The Beginning Filmmaker's Business Guide: Financial, Legal, Marketing, and Distribution Basics of Making Movies [Paperback]

Renee Harmon (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2003

This book provides an orientation in four key areas essential to the business of making films: financial, legal, marketing, and distribution. With Renee Harmon by your side, you will learn how to prepare a professional prospectus for your film, the importance of "high concept" and "hook," how to develop a theatrical release plan, and what should go into an electronic press kit. Here are facts you need to know about letters of intent, presales, completion bonds, sell-through, theatrical windows, cost-profit scenarios, pick-up deals, and saturation - plus many other issues you need to understand to succeed in the film industry. Whether you want to market a single video or launch an entire film company, this is the book to read first.

Editorial Reviews

Review

Film can be a great vehicle for getting your ideas out to a wide audience; however, between the production, advertising and distribution, it can be confusing for a novice, as well as quite expensive. How are you going to finance your film? Should you solicit investors, or should you try to interest one of the studios? Are there grants available? What part of the promotional material are you responsible for? How should your approach differ for a low-budget film, an art film or a documentary? Renee Harmon answers these questions and more, as she outlines the business end of getting your project to the silver screen, from acquiring story rights to negotiating with a distributor. While her focus is more on entertainment films, her advice is applicable to other genres as well. -- From The WomanSource Catalog & Review: Tools for Connecting the Community for Women; review by FGP

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved.

Share of profits. It is mandatory that you inform your prospective investors that profits are not to be shared until after the costs of the film have been paid back to the investors. The traditional profit participation is 50/50, that is to say, 50 percent of the profits go to the investors and 50 percent of the profits go to the producer. Investors share their profits based on the percentage level of investment. Profits will be shared on net profits only. (Later, we will discuss the delicate balance between net profit and gross profit, since accounting concepts do vary from distributor to distributor and studio to studio.)

A film of special appeal to certain geographic areas and/or socioeconomic groups does best if distributed market-by-market. A rather small number of prints, rarely more than about two hundred, supported by adequate but not expensive local advertising, moves from territory to territory. Most independent distribution companies employ market-by-market distribution, by "farming" a picture out to territorial subdistributors. Both distributor and subdistributor (called "territorials") share the advertising cost. Of course, ultimately you, the producer, will pay for these. A film distributed market-by-market does not utilize any national advertising.

Product Details

• Paperback: 208 pages
• Publisher: Walker & Company (January 1, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802774091
• ISBN-13: 978-0802774095
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,336,136 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars A good place to start your movie business education., July 15, 1998

By 

Stephen L. Poirier (Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Beginning Filmmaker's Business Guide: Financial, Legal, Marketing, and Distribution Basics of Making Movies (Paperback)

Renee Harmon's book is based on her more than 10 years first hand experience in the independant movie making business. She provides a wealth of excellent advice on everything from story rights, script development, and production to financing, marketing, and distribution, including a section on video marketing. Unfortunately, the book is four years old and seems out of date on many aspects. The details should not be taken for gospel. Check your facts, especially those concerning addresses, phone numbers, wages, salaries, and legal matters. Things change. Despite this, the book is a very good primer for anyone serious about the movie making business.