Producer’s Inspiration

Where does a producer get their material?

There are many placed that a producer may get their inspiration and material for their projects. Among some of the sources are:

• News Articles
• Religious Texts
• Books - If the book happens to be a best seller, then it’s probably bought by the big studios. They don’t let this sort of thing lay around for others to grab it. If the story or book is public domain then you’re good to go.
• Magazines - An example of a magazine as a means of inspiration is “Great Day in Harlem“, a documentary by Jean Bach. She was a radio producer who saw a two page spread on Esquire magazine and wondered how they got all those jazz musicians in one place at the same time. She was so fascinated by it that she started doing research. She called up the magazine, photographer, and then decided she wanted to make a documentary. This was her first shot at it, and won an award for it.
• Historical Events - Movies like Saving Private Ryan, Miss Evers Boys (A story about black troops who were injected with syphallis without their knowledge.) have inspirations from things that took place in history.
• Works of Art
• Sports - (Hoop Dreams, Endless Summer). When it comes to sports, its about the angle and making it fresh.
• Biographies & Autobiographies
• Personal Experiences - Another big inspirer of stories is our very own experiences or the experiences of others.
• Polotical, Moral, Ethical, and Activism - are areas of material generation. Erin Brockovich on pollution. Michael Moore on his political films.
• Nature, Natural Wonders, Animals - Planet Earth, March of the Penguins.

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Ideas are Worth Nearly Nothing

Ideas need to be developed. Ideas are a dime a dozen. An idea needs to be specific, and has to have a story. “A bunch of funny people living in an apartment” vs “An old woman turning 102, living on a ranch that is maintained by her daughters who are 80 years old, throwing her a surprise birthday party” — The later is far more specific and developed.

Film Schools always have students who want to direct and work, but don’t know how to produce. If you can learn to produce you’ve got work. Internet is also full of opportunities for first time producers. Being a producer is an excellent experience.

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Once You Have the Material…To produce or not to produce…how do you decide?

• Does the material excite you? - That is the first question to ask yourself. Does it affect you. Are you passionate about it. Do you want to share it with others?
• The quality of the material - what shape is it in? Its just an idea, is it something developed?
• Does it lend itself to visual storytelling? – Someone can come up with an essay, it may just be great as an essay and not a film.
• How well developed is it? - The more developed the material is, the easier it will be to finance, get a good staff and crew, and get talent to do it. Professionals and investors love developed material. Opposite is true as well. The less developed it is, the more time it will take to do it, and harder it will be to get investors, and crew.
• Personal preference and choice is a major factor. - Would you feel good and be passionate about films that border on soft-core pornography? What if you were handed a project that was racist and/or sexist? Product plugs are common as well. A company may approach a producer to make a film where they show a certain product over and over again. Umm Ayoub wrote an excellent article on product placement over a Leechon Films titled, “Product Placement: How Oblivious Are You? Hmm…“
• Can you produce it? - Chiz (my teacher) was approached to produce Arthur via CBS. He knew he’s never done animation and honestly told them that they have to find someone who knows how to produce animation.
• What ever genre you will do, do you feel comfortable in it?
• What familiar are you with the subject?
• Is there an audience for it? - Vachon (Author of Shooting to Kill) stated that if it means enough for to you then you will find an audience for it. Your budget has to reflect the audience you have in mind.
• Has it been done already? - Check out IMDB if its already out there. You don’t want to be number 2. Don’t spend time and money developing something for which has already been optioned to someone else or another studio.
• Does the project have ancillary potential?
  • Does it have the potential of a foreign sale?
  • If it’s a feature does it have room for a DVD sale?
  • Does it have audio visual potential. (colleges, film clubs, etc)
  • What about internet download, itunes, and streaming.
  • Does it have book or magazine potential? (seseme street books, magazines, toys, and products all helped fund the series.)
  • What about a soundtrack possibility?
  • Does it lend itself to a sequel or spin-off?

You ask yourself all of these questions, because you will use this to get investors.

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How difficult will it be to get financing?

Vachon mentions in her book that she works out three different budgets:

• An ideal or dream budget
• A normal budget
• A nighmare budget…how low can you go?

Low budget is a relative term. It depends on where you are in the country. In New York low budget is from $750.00 to $750,000. Normally its around $3 million. In Hollywood its $30 million for low budget.

Financers always ask about any big name people involved:

• Actor
• Cinematographer
• Editor
• Director, etc.

This is very important for you to have this included to get financier. You may say something like “I’m going after a cinematographer like…” which is sort of beating around the bush, but its not lieing because you are looking for such a cinematographer.

• What about when it comes to documentaries? Many people have gone to big actors like Robert Redfort and Morgan Freeman to be narrators or executive producers. If you have a very good proposal then they will come along and it will help you get financing.
• Do you have a reasonable budget that will help you get some sort of profit potential? If your target audience is very small, then you should keep your budget low. If it’s a mass audience then maybe you can get a studio to back it.
• Do you have any personal contact that may be a source to get your project done? Does your project qualify for any foundational, corporate, or governmental funding. There are LOADs of them. For each one you would write a proposal.

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What is the best format and length for the material?

Most people think of a project longer than it already is. You want to cut and trim until it gets to the essence and core of your story. A two hour network program may be about 90 mins. A non-commercial channel may show 52-54 mins.

• How long does it REALLY take to tell your story well? Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address. It was about 1:57 mins. It had ten sentences. 209 words of it were one syllabus. Getting your word across as easily and promptly possible is important. Goldwater lost the election to a commercial 30 secs that showed a girl pulling petals followed by nuke BOOM. – Cut to the chase as they say.
• You need to put together a reasonable production schedule and budget. It should also project the shoot and travel time. If the schedule time increases so will budget. Some hidden costs for a documentary are archival footage. The nature and subject matter may attract organizations and societies to fund it.
• Do you have a fresh and unique approach to the material? - Michael Moore is amazing at this. When he produced “Roger & Me”, Farienheit9/11, and Sicko…he total a totally wacky and comical approach. Momento, he took a thriller and did it backwards.

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