I am talking to you. Or at least 98% of you folks who are trying to raise money to make a film.
You know how in poker it always pays to look for other players’ “tell”? A “tell” is the subconscious gesture most people make when they are not sure of themselves. The “tell” helps to show when people are bluffing — or in everyday terms, when they are lying. The most common ”tell” is when people scratch their nose, touch their face, or fiddle with their ring. If you see someone do that, you best beware that what they just said is a load of crap.
Well, most of you who are trying to get a movie made have also put forth a giant “tell” that you are bluffing. The good news is that if investors still fund films when you do so they are revealing they don’t really care about getting any money back either; they are probably in it just to meet a movie star or possibly to make art. But the savvy investor has one clear way of determining whether you are a good partner or not and they can walk away promptly when you “tell” them what you are about.
If a filmmaker in this day and age has only budgeted and scheduled their film through a festival cut or delivery, they are not serious about making their money back. If a filmmaker wants to have a prayer of returning the funds it cost to make the film, they need to have a clear understanding of what it costs in time, money, and labor to bring a film to the audience.
Chances are that most films are not going to be acquired for distribution for a fair license fee. If you want to assess whether you are getting an appropriate return on your investment, you need to see what it takes to make money from the money you already spent.
Don’t be a sucker or ask others to be suckers. Budget and schedule your film for its full life-cycle. Don’t “tell” others you are here to take advantage of them.
If you are have stopped your budgeting and scheduling of your film at the festival level, you are ruining it for the rest of us. Your irresponsibility is going to prohibit ambitious creativity from ever being a sustainable enterprise; you can go to your grave knowing you stopped what could have been a great thing from ever being. The least you can do is when you send it out in this incomplete manner is to confess upfront you are too lazy to do the necessary work. Of course this means you won’t get any money, hopefully even from your family or friends, but I will respect you for it.
