Film Maker Action Guide

The Jason Brubaker Movie Maker Action Guide
For Serious Independent Filmmakers
Step-By-Step
Action Guide
In the following step-by-step guide, you will get an
overview of the filmmaking process. If you follow the
steps outlined in this guide, you will gain an
understanding of the independent filmmaking process.
Jason Brubaker
Cover design by Ian Hannin

www.IanHannin.com
©2016 Brubaker Unlimited LLC. All rights reserved. No part of this book,
including interior design, cover design, and icons may be reproduced or
transmitted in any form, by any means (electronic, photocopying, recording
or otherwise) without the prior written permission of the author, except for
the inclusion of brief quotations in a review.
To get more filmmaking tools, visit www.MakeYourMovieNow.com

Disclaimers and Disclosures and Warnings

Take Action: Make Your Movie Now! ® is a registered trademark of Brubaker
Unlimited LLC and may not be used without written permission from the
athor. Visit www.FilmmakingStuff.com for more information and resources.
Author’s Note
This book is based heavily on the author’s filmmaking experience. When

possible, he has included personal examples. With that said, you may have a
question or two, so feel free to email: Jason@FilmmakingStuff.com
Warning – Disclaimers
This book is designed to provide information on modern moviemaking and

filmmaking. It is sold with the understanding that the author or publisher is
not providing tax, accounting, legal, investment, business or other
professional advice. Filmmaking is risky. While the process of making movies
can be fun, filmmaking can also be detrimental to your life, your wellbeing,
your relationships and your savings account.
The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper

filmmaking training. Like any business involving money, employees, personal
and professional liability and emotions, Filmmaking poses inherent risks.
Although the author and publisher have made every effort to ensure that the
information in this book was correct at press time, the information contained
herein is limited. This book is meant to provide a viewpoint on filmmaking and
serve as a supplement to other texts and information on the subject. The
purpose of this book is to educate and entertain.
The author and publisher do not assume and hereby disclaim any liability to
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whether such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident, or any
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Contents
INTRODUCTION: ABOUT THIS GUIDE 1

STEP 1: STUDY EVERYTHING FILMMAKING 2
STEP 2: WRITE OR ACQUIRE A GREAT SCRIPT 3
STEP 3 - COMPLETE INITIAL BREAKDOWN 4
STEP 4 - CUT THE FAT 5
STEP 5 - DIGITAL FILM DISTRIBUTION 6
STEP 6 – CREATE A BUSINESS PLAN 7
STEP 7 - CROWDFUNDING 8
STEP 8 - FIND PROSPECTIVE INVESTORS 9
STEP 9 – PUSH FOR MOVIE MONEY 10
STEP 10 – PRESENT YOUR PROJECT HONESTLY 11
STEP 11 - GET FAVORS AND FREEBIES 12
STEP 12 - PICK YOUR PRODUCTION DATE 13
STEP 13 - CONTRACTS AND RELEASES 14
STEP 14 – VISION AND PERSISTENCE 15
STEP 15 – FIND GOOD PEOPLE 16
STEP 16 - FINALIZE YOUR SCRIPT 17
STEP 17 – FINAL MOVIE SCHEDULE 18
STEP 18 – CREATE A FINAL BUDGET 19
STEP 19 - GET YOUR CREW 20
STEP 20 – DELEGATE TO YOUR TEAM 21
STEP 21 – LOCK DOWN LOCATIONS 22
STEP 22 – CREATE PLAN A, PLAN B AND PLAN C. 23
STEP 23 – HIRE A DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY 24
STEP 24 – DEFINE YOUR TARGET AUDIENCE 25
STEP 25 – ESTABLISH DOMAIN AND WEBSITE 26
STEP 26 – RESEARCH DISTRIBUTION OPTIONS 27
STEP 27 – FIND ACTORS 28
STEP 28 – SOCIAL MEDIA CASTING 29
STEP 29 – CAST AND TABLE READ 30
STEP 30 – FOOD IS CURRENCY 31
STEP 31 – CHECK CONTRACTS AND RELEASES 32
STEP 32 – CAMERA DEPARTMENT 33
STEP 33 – GET PLENTY OF SLEEP 34
STEP 34 – MEET WITH YOUR DEPARTMENTS 35

STEP 35 – LET PEOPLE DO THEIR JOBS 36

STEP 36 – DON’T BE A JERK 37
STEP 37 – PRODUCTION 38
STEP 38 – UNDERSTAND RELEASE WINDOWS 39
STEP 39 – GET SOME PRESS 40
STEP 40 – HAVE WRAP PARTY 41
STEP 41 – EDIT YOUR MOVIE 42
STEP 42 – HAVE A SCREENING 43
STEP 43 – REFINE YOUR EDIT 44
STEP 44 – SCREEN YOUR MOVIE AGAIN 45
STEP 45 – SOUND FX AND MUSIC 46
STEP 46 – SCREEN AGAIN 47
STEP 47 – PLAN FESTIVAL STRATEGY 48
STEP 48 – DISTRIBUTE YOUR MOVIE 49
STEP 49 – DEALS PAY MONEY 50
STEP 50 – REFINE MOVIE WEBSITE 51
STEP 51 – PROMOTE YOUR TRAILER 52
STEP 52 - WRITE PRESS RELEASES 53
STEP 53 – SEO FOR MOVIE PROMOTION 54
STEP 54 – FORUMS FOR COMMUNITY 55
STEP 55 – SOCIAL MEDIA FOR YOUR MOVIE 56
STEP 56 – TWEET MOVIES 57
STEP 57 – WORD OF MOUTH PROMOTION 58
STEP 58 – CHECK WEBSITE STATS 59
STEP 59 – GROW YOUR LIST 60
STEP 60 – MONITOR CONVERSION RATES 61
STEP 61 – PAY FOR ADVERTISING 62
STEP 62 – THINK ABOUT NEXT PROJECT 63
STEP 63 – SEVEN MEETINGS MAKES A RELATIONSHIP 64
STEP 64 – REJECTION IS GOOD 65
STEP 65 – MULTIPLE STREAMS OF MOVIE INCOME 66
MODERN MOVIEMAKING MANIFESTO 67
ABOUT FILMMAKING STUFF 74

Filmmaker Action Guide
Introduction: About This Guide
Thank you for taking the time to absorb information

contained the following filmmaking guide.
My name is Jason Brubaker. As you may know from

reading www.filmmakingstuff.com, I’m a Los Angeles
based motion picture executive. I have produced films
and these days, I work in film distribution. (We will
cover distribution tactics later!)
Like you, I love the film industry. Whenever I work on

new projects, I get so excited that I can hardly sleep!
When I was first starting out, everything about making

movies in Hollywood seemed like a far off dream. I
remember spending every waking hour trying to absorb
some new information that would enable me to get
close to my filmmaking reality.
In my quest, I was frustrated with the material

available to me. It seemed like so many of the other
books and courses never answered the key questions I
had. In the following pages, I have provided essential
steps you can take for getting your movie made, seen
and sold. I warn you now, once you learn these
filmmaking methods, you can never go back to your old
ideas about making movies in Hollywood.
Everything you’re about to absorb represents the very

insights I discovered through trial, error, frustration
and sleepless nights. Had I known these secrets when I
was starting out, I would have saved years, money and
lots of frustration. I wish you the very best in both your
filmmaking and your life!
Copyright 2016 | www.FilmmakingStuff.com/Subscribe/ 1

Step 1: Study Everything Filmmaking
One of the best ways to get started as a filmmaker

involves watching every movie you possibly can. Take
note of camera angles, lighting and the pacing of the
movie. (I recommend writing in a notebook.)
It is also helpful to read as many screenplays as

possible. A quick search on the Internet will help you
find screenplays. As soon as possible, read at least 100
screenplays and watch at least 50 movies.
Additionally, you will want to read every book on the

subject of filmmaking. Find out how to write a good
screenplay. Find out how to choose the correct
equipment. Find out how to schedule and budget your
movie. Find out how to finance your movie.
And importantly, study the autobiographies of the

filmmakers who have come before you. You should
make a goal to read at least 50 filmmaking books. Each
resource will provide at lease one useful filmmaking tip.
As many filmmakers learn from doing, I suggest you

grab a camera and start videotaping short movies for
YouTube. This is the future. Join the many people
becoming YouTubers.
Making short movies for YouTube will allow you to

practice your craft, build an audience, gain audience
feedback and learn from your mistakes. You may also
benefit from taking some of the many weekend
workshops that are available for serious, independent
filmmakers.
A good filmmaker is not afraid to fail. Learn from this.
2 Copyright 2016 | www.FilmmakingStuff.com/Subscribe/

Step 2: Write Or Acquire a Great Script
Screenwriting is the heavy lifting for your movie.

Without a good script you limit your chances for
success from the onset. Bad scripts are bad movies.
Your goal is to only work with the best material you can
get your hands on. Decide if you will write your
screenplay yourself, collaborate with a writing partner
or acquire your screenplay from someone else.
If you choose to write your screenplay yourself, do not

be afraid to write a crappy first draft. Most writers in
Hollywood claim to have a screenplay, but this is simply
not true. And this is important to remember…
Most would-be screenwriters have only written the first

fifteen pages for a screenplay and they will probably
never finish. This is because they are afraid of failure.
But not you. Your goal is to write, and write, and write.
Finish a crappy first draft. Then work to refine it.
In the event you simply want to acquire good material,

many filmmakers research up-and-coming writers in
hopes of finding someone competent. Once word gets
out that you’re looking for material, I guarantee you
will be inundated by many writers seeking a producer.
I suggest that you only research new screenwriters who

have a similar vision to your own. And if you want to
work with someone good, you may have to pay a fee to
option the material. But at least you will know the type
of work you are getting. And you get what you pay for.

Step 3 - Complete Initial Breakdown
Once you have a screenplay that you want to produce,

you will need to figure out how much your movie will
cost. When faced with this budget question, many
filmmakers pull a number out of thin air.
While it is great to have a rough idea of your budget, it

is much better to set realistic expectations. Your goal is
to complete an initial breakdown so you can get a
refined estimate of how much money you will need.
A breakdown involves distilling your movie down to it’s

core, raw elements. Then figuring out how much it will
cost to bring these elements to life. I prefer creating a
rough schedule. Your goal is to schedule every scene in
your movie and determine how much time you’ll need.
In this process, you will analyze each scene and

determine what elements are needed and when.
Examples of elements include actors, sets, locations,
props, wardrobe, transportation, and more. Take these
elements off the page and list them in your budget.
Once complete, you will have a starting budget.
There are several ways to complete a breakdown,

schedule, and budget. You can hire a line producer or
you can use professional scheduling and budgeting
software. The industry-standard budgeting and
scheduling software is called Movie Magic. But over the
last few years, cloud-based production management
tools have gained popularity.
You may want to check out the software (they pay me

to promote) found at IndieProductionTool.com

Step 4 - Cut The Fat
Looking at the initial budget, is there anything you can

get for a discount, or free, or barter? Depending on
where you plan to produce your movie, you may find
that local businesses and restaurants will provide free
resources, locations and food.
I will explain on how to more in a later step. But for

now, just know that finding deals is essential for the
success of your movie. Because everything is
negotiable, make a list of all the deals you think you
can get while maintaining your integrity.
You must also remember that many areas of your

script are very expensive. This includes the use of child
actors, animals and weather. While sourcing these
elements may seem easy, once on set, you may find
that the unpredictability inherent to each can cause
delays and setbacks. Remember that time is money.
Avoid any element that you cannot easily control. If

you have elements that are not absolutely necessary to
the story, they should be avoided at all times. With
some creativity, you can always substitute with less
expensive alternatives.
My producer friend Forest Murray taught me that your

screenplay, your schedule and your budget are actually
part of the same larger document. If you change one
element in any of document, then you are actually
changing all of them. Remember this.
Make sure you avoid making haphazard changes to any

of the documents. Thinking this way will help you
realize the bigger scope and scale of your project.

Step 5 - Digital Film Distribution
DVD distribution is on the demise. And inexpensive

production technology has allowed many untalented
filmmakers to flood the marked with cheaply produced,
crappy movies. This has serious consequences for
filmmakers. This means that you can no longer base an
entire distribution strategy on outside studios “picking
up” completed movies. Doing so is reckless and silly.
Digital film distribution is now a primary way movies

are getting seen and sold. As a result, it is necessary
for filmmakers to create a marketing, sales and
distribution plan for their movie. To succeed, you will
need to write a marketing and sales plan.
Your movie sales plan will define your target audience.

It will include specific tactics for reaching your audience
and promoting your movie. Your plan will also detail
the marketplaces you will utilize to achieve your goals.
Will you take the festival route? Will you send your
movie directly to sales agents and acquisition pros? Or
will you sell your movie on iTunes or Hulu or both?
Once you figure out how will you leverage both online
and offline media to achieve the necessary sales, you
will need to budget for this. How many units will you
need to sell at a defined price point to break even? How
much will it cost you to sell enough units to make a
profit? How much time will you need to execute your
marketing plan and achieve these goals?
It is essential that you answer these questions before

you start producing your movie. Remember this
success mantra for your filmmaking.
“If it’s meant to be, it is totally up to me.”

Step 6 – Create a Business Plan
Creating an independent film business plan allows you

to fully understand the business aspects of your
project. You will want to outline your budget and show
prospective investors how money will be spent. You will
highlight your team, your objectives and importantly,
your marketing, sales and distribution strategy.
Completing an independent film business plan is a

great towards getting the money, but this is not the
only step. In the United States, the Securities and
Exchange Commission was established to protect
uninformed investors from scams. With the creation of
the SEC, several laws, regulations and guidelines have
been put in place to protect the innocent.
With your attorney’s help, building off information

outlined in your business plan, you will create a set of
documents called a private placement memorandum.
Your PPM will outline the goals for your movie. The
document will also explain the possible upside to your
project. But more importantly, the document will help
prospective investors understand the inherent risks.
Compliance, transparency and trust is essential.
In addition to creating a PPM, your attorney will

probably advise you to set up a legal business entity
such as a corporation or limited liability company. While
most anybody can bring litigation against you at any
time, it is important to keep your movie business
separate from your personal assets. Taking time to
complete this step is essential and worth the far more
than the price you pay for the paperwork.

Step 7 - Crowdfunding
Crowdfunding allows you to reach out to friends, family

and social networks to raise money for your movie. But
aside from raising money, the more important aspects
of crowdfunding include testing, proving and pre-selling
your movie concept. A crowdfunding campaign allows
you to test the footprint of your social influence.
Testing your concept before going into production can

save you headaches. When crowdfunding attempts fail,
it could mean your movie concept is not yet interesting
to the marketplace, your social media reach is limited
or your entire marketing strategy needs tweaked.
When in doubt, think of your project like an investor.

Which of the following scenarios seem more risky? The
filmmaker who just completed a great crowdfunding
campaign, sourced a mailing list of 10,000 rabid fans
clamoring to see the movie? Or the unproven project
with no plan for ROI (return on investment.)
Just because you are producing a film does not mean

that you are no longer bound to the general principals
of business. You are responsible for creating a product
and finding a way to sell your product for maximum
profit. Without a sound business strategy, you will
potentially get lost in the marketplace.
You must never forget that you are creating a product.
Before you approach any prospective investor, you

need to first figure out how your project will make
money. Crowdfunding is great way to test the selling
strength of your concept without spending all year
creating a movie nobody wants to watch.

Step 8 - Find Prospective Investors
When I started out, I didn’t know any rich or successful

people. I grew up in a small town surrounded by
factory workers. Like most filmmakers, I spent a lot of
time trying to figure out how I would find an investor
for my projects. At one point I read a book totally
unrelated to filmmaking called Rich Dad Poor Dad.
The book talked about rich people – How they think

about money and what they look for in investments.
The book changed my life. The book also filled me with
inspiration. I went out and started asking around to see
if my friends if they knew any rich people. They did.
One friend told me about a popular, local auto dealer

who owned a dozen car dealerships. I had heard his
name my whole life. He had billboards and television
commercials. So I figured I might as well call him.
Making my first cold call, I picked up the telephone and

dialed his dealership. I was shaking with nervousness.
What if he hung up? I ended up leaving a message with
his secretary. And to my surprise, my prospective
investor called back and we set up a meeting. What
followed was the beginning of a business relationship.
(For the record, this guy was worth 67 million dollars.)
Later when I worked with a producer in New York City,

I found out that the strategy for finding investors
wasn’t much different. So the first in finding a
prospective investor is to ask friends and family if they
“know of” any rich people. If someone mentions a
name, reach out and request a meeting.

Step 9 – Push For Movie Money
Always remember that it does not matter how much

you want to make a movie. Prospective investors do
not care. What they care about is how your movie will
benefit them. They will ask: What’s in it for me?
If you find yourself constantly getting rejected, it is

probably because you forgot to ask what they want.
Some investors just want to feel significant. Some want
to be famous. And still others want to know that
investing in your movie will offer a financial return.
As you pitch your movie to prospective investors, you

will experience enthusiasm, gain traction and then
suffer defeat. It is common for calls to go unanswered
or your prospect to suddenly wind up perpetually “in a
meeting” and unable to talk. Don’t take this personally.
And do not give up. This happens on every deal.
When faced with rejection, you might ask yourself why.

Worse, you might start to think your movie project is
no good. But trying to uncover the reasons you were
rejected is a waste of your time. In every business,
there are a gazillion reasons why deals fail. Recovering
from rejection will be one of the tougher parts of the
process, but tough skink and persistence is essential.
It is important to remember that persistence coupled

with the belief in your project is everything. Until the
money is in the bank, you must continually push
forward in the face of adversity. You must pitch your
project to multiple prospective investors and always
work to expand your network. Never settle until you
achieve your goal. If you aren’t being rejected daily,
you are not working hard enough.

Step 10 – Present Your Project Honestly
Most prospective investors will want to know how the

movie money is going to be spent. They will want to
know what they can expect in return. They will want to
know your specific plans for recouping their money. It
is important to understand that most investors are very
business savvy. So avoid the BS at all costs.
You are expected to LOVE your project. As a result,

enthusiasm and some puffery will permeate your pitch.
This happens in all selling situations. But you must
never be dishonest. It is never OK to exaggerate the
merits of your project beyond reality.
It serves you well to present your project with

enthusiasm. But never do or say anything dishonest.
Make sure to meet with your attorney and carve out

guidelines on what you say during the pitch meeting.
You must take steps towards building trust and rapport.
Everything you say should be consistent with details
outlined in the private placement memorandum.
Everybody knows filmmaking is a risky business, full of

unknowns. You should never sugar coat the potential
risk involved in this business. With that said, your goal
is to simply present, gauge interest and if appropriate,
present the offering. Get the necessary signature and
arrange payment.
If you would like some more insight on pitching

projects, I recommend you read: How I Raised Myself
From Failure To Success In Selling. While the book was
written nearly a century ago, the strategies contained
therein are applicable to selling your movie idea.

Step 11 - Get Favors and Freebies
With all the technological enhancements, you no longer

need a gazillion dollars to get your movie produced. But
you will need to replace money with creatively. After
you complete your screenplay, your next step in the
filmmaking process involves creating your initial
breakdown and schedule.
With the application of tremendous creativity, it will be

possible to reduce your movie budget significantly. As
mentioned earlier in the guide, your goal is to negotiate
for better deals. You must find discounts such as free
food, locations and gear.
To get the process started, start with your friends and

family. Who do you know who has access to locations
you can utilize for free? Reach out to these people and
ask for what you want. With persistence, you will find
access to discounted locations, gear, food and things
you never expected. Each deal saves you money.
Rework your schedule and finish your movie faster.
One of my buddies employed these strategies and got

lucky. He had a location budgeted for $5K. However,
after my buddy spoke with the owner of the location,
the fee was reduced to zero. How? My buddy (a
creative producer) agreed to shoot a promo for the
owner’s business. This was a great deal!
Another filmmaker friend got free food for his entire

shoot simply by asking. The only stipulation was that
the business owner wanted their logo exposed in
several scenes. No problem!
Remember this law: If you do not ask, you do not get.

Step 12 - Pick Your Production Date
When you have all the filmmaking stuff you need, you
are no longer operating from theory and planning…
You’re now in action mode!
You need to modify your initial, ideal schedule for the

real world realities of production. This means you’ll
need to pick your shoot dates and call times.
It is at this point in the process when most filmmakers

get the brilliant idea to just shoot the movie on the
weekends, spanning a few months. As a potential
upside to the weekend strategy, you’ll have fewer
conflicts with your actors and crew. Example:
“Hey, I have another gig that pays more those days.”
While you might score some great deals on rental

equipment and locations, you also run the risk of
loosing momentum and potentially having your entire
project fall apart. This is simply not good.
Figure out when you can start production. The time of

the year will impact your budget. Hot weather will
require different provisions like air conditioning. Air
conditioning units will create sounds you may not want.
And cold weather requires heaters. And what if it rains?
How will that impact your shooting schedule? Do you
have a plan B? How about a plan C?
Assuming you’ve found an experienced 1st AD or Line

Producer to work with, you will be able to combine
ideas and figure out the best game plan for your show.
To find a great 1st AD or Line Producer, check out the
Director’s Guild Website.

Step 13 - Contracts and Releases
You need to get legal clearance for everybody who

works on your movie as well as every element put into
your movie. This includes (but it not limited to) your
story, cast, crew, locations, logos and equipment.
Additionally, special care should be given to music.

Many filmmakers accidently include non-cleared music
in the backgrounds of scenes that cannot be “fixed in
post.” This can create major headaches for you.
If you are short on cash, do a web search for lawyers

for the arts in your state. Many states have programs
where you can at least get a discounted consultation
with an attorney.
Additionally, you may benefit from doing some of the

legal legwork yourself. There are many filmmaking
sites the provide boilerplate, generic releases. If you
present these to an attorney for compliance, it may
save you time and money.
Many distribution platforms now require that you

maintain an active errors and omissions policy. Without
having the proper releases, getting an E&O policy may
prove impossible. And your dreams of distribution may
diminish significantly.
Cutting legal corners to save a few dollars in the early

stage could result in a lot of headaches later. To avoid
this, it is very important to work with experienced legal
and production professionals to make sure you utilize
the proper releases, contracts and agreements.

Step 14 – Vision and Persistence
Whenever I give talks on modern moviemaking, there

is invariably someone in the audience who asks if I
would personally produce his or her brilliant idea into a
movie. In answering this question, I have to ask why
the person wants to make movies?
“Because I want to be famous.”
At this point my jaw drops to the floor. People who ask

other people to produce your movie for you will never
succeed. People who ask these questions are idiotic.
Your ability to get a movie made, seen and sold relies

solely on your persistence. Your goal is to keep going
when things get tough. You must do everything in your
power to prove to the universe that you want a career
making movies badly enough.
You owe the world your vision, but it is YOU who must
to bring your vision to life. Nobody will do it for you.
Do NOT ask for permission to become successful!
Successful filmmakers have a mantra:
“If it is meant to be, it is up to me.”
You to must take on this belief system if you are ever

to become successful. Do not be lazy. Lazy people are
not successful.
Do not make movies for the money. There are easier

ways to make money. But if you want to succeed as a
filmmaker, do it because nothing else compares.

Step 15 – Find Good People
A filmmaker is also a leader. Your film will succeed or

fail based on the strength of your team.
While it is great to know a little bit about a lot, it is

impossible that you will be good in everything you do.
Your goal as a filmmaker is to gain clarity on your
strengths but more importantly, you must understand
and embrace your weaknesses.
You must have the confidence to strengthen your

weaknesses with talented collaborators.
Once you create a team, your next goal is to test your

team on short projects. Do not try to run a marathon
before you can walk. Completing several short movies
with your team will allow you to see whom you can
work with and whom you cannot.
While there is a time for disagreement and heated

debate, is never during production.
The way people collaborate on a short film is telling. If

they do or say something that goes against your values
on a short project, they will repeat this behavior on
bigger projects. Your goal is to make sure that you only
surround yourself with good people. Life as well as your
career in filmmaking is too short to spend with idiots.
You must work with people who know how to play nice.
As a general guideline, you must quickly disassociate
from anybody who hurts your self-esteem. Otherwise
your chances of success are diminished.

Step 16 - Finalize Your Script
Get your screenplay to a point where you aren’t going

to keep changing things. How do you know when you
are ready to lock your screenplay? Only you can decide.
One way to test your readiness is based on your budget

and schedule. Do you have enough money to make
your movie in the time allotted? If not, you are not
ready to lock your scrip.
Once you get to this point, you will have a locked

script. But know this. Once your script is locked, you
can’t change anything.
If you do, you will have to create and insert some

revised pages (usually these are a different color.) And
because your schedule and budget are an extension of
your movie script, you will have to change those
documents as well.
This can create many potential headaches.
Always remember that everything in the script will

impact your budget. By utilizing a popular movie
production management system like LightSpeed Eps
found at IndieProductionTool.com, you can save time
and money. Again, these folks pay me to promote so
make sure you conduct your own due diligence.
Assuming the software is a good fit for you, it will also

allow you to upload your screenplay and collaborate on
your movie production between various departments,
from anywhere in the world. Having a central hub for
production management can save you time as you
complete your final movie schedule.

Step 17 – Final Movie Schedule
Once you lock your screenplay, you are ready to

complete a final schedule. Go through your script and
highlight each new element. LightSpeed Eps can help
you do this. Additionally, the popular screenwriting
software Final Draft offers an add-on called Tagger.
Tagger allows you to go through the script and
highlight elements for your schedule.
Once complete, figure out when you plan to begin

production of your movie. You will also need to work
out your shooting schedule. Your pace is determined by
how many pages you want to shoot per day. You may
decide to shoot 5 days on and then take 2 days off, or
6 days on and 1 day off. It is up to you.
If time and budget is limited, you may choose to shoot

your movie over a few weekends. But again, doing this
can really hurt your momentum. Filming your indie film
over a series of weekends may seem convenient. But
doing so can actually diminish the creative flow and can
make it tough on cast and crew holding jobs outside of
the production. So you need to weigh the pros and
cons of your situation carefully.
Whenever possible, I suggest avoiding the weekend

only shoots, and simply scheduling your movie over the
course of a few weeks. This allows you to marathon
your movie schedule. You keep momentum. And this
schedule allows you to finish your photography so you
can get your movie into post and out into market.
As a final thought, you will need to decide to have a

union shoot or not. If you go union, you will have to
adhere to strict rules on how you schedule your movie.
Your line producer will help you navigate these rules.

Step 18 – Create a Final Budget
Many motion picture professionals make a living just

breaking down, scheduling and budgeting movies. So
this is a pretty complicated and creative area.
As I have mentioned frequently, a first time feature

filmmaker must partner with an experienced 1st AD
and Line Producer. These professionals can guide you
through the process of getting your movie scheduled,
budgeted and made on time and under budget. But if
your budget will not permit you to hire these folks, you
will have to put on another hat and get to work!
During your scheduling process, you highlighted the

various elements necessary to produce your movie
such as actors, props, wardrobe, stunts, transportation,
insurance and craft services, et al. Your next step is to
select these elements, import the list into your budget
software and assign a price to each element.
Once you have each element budgeted, you will add up

the costs and this will give you a total for your movie.
After you know how much money you need, compare

these figures with your initial movie budget. If you find
you do not have enough money to make your movie,
you have three choices. You can either get more money
or you can make a smaller movie. You must decide.
To make your movie smaller, you can modify your

script and schedule to reduce your budget. Or you
could go through each line item in your budget and
figure out where to find better deals to cut costs. Each
choice will have creative consequences.

Step 19 - Get Your Crew
Collaborating with an experienced Line Producer is

invaluable during the prep phase of your independent
movie. But as you get closer to production, the other
essential professional you need is an experienced first
assistant director.
Once you have these folks in place, they will provide

guidelines on how to hire the rest of your crew. And
during the final days of prep, these hard workers will
refine the shooting schedule. From there, they will
assist you throughout production to keep the movie on
time and on schedule. To find both a 1st AD and UPM,
check out the Director's Guild of America website.
I know a lot of people who have had success sourcing

crew on Craigslist. But I know filmmakers who hate the
experience, and will happily share their nightmares
with you. To avoid horror stories, it may behoove you
to rely on referrals from friends and colleagues. People
trust people they’ve worked with in the past. So go into
your network and find connections to prospective
collaborators. Do not hire people with bad reputations.
The other thing you need to consider is the size of your

production. Despite what Hollywood would have you
believe, you do not need a large cast and crew. Years
ago, I helped out on a 35mm TV commercial. In total,
our crew consisted of seven people. Each of us was
cross-trained to handle multiple jobs.
Once you hire help, talk with the audio department, the
camera department and the director to get all creative
ideas. You will find most people get very resourceful in
a small cast and crew production.

Step 20 – Delegate To Your Team
Trust is essential. The reason you have a crew is

because together the sum of the collaboration is better
than what you can do on your own. Additionally, having
a good crew will make your job easier. Think about it.
The sound department captures sound. The camera

department makes sure the equipment works and
captures footage. And craft services will make sure
your crew is well fed. On set, everybody works together
to achieve the common purpose. This collaborative
atmosphere puts everybody in a creative film bubble,
which can be best described as a family.
If you insist on directing your own movie, make sure

you at least have a great first assistant director and a
very experienced director of photography. Your DP will
help you design the look and feel for your movie and
come up with a daily shot list. And your First AD will be
responsible for making sure you complete all shots
scheduled for each day. This allows you to focus on
your job, which is making the movie.
Just remember, everybody on the crew will be looking

for you to lead him or her, but not to tell him or her
how to do his or her jobs. You must remember this.
And equally, your actions, mood and professionalism
will have a ripple effect on the entire production.
If you come in unprepared or angry, the entire crew

will follow. There are many productions that have
suffered because the director or producer had a bad
attitude. And if you are not conscious of this, you could
derail your entire production.

Step 21 – Lock Down Locations
As most filmmakers know, money is tight. And

locations can be expensive. Instead of hiring a location
scout, you’re going to have to scout and procure
locations yourself. This means you will knock on some
doors and introduce yourself, your project and goals.
How To Find Inexpensive Filmmaking Locations
1. Software like IndieProductionTool.com allows you to

organize your locations in one place.
2. Evaluate each scene in your movie and try to
imagine the perfect location.
3. Focus first on locations you know in your own
hometown. Make a list.
For locations that you are unfamiliar with, conduct an

Internet search. For example, if you need to find Biker
Bars in Pennsylvania, you would obviously search for
“Biker Bars in Pennsylvania.”
From these searches you will find both pictures and

pertinent contact information. Make a list of these
locations. Then set aside a day to drive to and scout
the location for possible use.
Your next is to telephone the owner of the property.

Explain that you plan on making a movie and that you
will need use of the location. Location owners will want
to know what’s in it for them. Will you offer money?
Media? Free advertising? Or a combination of all three?
You will want to assure the location owner that the

production is fully insured and that they are protected
from liability. They will want this in writing.

Step 22 – Create Plan A, Plan B and Plan C.
As an indie filmmaker, a lot of factors can negatively

impact your shooting schedule. Rainstorms, unavailable
cast and crew, traffic and the occasional meltdown of
your crazy girlfriend can all present obstacles in making
your day. When this happens, you will usually go crazy
for a few minutes. Do not worry. This is normal.
Surrounding yourself with a great team will help you

avoid headaches associated with indie filmmaking. Still,
it is best to always plan for the inevitable setback. To
do this, visualize each day well in advance.
Then ask yourself: “What’s the worst thing that can

happen?” Once you figure out the most nightmarish
scenarios, it is best to make sure those things do not
happen. You will want to plan around potential pitfalls.
I worked on set with one director who failed to plan for

these challenges. He ended up screaming at the entire
cast and crew. Running across the set, he eventually
found himself having a complete emotional breakdown
in front of costume department. He cried a lot that day.
Making a movie is stressful. So the last thing you want

to do is add more stress to your life.
When scheduling your movie, it is best to always have

a Plan A, a Plan B and a Plan C. The name of the game
is to always push your production forward. If one plan
goes haywire, what will you do to make progress?
Always have a backup plan. This will save your shoot.

Step 23 – Hire a Director Of Photography
Your director of photography will set the mood for your

movie. Assuming you are directing your own movie,
you will want to work with a director of photography
who shares your sensibilities and has equal enthusiasm
for the project. Working with an experienced and
talented DP will also help you navigate common pitfalls.
As a stand-alone goal, finding a good DP is a tall order.

So my suggestion is to break down the task into
smaller action, more manageable action steps.
Hire a Director of Photography
1. Call friends of friends for recommendations.

2. Put ad on filmmaking resources sites, seeking DP.
3. Review Demo Reels. (You will get a bunch.)
4. Call prospective DP’s for interview or lunch.
5. Negotiate terms that work within your budget.
To increase the odds of landing gigs, many DPs will

have their own camera and lighting kits. On our first
feature, our DP actually owned a lighting company.
The problem was, we did not have enough money in

the budget to pay his fees. As a result, we were very
honest with him. We mentioned our situation and asked
if there was any other way he could be compensated.
This conversation led to creative solution. For a

producer credit and a percentage of ownership in the
movie our DP agreed to work with us. His contribution
became the single most unexpected, yet important
asset to the entire production. So in addition to camera
gear, our guy drove his grip truck to work each day.

Step 24 – Define Your Target Audience
You need to target an established and easy to reach

audience. Without an audience, you have no business.
Once you refine your movie concept, you can use this
as a springboard to further locate blogs, websites and
publications already targeting your target audience.
For example, when you Google “boxing” you will get

over forty-nine million results. This is not surprising.
Interests such as boxing, horror movies, martial arts
and racecar driving have prominence in our culture.
If your movie focuses on more obscure subjects, you

will have to dig deeper. Thankfully, even if your core
audience is esoteric and comprised of a small
population spread all over the globe, the Internet
provides a great tool for reaching them.
Assuming you find websites and traditional publications

targeting your audience, your next step is to reach out
and request their demographic statistics. These stats
will tell you the number of subscribers as well as details
on age, sex location and related interests.
Once you have a good understanding of your target

audience, all future advertising, marketing language
and your trailer should be created with your target
audience in mind.
Then later, when your movie enters the marketplace,

this initial research will provide you a contact list full of
organizations that may help you promote your movie.

Step 25 – Establish Domain and Website
The goal of your initial website is to get people

interested in your movie and create buzz. So your
initial website does not have to be overly complex. It
should simply include your logline and a brief synopsis
of your story, as well as contact information for any
press and distributors. Later, you can add your trailer,
artwork and any additional info related to your movie.
To set up a website, you will need to reserve a domain

name and purchase website hosting. Choosing a
primary domain name is easy. Just use the title of your
film with the word “movie” after it. For example, let’s
say your movie is called Toxic Soup. The title of your
web domain should be ToxicSoupMovie.com.
I prefer Bluehost for all my sites and have been

utilizing their web services for years. If interested in
researching, my affiliate link is MovieSiteHost.com
But regardless of where you choose to host your

website, you will want to make sure the service
includes a way to easily install WordPress on your
hosting account. WordPress is a Content Management
System (CMS). A CMS is a fancy term to describe your
website framework. And using WordPress allows you to
easily write an publish web content.
Once you establish a hosting account, you will go into

your cPanel and click on the icon for WordPress. Your
hosting service will then provide instruction on how to
install WordPress. After the three-minute installation,
you will be issued with a username and a password.
From there, you can log into the back office of your
new website and begin your customization. Easy, right?

Step 26 – Research Distribution Options
Do you remember the old days when you would see a

movie in the theater and then wait months for the
movie to come out on video? This is an example of a
release window. And the world is changing fast…
A traditional release window sequence works for major

motion pictures because they put millions behind
marketing. The goal is to create awareness and grow
word of mouth. In some cases, having a theatrical
release is utilized by the studios to drive DVD sales.
In the old days, indie films were released the same

way. The sequence often involved waiting to see if your
movie got into Sundance. And from there, you crossed
your fingers for an awesome distribution deal… After
your movie was picked up, your distributor handled all
the boring business stuff. But those days are over.
While, traditional release windows are still used by the

major studios, it is reckless for independent filmmakers
to follow the same release paradigm. These days, all
roads lead to VOD and as a result, filmmakers must
focus on gaining exposure, growing a mailing list and
directly marketing to the audience.
Mass media has been replaced by more social media.

As a result, the social window is the time when your
fans are most eager to buy, talk about your movie and
recommend your movie to their friends. Your goal is to
find a strategy to get your movie to market sooner
than later. For this, there are several video on demand
outlets including iTunes, Vimeo, Amazon and about a
gazillion more. Plan your marketing strategy now.

Step 27 – Find Actors
The market is flooded with good, but not great movies.

These are movies that would have had a better chance
at getting noticed if they had a “known” actor in the
story. If you have access to someone “known,” bringing
him or her into your production even for just a minute
could represent a boost in the value of your project.
If you are fortunate enough to know name talent, but

short on funds, you might be in for a pleasant surprise.
Many actors are motivated by the prospect of playing
challenging characters more than money. Just know
that you may need to make provisions with the unions
and guilds in order for unionized actors to take a role in
your low-budget feature. Check out SagIndie.com for
information on how to do this.
For those of us in Hollywood, finding actors is pretty

easy. Craigslist, Actors Access and LAcasting come to
mind as some of the popular websites for finding talent.
LA is never short of actors looking for interesting roles.
You could probably audition your neighbors as they
walk through the lobby of your apartment building.
If you’re in rural USA or somewhere else in the world,

you might have some difficulty with these options. I
suggest partnering with local drama departments and
local theaters to fulfill your casting requirements.
Working with actors who do not have a following is

risky. But without a budget, what can you do? One
suggestion is to find emerging talent through social
media. I believe finding people with large Facebook,
Twitter and YouTube followings is the future.

Step 28 – Social Media Casting
A while ago I met with a pretty well known Indie

producer. We were talking about audience engagement
and how filmmakers are now responsible for sourcing
an audience. I’m a sucker for useful, actionable tips. So
I asked him how he engages his audience.
He said he makes sure to hire actors based on their

twitter followers. To give you an idea of budget range,
this guy produces movies around two-million dollars.
And one way he builds buzz is by hiring a socially active

team, especially when it comes to casting actors.
Here is an overview of how he casts his movies:
1. Hold an audition for the actors.

2. Narrow down to two equally talented actors.
3. Choose actor with greater social engagement.
He then sets it up so cast and crew continually promote

the project from prep through post and into
distribution. This ongoing engagement provides rabid
fans with value – they get frequent, awesome updates.
When I was working at my former company (Chill), we

worked on a low budget feature called Camp Takota.
This silly comedy revolved around summer camp and
starred several famous YouTubers. Because these
YouTubers had a ginormous following, it didn’t take
long for us to collect over 80,000 email addresses from
our audience, without a single ad spend.
From a producing perspective, this shared social

engagement helps to inexpensively spread buzz.

Step 29 – Cast and Table Read
After reviewing headshots and resumes, call the actors

you’re interested in and provide them with an audition
time and location. Make sure you also supply them with
some sides from the script.
Many actors do not give very good cold readings. If you

give them time to study the scene, you’ll make the
audition process better for everyone involved. When
auditioning, do not cast anyone who shows up late.
The only time you should break this rule is if the actor
is smart enough to tell you he was coming from
another audition/TV show/movie. If this aspiring actor
was late and not smart enough to offer this exact
excuse, do not hire him. I’m serious about this.
Granted, if he or she is unbelievably good and had an

excuse that sounds OK then maybe take the risk. But if
your actor flakes out later, remember that I did warn
you. As with most things, make sure you have a Plan B.
After the audition carefully decide which actors are best

for your movie. As mentioned earlier, social media does
factor into this. If you have actors who are generally
OK for the part and have a strong social media
presence, it is OK to negotiate a deal whereby they can
have the role contingent upon social promotion.
Once you have all of your actors, you will want to find a
location for a table read. At the table read, go through
the script. If you wrote the script yourself, now is a
time to take some notes for a final tweak. As a
reminder, anything you change in the script also
changes the budget and the schedule.

Step 30 – Food Is Currency
You will want someone in charge of Craft Services. This

important professional should be good at getting deals
on food and catering. If you cannot find anyone to do
this for you, you will have to do it yourself.
Finding deals on food much easier if you can come up

with a few ways to barter. To negotiate good trades,
think about what you can offer as an in-kind favor to
the restaurant or grocery store. Often you can extend
your movie publicity to include the business. A common
trade includes using the business as a location and then
getting a reporter to come out. In exchange, you can
usually get great deals on food.
In addition to getting deals, a few days before

production, drive to the nearby wholesale mart and
load your trunk up with goodies. People like food on
set. Make sure you grab the good stuff.
When everyone is working on a budget, you should

know that food is the most essential fuel for everyone.
Do not go generic. If your food is subpar, everybody on
set will suffer. If attitudes suffer, your movie will suffer.
I know this may be your first feature, but trust me on

this. In case you think pizza will suffice, think again.
Pizza will only work for one meal in the entire shoot.
If you haven’t already done so, you need to find

someone willing to cook for the shoot. This should be
someone who considers food his or her art of choice.
On a low budget shoot, you should regard craft services

with the same importance you would give the director’s
shot list. Your cast and crew will thank you.

Step 31 – Check Contracts and Releases
With film production, the name of the game is to watch

your back. It is essential that you triple check your
legal paperwork. Do you have all of your permits, talent
releases, agreements and location releases?
Do you have production insurance? Do you have

liability insurance? Do you know where to get errors
and omissions insurance? As a side note, there are so
many different types of insurance products, it will make
your head spin.
The good news is, production insurance brokers will be

more than happy to explain the various insurance
options and how they work. The bad news is, because
insurance brokers are in the business of selling
insurance, it is easy to end up buying policies that you
do not necessarily need. So before you contact an
insurance broker, I recommend contacting experienced
producers within the online filmmaking forums.
The other thing is talent releases. Because someone

will be presumably capturing behind the scenes
footage, both your cast and crew may end up on
camera. In preparation for this, make sure you get
talent releases signed by every person on set. Back
when I first started, I asked some other producers for
releases. They were happy to provide boilerplate
documents that I could easily vet with an attorney.
If your budget warrants it, the other thing to look into

is payroll services. A payroll service company can help
you follow labor rules and pay workman’s comp
insurance. Contact my friend Steven Fishman at Media
Services to estimate the needs of your production.

Step 32 – Camera Department
Just a few years ago movies were shot on film. If you

shot on anything on video, you were considered an
amateur by Hollywood standards. And this was for good
reason. Film looked better. People described it as real
and organic. Loading a camera with real film made you
feel awesome. And later, seeing your film “in the can”
made you feel accomplished.
The problem was, shooting in film was (and still is)

expensive. Back then, depending on your camera, you
never quite knew if you captured the shot you wanted.
In addition to buying film, you also had to get it
processed and then transferred to video. Crazy, I know.
Thankfully advances technology has changed that. With

a few thousand dollars and you can head to your local
electronics store and pick up a camera that produces
edit ready, cinematic results.
So unless you raised enough money to cover the cost

of film stock and processing, odds are good your movie
will be shot in high definition video. Your Director of
Photography and Camera Department will work with
you to decide on which camera gear rentals and media
storage costs are necessary to capture your movie.
Because there is no film processing requirements for

digital, many filmmakers begin post-production while a
movie is still being shot. For this reason, it behooves
you to include your editor in these early conversations.
The goal is to establish an efficient workflow and make
sure all footage can be easily imported.
Establishing this workflow from the onset will allow you

to uncover and resolve footage problems.

Step 33 – Get Plenty of Sleep
Try to take as many naps as you can. This is a fun, but

stressful time. So sleep. Exercise. Eat. This is the best
advice I was ever given. The night before your first day
of production will be a time of energy, nerves and, if
you don’t relax, insomnia.
Do everything you can to avoid the tossing and turning

and get some sleep. (Easier said than done, I know.)
In the morning, drive to the location before everyone.

You won't always do this. But for your first feature, go
into the location and take a couple minutes to sit down
in a quiet spot. Then take a deep breath and mentally
picture yourself making the movie and having the
greatest time in your life.
After that, picture yourself in the edit room watching

the early stages of your great movie.
Picture yourself showing your work to friends and

family and screening it in front of appreciative
audiences. Picture the movie becoming a national
sensation or a cult hit. Picture yourself traveling the
world from festival to festival, enjoying yourself.
Then picture your phone ringing off the hook with

producers and managers and agents from Hollywood
inviting you to dinner and offering a major Hollywood
deal. Get a mental picture of your upcoming success.
Keep those thoughts in your mind for a few minutes.

Then get up, gear up and set up your first shot. It’s
time to take action and make your movie!

Step 34 – Meet With Your Departments
Once you have all the above stuff checked off the list,
you will want to meet with your department heads and
make sure everyone’s needs are being met.
Assuming you’ve maintained limited locations, with a

limited cast and crew, you will probably still be baffled
by the amount of questions that come flying at you.
This is an area where an experienced Line Producer and

First Assistant Director are invaluable. Assuming you
are directing, these professionals will help you manage
the cast and crew so you can focus on getting the
necessary shots. It will take a day or two, but if you
consistently say, “Ask the AD,” people will catch on and
seek out the appropriate point of contact.
It is important to establish leadership on set. This can

be accomplished by being very deliberate in what you
want. For example, in addition to knowing which scenes
to shoot, you must know how to execute. One easy
way to accomplish this is by always having a shot list.
The other tip is, you do not need to know everything.

This is a creative, collaborative endeavor. There are no
style rules to how capture your movie. Your vision is
your own. So when your DP asks where to place the
camera and you secretly have no idea, just say: “I’m
thinking over there. How will that look?”
Keep in mind that a lot can be done with a little. A

couple of years ago, I was part of a seven person crew
on a 35mm TV commercial. I include this to say, even if
you're short in terms of cash and crew with limited
locations and creativity, you can make due.

Step 35 – Let People Do Their Jobs
Your time on the set can be long. If you fall behind,

your days can become longer. Long days with little rest
and lots of work can cause stress. Don’t be surprised if
you hit the wall from time to time and break down.
Most people either lose their temper or cry or both. If
you have to cry or lose your temper, call a time out and
take a walk. Go somewhere nobody can see you.
There is no quicker way to lose credibility than losing

your emotions on the set especially a low-budget set.
In addition to this, don’t forget: You’re not alone.
Assuming you did a good job planning your days and

your shots, you can rest assured everyone is working
alongside you to do the best job they can. Once you
build momentum during production, assuming you
meticulously planned everything, you’ll soon find that
most everyone working on the movie will fall into a
collective, collaborative groove.
Getting into the rhythm of production is an awesome

feeling! It’s one of the major reasons we do what we
do. Even when everything is going as planned, you still
need to pay attention to the little things.
For example, I met with one producer who told me how

props were sure wardrobe would bring the watch. And
wardrobe was sure props would bring the watch. When
it came time for the shot, nobody had the watch.
Everyone wants to make the best movie possible. And
for the reminder of the shoot, these people will be your
family and share lifetime memories with you.

Step 36 – Don’t Be a Jerk
One of my earliest gigs in New York was a disaster. The

movie was set in an abandoned warehouse in Brooklyn
during one of the coldest days in February.
At the time, I was working as a coffee fetcher. As soon

as I arrived, I got news that the production manager
had quit. To make matters worse, the first assistant
director was totally new and hadn’t yet acquired
enough experience to keep the cast and crew on track.
Since the shoot was so poorly managed, we fell behind.

Actors showed up for their call times and waited hours.
In frustration, many actors quit and walked off set.
Meals were missed. People got irritable.
It was a cold day. Maybe one of the coldest days ever.

And as the shoot spiraled out of control, we ran out of
kerosene for the heater. This was around midnight. And
the kiddy pool we had earlier filled with Jello was
starting to freeze. We know this because the actor
presently in the pool announced that his hands were
getting numb. (It was that type of shoot.)
I was too inexperienced to realize this shoot was not

only unprofessional, but it was borderline criminal. Yet
despite the Hell, I distinctly remember looking around
the room and feeling elation to see so many dedicated
professionals doing what they could to finish the day.
My momentary bliss was quickly shattered however,

when the director started shouting in frustration.
Something about his inability to get the shot because
the actor was shaking too much.
The point is, don’t shout. Don’t be a jerk.

Step 37 – Production
Production is a result of months and months of

planning and preparation. I’ll repeat again. When
making a movie, production is the result of months and
months of planning. And your biggest responsibility is
arriving on set each day with a concise action plan.
I emphasize the planning aspects of pre-production,

because many filmmakers crash and burn on set
because they didn’t have a solid plan. They waste
valuable time deciding on new shots, new angles and
getting adequate, but unnecessary coverage. These
camera setups severely burn away the days.
But you’re different.
To make sure your production goals are executed in

such a way that you get the most movie for your hard
earned money, you will need to check and recheck with
your department heads to make sure everything is
running smoothly.
Assuming you have a Plan A, Plan B and Plan C, you’re

ready! Again, work with a great first assistant director.
You see that I emphasize this a lot. This is because an
experienced first assistant director is your best friend.
He or she can also save your movie from pitfalls.
While you’re at it, hire a bunch of production assistants

to help make your life easier. This is an area that I
haven’t talked about too much. But assuming you hire
through recommendations, a good PA is like a good
athlete. They can keep momentum.

Step 38 – Understand Release Windows
If you are doing things right, during production you will

receive calls from prospective distributors. Odds are
good the call will fill you with enthusiasm. You will think
you are the next Hollywood big shot. But the truth is,
these distributors telephone everybody. So it behooves
you to know a little bit about movie release windows.
The DVD market is on the demise and most video

stores are out of business. With VOD release windows,
you no longer need to wait for a physical DVD. With
cable, iTunes, Amazon, Netflix and Vimeo on Demand,
the time between release windows has diminished.
Movies go from the theaters to your living room in
record time. Distribution will never be the same.
As a result of these changes, many traditional DVD

distributors have jumped onto the VOD bandwagon,
grabbing at everything in hopes of recouping lost DVD
revenues. But the truth is, film distribution has become
a commodity. There are now a gazillion platforms that
allow you to get your movie seen and selling. And even
more sobering for the old guard is the fact many of
these platforms are accessible without a distributor.
This means traditional distributors have had to come up
with interesting ways to secure your VOD rights.
Because finding a great distribution deal is rare, many

filmmakers choose to create their own marketing, sales
and distribution plan. If you have been following my
blog Filmmaking Stuff for any length of time, you know
I LOVE direct distribution. But whether you choose to
distribute direct to your audience, or go the more
traditional route, it is important to understand that you
are responsible for sourcing your own audience.

Step 39 – Get Some Press
If you asked me how to get press to cover your movie

projects a decade ago, I would have told you to hire a
publicist and do something silly, like drop flyers from a
hot air balloon. The old mandate was to only contact
the press when you had something newsworthy.
Otherwise, leave the press alone.
But things have changed. Thanks to social media

sharing, what is now considered newsworthy varies
depending on your audience. Add the fact that most
press release submission services operate through the
web, you now have the ability to easily write a press
release and distribute your story all over the Internet.
Sharing movie news via the web will not necessary get
you on the national nightly news. I am not discounting
that as a viable press objective. During our first
feature, a guy from a popular magazine came out and
snapped a few shots on our last day of production. The
photo ended up in the magazine, which generated in
thousands of visitors to our website.
The bottom line is, you need press. Get press to profile
your movie. Your goal is to get people to your website
and then encourage your visitors to opt into your
newsletter mailing list. There are several services to
help manage your email marketing, such as Mailchip,
Constant Contact or my friends at AudienceList.com
Building an email list will allow you to market directly to

your audience. Having a robust email list of people who
know you and your work is essential for your career.
Getting press coverage that drives targeted traffic back
to your website is a great tactic for building your list.

Step 40 – Have Wrap Party
When I drink, I have a tendency to say and do stupid

things. These antics were fine in college. But as my
career frequently puts me into the room with Hollywood
heavyweights, getting sloshed up is incongruent with
my ideal life. In Hollywood everyone knows everyone.
So it is good to stay sober and sharp.
That being said, making a movie is stressful. And in

response to this stress, film tradition has created the
notorious Wrap Party. During this time, your cast, crew
and significant others get together to talk about the
experience, relax and enjoy a party guilt free.
These parties usually include some great food, a couple

cocktails and some fun conversation.
Since I have been to more than a few crazy parties, let

me share some tips. Don’t drink and drive. Don’t get
stupid. Do not climb on a rooftop and jump into the
pool below. Do not get naked and streak the party. Do
not brag about how awesome you are. Do not grab the
guitar and start singing (you’re not that good.) Do not
name drop. Do not be boring.
I will add one more tip: Do not sleep with anybody

from the cast or crew. I am serious about this.
Go home and get sleep. Lots of sleep. You deserve it.
That’s a wrap.

Step 41 – Edit Your Movie
Because you've had all that experience with shorts,

editing should be no mystery. The difference now is
thinking in terms of a longer story.
Most likely you have tons of footage from your shoot.

Now it is a matter of getting it onto your computer and
assembling it in a way that makes your work enjoyable.
But unlike production, you are now faced with the art of
throwing some footage in the trash.
Actually, since you’re working on a computer, you

won't really throw unused footage in the trash.
However, you most likely won't use it. Make sure you
get every shot and all of your actor dialogue into the
computer and then into the timeline.
Take a look at all your shots. Take the best ones and
put them onto your computer. Once you select your
shots, put them on your timeline and cut away.
After about a gazillion hours, you will have something

slightly resembling your initial idea. This is your rough
cut. Your next step is to refine the work so that it
begins to flow seamlessly.
You will add sound FX. You will re-record dialogue if

necessary. You will add music. And you might even cut
out a scene or two. In fact, cutting out a scene is
probably a pretty good idea.

Step 42 – Have a Screening
Your first cut will be rough. Screen it with a group of

people who have never seen the movie.
To set up your initial screening, you will want to invite

a few trusted friends over to your house for a screening
party. Supply some pizza and beer.
Then provide everybody with a notebook and pen. Ask

each participant to write down his or her thoughts.
Then after the credits have a discussion.
Keep in mind that most people will be very polite. So if

a part of your movie sucks, your friends probably will
not tell you. This does you no good. So set the tone of
the discussion by asking subtle questions like:
1. What did you enjoy about the movie?

2. Was there anything that confused you?
3. Were there any scenes that seemed too long?
4. What was your impression of the characters?
5. How would you describe this movie to friends?
These questions will spark a detailed discussion. Make

sure that you take notes. You are looking for patterns.
Does everybody agree with the note? If so, this is
vitally important feedback.
Your goal is to distill the discussion into manageable

bullet points you can utilize in the edit suite.

Step 43 – Refine Your Edit
Take the feedback and refine your edit. Like writing a

screenplay, everything in the final cut of your movie
should be in-line with the overall mood and tempo.
If anything slows down the story or no longer works

with your vision, it needs to go. Sometimes this can be
a small tweak or an entire scene. Cutting footage is
difficult, but necessary.
Once you tear away the rough areas. You will probably
be exhausted. Your goal is to take a week off, where
you do not look at the movie or tinker with it. I am
serious here. You really need some downtime. This will
give you fresh eyes and a fresh perspective.
In this way, when you come back to the suite, you will
be able to watch your entire movie with a fresh
perspective. While watching the movie, make sure you
take notes. Additionally, you must fight the urge to
stop and change anything.
Once you finish watching your cut, go have a long

lunch and review your notes. You will need to visualize
the changes you will make. How will you smooth out
the rough areas?
When you get back to the edit suite, go slow. You are
not looking to have a perfect cut. But you are looking
to refine rough areas while improving your pacing and
story. Once you complete this pass, your next step is to
plan another test screening.

Step 44 – Screen Your Movie Again
No matter how awesome you think your movie is, there

are always a gazillion ways to improve it.
Have another small screening with people who have

never seen the movie.
Once again, you will want to invite friends with passion

for movies. Explain that the screening will be a rough
cut – and the goal is to provide constructive feedback.
Make sure you have snacks and drinks on-hand. And if

you’re getting pizza, make sure you get the delivery
prior to starting the movie. Make sure everybody has a
pen and notepad.
The goal is to take notes. At the conclusion of the

screening, people will once again have a tendency to be
overly polite. So make sure you once again ask the
tough questions.
Once someone shares constructive (but not always

ideal feedback), the ball will start rolling. From there,
other members of the audience will come up with a lot
of great feedback. Keep your mouth shut and listen.
While some feedback might suck, as a filmmaker, you

need to write these notes down and keep an open
mind. The objective is NOT to settle for a good movie.
The goal is to settle for a GREAT movie!
Once again, look for the patterns.

Step 45 – Sound FX and Music
Add some sound FX to your movie. Clean up actor

dialogue and rough areas. Remember, audio is often
more important than visual. And it is during this time
that you will find several audio clips that simply don’t
work. When this happens, you have two choices.
You can re-record the audio or you can cut the scene.
One major component to any great movie is great

music. In Los Angeles, there are many up-and-coming,
talented music bands that will happily sign rights to let
you utilize a song or two in your movie. If you don’t
live in LA, fear not.
Thanks to social media, you can network and contact

awesome bands online. If you find someone you like,
just write an email.
As a word of caution, music licenses are complicated

and often involve several releases such as a
performance release and a publishing release.
I know one guy who got into trouble because he didn’t

get the appropriate signatures on his music release.
This resulted in several headaches and the filmmaker
had to pay thousands of dollars to the band. In this
filmmaker’s situation, he approached a band and got
the rights to an awesome song. Unbeknownst to him a
former bandmate shared copyright ownership.
You will need all signatures to make the release valid.

As always, make sure you talk to a qualified legal
professional prior to utilizing any music.

Step 46 – Screen Again
By this time you’re probably thinking you already have

an awesome movie. You are probably correct. But you
are not done yet. Each time you screen your movie
with new people, you will get new feedback.
Your goal in this screening is to treat the movie as

entertainment. Don’t worry about the notepads.
Just monitor audience reaction.
Were people laughing at all the right scenes? Was there

something that didn’t make sense to the audience?
If so, then you know what to fix. Go back and refine.
Once you have what you think is the final cut, take a
vacation. Once again, give yourself a week or two
where you don't watch your movie at all. During this
time, distract yourself with other projects.
Then when you come back to the movie, sit down and
watch the whole thing again. Obviously if you find a
rough area, fix it. But at this point, the movie will feel
overly familiar and solid.
Make a martini (or lemonade). Your movie is almost

ready for the big screen.

Step 47 – Plan Festival Strategy
When you have a cut you’re happy with, then you may
choose to screen your movie at film festivals.
But you need a strategy.
Most filmmakers apply to film festivals all over the

place. Aside from application fees, upon arrival to these
festivals – Instead of meeting acquisitions executives,
most small festivals are full of other filmmakers.
If you are serious about making your movie profitable,

YOU are now responsible for marketing, promotion and
distribution of your movie. And inline with this strategy,
you must view regional film festivals as an opportunity
to build your audience.
But instead of handing out postcards to other

filmmakers, your marketing strategy will be smarter.
The most important second-tier film festival

strategy is to grow your own fan base.
If the festival allows it, see if you can take several

clipboards into your screening.
You’ll want to collect the names and email addresses of

each viewer and get their permission to email them.
Later you will enter this data into your audience list.
This way, when you focus on building your list, you

stress a lot less about the traditional distribution deal
you may or may not receive. Remember, your audience
is your business.

Step 48 – Distribute Your Movie
Once your movie is known, you will receive calls from

distributors. At first this is exciting.
But then you realize something - Finding great movies

is very challenging for distributors. So to find great
titles before the next guy, acquisitions professionals
pick up the phone and call every filmmaker. As a result,
you may have several opportunities for distribution.
My suggestion is to find some qualified professionals

and analyze every offer. Find out if the deal will fit your
business objectives, if not, move on to the next deal.
Having worked in distribution, I can tell you the odds of

getting a significant cash advance (often referred to as
a minimum guarantee) are rare. More common is
handing over your rights for a piece of revenue. Most
distributors will try to get you a Cable VOD deal.
After that, they will work to get your movie into iTunes
and other VOD outlets. But here is the deal… With a
couple thousand dollars and a little research, you can
get your movie into many of the same outlets. One
company I’ve worked with is BitMax. If you want to get
your movie on iTunes, give them a call and ask for Jay
Friedman. Tell him I sent you.
Most video encoding houses can encode, QC and

deliver your movie to the popular marketplaces. As a
result of this access, you will need to decide if your
distribution deal is worth it. I know many filmmakers
who took deals that have only garnered a few hundred
dollars. They regret their decision and realize they
could have done better on their own.

Step 49 – Deals Pay Money
What if there are no deals? This is the question we

asked ourselves after having a great festival run with
our first feature. While there was a lot of interest from
sales agents, producer’s reps and distributors, nobody
offered us a check. (Or at least a good check.)
Suffice it to say we realized a traditional deal was not in

our future. A deal actually pays you money.
If you built a strong mailing list, have refined your

marketing and you have a plan for reaching your target
demographic, you are ready to start selling your movie.
Distribution as we know it is changing. With all the

video-on-demand and fulfillment services available, the
options for reaching a global marketplace is wide open.
Here is the best part: You don’t need to give up equity

to get started. But you will have to do the work.
While exciting, releasing your movie as your own

distributor, you are in control of both the success of
your movie and the safeguarding of your personal
liability should any legal issues arise.
Some things you will need to consider involves

purchasing E&O insurance, converting your movie
website into a sales funnel, capturing leads, creating
movie artwork and finding ways to efficiently reach
your target audience without asking permission.
If you view your filmmaking as a business and you view

your role as an entrepreneurial filmmaker, creating a
mini movie studio may make business sense for you.

Step 50 – Refine Movie Website
As a filmmaker, your website is one of the most

important tools on earth for helping you reach your
audience. And it is one of the most inexpensive movie
marketing tools in existence.
The problem is, most filmmakers are visually oriented,

but not marketing oriented. Most movie websites are
full of pages, links and articles that distract people from
actually clicking the BUY NOW button.
Some common examples are an over reliance on cast

and crew bios as well as a boring director’s statement.
Additionally many filmmakers include outgoing links to
review sites. Cut this extra, distracting stuff.
Take a hard look at your website. Is there anything

distracting your visitors from actually buying your
movie? Set up Google Analytics. It is a free toolset
offered by Google that allows you to analyze visitor
behavior. You will see where visitors exit your site.
Cut the fat. Only keep what matters.
In terms of best practices, your movie website should

be distilled down to the basics. It should only consist of
a title, tagline, positive testimonials, your trailer and a
BUY NOW button. Anything else is unnecessary.
In the event someone tries to leave your movie website

without buying, you should also include an opt-in pop-
up. The goal here is to build your mailing list. If you are
utilizing WordPress, I recommend linking your Audience
List to another service called Pop Up Domination.

Step 51 – Promote Your Trailer
Take a look at your trailer. Is your trailer congruent

with your hook and the marketing elements we covered
earlier? If it is not, I suggest you recut and refine your
trailer to ensure a consistent marketing message.
In doing this you will have to find the balance between

showing enough to sell your movie and giving away so
much that you spoil the story. And since your movie
trailer will be posted on various websites, you should
also add a title card with a link to your movie website.
The Internet is full of places where you can upload and

post your trailer. But out of all of them, YouTube is top-
notch. Aside from being the second largest search
engine on earth, the service also incorporates built-in
social networking, which allows people to discuss your
movie and create community around your title.
This is important because word-of-mouth indicates

what people like and dislike about your movie. And as
you will soon learn, discussion (good or bad) equals
more sales. Lack of discussion indicates disinterest.
Since YouTube records the number of views, this is also

a great indication of how well your trailer is being
received. If viewership is low, refine your title, tags and
description to complement your niche subject matter.
Martial Arts Movie? One tag might be “Karate” or “Kung

Fu.” After tweaking and re-tweaking your description, if
viewership is still stagnant, consider cutting, tweaking
and testing multiple versions of your trailer.

Step 52 - Write Press Releases
If you find yourself with a movie and no idea how to

sell it, get back to the basics. Unless you get an
awesome distribution deal, then you are responsible for
the success of your movie.
The good news is, most of your sales will come from
the Internet. And one simple way to drive traffic to
your movie website is through the use of frequent
press release submission.
Unlike the old days, releasing your press through the

Internet means you are no longer limited to traditional
journalists. Instead, you can rest assured that your
press will be syndicated through RSS feeds. RSS is
short for real simple syndication.
Many websites aggregate information from RSS feeds

and re-post the “news.” This allows you to potentially
spread news of your movie very quickly.
Sometimes writing a press release is challenging. So I

usually get someone to write the initial draft of my
press release. You can check out www.Fiverr.com and
usually find someone willing to write a draft.
The draft will provide a good start. But the wording will
leave a lot to be desired. So you will want to take the
draft, dramatically refine it and then post it to the
Internet using a press release submission service like
PRWeb. Once live, your story will percolate through the
internet and potentially drive semi-targeted traffic to
your site for years to come.

Step 53 – SEO For Movie Promotion
There are two ways filmmakers get traffic to their

movie website. You either create great content and
receive organic, free traffic – or you create great
content and then pay for traffic.
Notice I use the words “great content.” Since you do

not have a multi-gazillion dollar movie-marketing
budget like the big Hollywood studios, you should focus
on getting free, targeted traffic. Search engine
optimization is one way to do this.
There are two strategies for SEO consisting of on-page

SEO and off-page SEO. Getting sites to rank in search
is another reason I recommend utilizing WordPress as
your website framework. There are several plugins that
help you create on-page SEO. The one I utilize
frequently is the WordPress SEO Plugin by Yoast.
Once installed, there are a bunch of YouTube videos to

show you how to best utilize the tool. When I was first
getting started, I simply installed the plugin and
watched the videos. They showed me how to configure
the plugin for my site.
When it comes to off-page SEO, you need to remember

that the Internet is really just a bunch of links.
Backlinks from reputable sites, with relevant content
can help your site rank higher in organic search results.
Assuming you consistently create great content, people

will want to link to you through their sites and social
media. But as a word of caution, if you try to game the
system, search engines will know and penalize you.
And it is possible your site will disappear completely.

Step 54 – Forums for Community
Join online forums related to your target market. But

just because you’re in a forum doesn’t mean people
care about you or your movie. The goal of the forum is
to contribute value to the conversation.
If you join conversations without adding value – Or if

you become one of those spam happy people who talk
about your movie and fail to add value to the
discussion, you will be a spammer.
The mechanics of joining a forum are pretty simple. Do

a web search for forums focused on your subject. From
there, target a list of at least ten forums.
From there, create a profile, complete with a signature

link to your movie website. This will allow you to
include your movie website link every time you
contribute to a conversation.
While joining the conversation is a great way to build

community around your movie, this sort of engagement
does not happen quickly. To increase awareness,
consider paying for advertisements in the forum.
Like all forms of advertising, you will need to make

sure your conversion rate is high enough to make good
business sense.
As another point, I get tweets and Facebook updates all

the time from filmmakers promoting their movie. But
unless your movie revolves around filmmaking, posting
info about your movie in Filmmaker forums is a waste
of time. Find out where your target audience spends
time and join the conversation!

Step 55 – Social Media For Your Movie
I will be the first to tell you that the words “social

media” annoy me. Half the filmmakers talking about
social media do not have any clue what it means or
how to utilize it to promote movies.
So right here and right now, I want to change that. In

the old days, movie marketing was based on traditional
media or one-way conversation. Guess what?
I have a movie. So I am going to SHOUT at you

through television, magazines, newspapers and website
advertising in the hopes you will hear me, take action
and buy my movie.
But social media is different. Social media is the online

equivalent of having a two-way conversation with your
fans. And unlike sophisticated, multi-gazillion dollar
traditional advertising campaigns, social media can be
produced anywhere, by anyone.
Social media provides you with word of mouth that you

can monitor on the Internet. As a filmmaker, social
media provides you with a way to monitor and measure
the word-of-mouth marketing.
To help you put social media and audience engagement

into perspective, I suggest you think of this in terms of
going to a summer BBQ. When you socialize, you want
people to like you and enjoy what you have to say.
But if you do more talking than listening, you become

“that guy.” Speaking from experience, you don’t want
to be that guy! Create profiles on Facebook, Twitter
and Linkedin.

Step 56 – Tweet Movies
Twitter allows filmmakers with an easy way to

communicate and connect with fans. But the site only
allows you to send messages limited to 140 characters.
These updates are called tweets. A Twitter account will

allow you to answer questions from your fans and keep
them up to date with your latest movie projects.
In my own movie business, I share blog posts, relevant

articles, movie updates and ideas. I also utilize Twitter
to connect with other prospective collaborators.
The key to making Twitter work is to make sure your

tweets are interesting and engaging. You will also want
to pay attention to what other people are saying and
join the conversation.
When successful, you will attract fans that care about

you and your projects. Assuming you have interesting
tweets, your fans will re-tweet your message to their
followers. You can spread ideas exponentially.
Always remember that people do not want to be sold.

People follow you because they are looking for
interesting content, not another promotion.
Assuming you are successful in building a Twitter

following, be very subtle with your promotions.
If you’d like to ask me for real time filmmaking tips,

feel free to Tweet me for filmmaking help right now!

Step 57 – Word of Mouth Promotion
When it comes to movie marketing, there is no better

promotion than off-line word of mouth. First of all,
WOM promotion is free. People see your movie and
then tell other people to see it too. Then those people
tell other people. And the trend continues.
Your goal is to make sharing word of mouth easy. Word

of mouth marketing can take place online and offline.
Online, most word of mouth is driven by social media

shares. In this example, someone writes about your
movie. Then someone else shares the content on
Twitter. And then one of his or her friends shares it via
Facebook, and then someone else writes a blog post
that references the original article.
Online word of mouth is great because you can actually

see what people are saying about you.
While online word of mouth can provide insight to what

people are saying about your movie, offline word of
mouth is tougher to monitor. People love to share
stories. Remarkable movies prompt people to share.
Interestingly, a horrible movie may also prompt people

to share. Especially if it is so horrible, it is actually
awesome. An OK movie is boring and easily forgotten.
Your goal is to find ways to make your marketing

awesome and memorable. And don’t forget to use
social bookmarking sites like Reddit or StumbleUpon.

Step 58 – Check Website Stats
Many filmmakers set up websites, but then fail to

monitor and study visitor data. This is a lot like trying
to bowl in the dark. Maybe you hit some pins.
Maybe not.
But since you goal is to become a successful filmmaker,

I suggest installing Google Analytics onto your site.
Analytics is a free service offered by Google that allows
you to monitor who comes to your website and what
those people do.
With one of our titles, I noticed that most of our visitors

found the website by Googling the actual title of our
movie. This indicated that word-of-mouth was very
strong. When word of mouth is strong, converting
targeted visitors into movie sales becomes easier. But
this also assumes that people actually want to pay for
your movie.
Other keyword phrases like “Watch Career Courier

Free,” revealed that many fans were trying to pirate
our movie.
You need to find out where your traffic is coming from.

For our zombie movie, we got lucky. Because the movie
was a bit weird and remarkable, we found that many
fan websites mentioned the movie, embedded our
trailer, and also included backlinks to our site.
We were then able to reach out to these bloggers and

see if there were ways to further promote our movie.
Many of the bloggers went the distance and some even
included mention of our movie in email blasts.

Step 59 – Grow Your List
As more distribution channels make the shift from

brick-and-mortar operations to VOD and streaming
websites, you will have multiple outlets to sell work.
But in order to prosper, one of the most important tools

for success is cultivating a mailing list of movie fans
that know you and value your work.
Establishing a loyal following is not only emotionally

gratifying, but it is also profitable. From a business
perspective, the size of your mailing list will provide a
solid metric on which to base forward looking revenue
projections.
In other words, you can take look at your list and say
“I wonder how many fans will be interested in my next
movie.” But instead of guessing you can actually send
an email and ask!
This information will help you the next time you sit
down with a prospective investor. Think about it. Would
you rather work the filmmaker with no fans? Or the
filmmaker with ten-thousand rabid fans who can’t wait
to see the next movie.
Having access to an audience presents a more

interesting business opportunity than the filmmakers
who have no audience. Why? Because your audience is
your business!

Step 60 – Monitor Conversion Rates
Truth be told, math is a weak subject for me and I dare

say, most of the filmmakers I know. But there is one
piece of marketing math that all Internet movie
markers must know how to calculate. The concept is
called conversion rate. And it describes anybody who
comes to your website and converts to a customer.
Out of all the people who click the BUY NOW button,
some will actually buy. To get your conversion rate,
compare your website traffic with your actual movie
sales. For example, if one-hundred people visit your
movie site and two people buy, then your conversion
rate is two-percent.
There are many spreadsheet templates that allow you

to budget and project the return on investment for your
movie. But the bottom line is this – if you spend money
on marketing, the money invested should result in a
profit. If your movie marketing effort does not produce
profits, then you need to quickly change a few things.
Here is a fictional example:
Advertising = $100 (Sends 100 visitors to your site)

Movie Price = $10
In this scenario, to make your ad spend back, you

would need to sell 10 units. This means you would need
a 10% conversion to make your money back.
You will need to sit down with a calculator and find the
marketing strategy that works best for your movie and
crunch numbers until you find a model that works. You
will then adjust your strategy based on this research.

Step 61 – Pay For Advertising
As mentioned earlier, organic traffic is great because

the cost of acquiring a customer is very low.
Conversely, when you pay for a customer, you diminish
your profit margin from the outset. But if you can make
the numbers work, there are instances when it makes
sense to pay for traffic.
You can choose to advertise both online and offline.

Popular methods for online paid advertising include
Pay-Per-Click (PPC) and Cost-Per-Impression (CPM).
PPC means you pay only when a potential customer
clicks on your link. With CPM, you pay per 1000
impressions without the guarantee of a click.
With both methods, whenever a potential customer

searches for your paid terms, a link to your website will
be presented. Common examples of offline (traditional)
paid advertising include magazines, trade journals,
print publications and billboards.
If both your traffic and your budget are low, search out
other filmmakers who have successfully sold their
movies to a similar market and who have a solid
customer list.
Ask them to promote your movie and in exchange,

offer to pay a high commission. Many people think I'm
outrageous, but I try to pay 40% to 55%. Since I don't
believe in inventory or shipping, giving someone a good
return for effective marketing creates win-win business
relationships fast.
Carry no inventory, so all you see are the checks.

Step 62 – Think About Next Project
While the vast majority of first time feature filmmakers

dream of fame and fortune, your perspective should be
a bit more pragmatic. Maybe you just want to make a
few movies a year and make a living making movies.
Affordable production technology has made filmmaking

accessible. But as a result, the supply of cheaply
produced movies has surpassed demand.
As you can imagine, becoming successful in any field is

challenging. And if you’re busy working a day job,
finding time for your movie project may seem
impossible. But there are some strategies you can
employ to get past this.
So if you’re going to become a filmmaking success, you

need to do more than simply making movies. You will
have to view yourself as an entrepreneur and you will
have to view filmmaking as your business.
My suggestion is to wake up every day imagining all

the wonderful movies you plan to make. Make plans to
create your own mini-movie-studio and distribute your
movies anywhere in the world. You don’t need
Hollywood to give you permission.
If your vision and passion is strong enough, you will

take steps towards the achievement of this dream. But
let’s make one thing clear. You are not entitled to
filmmaking success. You have to do the work. You will
need to make more movies.

Step 63 – Seven Meetings Makes a Relationship
Relationships are everything. If you don’t take time to

know the right people, raising money to make movies
and navigate Hollywood will be challenging. But how do
you go out and meet friends, find investors, and
influence Hollywood people?
Wouldn’t it be great to contact Hollywood heavyweights

who have never heard of you and get a meeting? Or
perhaps you want to meet the famous millionaire in
your hometown where you grew up.
When I was starting out, I had all these questions too.

In addition to making movies, I spent five years
working as an account executive for one of the biggest
investment banks in the world. During that time, I
learned some cutting-edge strategies for getting
meetings with important people.
For example, did you know that, on average, it takes

seven face-to-face meetings to establish a relationship?
Yep. Read that again. Seven meetings! If you follow
these secrets, it’s simple.
One easy way to get started is by creating a profile at

LinkedIn.com and reaching out to people who know you
and know your work. Once you establish this
foundation, write out a list of at least 10 to 15 film
industry professionals who may be able to help you
with your movie business.
Then do a LinkedIn search to find prospects. Your next

would be to reach out ask if he or she would like to
meet you. Always answer this classic question: “What’s
in it for your prospect to meet with you?”

Step 64 – Rejection Is Good
As a filmmaker, taking action is everything. But

sometimes this is easy to say, but tough to execute. I
get a ton of email from Hollywood hopefuls who want
to make movies or write screenplays or do something.
For some reason, these people think they need an

agent or someone to give them permission. Allow me
to remind you the whole point of independent
filmmaking involves being a rebel. You don’t have to
ask anybody for permission.
You just need to do the WORK.
Many moviemakers incorrectly think that their ideas are

enough to garner attention. These uninformed
filmmakers think they don’t have to do the work.
They get into a habit of thinking Hollywood is a lottery,

and all you have to do is buy the bus ticket into town.
But this is simply not based in reality. Unless you have
a track record, selling a movie idea is nearly
impossible. It is execution that matters. Are you willing
to take action and make your movie now?
The thing you need to remember is everybody started

from somewhere. And despite popular opinion, most
successful filmmakers started from scratch.
If you are not getting rejected every day, you are not
working hard enough for your goals.
Quit crying and get to work!

Step 65 – Multiple Streams of Movie Income
Instead of raising investment dollars for just one title,

you need to think like a mini-studio, complete with
research and development, planning, production,
marketing, distribution and sales under one roof. Then
focus on producing a slate of at least five genre specific
movies that you can distribute through video on
demand channels.
Like any small business, your success is based on the

amount of people who know you and know your work.
Your audience is your business, without an audience
you have no business. And your goal is to grow your
community bigger.
Over time, your fans will begin to know you, know your
company and celebrate your work. Only in this way will
you eventually reach mass great enough to increase
ongoing revenue through multiple streams of movie
income.
Your goal is to produce multiple movies over time so

that you establish multiple streams of movie income.
Focus on muti-title diversification. By creating multiple
movie titles, you can hopefully create long term,
sustainable revenue.
In this regard, you can begin to focus on creating entire

library instead of just depending on one title to support
our career. Envision your mini movie studio.

Modern Moviemaking Manifesto
I am going to share the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto

with you. After this, you’re going to know yourself a
little better as a filmmaker. And to get the ball rolling, I
have a question for you:
What’s the biggest filmmaking failure you must

avoid?
Ok, this is gonna sound obvious… But the answer is:

Making a movie NOBODY CARES about!
(Which is the same as making a boring movie that

could put monkeys to sleep, if monkeys actually
watched movies.)
Notice I didn’t say BAD MOVIE. You can make bad

movies and people will still care.
For examples, check out Birdemic or The Room for an

example of this… But if you make movies nobody cares
about, you will fail as a filmmaker.
This sounds obvious right? But if it was so obvious, how

come many silly filmmakers keep making movies
nobody cares about.
I’ll tell you why…
Modern Moviemaking
Inexpensive production technology, coupled with about

237 different ways to get your movie selling makes it
way to easy to make movies nobody cares about.

SURPRISE…
Most movies do not make money!
There. I said it. And it gets more challenging than this…

Ready for some serious real world film school?
The problem with traditional independent filmmaking is

the ever growing gap between investment dollars and a
filmmaker’s ability to recoup the initial investment. In
other words, indie filmmakers find investors, get
money, make a crap movie and never repay the
investors…
Oops. Sorry.
But let’s be clear. Independent filmmaking has always

been a risky business. And we freely share this with
any prospective investors, usually stating: “Filmmaking
is risky and you will most likely never see a dime.”
While these types of disclaimers are transparent and

accurate, filmmakers could often counter this objection
by getting investors to focus on the misguided idea that
the movie might get into Sundance.
The movie might garner ginormous buzz.
And if you’re really lucky, the movie might sell to the

highest bidder! (Sound familiar?)
So from this perspective, the real benefit of investing in

independent movies wasn’t the promise of a solid
investment. Rather the driving force behind investment
dollars was the chance of winning instant fame, fortune
and a never-ending supply of coolness!

And we all want to look cool.
Here is a picture of me looking cool:
Many filmmakers still hold this dream.
The realities of the movie business are sobering.
Out of the gazillion movies made each year, only a few

get into a major film festival. And out of those movies,
very few garner a deal worth mentioning. Adding to
this problem is the ever prevalent demise of DVD sales
channels, resulting in filmmaking becoming less
profitable and less cool than it once was. And as a
result, the “invest in my movie because it’s an
awesome business” pitch is no longer believable.
Technology is also changing independent moviemaking.

For two-thousand dollars, every filmmaker can now
grab a camera, shoot a feature and compete for virtual
“shelf space” in iTunes, Amazon, Netflix, Hulu and most
of the many VOD outlets.

In the context of business 101, this means that our

high quality, expensive goods (our movies) are now
competing with cheaply produced goods of a somewhat
comparable quality. And if we were in the widget
business, this would mean massive layoffs are in the
near future. Or to put it another way, our old way of
making movies no longer fits the marketplace.
This of course raises the question:
How do we make indie filmmaking profitable (and

fun) again?
A lot of people have solutions. One that is gaining

popularity is the idea that filmmakers should hire
someone to cover the marketing and distribution of the
movie from day one.
In this sense, filmmakers can focus on making the

movie while the marketer can focus on the marketing,
social media and list building duties.
Instead of trying to find a traditional distribution deal,

you get enough people to know you and know your
movie from day one. And once your mailing list (or
community of followers) reaches a certain mass, you
will hopefully sell enough copies of your movie to
recoup your investment.
Build Your Audience Now
Everybody is talking about audience engagement like

it’s a new concept. But it’s not. In fact, audience
engagement has been around since the beginning of
story telling. And again, it comes down to telling a
great story that people actually care about.

Modern moviemakers need to build a targeted audience

list and grow community around individual movie titles.
Everyone fits into a demographic. Everyone wants to be

part of something. Many aren’t even conscious of this.
The reality is, it will take tremendous efforts to make

the metrics work, begging the question:
How much must a community grow to support a movie

budget of at least one-million dollars?
One-million dollars is not a lot of money in terms of

traditional indie filmmaking budgets. And if we assume
all traditional distribution will eventually be replaced by
some form of VOD, then as a filmmaker, business
success really comes down to three economically
focused questions:
1. Who is your movie’s target audience?

2. How will you reach your target audience?
3. How many sales to recoup initial investment?
If you can’t answer these questions, then you know

from day one that your odds of success are
dramatically decreased. Without a defined market or an
established sales channel, it is difficult to justify
financing, which makes it very difficult to pay cast and
crew, which makes it difficult to produce a movie.
Assuming you can answer these questions, the problem

is still economy of scale. If you can’t reach the masses
(or reach enough people willing to pay for what you’re
selling), how will you ever recoup your initial movie
investment? If you can’t figure out how you’re going to
recoup your budget, two things have to change:

1. Filmmakers will need to make smaller movies.

2. Filmmakers will need to pay cast and crew less
money.
At first thought, neither of these options seems to

make independent movie making profitable (or fun) –
which is why people keep creating solutions without
first scrutinizing the traditional filmmaking paradigm.
As a result most current solutions fail to fully SOLVE

the indie producing for profit problem – Which
prompted me to share my own solutions.
What I’m about to share is the official Jason Brubaker

solution for saving the independent movie industry.
And it has a name. I call this philosophy…
Modern Moviemaking
Revolutionary, right? Admittedly, I should have added

some shazam to my idea and called it something fancy
– but coining phrases is not my focus. I want to join
the other filmmakers and focus on a workable solution.
I’m just like you. I’m a filmmaker, passionate about

making movies. But at the same time, I want to help us
figure out a way to make a living making movies.
So this movement is your movement. Should you

choose to participate in this brave new modern movie
making world, there is one solid, economically viable
way to make movies profitable again. And it will require
that you adopt a modern moviemaking paradigm.

Wanna join the modern moviemaking movement?
1. Modern Moviemakers will think of filmmaking in ways

akin to how entrepreneurs think of start up companies.
Instead of raising investment dollars for just one title,
you create a mini-studio that includes development,
production, marketing, distribution under one roof.
2. Modern Moviemakers will focus on producing a slate of

at least five genre specific films. These films will be
created inexpensively and will be delivered to the
audience via ALL popular VOD marketplaces.
3. Instead of hiring freelancers, Modern Moviemakers will

put crew on a salary, with benefits. Everybody in the
company will own equity in the films. So in this regard,
someone who owns 10% in company stock will get
10% of all film profits. This will supplement crew salary
with an ongoing, lifelong stream of income.
4. Modern Moviemakers work to grow community. And

over time, fans will know us, know our company and
celebrate our work. Only in this way will we eventually
reach mass great enough to increase ongoing revenue
through multiple streams of movie income.
5. Modern Moviemakers focus on muti-title diversification,

with the goal that multiple movie titles build enough
buzz to create long term, sustainable revenue. We can
focus on creating a library instead of depending on one
title to support our business.

Visit Filmmaking Stuff
The site includes filmmaking articles on how to take a

story idea from script to screen, including scriptwriting,
producing, film finance, shooting, editing, directing,
marketing, distribution and how to build an audience.
Here are popular filmmaking articles:
1. Modern Moviemaking Manifesto
2. How To Finance Films with VOD Sales Projections
3. Thoughts on Film School
4. My Story: How Jason Brubaker got Started in

Filmmaking
5. 7 Steps for Selling Your Movie Online
The future of filmmaking is not Hollywood.

It is the thousands of independent filmmakers
empowered by the digital revolution.
The truth is, many filmmakers wait years to make a

movie. But with the new world of film distribution, you
do not need Hollywood to start your filmmaking career.
If you are serious about filmmaking – Now is the time

to pick up a camera... Do not wait for permission.
Rather, you should take action make your movie now!
[VISIT FILMMAKING STUFF]

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The Jason Brubaker Movie Maker Action Guide

For Serious Independent Filmmakers

Cover design by Ian Hannin

To get more filmmaking tools, visit www.MakeYourMovieNow.com

Disclaimers and Disclosures and Warnings

This book is based heavily on the author’s filmmaking experience. When

This book is designed to provide information on modern moviemaking and

The information in this book is meant to supplement, not replace, proper

Affiliate Disclosures and Disclaimers

To get more filmmaking tools, visit www.MakeYourMovieNow.com

INTRODUCTION: ABOUT THIS GUIDE 1

To get more filmmaking tools, visit www.MakeYourMovieNow.com

STEP 35 – LET PEOPLE DO THEIR JOBS 36

To get more filmmaking tools, visit www.MakeYourMovieNow.com

Introduction: About This Guide

Thank you for taking the time to absorb information

My name is Jason Brubaker. As you may know from

Like you, I love the film industry. Whenever I work on

When I was first starting out, everything about making

In my quest, I was frustrated with the material

Everything you’re about to absorb represents the very

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Step 1: Study Everything Filmmaking

One of the best ways to get started as a filmmaker

It is also helpful to read as many screenplays as

Additionally, you will want to read every book on the

And importantly, study the autobiographies of the

As many filmmakers learn from doing, I suggest you

Making short movies for YouTube will allow you to

A good filmmaker is not afraid to fail. Learn from this.

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Step 2: Write Or Acquire a Great Script

Screenwriting is the heavy lifting for your movie.

If you choose to write your screenplay yourself, do not

Most would-be screenwriters have only written the first

Finish a crappy first draft. Then work to refine it.

In the event you simply want to acquire good material,

I suggest that you only research new screenwriters who

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Step 3 - Complete Initial Breakdown

Once you have a screenplay that you want to produce,

While it is great to have a rough idea of your budget, it

A breakdown involves distilling your movie down to it’s

In this process, you will analyze each scene and

There are several ways to complete a breakdown,

You may want to check out the software (they pay me

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Step 4 - Cut The Fat

Looking at the initial budget, is there anything you can

I will explain on how to more in a later step. But for

You must also remember that many areas of your

Avoid any element that you cannot easily control. If

My producer friend Forest Murray taught me that your

Make sure you avoid making haphazard changes to any

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Step 5 - Digital Film Distribution

DVD distribution is on the demise. And inexpensive

Digital film distribution is now a primary way movies