11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Filmmakers and Financing: A great reference guide, but not a business plan for independents. A Critical Review, December 6, 2009
This review is from: Filmmakers and Financing, Sixth Edition: Business Plans for Independents (Paperback)
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*First Impression
**What this book is and what it isn't
***A Reference Book?
****Conclusion
*This is the second copy of Filmmakers and Financing that I own. I bought the 1st ed. fifteen years ago and, at the time, there weren't many books available and the internet was still relatively underground.
What I liked about the 1st ed. is that it served my initial need of needing to know about the many different aspects of the business side of filmmaking. This is by no means a book about how to write a business plan, neither the 1st ed. nor this 6th edition.
**This book is essentially a reference book that explains the many, many terms and conditions involved with the film industry and dealing with the various entities that do business under this umbrella.
As a business major, one of the things we were taught is that a business plan is a structured proposal that has several key ingredients.
-An introduction--where the company introduces itself and speaks of the nature of its business.
-The Goal(s)--both short-term and long-term. How the company will pursue its goals. When the goals will start, finish. The cost and the expected revenue(s) from such ventures.
-Ancillary Markets--These are possible partnerships or peripheral opportunities that may arise from the undertaking of the venture.
-The Budget--This includes charts and supporting evidence to justify the expenditures.
-Conclusion or Closing Statement.
This book has toward the ending chapters a fictional company and some vague charts.
***Brief explanations are presented for the following categories:
The Executive Summary
The Company
The Films
The Industry
The Markets
Distribution
Risk Factors, etc.
10 pages of tables from an imaginary company.
****This book, nevertheless, is an important book because it explains in the most simple manner the terminology of this industry. It also answers general questions pertaining to the marketing and negotiating of contracts.
Not much has changed since the 1st ed and I would have liked for Ms. Levison to use at least one concrete example: show the budget of the feature. Let me see the salaries of the actors. What were the terms that this independent film company negotiated with a major studio. How much profit was made through ancillary (dvd) markets. What is the cost of film processing. Show some typical expenditure reports.
With the exception of the actual business plan another Focal Press book addresses the very questions that is missing from Filmmakers and Financing: I would suggest a more comprehensive look can be found here,
The Business of Media Distribution: Monetizing Film, TV and Video Content in an Online World, by Jeffrey C. Ulin.
This book has not kept pace with the needs of independents.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Informative and Helpful, January 21, 2010
This review is from: Filmmakers and Financing, Sixth Edition: Business Plans for Independents (Paperback)
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I recommend this for every new independent filmmaker and even the more experienced as it has a lot to offer. Not only does it teach you how to create a solid business plan, but it also gives excellent overviews of marketing, distribution, investors, financing options and more. This will be staying in my library permanently so that I can refer to it again and again.
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good place to start when trying to focus your energies on a film project, February 18, 2010
This review is from: Filmmakers and Financing, Sixth Edition: Business Plans for Independents (Paperback)
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Louise Levison's Filmmakers and Financing is a good resource for the up and coming independent filmmaker. Having a great idea for film is not enough and YouTube exposure can only get you so far. What you need is a plan; and not just any plan, but one that considers not only how you are going to finance your film, but also how you are going to sell and market it as well. And, that can be some very confusing - and crowded - waters.
That is where this book comes in. Filmmakers and Financing will give you a focused overview of your options and potential resources that will help you narrow down a game plan - and a business plan - for your first film project.
Good luck.
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A Guide to my Book Rating System:
1 star = The wood pulp would have been better utilized as toilet paper.
2 stars = Don't bother, clean your bathroom instead.
3 stars = Wasn't a waste of time, but it was time wasted.
4 stars = Good book, but not life altering.
5 stars = This book changed my world in at least some small way.
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