February 16, 2011 – Hope For Film

WNYC just sent me this:

Within days, Congress will vote on legislation that could cut 100% of funding for public broadcasting, which includes $3 million to fund programming operations for New York Public Radio (WNYC and WQXR), plus an additional $1.25 million for innovative, original programming. These proposed cuts threaten WNYC and public broadcasting as a whole.

170 million Americans rely on public radio and public television for trusted news and perspective and programming that brings the arts to everyone — for a minimal investment of $1.35 per U.S. citizen per year.

You can make a difference — contact your representatives in Congress to let them know how you feel about federal funding for the independent journalism, thought-provoking news, conversations and cultural programs you hear on WNYC.

I encourage you to take action now to let Congress know what public radio means to you.

Click here to send a pre-written (and editable) e-mail.

Or call your representative in Congress at (202) 224-3121.

Your support for public radio helps our democracy thrive. Your voice now can make a critical difference.

The New Model Of Indie Film Finance, v2011.1, Foreign Value

Today continues my efforts to try to define the takeaway from the two most recent and robust US acquisition markets of Sundance & Toronto. I (and hopefully we) will try to extrapolate from them where we are today. How can we use our most recent experiences to determine the reality of our filmed dreams today? How can we move to a more realistic model of indie film finance?

Foreign estimates still set the initial value for films, and it is CAST that is the predominate determinator for this value. Before a film is shot, there are three types of actors that mean something to foreign buyers:

1) stars that have been in big hits in the relevant territories;
2) stars that have been in popular television shows in those territories;
3) stars that can be expected to generate a great deal of publicity everywhere.

Other than stars, there are a few other aspects of a film that create foreign value. Stars are another entity altogether from cast or actors — and it is really the stars that determine foreign value.

Are there any other factors that help shape what your project is determined to be worth overseas? Fortunately, yes!

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