THE PLAN TO GET THE GREEN LIGHT: STEP 2

Welcome to STEP 2!

This is an intermediary step, in which our main antagonist might well be the exhaustion you’ll feel when we tell you there is still a long road ahead of you. If you come from STEP 1, congratulations! We’d love to know how it went and if our advice helped you, so we can improve it and offer better advice for you and the next. Let us know by writing a comment or joining our creative community here >>

In Filmarket Hub we know how hard the first steps in the industry are and that the path to the green light can be arduous and tempestive. In addition to that, the path to follow is not clear and hard to define, you will in all likelihood waste time, money and the motivation to go on.

Which is why we made this plan for you!

In this series of articles we will structure 3 steps that a screenwriter should follow to get closer and be ready for when the time comes to get that sweet green light. These serve as guides to better planify and adjust your expectations, they’re not the only possible path to get your project past development. These are tools, what you do with them is up to you.

STEP 2: REBEL WITHOUT A CREW

Although our main enemy here is the exhaustion, this is the step where things get interesting. New colleagues start to enter the team, the script is tested and the group starts to draw the outline of the first strategies you will follow to raise a budget for the project.

In order to clearly outline each development stage, we will divide them along different concepts you should have in mind: budget, finance, working hours, crew, development stage and objectives.

Let’s get started!

CREW

This step has two parts, directly related to the people that will join the team: the director and the producer.

Each role will bring new key material to the table for the development and later on the financing of the project. The order is not relevant, but what you should keep in mind is that you’re going to need them, you can’t do this alone.

It’s more and more common these days to hear that a screenwriter acted as director or producer, even sometimes covering all three positions. We don’t recommend it. First, as a screenwriter you should continue improving the script throughout the process, (which is hard to do if you’re covering the tasks of the other positions at the same time), and second, relying on colleagues will help you enrich the project with different perspectives and experiences.

Choose them wisely, not only on the basis of their professional capabilities but their commitment to the story as well as their human quality. If the plan works, these are people with whom you will share a lot of time, highs and lows, it’s not an easy commitment to stand to.

In this sense, consider the relationship between screenwriter Aron Sorkin and director David Fincher and how after years of working together on different projects, they’ve helped each other move into different roles in the past years.

Or like cinematographer Brad Rushing would say, this is one of the few industries you get to work with your friends. And friends you cherish, you choose carefully.

You should keep in mind what we told you in STEP 1 about working your personal brand and networking. Most likely during your attendance to industry events, festivals, markets and contests you will meet your future partners in crime.

Especially if you don’t have experience in developing a project, look for help with people that do, don’t be afraid to ask and share your project with some people who you think could be interested (but first register it with the intellectual property registration agency of your country or via SafeCreative).

DEVELOPMENT STAGE

The director and the producer will bring new key material to the development of the project. To help you establish the objectives of this step, here are the work you and your team will have to do:

PHASE A: Working with the Director

• Script draft 5th to 7th version: In order to rewrite your script it is of vital importance to count on feedback that helps you identify the strengths and mistakes in your script, in Filmarket Hub, we recommend you our script analysis service which could help you in this case >>.
• Visual Proposal: The director should put together a visual proposal of the project to bring to fruition his vision, references and justifications for said decisions.

PHASE B: Including the Producer

• Pitch Deck or Dossier: We refer to a document or book in which all the sales information of the project are included. This document will grow with the development evolution of the project, from Filmarket Hub we have a series or advice and structures for you to follow >>

• Teaser: The main objective of the teaser video is to give in 30 seconds the tone of the project without having to tell the story, not even present the characters. Another visual element used is the mood-trailer. The mood-trailer differentiates from the teaser on its usage or lack of usage of original visual resources and relies on reference material. Here are some tips to make a good sales mood-trailer >>

• Market Analysis: This is a vital step for any producer — one might even say a prerogative. A study on the actual market, to identify a project’s strengths and weaknesses, will allow your team to draw with greater security the sales strategy of a project.

• Finance strategy: To elaborate this strategy it is of vital importance to set the bases from the previous analysis and know the possibilities and limitations of the project. You may have many different strategies, from crowdfunding to public aids, coproductions and so on. But a common mistake is to go for all of them, making the process exhaustive and frustrating as you receive negative after negative. The cause? Not focusing and investing the time in options that truly adjust to the project’s needs.
• Contests calendar: Once you’ve defined your strategies, you can create a calendar of deadlines to the calls you consider going to. This way you can focus on preparing your project and the sales documents you need to give your presentation more chances.

Malak is one of the Jury members of our 2021 Screenwriting Feature Film Contest. Here are her recommendations to break through as a screenwriter and getting the attention of a production company.

WORKING HOURS

The time you’ll spend on a project varies notably from one project to the next. It’s highly influenced by the experience that the producer and director can bring to the table. Logically, a producer with more experience will be able to get through the steps faster and with better results.

The ideal would be that this step extends over a 6 month period, but again, don’t force it on your project’s development process, take the time to get to know this industry — this isn’t a process you check out one night.

BUDGET & FINANCE

In general terms, the budget for this step to around the 30’000€. Detailed below are some concepts in which you should invest said money:

1. Adaptations rights: In case the script is an adaptation, you will have to buy the rights of the piece/book. For this, the needed contracts with the producer — screenwriter and/or producer — writer to get the rights to make the adaptation. In said contracts pact the future payments to make during the development stage (before you start).
2. Elaboration of script, writing and rewriting, external counseling of the script and/or translation of the script to another language.
3. Design and elaboration of the promotional graphic material (teaser poster, pitch deck/dossier)
4. Make a teaser.
5. Documentation for the elaboration of the project.
6. Travel & accomodation expenses to attend to markets and look for co-producers.
7. Legal and tax consultancy services.

Like in the previous step, the financing of this step takes place similarly, through auto-financing, bank lawns, crowdfunding, etc. Ideally, at this point, the savings & investment should be made, for example, of all the prizes won with the script or project.

OBJECTIVES

The principal objective of this step is to gain VISIBILITY. For the team and for the project in and of itself. Let’s break it down in two phases:

PHASE A: Working with the Director

• Premiere of short or previous work in festivals: This can be related to the project in itself and is especially important in the case of a novel director, it’s a way of validating the director’s capacities in the industry. We have to be able to show that the director of the project is the most capable person to carry this project to fruition. There are many cases in this industry of feature films that first started off as shorts and became later on features or series. Some of these were first envisioned as such, other times they were adapted into a short format to get a first impression from the public, prior to moving to the next level.
• Festivals and contests prizes: There are various festivals with development sections in which prizes are given in cash or offer some services to help develop the winning project. Lets not forget the screenwriting contests either, most of them do include a monetary prize. You ought to keep this in mind to make your project grow and gain visibility. In Filmarket Hub we hold 4 screenwriting contests annually, for features and for pilot episode series in English and in Spanish. Our aim is to showcase rising talent and find new voices to connect with the industry. Stay updated with our calls here >>
• Residencies and Labs: Residencies and labs are a good place to network, get feedback and focus on writing. In Filmarket Hub we have an interesting list of industry allies that could help you to get started on your research. You can find them here >>

PHASE B: Incorporating a Producer

1 — Getting selected in pitching events and/or co-production markets: In the majority of the cases, counting on a producer is a mandatory requirement. This is why it is important to keep all the documents up to date and continuously updated. There is no better way to get feedback from producers on your project than in a pitch event or market. And, depending on your producer’s networking talent, you’re likely to leave with a good list of contacts for co-production. Being selected in such events is no easy task. One thing we’ve learned through the years is that in these events all stories are good, what differentiates one from the other, is the time spent working on them and, above all, the professionalism of the handed work. Those are the ones that get selected. How do you do it?

The answer is easy, although the result is hard to achieve:

1. Package all the sale elements you have in an ordered and sleek visual presentation. And designed to transmit the tone of your film. To get this result, you need to have a profound and detailed understanding of the story you want to tell.
2. Present the team as the most apt people to carry out this project (in addition to selling the project, you have to sell the team that develops it).
3. Explain why it’s important to tell this story and what motivates you to tell it.
4. In the event, we recommend you to consider a series of points to make a good pitch. You can find them here >> Also, we recommend you to follow us via social media and mailing, as we organise this kind of events for all territories and projects on a regular basis.

If you haven’t already, go check how the selected projects of our UK Online Pitchbox 2020 preped for their respective pitches >>

2 — Development prizes: These prizes are often attached to the events previously mentioned, they’re less common give that in most cases, being selected and connecting with the industry is a big prize in and of itself.

And, this is the end of STEP 2! We hope this article was useful for you and we encourage you to keep up the hard work as you’ve been doing so far. We’ll wait for you on the next article, when you’ll pass the corner.

Keep it up!