Mark Harris
Pain in the ass
Okay, have been tweaking the edit till the cows come home. But here's the news:
LA screening shooting for early May. This is due to venue schedules and the like. But I will be sending invites to people when the date is set. I am pushing the NYC screening back to the same time though.
I cannot give details yet, but it looks like I will be pitching to money people in April. Got word back that they loved my project. I will give more info as I solidify plans.
Also, am bringing on a Transmedia producer this week who is going to help me formulate that pitch. Even after that event, we will use these pitch materials for other investors. This stuff is blazing through the industry, and I am getting more and more calls to consult on it for some heavy hitters and big companies. So I think we will be able to raise some money for our own plan. I will also go back to some people who had previously had interest in investing in LOST CHILDREN, and see if they'd be interested in getting involved on this level. But right now the main goal is to get the plan together, make is solid, show the business model, etc. for the April pitch event.
Finally, have been getting some mentorship from a filmmaker who's much further up the food chain than I am, and he's been giving me some very healthy lessons:
-Bide your time. Do not rush or be too eager to get something out there if it's not ready.
-Build your momentum. So right now, the pitch I get to do in April will be pretty high profile. So I do that. Then I am going to submit to the IFP edit labs in Sept. Then, I am going to push for a big event fest, like Sundance next Jan. Even if not to have a film in competition, I will try to put on an event for my film much like we did for Pandemic this past Jan. So the whole idea here is that I will try to keep doing more and more events like these that build up the buzz in the industry about my movie. It's already starting. I worked on this Sundance project in Jan. That got me in a position to talk about THE LOST CHILDREN to some people up the food chain. And because I believe the story is good, they got very excited about it. I then showed them some more details. They started talking about it to other people. Then I get the chance to do this pitch in April.
So that's the big thing I've been learning. Take your time, build yourself up.
Finally, I have really come to love my film. This is important. As I get ready to lock the cut, I've gone from: "Oh s**t, what a mess," to "Hmmm, okay, I think I can maybe live with this" to "this film is really great. It's worth taking the time to put it out there right, and I am confident people will respond" All of the LONG days, weeks, months of work my crew, my actors, and I have put in over the past couple of years is finally paying off. Meaning I now see that all of the prep, all of the thought, all of the constant beating on the script, constant beating on the actors, constant beating on myself, is finally showing results. Because when this movie is ready, I am going to be very very excited to get out and show it to people. And I think this is key. I cannot imagine how bad it would suck to come out with a crappy film, then have to get out and sell it because you owe your investors money. I'm not one of those guys who can ride on even a bad film because it will move their career up. I have to be proud of the work I do. Because this is also art.
LA screening shooting for early May. This is due to venue schedules and the like. But I will be sending invites to people when the date is set. I am pushing the NYC screening back to the same time though.
I cannot give details yet, but it looks like I will be pitching to money people in April. Got word back that they loved my project. I will give more info as I solidify plans.
Also, am bringing on a Transmedia producer this week who is going to help me formulate that pitch. Even after that event, we will use these pitch materials for other investors. This stuff is blazing through the industry, and I am getting more and more calls to consult on it for some heavy hitters and big companies. So I think we will be able to raise some money for our own plan. I will also go back to some people who had previously had interest in investing in LOST CHILDREN, and see if they'd be interested in getting involved on this level. But right now the main goal is to get the plan together, make is solid, show the business model, etc. for the April pitch event.
Finally, have been getting some mentorship from a filmmaker who's much further up the food chain than I am, and he's been giving me some very healthy lessons:
-Bide your time. Do not rush or be too eager to get something out there if it's not ready.
-Build your momentum. So right now, the pitch I get to do in April will be pretty high profile. So I do that. Then I am going to submit to the IFP edit labs in Sept. Then, I am going to push for a big event fest, like Sundance next Jan. Even if not to have a film in competition, I will try to put on an event for my film much like we did for Pandemic this past Jan. So the whole idea here is that I will try to keep doing more and more events like these that build up the buzz in the industry about my movie. It's already starting. I worked on this Sundance project in Jan. That got me in a position to talk about THE LOST CHILDREN to some people up the food chain. And because I believe the story is good, they got very excited about it. I then showed them some more details. They started talking about it to other people. Then I get the chance to do this pitch in April.
So that's the big thing I've been learning. Take your time, build yourself up.
Finally, I have really come to love my film. This is important. As I get ready to lock the cut, I've gone from: "Oh s**t, what a mess," to "Hmmm, okay, I think I can maybe live with this" to "this film is really great. It's worth taking the time to put it out there right, and I am confident people will respond" All of the LONG days, weeks, months of work my crew, my actors, and I have put in over the past couple of years is finally paying off. Meaning I now see that all of the prep, all of the thought, all of the constant beating on the script, constant beating on the actors, constant beating on myself, is finally showing results. Because when this movie is ready, I am going to be very very excited to get out and show it to people. And I think this is key. I cannot imagine how bad it would suck to come out with a crappy film, then have to get out and sell it because you owe your investors money. I'm not one of those guys who can ride on even a bad film because it will move their career up. I have to be proud of the work I do. Because this is also art.
