Legal Contracts

The IFTA, with its in-house legal department, works on a variety of things, including ongoing efforts to standardize the industry in terms of the way that filmed entertainment purchases and sales flow. The average independent film has between fifty and one hundred contracts as it is sold or licensed in various countries and various media throughout the world. There are about 1,000 films made in any given year, which means there may be between 50,000 and 100,000 contracts that are signed for those films. If lawyers were involved from scratch every time a new contract had to be signed for a film, the whole industry would grind to a halt.

The IFTA has an in-house legal department that works on a variety of things and has developed model international license agreements, or deal memos, that buyers and sellers most commonly use (most often at film markets) to consummate a deal and document all of the terms and conditions of the rights granted. These contracts or deal memos are not really too dissimilar from buyers’ and sellers’ standard real estate contracts used by local or state realtors’ associations, which help to standardize the process of buying, selling, renting, or leasing homes. Using familiar analogies hopefully will simplify a basic understanding of how the entertainment business really works, which is an invaluable asset for screenwriters to have.

Global Research and Tracking

The IFTA’s research department tracks the film and television industry in more than seventy countries. They can tell you at any time, for example, how many homes are cable subscribers in Argentina, the Blu Ray penetration in France, the current average theatrical ticket price in Japan, or insight into new and emerging media. The ultimate goal of the IFTA is to give the independents the same tools that the major studios have. For screenwriters who have had a script produced, being able to know what territories have bought and exhibited their film and how the film performed can be meaningful when pitching the next project.

Advocacy Efforts

Advocacy efforts on behalf of independents and a strong presence in Washington is a key service, and the IFTA represents almost all independent film and television companies except the major studios. The studios have their own trade group called the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA). Although there are issues from time to time that the IFTA and the MPAA differ on, they most often agree on issues at various legislative hearings or on Capitol Hill or around the world. They share the ongoing fight against piracy and the protection of intellectual property rights. In instances where the trade groups differ, the IFTA puts forward its own positions and initiatives in the best interests of the business of independent companies so that that they may continue to flourish. As the independent film business sustains, the more opportunities there are outside of the studio system for screenwriters to have their screenplays and films produced.

The American Film Market Seminars and Conferences

Although the IFTA is the producer of the AFM, it not always the programmer of seminars and conferences. Some are entirely programmed by the IFTA and the AFM, but the majority of them are programmed by industry organizations such as the Writers Guild of America, the Directors Guild of America, SAG-AFTRA, Women in Film, BAFTA, and a variety of others that are invited to create industry specific conferences and seminars. Outside organizations are invited to pick their own topics, which means that themes are going to be current and relevant to a broad cross-section of the industry.

Financing

A key topic for panels is always financing. The AFM produces four financing seminars, called the AFM Finance Conference. The conference takes place over two days, and topics can range from big budgeted theatrical films, to macro-budgeted independent films, what’s currently going on with Wall Street, how to access soft money, subsidies, and tax credits, how to monetize soft money, bank financing, how to pre-sell to U.S. distributors, the current state of the international marketplace, and anything that might be relevant in the moment. The key factor is that the AFM, on a continuum, keeps the information it presents up to date and significant for all facets of people in the entertainment industry, including screenwriters.

AFM—Pitch Me Your Script

One of the fixtures of the AFM has been the “Pitch Me” session where ten to twelve young filmmakers and often writers are invited to come on stage and pitch their current film or screenplay to a panel of four industry executives. Those four industry executives then critique the filmmaker’s or writer’s pitch in front of an audience of approximately 400 people. Much like the television show “American Idol,” these screenwriters and filmmakers get to learn the art of the pitch and the audience gets to learn from listening to the critique of these pitches and see first-hand, from industry professional feedback, what works, what doesn’t work, and why. During this session, the moderator usually draws a couple names out of a hat and, with no notice, invites a couple people from the audience to the stage to pitch their film right then and there with no preparation. This is significant since writers and filmmakers never know when or where, in the normal course of life, they may run into someone who could have an impact on getting their film produced and have an opportunity for a two-minute pitch.

A writer must be on his or her game and ready to pitch at a moment’s notice. Energy is critical! Producers and executives want to be captivated and drawn into the writer’s vision by their passion and exuberance. Thou shalt not bore! A good pitch can often sway producers and financiers, and can even occasionally get a bad film made. A bad pitch can kill a good idea, a good story, and a good script. Just as I believe that there are both creative and pragmatic business components to successful screenwriting, there are creative and business components to pitching a film or script. We will delve into pitching preparation and technique in a later chapter.

Another fun and interesting AFM activity, which is not quite a seminar, has been the pitch contest, which is done in association with the People’s Choice Awards. A small set is constructed at the AFM and for four days, any writer or filmmaker who wants to can come in and record a twoand-a-half-minute pitch. Afterwards, a group of industry experts pick five finalists. Then on the People’s Choice Awards, telecast every January, the contest is announced and, right after the show, the audience votes for the film they most want to see get made. The winner of the contest receives the People’s Choice Award for favorite film pitch. Imagine, as a writer, what a powerful thing it would be to tout to producers and financiers that you have the film the public most wants to see.

Benefits of Attending Film Markets

The AFM is a great place for writers to attend, both to have meetings and to learn. It is estimated that more than half a billion dollars in business will be done in one week at an average American Film Market, on films that may not have even started shooting yet. There are over 400 offices at the AFM and every door is open. With a participant’s badge, day pass, or even half day pass, writers can walk the halls, study companies, look at the kind of projects companies are handling, look at the budget levels, and then determine what companies they may desire to want to contact. If a writer attends the AFM, he or she should focus on the companies that aren’t in the city in which they live in, whom they can see anytime.

A Writer’s Goal While Attending the AFM

The goal of a writer coming to a film market and meeting with industry professionals is to get their script read. I don’t recommend that writers drop off scripts in sales offices at a film market. Treat your material as cherished work that shouldn’t be given out frivolously. For writers and producers, the AFM is Mecca and a potential goldmine. From mid-way to the end of film markets, most serious buyers have done their business and the market slows down. This is the best time for a writer or producer to approach companies and the best opportunity to get meetings with key executives regarding the type of product a sales or production company may be looking for.

Identify the trends that are selling! Identify companies that represent the types of films you want to write or make, as well as the key executives you may desire to meet with. This should be done prior to the market. Often, a good first meeting, even with a lower-level executive, will precipitate a second meeting, frequently with other key executives that may be decision makers. Remember that aside from your creative pitch, your professional presentation is very important, and that you personally are being evaluated as well as your script or project. When a company or producer commits to your project, they are also committing to work with you. There have been many times as a producer that I have liked a project, but due to an off-putting personality, negative attitude, or an arrogant writer’s refusal to acknowledge the realities of the market, I have felt life was too short to have to be in business with that person.

Get in Touch With the Marketplace

Distributors and buyers from around the world cut deals at film markets that generate the contracts, which generate the financing, which creates the green lights, which result in films being financed and movies being made. Film markets are not about art, they are about commerce, and about the marketplace. A film market is not generally where you get a passion project financed because you’re in love with your idea or script. It’s where you learn what the marketplace wants and how to write or produce for it. Sometimes the best experiences for a writer may even be if they have no meetings at all, but they get in touch with the marketplace. When you look at the film business as a products and services industry, analogously, when Ford makes a car, they don’t make the car the concept designers want to make. They do market research and make the car that the majority of consumers want and will purchase. So often we find unrealistically idealistic writers and film-makers following a whim of an idea or a passion project with very limited appeal and ultimately being disappointed when they can’t find interest in their project, much less an audience. The learning experience at the AFM is how to determine what an audience wants, which dictates a market desire, and then how to write and produce for that marketplace.

Buyers have specific and limited distribution slates and they can’t buy one of everything. They can only buy what their pipeline can hold. When the buyer is committed to your film, they’ve given up somebody else’s film and they are counting on the screenplay and the film to deliver what they’ve been promised. Buyers know the sellers and the sellers know the buyers, and there is a level of trust or distrust between them depending on past deals and how each have behaved and performed, often as a result of a script or film not delivering what was promised to a buyer, and less often a resounding success for both parties. At markets, buyers have limited time between all of their screenings and meetings, so initially, they go to the sales agents and distributors that they know and trust and who have a steady flow of product and a history of on-time deliveries they can rely on.

How to Navigate the AFM

Benefits for non-members, producers, writers, and filmmakers may be gleaned from the AFM website. Posted on www.afma.com is a guide called “How to Work the AFM,” which suggests steps to take if you have a project you want to sell at the film market. It all really starts with doing homework. When a naive neophyte arrives at the AFM having done no homework, buys a market badge, goes door to door, fills a bag with business cards, drops off unsolicited scripts or other materials to a receptionist, and then asks, “Can I meet with the head of acquisitions because I have a great story to pitch?” this is never going to happen.

Films are sold by experts, films are sold by salespersons, films are sold by people who qualify their prospects and do their due diligence. Preemptively identifying an audience that will buy your idea as a screenplay, or your screenplay as a film, determines whether scripts are bought and whether or not films are produced. Sales agents know how to pitch films, how to connect with the listener, how to get the key elements across to buyers in each territory, and if you have an opportunity to pitch your script to them, they certainly will immediately know if you are in tune with the current marketplace and if there is any market value in your project. Conversely, they will immediately know if you are clueless about the marketplace, what is current and salable, and whether or not you “get it” as a writer.

Again, do your homework. First find out who the appropriate sales agents or distributors are for your script or film. Not every sales agent or distributor is suitable, based on budget, genre, or even the general desire of that sales agent or distributor to handle product they may or may not have an equity interest in. Cull down your list to the specific sales agents you would like to meet with, then do further homework to find out who each head of acquisitions is. Then make contact requesting a meeting, knowing the name of the individual you would like to meet with, and treat it like a real business opportunity, not a whim. Do not walk aimlessly door to door saying, “Hi, I’m here to sell a film.” No one of any decision-making power will ever meet with you or take you seriously. If you make your script or film seem like confetti, it’ll have the perceived value of confetti. Again, if you treat your screenplay as something very valuable, people will respond to it in the same way.

Sometimes companies may shut the door and say, “We are not taking any pitch meetings.” You may have a great approach and a great pitch and have done all of your homework, but they may have already heard from twenty clueless writers or filmmakers and they are just saying no to everybody. Be tenacious in your work ethic, be professional in your demeanor, be presentable in your appearance, and be prepared.

The American Film Market and Connections for Screenwriters

The American Film Market is basically a melting pot of filmmakers, writers, producers, directors, buyers, and sellers, from every country imaginable all over the world. For an aspiring writer or filmmaker with a script or film that they want to make, they need to make the proper contacts and connections with sales agents or producers’ reps. Bear in mind, a writer without a script is still a writer, a director without a script is still a director, but a producer without a script is nobody. Producers need scripts! A connection is meaningless without a script that resonates with the current market trends. It’s all about the project and it starts with the right script. Every knowledgeable producer reads countless scripts, thinks about story development for the current audience, and thinks about the current marketplace and how to finance the right script. Once a producer has the correct project, then he or she proceeds forward to connect with the people who can help get it made. Orson Welles said he spent 5% of his time making a film and 95% of his time hustling to find financing to be able to make his movies. Every project may have a different path, but again, it is ultimately a game of persistence and determination. Every film that gets made has a different path. If there was a set formula, everyone would be making films. There isn’t. Every film that gets made is unique in how it gets financed and produced and every film has complex and diverse components, which makes the process of making films more creative in numerous other ways than just the writing process.