Make Your Movie

Table of contents

1. Cover
2. Halftitle
3. Title
4. Copyright
5. Acknowledgements
6. Contents
7. Introduction
8. Section I First Steps (Before You Even Think of Shooting)
   1. 1. About You
   2. 2. Who Are These People, and What Do They Do?
      1. It’s Easier to Say No
      2. The Players
      3. How It Was
      4. How It Is Now
      5. What Does This All Mean for You?
   3. 3. It’s a Small World After All
      1. If It’s About Who You Know and You Don’t Know Anybody, What Do You Do?
      2. Why Contacts Are Such a Big Deal
      3. How to Begin Networking (Meeting People)
      4. Where Should You Live?
      5. Film Schools
      6. Internships
      7. Film Organizations
      8. Helping Out on Other People’s Films
      9. More Volunteering
      10. Temping
      11. Finding a Mentor
      12. Learn the Names
      13. The Etiquette of the Meeting
   4. 4. Relationships and Reputations
      1. Your Reputation and Credibility
      2. Attitude
      3. Cautionary Tale: You’re at the Bottom of the Food Chain Until You Aren’t
      4. Cautionary Tale #2: Just Because It’s in Your Head, It Doesn’t Have to Come Out Your Mouth
   5. 5. Internship and Entry-Level Do’s and Don’ts
   6. 6. This Is a Great Idea, But Is It a Movie?
      1. The Story is Everything
      2. Whose Story Is It?
      3. What Do Your Characters Want?
      4. Three-Act Structure
      5. The Wind Up and The Pitch
      6. Do You Own It?
      7. You Can’t Own an Idea …
      8. How Do You Protect Your Idea?
      9. Why Ownership Is Important
      10. I Just Read Something Great …
      11. Writing with a Partner
      12. How to Find a Writer
      13. How to Persuade the Writer to Work with You
   7. 7. The Politics of Development
      1. Development Hell
      2. Working with Your Writer
      3. I’ll Get Back to You (Getting the Script Read)
      4. Before You Send Out the Script
      5. What Happens During Development
      6. The Top Ten Reasons Scripts Are Rejected
      7. Took Too Long to Get Going
      8. Didn’t Care About the Characters
      9. Writer Didn’t Know the World
      10. The Tangents or Subplots Were More Interesting Than the Main Action
      11. Nothing New, Seen It Before
      12. Writer Didn’t Know What the Script Was Really About
      13. Loss of Energy in the Second Act
      14. The Stakes Are Not High Enough
      15. Didn’t Know How to End It
      16. Why Would Anyone Want to See This Movie?
   8. 8. Agents and Managers—What’s the Difference?
      1. Do You Need an Agent?
      2. Do You Want to Be an Agent?
      3. Managers
      4. Packaging
      5. Who Do You Need on Your Team?
   9. 9. The Money, Part 1
      1. Where Does the Money Come From?
      2. Finding “Angels”
      3. How to Ask for Money
      4. Product Placement Money
      5. Completion Bonds
      6. Finding Money and Working with an Attorney—Who Can You Trust?
9. Section II Production: No Such Thing as a Free Lunch
   1. 10. It’s a Collaborative Medium—Exactly What Does That Mean?
      1. How Stories Change
      2. Creative Control and Final Cut
   2. 11. Protecting Yourself and Your Movie
      1. Setting Up a Production Company
      2. Payroll Companies
      3. Why Go Through All This?
      4. Production Insurance
   3. 12. What People Do, and Who They Do It With
      1. Above and Below the Line
      2. The Team
      3. The Director
      4. The Producer
      5. The Line Producer and UPM
      6. The First Assistant Director
      7. The Look of the Movie
      8. Locations
      9. Camera
      10. Grip and Electric
      11. The Pretty Committee—Costume, Hair, and Makeup
      12. Hair and Makeup
      13. The All Important Crew Members Not Already Accounted For
      14. Sound
      15. Script
      16. Props
      17. Food
      18. Transportation
      19. Animals
      20. Stunts
      21. Special Effects
      22. Editing
   4. 13. A Producer’s Life
   5. 14. The Director, the First AD, and the UPM
      1. The Director
      2. The UPM
      3. The Assistant Director
   6. 15. Decisions, Decisions
      1. How Much, How Long? The Schedule and The Budget
      2. How Long Does It Take to Make a Movie?
      3. How Much Will It Cost to Make a Movie?
   7. 16. Union or Non?
      1. How a Film Union Works
      2. Smaller Films
      3. What Are Union Benefits, and Why Are They Important?
      4. The Good News… and the Bad News
      5. Working Conditions
      6. Residuals
      7. The Sort of Good News… and the Not So Good News
      8. How You Get In
      9. Yet More Good News and Bad News…
      10. Why Someone Might Not Join a Union
      11. To Be or Not to Be
   8. 17. Maybe We Should Go to Canada, or Someplace Else
      1. Where to Shoot the Movie
      2. Runaway Production—Why They Want You There
      3. Why You Might Want to Runaway
      4. Why Investors Might Want Projects to Runaway
      5. The Pros and the Cons
      6. Shooting Outside the United States
      7. One More Thing You Should Know
      8. But I Don’t Want to Live in a Production Center
   9. 18. Who Is in Your Movie
      1. The Casting Director
      2. Finding a Casting Director
      3. Casting for Funding and Distribution
      4. The Screen Actors Guild
      5. How Does an Actor Get into SAG?
      6. Deals
      7. The SAG Bond
      8. Background Actors
      9. How Are Background Actors Cast?
      10. Kids
      11. An Actor’s Life
   10. 19. Prep
       1. The Process
       2. The First Hires
       3. How Departments Prep
   11. 20. Production
       1. The Call Sheet
       2. The Production Report
       3. Why Communication and Documentation Matters
       4. It’s the Little Things …
   12. 21. A Day in the Life of a Production
10. Section III It’s Just Beginning to Be a Movie: Postproduction
    1. 22. After the Smoke Clears
       1. The Politics of Wrap
       2. Who Sees the Cut?
       3. Meanwhile …
    2. 23. Music
       1. Your Score
       2. It’s an Old Song, How Much Can It Cost?
       3. What If We Just Get Festival Rights?
       4. I Know a Guy Who Knows the Band
11. Section IV What Are You Doing Saturday Night?
    1. 24. The Money, Part 2
       1. How Does a Movie Make Money?
       2. The Grosses
       3. Distribution
       4. Theatrical Exhibition
       5. Television
       6. Home Video and Online Distribution
    2. 25. Will Anybody Ever See My Movie?
       1. Selling Your Movie
       2. Your Marketing Campaign
       3. Test Screenings
       4. Being Your Own Publicist
       5. Producer’s Reps and Sales Agents
       6. Filling the Seats: The Future of the Movie Theatre Business
    3. 26. Festivals
       1. Which Festivals Really Matter?
       2. Why do Festivals Matter, and How Do They Work?
       3. How Does Your Film Get into a Festival?
       4. How to Work a Festival
    4. 27. The Glory
       1. Reviews
       2. Prizes
       3. The Big Ones
    5. 28. Other Little (and Not So Little) Things That You Should Know
       1. Loyalty in Business
       2. How to Work with Vendors
    6. 29. Remember What Mom Taught You
       1. Ethics and Personal Loyalty
       2. References
       3. Sooner or Later You Will Have to Fire Somebody
       4. Sooner or Later You Will Get Fired
       5. Some Final Cautionary Tales
    7. 30. Now What?
       1. It’s OK to Leave …
       2. And It’s OK to Leave … Then Come Back
    8. 31. Out Takes
       1. Final Words of Advice from People Who Have Been There, Done That
12. Appendix: Your Resume
    1. Resume for an Internship
    2. Resume for an Entry-Level Position
    3. Resume for a Production Position
13. Index