and people want to go get money from is the actual worst place to get money from.
01:00:42 And that is people in the industry, people in Hollywood, they don't have money.
01:00:46 They may have contacts, but they're not going to put money into your project.
01:00:49 Oddly enough, the place to get money is from people that don't have luxury jobs in the entertainment business.
01:00:56 Most investors, honestly, come from your friends and associates.
01:01:02 Essentially, this is the key to raising money.
01:01:06 First, you establish relationships.
01:01:10 And then you ask people that you have relationships for money.
01:01:15 See, opportunities are plentiful.
01:01:18 Money is plentiful.
01:01:20 Relationships are rare.
01:01:23 I'm Jeanette Bliss, and I'm a realtor.
01:01:26 I'm Tom Bliss, and I am also a realtor.
01:01:30 How would you characterize the whole business of fundraising for movies?
01:01:36 I would look at it as more of an opportunity to invest money
01:01:41 and be sure that they understand the rules of the game.
01:01:45 Is it different selling a piece of real estate versus selling someone an interest in a movie?
01:01:51 I don't think so.
01:01:53 Everybody's got a hot button, and you need to find it,
01:01:56 whether it's real estate or investment into a movie.
01:01:59 Different things turn different people on, and you need to read the people and find that out.
01:02:04 This film industry, as you well know, is extremely different and could be difficult.
01:02:09 Raising money for a film is not easy.
01:02:12 It's one thing to find the money.
01:02:14 It's another thing to get the check.
01:02:16 They think movie stars and the industry itself being wild and unpredictable and some success,
01:02:26 and they know big names that are going to be successful.
01:02:29 So I think if you had somebody very successful that would walk in and be in a movie,
01:02:36 you'd probably have more response.
01:02:39 But yeah, in general, they roll their eyes.
01:02:42 Most people think Hollywood or filmmaking is a big con game,
01:02:46 and they're like, "Oh, I don't want anything to do with it."
01:02:48 Why is that?
01:02:51 There's a lot of evidence out there that they're right in a lot of cases.
01:02:59 How many movies, big movies, have been made where the investor didn't get one dime back?
01:03:09 I've never brought an investor in, to my knowledge, that I don't say,
01:03:13 "Look, if you can't afford to lose $10,000 on a card game in Las Vegas in a night's time,
01:03:20 don't invest in a movie."
01:03:22 There's no sense trying to sell somebody a black suit if he came in to buy a white suit.
01:03:26 So you've got to really evaluate who you're talking to.
01:03:29 And you're right, the international buyer is totally different.
01:03:32 Their motives, their goals, the way they communicate, their aggressiveness,
01:03:38 they're totally different than your domestic investor.
01:03:42 One reason why we've been so successful is that we have come across honest,
01:03:47 and we are honest. That's very important.
01:03:50 Just don't tell the investor what he wants to hear. Tell him the facts.
01:03:54 I've found out something over the years. Nothing happens overnight.
01:04:00 If you don't have patience, you're probably going to be in a lot of trouble.
01:04:05 It's never going to happen.
01:04:06 Some of the greatest movies ever made take 10, 20, 30 years to get on the big screen.
01:04:15 And you can have 13 signed contracts for all the money, 13 different times.
01:04:28 And all of a sudden, there's a real estate crunch.
01:04:33 All of a sudden, there's a stock market crash.
01:04:37 All of a sudden, one of your key investors, or two or three of them, pass away.
01:04:44 You've just got to stick to it and make sure it happens.
01:04:49 And you can't ever give up.
01:04:51 I'm Chuck Eldred, Film Commissioner, Palm Beach County, Florida.
01:05:03 Well, the first thing we do is attract filmmakers to an area.
01:05:06 So it's an invitation for filmmakers to come and shoot in that jurisdiction.
01:05:11 We also make it extremely easy for filmmakers to shoot, because we tell them where they can shoot.
01:05:16 Most of all, where they can't shoot, because they may fall in love with a location,
01:05:19 and all of a sudden, they find out they can't use that location.
01:05:22 And then we are responsible for helping them do two things.
01:05:25 Stay on time and stay on budget.
01:05:28 We are part of the production crew. That's the first thing we look at.
01:05:31 And when we take that responsibility, it's not just when you come here and shoot.
01:05:36 It's when we talk to you on the telephone and we say, "We have your location," or we don't.
01:05:40 "We have wonderful shorelines. We have wonderful other locations.
01:05:43 We have 2,000 square miles of gorgeous locations."
01:05:46 All of this is the kind of location you want to shoot in if it matches your script,
01:05:50 because then you have to have the cooperation.
01:05:53 And that is what the Film Commission is here to do.
01:05:56 All of the services that you're looking for, we can help you provide on your budget.
01:06:00 Hi, I'm Christy Andrioni, and I'm the Production Director with the Palm Beach County Film and Television Commission.
01:06:06 First starting out in the industry, I had no idea that film commissions existed.
01:06:09 And I didn't know that government got involved in the industry.
01:06:12 But the more I was exposed to it, the more I saw how beneficial it can be when you're an independent filmmaker or otherwise,
01:06:18 because you have a place to go in no matter what community you visit,
01:06:21 where you can get all expert information on locations, on what kind of regulations there are,
01:06:26 on what kind of permits might be needed, on what kind of crew is there,
01:06:30 on what kind of catering companies might be best to work with.
01:06:32 How do you talk to filmmakers as a state that currently doesn't have incentives?
01:06:37 The message back to filmmakers, especially young filmmakers, is
01:06:40 sometimes those incentives that you hear about the motion pictures getting are more difficult to handle on your budget.
01:06:46 Because the incentives come with responsibilities.
01:06:50 They call them deliverables.
01:06:51 So if you're going to get an incentive, you want to know what is the criteria for using that.
01:06:56 And maybe it doesn't fit into your script or your budget.
01:06:59 There is no free money.
01:07:00 The money comes with responsibilities.
01:07:03 The money comes with red tape that you may not want to be involved in.
01:07:08 And only experience will tell you that.
01:07:10 What we have to do in the absence of the incentive is make everything else better than anything else they're going to find.
01:07:16 With Florida, that kind of comes naturally because there's such a diversity of locations, sunny year-round weather.
01:07:22 What we have to do beyond that is really offer the best service we possibly can.
01:07:26 So that's having a staff available 24/7 to address their concerns.
01:07:30 That's being actively involved with location scouting process to make sure that they come here and film.
01:07:35 And all we can do is make sure that every other aspect of production here is the most ideal it can possibly be.
01:07:42 When you're filming in these major production hubs in L.A. or New York, you're not going to have some of the barriers here that you have there.
01:07:49 We wouldn't be a film commission without Burt Reynolds.
01:07:52 I'm very fond of Burt, and I'm always impressed with how much he cares about the young people in our community.
01:07:59 Once a year, we have him in the student showcase of films.
01:08:02 He gives a grant to young students here that meet with him and interview with him.
01:08:07 And he's still teaching well into his 80s, as well as still acting.
01:08:11 So we're proud to call Burt Reynolds our favorite son.
01:08:15 What advice would you give a filmmaker looking for funding?
01:08:19 Have a really good story.
01:08:22 There are a lot of projects that may sound like they're really good to you.
01:08:29 They may even look good on paper.
01:08:31 But we are in the entertainment business, and storytelling is first and foremost.
01:08:36 So know that you can tell that story.
01:08:38 When you start throwing in the locations and the attachments, know that you can get the money to pay for that story to be told to where it is entertaining.
01:08:46 The rest of it is do your homework. Research.
01:08:50 A potential film investor wants to know you have your ducks in a row, that you know that your film is going to shoot from A to Z.
01:08:58 Not only is a permit important, your investor is going to want to know you're going to have insurance and you're going to get permits.
01:09:03 And under what circumstances you're going to do those things.
01:09:06 You cannot take a shortcut in making a film and think you can do it without permits and insurance.
01:09:12 And that's the bottom line to getting the confidence of a financer.
01:09:15 [Music]
01:09:24 My name is PJ Marks, and I'm an investor.
01:09:26 I actually have worked on several movies.
01:09:28 One of the ones I worked on was called Meatballs 4, and it was a water skiing movie, and I was the water ski coordinator.
01:09:33 And how did you get that job?
01:09:35 I was actually working at SeaWorld at the time, and I intercepted a phone call and kind of stole it.
01:09:40 And then I've also worked on one that I produced. It was a wakeboarding instructional DVD called The Book DVD.
01:09:46 I owned a wakeboard camp at the time, and all my students were asking for a wakeboarding instructional DVD, and there really wasn't a good one at the time.
01:09:52 So I got together with a couple of friends of mine, and we put it together, and I put up the money, and it did really well.
01:09:56 I think we got about a 38 times return on my investment.
01:09:59 My name is John English, and I'm a retired government worker.
01:10:04 Have you ever invested in a motion picture?
01:10:06 Oh, yes. I started out small, and when I learned what I was doing somewhat, then I started moving on to bigger projects.
01:10:15 I was very reluctant at first.
01:10:18 What type of financial return do you expect to see on a movie you invest in?
01:10:23 Well, I hope to see my initial investment, or at least 2 1/2 times the investment, then royalty checks every 90 days.
01:10:31 Oh, excuse me. Scott is walking on the set. Scott, what's going on?
01:10:35 John, I want to thank you. You've been one of my most loyal investors over the past 10 years.
01:10:41 And instead of mailing the checks, here's a few checks, so open them up if you want.
01:10:46 Okay. Sure will.
01:10:48 You can look at the checks.
01:10:49 Okay. I love it. Every 90 days when this happens, there's approximately three checks here.
01:10:54 Well, there's one I'm very happy with.
01:10:58 There's another one I'm very happy with.
01:11:01 So out of the three, I'm really happy. One's a smaller one, but I've expected that over the years for it to diminish.
01:11:08 I have never actually invested in a movie before. This is my first chance.
01:11:12 I knew some of the people involved who were great people, and I thought it was an interesting diversification of investments.
01:11:19 What turns you on about investing in a movie?
01:11:22 The fact that there can be potentially a very high return in a short period of time.
01:11:27 I think it's counter-cyclical to real estate and the stock market and other investments.
01:11:32 My name is Carl Belenciani. My occupation is I'm a dentist.
01:11:36 Have you ever invested in a motion picture?
01:11:38 Never.
01:11:39 What turns you on about investing in a movie?
01:11:42 Well, first of all, you want to make money. That's number one.
01:11:45 Number two, turning you on.
01:11:47 Listen, I like to get in front of the camera, so if I can be part of something like that, to exude the passion and the excitement of it, that turns me on, too.
01:11:55 My name is David Mackey, and I'm an actor.
01:11:58 The phone call that Scott made to me regarding this film just came out of the blue, and I listened to his remarks, his pitch,
01:12:10 and after just chatting with him for a good ten minutes or so, I felt very strong that I needed to be a part of the film.
01:12:22 The way I got involved in this was, I think you saw a post that I made that I was looking for something to invest in, and you sent me some things,
01:12:30 and I was kind of interested, but it never really clicked until I talked to you on the phone,
01:12:34 because when I started asking you questions about this, you had all the answers.
01:12:37 There was no stumbling. There was no "I'll get back to you." There was no BS.
01:12:41 Every time I asked a question, the answer was right there, right away.
01:12:44 I have a natural tendency to like to help my friends and to help my family,
01:12:49 and I have a natural tendency to like to help my friends and to help pretty much all people.
01:12:54 I do that in my law practice and in my life.
01:12:57 So when I received the call that there was just a certain amount of money needed to break escrow,
01:13:02 it was a really easy decision for me, because the film sounded like a great idea.
01:13:07 So between the friendship and the need that was apparent at that particular time, it was an easy decision for me.
01:13:17 All right. I got one more question for you, and I'll just preface by saying we're going to be friends no matter what.
01:13:24 Okay.
01:13:25 Okay? So I'm just going to throw this out there.
01:13:27 We need like three or four more $5,000 shares for our marketing budget.
01:13:34 Would you like to put in another one or two shares?
01:13:37 I'll put in one more share.
01:13:40 We get that on camera?
01:13:43 Casey Tennyson, I'm a writer, I'm an author, I'm a book publisher, and I own an ad agency.
01:13:50 Invest in something you're going to have fun with and something that you like and a topic that you're interested in,
01:13:56 because then you become a better investor, because then you're going to be excited about it.
01:14:00 You're going to help promote it.
01:14:02 And really, word of mouth and networking is all part of a marketing mix.
01:14:07 Was one of the reasons that you invested in this film that you could promote your own writing and your own books?
01:14:13 Yes, of course.
01:14:15 So my books and my novels, again, were always written with the intent of making them into films.
01:14:22 And so this film just ties in perfectly with what I'm already doing in the world, and I can't wait to write an article about it.
01:14:29 Thanks for including me. I'm excited to be a part of it.
01:14:32 What the hell are you doing here?
01:14:34 Man, I am excited, Barb. We're investing in a movie. It's exciting.
01:14:39 Is this the first movie you've ever invested in?
01:14:42 Yes, absolutely.
01:14:44 Why did you invest in this movie?
01:14:47 We were approached by a friend who we have a lot of faith in.
01:14:50 I was intrigued by the magic of moviemaking and wanted to see a set and what it was all about.
01:14:56 For me, as a business person and a practical person, it was a win-win.
01:15:00 Here's an opportunity to help move another friend along in his career and have a potential to capitalize on their experiences
01:15:09 and also to help promote what we care about, is helping other people with their health
01:15:14 and eventually a lifestyle of a retirement residual income.
01:15:18 Oh, it's so great to be here. My name is Bob Bell, and this is my beautiful wife, Barbara Bell.
01:15:29 And you know the feeling you have just before Christmas, just that excitement and anticipation of,
01:15:35 you know, there's something really special right behind the door.
01:15:38 That's the way Barbara and I feel about what we're sharing here today.
01:15:41 I was introduced to Valentis by a friend that I knew 30 years ago.
01:15:45 They told me about a product, Jenny Craig Meets Starbucks.
01:15:49 Oh my gosh, a weight loss coffee? My energy level's great.
01:15:52 And so we just had to share it, and by sharing it, we're helping other people.
01:15:56 The latest product we came out with was the hot chocolate, which is really exciting,
01:16:01 because who doesn't want to lose weight while drinking hot chocolate?
01:16:04 We have these beverages that you just add a powder to it, all natural, no GMOs, and it helps your body function better.
01:16:11 So if you want to learn more about this, go to our website, www.ucresults.com.
01:16:18 Barbara and I look forward to meeting you and helping you meet all your health and wellness needs.
01:16:22 Thank you so much.
01:16:24 [applause]
01:16:27 Well, to be honest, being the biggest investor is a little nerve-wracking.
01:16:30 I mean, this is my first big project, and I'm really rolling the dice,
01:16:33 but now that I'm here and I'm meeting everybody and I'm seeing what's going on every day,
01:16:37 I'm starting to feel more comfortable with it.
01:16:39 Well, one thing I realized about this project is the enormous amount of pre-production.
01:16:43 I think that's something that's really overlooked.
01:16:46 The planning that goes into it is probably more important than the actual production itself,
01:16:51 because that's not going to happen if everything's not laid out right.
01:16:54 And I was really blown away by the amount of work that everyone's put into it beforehand.
01:16:58 There's a track record, there's a history, and all of these things make you feel more comfortable as an investor.
01:17:04 Valentis, we took money to put them in the movie and to promote their product, you know, and I love them.
01:17:12 They're great.
01:17:13 But do you think we in any way hurt the integrity of this film by taking money from them,
01:17:20 even though we'll disclose it in the credits?
01:17:22 I think any other movie, yes, it could be compromising.
01:17:26 I think in this particular movie, because the whole movie is about film financing,
01:17:31 the whole point of this movie is to show and empower people how they can raise money for their movie.
01:17:39 Well, Bob Bell I've known for 35, 40 years, one of my best friends.
01:17:44 I called him up.
01:17:46 There's no secret that every single person that we talked to, if they had any interest,
01:17:51 they could possibly be in the movie, and we got a lot of the investors in the movie.
01:17:56 So in Bob's case, we knew he had this great product that he's passionate about.
01:18:02 I said, Bob, if you put in a little extra money, we can actually put your product,
01:18:08 not only mention that you're a Valentis representative,
01:18:11 but we can actually put your product, show your products in the movie.
01:18:15 I just think we'll be criticized by some people that we lost the integrity of the movie by doing it.
01:18:19 And, you know, as a filmmaker, you always want purity.
01:18:23 I always want integrity.
01:18:25 They're wonderful people.
01:18:27 I know nothing about the product, but it's just odd that we did it.
01:18:32 But I do think it's an interesting example,
01:18:34 and you should have got a hell of a lot more money than we got from them.
01:18:37 He got a hell of a deal.
01:18:39 [laughs]
01:18:41 [music]
01:18:44 [music]
01:19:11 [applause]
01:19:13 My name is Donovan Parker.
01:19:15 Welcome.
01:19:16 Thank you.
01:19:17 I wrote a script based on Christopher Dudas' scope.
01:19:22 It's an interesting story. Everyone loved it.
01:19:24 I want to know about the financing of that project.
01:19:29 I love writing, and I want a connection to make it happen.
01:19:34 My suggestion is when they're trying to raise money
01:19:37 and they need to put together a business plan,
01:19:39 they first perhaps find a producer to work with,
01:19:44 if you're lucky, also a director to work with.
01:19:47 Yeah, I think it's really all about networking.
01:19:49 You never know.
01:19:50 If you learn that skill of just meeting people and talking people,
01:19:53 you never know who you could meet that could take your screenplay,
01:19:57 get excited about it, and help you finance it
01:20:00 or help you take it to a studio.
01:20:03 I'm Palmer Edward, and I'm a screenwriter.
01:20:05 I've written eight scripts. I'm an award-winning screenwriter.
01:20:08 I've won awards in film festivals and things like that, small stuff.
01:20:12 But I'm trying to write between $1 million and $5 million, low budget.
01:20:16 Any advice in what I could do to keep it at that angle
01:20:20 to make sure I don't go past--
01:20:22 I'm going to tell you, if you've written eight screenplays,
01:20:24 you haven't sold one, you're doing something wrong.
01:20:27 So what you need to do is go back and figure out
01:20:30 what's the flaw in the material.
01:20:31 When I taught screenwriting, I used to teach an introductory class
01:20:34 and a workshop class.
01:20:35 We sold about 65 movie scripts out of my classes
01:20:39 in the years that I taught, which is unbelievable.
01:20:42 Some of those movies got made, like "Closetland,"
01:20:45 the Steven Seagal movie, "Hard to Kill" got made.
01:20:48 What happened in my classes was the first 10 ideas
01:20:51 that every screenwriter had never sold.
01:20:54 So I used to tell them, "You have to come up with 100 ideas."
01:20:58 So I made all of my writers come up with 100 movie ideas.
01:21:02 Almost every one of the 65 or so scripts that sold
01:21:06 was above number 75.
01:21:09 It was the last 25 that you finally figure out
01:21:13 what you want to say.
01:21:15 You want to figure out what your story is.
01:21:17 And what I think you need to do is come up with 100 great ideas.
01:21:24 When I used to go to the studios to pitch ideas,
01:21:27 and I went to most of the major studios,
01:21:30 the studio executives would say to me,
01:21:32 "Tell me a story I've never heard."
01:21:34 Dazzle me.
01:21:35 And one studio executive said to me one time,
01:21:38 "I hear dozens of pitches every day."
01:21:42 And he said, "When I go to bed at night
01:21:44 and I put my head on the pillow,
01:21:46 it's the idea that I think of I call the next day and I buy."
01:21:50 You've got to create an idea that's so unique,
01:21:53 so original, so compelling,
01:21:55 that someone is willing to go raise money for it
01:21:59 or write you a check for it or make that film.
01:22:03 And you're competing against everybody.
01:22:06 You're competing against me, Steven Spielberg.
01:22:09 You're competing with the Blair Witch guys.
01:22:11 You're competing with the smartest, most creative people in the world,
01:22:15 and you've got to come up with something better, unique, and original.
01:22:19 That's interesting, but you're the second person
01:22:21 that gave me the advice about the 100 concept.
01:22:24 Who's that other person?
01:22:25 A guy out in Hollywood.
01:22:27 That's a genius.
01:22:28 If you don't have a fire in your belly to tell those stories
01:22:31 and to cram those stories down someone's throat,
01:22:34 to make money people look at them and to pay attention to them,
01:22:37 they're not going to get made.
01:22:39 So my thing is get in touch with your passion.
01:22:42 And I think the people that make great films
01:22:44 have a sense of outrage, a sense of anger,
01:22:47 and that drives them to create great art.
01:22:51 And we live in a society today, in my opinion,
01:22:54 where it's getting harder and harder to be an original person.
01:22:57 You're penalized.
01:22:59 My favorite filmmaker is Stanley Kubrick.
01:23:02 And Stanley Kubrick went out and made all these great movies
01:23:05 and warned us about letting everybody become a number
01:23:08 and losing our humanity and machines taking over.
01:23:11 And everything that Kubrick projected in those movies is coming true.
01:23:17 Look at what's happening in our society and in the world.
01:23:20 And so art will save us.
01:23:22 Politics will not save us.
01:23:25 Media will not save us.
01:23:28 And art has the capability because it opens people's minds,
01:23:32 it changes opinions, and it influences people.
01:23:35 Thank you.
01:23:36 That's my answer.
01:23:38 [music]
01:23:49 Hi, my name is Laura Fay.
01:23:51 I'm a writer, and I wrote a book about Muslims in America
01:23:57 based on my own experience as a teacher.
01:24:00 I have a couple of questions.
01:24:02 One would be how to get it made into a screenplay.
01:24:05 You made a point earlier about there are the people who create,
01:24:08 and then there are the people who have control.
01:24:11 I wanted to know if you could speak to that a little more
01:24:14 and how do you have both?
01:24:16 Because one of my fears about making this into a film
01:24:19 is obviously losing control.
01:24:21 First thing I would recommend is make it a published book,
01:24:24 even if you go on and do it through Amazon,
01:24:27 just to control the copyright and to have content control.
01:24:31 It is treacherous when you have original literary material
01:24:34 and you don't want someone to steal it or dilute it or rip it off.
01:24:39 I would get the book published because then you're in control.
01:24:43 Almost every book published in the world is read by somebody
01:24:47 who wants to make a movie of it.
01:24:49 In other words, they're looking for that product.
01:24:51 You'd be shocked.
01:24:53 One thing that appeals to me in what you just said--and there's a shortcut.
01:24:57 You go to a star to play the character in the memoir,
01:25:03 and let's just pick who would be a good example.
01:25:06 Oh, like Reese Witherspoon.
01:25:08 Reese Witherspoon, perfect example.
01:25:10 Reese Witherspoon has her own company, and she makes great movies.
01:25:14 She might want to play that character, or she might want to call one of her friends,
01:25:18 and now you're kind of on a fast track.
01:25:21 Whenever you can get a movie star attached to your literary property,
01:25:26 you're now in the fast track.
01:25:28 You're like in the turbo lane, and it always makes everything go faster.
01:25:32 It's harder to maintain control, but if you publish the book,
01:25:37 they're going to respect you a lot more,
01:25:40 and you're going to be able to remain part of the creative process.
01:25:43 What happens is when you write a screenplay and you're just trying to sell it,
01:25:48 you have no creative control.
01:25:50 Like in your case, they're just going to throw money at you,
01:25:53 but they're going to tell you to get lost.
01:25:55 Right, and so that's fun for a while, but then it's like selling your children.
01:26:01 You really don't like doing it.
01:26:03 When I first sold Scripps--
01:26:06 You want to know the price?
01:26:08 I don't know your children.
01:26:10 You are correct.
01:26:12 Thank you for asking. I appreciate it.
01:26:15 Hi, my name is Gabrielle A. Parris.
01:26:17 I'm an actress and a student of Mr. Burt Reynolds.
01:26:20 So the thing that you're talking about with the whole producing and the actresses
01:26:24 and they want a good part, I've had a really hard time with that in terms of quality
01:26:28 and just I had to really learn who's the sound guy, who's this guy, who's the AD,
01:26:33 what type of camera are we using, is it 4K, all the good stuff, is it a good editor.
01:26:37 So I had to learn the back end of it.
01:26:39 So I just recently had somebody write just a short film, and I played the lead in it.
01:26:45 I produced this, I co-produced it, but I didn't put my name down as a producer.
01:26:49 You didn't put your name on it?
01:26:51 Not as a producer because I was talking to another producer,
01:26:55 and I was like, "I'm producing my first short film."
01:26:57 He's like, "Well, that kind of makes you look bad if you produce your own films."
01:27:01 I don't think it hurts at all.
01:27:02 It says that you're motivated.
01:27:04 It says that you're willing to put yourself out there.
01:27:07 I think you're to be commended for it.
01:27:09 I 100% agree with Louise.
01:27:11 You're an actor and a producer.
01:27:13 Yeah, so I totally agree you should have your name on as a producer as well.
01:27:16 So go back and fix those credits if you want.
01:27:19 One of the first short films I did, very, very little money, $5,000.
01:27:23 It was a pretty beefy short.
01:27:25 It ended up being 29, 30 minutes, and we got a lot of local press
01:27:29 with different people that were attached to the film.
01:27:32 Just little pieces of press however we could.
01:27:34 Then we started taking it to festivals.
01:27:36 We got really lucky.
01:27:38 It won first place at the New York International Film Festival.
01:27:41 Because of this buzz that we started developing from these festivals,
01:27:46 that's what ended us getting a million dollars
01:27:50 to make the feature version of that short.
01:27:53 That was what I was--
01:27:55 If it starts playing well in festivals, promote it as much as you can,
01:27:59 it might be expandable into a feature.
01:28:02 A lot of feature films you've seen over the years started out as a short film.
01:28:07 It's very strange. Sometimes it just takes one person for you to connect with.
01:28:11 You're going to be successful just because you're doing that.
01:28:14 See, 99% of the people never do anything.
01:28:17 They just talk about it.
01:28:19 Right.
01:28:21 [music]
01:28:32 I'm passionate about self-expression art.
01:28:35 I write, and I was making a movie when I was in Michigan.
01:28:39 It was about the struggles of--
01:28:42 It was about a couple cool cats going through a rough breeze at a hard time.
01:28:46 Wait a minute, a couple what?
01:28:49 A couple cool cats going through a rough breeze at a hard time.
01:28:52 I was making this movie, and the idea was to make it sort of a musical
01:28:56 and add the poetry into it, but it was about 2 people
01:28:59 who I met through my job in Lansing up there.
01:29:02 They're a homeless couple trying to get back on their feet
01:29:05 who had their 6 kids taken away, and I thought their story needed to be told,
01:29:09 and I got really into it, very passionate about it.
01:29:13 It was a no-budget movie, not a low-budget movie.
01:29:17 I love it, but it's okay, it's not 4K, it's more like no-K,
01:29:22 but it's way too long right now.
01:29:25 It's like, I don't know, 3 hours, and I don't even know what to cut out,
01:29:29 but I definitely know it needs more, but I'm not there,
01:29:32 so I can't really finish it, but I'm kind of trying to cut it together still
01:29:35 when I have time. What else do I have to say?
01:29:38 I have a question for you. Oh yeah, will you fund my movie?
01:29:42 I will potentially invest in it, but I won't fund it.
01:29:45 And the key is to finish it, no matter how good or bad it is, finish it.
01:29:49 Like this guy right here with the 8 screenplays,
01:29:52 I give a lot of respect to this guy. He's finished 8 screenplays.
01:29:56 He will be a motion picture screenwriter in this lifetime.
01:30:01 You've already started and committed, but you've got to have stick-to-it-ness.
01:30:05 You've got to get obsessed with one project, get a project that you can't sleep at night
01:30:11 because you're thinking about, and finish it no matter what.
01:30:13 I don't care if it's bad. Sometimes it's okay to make a bad film
01:30:17 to figure out what you did wrong to go make a good film now.
01:30:20 I applaud you for asking that question, will you fund my movie?
01:30:24 Because a lot of people just are afraid to ask that question,
01:30:28 so really get focused, really figure out a game plan to finish this movie
01:30:33 and just have that persistence.
01:30:35 A quote by one of my favorite indie directors, John Sayles,
01:30:39 who said, "Raising money for a movie is like hitchhiking.
01:30:42 It could be the first ride, it could be the thousandth,
01:30:45 but you have to stay out there with your thumb out and be patient.
01:30:49 And you also have to know when not to get into the car."
01:30:52 I want to leave you just with one little secret that I've never shared
01:30:56 with any group before in my life.
01:30:58 I firmly believe you have to pick up the phone and call somebody,
01:31:02 whether it's an idea, whether you're looking for money.
01:31:05 I believe that's truly the best way to further your career.
01:31:10 So here's the secret, you're kind of breaking the rules a little bit.
01:31:14 Here's exactly what a friend of mine did.
01:31:16 If you go on some of these social media sites,
01:31:19 if you do not mask the phone number,
01:31:21 sometimes you can click and find the phone number,
01:31:23 but more often than not, you can't find the phone number.
01:31:25 Sometimes you can Google, it's a little bit easier than it was,
01:31:28 but it's still pretty tough to find people's phone numbers.
01:31:31 So this individual who's a producer in Hollywood,
01:31:34 he posted on all his social media sites,
01:31:37 "Oh, I just lost my phone and all my contact information.
01:31:42 Will you please DM me your cell phone number?"
01:31:47 Within two or three days, he got about 400 phone numbers.
01:31:51 By the end of the year, he had his next feature film funded.
01:31:56 So a little trick, if you happen to lose your phone,
01:32:02 there's a way to get a lot of phone numbers
01:32:04 and just reach out, whatever you're trying to do.
01:32:06 I wish you all the best.
01:32:07 I thank you deeply for coming tonight.
01:32:10 I hope you learned something from this,
01:32:12 and I appreciate you all being in my movie.
01:32:14 Thank you very much.
01:32:16 [applause]
01:32:18 ♪ ♪
01:32:48 ♪ ♪
01:32:59 So here's the thing, Ken, as we're wrapping up this film,
01:33:02 we want to pitch you to come on as executive producer
01:33:06 on our next film.
01:33:07 Scott and Maggie and I wanted to talk to you tonight
01:33:10 about you coming on board.
01:33:12 This is the last night of filming,
01:33:14 and we want to do another film in this budget range.
01:33:19 And we've got a very creative idea
01:33:24 that's never been done before
01:33:26 that we believe can be done for the same exact budget.
01:33:30 We just did this documentary,
01:33:32 and I want to know what it's going to take
01:33:33 to get you to commit to being the executive producer on that.
01:33:37 I think if we can shoot for June 1st as a target--
01:33:41 never promise any investor anything,
01:33:43 but that would be the targeted delivery date
01:33:47 for all the funds,
01:33:48 and if that went well, we could shoot this summer
01:33:50 and still catch a late Sundance entry.
01:33:55 Now, if we miss that target by a month or two or three months,
01:33:58 we can still shoot at the end of the year.
01:34:00 Either way.
01:34:02 And, you know, Ken, we're going to be working on it
01:34:04 in the summer, so...
01:34:06 ♪ ♪
01:34:32 You have the power to make the movie you want to make
01:34:35 the way you want to make it.
01:34:36 Don't squander the great opportunity you have.
01:34:40 Empower yourself,
01:34:41 make the things that you want in your life,
01:34:45 and make a better world.
01:34:47 Make a better world.
01:34:50 God bless you.
01:34:51 Thank you for coming.
01:34:53 ♪ ♪
01:35:01 ♪ ♪
01:35:05 What questions should I have asked you that I didn't?
01:35:21 [laughs]
01:35:23 I can't think of a single one.
01:35:26 [laughs]
01:35:27 You're too nice.
01:35:29 ♪ ♪
01:35:33 There were lots of actors when I was in Hollywood imitating you,
01:35:55 but your personality and your range,
01:35:57 I think you're one of the most underrated actors ever
01:36:00 in the history of cinema.
01:36:01 To go and do Deliverance,
01:36:03 to then go do Smoky and Abandon,
01:36:05 to do the films,
01:36:07 and the prolific number of films you made,
01:36:09 you directed, you produced.
01:36:11 I mean, it's an extraordinary achievement.
01:36:14 What was the secret?
01:36:15 Was there a secret?
01:36:16 Was it hard work?
01:36:17 Was it you learned your craft?
01:36:19 Was it the force of your personality?
01:36:21 Is this question too long?
01:36:23 [laughs]
01:36:25 Well, thank you, first of all.
01:36:28 I never had a problem
01:36:31 going into the...
01:36:36 darkest place to go,
01:36:38 the hardest place to go.
01:36:41 You know, you can't try to be anybody.
01:36:44 Just be yourself.
01:36:46 ♪ ♪
01:36:51 ♪ ♪
01:36:56 But you also produced.
01:37:06 How did you get the money?
01:37:07 Because when I was in Hollywood, people said,
01:37:09 "Burt Reynolds can film the Yellow Pages,
01:37:11 and we'll fund it."
01:37:12 In other words, if you wanted to read the Yellow Pages,
01:37:14 the studios would have backed you.
01:37:16 Is that true, or did you just pick up the phone
01:37:18 and say, "I want to do this,"
01:37:20 or somebody brought you a project?
01:37:22 I haven't tried the Yellow Pages yet.
01:37:24 [laughs]
01:37:27 ♪ ♪
01:37:32 So many films.
01:37:47 So much diversity.
01:37:48 So many great pictures.
01:37:51 I just think, my gosh, you've been part of America.
01:37:56 You and John Wayne.
01:37:57 It's like if there was a Mount Rushmore of actors,
01:38:00 if you looked at the box office and the popularity,
01:38:03 it's you and John Wayne.
01:38:04 Those are the numbers.
01:38:05 I mean, that's an extraordinary accomplishment.
01:38:08 I hope you like John Wayne.
01:38:10 [applause]
01:38:16 Yeah, I love Duke, and I love his work.
01:38:19 ♪ ♪
01:38:24 Did you ever have, when you were directing,
01:38:37 people try to tell you how to make a movie?
01:38:39 Oh, yeah.
01:38:40 And I told them how to make a couple other things.
01:38:44 Might have been a knuckle sandwich in some of those.
01:38:47 It was something like that, yeah.
01:38:49 ♪ ♪
01:38:54 ♪ ♪
01:39:00 ♪ ♪
01:39:05 What's the secret of getting a project funded?
01:39:28 What's the secret?
01:39:29 Either in Hollywood or as an independent.
01:39:31 Well, you got a script that is a commercial script.
01:39:36 Commercial in the sense that it's got the things in it
01:39:40 that people want to go see.
01:39:43 I mean, I don't know.
01:39:44 What's the hottest movie today?
01:39:47 You know?
01:39:49 Black Panther?
01:39:50 Black Panther, yeah.
01:39:51 Black Panther is what you just said earlier.
01:39:54 It's something people haven't seen before.
01:39:56 It's overdue.
01:39:58 It's overdue.
01:40:00 An African-American has not had the lead in a movie
01:40:04 playing an action-adventure hero is ludicrous.
01:40:09 And this is, this is, what, 2000 and what?
01:40:15 Let's say '19 by the time this film comes out.
01:40:18 Yeah.
01:40:20 And Wonder Woman, same story.
01:40:23 Same thing.
01:40:25 ♪ ♪
01:40:28 I, one of the highlights of my life to do this interview with you,
01:40:48 you are an absolute national treasure for this country, Mr. Reynolds.
01:40:52 Thank you, sir.
01:40:53 God bless you.
01:40:54 Thank you.
01:40:55 [applause]
01:40:58 Thank you.
01:40:59 [applause]
01:41:04 You're very kind.
01:41:06 Very, very kind.
01:41:07 Easy to talk to.
01:41:09 God bless you.
01:41:10 ♪ ♪
01:41:13 ♪ ♪
01:41:17 ♪ ♪
01:41:21 ♪ ♪
01:41:25 ♪ ♪
01:41:28 ♪ ♪
01:41:31 ♪ ♪
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