Mark Heidelberger, Producer: I just need three things from you: I need a script, I need a
budget and I need you to get the hell out of my way.
ONE WEEK FROM TONIGHT
I’m not a huge fan of academics.
I’m not a huge fan of people who just teach and haven’t done in 20 years.
I like to learn from the people who are doing it now.
ON TUESDAY, NOVEMBER 13TH, 2018
You can’t just give me a script “How much does it cost?”
“Well is Matt Damon in your movie?
Great!
Your budget just went up by 10 million dollars.”
I can make an argument to do this movie by one million bucks or 10 million bucks.
So really it’s like “So how much can you raise?
Or how much do you have?”
And then if they really don’t have a good idea of who they see in it, how wide do you
see it being distributed but I have to get an idea of what range and how big they are
seeing this in their head.
WE INVITE YOU TO JOIN US AND PRODUCER MARK HEIDELBERGER
If you just want to go out and make a piece of art for yourself and you have the money
to blow, go ahead.
But that doesn’t mean you are going to be part of the entertainment industry.
It doesn’t mean you are going to be part of the film…business.
It is a business as well as a commodity as well as art.
That’s where people get hung up - it’s art, right.
But it’s also a commodity.
FOR A ONE NIGHT ONLY EVENT
I read an article the other day (maybe it was like a month ago) it was like a cartoon.
My head was like VROOOOM!
I was so annoyed with this article.
It just started with “Okay, now you’ve finished your film.
Now it’s time to start thinking about distribution.”
I’m like “No!
No!
It’s not time to start, you should have been thinking about distribution ages ago.
From the script stage you should have been thinking about distribution.”
And I’ve told people, the smart way to do it (and they always have a script that they
just really want to do) and I’m like “Well have you considered your audience?
Have you considered whether there is an audience for it?
Have you considered how you are going to get that audience?
Have you considered how big that audience is and whether it justifies the budget you
want to spend?
Have you looked at the market, what other films are out there in the market?
How oversaturated that is.
I can’t tell you how many times I hear people say “I’m going to do horror because it’s
so cheap,” so you can make a bunch of money off of it.
You’re only considering one thing, you’re only considering budget.
EVENT INFO BELOW
When I read the script I’m thinking about story.
I’m thinking about the arc of the characters, I’m thinking about conflict and I’m thinking
about why are we telling this story but I’m also thinking about “Okay, who would we
get to play these roles on this budget level?
What are some decent names?
Who am I picturing in this?
I’m presuming in this situation that the movie is real, that it’s not just a script.
That I’m not just reading it for fun like we’re making this picture.
This picture is funded, Mark.
Read the script.
So I’m reading it and I’m like “Okay, how are we going to pull off this…we need
this grandiose house?”
STRAIGHT TALK ABOUT FEATURE FILM DEVELOPMENT AND PRODUCTION - A NIGHT WITH MARK HEIDELBERGER
It’s a lot easier to develop a story in synopsis form or treatment form then it is
to keep rewriting the script when there is fundamental problems with it.
You don’t start building the building “Ahhh?
It’s slanted…alright let’s start taking out some bricks and try to get it straight.”
You work all of that in the design phase, the blueprint phase.
So that’s what I try to get them to.
And the 12 questions to me is Okay, that’s that beginning, that organic seed that we
need to plant to make a healthy tree grow.
What’s your theme?
What’s your thematic question?
Why are you telling this?
The thematic question is what you pose to the audience.
It could be a moral question or something else.
But some question you want them to think about like “Is family really just people you’re
related to?
Or is it something more?”
It can be your thematic question.
It’s not overtly stated in the question but it’s in the film’s subconscious, it’s
what your film is kind of really about.
And then your theme is how you answer that question by the end.
That’s how you answer your thematic question.
So what are those things?
I have a great story I think I can tell within that and consulting with distributors and
sales agents who know the market place and if you’re afraid to get the sales agents
and distributors involved early and find out what the market looks like and what buyers
are looking for.
And what budget ranges but if you don’t want to do that and you make a picture that
makes no money, really you don’t have anyone to blame but yourself.
The end use, the marketing, distribution, publicity, festivals (all of that), you should
be looking at that from the beginning, from inception of your story.
Just like you trust a DP to shoot your picture because he knows more about lighting and camera
than you do.
Or an editor because he knows a lot more about cutting than you do.
Distributors and sales agents know more about selling in the market than you do.
And so if you want a better chance at getting some sort of return, involve people that know
more about what they do than you do about what they do.
I say this all the time when I hire people.
I say “Look, you know more about what you do than I know about what you do.
So I’m going to tell you the results I want, when I want it by, I’m going to tell you
and I’m going to tell you what resources I’m going to give you to get me that result.
If you say “I can do it.”
I’ll say “Great, go do it.”
And I’m here to support you or “Hey, I need you to do this or that as long as it’s
in these parameters, done!
If there’s a problem, we’ll fix it and we’ll make sure it doesn’t happen again.”
Trust but verify.
But I don’t stand over their shoulders.
I hired you because this is what you do and you’re better at it than I am, so go do
it.
And the crew loves that!
Straight Talk About Feature Film Development And Production.
A Night With Mark Heidelberger on November 13th, 2018 in North Hollywood, CA.