We parked the car, and took the shuttle from the beach and strode into the lobby of the Loews Hotel, only to be engulfed by a buzz of activity. The hustle and bustle of people whose dress code for the most part was unofficial, despite the fact that most men wore dark suits, jackets or dark pants; the women—as is custom, wore a variety of garments, tight or loose fitting, with a myriad of sandals or high-heels to propel them to the clouds above Santa Monica. Should I mention the people wearing the California uniform of shorts, seemingly appropriate at any and all events and functions? Just my initial impressions…

The American Film Market & Conference (AFM) completely took over the hotel with all guest rooms temporarily occupied by International and state film commission officials and film and television production company representatives. Conferences, roundtables or lectures geared to ushering deals between directors, producers, distributers, sales agents and the like. Ric and I had much work to do in preparing for it.

Best Foot Forward

It began with our Film Proposal. After forming DRAFT Productions back in 2014, we stepped up our filmmaking track creating a film proposal necessary for demonstrating the marketability of the project to investors.

We hit the ground running learning everything we could, not only about the legalities, expense and of operating a production company, but also about the business of filmmaking. We learned about accepted business practices, traditions and very established roles with important responsibilities… what a learning curve!

The marketing tools we created to attract investors are all ways in which the concept, structure and style of the film is communicated to a potential investor, co-producer or studio for ultimately financing the production.

Film Proposal - A comprehensive document that includes the treatment and all of the project details an investor would be interested in.

Beat Sheet – is a way to sequence your story, using bullets instead of whole sentences or paragraphs.

Pitch Packet – is a tangible document for potential investors that brings your unique project to life, while also communicating a focused plan to execute your vision.

Treatment – The written essence of the story, including the main characters evoked through exhilarating language and imagery.

Synopsis - is a brief telling of your screen story in written form. It contains all the important elements — characters, storyline, actions, reactions and major incidents — from beginning to end in chronological order.

One Sheet - is a single document that summarizes a product for publicity and sales.

And of course, our Logline, Pitch and Film Budget.

In preparing for the AFM, we refined these marketing elements, and added to our digital footprint—our social media profiles on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, Vimeo and our website—all put forth a united branded effort.

Highlights of the Conference

The main events of the market for us were:

the Pitch Essentials conference, where we learned more about the rules & tools of the process, and that “pitching is part art (it’s creative), part science (it needs to follow a tight script) and part sales (you have to wow them)”.

the Production conference denoted the importance of pre-selling to territorial buyers, the key to financing most independent films. What they look for and how to set a budget that will reflect the marketplace.

And attending, Distributing and Monetizing Feature Documentaries, the “roundtable” geared most to us at this point, where they stressed what distributers and potential partnering producers look for, and the importance of screening at film festivals for documentaries.

The insights gleaned by walking through the halls of the AFM were invaluable, not to mention attending the conferences, meeting other filmmakers and capitalizing on the many networking opportunities. We also effectively refined our logline, pitch and film budget and garnered numerous leads and interest in our project.

Not bad for taking it all step-by-step.

Insights from the AFM