In Memoriam: Natasha Richardson

Maybe it's my age, but I was really stricken by Natasha Richardson's senseless death. It truly shows how fleeting our lives really are. I had memories of all the times I hit my head skiing and thought, why didn't the same thing happen to me? It's tragic and stresses the need for helmets in sports.

I have always respected Natasha Richardson's work as an actor. Here is a tribute I found to remind us of the talent we have lost:

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Starting Your Own Production Company

Everyone in the film industry typically fantasizes about starting his or her own production company. The idea of building your own slate of movies is incredibly exciting and enticing. I was bitten by the bug as soon as I started working in film. I just knew from the first day I stepped into a production office that I too one day wanted my own company that made movies.

It's pretty easy to actually start the company. You can be a sole proprietor. Or you can come up with a name for your company and either create a Doing Business As (DBA) name or start a Limited Liability Company (LLC) or some sort of corporation. And voila! You have a production company.

Does starting your own production company mean you are a film producer? Not at all. It's the hands-on experience either in a school setting or working for others or by actually making shorts or features that prepare you to be a producer.

And will you start to magically make movies once you start your company, even with no experience? Sure, if you have the money. Will you make good movies? Probably not. The odds are stacked against you that, with little to no experience, you will be able to successfully develop, plan for, and complete a well crafted film. That's like saying you could President without any political experience. Not gonna happen.

Producing is a career that takes experience to execute. However, many are sucked in by the glamor of being able to say, I'm a producer, and by the relative ease of starting a company, finding scripts to develop, and running around "saying" he or she is a producer. Well, they're in for a shock. Producing is really hard work and takes a lot of stamina, guts, and a high threshold for pain.

So before you leap headlong into starting your own production company, ask yourself, do I have the experience to be a producer? If the answer is no then go get some and then start your company.

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Film Financing and Distribution Seminar with Karin Chien

My good friend and close colleague Karin Chien is coming to Los Angeles to share her knowledge on film financing and distribution in a 2-day seminar. If you can afford it, I highly recommend attending as Karin is someone who is extremely knowledgeable and successful as an independent film producer. She gave me my first paid job in film about 10 years ago! Oh how time flies! 

Tell them you were referred by me (Jane) and you will get the early registration rate ($50 off the 2 day full rate, $25 off the 1 day full rate) through to Thursday.

Here is the information from her seminar producer: 

Hey Everyone,

So many people have been asking when Karin Chien was going to do another seminar in Los Angeles!  Well she's back!! A 2 day film financing and distribution seminar on March 21st and 22nd.

For those who don't know Karin Chien, she is a good friend and amazing NY based indie film producer.  Her seventh feature "Exploding Girl" just premiered at Berlin this year.  I brought her out last year and put the seminar together because I wanted to learn film financing and distribution and those of us who took the class were truly enlightened.

Some details below:

FILMMAKING OUTSIDE THE BOX: Getting your Film Financed and Distributed
Instructor:  Karin Chien
Dates:  Sat/Sun, March 21 & 22
Location:  Blank Spaces, 5405 Wilshire Blvd, LA CA 90036
Cost:  $250 or $200 if you mention “JANE,” 1 Day Only $150..
To Register:  email karen@zuzufilms.com or call Karen Lin @ 323-610-2413

Seats are limited this year so sign up as soon as possible.
Hope you can join.

All the best,

Karen Lin
Filmmaker/Music Video Producer
karen@zuzufilms.com
323-610-2413

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Can Word of Mouth Be the Key to a Film's Success?

I took a refreshing break from my computer this weekend, made an Irish meal last night (yes, I am Irish), and woke up with renewed energy -- must have been all that homemade Irish Soda Bread. 

Back to the topic at hand, can word of mouth be the key to a film's success? Absolutely and D'uh!

Indiewire and SXSW are featuring the idea that word of mouth may be the key factor to a film's success. Bob Berney, the former head of New Line's now defunct Picturehouse, stated: “I think word of mouth is the key to profitability.” Indiewire points out in the same article that Berney used this approach with the successful films “My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” “Whale Rider,” and “Monster.”

Is this really news to us indie filmmakers? Haven't we always known that the onus for getting our films out there are on our shoulders? Do they really mean: no matter what budget size you have, getting your film shown, mentioned, or highlighted in as many ways as possible that results in the largest group of people talking or hearing about it is the key to a film's success? 

All films rely on word of mouth. Indie filmmakers just have scrappier ways of making it happen. The studios pay for it; we use our blood, sweat and tears. Maybe we can't afford full-page ads in the NYTimes or get the likes of Entertainment Weekly to give a damn about our films, but we can employ creative, less costly, ways of getting our films out to large crowds.  

It sounds good and makes many of us feel better to know that we are on the right track for profitability. What other choice do we have really? Are there really any other cost-effective means for marketing available to an indie filmmaker that doesn't contain some form of word of mouth? All of the social media outlets are based on spreading the word. Even advertising is a way of getting the word out. And critical reviews -- the written word -- are yet another means of getting your film in front of the masses. 

In my opinion, the key to real success is making a good movie that people want to see. From there, it comes down to putting as much effort into the promotion of the film as you do into making it. 

"My Big Fat Greek Wedding," "Whale Rider," and "Monster" were all very good films. Initial lower-cost advertising worked for them because people liked the films, and after they saw them, recommended them to others. She told two friends and they told two friends and so on and so on.

So what's the moral of the story? Make a good film and work hard to promote it. You can't have a truly successful film without both ingredients.

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Ted Hope's Producer Series

If you want to know what a producer does and how he or she thinks and what they contribute to a film, read this series from Ted Hope's blog. He says it all: 

A Producer's Contribution (Part 1 of 3)

A Producer's Contribution (Part 2 of 3)

A Producer's Contribution (Part 3 of 3)

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Film Is the World of Who You Know

What they say is true: It's often who you know, not what you know. Don't presume you know more than the next guy and that knowledge is going to be the key to your success. I can guarantee that you are not the only one in Hollywood with your specific skill set. So what will set you apart from the others? Knowing those who can help you get noticed.

It's essential that you take the time to get to know others in all areas of the industry. It's not something that will happen overnight. It's a day to day, inch by inch progression of reaching out and building that rolodex of contacts. Before you know it, a year or two will go by and all those people you have met along the way will add up to a support system of contacts that will help you achieve success.

I am building my network each day and I will continue to do so until I take my last breath. I am not a master schmoozer by any means. I just do my best to reach out and be helpful to others. From there the contacts build. 

I think first about what I have to offer others, not what others can offer to me. And when I do ask for advice or help from my contacts, I make sure to be incredibly gracious about it. In fact, I go into it with the idea that I am lucky to get their support. I never demand it nor do I ever take my contacts for granted. They are taking time out of their incredibly busy days to give me support. It's important to honor their efforts. And if they ever ask anything of me, I do it right away with all my attention and support.

It's easy to feel overwhelmed by the networking that is required in this business. How do you remember everyone? How do you meet and interact with those who are much more successful than yourself? There's no magic answer, which is actually a blessing. This means that you and I have a real chance of figuring out "an" answer that works for us. 

You need to try many different ways of reaching out and hone in on a few that work best for you. There's only so much time in the day for networking. So be careful about overextending yourself to the point that your work suffers. It's truly a combination of talent and who you know. So give yourself time to cultivate your talent each day but also build the rolodex one name at a time. Patience is a virtue in every aspect of your life, including your film career. 

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Foreign Coproductions

I am putting together a European Coproduction and it's exactly like putting a puzzle together. You have so many pieces available with which to build the coproduction. It comes down to finding the right pieces and putting them together so they make a strong fit. 

In my case, the story is set in the Netherlands. So naturally, I initially gravitated toward finding a coproducer from the Netherlands. The director is from Belgium and Belgium has some really interesting incentives for film investing so we thought, let's look at Belgium too. There is a piece of the film set in France so we are looking at French money too. And Luxembourg has a great set of studios, where The Girl with a Pearl Earring filmed, that are being considered as well. 

The problem is that in order to access the funds that are available in each country, the project must fulfill certain requirements in each country that make it worthy of receiving their funds. And in order to access these funds, you will need a coproducer from each country who will be the liaison between their funding bodies and the production. The requirements of each film fund typically states that a certain number of cast and crew roles must be filled by citizens of their country. There, my friend, is the rub.

For me, I want to get money from all of the countries. However, for the countries, each wants as many of their own citizens working on the film as possible -- rightly so. Often, it's just not possible to meet the requirements in all of the countries. And the more you piecemeal, the more paperwork and deals and negotiating that you have to deal with, which can make your head spin. 

This is where the puzzle piecing comes in: Which countries will provide the greatest access to funding? 

On top of the funding frenzy in Europe, I must be concerned with funding from America. European coproductions usually allow for no more than 30% American funding. But that 30% does need to be found and often needs to be in place prior to the European financing being triggered. So though the European coproduction system is a viable funding source should your project meet their requirements, it's definitely an organizational challenge. If you're good at puzzles then it might be right for you.

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