Day 2: IFP Market
So exhausted from the second day that I couldn't post anything until today (the 3rd day)...
Anyways, there was a speed-dating event this morning at 10am in which every filmmaker had a chance to make a 10-minute pitch to A&E. I went in with one of my producers, Scott Lyon, and we were introduced to Deidre O'Hearn, a VP with A&E's Biography series. I asked her if she had heard anything about our project, and she said that she hadn't had a chance yet to see the DVD copy in the video library. So, I immediately launched into my 1-minute pitch -- thankfully, I didn't stumble at all and I managed to deliver a reasonably cogent summary of our film. Deidre ("Didi") was REALLY nice and incredibly supportive. She said that she thinks it's an extremely compelling and timely project and that she thinks we should actually follow the school for all four years. We said we'd be glad to... but we need some production funds this time!!! She then went on to say that while she personally likes it, she doesn't quite see a good fit with A&E's programming style. Understandable from a network that has "Dog, The Bounty Hunter"... So I decided to pitch her my other documentary on game show fans ("Wheel of Jeopardy") -- and of course, she loved it. Handed her a DVD with the game show documentary and she promised to take a look at it.
After that, it was off to see some other work-in-progress documentary screenings. First one was called "Race to Execution" -- incredibly boring. Just shows that just because you have a nice poster and a compelling subject (death penalty) doesn't mean you know how to tell a story. It was just a talking-heads program, and not very informative at that. Left after 5 minutes.
Next, I saw a doc called "Exception to the Rulers" about the activist Amy Goodman. Very interesting person, but very hard to watch because the footage is so awfully shot. Could be good in the long run, but not a good trailer. From this presentation though, I learned that when you introduce your film, try not to run on and on talking for 10 minutes -- especially if you have nothing to say. It kind of ruins everything else.
Suffice it to say, after watching those two docs, I was starting to feel quite good about our own trailer. But there have to be better docs than those in the market...
After that, it was on to another industry meeting. This time it was with Peter Broderick from Paradigm Consulting. Learned a tremendous amount from him about non-traditional distribution. Apparently, if one doesn't get a huge distribution deal (e.g. "we'll give you $500K for the rights to your movie..."), you really have to depend on the DVD sales and rentals to get back your money. He said "Never, ever give away the right to self-distribute DVDs from your own website!" Good advice, I think. Peter also gave me a gentle critique on my pitch. He said "Try not to sound too rehearsed. It's a very strong pitch otherwise, but it needs to be much more conversational." Very true. I remember sounding very wooden and a bit nervous in my pitch to him.
I was really nervous for the next meeting with HBO Doc Films. These guys can afford to pay anywhere from $300-700K for a doc. We met with a woman named Jackie Glover and I managed to make my pitch more conversational this time. However, it quickly became obvious to me that it was a very one-way conversation, and Jackie wasn't really talking very much or looking that engaged with our project. She was smiling but just giving off that body language that indicated we weren't going to make a sale from this meeting. Turned out that HBO already had a high school doc in the works, and they certainly wouldn't need to buy 2 such films. So why would they request to meet with us then, I wonder? My producer Jillian thinks that they wanted to see what their competition was like -- and they actually had no interest in us. Bummer, but the industry session was still good practice.
After that, it was time for The Fledgling Fund, a foundation that specializes in giving grants to projects that deal with the Bronx. So we really were a perfect fit. Had a great conversation with the two reps from the fund, and they really seemed interested in every one of our characters. We also discussed a possible partnership where the Fund could help the school with getting internships, career counseling, and lab materials. I'd love it if this doc could directly benefit the school by getting more people to support it financially. The meeting ended with the reps requesting an outreach proposal from us -- good news, since that is the first step to getting more funding from them. By the way, we are up for a $10,000 award in this market (sponsored by IFP) so winning that would be a great way to get even more financial support from them.
Lastly, we met with Allen Chou from Passion River Films. In brief, it was just a long sales pitch to use their services for home video distribution. I'm sure they have very good contacts around the country, but if we have to end up using them, that probably means that our film is not doing as well as we had hoped. But it was nice to see another Chinese American guy in the biz.
So now it's 6pm, and it's time for Opening Night of the IFP -- an invitation to the sneak-peak screening of "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints", with some pretty big Hollywood stars in it. I thought it would be a good place to take my wife Eunice to, so I met her downtown and we took the subway to the movie theater. As it turned out, they had way overbooked the screening, and there was a HUGE line that stretched all the way down the block. We waited for half an hour before someone came along and said that the theater was full. I was pretty angry because it was apparent that they had just "used" us to form a big line and create hype for their upcoming film. They never intended for us to get in. I later heard that there was a big party afterwards that most people were not allowed into either. Thanks a lot...
Eunice and I instead went to a pretty good sushi restaurant nearby. After that, headed home and went to sleep. All in all, an exciting but incredibly tiring day. And I didn't embarass myself!
Anyways, there was a speed-dating event this morning at 10am in which every filmmaker had a chance to make a 10-minute pitch to A&E. I went in with one of my producers, Scott Lyon, and we were introduced to Deidre O'Hearn, a VP with A&E's Biography series. I asked her if she had heard anything about our project, and she said that she hadn't had a chance yet to see the DVD copy in the video library. So, I immediately launched into my 1-minute pitch -- thankfully, I didn't stumble at all and I managed to deliver a reasonably cogent summary of our film. Deidre ("Didi") was REALLY nice and incredibly supportive. She said that she thinks it's an extremely compelling and timely project and that she thinks we should actually follow the school for all four years. We said we'd be glad to... but we need some production funds this time!!! She then went on to say that while she personally likes it, she doesn't quite see a good fit with A&E's programming style. Understandable from a network that has "Dog, The Bounty Hunter"... So I decided to pitch her my other documentary on game show fans ("Wheel of Jeopardy") -- and of course, she loved it. Handed her a DVD with the game show documentary and she promised to take a look at it.
After that, it was off to see some other work-in-progress documentary screenings. First one was called "Race to Execution" -- incredibly boring. Just shows that just because you have a nice poster and a compelling subject (death penalty) doesn't mean you know how to tell a story. It was just a talking-heads program, and not very informative at that. Left after 5 minutes.
Next, I saw a doc called "Exception to the Rulers" about the activist Amy Goodman. Very interesting person, but very hard to watch because the footage is so awfully shot. Could be good in the long run, but not a good trailer. From this presentation though, I learned that when you introduce your film, try not to run on and on talking for 10 minutes -- especially if you have nothing to say. It kind of ruins everything else.
Suffice it to say, after watching those two docs, I was starting to feel quite good about our own trailer. But there have to be better docs than those in the market...
After that, it was on to another industry meeting. This time it was with Peter Broderick from Paradigm Consulting. Learned a tremendous amount from him about non-traditional distribution. Apparently, if one doesn't get a huge distribution deal (e.g. "we'll give you $500K for the rights to your movie..."), you really have to depend on the DVD sales and rentals to get back your money. He said "Never, ever give away the right to self-distribute DVDs from your own website!" Good advice, I think. Peter also gave me a gentle critique on my pitch. He said "Try not to sound too rehearsed. It's a very strong pitch otherwise, but it needs to be much more conversational." Very true. I remember sounding very wooden and a bit nervous in my pitch to him.
I was really nervous for the next meeting with HBO Doc Films. These guys can afford to pay anywhere from $300-700K for a doc. We met with a woman named Jackie Glover and I managed to make my pitch more conversational this time. However, it quickly became obvious to me that it was a very one-way conversation, and Jackie wasn't really talking very much or looking that engaged with our project. She was smiling but just giving off that body language that indicated we weren't going to make a sale from this meeting. Turned out that HBO already had a high school doc in the works, and they certainly wouldn't need to buy 2 such films. So why would they request to meet with us then, I wonder? My producer Jillian thinks that they wanted to see what their competition was like -- and they actually had no interest in us. Bummer, but the industry session was still good practice.
After that, it was time for The Fledgling Fund, a foundation that specializes in giving grants to projects that deal with the Bronx. So we really were a perfect fit. Had a great conversation with the two reps from the fund, and they really seemed interested in every one of our characters. We also discussed a possible partnership where the Fund could help the school with getting internships, career counseling, and lab materials. I'd love it if this doc could directly benefit the school by getting more people to support it financially. The meeting ended with the reps requesting an outreach proposal from us -- good news, since that is the first step to getting more funding from them. By the way, we are up for a $10,000 award in this market (sponsored by IFP) so winning that would be a great way to get even more financial support from them.
Lastly, we met with Allen Chou from Passion River Films. In brief, it was just a long sales pitch to use their services for home video distribution. I'm sure they have very good contacts around the country, but if we have to end up using them, that probably means that our film is not doing as well as we had hoped. But it was nice to see another Chinese American guy in the biz.
So now it's 6pm, and it's time for Opening Night of the IFP -- an invitation to the sneak-peak screening of "A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints", with some pretty big Hollywood stars in it. I thought it would be a good place to take my wife Eunice to, so I met her downtown and we took the subway to the movie theater. As it turned out, they had way overbooked the screening, and there was a HUGE line that stretched all the way down the block. We waited for half an hour before someone came along and said that the theater was full. I was pretty angry because it was apparent that they had just "used" us to form a big line and create hype for their upcoming film. They never intended for us to get in. I later heard that there was a big party afterwards that most people were not allowed into either. Thanks a lot...
Eunice and I instead went to a pretty good sushi restaurant nearby. After that, headed home and went to sleep. All in all, an exciting but incredibly tiring day. And I didn't embarass myself!
posted by cccwong at 7:10 PM
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