In student evaluations, seminar has received 80% Excellent and 20% Good ratings. It has never received a fair or poor rating from any participant.

Seminar Topics

THE SCRIPT

  1. Finding material suitable for you and your budget

  2. What might sell in the indie world, what won't?

  3. Optioning material books and scripts, and buying them and how much to pay (sample option contacts included on handout CD)

  4. Script development - pros and cons, how much to pay

  5. WGA registration versus copyrighting. Pros and cons of each (Copyright form included on handout CD)

  6. What about the WGA and the low budget agreement (sample WGA contract on handout CD)

RAISING MONEY

  1. Business plans (samples handed out)

  2. What financial structure to use, including Limited Partnerships, Blue sky laws, advertising restrictions, number of investors allowed, minimum investment totals WHATEVER YOU DO, GET AN ATTORNEY TO ADVISE YOU. (Sample LP agreement and federal and state forms for launching it)

  3. Do you attach a star first, or after raising money?

  4. Understanding the industry standard 50/50 split between producers and investors, and the payback of money to LP (multi-media demonstration, and word doc explaining it included on handout CD)

  5. Keep LOTS of money in reserve for music and post and for marketing and PR

PRE-PRODUCTION

  1. EVERYTHING STARTS WITH PREPRODUCTION

  2. Choosing shooting format -- Pros/cons of HD, digital, super 16, 35 mm, both in terms of shooting in each format and in posting each format and affect on selling film

  3. Developing a shooting script, preparing yourself and script for pre-production

  4. Script breakdown and scheduling (multi-media presentation of breaking down a script and sample call sheets and schedules included on handout CD)

  5. Casting - finding a casting director, checking an actors value, making offers, how do you get to actors, handling auditions, finding the best cast, finalizing your cast, finding extras (multi-media presentation of table weighing actor values and sample offer letters and extra releases included in handout CD)

  6. SAG issues. Experiment versus limited exhibition versus modified low budget versus low budget. Downside of doing Experimental -- need permission to distribute. Downside to limited ex - have to upgrade to higher film class. Making sure you follow SAG rules like green rooms and reports to Sag. (SAG contract info included in handout CD)

  7. Hiring your crew (DP, hair/makeup, costumes, script supervisor, 1st AD, line producer, etc)

  8. Finding locations, what are the best locations?

  9. F/X, Stunts, Special Equipment

  10. Planning planning ahead for F/X, stunt, and special equipment needs (a/v: clips from movies Kurt has worked on, how we planned for them, specifically, Timeshifters)

  11. How to buy stunts from old movies

  12. Shooting Schedule - developing a shooting schedule with Line Producer, shooting day for night and night for day, planning for meals and production moves planning ahead for weather or location problems, deciding between 5 and 6 day weeks

  13. Story-boarding - Pros and cons, how to best use

  14. Running Pre-Production Meetings, coordinating all departments

  15. Rehearsals - rehearsing with actors, establishing relationship with actors, anticipating actor problems

  16. Payroll - use a payroll service

  17. Insurance, set it all up now, except errors and omissions. Make sure you clear everything.

  18. Food/catering

  19. Equipment rental

PRODUCTION

  1. Preparing yourself physically and mentally, keeping healthy during production, etc.

  2. The first day - how to chose what to shoot first, and how to immediately command the respect of the cast and crew

  3. Technical problems and appreciating sound now

  4. Script problems - how to handle them

  5. Difficult actors - how to handle them, how to use your crew to help handle them

  6. Difficult crew members - how to handle them, when to cut bait

  7. Location changes - how to handle them, plan for them

  8. Weather problems - how to handle them, how to plan for them

  9. How to keep a crew motivated - dealing with week 3 blues

POST PRODUCTION

  1. Choosing an editor

  2. How to edit: how to choose the right take, where to cut in and out of a scene

  3. Why we advocate having the editing system in your house for months, and why you need to get input after long breaks away from it

  4. Music spend the money, get good music, or how to find good music for cheap cheap cheap!!! (music releases included on handout CD)

  5. Choosing a composer and getting the music you want and clearing it (handouts - clearance forms (music releases included on handout CD)

  6. Choosing an audio mixer and getting the sound you want

  7. Keeping your foreign deliverables in mind

FILM FESTIVALS/MARKETS AND DISTRIBUTORS

  1. Create great collateral material ( and have the funds to do it)

  2. Select film festivals/markets responsibly - and why you need mostly to pursue film markets

  3. Finding and using the right PR firm for your film

  4. Distributor screenings

  5. What to do at a film festival

NEGOTIATING YOUR DISTRIBUTION DEAL

  1. What are the deals like, what should you ask for, what do you want

  2. Theatrical versus straight to video. Why theatrical helps your career, but why straight to video might make more money

  3. What you will owe the distributor and when they will pay

QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS