Film Strategy

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

Originally published in Deadline Cable network Fusion, a division of Fusion Media Group (FMG) that focuses on programming for diverse youth, has issued an open call for scripted and unscripted television projects. The emphasis is on generating new opportunities for young storytellers of different ethnic backgrounds, races, sexual orientations, genders, religions and other under-represented areas of creative talent with or without agency connections. Selected projects from the open call will receive funded development deals with the network, which promises at least one project selected for greenlight next year. Submissions are being accepted on a rolling basis and should center around stories that “speak to the interests and issues that matter to America’s diverse youth—reflecting their curiosity, sharpness, and passion,” according to Fusion. Selected submissions will receive funded development deals with the network. Interested writers, filmmakers, and producers can submit pitc

Actor, Peter Coyote, has written a letter that I think should be spread far and wide. Read it in full here . My favorite part* is the recommendation he makes, which is this: There is a simple way leading actors might bring a second, more flexible and targeted weapon into the fray on behalf of your colleagues which incidentally, would provide the ancillary benefit of insuring that you consistently play opposite actors of the highest caliber. If you were to include language in your contracts specifying that, in your films, the “quotes” of your peers must be recognized as a negotiating floor for their compensation, if you publicized that fact, and, if you kicked back a modest amount, say on salaries over six million dollars a film to make that money available, each and every actor negotiating to play opposite you would be empowered to demand the fair compensation that he or she has won for their work. (my bold ) People in general, and specifically lawyers, are accustomed to doin

Six 2 Six | Cassandra “Cass” Riddick (dir)   | Release date: October or November 2015   |  USA  | 90 minutes (est.)   |  Format: 2.5K (Blackmagic) The entertainment industry is a tough business that chews people up with the consistency of a meat grinder. It's no wonder that the shelf-life for many filmmakers is short. But for a brave few, filmmaking is a passion that can't be ignored. Through sheer willpower and creative talent, these brave few make their dreams come true and keep on making it. Cassandra Riddick is one of the brave few. She has that perfect combination of artistic creativity, business savvy, managerial instinct and charming personality that I would argue are the main reasons to her success. She is also someone who takes what she has learned in her past productions to be better and more efficient in her future productions.  And through it all she treats her co-producers, crew, cast and everyone else in her circle with love and respect because