Filmmakers need more than heart, talent and desire to realize their dreams: they need production capital. Finding willing investors can be the most difficult step in an aspiring filmmaker's pursuit of higher-budget, entertaining motion pictures. This practical guide provides detailed instructions on preparing the most important tool for recruiting investors, a persuasive business plan. Included in this new edition are suggested ways to approach potential investors; lists of various financial sources available to Hollywood productions, and tips on spotting unscrupulous financiers. Interviews with key Hollywood producers offer real-world insight.

Independent filmmakers by nature are creative individuals whose primary tools are their imaginations and ingenuity. They are cinematic storytellers. While some independent films take the film festivals by storm--distribution deals, sales to video outlets and cable television--others fall short. Luck and timing play roles in most success stories, but many independent filmmakers have taken the next step: They have carved out a clear-cut plan of action--a business plan--for their projects and careers, analyzing them for what they truly are: businesses. This work helps to connect the creative process and the business side of independent filmmaking by providing a practical guide for assembling a business plan that filmmakers can present to producers and potential investors. A sample business plan and interviews with independent filmmakers and industry executives are included.

Rights, Camera, Action! offers professionals in the audiovisual industry guidance on how to use intellectual property protection to generate business opportunities. The reader is taken through the different stages from securing finance to distribution to ensure a successful audiovisual production. With practical advice and enriching case studies from developing countries “Rights, Camera, Action!” will help individual filmmakers and distributors monetize their creative content.

In this comprehensive guidebook, three experienced entertainment lawyers tell you everything you need to know to produce and market an independent film from the development process to deal making, financing, setting up the production, hiring directors and actors, securing location rights, acquiring music, calculating profits, digital moving making, distribution, and marketing your movie.

Innovation in technology means that almost anyone can make an independent film these days. Although this may be good news for aspiring filmmakers, it also means that the oversupply of independent films on the market has caused acquisition prices to dramatically decrease. As a result, producers and investors rarely recover their initial investment in the films they make. But don't be discouraged! Use this book to learn the realities of the market in advance and map out a winning distribution plan. This comprehensive manual for filmmakers and producers dedicated to film distribution and the marketplace could mean the difference between getting your film out to the public and keeping it "in the can." Learn how to sell your movie to a studio, a cable network, a video distributor, or international buyers. Self-distribution and other alternatives to traditional distribution are also considered. As well, you'll hear some success stories from producers and hear directly from buyers what they are seeking. Stacey Parks has worked with dozens of hungry filmmakers to get their films a distribution deal and knows how frustrating the whole process can be. Let her tell you how you can take control of your filmmaking career and start getting your work seen by audiences with a few little-known distribution secrets. Features include: * Interviews and case studies with producers and distributors * Ten Ways to Market Your Film for Self-Distribution * Sales Projections per Territory * Distribution Resource Listings * Negotiation tips for distribution agreements * Sample distribution agreements

The Producer's Business Handbook provides a model for making a successful business of independent filmmaking. It will give you a comprehensive understanding of the business of entertainment and supply you with the information and tools you'll need to successfully engage all related aspects of global production and exploitation. The handbook also provides a global orientation to the relationships that the most successful producers have with the various participants in the motion picture industry. This includes how producers direct their relationships with domestic and foreign studios, agencies, attorneys, talent, completion guarantors, banks, and private investors. It provides a thorough orientation to operating production development and single purpose production companies, from solicitation of literary properties through direct rights sales, and the management of global distribution relationships. Also presented is an in-depth discussion of the team roles needed to operate these companies, as well as how to attach and direct them. For those outside of the US, this book also includes information about how to produce successful films without government funding. This edition has been updated to include comprehensive information on the internal greenlighting process, government financing, and determining actual cost-of-money. It includes new simplified project evaluation tools, expediting funding and distribution. Together with its companion CD-ROM, which contains valuable forms and spreadsheets; tutorials; and samples, this handbook presents both instruction and worksheet support to independent producers at all levels of experience.

(back cover) Principles, practice, and techniques: the ultimate guide for the aspiring filmmaker This inspirational book offers a complete introductory course in filmmaking skills and techniques, from writing, producing, and directing to marketing and publicizing your finished work. Based on simple techniques and relying on readily available, low-budget equipment and software, you will be able to get started immediately. Includes a guide to working on films across all genres and budgets, with detailed advice on how to transform your passion for film into a career. Elliot Grove founded Raindance Film Festival in 1993, the British Independent Film Awards in 1998, and Raindance TV in 2007. He has produced over 150 short films and five feature films. He has written eight scripts, one of which is currently in pre-production. His first feature film, Table 5, was shot in 35mm. and completed for a total of $500. Elliot teaches writers and producers in the U.S., the U.K., Europe, and Japan. He has written two previous books on filmmaking.