Independent Film Producer? 5 Basic Tips to Become a Success and Make a Profit

So you want to make money as an independent film producer. Do you even know what it takes to get a film completed? There is an old adage in Hollywood, that it takes "an extreme amount of talent to make even a bad movie". With that in mind, making a movie is a daunting task and each and every day, movies are being made and sold to a variety of audiences.

Just because you have a story or a screenplay and the talent to make a movie doesn't necessarily mean you can make money with the film. Today there is a plethora of movies being made: and among those being made, only a small percentage of the films actually make any money for their independent producers.

Sure if you make a movie for $10,000 and get a deal that is worth millions such as "Paranormal Activity" you definitely will make money. But "Paranormal Activity" is the exception not the rule. Plus the advertising budget for that film was in the tens of millions of dollars. With that type of promotional dollars the movie was bound to make the filmmakers money.

So what can you do to make sure your film is a success? And can you do it without spending your inheritance? Well yes and no. Audiences are fickle. Make a movie you think is great still may flop because no one watches it.

Keep your eye on the goal: to make money as an independent producer. If you have never made a film before and are out to set the world on fire, good luck. It probably will not happen. And if your goal is to make a living as an independent producer you must follow a few basic rules towards that goal.

First of all have a great story and after you turn it into a script have someone advise you on it. The story must have a beginning, middle and an end. Sounds easy and straight forward, but it isn't always the case. First time filmmakers (and those that aren't first timers) are typically shooting too much and editing too long and lose the impact of a good story by putting in too much material

Second keep your budget low and use actors that know how to act. This usually means getting actors that have credentials and have been in films before. If you can't afford to use SAG actors then ask local community theaters for actors and beg them to be in your film for the experience.

Third, rehearse and rehearse again. This is related to keeping your budget low and being able to put money where it counts. Rehearsing is one area that can keep the number of takes to a minimum.

Fourth, start looking for a distributor or sales agent before you start to film. If you have not talked with a distributor before you start your film do so now.

And finally, keep a good paper trail. Many films are never distributed because the producer had hand shake deals with everyone. That may work in school, but in the real world it doesn't work.

These are just a few tips to get you on the road to success as an Independent Producer...In fact this barely scrapes the surface of the process. For more info email me with questions. Check out the resource box below.

Bob Willems is an Independent Film Producer and Director and President of Champion Entertainment Inc. ( http://www.championentertainment.com/ ) a film production and distribution sales agency company with offices in Houston and Los Angeles.
Through Bob's many contacts, he advises filmmakers throughout the world on getting their project completed and distributed through the proper outlets. You can email Bob questions info@championentetainment.com. Bob will personally answer every email he receives and is constantly looking for co-production projects and unique scripts to get produced. Visit his IMDB page at http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0929721/

Original article

Enroll in a Film and Television Production Program and Become a Movie Maker

To movie lovers, creating one's own film is often a dream come true. While some famous filmmakers started off with their parents' camcorder and taught themselves everything, an arguably faster and more formal way to break into the field is to enroll in a Film & Television Production program.

Film & Television Production programs are designed to teach students everything they need to know about making, producing, and writing films, internet movies, and marketing videos. Instruction is usually full time, and the entire program lasts approximately one year. Ideally, prospective students should look for schools that employ industry veterans with strong reputations as teachers (look for a "bio" or "about" page on a school's website to see what kind of experience teachers bring to the table). At the end of the program, graduates can begin exciting careers as scriptwriters, filmmakers, producers, music video filmmakers, video marketers, etc, either for established companies, or independently.

Because they are designed to bring students from a base of zero knowledge to a complete understanding of the industry, most Film & Television Production programs cover all the critical areas of film and television, including editing, filmmaking business management, scriptwriting, audio and online video, and movie production. Typical course loads for a program would include the following:

· Editing

· Production management

· Special effects design

· History of film

· Distribution and marketing

· Delivering a "pitch"

· Scriptwriting

· Audio for film and video

· Intro to digital audio

· Intro to DAWS

· Intro to audio post design

· Audio-post workshop

· Online video

· Film and television production

· Producing and directing

· Cinematography

The comprehensive nature of Film & Television Production programs ensures that graduates will have all the knowledge they need to break into the business after finishing their studies. Furthermore, class instruction is very hands-on, and students have the opportunity to use the industry's standard software packages, including "Final Cut", "AVID", and "After Effects." Of course, students also have the opportunity to create films and videos using the latest film equipment on a school's premises, and by the end of a program, graduates are extremely familiar and comfortable with all the tools of the trade. The net result of this all-around training is a graduate who is confident, competent, and ready to hit the ground running in the film industry.

So if you love movies, or film, or videos, and you've a spectator who has always wanted to be a creator, consider enrolling in a Film & Television Production program. It just may be the career that helps you realize your ambitions.

Contact the Trebas Institute for more information on their Film & Television Production program.

Percey Evans is a freelance writer who works for Higher Education Marketing, a leading Web marketing firm specializing in Google Analytics, Education Lead Generation, Search Engine Optimization (SEO), Mobile SMS Alerts, Social Media Marketing and Pay Per Click Marketing, among other Web marketing services and tools.

Original article

When governments become too comfortable with Hollywood Film Makers

As filmmakers and film writers, we want to make our scenarios, films and productions as authentic as possible. Even with the reality that there are lots of creative talent in these projects, the events of history that are true to life must be credible, to make the story work. If we ask the audience to suspend their system of beliefs on one element, whereas we need to make the other headings and subject throughout history as legitimate is possible.

Of course, this may mean an incredible amount of research, and that means lots of reading and investigation reports. However, I would say to you that when these talents of investigative journalism go too far, it is too easy to trade secrets, proprietary information or even information that may affect our nation by providing secrets on our tactics and techniques of our nations, and in these.

It is more than just a small problem and considering that there are people in Hollywood who lean to the left in their political thinking and perhaps are not too concerned by the military, they like not may yet members - they were therefore not a problem beyond. Now then, I would like to discuss with you a real situation that has taken place, and this may be a film in an another itself and it is a lesson in my dialogue here today, let me explain.

Homeland Security News, there was an interesting article entitled does not long; "Ben Laden film a worried King," which was released on August 12, 2011, who stated at paragraph teaser; "King representative, the Chairman of the House Homeland Security Committee, asked the Pentagon and the CIA to determine if the Obama administration had disclosed classified information on the raid of Kathryn Bigelow and Mark Boal, the creative behind the Oscar film"the hurt locker"team."

Now then, obviously Hollywood has been major political donors for the Administration of Obama, at least in the past. These campaign contributions, the political parties of fund-raising in Hollywood and on the side is Los Angeles can buy favors of the administration. It is well and good, however, when these political contributions also purchase important information that can be classified or secret and then run us into a problem. I would say to you that this particular case is a serious issue, and it put our troops and the military who are already in danger even more endangered.

Is now therefore not contrary to the law to decry human wars, or lean left on the political chessboard. We live in a free country with freedom of expression, but I do not personally think that allows authors of Hollywood screenplay or film producers to use the information they have collected that can be classified in their actual films. Indeed, I hope that you please consider all of this and think on it, and if you have a difference of opinion, I love to record for the right for you, so that you do deceive you him believing this could well be.

Lance Winslow is a former founder of a Franchise chain across the country and now runs the Think Tank online. Lance Winslow believes writing 24,444 articles by 4 September at 16 H 44 will be difficult because all the letters on the keyboard are now worn off now...

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