There is a warm indie wind blowing through the Festival. Tonight, it whipped up quite a Gale.
Do you want to be a disruptive indie filmmaker, taking control of production and distribution to the streamers? Then listen to Jeff Deverett and take notes.
Why? Because, firstly, Jeff is an artist; he became a filmmaker to make films he believes in. And, secondly, he has turned his artistry into a successful indie film career; seven films and counting, three on Netflix, all of them distributed worldwide.
How? By wearing a commercial hat as comfortably as his artistic one, and viewing ‘the film business’ through the lens of ‘the business of film’. Luckily for Jeff, he became a filmmaker after many years in film distribution, so he knew from the inside out what it takes to write a commercially successful film. Fortunately for us, he details what we need to do to achieve the same.
He does not hold his punches.
“What I say isn’t what people always want to hear, but it is the truth”.
Using detailed case histories from his own films, he shows us how to identify a niche audience and how to gauge the size it needs to be to pay for our film.
He warns that, if we decide to wear both hats, only a fraction of our time will be spent in film production. The rest will go on raising finance, marketing and distribution. But you will have the great satisfaction, just as Jeff clearly does, of creating content with your message or story for the world.
And what about those who want only to make a movie and find the business side a turn-off? ‘Then band together with people good at marketing or finance’ says Jeff.
You must still write a script, though, with one eye on ticking the boxes for distribution! Whichever route you take, Jeff (deverettmedia.com), gives us clear and practical advice, hard-won from more than 10 years of commercial indie filmmaking.
Anita Reid has happily inherited her Dad’s writing desk and tries every day to do him proud.
