The beginning filmmaker's business guide : [electronic resource] financial, legal, marketing, and distribution basics of making movies / Reneé Harmon.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [193]) and index.

1. High Concept, Hooks, and Other Facts of Life -- 2. The Package: How to Put Together Your Offering/Prospectus -- 3. From Literary Property to Screenplay: What You Need to Know to Acquire and Create a Promotable Concept -- 4. Distribution: A Primer for Professionals -- 5. Other Distributors, Other Deals -- 6. All About Profits, Gross and Net -- 7. Contracts: Five Important Contracts Every Producer Must Negotiate Carefully -- 8. Ways and Means to Finance Your Film: Ten Sources of Money -- 9. A Special Niche: How to Market Your Home Video.

This book provides an orientation in four key areas essential to the business of making films: financial, legal, marketing, and distribution. With Renee Harmon by your side, you will learn how to prepare a professional prospectus for your film, the importance of "high concept" and "hook," how to develop a theatrical release plan, and what should go into an electronic press kit.

Here are facts you need to know about letters of intent, presales, completion bonds, sell-through, theatrical windows, cost-profit scenarios, pick-up deals, and saturation - plus many other issues you need to understand to succeed in the film industry. Whether you want to market a single video or launch an entire film company, this is the book to read first.