The film and multimedia project The Black List is terrific idea.  It looks like it very nicely combines documentary filmmaking, social media/web 2.0, and good old fashioned brand building. You can catch the first film installment on HBO, if you did not see it at Sundance or SXSW.

Here is some background information:

The media coverage has been very positive and The Black List brand is being launched successfully. In addition to the film (and upcoming DVD), the book will soon be on sale.

To see a well-executed and multi-faceted campaign, take a look at their web presence and marketing:

• The Black List on Facebook
• The Black List on MySpace
• The Black List on YouTube
• Who’s on Your Blacklist http://www.whosonyourblacklist.com/
• The Black List Project http://www.blacklistproject.com/
• Their blog http://blpvideo.blogspot.com/

SWAMP and TALA present the Business of Film Conference 2008, a day-long event focusing on the business of making movies. This information-packed conference features panels and discussions with professionals from the film, legal and financial worlds that address a wide range of topics, including budgeting for film, funding resources, music rights, distribution and much more!

CONFIRMED SPEAKERS/PANELISTS:

James Barham (Documentary Filmmaker, For the Sake of the Song)
Greg Carter (Producer & Director, Ressurection: The J.R. Richard Story)
Barry Coffing (Musician/Music Supervisor - musicsupervisor.com)
Don Gillespie (Production Accountant, Tree of Life)
Roanna Gillespie (Musician/Music Supervisor - WOW Sounds)
Deena Kalai (Entertainment Attorney)
Linda Olszewski (Co-Head of Global Acquisitions, Development, Podcasts for Shorts International)
Clark Richards (Attorney, Texas Motion Picture Alliance Board Member)
Danae Ringelman (Founder and CFO, IndieGoGo.com)
Al Staehely (Entertainment Attorney)
Nguyen “Wyn” Tran (Sales Agent & Executive Director, The Institution)

Full details are available here

There is a great article on financing a documentary feature film over at The Independent:

I recently talked to fundraising expert Morrie Warshawski, whose book The Fundraising Houseparty: How to Party With a Purpose and Raise Money for Your Cause, is now out in its second edition and includes new sample invitations, new tips on making use of the Internet for the party, and a brainstorming worksheet to help filmmakers identify potential new partners and hosts.  Warshawski is also the author of Shaking The Money Tree: How To Get Grants And Donations For Film And Video — 2^nd Edition and speaks regularly about fundraising and career issues for independent filmmakers.

I also spoke with filmmakers Almudena Carracedo and Robert Bahar who successfully raised funds through parties for their 2007 film, Made in L.A. about the labor struggles of immigrant garment workers in Los Angeles.  The film screened on the PBS series P.O.V., is continuing to play festival and community screenings around the world, and has been nominated for an Emmy.  Also providing insights fresh from the experience of his first fundraising houseparty is first-time producer/director Christopher Wong. He is in the process of raising funds for his film Whatever It Takes about a year in the life of an urban high school whose staff is determined to protect their kids from falling through the cracks.

This is very practical film financing advice and I encourage you to take a peek

The Tribeca Film Institute, financed by the MacArthur Foundation, is beginning to digitize and deliver films from indie documentary, foreign, and experimental filmmakers. It will be interesting to see if this takes off or not.

Hoping to launch a viable new revenue stream for a wide swath of independent films and filmmakers, the Tribeca Film Institute has unveiled Reframe, a curated online outlet with its sights set on filtering some 10,000 films and videos via the Internet.

[Executive Director]Newman added that he is not necessarily looking for new work that is just hitting the film festival circuit, but rather is hoping to lure filmmakers who have a library of content for which they already own the rights. More details on what Newman vows will be a “transparent” deal structure is available on the website. Reframe is covering the digitizing costs for work available in video format and providing a master to the filmmaker, while work originating on film can be digitized at a discounted cost.

http://www.indiewire.com/biz/2008/06/digital_revenue.html

Written by Lena McCauley, Wellesley College student

Television trade publication TVBizWire is reporting the following tidbit about YouTube:

YouTube Ad Revenue Falls Short for Google WSJ

Worldwide revenue from YouTube, which is likely to total about $200 million in 2008, has fallen short of Google’s expectations, the Wall Street Journal reports. Google Chief Executive Officer Eric Schmidt admitted some big advertisers are uncomfortable with the idea of their ads appearing next to amateur videos and said the company hasn’t quite figured out how to best format video advertising on the Web site, the newspaper says.

Admittedly, this comes as a shock to virtually no one. At the time that Google acquired YouTube, there was no clear business model that could justify the hefty price tag for the acquisition.  As the online ad market continues its current deceleration, I am sure this is a topic that Google will be address in future earnings announcements.

For filmmakers, this is probably not a positive note. It may mean that YouTube will have even less interest in providing filmmakers with compensation for popular content that appears on the site.

Here is more detailed information on Washington FilmWorks, from their website:

Dedicated to helping filmmakers bring their vision to the small and big screens, Washington FilmWorks (WFW) is a not-for-profit 501 (c) (6) organization that offers funding assistance to commercials, television and feature films shooting in Washington State.

Offering up to a 20% return on all qualified in-state expenditures (including Washington based labor and talent), Washington FilmWorks raises $3.5M annually to incentivize production statewide. In order to qualify for the incentive the production company must meet the following in-state spending thresholds:

• $500,000 Feature Films
• $300,000 Television
• $150,000 Commercials

WashingtonFilmWorks is now accepting applications year round.

This is the link to their site: http://www.washingtonfilmworks.org/filmmakers.html

You may also want to check out the Washington State Film Office: http://www.filmwashington.com/

North Head Lighthouse, photo courtesy Washington Film Office

There is also info available from the Seattle Film Office: http://www.cityofseattle.net/filmoffice/

It’s not Hollywood, but Spokane, Washington has a film industry that is certainly helping to spark the economic life of the city. Filmmakers in the area will often spend 85% of their budget locally, and when the budgets reach $5M dollars that can be a significant amount of money.

How does it work? As one local producer notes:

[we] wouldn’t be able to land clients without funding from WashingtonFilmWorks, a Seattle-based nonprofit that administers funds from the Motion Picture Competitiveness Program, which was created by the Washington Legislature in 2006. The funds cover up to 20 percent of production companies’ in-state expenditures, up to $1 million per project, its Web site says. WashingtonFilmWorks can collect up to $3.5 million in funds a year, which it obtains from businesses that count their contributions as a credit against their business-and-occupation tax payments.

Legislators created the competitiveness program to help the state’s film and video industry compete with other states and Canada, many of which provide some form of tax relief for film producers. In the winter of 2007, North by Northwest became the program’s first funding recipient, for its movie, “The Holidays.” Since then, the company has received assistance for five more films, including “Norman.” For those movies, it has spent roughly $7.6 million within the state, and has received nearly $2.9 million in funding assistance, according to a project summary report by WashingtonFilmWorks. One of its upcoming films, “LadyKiller,” which also will be shot here, has been approved to receive roughly $324,000 in funds.

Food, lodging, and transportation are some of the basic industries that get a lift from Spokane film companies such as North by Northwest Productions. However, other less predictable industries, such as office supply, and hardware and lumber vendors have also gotten a boost from local production.

Tax legislation in Washington, which favors filmmakers, is also a bonus. There is also a blend of rural and urban areas, and the general consensus that Spokane is in general a nice place to film, and to live in.

Read the full article at the Spokane Journal:http://www.spokanejournal.com/spokane_id=article⊂=3618

Continuing our description of forms of film financing, we now examine Independent Distributor Financing and Talent Agency Financing. Based on “How to Fund Your Film” by Robert C. DiGregorio, Jr. imageMATTE Executive Producer

Part II:

Independent Distributor Financing is a more co-dependent form of financing. Because these distributors are not affiliated with a major studio, when submitting a project to them, one must already have some form of financing available and be ready to take on principle photography. The benefit to independent distributors is that both parties are coming from the same level, so the negotiation of a better deal is significantly easier. And, there is a higher chance of receiving a larger portion of net profit.

Talent Agency Financing is using a talent agency to gain the resources needed to finance a project. A clear advantage is that there is clear access to actors, directors, and even a distributor. So while the financial means might be pulled from the talent agency’s own variety of resources, the one-stop shopping aspect might streamline the entire process.

Contributed by Christina Chen,
UC Berkeley student

Here’s a blog post that suggests a few different options for financing films at least partially through internet sites: http://cinematech.blogspot.com/2008/04/internet-film-financing-evaluating.html

Here’s a short description of the three sites mentioned:

IndieGoGo : Free, but they take a cut once the target goal is reached.

ArtistShare : So far mainly used by musicians, but at least one filmmaker has used it. Set-up fee and monthly fee.

IndieMaverick : Offers investors a profit if the film does well. The filmmakers also must agree to agree to split any profits with IndieMaverick investors, 30/70.

All the sites are in the preliminary  stages of development and are open to all filmmakers.  Please post comments if you have direct experience with any of these sites.

Written by Lena McCauley, Wellesley College student

Here are some online and social network film marketing tactics that we think are very effective. It may help you and your team generate some additional marketing ideas.

Darfur Now Documentary
From Participant Productions:
http://prod.takepart.com/social_network/action/darfurnow/

Wal Mart Movie
This is Robert Greenwald’s film:
http://www.walmartmovie.com/

Four Eyed Monsters
Check out this post on our blog:
Four Eyed Monsters

MySpace examples
http://www.myspace.com/aninconvenienttruth?
http://www.myspace.com/climatecrisis

Facebook examples
http://www.facebook.com/pages/This-Darling-Life/14420535055

YouTube examples
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=oxfamamerica
http://www.youtube.com/profile?user=milotube

Best of luck with your outreach efforts!