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Showing posts with the label 2017

PRODUCTION JOURNAL: When you form a production company, FOCUS on what matters!

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Jeff Orgill of https://filmbudgeteers.com A decade or so ago, two of my filmmaker friends and I formed a production company. The goal of the company was to produce two feature films back-to-back; one written and directed by one of my two friends, and one written and directed by me. The third friend had a line on $10,000 seed money and wanted to produce his first feature, after producing several short films and being involved in the Sundance community for several years. We kept it simple, at first. We met at a Denny’s and set up an office in my 2-bedroom Los Feliz apartment with the main goal of getting name talent attached to our two scripts. We decided to work on two films at once to put us ahead of the game in two key ways: 1) If we were known to be setting up a slate of films and a production company, rather than just setting up a single film, we'd be able to differentiate our company and our films from the scores of other filmmakers out there hoofi

CASE STUDY: How Script Coverage Helped Get Name Talent Aboard My Feature Film

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Today's case study is written by Brian O'Malley from https://www.screenplayreaders.com on how the use of script reading services like his can make your script more enticing and intriguing to A-list actors. As we all know, one of the best strategies for getting your film financed and made is having top-notch name brands starring and guest-starring in your film. Hope you enjoy. ~~ Danny Image credit: Rafael Leonardo Re via Flickr Creative Commons Script coverage. We all know that for agents and producers, it's a great tool because a script reader can wade through a pile of scripts and find the good writers and good stories, then write up a brief script coverage and let her boss know, in a page or two, what's worth reading, and what's not. And it's a great tool for screenwriters as well. A well-written script coverage can help pinpoint how to improve story and character, plot and conflict, and so many other categories, making it a lot easier for th

PRODUCTION TIPS: Your April 2017 Calendar for Film Festivals, Screenplay Contests, Fellowships, Labs and Awards

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The good people at  Script Reader Pro  have just made your life easier.  Why is that you say?  Because they've made your filmmaking life easier to manage this year with their  calendar of  all the major upcoming screenwriting contests  (orange) , awards   (blue) , festivals  (green) , fellowships and labs  (yellow)  in 2017. Like Yogi Berra says, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”  Saturday, April 1   HBOAccess Writing Fellowship Deadline Wednesday, April 5   Kansas City FilmFest Thursday, April 6   Kansas City FilmFest Friday, April 7   Kansas City FilmFest Saturday, April 8   Kansas City FilmFest Sunday, April 9   Kansas City FilmFest Monday, April 10   The Academy Nicholl Fellowships in Screenwriting Regular Deadline Monday, April 17   PAGE International Screenwriting Awards   Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition Late Deadline