All language subtitles for Movie Money CONFIDENTIAL [2022] [1080p] eng

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[somber music]

I just wanna apologize...

to Mike's mom,
and Josh's mom,

and my mom.

I'm so sorry for everything
that has happened

because, in spite of what
Mike says now, it is my fault.

And it's all because of
me that we're here now,

hungry, cold, and hunted.

I'm scared to close my eyes,

I'm scared to open them.

[gasping]

We're gonna die out here.

[Rick] At the point
that you were hired,

what exactly did
they hire you to do?

They hired me to write
the business plan.

[Rick] What was the
budget for the film

in your business plan?

The budget in the
business plan was $300,000.

[Rick] So let me
get this straight,

you're writing a business plan.

-There's no screenplay,
-Right.

-there's no movie stars,
-Right.

-there's no name director,
-Right.

It's this weird genre,
which is mockumentary,

how the heck do you go
raise $300,000 on that idea?

Very carefully.

The business plan is the
thing that gets people excited

that, why this film
is gonna do well.

[Rick] So when you
were sitting there,

writing this business plan,

did you think, oh my gosh,
"The Blair Witch Project",

this is gonna be the highest
grossing independent film,

ever made, the highest
return on investment,

or did you think,
well, it might work,

what's going through your mind

when you were putting
together the business plan?

It might work [laughs].

One of the things the
filmmakers were aiming for

from the beginning was
for people to believe

that this was a real story.

And what I said to investors

was that the budget
was low enough,

that there was a good chance
that they would at least make

their money back because
everybody who saw it believed it

was a true story.

Sometimes people will ask
me if it was a true story

all these years later,
and I will say no.

And they'll say, who
are you protecting?

[Rick] What was
your top projection

for "The Blair Witch Project"?

My projection for the revenue
was $23 million worldwide.

[Rick] And what did it do?

$350 Million worldwide.

[Rick] So why would
anyone ever hire you

for a business plan?

No. The whole point is that
you wanted to make more.

I've always said if
I was gonna forecast

they will earn $350 million
off a $300,000 film,

they should never hire me.

That would have been insane.

My name is Louise Levison. I'm
a film finance consultant,

and I write business plans
for independent filmmakers.

[Rick] I don't wanna
put words in your mouth,

but in many ways you were
one of the architects

of the entire film since
there was no script, no star,

and you sat down with
a blank piece of paper

and created an entity called
"The Blair Witch Project".

There's a lot,
that's been written,

what we might call "fake
news" or "misinformation"

about the film.

The truth is it was
shot on 16 millimeter.

Well it's super eight and 16.

[Rick] Right. So they had
like a $300,000 budget.

Yeah.

[Rick] There was something
like 89,000 in there,

for the transfer from 16 to 35.

A lot of people
thought they just went

and got a video camera, went
out in the woods, made a movie,

-I know, yeah.

but that was sort of the
big part of the marketing

and the joke.

Which was bumped because
I'm over here on the side.

Yeah, I did that.

But over time, the numbers
that they said the budget was

has even gotten lower.

So that right now,
someone on the internet

is saying that bunch for "The
Blair Witch" was $15,000.

I was like, wow.

[Rick] But the truth is,

as innovative as
it was in concept,

it was a traditional
business plan,

-Right.
-a traditional budget,

shot the way films are
done traditionally,

-Right
-it just pretended not to be.

[Louise] The thing that
filmmakers have to remember

is that you have to make
something you really care about.

You can't say, well, now horror
films make a lot of money

so I'm gonna make a horror film.

It's really hard work.

Even though it looks like,
well, they didn't do much.

It's very, very hard
work raising the money

and making the film itself.

You really don't
wanna be doing that

unless it's something
you really care about.

Because if you don't care,

you're gonna be making
a lousy film anyway,

no matter what it is and
no matter who's in it.

You can have stars in it,

they can't really overcome
a really bad film.

[Rick] "The Blair
Witch" was a cultural

and media and box
office phenomenon.

It was on the cover
of Newsweek and Time.

[Louise] Right.

[Rick] And it was made by

five unknown
regional filmmakers.

Right.

[Rick] Do you believe, based
on your experiences, that today,

the same situation
could occur again?

Absolutely.

Absolutely.

-[slate clapping]
-[upbeat music]

My name is Scott du Pont.

I'm a professional actor
and a film producer.

There's a lot of secrets to
raising money for movies.

The first thing I
think is you gotta have

the right psychology.

Everyone seems to think
that people out there

you're talking to don't
want to give you money

for a high risk investment.

I believe it's the opposite.

I believe every single person
I talked to actually wants

to give me money.

Now, with that said, not
everyone is in the position

to give you money.

There might be
liquidity factors.

There might be a husband
and wife that talk you back,

but I believe you have to
talk to every single person

you run into.

I was working on a movie
many, many years ago,

an Adam Sandler picture
called "The Waterboy".

I'm sitting up in the stands
with 5,000 other extras.

I ended up sitting
right next to this guy.

He had kind of a grungy T-shirt,

he had some holes
in his straw hat,

ended up talking to him
'cause I talk to everyone.

That gentleman, Jeff,

ended up giving me $780,000

for my first feature film.

So, you can never,
ever pre-judge anybody.

[upbeat music]

My name is Maggie
Phillips Pamplin.

I'm a producer, production
designer and artist.

I think the advice
that I would give

to a beginning filmmaker is
to gather a team around you.

I think there's a misconception
that there is one producer

and he or she
brings in the money.

People think that they are not
the ones to raise the money.

I just think anyone can.

Anyone can have a relation
or a friend or acquaintance

or business acquaintance
that can come in

and help bring money
for an independent film.

And you can be part of a team.

You need more than
just yourself.

You need to start
gathering people around

and really have
everyone pitch in

and have everyone have
ownership in that film.

[Scott] This is
extremely important.

I've done this in every
single one of my 12 plus films

over the last 20 years.

The first thing I do
in my production office

is I build what's
called "The Wall".

I literally take
up an entire wall.

Sometime it's 10,
20, 30 feet wide.

And I write different columns
of people that I know.

I start with my family.

In magic marker, write a big
column of family members.

I write St. Andrew's people,

I went to high school
years ago, cousins.

So you have all these
different categories of people.

You start writing
down their names

and you never ever
pre-judge anyone.

[upbeat music]

My name is Rick Pamplin.

I am a screenwriter and a
motion picture director.

I was teaching seminars and
I met a very interesting man

that was distributing
movies direct on video

to places like Blockbuster and
United Artists Pay-Per-View

and Showtime and so I
was one of the pioneers.

My very first film "Provoked"

was made under that
guaranteed distribution

and under that new methodology

of how to make a motion picture.

I just started telling
every single person I knew,

every student, every
faculty person, I said,

I'm making my first
feature film as a director

and I would like
you to invest in it.

And one thing led to another
and eventually we raised

the entire budget.

So we made the
picture for $115,000

and on the figures
that I've seen,

the picture made about
a 50 to one payback.

This small little independent
film with virtually no names,

which was kind of
a feminist diehard.

I love making motion pictures,

I love writing,

I love working with
talented people,

but I hate the concept
of raising money,

asking people for money.

You know, lots of very wealthy
people have told me

that you have to
get over that fear.

So when I needed to raise
larger amounts of money,

I had gotten everybody
I knew to invest

so I at times would bring
in funders or finders

and pay them a
percentage of the money

that they would raise and I've
been very successful at that.

And I prefer to work
through a producer

or an executive producer who
has the skills to raise money.

I think the reason I'm
probably successful

in raising money
is persistence.

I never ever give up.

And one of the reasons
why this producing team

we'd had a lot of trials and
tribulations through the years

and a lot of it
was totally unfair.

I see this movie as redeeming
the partners of this movie.

So I just said, you know,

I'm gonna lock myself
into my office.

If it takes two years,

I'm gonna sit there and make
over a thousand phone calls,

do a thousand meetings
and here we are,

we finally got it funded.

A lot of times when you
raise money in a movie,

it gets a little
bumpy like this ride

and people think they're
going to give you the money.

They sign the contract,
and then they aren't able.

You don't decide what
order your films are made,

your investors
decide in what order

you're going to make your films.

I think there's
something really true:

if you get up in the morning

and you think you will just die,

if you can not get out
and make your own film

and produce your own film.

If you don't think
that every day,

then you might
not be a producer.

But if you get up in the morning

and all you're thinking
about is how to make a film

and how to get your
film out there,

then you're probably
a film producer.

I had the great fortune
of directing a film

with Ernest Borgnine, Academy
Award Winner, living legend,

over 200 motion pictures.

I had group of investors
who came to the set,

saw me make the movie,

the movie opened in theaters.

The movie was nominated

on the Ballot for
the Directors Guild,

the Academy Awards and
people got very excited.

And one of those people was
the great artist, Borgnine

who said, kid, you're done
making little pictures.

Let's make bigger pictures.

We had all kinds of
stars calling us,

knocking on my door
at Universal Studios,

wanting to come in
and be in my movies.

You know, we really try to
communicate with investors.

I try to always be responsive,

but sometimes investors
become, you know, abusive.

My son came up with an idea
called "Crime Busters",

which was basically little
meets the police academy.

So, we designed "Crime Busters"
as the most commercial film

I could ever make that would
be an instant slam dunk

and we would make the film

and then we would go on to
making more artistic films,

more representative of
what I wanted make here.

Here I am 10 years later, I've
been smeared on the internet.

I've had my life threatened.

I've had people sue me simply
because it's taking too long

to raise the production funds.

I had very dark, terrible
thoughts, but faith

and a great wife saved my life

and my revenge is
making this movie.

I'm not dead.

You haven't destroyed me.

You haven't bankrupted me.

I'm still gonna make
"Crime Busters".

I'm still gonna make
the other two films

and I'm gonna make this film.

The best people I've ever
met at fundraising in my life

are in this motion picture
and I'm so thrilled

so I'd rather let
them talk about it.

[soft music]

Yeah. I think this
is a great business, I mean.

It's full of heartache,

and all those cliche things.

You're gonna get
beat up pretty good

but still, it's a
wonderful business

because you're...

What are you giving? Joy.

Hopefully a few laughs or
hopefully you scare somebody

or whatever the hell
you're trying to do

in your picture.

It's a wonderful,
wonderful thing.

[Rick] Did you ever try
to raise money for films

or did you have to?

No, I never did.

I never liked that idea.

I wouldn't be good at it.

[Rick] What's the secret of
getting a project funded?

Is there a secret either in
Hollywood or as an independent?

Well, you got a script that
is a commercial script.

Commercial in the sense that
it's got the things in it

that people wanna go see.

[Rick] What advice would
you give to a young director

starting out today?

Find something that's good,

that you believe in,

that you'll fight for.

Don't let them tell you
how to make your movie,

you make your movie.

[Rick] Where does
Hollywood get their money?

[Louise] Hollywood gets their
money from banks.

[Rick] What's your
take when people say

that Jews run Hollywood?

Does it offend you?
Does it not offend you?

It offends me because
if anything goes wrong,

it's like, let's blame the Jews,

which since I've grown up
before, it was the original cry.

When anything was going wrong,
it's let's blame the Jews.

But I don't think it's...

I think at one time it was true.

I don't think it's
so true anymore.

If you look at who all
the executives are.

[Rick] Conversely
then, is it easier

for a Jewish filmmaker
to make a film than--

No. No. It's a
money driven thing.

[Rick] Is it easier for
a liberal to make a film

than a non liberal?

No, that's another thing.

You know, oh yeah
nobody likes my idea

because those
people are liberal.

Now we're talking
about Hollywood,

and we're talking about

see, independent's
a whole 'nother place.

[Rick] Is it easier as a
white male to get a film made?

Probably, yeah.

[Rickie] Harder as a female?

Yeah.

[Rick] Harder as a minority?

Yes, definitely.

[Rick] But I think
that's changing.

Yeah. No, I know it is.

And again, it really
changes more from people

starting with independent films

because they just need to,

they can start
with small films.

They can just find people
who believe in their film,

put it together and make a film

and once they're successful,

when you're telling
about studios,

then again, they're right,

they don't care who you are

as long as they're
gonna make money.

Yeah. I think I know
what's commercial

and you may hate that word,

but you have to have a
little bit of that sprinkled

around in the screenplay.

[Rick] What do you think
of the movies today?

Not much.

[Rick] Why?

Well, I see them trying
to be commercial,

trying to, what do we do to
make this picture make money?

Well, let's see.

We can have some bare boobs.

We can have...a rape scene

or we could have

a comedian say wisecracks
for the whole movie.

My name is Russell Cardinal.

I am a location manager.

Well, I think Los Angeles,

everybody wants to get
something for nothing.

You know, when I
first went out there,

I went to a lot of potential
opportunities out there

and they all expect you to
work for free when you're young

or you don't have a, you
know, really strong IMDB.

Well, Los Angeles is an
expensive place to live.

Very difficult to get around.

Everybody's always late,

very difficult to stay
professional out there.

There is a lot of greed
and a lot of cutthroat

and stealing of ideas I believe

but there's also the
greatest people in the world.

The most talented
people behind the scenes

and it's a really great place.

I want them to understand
that when you go to New York,

whether it's for a
year or two years.

Two years, better than one.

And then you go to LA,
you're a New York actor.

[Rick] And is it because
of the stage work

that they would maybe do
off Broadway do stage?

They'll do off Broadway
and they'll do...

Also, there's a network
with New York actors.

That's very important.

If they don't have
any other place,

certainly not in Hollywood.

In Hollywood they're out
to, you know, find out

where the next party is or
what whatever's going on

but then it's not
about the work.

Whereas in New York,
it's about the work.

But you still believe they
need to go to New York?

I do.

And then from New
York to Hollywood?

Yes, the last time I was on
Broadway, I was in a play.

It was a good little play.

There were five of us and
we were all newcomers.

And I remember
Richard Watts said,

"we hope these young people

"don't go to Hollywood."

I left the next
day for Hollywood.

[laughing]

[Rick] What is wrong with you?

What possesses you to do this?

You have to do it.

If you wanna be a
legitimate film producer,

or if you're a
writer and you want,

if you're frustrated
with some big studio

picking up your script,

if you're a director and you
want to direct something,

sooner or later if you or
your team of people with you,

don't talk to every
single person you run into

or if you don't ask for money,

you're not gonna have any money.

And whether you're a writer,
whether you're a director,

whether you're a producer,
any end of the business,

if you want your project
to get out there,

it's very unlikely
that some studio,

oh, we love that script out
of the hundreds and hundreds

of scripts we're
getting in Hollywood,

we'll just pick yours.

Or if you're a director and
you're trying to break through,

the quickest, easiest
way to make it,

especially in the independent
world, is just talk to people

and get your own money.

I mean, the equipment's
a lot smaller,

it's a lot cheaper.

There's all these new platforms.

It's never been
easier to distribute,

but it all starts
with the money.

If you don't have the money,

there is no movie
so it's that simple.

[soft music]

[audience applauding]

So I wanna ask you guys
a couple of questions.

How many people here wanna
make motion pictures,

make movies?

Okay. How many people wanna
write movies, be screenwriters?

Raise your hand.

Screenwriters.

How many people wanna be
directors, direct a movie?

How many of you
wanna act, be actors?

Okay. Let's talk to
you guys about things

that you're interested in.

Hi, I'm Alex Hassig.

Do you think it's important
to go to school for acting

or do you think it's
easier just to go to school

for something else and
then find opportunities

around cities and such?

Great question.

I think when you leave here,
wherever you go, undergraduate,

if you wanna study theater
acting, I think that's great.

I didn't.

I was actually an
economics major.

I fell into my passion
for acting later,

but I think whatever you do,

you also need to take
some business classes

to take some
marketing classes,

to be very, very
well-rounded.

I became the busiest,
most working actor

in the entire
state of Florida.

And I'm not a great actor,

but I knew how to market myself
and I knew how to network.

So I think all that stuff
is really, really important.

What's your name?

Brendan Asaf.

I was wondering, for
a junior director,

what you think might be
the best place to start,

for example, would it be a
good idea to try directing

in theater before directing
and film or television

or are these mediums
entirely different

from one another?

Theater and motion pictures

are two different
mediums completely.

Number one, you've gotta
have a sample of your work,

a student film.

Number two, it helps
if you're a writer,

if you have a spec script

and number three, I
think assistant directing

is a great way to
learn, to get in,

to really learn your craft.

Grace Sodie.

Okay.

So as an aspiring screenwriter,

there's always this fear
that you're just rewriting

as you reference
the same one story

that's been done
over and over again.

How do you overcome that?

I'll tell you one
way to avoid it.

I've had people come to me with
stories that are essentially

"The Blair Witch
in a Submarine",

"The Blair Witch on Mars"

and I keep trying to tell
them "The Blair Witch"

has already been made.

You don't wanna remake
somebody else's film.

You can learn the
format and the technique

in about an hour but you've
got to open up your heart.

There's a great quote
by an old sports writer

named Red Barber.

He said, writing is easy.

You just take a razor
blade and cut open a vein

and bleed on the page.

And having faith is
not having any fear.

And you need to be
bold as a filmmaker,

you need to say things that
other people aren't saying.

If you wanna make a
film, almost always

there's some good that
somebody wants to do.

Don't get corrupted
by the money.

Don't get corrupted by Hollywood
or the fake propaganda.

Make that film.

[soft music]

Angela Lodato.

I teach film studies
and broadcasting

at Saint Andrew's School.

In film studies what I
love to do is analyze film

in ways that students
don't think to

in terms of screenwriting,

in terms of music cues,

in terms of what actually
puts a film together

in ways that can make

an audience empathize
with characters.

Not in terms of
what's entertainment,

but in terms of what can
actually reach an audience,

what can actually
touch an audience?

[Rick] What kind of films
to the students talk about

wanting to make?

We watch a lot of dialogue films

and we watch a lot of older
films with a slower pace.

Prior to coming in,

all they can think about
is action and something

that is pure entertainment.

After taking some of the courses
that I teach and learning

how you can touch an audience
through deep emotion,

they start talking about how
to find their own inner voice

and start expressing
it in that fashion

rather than just flesh.

Some of them really are
appreciating independent films.

And what they like about them

is that they're more accessible.

Particularly if you look at
all the female objectification

that has gone on since the
beginning of print media

and now of course we're
seeing so much of it now

with male objectification.

A lot of them are starting
to rebel against it,

which I'm happy to see.

So they're starting to think
more about independent films

and by which they
can create films

that are using more real
people, if you will,

and just reflecting
more of human nature

the way it really is.

I'm Ty Hammer.

Does all of your advice
and more extreme ideas

also apply to television and
all of its respective jobs?

You wanna work in television?

Maybe.

Aim high.

I went to prep school.

I went to this school
called Cranbrook.

They always pounded in our
heads, aim high aim, high.

Shoot for movies
and if you fail,

you can always
work in television.

All right.

-Never start in television.
-[Louise laughing]

If you start in
television,

you're gonna
end up I don't know,

selling oranges in the
freeway or something.

My name is Nikita.

You mentioned few times
writing business plans

for motion pictures and it's
an interesting path for me

that I would like to consider.

Is there any advice
that you could give me,

what majors to take along
with finance or business

that would help me start up?

Finance and business is good.

I worked in other
businesses for 20 years

before I got into film and
I've been doing this for 30.

So I like to say that I
graduated from college

when I was six in case
everybody can add.

Yes. Ma'am, what's your name?

I'm Avery Stark.

How do you come up with the
ideas for films, characters,

and ideas for issues
inside the movie

to make it long enough?

I was hiking up the
Hollywood Hills,

with one of my
business partners,

a place called
Runyon Canyon.

This was, God, probably
10 or 12 years ago.

And we came back down the hill,

in the parking lot there was
this brand new Tesla Roadster

and a bunch of us had
seen this documentary

a couple of years prior called

"Who Killed the Electric Car?"

which is a really provocative,
interesting edgy film.

So we're sitting there,
within 10 minutes this guy,

the owner showed up,

he had 30 people crowded around
his car asking questions.

"You mean it runs on no gas?"

"How do you plug it in?"

"How far does it go?"

So we got back in
our fossil fuel car

and we looked at
each other and said,

someone's gotta make a
movie about these new cars

that we thought at that
point were coming out.

We took a big gamble
with our investors

but we had a pretty good inkling
that in the next two years,

the market was going to be
flooded with electric cars

and thank God every
single car company

now has different plugin models.

So that's how that whole
documentary came about.

It's just a story that
had to be told.

Hi, I'm Jenny Hemmer.

Personally, I want to
get into like costuming

and makeup stuff for
film and theater.

And do you have any advice
on getting my work out there

as a costumer?

Yes. Work on everybody's
student films, build your reel,

learn your craft and
you'll be very in demand

and I expect to hire you
in a couple years.

-Alright.
-Thank you.

-My name is Tim Lerr.
-Yes, sir.

So in a short summary,

what would you
advise on how to make

your potential investor
care about your project?

You put together a business
plan that shows him

what a wonderful project it is.

Like what would you put
in your business plan?

The most important things
that are gonna make him care

are gonna be the
story, the audience,

and then all those numbers
I was talking about

that are at the end.

You have other things
you have to put in there

that are just business things.

But basically the story has...

He has to care, or she has
to care, about the story.

If they don't care
about the story,

then they're not gonna
care about the money.

After that then they
worry about the money.

You've gotta start with a story

that you're passionate
about like Rick said.

And then after that, I really
think it's a numbers game.

So getting back to what
is the electric car,

I called up hundreds
and hundreds of people.

A lot of people said no.

And then I made a phone call
to an old fraternity brother.

I went to Rollins
College and he said,

wow, you're making a
documentary about electric cars?

Next thing you know,
he came on board

as the executive producer.

So sometimes it's about
just reaching enough people,

it's gonna spark with one person

who puts up most of the money.

[soft music]

I've been teaching
here for 26 years

and what I find fascinating
is that something happens

to a student when they have
a camera in their hand.

They find that they're
able to speak in a way

that they never did before.

I had a student once, I'm
going back maybe 12 years ago.

Great guy, but he was just
always sort of on the wrong side

of the administration,
if you will,

in terms of discipline issues.

And we used to
talk after school,

and I remember one
time I asked him,

can you describe yourself to me?

He couldn't do it.

But I gave him a
camera and I said,

could you do it with a camera?

The next day he came
back to me with an image

that I still remember.

It was his shadow on the ground.

And he put as half
smoke cigarette on it.

He just threw it down.

He stepped on it
and he walked away.

Go put that into words.

Do you, tell your students
that they can incorporate

-their faith into film?
-Yes.

Absolutely, absolutely.

Nothing is off limits if
it's deep in your soul

and you want to express
it, even just for yourself,

as a catharsis, go
right ahead and do it.

Nothing's off limits.

It seems like this would
be a really tough time

to be a kid, to be growing up.

And this is kind of
a loaded question,

but are the kids all right?

They're facing
challenges and situations

that I never
experienced in my life.

In terms of whether
they're all right,

it's hard to say.

If you take, for example,
just even coming to school

and feeling safe in terms
of the violence in schools,

the school shootings.

When they talk to me I
always just try to be quiet

and still and listen.

And they're expressing anxieties
that I never experienced.

So when I hear their choices
of music, books, entertainment,

I understand why they're
gravitating towards

the harder edgier things.

I think it's expressing
what they're feeling inside.

Are they okay?

I think they can be,
they just need guidance.

They just need to learn how

and it's finding that
still inner voice,

that deep character within them,

whether it be faith
in themselves,

faith in a higher
power, whatever it is,

they just need guidance.

Hi, I'm Samantha.

And I was just wondering
if there were any times

when you felt like giving up
and like how you overcame that?

Yes. I've been very
depressed at times.

I've lived in my car.

I've been broke.

I've had people slander
me on the internet

because when I cast a
movie and I audition

a hundred actors and
99, don't get it,

they like to write
bad things about me.

I have anonymous people
that are jealous of me,

it's very hurtful but I
have bigger fish to fry.

I have bigger stories to tell.

And I think that if you look
at what happened to Jesus

or what happened to the Gandhi

or what happens to anybody
who advocates something

in our society, in our world,

sometimes, you know,
they're vilified.

And I just think you
have to be strong.

I go through a lot of periods

where just no one wants to do it

and you just really
learn to get through it.

A lot of people have
mentioned going to Hollywood.

You do not have to
go to Hollywood.

There's films being made
all over this country

besides other parts of the world

and you can be an actor,
you can be a director,

you can be a producer,

you can be in the
business I'm in, whatever,

without ever going to Hollywood.

Hi, my name is Colin Vinny

and I am an actor
at Saint Andrew's

and I was just wondering where
I could go or what I could do

to start transitioning
from the high school stage

into more films and more
professional things.

I heard that Tom Cruise,
when he first started out,

worked on 50 student
and short films.

So when I first started I
wanted to transition away

from commercials.

Up in Orlando,
where I was living

there was eight
full-time film schools,

including Full
Sail, UCF, Valencia.

I did over 50 student films.

Mostly on the weekends.

So I really wasn't
giving up a lot of income

and that's really how
I polished my craft.

I had a reel and I got the
respect and I was networking

and then from there, that's
kind of spring-boarded

my whole film career out
of those short films.

Yes, sir, what's your name?

Tristan Moss.

What's your favorite film?

That's too hard to decide.

"Napoleon Dynamite", isn't it?

[audience applauding]

I like that film.

So my question is, I
was just wondering like,

if you have a short film what
would be the very first thing

that you would do to make
your work more well known?

If you can, if it's not too
far go to a film festival.

I've gone to
Sundance for 30 years

and I keep telling people

now that's a more
expensive track to take,

but I learned so much early on.

I was already trying
to do what I did,

but nobody knew who I was.

I didn't have a book out and
I started going to Sundance

and talking to people.

That's the biggest thing,

is send your film
into film festivals

and get the experience
of knowing how to do it.

-Ok, thank you.
-[Rick] All right.

Thanks so much.

There's somebody else.
Yes, sir?

And your name is?

Hi, I'm Will Hagan.

Hi, Will.

I just really wanna know
what is yourfavorite movie?

-My favorite movie?
-And why?

Well, when I'm really
depressed "Citizen Kane",

and when I'm depressed and
don't wanna be depressed,

"It's a Wonderful Life".

Those are probably
my two favorites.

In the old days there
were great role models,

men and women of character

and today it seems
more exploitative

and it seems harder
to find role models.

Do you see a yearning at
all for the kids for that?

Interestingly enough, I
do see it when I show them

some of the older films.

They identify with
the older films

in a way in which I
never thought they would.

And when we have the
class discussions,

I hear them identify
with the role models,

to which you're referring.

So, yeah, I do.

They may be absent
in the present films,

but they now know
where to find them

in some of the older films.

Are you hopeful
enough and optimistic

that this new generation
will create movies

that will provide moral
leadership, role models?

I think I'm optimistic in the
sense that there is starting to,

I think, be a backlash
of all the violence

that they're seeing.

I mean, look today on campus,

we just had a demonstration
against the gun violence

that just took place
and the school shooting

that happened a
little while ago

only 30 minutes
away from here.

I think what the kids need
to do is not just deal

with the externals networking
so on and so forth.

That's wonderful.

I think they need to learn how
to develop an inner strength.

They need to learn how to
identify with who they are

and that's something that's
truly missing in our society

and I think that needs to go
hand in hand with the external.

While we're rolling I
just wanna say that,

this is an extraordinary
experience today.

This school, you really,
really went to bat for us.

This might've been the
most important interview

we've done in the movie.

I love you, I salute you,

you are a courageous person.

You're a leader.

You're a person of
faith and you gave us

a great blessing today.

I wanna thank you.

-[crew applauding]
-Thank you.

You're awesome.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

It's a difficult time
to be growing up.

It is, you know it is.

You can see what's going on
around you in this community.

You can change a lot of that.

You can do things better.

Do not squander the
opportunity you have here.

Soak in every bit of
knowledge you can get

from this institution,
from your faculty,

from your classmates and
realize the power that you have.

Every one of you is significant.

Every one of you is
here for some purpose,

a purpose greater than
what you may think.

As a kid I went
out to Hollywood

and I let Hollywood
convince me otherwise

and I learned to
play their games.

You don't have to do that.

Make a better world.

God bless you, thank
you for coming.

[audience applauding]

[upbeat music]

My name is Nichole
Weaver Hanson,

and my occupation is
Entertainment Attorney.

First of all, it's
a good idea to hire

an entertainment attorney
because entertainment attorneys

know the ins and outs
of the financial aspects

that are involved
with investors.

You have SEC complications
to look into,

you have various states
with different regulations

to look into.

So it's important to
note, to have somebody

who knows the ins and outs
and the possible pitfalls

that you can fall into as an
investor and as a producer.

Best advice I could
give a producer

from an entertainment
attorney standpoint

would be to make
sure that they have

their contracts written
correctly for their investors

to make sure that they have
all the state regulations

and the federal
regulations taken care of

because there's not
just the civil aspect

of somebody's
money being taken.

In other words, that you could
sue me if I was a producer,

it's also that there are
federal issues involved

and you can also have federal
charges and state charges

brought against you

if you don't handle film
investors money correctly.

My name is Richard
Troutman and I go by Rick.

I'm an attorney here in
Winter Park, Florida.

And I think so long as the
person raising the money

finds people who can
understand that language,

that they're probably
gonna lose all their money,

they are aware of the high risk

and they signed that document
knowing what they're signing,

I can't imagine how the
producers of the movie

or the people that raised
the money for the movie,

could have any
legal liability.

I don't think people that
are giving money to a film

really think of
it as a business.

I don't think a business
plan is that helpful

because I think they realize
that it's it's high risk

hopefully with the
chance that if it hits,

if it gets popular
and people watch it,

then they're gonna make,
you know, a lot of money

and they probably shouldn't
put more money in it

than they could easily lose
and not lose any sleep over it.

My name is Kevin Dinneen

and after graduating
from the Wharton School

I spent the majority
of my career

as a real estate
investor and attorney.

I think a business
plan is very important

but I do think it's
much more difficult

in the movie business
than in others

because I don't think
anybody candidly knows

what's gonna catch on and
what your gross is gonna be.

You know, I think it's the
same as in any investment,

a previous track record
and a person who really

has a little
consciousness of budget

to keep the costs
out of control,

because even a great movie,

if the budget's three times
what it's supposed to be,

isn't gonna do much
return for the investor.

I think you better have
a little fun in it too.

And I think you better sort
of believe in the project

and that even if the movie
doesn't make a fortunate,

at least you're proud
that you were part of it.

[soft, exciting music]

[Rick] Let's talk
about Salma Hayek.

How did that come
about in "The Prophet"?

Kahlil Gibran was considered
one of the most popular poets,

in a sense, behind
Shakespeare.

He lived in the Middle East

and then he moved
here and taught

and he wrote this
book, "The Prophet",

which were essays on life.

And they took this book
and decided to make it

into an animated film and
had a different animator

animate each
chapter in the book

the way they saw that chapter.

It's a terrific film.

It was a fascinating
way to do it.

I wrote the business plan
and it was a gentleman

who'd been in my
UCLA extension class,

who was the executive producer
on the film, Will Nex,

who then called me and hired
me to do the business plan.

[Rick] And how did Salma
Hayek become involved?

She became another
executive producer.

She was a fan of
Kahlil Gibran's writings

and she helped raise
the money for the movie.

You can not even begin to
imagine how difficult it was

to try to...

It's a film that
breaks all the rules.

[Salma] Yes, there were many
times where I said,

what, am I crazy?

What was I thinking?

But whatever happens with
the film, every headache,

it's been worth it because
I am very proud of the film

and for the people
who have seen it.

There's been
people who tell me

it is the most inspiring film
I've ever seen in my life.

Maybe not for everyone.

Not everybody wants to seek for
the best silent side of them

and not everybody wants
to remember to be a child.

Not everybody wants to have
a moment with themselves

as they have a good time
but for the people who do,

there's nothing
out there like it.

And this is for them.

[Upbeat, vocal music]

You're gonna be all right.

[Man] My crime, poetry.

As a Lebanese woman,
as a Mexican woman.

What's misunderstood
in general

is that we have to look at

individuals as individuals.

We have to create art pieces

that make people remind
themselves of how precious

we all are and give them
the courage to explore

their uniqueness so we can
find new ways of thinking,

so we can change the world.

I hope the film makes people
curious about their perception

about the Middle
Eastern people.

Yeah. And particularly
when it comes from you,

because everybody knows you.

You're well known
around the world.

And so when you come,
and I loved it in Cannes,

you stood up and you said,

I'm also an Arabic
Lebanese actress,

not only Mexican.

It's true.

That means a lot to
people to understand

that even sometimes...

I'm proud.

Proud of me.

[upbeat music]

Greg Hopner, I'm
the founder and CEO

of the G-Star School of the
Arts and G-Star studios.

[Rick] Let's go back to
when you were a producer,

did you ever invest
in a motion picture?

Yeah, that's how I
got into the business.

I was actually working
with Burt Reynolds

up at the Burt
Reynolds Theater

and I was around a lot of movie
stars and I was doing hair.

I was a hairdresser back then

and a bunch of people
in the movie industry

were there obviously
all the time.

And they came up to
me one day and said,

do you wanna be a
producer on a movie?

And I said "yeah,
great, what do I do?"

And they said, "well,
the producer comes up

with all the money."

I said, "oh really?"

"So you want me to
put up money?"

"Yeah, sure." So I did.

And I found out later
that wasn't true.

My name is Alistair Hunt.

I have almost 10 years of film

and television
production experience

from on-set
production assistant

and a assisting with two or
three production companies

in all aspects of production.

I am trying to be a
independent filmmaker

and I can tell you that as
I have tried to raise funds

for my projects and
colleagues' projects,

it has been by far the biggest
challenge and undertaking

I've ever considered.

[Rick] And why is that?

Rejection [laughs nervously].

[Rick] Do you ever
regret pursuing

the motion picture
business as a vocation?

I absolutely don't
regret pursuing

the motion picture
industry, the ups and downs,

the good times, the bad
times have been fabulous.

[upbeat music]

I'm Jon Zietz, I'm
a producer director

and president of
Think Visual Group.

Almost every project I did in
middle school and high school

was a film, some kind of short.

So I loved it.

I knew that's what I
wanted to do with my life,

but, at the same time it
needed to be practical

and I went to the
University of Florida

where I majored in finance.

I took every film,
media studies,

every film course they had,

my parents always encouraged
me to follow my dreams

but also have something
to fall back on.

And so, while I was
going to school,

while I was getting
that degree,

I would come home on the
weekends, summer breaks

and work on first a short film

and eventually a
feature length film.

We created a feature
length independent film

on a $3,000 budget.

I wrote, produced and directed
the movie with a friend

and fellow filmmaker and
that experience ended up

being the film school
that we both never had.

I like to call it a
psychological drama.

A kid who's in college finds
out that his twin brother

who he always thought
was dead and had died

when he was younger, he's
actually still alive.

There's a lot of twists
and turns in there,

but essentially
that's what it is.

A feature length psychological
drama, very independent.

[Rick] And what happened

to this $3,000 feature film?

So we had a big premiere
for the film locally

at Cinema Paradiso.

It was part of a couple
of small film festivals.

And eventually we actually
secured a distribution deal.

Went through the entire
process of packaging it

and getting it ready
for distribution

only to have about a year
later the distribution company

actually go out of business.

My name is Sadie Cabrera.

I'm a co-founder of Think
Visual Group and I serve as DP.

Well, I can trace it
back to high school.

I was in a school where
they had a magnet program

and they had the largest
broadcasting studio,

back in 1996.

And so my, my background,

you could say that
it was broadcasting.

And immediately after that one
of my teachers hooked me up

with a company that was...

They would shoot
events, social events.

I started with that and
built basically a business

or a little bit over 10
years, like 13 years.

And it was something
that, it taught me a lot.

Eddie and I first met
each other in 2001

and actually the
funny thing about it

is the night that we met,

we made an award-winning
short film.

And so we worked together on
a number of other projects

through the years but we
didn't fully join forces

until after 2007.

And ultimately what
prompted that was a trip

that we took to
the Grand Canyon.

What? Wow. if we fall, we die.

And we just decided that
let's take this trip

and let's try to
formulate something

and come up with the start of
what it's gonna take for us

to fulfill our dreams.

[upbeat music]

We, at the time, had very
troublesome relationships

and I think it was almost
like a spiritual thing

that we wanted to
go all the way down

and I guess bury
those relationships--

[both] Leave them at the
bottom of the Grand Canyon.

December 29th, '07,

we're inside the Grand
Canyon, it's very cold.

We still have like four
and a half miles to go.

I gotta go back
to try to sleep.

Peace.

[upbeat music]

Well, we have that
energy, nature,

-getting spirit accomplished.
-Spiritual adventure.

-It's very spiritual.
-Spiritual.

Very much a
rejuvenating trip.

Exactly what it needs
to end the year right.

[Eddie] End the year, right.

Look at this scenery.

Once we were there, we
realized it was like,

look, we both wanna get to
the entertainment industry.

We wanna make films.

We had a realization there.

We said, we're gonna leave
our past lives behind

and we are going to
concentrate full force

on how we're
going to make it

into the entertainment
industry,

how we're going to
realize our dreams.

But we also realized we're
not going to do it quickly.

We'd already learned when you
try to do something too quick,

that's typically when you fail.

We both agreed that it would
take us at least a decade

to transition our company from
corporate to entertainment.

In fact, it has been,

-10 years now.
-10 years, yeah.

Almost exactly 10
years right now

and we're finally
producing this feature

which is 15 years after
we produced that last one.

Right.

My name is Kujaatele Kweli.

Most of the people in the
industry called me Kooge.

I'm an empowerment educator.

I'm a producer, I'm a
director and I'm a writer.

Filmmaking is both
an art, a science,

and it's also a business.

And if you're not prepared
to excel in all three areas,

this isn't the
business for you.

What are they interested in?

There are people that
are interested in

not eating animals,
[chuckles]

not killing animals
and wearing them for clothes.

There are people
that are interested

in this whole immigration
struggle that's taking place.

There are a lot of
people interested in

various political issues.

So what you want
to do is put together

a community of interests.

Number one, I teach
that you have to have

a compelling story.

Content is king.

So if you don't have that, it
doesn't make any difference

what you're pitching.

It's got to be good.

Then you've got to be able
to tell that story well

or you can have a
compelling topic,

but you don't know
how to tell it well.

And telling it well means
telling it visually.

I had hair salons and I got
divorced and it was a mess

and I had to sell them all
off in one thing or another

and pennies on the dollar

and I wound up being
absolutely broke.

All I owned, and at
that point I had a,

I don't know if anybody
remembers a Geo,

but it was a little car.

It was this big.

Everything I owned
fit in the Geo,

including my clothes, a computer

and I had a two drawer
file cabinet in it also.

You know, I was just broke
and I was cutting hair

and I thought, well, this
is the end of my life.

I, you know, I'm not making
any money, hardly gotten here,

I don't have any skills.

What do I do?

And I, in the
middle of the night,

I woke up and I thought about
my son whom I love dearly

and he's here now with me,

but he was six years
old at the time

and I wanna do
something for him.

And he loves when we
were doing movies,

he was always on set and
he loved running around

and doing all that
kind of stuff.

So I said, I'll start a
small little video program

for him at least make him
happy and I'll call it G-Star

'cause his name is Gregory.

So it would be Gregory
and then the star

that would stand for
students in the arts.

I went and started a summer camp

for middle school
students and we turned out

a little half-hour video
cassette format show,

we finished it and darn
if PBS didn't pick it up.

And that show lasted
four years on PBS.

[Rick] What advice would
you give young filmmakers,

just getting started looking
to raise funds for movies?

I was taught to,
don't ask for money.

If you ask for money
you'll get advice,

you ask for advice,
you'll get some money.

[upbeat music]

Somebody came up to me and said,

you should start a school,
a charter school literally.

And I said, what do
I want to school for?

And what's a charter school.

So anyway, I went down
to the school district

to sign up for this thing

and they wound up
giving me a school.

And I walked out the door
and I had a piece of paper

and I went, oh, I think I
really made a mistake here.

And six months later, we opened.

We opened with 156 kids.

So I knew I was in profit.

So each year we added
more kids and more kids

and now we have
over a thousand here

and we built our soundstage.

We started doing other
things and it just grew

into a full regular
motion picture studio.

We wanna change certain
things that we see

that are wrong or
not being done right

and put them in the most
beautiful form of art

that I believe the world has
ever seen, which is filmmaking.

You get to play with all
the spectrum of things that,

you know, from sound,
lighting, camera work,

through all of the different
arts that have existed

and we get to play with them.

So it it's phenomenal.

I think there is no end because
ultimately I'm hoping that

the films I make
will live on forever

and that is
ultimately my legacy.

I believe that the power
is there in filmmaking

and in film to do that.

You can change the
world with what we do.

[upbeat music]

[upbeat music continues]

My name is Kim Karel Zink

and I'm a Senior Account
Manager here at Production Hub.

Production Hub is an online
directory at its core.

We're a global network of
local crew and vendors.

Production Hub is a resource
for kind of both sides

of the supply and demand chain.

We work with people that
are looking for crew,

vendors, freelancers facilities
for any of their production,

post production
live event needs

and then we work
with the people

that provide those services.

My tips for people that are
trying to finance and get money

for their own film is to ask.

If you don't ask
you, don't get.

I think a lot of people
passively ask these days.

I think there are great tools
for that with social media

and Kickstarter
and it's wonderful,

but focus in on specific
people and ask them.

It's just like sales.

You're trying to
sell your product.

You're trying to sell yourself

and have people believe
in you and invest in you

and your film and your project.

So ask them directly.

If they say, no, that's only
going to help you move on

to the next person.

So just ask them, just come
right out up, you know,

everyone, call them.

Pick up a phone and call them.

If they say no, they say no,

but it's gonna be very hard
for someone to say, no,

if they've been asked directly.

People will have no
problem ignoring, you know,

a social post or an email

but if you pick up the
phone and call someone,

I bet you'll get a yes,
I bet you get something.

My name is Jenelle Jordan.

I'm a Production Manager
at Production Hub.

We work with folks that
call in or, you know,

fill out our web form
and find out their needs,

their budgets and then help
in any part of the process.

You know, whether it's
just finding the cameraman

and handing off the
information or, you know,

helping out with call sheets
or scheduling,

visits to studios, site visits,
event logistics,

anything like that.

For filmmakers
trying to raise money

my first go-to,
you know, resource

is always your
local government.

So whether it's a film
office or film commissioner

or your local
representatives, you know,

see if there is any
incentives locally.

If not, you know, start
researching grants.

You'd be surprised
by the amount of,

even small couple
thousand dollars grants.

But that adds up
quickly,

every little bit helps.

And then, you have
great things like GoFundMe,

philanthropic, different
opportunities

for documentaries
and stuff like that.

So there are a lot of
different resources.

Use your local
resources and network

and build relationships
with people.

Don't try and do
everything online.

Even though we are, a very
internet focused world,

meet people face to
face, go to trade shows.

You never know who
you're gonna meet,

what you're gonna win.

I've met so many people that
win cameras and equipment

at trade shows
because they go in

and they put their name
in and they come back

and there's a drawing
and there you go.

And support those
local organizations.

They need your support too.

You don't know how
you can help them

later on down the road.

There might be people that are
looking to do the same thing

that you're trying to do
and meeting up with them,

collaborating, joining
forces that might

be the secret ingredient to
getting you where you want to go

with your project, with
your career as a whole.

My name is Ken Hickman.

I have raised millions of
dollars for the movies.

After 20 years in California,

I knew a lot of the movie
people and a lot of the actors

and a lot of the
producers I ran with them.

I would never
invest in a movie.

Last thing I would ever do.

I moved to Orlando to
expand our insurance company

and I met some fellows
from Universal.

They kept after me for about
a year to invest in a movie

and I just wouldn't have
anything to do with that.

But we became good friends
and after about a year,

I went home one night and
I told my wife, I said,

these guys are different.

They have a passion
I've never seen before

for the movie business.

And I said, I'm gonna
take a small plunge.

And I did during a premier.

I was so impressed, again,

with the drive and the passion

and the professionalism.

And they asked me to help
them out to raise some money

and I got involved.

We had some successes and 20
years later, still involved.

Well, basically I've
raised a lot of money.

Primarily I've raised money
from either the federal

or the local government.

I've raised money, for example,

from the Department of Justice,

for anti-drug
prevention campaigns,

from their Orlando
Tech Health department,

for teenage
pregnancy prevention.

I raised money from foundations
for a documentary series

on resident ownership
of public housing.

Most students and people want
to go get money from, is the

actual worst place
to get money from.

And that is people
in the industry,

people in Hollywood,
they don't have money.

They may have contacts but
they're not gonna put money

into your project.

Oddly enough, the
place to get money

is from people that
don't have luxury jobs

in the entertainment business.

Most investors honestly
come from your friends

and associates.

Essentially, this is the
key to raising money.

First, you establish
relationships,

and then you ask people
that you have relationships

for money.

See, opportunities
are plentiful.

Money is plentiful.

Relationships are rare.

I'm Jeanette Bliss,
and I'm a realtor.

I'm Tom bliss and I
am also a realtor.

[Rick] How would
you characterize

the whole business of
fundraising for movies?

I would look at it as
more of an opportunity

to invest money and be
sure that they understand

the rules of the game.

[Rick] Is different selling
a piece of real estate

versus selling someone
an interest in a movie?

I don't think so.

Everybody's got a hot button
and you need to find it,

whether it's real estate or
a investment into a movie.

Different things, turn
different people on

and you need to read the
people and find that out.

This film industry,
as you well know,

is extremely different
and could be difficult.

Raising money for
a film is not easy.

It's one thing to
find the money,

it's another thing
to get the check.

They think, movie stars
and the industry itself

being wild and unpredictable
and some success

and they know big names that
are going to be successful

so I think if you had
somebody very successful

that would walk in
and be in a movie

you'd probably
have more response

but yeah, in general,
they roll their eyes.

[Rick] Most people think
Hollywood or filmmaking

is a big con game
and they're like,

"ah, I don't want
anything to do with it."

Why is that?

There's a lot of evidence
out there that, uh...

they're right,

in a lot of cases.

How many movies, uh,

big movies have been made,

where the investor
didn't get one dime back?

I've never brought an
investor in, to my knowledge

that I don't say, look,

if you can't afford to
lose $10,000 on a card game

in Las Vegas in a night's time,
don't invest in a movie.

And there was no sense of
trying to sell somebody

a black suit if came
in to buy a white suit.

So you've got to really
evaluate who you're talking to.

And you're right, the
international buyer

is totally different.

Their motives, their goals,
the way they communicate,

their aggressiveness,
they're totally different

than your domestic investor.

One reason why we've
been so successful

is that we have come across
honest and we are honest.

That's very important.

Just don't tell the investor
what he wants to hear.

Tell him the facts.

And I have found out
something over the years,

nothing happens overnight.

If you don't have patience
you're probably gonna be

in a lot of trouble and
it's never gonna happen.

Some of the greatest movies
ever made take 10, 20, 30 years

to get on the big screen.

And you can have, uh,

13 signed contracts for
all the money,

13 different times

and all of a sudden there's
a real estate crunch.

All of a sudden there's
a stock market crash.

All of a sudden, one
of your key investors

or two or three of
them pass away.

You've just got to stick to
it and make sure it happens.

And you can't ever give up.

[soft music]

I'm Chuck Elderd,
Film Commissioner,

Palm Beach, County, Florida.

Well, the first thing we
do is attract filmmakers

to an area.

So it's an invitation for
filmmakers to come and shoot

in that jurisdiction.

We also make it extremely
easy for filmmakers to shoot

because we tell them
where they can shoot,

most of all, where
they can't shoot

because they may fall
in love with a location

and all of a sudden
they find out

they can't use that location.

And then we are responsible
for helping them do two things,

stay on time and
stay on budget.

We are part of the
production crew

and that's the first
thing we look at.

And when we take
that responsibility,

it's not just when you
come here and shoot,

it's when we talk to you on
the telephone and we say,

we have your
location or we don't.

We have wonderful shorelines.

We have wonderful
other locations.

And we have 2,000 square
miles of gorgeous locations.

All of this is the kind of
location you wanna shoot in

if it matches your script

because then you have
to have the cooperation

and that is what the film
commission is here to do.

All of the services
that you're looking for

we can help you
provide on your budget.

Hi, I'm Christy Andreoni

and I'm the
Production Director

with the Palm Beach County
Film and Television Commission.

First starting out
in the industry,

I had no idea that film
commissions existed

and I didn't know
that government

got involved in the industry.

But the more I
was exposed to it,

the more I saw how
beneficial it can be

when you're an independent
filmmaker or otherwise

because you have a place to go

in no matter what
community you visit

where you can get all expert
information on locations,

on what kind of
regulations there are,

on what kind of
permits might be needed

and what kind of crew is there,

on what kind of
catering companies

might be best to work with.

How do you talk to filmmakers

as a state that currently
doesn't have incentives?

The message back to filmmakers,

especially young filmmakers is,

sometimes those incentives
that you hear about

the motion pictures
getting are more difficult

to handle on your budget
because the incentives

comes with responsibilities.

They call them deliverables.

So if you're gonna
get an incentive,

you wanna know what is the
criteria for using that?

And maybe it doesn't fit into
your script or your budget.

There is no free money.

The money comes with
responsibilities.

The money comes with red tape

that you may not want
to be involved in

and only experience
will tell you that.

What we have to do in the
absence of the incentive

is make everything else
better than anything else

they're gonna find.

With Florida, that
kind of comes naturally

because there's such a
diversity of locations,

sunny year round weather.

What we have to do beyond
that is really offer

the best service
we possibly can.

So that's having a
staff available 24/7

to address their concerns,

that's being actively involved

with location scouting
process to make sure

that they come here and film.

And all we can do is make
sure that every other aspect

of production here is the
most ideal it can possibly be.

When you're filming in
these major production hubs

in LA or New York
you're not gonna have

some of the barriers
here that you have there.

We wouldn't be a film commission
without Burt Reynolds.

I'm very fond of Burt
and I'm always impressed

with how much he cares
about the young people

in our community.

Once a year we have him in the
student showcase for films.

He gives a grant to
young students here

that meet with him
and interview with him

and he's still teaching
well into his 80s

as well as still acting.

So we're proud to call Burt
Reynolds our favorite son.

[Rick] What advice would
you give a filmmaker

looking for funding?

Have a really good story.

There are a lot of
projects that may sound

like they're
really good to you.

They may even
look good on paper

but we are in the entertainment
business, and storytelling

is first and foremost.

So know that you
can tell that story.

When you start throwing
in the locations

and the attachments know that
you can get the money to pay

for that story to be told
to where it is entertaining.

The rest of it is do
your homework, research.

A potential film
investor wants to know

you have your ducks in a row.

That you know that your film
is gone to shoot from A to Z.

Not only is the
permit important,

your investor's gonna wanna
know you're gonna have insurance

and you're gonna get permits

and under what circumstances

you're going to
do those things.

You cannot take a
shortcut in making a film

and think you can do it
without permits and insurance.

And that's the bottom line
to getting the confidence

of a financier.

My name is P.J Marks
and I'm an investor.

I actually have worked
on several movies.

One of the ones I worked
on was called "Meatballs 4"

and it was a water ski movie

and I was the water
ski coordinator.

[Rick] And how did
you get that job?

I was actually working
at SeaWorld at the time

and I intercepted a phone
call and kind of stole it.

And then I've also worked
on one that I produced.

It was a wakeboarding
instructional DVD

called "The Book DVD".

They owned a Wakeboard Camp at
the time and all my students

were asking for a
wakeboarding instructional DVD

and there really wasn't
a good one at the time

so I got together with a
couple of friends of mine

and we put it together
and I put up the money

and it did really well.

I think we got about a 38
times return on my investment.

My name is John English

and I'm a retired
government worker.

[Rick] Have you ever
invested in a motion picture?

Oh yes.

I started out small
and when I learned

what I was doing somewhat,

then I started moving
on to bigger projects.

I was very reluctant at first.

What type of financial
return do you expect

to see on a movie
you invest in?

Well, I hope to see
my initial investment

or at least two and a
half times the investment

then royalty checks
every 90 days.

[Rick] Oh, excuse me.

Scott has walking
in on the set.

Scott, what's going on?

John, I wanna thank you

for being one of my
most loyal investors

over the past 10 years

and instead of mailing the
checks, here's a few checks.

So open them up if you want.

Okay, sure will.

Okay. I love it every 90
days when this happens.

There's approximately
three checks there.

Well, there's one
I'm very happy with.

There's another one
I'm very happy with.

So out of the three,
I'm really happy.

One's a smaller one but I've
expected that over the years

for it to diminish.

I have never actually
invested in a movie before.

This is my first chance.

I knew some of the people
involved who were great people

and I thought it was an
interesting diversification

of investments.

What turns you on about
investing in a movie?

The fact that a there
can be potentially

a very high return in
a short period of time

but I think it's counter
cyclical to real estate

and the stock market
and other investments.

My name is Carl Blesione.

My occupation is I'm a dentist.

[Rick] Have you ever
invested in a motion picture?

Never.

[Rick] What turns you
on about investing

in a movie?

Well, first of all,
you wanna make money,

that's number one.

Number two, turning you on,

listen, I like getting
in front of the camera

so if I could be part
of something like that

to exude the passion and
the excitement of it,

that turns me on too.

My name is David Mackey
and I'm an actor.

The phone call that Scott
made to me regarding this film

just came out of the blue

and I listened to his
remarks, his pitch,

and after just
chatting with him

for a good 10 minutes or so,

I felt very strongly that I
needed to be a part of the film.

The way I got
involved in this was,

I think you saw a
post that I made,

that I was looking for
something to invest in

and you sent me some things
and I was kind of interested,

but it never really clicked
until I talked to you

on the phone because when I
started asking you questions

about this, you had
all the answers.

There was no stumbling.

There was no I'll
get back to you.

There was no BS.

Every time I asked a question,

the answer was right
there right away.

I have a natural tendency
to like to help my friends

and to help pretty
much all people.

I do that in my law
practice and in my life.

So when I received the call

that there was just a certain
amount of money needed

to break escrow, it was a
really easy decision for me

because the film sounded
like a great idea.

So between the friendship and
the need that was apparent

at that particular time,

it was an easy
decision for me.

[Scott] All right. I got
one more question for you.

I'll just preface by saying
we're gonna be friends

no matter what.

Okay.

So I'm just gonna
throw this out there.

We need like three or
four more $5,000 shares

for our marketing budget.

Would you like to put in
another one or two shares?

I'll put in one more share.

We get that on camera?

[Mark laughs]

Casey Tennyson, I'm a
writer, I'm an author,

I'm a book publisher
and I own an ad agency.

Invest in something you're
going to have fun with

and something that you like,

in a topic that
you're interested in

because then you become
a better investor

because then you're gonna
be excited about it,

you're gonna help promote it

and really word of
mouth and networking

is all part of a marketing mix.

Was one of the reasons
that you invested in this film

that you could promote your
own writing and your own books?

Yes, of course.

So, my books, my
novels, again,

were always written
with the intent

of making them into films

and so this film just
ties in perfectly

with what I'm already
doing in the world

and I can't wait to write
an article about it.

Thanks for including me.

I'm excited to
be a part of it.

[Rick] What the hell
are you doing here?

Man, I am excited, Barb
we're investing in a movie.

It's exciting.

[Rick] Is this the first movie

you've ever invested in?

Yes, absolutely.

[Rick] Why did you
invest in thismovie?

We were approached by a friend

who we have a lot of faith in,

I was intrigued by the
magic of movie making

and wanted to see the set
and what it was all about.

For me as a business person
and a practical person

it was a win-win.

Here's an opportunity to
help move another friend

along in his career and have
a potential to capitalize on

their experiences and
also to help promote

what we care about.

It's helping other people
with their health

and eventually a lifestyle of
a retirement residual income.

[upbeat music]

Oh, it's so great to be here.

My name is Bob Bell and
this is my beautiful wife--

[Barbara] Barbara Bell.

And you know the feeling you
have just before Christmas,

just that excitement and
anticipation of, you know,

there's something really
special right behind the door.

That's the way Barbara
and I feel about

what we're sharing here today.

I was introduced to
Valentus by a friend

that I knew 30 years ago.

They told me about a product.

Jenny Craig meets
Starbucks, oh my gosh,

a weight loss coffee,
my energy level's great

and so we just
had to share it.

And by sharing it, we're
helping other people.

The latest part we came out
with was the hot chocolate,

which is really exciting

because who doesn't
wanna lose weight

while drinking hot chocolate?

We have these beverages that
you just add to powder to it

all natural, no GMOs and it
helps your body function better.

So if you wanna learn more
about this, go to our website,

www.youseeresults.com.

Barbara and I look
forward to meeting you

and helping you meet all your
health and wellness needs.

Thank you so much.

[applause]

Well, to be honest, being
the biggest investor

is a little nerve wracking.

I mean, this is my
first big project

and I'm really
rolling the dice,

but now that I'm here
and I'm meeting everybody

and I'm seeing what's
going on every day,

I'm starting to feel
more comfortable with it.

Well, one thing I realized
about this project

is the enormous amount
of pre-production.

I think that's something
that's really overlooked.

The planning that goes into
it is probably more important

than the actual
production itself

because that's
not gonna happen

if everything's
not laid out right.

And I was really blown
away by the amount of work

that everyone's put
into it beforehand.

There's a track record,
there's a history.

and all of these things make
you feel more comfortable

as an investor.

[Rick] Valentas, we
took money to put them

in the movie and to promote
their product, you know,

and I loved them,
they're great.

But do you think
we in any way hurt

the integrity of this film
by taking money from them

even though we'll disclose
it in the credits?

I think any other movie, yes
it could be compromising.

I think in this
particular movie,

'cause the whole movie
is about film financing.

The whole point of this movie
is to show and empower people

how they can raise
money for their movie.

Well, Bob Bell, I've
known for 35, 40 years.

One of my best friends.

I called him up, there's no
secret that every single person

that we talked to, if
they had any interest,

they could possibly
be in the movie.

And we got a lot of the
investors in the movie.

So in Bob's case, we knew
he had this great product

that he's passionate about.

I said, Bob, if you put
in a little extra money,

we can actually
put your product,

not only mention that you're
a Valentus representative,

but we can actually put your
products, show your products

in the movie.

[Rick] I just think
it will be criticized

by some people that we lost
the integrity of the movie

by doing it.

And you know, as a filmmaker,
you'll always want purity.

I always want integrity.

They're wonderful people.

I know nothing
about the product,

but it's just odd
that we did it.

But I do think it's
an interesting example

and you should have got a
hell of a lot more money

than we got from him.

He got a hell of a deal.
[laughs]

[upbeat piano music]

[audience applauding]

My name is Donovan Parker.

Welcome.

Thank you.

I wrote a script based
on Christopher Dudus Coke.

It's an interesting story.

Everyone love it.

I want to know about the
financing of that project.

I love writing and I want a
connection to make it happen.

My suggestion is when
they're trying to raise money

and they need to put
together a business plan,

they first perhaps find
a producer to work with.

If you're lucky, also a
director to work with.

I think it's really
all about networking.

You never know if
you learn that skill

of just meeting people
and talking people,

you never know who
you could meet,

that can take your screenplay,
get excited about it,

and help you finance it or
help you take it to a studio.

Palmer Edward, and
I'm a screenwriter.

I've written a script.

I'm an award winning
screenwriter.

I've won awards and you
know, just film festivals

and things like that.
It's small stuff,

but I'm trying to write

between one and $5
million low budget.

Any advice in what I could
do to keep it that angle

and make sure I don't go past.

I'm gonna say if you've
written eight screenplays,

you haven't sold one,

you're doing something wrong.

So what you need to do
is go back and figure out

what's the flaw
in the material.

When I taught screenwriting,

I used to teach an introductory
class and a workshop class.

We sold about 65 movie
scripts out of my classes

in the years that I taught,
which was unbelievable.

Some of those movies got
made like "Closet Land".

The Steven Seagal movie,
"Hard to Kill" got made.

What happened in my classes
was the first 10 ideas

that every screenwriter
had never sold.

So I used to tell them
you have to come up

with a hundred ideas.

So I made all of
my writers come up

with a hundred movie ideas.

Almost every one of the
65 or so scripts that sold

was above number 75.

It was the last 25 that
you finally figure out

what you wanna say.

You wanna figure out
what your story is.

And what I think you
need to do is come up

with a hundred great ideas.

When I used to go to the
studios to pitch ideas,

and I went to most
of the major studios,

the studio executives
would say to me,

"tell me a story
I've never heard."

-[Louise] Yeah.
-[Rick] "Dazzle me."

And one studio executive
said to me one time,

I hear dozens of
pitches every day.

And he said, when I
go to bed at night

and I put my head
on the pillow,

it's the idea that I think of
I call the next day and I buy.

You've got to create an
idea that's so unique,

so original, so compelling

that someone is willing
to go raise money for it

or write you a check for
it or make that film.

And you're competing
against everybody.

You're competing against
me, Steven Spielberg,

you're competing with
"The Blair Witch" guys.

You're competing
with the smartest,

most creative
people in the world

and you've got to come up
with something better, unique

and original

That's interesting, but
you're the second person

that gave me the advice
about the a hundred concept.

Who's that other person?

A guy out in Hollywood.

That's a genius.

If you don't have a fire in
your belly to tell those stories

and to cram those stories
down someone's throat,

to make money
people look at them

and to pay attention to them,

they're not gonna get paid.

So my thing is, get in
touch with your passion.

And I think the people
that make great films

have a sense of outrage,
a sense of anger

and that drives them
to create great art.

And we live in a society
today, in my opinion,

where it's getting
harder and harder

to be an original person.

You're penalized.

You know, my favorite
filmmaker is Stanley Kubrick

and Stanley Kubrick went out,
made all these great movies

and warned us about letting
everybody become a number

and losing our humanity
and machines taking over

and everything that Kubrick
projected in those movies

is coming true.

Look at what's happening in
our society and in the world.

And so art will save us.

Politics will not save us.

Media will not save us.

And art has the capability
because it opens people's minds,

it changes opinions, and
it influences people.

-Thank you.
-[Rick] That's my answer.

[soft music]

Hi. My name is Laura Faye.

I'm a writer and I wrote a
book about Muslims in America

based on my own
experience as a teacher.

I have a couple of questions.

One would be how to get
it made into a screenplay.

You made a point earlier
about there are other people

who create and then there are
the people who have control.

I wanted to know if you could
speak to that a little more

and how do you have both?

Because one of my fears
about making this into a film

is obviously losing control.

First thing I would recommend
is make it a published book.

Even if you go on and
do it through Amazon,

just to control a copyright
and to have content control.

It is treacherous when you
have original literary material

and you don't want someone
to steal it or dilute it

or rip it off.

I would get the book published

because then you're in control.

Almost every book published in
the world is read by somebody

who wants to make
a movie of it.

In other words, they're
looking for that product.

You'd be shocked.

One thing that appeals to
me and what you just said,

and there's a shortcut.

You go to a star to play
the character in the memoir

and let's just pick, you know,
who would be a good example?

Reese Witherspoon.

Reese Witherspoon,
perfect example.

Reese Witherspoon
has her own company

and she makes great movies
and she might wanna play

that character or she might
wanna call one of her friends

and now you're kind
of on a fast track.

Whenever you can get
a movie star attached

to your literary property,
you're now in the fast track.

You're like in the turbo lane

and it always makes
everything go faster.

It's harder to
maintain control,

but if you publish the book,

they're gonna respect
you a lot more

and you're gonna be
able to remain part of

the creative process.

What happens is, when
you write a screenplay

and you're just
trying to sell it,

you have no creative control.

Like in your case, they're
just gonna throw money at you

and they're gonna tell
you to get lost, right?

And so, you know,
that's fun for awhile,

but then it's like
selling your children.

You really don't like doing it.

You know, when I
first sold scripts...

You're right, I don't
know your children.

You are correct.

Thank you.

Thank you for asking.
I appreciate it.

Hi, my name is
Gabrielle A. Paris.

I'm an actress and a student
of Mr. Burt Reynolds.

So the thing that
you're talking about

with the whole producing
and the actresses

and they want the good parts,

I've had a really hard time
with that in terms of quality

and just, you know, I
had to really learn like,

who's the sound guy?

Who's this guy?

Who's the AD you know,
what type of camera

we're using, is it 4k?

All the good stuff,
is it a good editor?

So I had to learn
the back end of it.

So I just recently had somebody
write just a short film

and I played the lead in it.

I produced this,
I co-produced it

but I didn't put my name
down as a producer on it.

You didn't put
your name on it?

Not as a producer

because I was talking
to another producer

and I was like, I'm producing
my first short film.

He's like, well, that kind
of makes you look bad.

If you produce your own films.

I don't think it hurts at all.

No.

It says that you're motivated.

It says that you're willing
to put yourself out there.

I think you're to
be commended for it.

I a hundred percent
agree with Louise.

Yeah, I totally.

You're a actor and a producer.

Yeah. So I totally agree,

you should have your name
on as a producer as well.

So go back and fix those
credits if you want.

One of the first
short films I did,

very, very little money, $5,000.

It was a pretty beefy short.

Ended up being 29, 30 minutes

and we got a lot of local
press with different people

that were attached to the film.

Just little pieces of
press however we could

then we started taking
it to festivals.

We got really lucky,
won first place

at the New York
International Film Festival

and because of this buzz
that we started developing

from these festivals,

that's what ended us
getting a million dollars

to make the feature
version of that short.

That was where I was--

So if it starts playing
well in festivals,

promote it as much
as you can, you know,

it might be expandable
into a feature.

Lot of feature films you've
seen over the years started out

as a short film.

It's very strange.

Sometimes it just takes one
person for you to connect with.

You're gonna be successful

just because you're doing that.

See, 99% of the people
never do anything.

They just talk about it.

Right.

[ominous music]

[soft music]

I'm passionate about
self-expression art.

I write and I was making a
movie when I was in Michigan.

It was about the struggles of...

It was about a couple cool cats
going through a rough breeze

at a hard time, really.

But it--

Wait a minute. Say it
again, couple of what?

Cool cats going through a
rough breeze at a hard time.

And I was making this
movie and the idea

was to make it sort of a musical
and add the poetry into it

but it was about two people
who I met through my job

and Lansing up there.

They're a homeless couple trying
to get back on their feet,

who had their six
kids taken away.

And I thought their
story needed to be told

and I got really into,
very passionate about it.

It was a no budget
movie, not a low budget.

It was, I love
it, but it's okay.

It's not 4k, It's
more like "no K"

but it's way too
long right now

it's like, I don't
know, three hours

and I don't even
know what to cut out,

but I definitely know it
needs more but I'm not there

so I can't really finish it,

but I'm kind of trying
to cut it together still

when I have time.

What else do I have to say?

I have a question for you.

Oh yeah, will you
fund my movie?

I will potentially invest
in it but I won't fund it.

And the key is to finish it.

No matter how good or
bad it is, finish it.

Like this guy right here
with the eight screenplays,

no, I give a lot of
respect to this guy.

He's finished a screenplay.

He will be a motion
picture screenwriter

in this lifetime.

You've already
started and committed,

but you got to have
stick to it-ness.

You've gotta get obsessed
with one project,

get a project that you
can't sleep at night

'cause you're thinking about
and finish it no matter what.

I don't care if it's bad,

sometimes it's okay
to make a bad film

to figure out what you did
wrong to go make a good film.

I applaud you for
asking that question.

Will you fund my movie?

Because a lot of
people just are afraid

to ask that question.

So really get focused,
really figure out a game plan

to finish this movie and
just have that persistence.

A quote by one of my
favorite indie directors,

John Salzi, said,

"Raising money for a
movie is like hitchhiking.

It could be the first ride.

It could be the thousandth,

but you have to stay out
there with your thumb out

and be patient and
you also have to know

when not to get into the car."

I wanna leave you just
with one little secret

that I've never shared with
any group before in my life.

I firmly believe you
have to pick up the phone

and call somebody.

Whether it's an idea, whether
you're looking for money,

I believe that's the
truly the best way

to further your career.

So here's the secret and
you're kind of breaking

the rules a little bit.

Here's exactly what
a friend of mine did.

If you go on some of
these social media sites,

if you do not mask
the phone number,

sometimes you can click
and find the phone number,

but more often than not, you
can't find the phone number.

Sometimes you can Google.

It's a little bit easier to us

but it's still pretty tough to
find people's phone numbers.

So this individual, who's
a producer in Hollywood,

he posted an all his
social media sites.

Oh, I just lost my phone and
all my contact information.

Will you please DM me
your cell phone number.

Within two or three days, he
got about 400 phone numbers.

By the end of the year, he had
his next feature film funded.

So a little trick.

If you happen to
lose your phone,

there's a way to get
a lot of phone numbers

and just reach out whatever
you're trying to do.

I wish you all the best.

I thank you deeply
for coming tonight.

I hope you learned
something from this

and I appreciate you
all being in my movie.

Thank you very much.

[audience applauding]

[soft music]

So here's the thing, Ken, as
we're wrapping up this film.

we wanna pitch you to come
on as executive producer

on our next film.

Scott, Maggie, and I wanna
talk to you tonight

about you coming on board.

This is the last
night of filming

and we want to do another
film in this budget range.

And we've got a
very creative idea

that's never been done before
that we believe can be done

for the same exact budget we
just did this documentary.

And I wanna know
what it's gonna take

to get you to commit to being

the executive
producer on that.

[Scott] I think if we can shoot
for June 1st as a target,

never promise any
investor anything,

but that would be the
targeted delivery date

for all the funds.

And if that went well, we
could shoot this summer

and still catch a
late Sundance entry.

Now, if we miss that
target by a month

or two or three months,

we can still shoot at the
end of the year, either way.

-[inspiring music]
-[dialogue fading out]

[Rick] Y ou have the power to
make the movie you wanna make,

the way you wanna make it.

Don't squander the great
opportunity you have.

Empower yourself,

make the things that
you want in your life

and make a better world.

Make a better world.

God bless you, thank
you for coming.

-[audience applauding]
-[soft music]

[upbeat music]

[Rick] What question
should I have asked you

that I didn't?

[Burt laughs]

I can't think of a single one.

[Rick laughs]

[Rick] You're too nice.

[upbeat music]

[Rick] There were
lots of actors

when I was in Hollywood
imitating you,

but your personality,

and your range,

I think you're one of the
most underrated actors ever

in the history of cinema.

To go and do "Deliverance",

then go do "Smokey
and the Bandit",

to do the films and the prolific
number of films you made,

you directed, you produced.

I mean, it's an
extraordinary achievement.

What was the secret?

Was there a secret?

Was it hard work?

Was it you learned your craft?

Was it the force of
your personality?

Is this question too long?

Thank you, first of all.

I never had a problem...

going into the
darkest place to go,

the hardest place to go.

You know, you can't try to
be anybody, just be yourself.

[upbeat music]

[Rick] But you also produced,
how did you get the money?

Because when I was in
Hollywood, people said,

"Burt Reynolds can film the
yellow pages and we'll fund it."

In other words, if you wanted
to read the yellow pages,

the studios would
have backed you.

Is that true or did you just
pick up the phone and say,

hey, I wanna do this or
somebody brought you a project?

I haven't tried the
yellow pages yet.

[upbeat music]

So many films, so
much diversity,

so many great pictures.

I just think my gosh,
you've been part of America,

you and John Wayne.

It's like, if there was a
Mount Rushmore of actors,

if you will look at the box
office and the popularity,

it's you and John Wayne,
those are the numbers.

I mean, that's an
extraordinary accomplishment.

I hope you like John Wayne.

[crew clapping]

Yeah. I love Duke
and I love this work.

[upbeat music]

[Rick] Did you ever have,

when you were directing people,

try to tell you how
to make a movie?

Oh yeah.

And I tell them how to make
a couple of other things.

[Rick] Might've
been a knuckle sandwich

in some of those.

It was something
like that, yeah.

[upbeat music]

[Rick] What's the
secret of getting

a project funded?

Is there a secret either in
Hollywood or as an independent?

Well, you got a script that
is a commercial script.

Commercial in the sense that
it's got the things in it

that people wanna go see.

I mean, I don't know, what's
the hottest movie today,

you know?

[Man] "Black Panther"

"Black Panther", yeah.

[Rick] "Black Panther's"

what you just said earlier

but it's something people
haven't seen before.

-It's overdue, it's overdue.
-[Rick] Exactly.

That an African-American has
not had the lead in a movie

playing an
action-adventure hero,

is ludicrous. And this is what?

2000 and what?

[Rick] Let's say 19
by the time this film,

this film comes out. No, I'm
just teasing.

No. In "Wonder
Woman", same story.

Same thing.

[upbeat music]

[Rick] One of the
highlights of my life,

to do this interview with you.

You are an absolute
national treasure

for this country, Mr. Reynolds.

Thank you, sir.

-God bless you.
-[crew clapping]

-Thank you. Thank You.
-[crew clapping]

You're very kind,
very, very kind.

Easy to to talk to.

God bless you.

[ominous music]