Startup Film School with Stacey Parks of FilmSpecific.com

Filmmaker Samantha Lavin joins us to discuss how she ran a successful crowd funding campaign for her film "7 on 10", overshot her goal on Indiegogo, and attracted interest from potential investors.

In this podcast we discuss:

    • An intro to "7 on 10" narrative feature and original goals of the campaign
    • Why she chose Indiegogo as a platform
    • The importance of building her team prior to launching the campaign
    • The visual assets she created prior to the campaign
    • The existing fan base/email list she had to work with and why it didn't make much of a difference
    • A few major surprises she had during the campaign and one that made ALL the difference in getting her funded (don't miss this one!)
    • The obstacles she ran into during the campaign
    • What she would do differently next time

Tugg is one of the newest entrants in the DIY theatrical space. It's a web platform that lets people 'demand' the films of their choice to be played in local theaters. Many filmmakers have already had great success doing Tugg releases, and the best part is that there are virtually no up front costs involved in using the service (unlike utilizing a traditional theatrical service company). In this podcast with reps from Tugg we discuss how filmmakers can create a successful theatrical event using Tugg.

We discuss:

• specifically how the Tugg service works

• the recipe for a successful TUGG release and what types of films work best

• best options for marketing

• what costs (if any) to budget for

• how to maximize the Tugg platform for best results

• and more!

Writer/director Phil Wurtzel decided to cross over from docs to features and went to AFM® two years ago to reverse engineer his next project. He followed the Distribution In Reverse steps of talking to sales agents and distributors first to find out which genres were selling the best and which 'names' made all the difference. He then went about packaging his film, with the help of a casting director, for the SAG modified budget.

Two years later, CAWDOR is in the can and Phil sat with us to unpack his process of packaging a low budget feature film.

In this case study Phil discusses:

After years of developing a body of work, screenwriters Alejandro Seri and Johnny Silver found a producer by going above and beyond and building a high value package for their script, without attaching cast. As a result they got their script FINAL GIRL sold and made all in a relatively short period of time. How did they do it? What steps did they follow and what can you take-away from their process and replicate as your own?

Join us for a candid discussion with these writers as we cover:

• how long their journey was from completed first draft to script sale
• the first steps they took after finishing the script, and what their submissions process was like
• Was the major turning point was in the process that led to getting some attention on the script
• how they ultimately ended up making a deal with their producer
• what happened in their careers after FINAL GIRL sold
• what major obstacles they encountered
• and more!

Slated co-founders Stephan Paternot and Duncan Cork join us to discuss the ins-and-outs of raising private equity for films via the Slated platform.

In this podcast we discuss:

Filmmaker Ryan Colucci went to AFM® last year and was successful raising financing for one of his projects at the script stage, and getting advance distribution interest on another project in post. Almost unheard of! But make no mistake - a LOT of preparation went into this and are responsible for his results.

In this case study we discuss:
• Background on his 2 projects - LUNATIC and WHITE SPACE
• Ryan's goals going into AFM® and the preparation involved
• How Ryan set up nearly 30 meetings for EACH project and how they played out
• The role his visual materials played - one sheets, pitch decks, business plans
• The one thing that set his projects apart from the pack (and it's NOT cast!)
• The obstacles Ryan encountered at AFM®
• What Ryan would do differently next time
• What you can do to achieve the positive results Ryan did

We initially interviewed Kim and J.T. in 2011 about their successful Kickstarter campaign for their film "Angel's Perch". Now, two years on, they've completed the film and are over halfway through a 75 city theatrical tour (about half of those cities powered by the TUGG platform). Although its said a theatrical release is a loss leader, Kim and JT have been able to be profitable from day one. In this case study we discuss how they've done it.

In this case study Kim and JT discuss:

• Background on their film

• How their initial distribution strategy for the film changed since they crowdfunded

• Why they decided to do a theatrical release, what options they looked at and why they decided on TUGG

• The initial TUGG strategy and how they decided on cities for release

• Their release budget and what they spent

• How the release played out, which cities worked, which didn't and why

• The secret sauce in promoting the theatrical tour that made it profitable

• What went well on the tour

• The obstacles they encountered and how they moved past them

• What they'd do differently next time

• What's next for Angels Perch and the filmmakers

Creating the illusion of motion is half the battle in getting your film made. Join me for an in depth discussion with 'new' film producer Miles Maker on how he made the transition into film producing and how he's using the 'moving train' analogy to get his latest project off the ground.

In this case study, filmmakers J.T. Arbogast and Kimberly Dilts discuss how they turned to crowd funding to raise part of their $500K budget for their feature film "Angel's Perch".

Kim and J.T. discuss:

• How they decided on the budget for AP and to make it a micro budget movie
• What the overall financing plan for the project is and why they decided to make crowd funding a part of it
• How did you decide where to set your financial goal at for the campaign? What did you intend to pay with crowd funding proceeds?
• How long they prepared before launching the campaign and what they did to prepare
• What they did once the campaign started to keep momentum going and the funds coming in
• What the promotional plan for the campaign was and how it ended up working out in reality
• What was pivotal in making them exceed their financial goal on Kickstarter
• Looking back, what they would have done differently with the campaign?
• How they leveraged crowd funding for additional fiscal sponsorship in their film and how they are combining both traditional investment & fiscal sponsorship to raise the entire budget of their film

In this virtual seminar, sales agent Hammad Zaidi of Lonely Seal Releasing gives independent filmmakers an insider's perspective on the process of selling a film internationally at film markets like Cannes or AFM®.

In this seminar we discuss:

• How long the deal process takes

• The anatomy of a buyer

• The delivery

• What the process is like from choosing your sales agent, to getting deals, to getting paid

• What typical sales expenses look like

• And much more!