HOW TO JUNTOBOX

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Juntobox Films - Forest WhitakerIf you’re following my blog you know that my neo-noir thriller film project Deterrence Theory is listed on Juntobox Films. Juntobox Films supports and collaborates with filmmakers to get their initial feature films made through juntoboxfilms.com; discovering, mentoring, and incubating the next generation of talent and growing that community.

Every film project must pass four levels to arrive at the assessment phase where the project is considered for 1 of 5 annual production spots.  Some projects take weeks to pass the levels. Other projects take months to reach level four. In late April I posted my film project, Deterrence Theory, and was able to get it through all four levels in just 8 days. My project is now at the assessment level.

Many people have asked me “How do you Junto?” Meaning, how did you move up the levels so fast? I didn’t do anything special but I was very strategic. Below I outline my efforts. Hopefully it will help you as well.

  1. Gather materials for creator profile and project. I had standard logline (not a tagline), a 7-sentence synopsis and a 3-page treatment already written.  I fine-tuned each doc specifically for Juntoboxfilms.com.  I didn’t want to add a video initially but I wanted some type of key art so I did what Robert Rodriguez did for Desperado, took still images (mine came from the Internet) and used them for a storyboard.  I also wrote out a list of the films I’d produced, written and/or directed for  my bio.
  2. After my creator profile  was created and the film project was live I contacted my support groups directly. I broke it down like this: my family and friends, my former work buddies, my indie film colleagues, my Facebook friends, my Twitter friends, etc. I drafted specific emails or DM’s for each group and I asked them to help me make a movie with Forest Whitaker.
  3. I explicitly asked everyone to FOLLOW and RATE my project. I did this after noticing that some folks were following without rating. Although my supporters were free to rate the project as they saw fit, I made it clear that I wanted high ratings.
  4. I reviewed the existing projects on the site and looked at the community profiles. I made a point to follow and rate every project that I reviewed. Also, I rated the projects on a curve, i.e., if I was waffling between a 3 and a 4 I gave the project a 4.
  5. I made a point of leaving positive comments and constructive upbeat criticisms (good karma!)
  6. I made a connection with those filmmakers with whom I felt a positive connection. We exchanged private messages, asked each other questions and sought answers.
  7. I used my blogs and social media to promote my project.
  8. I updated my project with new images, a video slideshow and tweaked my loglines and synopsis based on input from friends and Juntobox Creators
  9. I continue to drive traffic to my project page by reaching out to new Juntobox Creators and using social media, especially when I felt my project gaining momentum (people like a winner!)
  10. Outside of the Juntobox Films community I’m working on different elements of my project like star attachments. I keep the Juntobox Films team aware of any new potentially amazing developments with the project.

That’s basically it. My background in IT and PR helps me manage the tools I need to promote myself. The rest is just blood, sweat and effort! Good luck!

Lost in Translation

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Lessons Learned. Don’t give advice until someone asks for it.

A gentleman contacted me on a social network last week. As a result of that contact I was led to his pending film project. The project included a logline and synopsis. I read the information…and left a comment that went something like this:

I love alien invasion films! I think you’re on to something by setting the initial invasion within the deep woods of Louisiana. In the Togline you mentioned something about a time zone and it’s not clear what the impact is. Also, remember that the synopsis should clearly identify the protagonist, the antagonist and the conflict. Good luck!

I cannot remember exactly what I wrote because the gentleman quickly deleted my comment (which is his prerogative), left a negative comment on my film project page, and sent me this exact email:

Please don’t post your bad comments on my page. I see your synopsis need a lot of work, why do black folks tries to pull other black folks down? its not COOL.

Obviously something got lost in translation. My first thought was to tear him a new asshole but then I considered the fact that my “critique” wasn’t requested and thus is pretty  much like an uninvited guest: unwelcome. Oops, my bad. But why did the brother try to pull the race card on me, given the fact that we’re both striving for the same thing: an opportunity to make movies. I’m in no better position of power than he is, but suddenly I’m “trying to pull [him] down.”

I did respond. I told him him I was trying to help and that his perception that I’m “trying to pull him down” was way off base. I think I should have just directed him to my blog. If I was sincerely interested in keeping my fellow brother and sister filmmakers down, why would I share so much of my journey in my blog?

Nevertheless, it is a lesson learned.

(NM) New Mexico Film Tax Incentives and Rebates info

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New MexicoApparently NM is one of the only 7 states left in the USA providing Tax Rebates that also include a 50% great local hire payback incentive (www.nmfilm.com). 

For example, this is how your indie budget film might look on a spreadsheet

SAG ULTRA LOW BUDGET CONTRACT at $500k with $220k spent on NM Employees Program.

50% payback is $110k

Incentives are the 25% of $500k = $125k

$110K + $125K equals $235K total payback to Production Company (i.e. ROI $$’s to investors)

Not a bad way to satisfy those hungry investors or raise first-money-in using a promise to pay within 90 days of production end.