Greenlight Your Film's Way to Success

Richard Lackey is a post-production co-coordinator and independent filmmaker living and working in Cape Town, South Africa. Specializing in digital cinema acquisition and post-production technology, but a lover of shooting celluloid and running the gauntlet of DIY micro-budget filmmaking, he hopes to one day write, produce and direct his own films.

If you’ve never heard the term “internal greenlight,” then this article is for you.

It’s a term thrown around in producer business handbooks, written by well meaning entertainment lawyers who want to detail best practice, assuming a hypothetical textbook distribution deal with a mainstream theatrical distributor. These hypothetical deals may be a reality for some bankable, proven, big name independent producers. But for most of us today, these distributors might as well not exist.

However, the principles involved in an internal greenlight are more important than ever and, if you employ one, the fruits of your labor are far more likely to attract distributor interest.

An internal greenlight refers to a process of “greenlighting” a film, concept, screenplay, even an idea or premise that meets certain minimum criteria. Greenlighting occurs before substantial effort and resources are spent on development, and certainly before pitching your project to financiers and distributors.

Letters to God director David Nixon, producer Cameron Kim Dawson & 
co-director/writer Patrick Doughtie

Distributors and financiers will do their due diligence before putting resources on the line for a film. If you are fortunate enough to have a screenplay get as far as the desk of a studio executive, he/she is concerned with one thing…the bottom line. As an independent producer who may even be responsible for your own marketing and distribution, the bottom line should be your concern as well.

Before risking finances on a new business venture, investors will assess your proposal based on common sense: A business exists to make money. What a business manufactures and sells to achieve its money-making end is a choice derived from a simple supply and demand equation.

Therefore, an effective internal greenlight should filter out the ideas, stories and screenplays that are not likely to achieve a financial return, separating them from those that are likely to turn good profit.

Your first step as a filmmaker is to know what the assessment criteria are – or should be – in order to achieve your goal. I’m going to assume your goal is something of a mission statement that looks like this:

My mission is to develop and produce motion pictures of the utmost artistic quality, to inspire and entertain, to enjoy the widest possible distribution to the largest audience possible, and generate ongoing profits that will sustain myself and my work and ensure further development and production.

Based on that mission statement, the criteria of your internal greenlight need to read something like this:

According to the average financial performance of previous similar films, of similar budget and marketing spend, I can expect to repay my investors quickly with interest, and generate a sufficient residual net profit to sustain my business.

This statement breaks down into further assessment of the following:
-Historical audience demographics broken down by territory, and even city, for your chosen case studies.
-Historical viewing trends of each of those particular demographics and an understanding of the greater social context and cause of those trends.
-Methods of marketing employed in these case studies.
-Composition of lead cast – who was cast in what roles? A-list stars? Known or unknown?
-Creative team – who directed? Produced? Do they have star appeal or cult following?
-Methods of financing employed.

If you have chosen your case studies well, and they closely match the film being assessed (your film), you can simply average the production spend, marketing spend and revenue of all your case studies and the result will clearly show a positive (profit) or negative (loss) net position.

This result can be accurate enough for the distributors and/or financiers to assess whether your project proposal passes or fails. However, at this point you can also bias the results positively or negatively according to the likely projected viewing trends (demand) for your story or genre, if your research has allowed you to extrapolate such trends into the short term future.

A film that fails such a greenlight may not be an impossible movie. It may be that you need to change your goals. Perhaps your film may fail given a small budget and no-name cast, but if you assess it again with a larger budget and some known leads, your choice of case studies will change and you will get a different result.

This will result in high value, low risk films which attract sufficient funding and make money for their financiers, distributors and producers. They make money because they enjoy wide distribution to a large enough audience, and they attract distributors because they represent high value and low risk.

If you are struggling to attract financing partners and distributors to your film, it’s probably because it’s not worth making. You need to employ an intense greenlight to your own creative process and re-evaluate your film. Now, you should see why you are struggling to attract the business partners you need (investors and distributors). Now fix it, or throw it out and start again.

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First Impressions of the Canon Rebel T2i

"Canon's Digital Rebel T2i is the latest addition to the still young video dSLR market.  These cameras are designed at heart to take still photos, and thus do have a few limitations during video capture when compared to your average prosumer camcorder.  However, the benefits of the dSLR cams can often outweigh the limitations if used correctly.

The biggest advantage is the ability to attach 35mm lenses to the camera which produces that shallow depth of field "film look" that everyone is after.  Up until now it was necessary to attach a 35mm adapter on the front of a camcorder to achieve this look (which is what we used while shooting "The Penny").  Another thing that has really stood out to me in my limited work with the camera so far is it's amazing low light capabilities.  Ethan's wedding took place in a VERY dim sanctuary which would have been impossible to shoot with a normal camcorder.  The T2i on the other hand was not only able to capture it, but with an acceptably low level of noise as well.  As a bonus the camera takes really nice still images as well.

For now I can say that the T2i has met and exceeded my expectations up to this point.  If you're willing to work around the camera's limitations nothing else at this price point ($800 body only) comes close to shooting footage this good." ~Nathan Webster (Filmweavers)

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10 Commandments of Screenwriting

1. Entertain us…or it’s over!

Entertainment is the number one reason that people go to movies. Every producer and agent knows that. So it should be the #1 focus of your screenwriting. Become a master at making any character or situation entertaining and you’ll be a writer in demand.

To be blunt, if there is anything in your script that doesn’t entertain, fix it.

2. Make EVERYTHING more interesting.

The industry is filled with readers who are fed a gourmet diet of professional screenplays. If you want yours to stand out, it has to captivate their attention and cause them to forget that they are doing a job.

This should be an ongoing campaign of yours. Make your scenes more interesting. Make your characters more interesting. Make your dialogue more interesting. Make everything more interesting.

3. Give us a lead character we can’t stop following.

Professional screenwriters intentionally create characters we want to follow. They are unique, yet familiar. We can relate to them and want to go on the journey with that character.

In general, your protagonist should be the perfect person to lead us deep into this story and the conflict that is about to occur. Don’t settle for a good lead. Go for great.

4. Promise us something special…and deliver on it.

Somehow, you have to keep people reading until the last page. Here’s a solution.

About 15 years ago, I read a book called “A Story Is A Promise” by Bill Johnson. Since then, I’ve always looked at a script from the perspective of “What is the promise you’re making to the reader/audience and how do you keep it in a unique way?”

Essentially, you are promising some major achievement by the protagonist or some big confrontation that will happen in the 3rd Act between protag and antag. If the promise is strong enough, we’ll read every page to see what happens.

5.  Show us deeper meaning.

Deeper meaning can be built into the plot, character, situations, actions, and dialogue of a script. It doesn’t have to be profound, just beneath the surface…and perceived by the audience.

Audiences and readers just don’t appreciate on-the-nose writing. Subtext gives them a chance to interact with the film. They have an internal experience of the story because they are interpreting what the dialogue and actions really mean.

Because of that, it is just as important to take care of the subtext of a story as it is to create the surface story.

6. Put your characters through hell.

Great parents take care of their children and don’t let harm come to them. Great writers put their characters in the worst possible places to challenge their beliefs and physical limitations.

Don’t get the two jobs mixed up. Audiences don’t go to movies to see characters lead safe lives. They want to see your characters take risks, experience danger, and barely escape from challenging situations.

By your final draft, your characters should hate you for all the terrible things you did to them.

7. Free up your dialogue so you can express more character.

Beginning writers often fill their dialogue with exposition and story details, thus reducing the amount of character and creativity that shows up in that dialogue. Don’t do it.

Instead, put the exposition, information, and story details into the action and situations.

For example, instead of a trainer telling a new boxer that a certain philosophy doesn’t work, have him put the character in the boxing ring and learn it by losing. Now, the trainer doesn’t have to lecture. In fact, he is free to talk about anything – breakfast, politics, his favorite dog, etc. – because the real meaning is being delivered through the action.

It completely frees you up so you can be much more creative with your dialogue.

8.  Turn cliches into fresh ideas.

In the film industry, a cliché is defined as “something we’ve seen before.” If you write a script with the same plot or the same lead characters or the same situations, people will balk at them.

Audiences want to see familiar stories told in different ways and familiar characters with something special about them. That means that your characters, situations, actions, and dialogue need to have something unique to them.

Your challenge: Hunt down every cliché in your script and brainstorm more unique ways to accomplish their purpose.  Give them a twist or unique spin or different voice.  It takes a bit of work, but it instantly improves your screenplay.

9. Give yourself permission to write terribly in your first draft…

…and push yourself for perfection in your final draft. Not the other way around.

Many writers try to be perfect on the first draft, thus giving themselves writer’s block. First drafts are the time for total freedom of expression, not criticizing your writing. You want to discover what you can about your story, characters, etc.

On the other side, writers often send drafts to producers that aren’t even close to ready. That’s the time to bring out your internal critic and make sure this is a perfect draft.

The more in sync you are with your creative process, the faster you’ll achieve perfection.

10. Rethink your script…until it is the most amazing it can be.

This is the ultimate challenge of a professional screenwriter – having to rethink the same script over and over until you discover the perfect way to tell this story.

Even if you think your story or character is perfect, you should have the skills to re-envision it in many different ways. Not only will this help you write a better story, it will also help you work with production companies and Studios when they request script changes.

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An Inconveniant Tax

“An Inconvenient Tax” explores the history of the income tax and brings to light the causes of its many complexities. The film follows the tax through wars, economic booms, and some of the most significant presidencies in U.S. history. To help crack the code, the film employs the country’s top economic experts, commentators, and political voices. Noam Chomsky, Steve Forbes, Joseph Thorndike, Mike Huckabee, Charles Rossotti, Dave M. Walker, Neal Boortz, Michael Graetz, Daniel Shaviro, Leonard Burman, and others discuss not only the problems America faces in the tax code, but also give valuable insights on how to move forward. Finally, the film gives a voice to the creators of several tax reform solutions who claim to have found a better way. In a time when many Americans are concerned about the future of the economy, rising deficits, and unfair tax treatment, “An Inconvenient Tax” provides a crucial, honest look at the income tax. For the first time ever, Americans can engage in the tax debate with confidence and perhaps discover a new way to tax."

www.aninconvenienttax.com

"The Joy of the Lord"

This is the most CLASSIC version of "The Joy of the Lord" that I have EVER heard!! Gauranteed to put a smile on your face! :)
(sung by the Fortune Family...the little guy was 4yrs when they recorded this)

 They have this song available for download, click here.

You can visit their family website to listen and download more music!

Freedom Film Distributors

An update on what I've been working on.

This is a company that I've been doing quite a bit of graphic design work for this year.

They recently posted this picture on their blog, you can see the banner there in the background and the business cards on the table.

You can see a few more pictures on their blog - blog.freedomfilmdistributors.com

"The Penny" Poster

"Here's the first official poster for "The Penny"! You may have noticed the title has remained "The Penny".  After quite a bit of thought and time working on alternate title ideas, we've decided to stick with the original title. While some of the other ideas weren't bad, we still feel that "The Penny" best represents the film. It's just got a ring to it!

Post-production on the film continues to push towards completion as well. Jurgen is working on the very final piece of the score which is exciting. Nate and I finished up our last ADR recording a couple weekends ago with Dan Bell, Mario Andre and Amy Levenhagen. With the score getting wrapped up Nate will now be able to work on a final sound mix for the project. On the visual side of things, Ethan's effects work continues along with Micah's color grading as well.

Filmmaking is often a slow process and many people don't realize how long it can take to create a film from start to finish (although if you've been following this blog for awhile you're getting a bit of an idea!). After all that work and time it's exciting to finally be coming down the homestretch. We hope you're looking forward to seeing the finished product as much as we are!"
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The Life Project

City On A Hill Productions is focusing on a pro-life series.

The Problem

• There are more than 1 million abortions annually in the U.S.
• Every year more than 46 million babies are aborted worldwide.
• Russia commits 4 million abortions per year.
• 75% of Romania's pregnancies end in abortion.
• One out of every four pregnancies ends in abortion.
• 64 countries have declining populations.
• Videos used in crisis pregnancy centers are outdated and less effective.

The Solution

Working with Focus on the Family, Care-Net, Heartbeat, and Life International, City on a Hill Productions will distribute quality video kits to pregnancy centers worldwide.

Click Here to visit the website!

Ace Wonder - synopsis

"A typical day in Willow, pouring rain. It always rains in times like this. A man told me that heaven was crying that day. Maybe so. But heaven's tears were cold. So many stories begin with a dead man, it's become a cliche. A dark alley, a smoking gun, and a thousand lingering memories remain to haunt us. But this time, there was no smoking gun, no dark alley, only those unanswered questions. It might have frightened the average kid, but not me. I live for this sort of thing. My name's Ace Wonder, P.I., and I'm about to take on my first real case."

From the team that brought you “The Widow's Might”, comes 'Ace Wonder: Message from a Dead Man'.

Ace Wonder is a boy detective, struggling to find a storyline for his latest novel. When his path tangles with Derek Morton, a simple family mystery becomes a very real case of corporate espionage, scientific discovery, and one coldblooded killer.

- Visit the website for links to join on Facebook and Twitter.

ARRI Alexa joins RED

"Got 50k to spend big daddy? Good, then meet Alexa from ARRI, a German company founded in 1917 that just happens to be the world's largest motion picture equipment manufacturer. Alexa is ARRI's answer to the RED ONE digital, so don't be held captive by your consumer-based experience of what a camera is or what it should look like. ARRI has a trio of cams slated for release in 2010 offering a 3.5k pixel count, 800+ El equivalent sensitivity, 1 to 60fps frame rate, electronic viewfinder and on-board HD recording. The A-EV Plus model adds uncompressed on-board recording and wireless remote control to the 16:9 aspect ratio shooting A-EV. The A-OV Plus switches things up to a 4:3 aspect and adds an optical viewfinder to the mix. The rest of the details will arrive during an April 6th launch event where ARRI will reveal the complete media, format, and what's promised to be a "super fast workflow."

Until then, check a side-by-side test done by the cats over at Animation World Network pitting a prototype Alexa against a RED One equipped with a new MysteriumX sensor and software. AWN was so enthusiastic by the results of the two cams that it proclaimed, "2010 is the year that celluloid died." Jim Jannard, RED CEO, graciously responded to the test by saying, "We had expected the images to be very similar and it appears that this test confirms that." He then added the following:

"We have believed, since IBC last year, that these two platforms would be the ones standing for the future. We are very proud to be in such good company. But for the moment, we tip our hats to Arri."

Now hit the source links for the full read because the future of film looks set to become historic."
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