'Tell the truth,' would-be producers told

by Kirk Honeycutt
Reprinted from the Hollywood Reporter

OK, that great screenplay you have labored on for years has just rolled out of your laser printer.
Now what?

A moderator and four panelists struggled gamely to answer that question during a seminar on film packaging at the IFP/West Independent Film Financing Conference on Friday, the first of ta three-day confab at the Wyndham-Bel-Age hotel.

What elements can one bring to an indie project that will lend credibility to that project?

The absolute key element in any feature film package is the screenplay itself, everyone agreed on the panel led by moderator Paul Mayersohn, a partner in the law firm of Surpin Mayersohn and Edelstone.

After that, the director and cast - and the degree to which they are known by audiences - can help a film to find its financing.

Sometimes a presentation credit involving a top director or producer, such as a Martin Scorsese or Oliver Stone agreeing to lend his name to a project, gives a project added credibility.

A respected cinematographer will ensure that the final film will have a certain look. As for the music soundtrack, in the indie world unless the story is music-based, the score will count for little in setting up a project, all agreed.

Some panelists admitted that certain actors are reluctant to get involved in indie projects where filmmakers are often inexperienced and salaries low.

"Older male actors in general have no interest in independent films,' said Howard Cohen, who heads UTA's independent film effort. "I try to dissuade people from trying to pursue certain actors in their 50s and 60s.

Amy Guenther, a talent manager at Industry Entertainment, did point out that "nowadays, actors in the A and B-plus level are more open to the independent film scene because of the success of so many independent films."

Nicolas Cage's collaboration with director Mike Figgis in "Leaving Las Vegas" and the subsequent acting awards he won as a result is one of the key reasons for this change in heart by top level actors, she added.

Even the notion of what constitutes topflight filmmakers or actors must withstand the scrutiny of the international marketplace, cautioned Daniel Diamond, president of international distribution and marketing for Franchise Pictures.

New York indie filmmaker Abel Ferrara, he pointed out, has had his share of poor reviews and boxoffice receptions Stateside. "But in Europe he has a huge audience no matter what his films do here," Diamond said.

Similarly, Ed Burns "is popular here but has not developed that overseas yet since his films have been intrinsically involved in the New York or the American experience, and that does speak to people in Korea or Taiwan or Brazil."

A top actor in a role audiences will not accept can work against a film too, he said. He mentioned a film he handled, in which Al Pacino played an aging and dying man, that did not find an audience overseas.

Keeping actors attached to the project during the long, arduous process of packaging is tricky but can be done by keeping lines of communication open with actors' agents and managers, Guenther said. "We are incredibly sympathetic to how long it takes to get projects going," she said.

"Tell the truth," advised producer Todd Hoffman of Dogsmile Pictures. My first picture's financing fell apart twice. Write letters to the agents, keep the communication open and tell exactly where you are."

"If you're having a problem, sometimes the agent or manager might have the solution," Guenther said.

When elements do drop out of a project, what does one do when presales are based on those now-lost elements?

'Begging helps," Diamond said. "Creative negotiations help."

What one tries to do is replace that lost element with "an equal value, but that is all a question of perception," he added.