My good friend Peter Kaufman has a new piece on his blog Deal Fatigue about the broken distribution windows system, and how/whether it needs repair. read his piece here If you’re a filmmaker, its time to consider that the old model of staggered releases across various media is on the way out.
I am often consulted by film and stage producers who tell me they’re ready to start work on raising the financing for their films/ plays/ musicals, or what-have-you, but often as not, as we get to work, it becomes clear that they’re not as ready as they think. Before going out to investors, it’s important to…
If you have been following filmmaking trends you know the world of indie filmmaking is changing fast. To help you succeed, I collaborated with TEN of the most prominent filmmaker thought leaders in the world to provide you with a FREE Action Guide. It’s called The Modern Moviemaking Movement, And it will provide you with…
Jeff Steele has a good article about the film finance landscape over at The Wrap. Importantly, he proclaims: The first thing an independent producer needs to ask before taking on a project is, “Is this worth investing $10,000 – $25,000 of my own money?” At a bare minimum, that’s what it costs to get a…
Legislation presented by U.S. Senate Banking Committee chairman, Chris Dodd is working its way through the legislative process. The proposed “Restoring American Financial Stability Act of 2009” could make it significantly harder for film producers to utilize some of the most common investor-financing models to fund the budgets of their films. The bill is viewed…
I’ve just read that L.A. city council member Richard Alarcon has asked city officials to report on the steps needed to create a film commission to persuade production companies to shoot in L.A. I’m stunned that the city, historically home to the TV and Movie industries, hadn’t already had such a commission. in the last…
Q: Is it possible through an entertainment attorney, for the screenwriter to have control of rewriting, changing, adding or eliminating scenes, etc.?
Yes, it is possible, in a collaboration agreement, to separate rights in certain components of the work, so that a composer retains all rights in the songs, while the parties share equally (or according to some other formula) in the other components. Unfortunately, each situation is different, so there’s no set ‘form’ or ‘standard’ way to handle this wording.
Last month, just hours before the scheduled start of production on Columbia Pictures’ “Moneyball”, starring Brad Pitt and directed by Steven Soderbergh, the studio pulled the plug on production, putting the project into “limited turnaround” With an A-list star like Brad Pitt, and a well-known and respected Director, the film seemed a sure-thing to some,…
In recent weeks, I’ve begun to see more and more independent filmmakers and theatre producers using forums, chat rooms, and other internet-services to seek out investors for their projects. In most cases, these inquiries are couched in plain language: “Seeking investors for independent film” or similar. Unfortunately for these producers, their use of the internet…