One thing you may find interesting is that when a packaging agent puts together the deal is they are contrary to what is known not exclusive to the talent they represent at their own agency. What does this all mean? If your packaging agent works at CAA and you have some talent from WME then they can still work with you to get talent from both and any other agency needed to complete that element if you are asking them to fill in your talent roles. Now how does this apply to Machinima? Well if you want known talent or professional voice overs or you want to actually have Machinima go beyond its barriers then it is quite relevant.
How do you approach one with what you have and what do they want to see? I have a great script even in real life film-making if you are the new kid on the block an agent may not be particularly interested. Unless that is you are selling a spec script or you happen to be related to a known entity. That said I am not saying a great story will not catch their eye its about great story but there needs to be more. When approaching an agent there is three things to have in mind. They like knowing who they are dealing with. One element should be attached i.e. known element such as the director or actor or attach yourself to a known entity. Barring that also a great body of work that has gotten noticed may attract an agent's eye.
If you have a name they know or are beginning to know they may be more likely to be able to help you. They need to know your work. You need to expose your work and although Youtube and Vimeo are great an agent is not combing for the latest talents on them unless it stands out from the crowd. So that leaves the final element of things to keep in mind. Agents like to see a well packaged item and if you show them you have all your business elements together it shows an agent you come prepared to be part of the industry. By business elements proposal, budget, return on investment (roi) calculated. You know your target audience for your work, your script is professionally formated you have storyboards or other visuals you can show and why this will work it will be the minimum a financier and distributor wants to see it would be the same for an agent.
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AFM SERIES – Part 3 I Want My Agent by Graycon Sonata
What does an agent do and what can they do for me and why may I want them? As filmmakers we have all thought about having a
representative. But do you really know what they do what you need to do to attract one, if you need one and what they are looking for from you?
To best help it clearly is all about defining that there are many kinds of agents. And while doing this there is some fun facts to know. There are those who represent you and then packaging agents who package your projects. The one I will talk about is the packaging agent. If you want your rel life film and /or Machinima funded and expand your possibilities including if you want it seen beyond just youtube or vimeo.
Unlike an agent who promotes talent and writers and literary agents who represent novels, a packaging agent pulls all the elements of a project together to get the project green lit. That means everything from talent if there are wholes to finance and distribution. Fact is though their services come at a price. They have packaging fees and may act as your executive producer as well on the project. They may even occasionally take back-end points from your projects as well. This means percentages on profits. Yes packaging agents can work on bringing one element only as well. It also depends on how you make the deal with them and how they get paid.
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Fact 1: Though you may like conceptual films , they may be pretty to watch, they want stories.
To elaborate. Financiers look for one goal ROI (return on Investment) Distributors main goal ROI and make sure the film makes as much money as possible by exploiting it through different avenues and appeals to the most widest audience to attain that goal. I will go into audience spending habits and those conference topics in future blogs but for this one its about the general movie going public. So what does that mean? The answer is they want films with good stories and it means stories, full plots and fully developed characters. So though you may want to express or push boundaries and be all conceptual, it doesn't put bums on seats or money in their pockets. All this applies to both real life and all forms of film, TV, and mediums.
Fact 2: How about an original story, secure your copyrights and be open to the widest audience.
Its nice to pay homage to your favorite filmmaker or story you admire. Only if we are going to move
this medium into a more commercial one and actually see a Machinima film make it to the big screen we need to show originality with original stories and treated like real life films are. Recently I am seen parody films and other films that mimic real life ones. There are many concerns with this in the real life film world. There are copyright clearance issues and also permissions that need to be gotten. Everything from music to all within it needs to be cleared. No company wants to be sued or person. And though this medium is right now more on YouTube even they are moving towards cracking down on copyrights.
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AFM SERIES – Part 2 Machinima The Reality Check by Graycon Sonata
As I continue the blog I will be highlighting the subjects in the conferences and more and help you to once again see even more why the AFM is the place to be. Only I think it is time now to put the
reality check to all those who want Machinima to be the accepted new medium for film-making and for the real life filmmakers who do Machinima and would like to know what the industry really thinks of us. This is not a discussion on Machinima and what is considered and what isn't considered Machinima or worthy, good or bad film-making. That is a topic for internal debate. This is about the real life film world's view on it and what their knowledge base is.
When I attended the AFM as I mentioned I received positive response from people when I mentioned Machinima to Financiers, Distributors and Agents. They seemed very interested in knowing more about what this medium was when they were not aware of it and also what it can do. For those who were aware of it there was great thirst to know the advances and what is the latest and greatest in terms of Second Life and updates to other grids and software. This is great news. As I saw people's faces light up and really want to know.
And then the reality of it came forward. Facts that are positive for those of us who know what this
means. This information is direct from people in the industry who do hold positions to make projects become realities. The facts come from those who are in the know of Machinima and those who are not as well and were there in impart their industry knowledge as all applicable to real life film-making. Here are two facts (for more you can contact direct):
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As I start this series on the American Film Market aka the AFM, I have chosen to divide this into a
several part series as all the information I cannot impart in just one entry. For this one why attend the AFM. The reason I am writing this for you my Machinima Community is for real life filmmakers and those who have the desire to have Machinima legitimized as the medium for film-making that is viable in commercial markets.
In order to clearly understand why attend you should understand what is the American Film Market. I can think of no better definition then the one from the site itself:
“Over 8,000 professionals from 70+ countries The global film industry converges in Santa Monica every November for eight days of deal-making. Hundreds of millions of dollars in production and distribution deals are sealed every year on both completed films and those in every stage of development and production."
This definition is not limited to real life films. It truly is a community that is also there for the purpose of also sharing technologies and styles of film making in all mediums. During my attendance distributors, financiers and filmmakers alike embraced and shared ideas and were open to finding out more information on Machinima and how this medium can be used to make a film. That said with an interesting point of view I will share in later entries that may either surprise you or at least get you thinking where would you like Machinima to go.
Why attend? As filmmakers and yes I am implying we are filmmakers it is the biggest opportunity to network outside local film festivals and many choose to strictly attend the AFM only and hear opinions and gain information from people outside our virtual world. There is so much to learn that will also be covered in later entries as well and I hope eye opening information that will shed light to the future of film and Machinima.
One of the greatest ways of learning is through the conference series they give as well. People in the
industry imparting information and being interactive with the attendees. Overviews of the topics are:
• Finance – Everything form current issues to global trends in finance.
• Distribution – The Infrastructure Opportunities and also what is the latest forms as well as future
delivery formats,
• Pitch – How to pitch and how to approach how to get past the gatekeepers and so much more.
• Marketing – All forms of it and what works what does as well as global consumerism habits for film consumption and future projections.
• Production – All the latest technologies and techniques being used. Also piracy, copyright etc.
• Agents/Packaging – This covers everything you want to know about how to get agents, what do they do how to approach them and what will make them want to represent you.
• Monetizing – How do you make money from what you made and what is it effective what doesn't
work.
I will cover all this and more. So now you are asking how does this correlate with the Machinima
community? See future blog to find out. Feel free to ask me. I am in-world.
Special Thank you to the Lippon Group and American Film Market for letting me report.
For more information on the project in SL or any RL projects please feel free to contact Graycon Sonata.
[email protected]
Also listen to Graycon talk about this subject on the Spotlight Radio show
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