Producing Films for the Pre-Sales Marketplace – AFM 2016

Getting binding commitments from buyers before production begins, or pre-sales, has been an important part of the film business for years. A panel of producers, sales agents and financiers shared their hard earned knowledge with a packed audience at the 2016 American Film Market, held in Santa Monica, California.

“There are just a few actors who can sell a movie and they’re always expensive. So if you want one of those actors and you don’t have the budget “you have to find other ways to excite people (buyers and actors),” said Tannaz Anisi, president of distributor and financier, 13 Films. “You have to find people who believe in your movie.”

Anisi and others are finding that it helps to get in early with projects to help producers package them in a way that will sell. This often includes having a domestic distributor on board before you try to get pre-sales. A break from the past when you could pre-sell enough foreign territories to typically get 60% of your budget without having a domestic distributor locked down.

“Buyers want to know what’s happening domestically,” Anisi. “To make it appealing in the foreign marketplace. “

There was agreement that today you don’t always need a star attached but you’d probably have to have a known director on board.

“Sometimes films can rely on the director if you don’t have cast,” said Caroline Couret-Delegue, an international sales executive who’s the co-head of London based Truffle Pictures.

Part of the challenge is educating the buyers that the actors you have, even though they may not be household names, are right for the part. That said, not having a bigger name can affect your budget and it’s important to make sure the “budget aligns with what you make in pre-sales,” said Eric Brenner, who assembles financing and produces through his company, ETA Films.

“You have to be realistic,” said Tamara Birkemore, who sees many films projects at Foresight Unlimited, where she oversees acquisitions, development, production, sales and distribution of all feature films. She often tells producers “who the actors are that they can get and they can afford,” she said.

A good sales agent can tell you what your budget should be.

This may mean trimming the budget you have. “A movie that used to be made for $8 million has to be made for $4 million. One that used to be $15 million, needs to be $10 million,” said Brenner.

The theme that ran through all of the conference was the importance the script, or as it’s referred to, the material.

“You have to find material that actors respond to in order to hit the budget you need,” said Brenner.

He gave his experience with Sharon Stone as an example. She was just getting offers “to reprise her role in ‘Basic Instinct’ or ‘old lady parts,’” said Brenner. “She wanted to do something different.” So he was able to cast her in his new film “A Little Something for Your Birthday,” with Ellen Burstyn.

You can turn to actors who are coming up, or from other countries like the UK who have some visibility in territories you’d like to clear, and are talented actors.

Another possibility is to work with TV stars who will often do a lower budget film. In any event the script “has to be there,” said Birkemore.

But don’t send your first draft and expect that to be good enough to get things rolling. It has to be polished and ready to go. Even then you’re probably going to need to partner with an experienced producer who the financiers, sales agents and production companies know and trust.

“Has to be a producer who can do the film for the budget,” said Couret-Deluge.

She said selling a comedy in foreign markets is a real challenge. “Comedies are difficult to pre-sell because humor is hard to travel,” said Couret-Deluge.

Action movies and horror films are staples in the international market but no matter what genre you choose it’s going to be challenging.

You have to think about currency fluctuations, the impact of Brexit and political unrest.

But there are things you can do to up your chances of success.

“If you have a million dollars in cash, I’d add debt, (additional bank financing) and get better actors to increase the value of your film,” said Brenner.

Even though many people stay away from first time directors, if chosen wisely, this can not only lower the budget, but if you find someone who’s promising, they may lay the groundwork for selling their next film.

Once you have your script, director, some cast and presales you can take this to a bank because the buyers probably aren’t going to actually give you any more than 20% of the total before you deliver the completed film.

“You take the contracts from the foreign buyers to a bank that will loan against a contract from the buyers as collateral,” said Brenner. “They typically cover 50% of the dollar value.”

But it may take them 60-90 days to do a deal. If you need to start shooting for other reasons, like you could lose your talent because they have another commitment, you might have to turn to a high net worth individual for a loan. They may ask for a higher return at the end and either a bank or private individual will be the fist to recoup ahead of any equity investors.

The key is to “be in this for the long haul,” said Birkemore. “Rejection is common. Network, network and network,” she said.

And when it all comes together, “you have to make a really good film,” said Brenner.