When and Where to use Each Indiefilm Investment Document

There are 3 different documents you would need to approach an investor about your independent film. I’ve written guides on this blog to show you how to write each and every one of them. Those three documents are a Look Book (Guide linked here.) a Deck (Guide Linked Here) and a business plan. (Part 1/7 here) But while I’ve Written about HOW to create all of these documents, I’ve held back WHY you write them, WHO needs them, and WHEN to use them. So this blog will tell you WHO needs WHAT document WHEN and HOW they’re going to use it.

As with some other blogs, I’ll be using the term stakeholder to refer to anyone you may share documents with, be they an investor, studio head, sales agent, Producer of Marketing and Distribution (PMD) or Distributor.

What are these documents and WHY do you share them?

So first, let’s start with what each document is, just in case you haven’t read the other blogs (which you still should)

A Look book for an independent film is an introductory document, that’s very pretty and engaging and gives an idea of the creative vision of the film.  The purpose is to get potential stakeholders interested enough in the project to request either a meeting or a deck.  The goal in showing them this document is to get them to start to see the film in their head and get them to become interested in the project on an emotional level.

Related: Check out this blog for what goes into a lookbook

A Deck is a snapshot of the business side of your film.  The goal is to send them something that they can review quickly to get an idea of how this project will go to market and how it will make money so that they get an idea of how they’ll get their money back.

Related: The 12 Slides you need in your indie film investment Deck

A business plan is a detailed 18-24 page document broken into 7 sections that will give potential investors not only an idea of your investment but of the industry as a whole.  In a sense, it’s equal parts education and persuasion, especially for investors new to the film industry.  The goal is to give the prospective stakeholder a deeper understanding of the film and media industry, and a very thorough understanding of your project and the potential for investing in it. 

Related: How to Write an Indiefilm Business Plan (1/7 - Executive Summary)

WHO needs these documents and HOW they’ll use it

Different stakeholders need these documents at different times.

Look Books should be sent to any potential stakeholder, including investors, studio heads, sales agents, distributors, producer’s reps, Executive Producers, and more.  It’s a creative document that gives a good idea of the product at the early stage.  It helps people gauge interest in your project

Decks are primarily used by Investors, Executive Producers, PMDs, and potentially Sales Agents.  Distributors and Studio Heads are less likely to need a deck since they know the business better than you do. At least most of the time.

Business plans are primarily needed by angel investors new to the film industry and Angel Investment Syndicates to use as the backbone for the Private Placement Memorandum (PPM) The First and last sections of the business plan (The Executive Summary and Pro-Forma Financial Statements) may be more widely used, often at the same general place as the deck, or only shortly after.

WHEN do they need these documents?

Look books come early on.  It’s generally the first thing they’ll ask for when considering your project.

Decks come shortly after the lookbook.  Sometimes in an initial meeting, or sometimes directly after that first meeting. 

Looking at a business plan is generally very deep in the process of talking to a potential stakeholder, it’s almost always after at least 2-3 meetings and a thorough review of the deck.

If this was useful, you should definitely grab my free film business resource packet. It’s got templates for some of these documents, a free e-book, a whitepaper that will help you write these documents, as well as monthly blog digests segmented by topics about the film business so you can sound informed when you talk to investors. Click the button below to grab it right now.

Check out the tags for related content.

The 12 Slides You Need in Your IndieFilm Investment Deck - WITH TEMPLATE!

Pitching to independent investors is a much different formula than we’re generally taught in Film Schools. The formula we’re taught in Film School is generally built around a studio pitch. A studio does a lot more than give money to a project. They have huge marketing, PR, legal, and distribution teams that they use to monetize any films they finance. As such it’s not the filmmaker’s job to pitch their projects on anything except story when working within that system.

Would you rather Watch a video than read a blog?  I've got you covered in the video from my Youtube Channel. 

​Filmmakers must take a different approach when talking to independent film investors. Generally, angel investors are only looking to finance projects, they don’t have resources to help market and distribute the film. While Film is a highly speculative and inherently risky investment, and most film investors don’t invest in film solely for the ROI, they need to know you have a path to get their money back to them.
​
There’s a certain formula for creating a successful slideshow for investors. These presentations (Generally referred to as “Decks” in Silicon Valley) have been honed to tell the story of your company. Investors are used to seeing this format when deciding whether or not to invest in your project. It’s pretty easy to find samples of this formula for regular companies on SlideShare, but since the film industry is so specialized there must be some modifications made to the formula in order to make a good Deck to pitch your film to an investor. Below is a breakdown of what should go into a Filmmaking deck, or you can just grab the template in the resource pack.

SLIDE 0 – Project Name/Artwork.

In a standard company pitch, the first thing that appears is the name of the company and the logo. For a film or media project, instead use the name of the project, the name of your production company, and the one sheet for your project.

SLIDE 1 – Project Overview

Generally, this would be where an entrepreneur would put an overview of his or her company, what it does, and what its mission is. For a film or media project, put the logline of your project, as well as the genre and a basic overview of the story.

SLIDE 2 – Why Does this Project Need to be Made?

In a standard company pitch, slide 2 and 3 would be the problem that the company seeks to solve, and the solution it offers. Since Films are generally made more as entertainment, they don’t always have a problem that they’re fixing. So instead, focus on why this project should be made.
​
Some approaches you could take on this would be that there’s not enough family-friendly media being made, Women and minorities are vastly underrepresented in media, young LGBT kids need a role model, or that whatever niche you’re targeting doesn’t have enough entertainment. Figure out WHY your story needs to be told, and it can’t just be that you’re an artist and it’s in your soul.

SLIDE 3 – Why Your Project is the One to tell That Story

In the standard company deck, this would generally be the solution that your company offers. For film, focus on why you and your team are the ones to tell the story you established in slides 1 and 2. Don’t go too deep into the team, you’ll cover that later.

SLIDE 4 – Opportunity

This slide is where an entrepreneur or filmmaker focusus on the size of the market and how they plan to access it. Focus on any niche communities you can target, and the genre your film is in generally performs internationally.

SLIDE 5 – Unique Competitive Advantage

Your Unique competitive advantage will remain mostly the same as it would in a pitch for any sort of company. You need to emphasize why your film should be the one they invest in. Do you have a large following in the niche audiences you’re targeting? Do you have some unique insight into the subject matter that no one has heard before? Is there something unique about your background that makes you the ideal person to tell this story.
​
Focus on why your film or media project will stand apart from the competitors and has the best chance to make a profit. In short, How will you stand out from the pack when others don’t?

SLIDE 6 – Marketing Strategy

Long time silicon valley strategist Sheridan Tatsuno likens market research to setting up a target, and marketing to shooting the arrow at it. You’ve set up the target in slides 4 and 5, now it’s time to show how you’re going to shoot the arrow and make a bullseye. How will you utilize social media? Which platforms will you use? Are you already a part of the communities of your target market?

SLIDE 7 – Distribution Strategy

Generally, this would be your Go-To-Market strategy. In the film industry, this essentially means your distribution strategy. What rights will you be handling yourself, and what rights will you be handing to a distributor? What platforms will you use? How will you handle US Sales? Are you planning on attaching an international sales agent? How will you go about doing that if you haven’t already?

SLIDE 8 – Competitive Analysis

Show other films in a similar genre that have done well. Remember, this isn’t your business plan, so only show about 3 if you’re showing individual projects, not the 20 you should research. If you’ve already done your full competitive analysis, show one or two profitable representative samples and then the aggregate on all of the 10-20 films you researched. The charts and tables are good here.
​
You only want to use content from the last 3-5 years. Content older than that doesn’t realistically represent the current marketplace. This is something that even professionals who estimate ROIs don’t always follow. It’s always a red flag for investors when your examples are too old,

SLIDE 9 – Financials

Generally, you’ll need a few of the major line items from your top sheet budget. A good bet would be your above-the-line, pre-production, principal photography, post-production, and marketing and distribution (or P&A) costs. Due to union caps, it can often be beneficial to raise your marketing and distribution budget at a later date. Projected ROI will also go on this slide.

SLIDE 10 – Current Status

This should be fairly self-explanatory, but here are a few questions to ask yourself. What have you accomplished so far? Do you have any talent attached? Are you talking with Sales Agents? Where is the script in development? Are there any notable crew on board?

SLIDE 11 – Team

Focus on why you and your team are uniquely qualified to not only bring this film to completion but deliver a quality product that can give an excellent ROI to all involved. Has your leadership team won awards at festivals? Have projects they’ve been on done impressive things?

SLIDE 12 – Summary/Thank You

For the final slide, put the three most important and/or marketable things about your project into a single slide. Investors get approached with a lot of opportunities and their brains can get cluttered. If an investor walks away knowing only these three things about your project, what do you want them to be?

Most importantly, thank them for their time and consideration, and make sure there’s an easy-to-find way to contact you ON YOUR DECK. Ideally on the first and last page. We’ll often send out decks when we send out the executive summary, so make yourself easy to contact if they’re interested.

Also, I alluded to this at the top of the article in the image caption, but this post did indeed originally appear on ProducerFoundry.com.  But, this isn't just a port.  I also set up a FREE template in both Keynote and Powerpoint in my resources packet.  Grab that with the buttons below. 

What Filmmakers NEED to Know BEFORE Submitting to Distributors

I get a lot of submissions to my portal in the upper right of my website.  In fact, it’s how I get most if not all of the films I distribute.  As such, I’ve noticed some trends filmmakers tend to have.  So as with most recurring things that happen to me in the business, I decided to write a blog about it.

1. Yes, we do need a screener and the password.

If we’re going to distribute a film, we need to watch it.  Generally, that’s the first step, not the second or the third.  We’ll probably want to talk to you before we sign you, but the first step is to see if the product is any good.  It’s easiest for us to be impartial about the market potential of your film if we watch it cold first.  I always get back to people who submit, and I do a strategy call before I sign them, 

We understand that you’re sensitive about your intellectual property and that your film is your baby.  The good ones among us also expect that you’ll do some legwork and diligence on use before you submit.  Don’t make us email you for a password.  I use google forms to manage my submissions portal, and only I have access to it.  The only reason I didn’t create more of a custom solution is that the security protocols for G Suite apps are better than most anything else that would be cost-effective to use or create. ​

2. Get a Vimeo Subscription

While I like Youtube for a lot of reasons, reviewing films is not one of them.  Vimeo’s player is higher quality than youtube’s, and when I’m reviewing a film one of the things I’m looking for is if there are likely to be any expensive quality control problems.  Youtube makes that very difficult to gauge, due to the compression of the files that go up on the site.

Also, it looks cheap to send an unlisted youtube link.  Vimeo isn’t expensive, and there will be costs associated with distribution that get passed on to the filmmaker at least in part.  If you can’t pay for a Vimeo subscription, we worry about the viability of your business. 

3. We generally only watch a film once, if we watch the whole thing at all.

I get a fair amount of submissions to my portal, most of which I decline to represent.  A lot of the films I decline are ones I stopped watching after 20 minutes.  I give every film 20 minutes, but if it doesn’t grab me in that time I don’t continue to watch it, and if I don’t continue to watch it it’s an automatic decline. 

Most of the time, if I watch a film all the way through, I’m going to represent it.  There have been exceptions due to some self-imposed content restrictions. 

That being said, we have to watch A LOT of movies.  We almost never watch them twice.  So don’t keep submitting with minor changes.  If it’s a decline, it’s a decline.  Also, don’t submit it until it’s where you need it to be. 

As an aside: If you’re going to make changes to the film after we’ve made an offer, we’ll probably rescind the offer unless you talk to us about it.  We made an offer to the film we saw.  If you make substantive changes, it’s not going to endear you to us.

Films Brought to Market by Guerrilla Rep Media

4. Festivals provide some level of validation but are far from the be-all and end-all of the film.

Similar to how festivals aren’t likely to get you distribution (discussed in this blog, right here.) they’re far from the only thing that matters to distributing the film.  The laurels mean less than you probably think they do to the sales of a film.  Unless it got into one of the top festivals, it’s not going to help you as much as you may think.  For more, read the link below.
​

Related: Why you won’t get Distribution from your film festival

5. Yes, we do need to know about your social media, but not why you think.

Yes, I ask about your social media. Sure, it has a bit to do with assessing your total reach, but it has more to do with your engagement in your community. Distribution on a budget requires working together with filmmakers.

Also, it helps us know your voice is authentic. We, distributors, do tend to have favored niches, but we also want to make sure that the films we’re distributing are authentic. Your being heavily involved in relevant online communities is a great indicator of that authenticity.

I think I might write more on why distributors care about social media, but I definitely will if someone tweets to me about it or comments below.

Anyway, thanks so much for reading this blog! If you learned something, but still want more, you should grab my FREE Indiefilm resource Package. It’s got an e-book on the film biz, a whitepaper on the industry, templates to help you track your contact with distributors, plus a while lot more! Check it out via the button below!

How to Get your Movie on Netflix

Many filmmakers and even more film consumers just want to know when work will be on Netflix.   In recent years, this has become more difficult than it was previously.  IT used to be that it was a relatively easy sale to get on Netflix, although the money wasn’t very good.  More recently, the bar has been raised substantially, and the money you get for it hasn’t increased as much as we may have liked it too.  What follows is an outline of how to get your film on Netflix, both as an original and as an acquisition.

How do I become a Netflix original?

To become a Netflix original, you must be picked up by Netflix early on in development.  Generally, you’ll need to have contacts that can get you into meetings with the higher-end development executives at Netflix.  You’re also going to need to have a strong script and package already in place.  You might even need some money already in place, although that’s less important given the way most of their original deals are structured. 

At this point, if they take the project you’ll get a Presale stating that the money will be paid to you once the film is delivered complete.  After that, you’ll have to take it to a bank to liquidate the presale so you’ll be able to make the movie on the likely ambitious schedule they’ll put you on.

Generally, the pay for this is pretty good, looking very similar to other high-end presales.  If it’s well managed, and you focus on financing sources like tax incentives as part of your mix, you’ll make a decent wage and everyone involved will end up much better off.  ​Including your investors.  

Make sure you don’t send them any copyrighted material without them requesting it, that’s a blacklist you don’t want to be on.

Acquisitions.

What Netflix pays for acquisitions is a different matter, as is the process for your film being acquired by Netflix.  First, it’s important to note that you can’t approach Netflix yourself.   You will need to go through either a localized distributor or a sales agent to get to Netflix.  I do have contacts in this department, but it’s not something I’ve done a lot of business with directly.  Netflix has also gotten extremely picky about this in the last few years, favoring their original content.

If I’m completely honest, I also wouldn’t pay some of the better-known aggregators to make this approach for you. Given the volume of business that goes through them, it’s generally a very low success rate.  Sure, some of them will refund money if unsuccessful, but often there are hidden fees and the money is tied up for a decent amount of time.  When the fees from those aggregators are in excess of 10k, that’s not really good for most filmmakers. To be clear, this is not something Netflix itself charges.

It used to be that Netflix would take almost any content that was able able to meet broadcast standards. and they thought they would get a decent amount of views for it.  In recent tears, however, Netflix’s Acquisition strategy has been refocused to only accept films with a domestic theatrical, often demanding 6 figures at the box office to even consider the film.  While there are ways around this, it’s inadvisable to much other than work with a reputable distributor who has deep connections to the platform. 

In regards to their distribution payments, there’s a lot more that I’d love to say but really shouldn’t say publicly due to existing contractual obligations as well as other concerns regarding pending business. ​

DVDs Through the Mail

Most of the time when people think of Netflix, they think of their Subscription Video on Demand offering.  However, there are a surprising number of people who still subscribe to their DVD offering which was rebranded to DVD.com.  Generally, the way Netflix gets these DVDs is by simply buying discs at wholesale from the manufacturer.  They don't tend to buy too many DVDs, so even if you're getting lots of rentals you end up not making a whole lot of sales.  Most of the time, they buy fewer than 100 DVDs, which is less money than you probably think it is.  You don't see any money per rental beyond the initial purchase price.  

That said, since DVDs are almost always non-exclusive rights, the additional revenue does help, although it's nowhere near the amount of money you'd see from something like a Redbox deal because they don’t order as many discs. At least, that was true before RedBox's IPO and subsequent Acquisition.

Thanks so much for reading!  I hope this blog was useful to you.  If you’d like to learn more, I recommend joining my mailing list for regular blog digests and other resources about film distribution and marketing.  Click below for more information.

Check the tags below for related content

Opinions expressed in this piece are not in any way endorsed by Netflix, Its parent company, or any subsidiaries. Opinions expressed within are solely those of Guerrilla Rep Media, LLC and its founder, Ben Yennie.

The 4 REALISTIC Ways to Sell a TV Series

Given that I work heavily in marketing and distribution, I get a lot of people submitting pilots to me.  While I’m looking to move my business in more of an episodic direction, unfortunately a pilot doesn’t do me much good.  Generally, when I tell this to filmmakers, they get surprised.  So, like any question I get a lot I thought I’d write a blog about it.  Here are the 4 ways to make a TV show.

1. Make a Pilot. (Or actually, don't)

I’m listing this one first because I think it’s one of the worst ways you can Go about making a TV Series.  Most filmmakers assume that if they make their own pilot, they’ll be able to pitch it to networks and then get it picked up.  Unfortunately, that’s not generally the way pilots work.  Most pilots that compete for TV shows are commissioned directly by networks and already have people on the inside rooting for them.

Apart from that, only about 1 in 10 (at the absolute most) pilots get made into a first season, and I think the last statistic I saw was something like 1 in 7 TV series make it past the first season.  That means for every series that makes it to season 2, at least 69 pilots are created.  Also: THOSE NUMBERS ARE ONLY NETWORK COMMISSIONED PILOTS.  It doesn’t factor for idle filmmakers who try to make their first episode on their own.  Those really aren’t good odds.   

In fact, I’d be willing to say that this option is probably the least likely of the 4 paths I’m laying out to get your series made.  Assuming that you’re not being requested to make the pilot by a major network. 

2. Make a Sizzle Reel

If you want to do more of the institutional route, then you’re much better off making a popping sizzle reel and approaching an agent who can take it to get you to the commissioned pilot stage.   I know that sounds like an additional step to the long road I outlined above, but it’s actually going to give you a greater chance at success since you’ll be working with people on the inside instead or shouting at the outside of the gate pleading to be let in.

If you don’t have access to an agent, I wouldn’t recommend going this route either.  I’d recommend you go with one of the two listed below. 

This option is probably the 2nd most risky in terms of getting your full season financed and made. 

3. Build an Audience with a webseries.

If you want to go a less institutional way to get your TV series made, you should consider making a webseries that’s very much in the vein of your planned TV Series, but perhaps on a smaller scale and definitely with shorter episodes.  Once you’ve made the webseries, your goal is to market the absolute crap out of your series and get at least a million views on the content.  Ideally on at least most of the episodes.  If you can pull that off, you’ll often have people coming to talk to you instead of the other way around. 

I’ll admit I first heard about this concept from another distribution company that I had on an old podcast.  However, I’ve talked to several of their former clients since and I no longer feel like linking to them is appropriate. 

I think this is the second safest way to get your TV Series made.  Plus, if you go this route you have a piece of content you can use to build your production company’s brand and even get some level of monetization. 

4. Shoot the entire series, then get someone to sell it.

Yeah, I know what I just said. I’m saying get to work and make anywhere between 8 and 13 full-length episodes for a first season. If you’re doing 44 minute episodes that’s 9 and a half hours of completed content. (or a bit over 4 hours if you’re doing 22-minute content.) That’s a lot to shoot, and it’s a big upfront investment for a filmmaker to make.

That being said, once this is done you’ll be able to sell your content quite easily, and you’ll have no trouble finding a sales agent who can take your content to television markets like NATPE, MIPTV, or MIPCOM. If fact, I’m looking to branch more into that market in a couple of ways. (Link Below)

This is generally the safest way to get your series made (If you can pull together the money to make it happen.) In fact, I’d say you’re more likely to have a positive return on investment taking this path than you are in a standard feature film.

Thanks so much for reading! Since I alluded to it a few times, I’ve included a link for you to submit your content below. Next to that, you’ll find a link to book an introductory call with me.

Finally, If you like this content, you should really grab my film business Resource Package.  You’ll get an ebook, a white paper, templates for an investment deck, promotional materials, distributor contact tracking, plus monthly content digests to help you grow your knowledge base on a manageable schedule.

Check the tags below for more related content.