Producer's Foundation Certificate

This five-part  evening course is comprised of classes which answer specific questions and explores the opportunities producers have.  During each class you will learn skills essential to getting a movie made.

Week One: Creating A Business Plan
Week Two: Marketing And Selling Your Film
Week Three: Basic Legal Contracts
Week Four: Budgeting and Scheduling
Week Five: Movie Money

Once you have scoured film festivals looking for new talent, settled on the next hot director and found that absolutely terrific script, you need to prepare a plan of attack to get the money to shoot your film.

This evening workshop will run through the basic essentials you will need, both to present your project to industry investors, as well as how to present your project to private investors.

• Choosing and targeting investors
• Structure of a business plan
• Using visual aids
• Preparing sales estimates and income streams
• Money flow explained
• Profit participation

You will also discover a unique way to pool your talents and quit the day job.

Week Two: Marketing And Selling Your Film

The essential task for filmmakers is creating a marketing plan for your film. Learn how to utilise the trade press, consumer press and film festivals to turn your film (and yourself) into this year's cult classic.

Learn how to approach film festivals and film markets with a strong press kit that will enhance the commercial potential of your film.

A special feature will be the use of social media to create interest in your film, with live demonstration.

• Writing a good synopsis and getting good photos
• The ten Q&As
• Writing press releases
• Film festivals explained
• The role of film markets
• How sales agents work
• Creating the marketing assets you need to sell your film
• How the money works

Once your film is finished and ready to be sold, you will have to show the “chain of title” to any prospective film buyer. If you fail to do this you will never be able to sell your film.

In this evening crash course, the basic talents' (ie. writer, director, actors) contracts are explained. View it as health insurance for filmmakers!

• Key negotiation points explained
• Preparing and maintaining your contracts

This class is designed to answer basic questions about film contracts.

Simply put, a film budget is a list of all the stuff and people you need to make your film, and a schedule is when and where you need it.

Always considered the boring bit by film producers and directors, the budget and schedule are the spine of any production. If you get the budget (the money part) wrong, your film will stall half-finished without cash. Get the schedule (the time) wrong, and your film will suffer – either from loss of quality, or remain unfinished because you have run out of time (and budget!)

This evening explains how scripts are analysed and whipped into shape budget-wise and schedule-wise.

• Script breakdown
• Assessing prices
• Union vs non-union
• Creating a do-able schedule

A professional budget and schedule are an essential part of a business plan.

Week Five: Movie Money
You have a great idea for a movie. You've met your writer and had meeting after meeting about the script. You've attended a film festival or two and found a hot director and a couple of actors. Now you need some cash to make your short or feature.

This evening workshop will run through the basic financing tools available for any business, not just the film business. These tax-efficient finance structures make the UK one of the most attractive places in Europe to raise money for film production. Find out how they work and how to utilise them.

• Tax-efficient finance vehicles
• Enterprise Investment Schemes
• Venture Capital Trusts (VCT's)
• Pension Plans: Gold for filmmakers
• Profit participation

This evening class outlines the basics of film finance and should provide you with the elements of a plan to finance your movie.