o He put together a polished, bound Business Plan to give to - - PDF document

Writer, Producer, Director Nick DiBella Shares Insights on Producing King’s Faith

Thanks to Christopher R. Hazenbush for sharing his notes and also to Rochester Movie Makers for allowing RCTV to include them in its newsletter. During Rochester Movie Makers’ July meeting, Nick DiBella, writer/producer/director of films such as Cherry Crush, Kart Racer, Running Home and most recently, King’s Faith shared his professional insights with attendees at the Rochester Movie Makers Meeting held at RCTV15. He spoke primarily about what he learned during the production of King’s Faith, a faith-based film released for distribution earlier this year. Nick DiBella’s Background: Nick Got start at Kodak – he borrowed 8mm and 16mm film cameras and started making short films with family and friends  Entered films in “Movies on a Shoestring” film festival in Rochester  Showtime picked up “best of show” film, “Sweet Surrender”  Then started making short films for Kodak to promote new film product  First project s with big budgets Next, he started writing to get better at it.  Read successful scripts and learned how they turned into great films  Used them as a “blueprint” for a successful feature film His path to getting a movie produced:  He wrote query letters to producers directly when studios refused to read his scripts  Would also fax updates to agents he knew in the hopes of getting signed  Eventually sold a script to Warner Bros., and “all the doors opened up”  He has sold eight scripts total in his career to date Advice: The story is only as good as who is attached to it  For example, three of his scripts went into turnaround after being sold and have not yet been produced  He tries to write four screenplays a year King’s Faith: Fundraising and Pre-production  He wanted a “deeper experience” for teens than in his successful Cherry Crush

• The film is about a teenager who finds faith while in prison, but temptation keeps luring

him back

• Did want to do a “Faith Movie” but soon realized that his script was of that genre
• Also, there is a huge, Christian market hungry for Christian films
• People in the Christian community want to see this movie

 Is hopeful he can also return investors’ investment with this film

• Has never seen this happen with a typical independent film, but thinks he can do it in

the Christian market

• He put together a polished, bound Business Plan to give to investors
• Used realistic, similar movies as examples of box office successes to show this was a

good investment (didn’t use huge blockbusters like My Big Fat Greek Wedding because those are unrealistic expectations)

• Note: An impressive Business Plan will “wow” investors

 More details will also allow one to speak honestly and from a position of knowledge  Projected he would make 1.2 million dollars (including foreign and domestic sales) Based on that, he budgeted for $750,000 ($600,000 shooting/$150,000 marketing)  Set up LLC and Private Placement Memorandum (filed with FCC) with attorney to legitimately raise money

• Fundraising plan includes information on legal structure of investing, risk involved, and
• ther legal issues)

He wanted to make investors feel comfortable and happy  Even set up weekly/monthly meetings with investors to keep them in updated (now they want to re-invest in new projects)  Also made a video teaser component to the investor pitch when he hit an investment wall

• Added an extra level to the film experience

King’s Faith – Production:  Much more organized than Cherry Crush

• Cut scenes into strips and laid out to organize shooting schedule and continuity
• Can save a lot of money by shooting in an smart, organized way

King’s Faith - Distribution  Tested his film about five times around the country and tweaked after each time

• Had questionnaire for viewers to fill out
• This allowed him to fix issues with the story or with characters to make the film better
• Also tested music and tweaked that too

 Two biggest questions from distributors – “Do you like it?” and “Would you recommend it?”

• Scores were 90%/87% “yes” by end of screening (65%/45% is benchmark)
• Once that data base available, distributors were more willing to take on the film

Advice: don’t think of theatrical release as a money-maker

• Theaters and distributors take out too much to leave any room for producer profit
• Instead, break up all revenue streams separately and control the deals with distributors
• Faith Marketing (Christian bookstores) and General (RedBox, Target, Netflix, Wal-Mart,

etc.)

• Also needed foreign, but used Sony Provident for faith and foreign

 Sony worked well by getting TV deals on Christian TV (UpTV - http://www.uptv.com/), including premiere events put on by the TV Channel  Also decided to try theaters, now that other avenues were working

• Decided to do a controlled, word-of-mouth campaign in a few select cities
• Opened in thirty-eight markets, and a buzz was created
• Is hopeful of a $100,000 box office return

 Generally, they were able to use success data as leverage to get better deals

• Got better DVD cost deals, etc.

 Was able to get e-mails addresses through website, and will blast e-mails when DVD is released to boost sales

• Doing a TV premiere before DVD launch generated a good buzz that worked out for them

 Made “production guides” for distributors to keep all parties on the same page

• Project Management was key to distribution success
• Cover as many holes as possible to retain control and avoid sinking

 Distributors withhold 35% of your money for “restocking” fees when DVDs are returned unsold  However, they do it for digital too, so be aware and specify which parts of the deal have the money withheld for restocking Advice: don’t let distributors take advantage of you, give you blanket deals, or give you advances on your money (you will never see any more than that advance)  Film Festivals  Only entered in one, and it didn’t do well  Tested much better with specific, Christian audience, as opposed to general public