So you haven't found millions for your feature by knocking on potential investors' doors, right? I mean, come on, you're prepared. You have a kick-ass business package, you've providing bios on the major players: the producers, the writer, the director. You've even provided a list of who you "saw" to be in the cast for each major role. There's a whole portion in the business package about independent and studio films that have done well in the box office and are just like yours. In my case, it would be time travel movies. It lays out how sci-fi, specifically time travel, has been real hot these days, and there's a bigger market than ever for it. Your pitch is perfect... you knock their socks off! Then they ruin your day by asking: who's going to be in it? Um... you mean, like, what actors? And they'll say, yeah, how will we sell this film without some name actors? Well, we have a list of people we "see" in these roles... but... isn't that why we came to you? We came to you so you can help us pay these people to be in our film. This is when your head starts spinning out of control. Okay, your brain will go something like this:
1) The investor just told me we need a cast to receive their financing.
2) Let's contact a talent agency and pitch the project to their client.
3) The agent says great, show me some proof that you have financing and we'll send it their way.
3) Great! So all we need is to get some money. Let's get it from an investor.
4) Refer back to #1
Ugh! This is so frustrating, isn't it?! Hence, the vicious loop of a catch-22.
Okay, I'm fully aware that I'm just another guy with a screenplay and a couple of producers to back me up... but how do you break through the catch-22 from hell? Listen, it's been done. I've heard stories, and they're based on true stories. It can be done; it has been done. I am personally and admittedly still working on that, but I have learned a thing or two about this. Here's the unfortunate answer that makes this all even more challenging: it seems the key to all this isn't what comes before what. Everything has to happen at the same time. All the stars must align; the timing must be perfect. And then it takes a little more than that: faith and trust. I'm a first time feature film director. Anyone who will invest in me, investor or actor, needs to have serious faith in me. Why? Because the former is putting millions of dollars on the line and the latter is putting his career and reputation on the line. So when you start out, strength of script is your best weapon to break through this catch-22. The majority of these directors' careers end here. Don't be one of them! We must be terrible quitters.
We learned pretty early on that going to investors without anyone attached to our film was really turning our already very difficult attempt at finding financing into something next to impossible. So what's next? At this point we tried getting our script through the doors of every major talent agency in the business. Nobody wanted to read our unsolicited material. Don't worry, that's still not truly a dead end. You learn fast that you have to get through the screening of an agent before the actors even hear your script exists. It makes sense. There's so many screenplays being tossed around those agencies. Too many. The agents and their assistants filter out what works for their clients and what doesn't. Now my producers have connections, but talent is not their realm. We needed someone who can actually get my screenplay into actors' hands and therefore their agencies' hands.
Remember that start up money I said to save up? The time has come to use it. Use it on a casting director. These people are paid to get you through that door. It's a risk, but a necessary one. They should have relationships with not only the talents' agent, but even with some of the talent themselves. Their job is to have their pulse on what's going on in the actors' world... who's available, who isn't, who's looking to do an indie film, who just landed a new pilot, who's out of your price range, and who is willing to take a shot on a first time feature director (not enough, I'm afraid). How do you grab a casting director's attention? Your screenplay! But here's the best part. Casting directors don't need to ask about who's in your film. That's their job! You hire them to help you do just that. This process is just like anything you've done up to this point. Expect several rejections, but it only takes one yes from someone with some clout in the industry. Then you have to pay up, and casting directors aren't cheap. But, I can't emphasize this enough: we need them. They will connect a wide variety of talent to your screenplay, something you and your producers most likely can't do. Then you have to hope your script speaks for itself. How can anyone like it if they've never read it?
Suddenly your script is solicited material. Awesome! Now get ready to do a lot of work. Casting is a lot crazier than I expected, that's for sure. Murphy's Law is a little too prominent here. There is strategy in casting your movie, and it's something that must be figured out at the very beginning. More on that next time...
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