By Matthew Helderman, & Luke Taylor
At Buffalo 8 – we began our careers in the film business working as Assistant Directors on smaller independent sets, bouncing from project to project in the lower indie space.
Not only did AD’ing offer great insight and experience in to the the filmmaking process — but it also enlightened the reality that the film business is heavily driven on contracted labor that constitutes/requires the laborer to be present to continually earn wages.
As we began working 14-16 hours days – the hype and glamor that often surrounds the entertainment business was nowhere to be found — and so began our true education into the world of film production.
Learning these lessons from hands on experiences made all of the difference as it gave us an understanding of the challenges each department faces during pre-production, production and into post production.
Recognizing and managing these expectations, realities and ambitions of independent productions changed the way we viewed film and most importantly changed the way we thought about the filmmaking process.
As we grew – we branched in to production managing and line producing – first on indie sets and then getting pulled in to a production company who were producing content back-to-back.
From this perspective we were able to better gauge the realities of what was going on behind the production scenes — the financing, the development, the payroll structures (or lack thereof) and the realities that for better or worse the business was very loosely operated/managed.
More than anything, we grasped the fact that many of the production companies we were working for sustained their overhead based on royalties from past successes and that the upcoming slate was still tremendously difficult to finance. This style of operating a business reminds us of the famous Orson Welles quote regarding 90% of ones life as a filmmaker is spent seeking investment and 10% is spent making films — which proved to be very true.
As our production managing and line producing gave way to opportunities as producers – we took this knowledge and put it to work – understanding that going back to the well (whether a new investor or the same investor) time and time again was not a very sustainable model.
Therefore, when we first starting building out Buffalo 8 – we did so by focusing on a multiple revenue streamed business that could prove sustainable regardless of one divisions success. Whereby, if we were not in production on a feature (were not receiving producer fees) then we were sure to have a project in post-production (at our post facilities) or a project in development (in our development division).
This diversification came to its’ peak as we grew our library and began earning royalty payments from the companies who were either distributing or licensing the material. Here was an example of work that had been done long ago – and in other cases were simply titles we had acquired – and they were earning us returns.
This long-tail economic play gave us a sustainable base to seek additional investments, take further risks and expand our company on all fronts.
Production services – the physical oversight of a production from development through delivery – continues to be a core business for Buffalo 8 – but requires intensive labor oversight.
Post-production facilities – our editorial, coloring, VFX, and deliverables facilities continue to prove valuable both to out own projects as well as other independents in the market looking for an alternative solution to the highly overpriced Post-Houses in the area.
Sales services – our library of 35+ feature films ranging from $50k budgets to $3M budgets. These titles continually earn on a long tail principle as we license them out internationally on an annualized basis.
At Buffalo 8 we focused on building a model that was sustainable long term while earning continual revenue short term.
As the film business continues to change and restructure financially – Buffalo 8 has been positioned to service any/all of these projects in the landscape – regardless of where the chips may fall.
With our investors seeing returns on their investments (both short & long term) we have now begun the process of building a speciality financing division ($1M worth of capital) to service the growing demand for speciality lending in the indie space.
As this division prepares for official launch – we have now seen the business come full circle in so much as we began as a service based model and continue earning revenues based off these structures – and now we enter in to the space of offering speciality financing to projects looking for monetization on pre-sales, tax incentives, MG’s, etc…
The bottom line being – as a filmmaker (whether a director, producer, writer, actor) the goal should always be financial independence from constantly being present for wages to be garnered. Instead, find a sustainable model that fits into your skill set and apply it to the entertainment space accordingly – long tail results will ensue and offer opportunities for greater satisfaction creatively, financially and sustainably.
Buffalo 8 is a turn-key development, production and post-production company based in Beverly Hills with a library of 30+ indie titles. Having produced 30+ feature films, the team recognized a dilemma in the production process — union deposits — and launched BondIt to resolve the situation to assist producers & union representatives alike.
