Nuts & Bolts of Film Finance: Seminar with Real-World Financier on 2/21 in L.A

February 18th, 2009 by admin

IIFF/LA Film Financing Workshop with Tricia van Klaveren

*** Review all details at http://gla.filmfinancing.org/022109l ***

The Los Angeles chapter of the Institute for Int’l Film Financing (IIFF) continues its successful Film Financing Workshops with a powerful seminar about GETTING MOVIES FUNDED.  Don’t miss this intensive learning experience at the junction of filmmaking and finance!

Act now to take advantage of your SPECIAL DISCOUNT at -

http://gla.filmfinancing.org/022109l

Details and curse outline after the jump.

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The Stranger | Slog | Lies, Damn Lies, and the Religious Right’s Statistics

February 17th, 2009 by admin

Dan Savage writes abuot politicizing of film financials in the Wall Street Journal and elsewhere: Lies, Damn Lies, and the Religious Right’s Statistics.

I hadn’t heard of City of Ember or Fly Me to the Moon until I read about their amazing box office returns in “Houses of Worship.” It’s weird for films that pull in more than $70 million to escape my notice. But I did hear about An American Carol, a limp and unfunny conservative “send-up/take-down” of Michael Moore. And what I’d heard was this: it was an embarrassing flop. So I looked up the domestic box office figures for all four films:

Indiana Jones and the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull cost $185 million to produce and took in $317,101,119.
Fly Me to the Moon cost $25 million to produce and took in $12,857,206.
City of Ember cost $55 million to produce and took in $7,873,007.
An American Carol cost $20 million to produce and took in just $7,013,191.

So, yeah, these four films together averaged—by my calculations—something like $84 million dollars at the domestic box office. But why on earth would you group these four films together? Two of the three films lost money; Fly Me to the Moon barely turned a profit when its foreign take is included. But An American Carol and City of Ember lost more than $50 million between them.

Sat, 2/14: “Pitching Your Movie to Investors” in SF.

February 12th, 2009 by NewsEditor

Learn from ANGEL INVESTOR how to raise money!

The Institute for Int’l Film Financing (IIFF) continues its acclaimed Film Financing Workshops with a hands-on seminar about SUCCESSFULLY PITCHING TO INVESTORS. Join us on Saturday in San Francisco for this special occasion!

*** For all details, go to http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/021409l ***

Our expert instructor, Dr. Patrick O’Heffernan, is a real-world ANGEL INVESTOR and a seasoned fundraising expert who has raised MILLIONS OF DOLLARS in capital. A former Professor at a top university, he has written several books and won prestigious awards for his work as a producer, including an Emmy. Dr. O’Heffernan is an active member of two leading angel investor groups, FilmAngels and the Keiretsu Forum. He will spend a full, intensive day training film entrepreneurs how to RAISE MONEY FROM INVESTORS such as himself.

Learn more and secure your SPECIAL ONLINE DISCOUNT at -

http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/021409l

Our friends at Academy of Art in San Francisco are making their facilities near 4th and King St. available for our event:

IIFF/SF Film Financing Workshop with Dr. Patrick O’Heffernan
Saturday, February 14, 2009
9:00 AM - 5:00 PM

Academy of Art University
466 Townsend Street
San Francisco, CA 94107

LIMITED CAPACITY. Avoid disappointment by registering now at -

http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/021409l

The Workshop’s HIGHLY TOPICAL PROGRAM is based on IIFF’s proven formula for film financing success combined with Dr. O’Heffernan’s deep pragmatic insights and decades of experience:

SESSION I – UNDERSTANDING INVESTORS
* The 7 Reasons People Invest
* The 5 Kinds of Film Investors
* Finding Non-Investor Money & Leveraging It
* Making an Impression: Impression Killers & Builders
* Building Rapport: Pitching Your Movie Before You Pitch It
* Why Your Team Is Critical to Success With Investors

SESSION II – BUILDING THE PITCH
* How to Organize Your Pitch: Strategy, Timing & Content
* Budgets & Projections: Show You Can Be Trusted With Money
* Distribution Plans: Key to Selling Your Movie
* Talent Attachments: It’s All About Confidence in You
* Why “Comps” Are Needed & How to Assemble Them
* The Powerpoint: 5 Keys to Powerful Slides for Film Pitching

SESSION III – MAKING THE PITCH & GETTING TO “YES”
* The Critical First Minute
* Timing as a Way to Gain Respect & Build Trust
* The “Head” vs. “Heart” Approach to Pitching Investors
* Staying in Control: When (Not) to Allow Questions
* Problems = Opportunities: How to React When Things Go Wrong
* Following Up & Closing the Deal

THERE IS MORE! An expanded list of topics covered by this Workshop, as well as additional event details, can be found at -

http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/021409l

Questions? Join IIFF’s community of filmmakers and financiers at http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/forum for answers.

Don’t miss this unique opportunity to be trained by a WORLD-CLASS EXPERT who has successfully used the skills he teaches during years as an investor, fundraiser and producer. Over the course of his distinguished career, Dr. O’Heffernan has PERSONALLY RAISED more than $40 million.

Sincerely,
Thomas Trenker
Founding Chairman, IIFF
http://www.filmfinancing.org

P.S.: Other upcoming events include our “Nuts & Bolts of Film Finance” Workshop on 2/21 in LA - http://gla.filmfinancing.org/022109n - and the new “Grants & Donations for Film” Workshop with fundraising guru Morrie Warshawski on 2/28 in SF - http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/022809n - as well as a Film Financing Townhall on 2/26 in SF - http://sfb.filmfinancing.org/022609n

P.P.S.: Care to bring your film venture to the attention of FilmAngels? Leave a project summary with IIFF’s registration desk on 2/14! This month’s FilmAngels investor meeting is scheduled for Wed, 2/25.

Pay TV providers fret over penny-pinching viewers

February 9th, 2009 by admin

“This time there is a real, viable alternative” to cable.

But pay TV providers are right to be alarmed. Not only has a flood of TV shows and movies become available online, but the video quality has gotten better. Netflix is expanding its service that lets subscribers stream movies and shows from the Internet at no additional cost. And more and more people have home broadband — 57 percent of American adults, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

Throw in the worst economic slowdown in nearly a century and people question whether they still want to pay for cable or satellite. As of January 2008, the average monthly home cable bill was $84.59, up 21 percent from two years earlier, according to the Federal Communications Commission.

“You’ve got these factors aligning at the right time,” said Bobby Tulsiani, senior analyst at Forrester Research. “This time there is a real, viable alternative” to cable.

Top Ten Low Budget Films Under 600K (Adjusted for inflation)

February 9th, 2009 by admin

Daily Film Dose lists  top indie film budgets adjusted for inflation. Inspiration or rude awakening for filmmakers everywhere.

Ireland sets up tax incentives for filmmakers

January 28th, 2009 by admin

Maryland is not the only place setting up and refining taz incentives. So is Ireland.

“Ireland’s film and television industry has received a welcome boost from the Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism, Martin Cullen. In a press release issued on 8 December 2008, the Minister outlined significant enhancements to the Section 481 relief for investment in film and television projects. The enhancements will be brought about by the Finance Bill (No. 2) 2008 that is currently being considered by Ireland’s houses of parliament.

Read  the rest of the details below.

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