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This Stage 32 Blog comes from Martin Gooch, a director and screenwriter based in London, England. 

It all feels like some sort of dark art but technically what happens is this: You make a movie. You take it to festivals, it does quite well and you get some laurels. You then send it to Sales Agents (SA) in the hope they will like it. Some Sales Agents might even contact you and ask to see your film.

If they like it they will make an offer and send you a contract. If you sign it then you will send them all the ‘media’ (your film and posters, trailers etc. on a hard drive) they will try to get it distributed in different territories around the world.  That’s the process.

Sales Agents are arguably a necessary evil, as they already have the contacts with the distributors and the delivery pipeline. We sort of need them and they 100% need us.

Here are 32 tips, which I hope might, in some way, make your sales agent experience less painful.

Share your input with the Department of Economic and Community Development on potential business and nonprofit support programs. 

Commissioner Heather Johnson, Carlos Mello from the Finance Authority of Maine, DECD staff, and region-specific organizations are hosting virtual input sessions as a chance for us to receive feedback directly from you.  This is an opportunity for you to share how we can best help you as we move forward in our economic recovery.

Use the links below to register for Tuesday 9/7/2021 Zoom sessions below.  If you are not able to join a session in your region, please feel free to attend another session.

Offered by non-profit From the Heart Productions, the grant funds films that are unique and contribute to society that, without the grant’s help, might otherwise never get made.   Projects can be short films, independent features, documentary, or web or television series. 

To be eligible for the grant, the project submitted must be budgeted for under $500,000.  You can enter a project that is in proposal stage, pre-production, or production as well.  

Deadline to apply is October 31st, 2021.

For any questions, please email info@fromtheheartproductions.com or call 805-984-0098. 

This Stage 32 Blog comes from Martin Gooch, a director and screenwriter based in London, England. 

Festivals are a great way to say thank you to everyone who helped, impress your investors and meet as many people as you can. I met some of my very best friends at film festivals and it’s nice to hang out with like-minded people and talk about movies.

Having had numerous shorts and four feature films on the festival circuit, I have been to festivals all over the world. Here are 32 tips to make it a more pleasurable experience and hopefully more successful. These are all based on my actual experiences of things that actually happened. It’s all true.

The world is slightly different now we are in the covid-era but I think most of these Tips still apply, and hopefully festivals will come back fully in the future.

This Stage 32 Blog comes from Martin Gooch, a director and screenwriter based in London, England. 

So you’ve got your screenplay, it’s been through development, you are 100% sure it’s in the best shape it can possibly be in, you’ve had read throughs with actors, and spent months in pre-production getting your vision across to all your Heads of Department, Cast and crew. All the kit, locations, props, wardrobe, accommodation, permits, legal stuff and catering has been sourced and you are ready to go! These are my tips for on-set, physical production and for post-production.