PRODUCT PLACEMENT & MOVIE BUDGETS

Movies today are financed by logos (40-50%), by foreign pre-sells (25-30%), with the remaining (20-35%) dollars coming from a combination of (A) Investor Equity, (B) Window Pre-Sales and (C) Government Programs.

And with 40-50% of a movie’s financing coming from those logos (Ray Bans, Coca-Cola, Dell, Rolex, Starbucks, Hermes, Gap, etc) you catch zipping by, on the screen for 2-3 seconds, has these logos becoming quite important.

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PARADIGM AGENCY IS A MAJOR TALENT AGENCY

Yo Actors! Yo First-timer Thespians! Want a Talent Agent? Of course you do.

Last week’s post I discussed Literary Agents and gave a small chat on do you want an agent from one of the Big 7 agencies (100-500 agents) or a Boutique Agency (15-20 agents) or a Mom-n-Pop Agency (2-10 agents) if you are a screenwriter and gave a list of 10-15 mom-and-pop agencies with their addresses.

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FILMMAKING LESSONS FROM THE HOLLYWOOD TRENCHES

There are things that you learn, not taught at NYU, USC or UCLA, after hustling film projects, movie ideas and cable/tv series day-after-day for 5-7 years about Hollywood.

First and most important is that Hollywood is the greatest Bull Sh*t industry in the world and “Don’t try to Bull Sh*t a Professional Bull Sh*tter”

Second understand that people in Hollywood,

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Hello Writers. Want a Hollywood Literary Agent?

Yes, you truly need an agent, to be specific a literary agent, to get you (A) script coverage, to get you (B) into the right doors, to be able to (C) pitch.

However, you’ve heard that no true agency, with a Literary Department, will even allow you into their mailroom.

Now, what do you do?

Answer: You disregard that statement (“no one will talk to you”) and plow forward…

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LOW BUDGET MOVIES FINANCED WITH CREDIT CARDS

When financing your 1st feature film… Although several speakers teach the cuteness of making a movie utilizing credit cards (as if they’re free) I beseech you “Don’t” “Don’t” Don’t”. Now permit me to explain why Funding your 1st feature film, especially Micro-Budgets, with 1-10 credit cards is a very bad idea.

Below is a very slick article (Click & View it) titled “HOW LOW BUDGET FILMS GET FINANCED”

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HOW TO BUY A TRUE STORY….

True stories have always been big business for Hollywood whether as a Movie or TV Special.

My last Post (HOT MOVIE PROPERTY: Part 1: “What is”) described that as a first-timer you need to own a property (script, true story or book) that is super hot to break into the industry as a Producer. And the focus of my Post was on how to discern “What is a Hot Property”…

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What is a hot story?

A Hot Property: Hollywood wants Hot Stories.

To become a player, a dealmaker in Hollywood, of course you need talent (doesn’t everyone think they have it), but more important, other than money (money which will always get you meetings), what is needed is the “ownership” of a “hot property” and a “hot property” could be a script, a book, a video game, a popular song… and by far the best-cheapest is to own a “True Story”.

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HOLLYWOOD UNIONS: The WGA, DGA, SAG & IATSE 

(Movie Union Secrets, Misbeliefs & Tricks)

Independent Filmmakers (like you) and Independent Film Companies (like yours) do not have to hire union Actors, Writers & Directors (there is no law in America that states you must) for you have not become a “signator” of each of the guilds and union basic agreements that they movie studios and television networks have contractually agreed to.

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HOW TO CAST ACTORS (First How to Locate the Actor)

Actors are everywhere looking for gigs. And, you have the name of an actor in mind that you want to contact… Now how do you find him/her to make the offer.

Yes, you have the great Script and need to get it to him/her to either (A) Hire him/her or (B) Partner with him/her… Again, now how do you find him/her to discern if he/she is interested and then make him/her an offer….

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HOLLYWOOD AGENTS FOR WRITERS

Let’s make it simple. You’ve done your writing. You are sure your script is great.

You registered & copyrighted it. You have CYA

Your script is 110-140 pages and it’s going to be a global studio spectacular… or your script is a 90-100 page wonderful low-budget independent script that has a great character arc and wonderful human sub-plots that come to an amazing resolution…

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