Ask your self questions to be prepared for questions.

Making your first feature film is overwhelming. You won't know everything, and that's okay. What matters is how you handle what you don't know.

As I love saying(because it’s true)every film is really a business. When you're caught up in the excitement of making your first feature, it's easy to forget that. But treating your film like a business from day one changes everything about how you approach it.

Every great producer I know starts with four simple questions.

What are your strengths?

Maybe you're fantastic at getting investors excited about your project, or maybe you have a huge social media following that can help promote your film. What is it that you bring to the film, that ISN’T creative?

What are your weaknesses?

Being a first time producer is one , that’s okay, so own it. Maybe you're great at visual storytelling but terrible with numbers. Maybe you know how to stretch a dollar but struggle with delegation. There are producers who only focus on the creative and then they find producers who will help focus on the financials.

And vice versa. For example, at the moment I am not looking for great creative stories from scratch. I am focus on the financing. So that means I am looking for creatives who have already come together and are connected with a project so then I can take what they’ve already developed and begin the financial process.

What opportunities exist?

Your film might be perfect for the current streaming market. Look deeper at trends, is horror having a moment? Is there a gap in LGBTQ+ stories? Are micro-budget films finding new audiences? Your film doesn't need to chase trends, but understanding them helps you position your project.

You of course want to have a unique story and stand out, but it’s good to have an understanding of how your film could perform so that you can attach investors or another production company.

What threats could derail you?

Limited budget? Tough festival competition? Similar projects in development? Even changes in technology could affect how viable your project is six months from now.

These aren't just academic questions. They're the foundation of how to get your film to actually happen. Why? Well, because when you pitch your film to another producer at a production company or an investor or capital fund, after they review your package, they will ask questions. It’s very likely, none of the questions will be about the story or the screenplay(if you are pitching for the “money”). It will all be related in some way or sense, to the business of getting your film made.

The time may not be now

Sometimes the smartest thing you can do is walk away. Okay, at this point you may be saying, TYLER YOU ARE OUT OF YOUR MIND, I’M NOT WALKING AWAY!

So many things need to line up at the right time for a film to get made. I’m not going to dive into all of those things, but its the reason why 99% of films are in development (even for years sometimes) and only 1% get made. We’ve heard the stories of people pitching movies or shows for years before they finally get picked up. What you usually don’t hear, is that those people are walking away while still being in it.

Okay what in the hell does that mean!

It’s not as if the creator of the film or show is pitching day in and day out year after year. They pitch the project as many places as they can, okay and they get all rejections. They walk away, work on other things, find other projects. Then come back, realign, reassess and begin pitching again. It’s not uncommon for producers and directors and actors to join a project and then drop off and new ones join. That’s what walking away means. I guess in a way you can think of it as taking a pause, catching your breath, refreshing your mind, and then getting back to it. Kind of like if you have ever been a writer and hit a roadblock or writing block, often times the best advice is to just walk away from the screenplay. Sometimes thats an hour, a day, a week, or even a month. Walk away to get a new perspective.

You need to know when it’s time to walk away, focus on something else, but before you come back to your project, figure out what you should have attached that is different this time around when you pitch it again.

That's where exit points come in. Write them down now. These are your predetermined conditions where you've decided in advance that you'll stop rather than sink more time and money into something that isn't working.

Your exit points might look like this: You can't raise 60% of your budget by your target date. (This matters because the longer it takes to raise the money, the likelier it is those initial investors drop off). Your lead actor drops out and you can't find a replacement within two weeks. Your main investor pulls out. You discover legal issues with rights or contracts. Any of those things may mean you need to walk away, reassess and come back to the project.

Now you may be saying, “that’s not walking away, that’s just fixing”. That’s a problem. You need to walk away, you need to take some time and really asses the project and the new scenarios for moving forward and this should not be a fly by the seat of your pants, do it in one week kind of thing. This should take the proper time it needs, and not just rush it because you are eager and excited to get your film made. It really does help to say that you will walk away from the project for some period of time and then come back to asses its future. This helps you clear your mind and come back fresh.

It’s only a failure if you give up on it forever

Sometimes walking away isn't about failure, it could just be about timing. So many things are out of your control. Maybe investors or producers aren’t wanting to get behind a specific style of sci-fi film right now. Maybe the comedy actor you were about to cast just broke from unknown to known actor and their rate shot way up. Maybe someone else just released a movie that is very similar to yours and its worth waiting to get further into development on your film.

This is why smart producers always have multiple projects in development. Even if you aren’t a producer and are just a screenwriter, make sure to have multiple scripts ready to go in case one falls apart in development. If you’re a director, have conversations with multiple producers and writers about multiple projects at the same time.

Why is the time now and why data matters

You’ve looked at your project and nothing says you should walk away at that moment. The time is now. But why? An investor will not ask you, why do you think now is the time that this film should get made. But you should be asking your self that question, so that when you speak with them, when you give them all the information, they will understand that NOW is the time to get it made.

Data is key here, and this goes back to the original idea of this article, that you don’t need to be the smartest in the room, but you do need to be the most prepared.

You need data on how much it will cost to make your film, data on how much the film could earn, data on films as closely similar to yours that have made a profit (films like Paranormal Activity don’t count, because sure maybe your movie has the same production budget but it’s doubtful it has the same marketing budget which was a million and released through Paramount), you want data on viewing trends for your genre, and so on.

Stephen Follows probably has the best data blog around and you can use much of that in preparing yourself for meetings with investors.

Be 99% prepared to talk about your film like a business

Like I said above, it’s very unlikely an investor is going to spend too much time diving into the story and screenplay. They want to know the numbers and they want to know that YOU KNOW the numbers. If it isn’t you who is actually talking about the numbers and say it’s another producer, do you want to know and understand what they are talking about when they are talking about YOUR film?

It’s all about risk assessment. More than just the films, is it a risk to invest in you the filmmaking, making the film, even if the film makes sense. The best way to create ease, is to be prepared to talk about your film as a business.

After all, this is the film business.

If you liked this article, you’ll really dig last weeks article.