Film Strategy

A snapshot of what these 2015 low-budget films did to make a profit. Deadline just published a good article with breakdowns of the numbers of 5 "small" films (by Hollywood standards) that had big profits . I was curious to probe a bit more into why these films were able to make a profit and came across a couple of recurring themes which I elaborate on in the FILM STRATEGY TAKEAWAY : their use of the horror genre, that the films are based on a well-known novel or sequel, their exploitation of production incentives, their release on a day with no competition and more. Check it out: +++++++ Each year when Deadline runs its film profitability countdown , readers understandably ask about wildly profitable films, usually genre pictures, that don’t merit inclusion on the basis of highest domestic gross. But that doesn’t mean these films don’t tell compelling stories in their own right. So this time, we included snapshots of five overachieving pictures. The final four film

So there is a benefit to becoming famous on Youtube. Feature-length films starring YouTube stars are getting Hollywood's attention. In their quest to de-risk a film and make a film with a built-in audience and marketing potential at little cost, they have decided to invest in films starring people popular in the digital world. According to THR : There were about a dozen such "film" projects in 2015 alone, and that number could double this year as major entertainment players look to cash in. These digital-focused films follow a similar, and more inexpensive, formula on their way from concept to completed project. According to numerous industry sources, studios will pay between $500,000 and $1.5 million to produce the movie, and the marketing spend is a fraction of the minimum $20 million that a studio normally would shell out.  Instead of going to theaters, studios typically distribute the films through iTunes and Vimeo, where viewers can download them for about $1

Even a famous actress like Shirley MacLaine finds making indie films difficult.  I discovered this in an article she recently wrote about her experiences making the film, Wild Oats . Despite the difficulties, why making movies is a useful experience: Making a movie is the most useful experience I’ve found for getting to know more about myself. But you don’t have to be an actor or work in show business to have that experience. We’re all creating our lives every day. We are the actors and writers and directors and producers and financiers of our lives. So I’d say that means that our life itself is an art, one we’ve chosen to take part in. It’s like a movie we’ve chosen to make. Both need financing. Did anyone assure us when we were born that the money would be there?No. Did anyone assure me when I began Wild Oats that the money would be there? No. So why did I do it? Ambition? Adventure? Challenge? Fame? Because they asked me to? I’m not sure the “why” even matters now. How tax

According to Business Insider : In a panel at South by Southwest, Universal’s EVP of digital marketing, Ed Neil, and Facebook’s entertainment head, Jim Underwood, talked about the customized racial marketing for Straight Outta Compton, the 2015 film that chronicles the rise of gangsta rap pioneers N.W.A.  Neil credited part of this to a specialized Facebook marketing effort led by Universal’s “multicultural team” in conjunction with its Facebook team. They created tailored trailers for different segments of the population. Why?  The “general population” (non-African American, non-Hispanic) wasn’t familiar with N.W.A., or with the musical catalog of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre, according to Neil. They connected to Ice Cube as an actor and Dr. Dre as the face of Beats, he said. The trailer marketed to them on Facebook had no mention of N.W.A., but sold the movie as a story of the rise of Ice Cube and Dr. Dre.  The trailer marketed to African Americans was completely different. Unive

The Witch   |  Robert Eggers (dir)   | Release date: February 2016   |  USA  | 92 minutes   |  Format: D-Cinema I finally caught The Witch last night. It's the kind of horror movie I want to see more of; quiet and disturbing like The Shining and The House of the Devil that builds to a riveting climax. With it's low-budget yet high-end production values, the making of the film yields aesthetic and practical cues to filmmakers trying to make their films with a premium on quality. To get a better understanding of how this movie made the journey from script to screen, check out the following excerpts and links below: The Scariest Movie at Sundance: How Robert Eggers Made the Horrifying, Historically Accurate ‘The Witch’ "Eggers spent five years researching, developing, and writing the script for The Witch. To forge his authentic colonial setting, the writer-director pored over historical documents at Smithsonian’s Plimoth Plantation in Plymouth, Massachusetts. Accord

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 2016. Like Yogi Berra says, “If you don't know where you are going, you'll end up someplace else.”  Friday, March 4   HBO Access Writing Fellowship Submission Period Opens (TBC) Thursday, March 10   American Black Film Festival Screenplay Competition Deadline   Scriptapalooza Screenplay Competition Deadline Friday, March 11   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Saturday, March 12   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Sunday, March 13   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW)   Canadian Screen Awards Monday, March 14   South by Southwest Festival (SXSW) Tuesday, March

There is alot wrong in this picture according to CBS/Paramount. Maybe you've heard about the Star Trek fans lawsuit? In January 2016, CBS and According to The Wrap , Paramount sued  “ producer Alec Peters of Axanar Productions for copyright infringement... The suit concerns “Axanar” and the prequel film “Prelude to Axanar,” collectively referred to as “the ‘Axanar’ Works. ”  “The ‘Axanar’ Works infringes plaintiffs’ works by using innumerable copyrighted elements of ‘Star Trek,’ including its settings, characters, species, and themes,” the complaint reads. CBS and Paramount are seeking up to $150,000 for every copyrighted “Star Trek” element present in the films. ” I admire the love, devotion and skill Peters has demonstrated with the making of the 'Axanar Works' but he doesn't seem to have a strong defense, even if he cites "fair use." The fair use doctrine would provide protection if he were making a parody like this In Living Color "Star Trek&qu