Three Mistakes To Avoid In 2023
Potential pitfalls to avoid and take-aways I plan to apply going forward.
I hope everyone had a relaxing couple weeks - I know I did. I got a chance to catch up on some viewing too…. finally watched Everything Everywhere All At Once and Triangle Of Sadness which were both superb! Truly creative, inventive, and madly inspiring … and really sets the bar high for the level of artistry I want to set for myself with regards to my own projects.
For a multitude of reasons those films were exceptional to me… but I realize we all have different taste and different ideas about what inspires us with a high bar. What did you watch over the break that is going to inspire your work this year?
Speaking of the highest of high bars of creativity, on the series side both White Lotus and I Hate Susie Too are rocking my world :) What can I say? I typically consume more series than I do features but am enjoying mixing it up right now. It just blows my mind how talented and creative these teams are. Something to strive for!
And while we’re on the topic of the new year, I wanted to share some reflections I had while thinking about all of the client projects I was lucky to be a part of last year. I jotted down some take-away’s of things that I plan to apply to my own projects but also working with clients going forward. Hopefully they will help you too or will be a gentle reminder about potential pitfalls to avoid.
💸Overspending Is A Killer
It’s been apparent for a while but bears repeating - indie film budgets with a hope of recoupment should be either under $250K or closer to $10 million and higher where you can attract theatrical level talent, directors, and producing teams. The in-between stuff is hard. Like really hard. And this is coming from someone who made three of these level of movies in the past 18 moths and am observing clients go through the repercussions now. This point deserves its own post and we can explore it more in depth but I saw it play out again and again in the last year where people couldn’t help themselves and way overspent what their film and package justified from a market point of view. Don’t do it!
🏭Under or Over Develop At Your Peril
We’ve talked about this before but when prospective clients approach me for help and there’s already way too many attachments (and oftentimes haphazard ones) there’s usually nothing I can do because there’s no room left at the top for anyone else to come on and add value. Likewise, when all you have is a ‘naked’ script and want to hand it off for it to be magically packaged and financed, there’s not enough value yet built in yet for someone to step in and help. You need to do a little heavy lifting first to start the boulder up the mountain. Shoot for somewhere in the middle of being under and over developed.
😌Bring Your Patience
Man I wish this wasn’t more true now more than ever but it is. Last year I saw clients impatiently jump the gun and attach the wrong level talent for the budget because they couldn’t bear waiting for the right person. Or spend too much because they wouldn’t accept a push on production. And jump into the wrong deals that cost hundreds of thousands (if not millions) because impulsive decisions were made on the wrong partners, vendors, people, places… you get the idea. Slow down and even when you need to make a ‘quick’ decision on something, sleep on it, consult with your advisors, colleagues, and fellow producers before making snap decisions that can cost way more than you bargained for.
What about you? I’d love to hear your thoughts around this and any questions you have or mistakes you want to avoid this year…. hit me up in the comments below please and let’s start a discussion.
And if you’d like to work together in 2023, send me an email with what you’re up to at stacey@filmspecific.com and please include the details of your feature or series project and what your goals are. I’m currently planning out my slate for the year as well as all the Film and TV markets I’ll be attending and would love to add more projects from our community to my slate.
On that note, I’ll wrap things up for today. I hope you have a fabulous first week back ahead and I’ll speak to you again soon!
To your success,
Stacey
PS: If you want to see the specific ways to currently work with me, you can check out my list of services here.