Before the First Money meeting:Nuts and Bolts

"Your always two meeting away from the money", that's a little saying that I say to myself so that I don't get too excited when I have an upcoming investor meeting.

This of course begs several questions, mostly what in the world should you do with an investor meeting.

Here is what I know so far.

1. Investment meeting come in layers:

• Introduction


• Pitch and Facts


• Initial Asking


• Counter Offer, Negotiating


• Contracts and Terms


• Due Diligence


• Final Negotiations


• Final Price


• Contract signing


• Cutting Checks

2. The more prepared you are in the first meeting the faster the other meetings can happen

3. Here is what you should have or be working on.

• The script is DONE! (See Treatment VS Script for more on this)


• Initial story boards done, initial production illustration


• Budget top-sheet


• Schedule out line


• List of locations


• List of staff


• List of talent


• Contact info for all of the above(and price quotes if you can get them)


• Distribution projections*

4. I try to have a list of questions in mind for the investor, remember just because you want the money they have does not mean that you want to get into bed with anybody. If you get the wrong investor you can find your self locked into a nightmare and no chance of actually getting your film made.

• What kind of turn around time are you hoping for?


• Have you ever invested in a film before?


• If yes, what kind of experience was it?(much of this may happen naturally in the course of the conversation)


• If this goes well would you be interested in doing more films?

More than anything your trying to create a dialogue with the investor where you get a really solid sense of their expectations. Many times new investor's to film will have no idea what to expect. Be wary of the person who is dropping too much industry slang. It has been my experience that the people who are using waaay to many acronyms and sound like they are trying too hard are trying too hard. That is usually an indicator that they may not be legit and your waisting you time or they could just be a putz. Industry slang is only helpful if it's relevant helpful and used in context with the meeting your having. An example is if someone is saying LOI or using a term you don't understand and they start using the heck out of it they probably caught on that you are not familiar with the term and now they think they have a one-up on you. They don't usually if it's being overused it's suspect. Which means they are compensating for something and that is another clue.

A real money person, is relaxed. They have done this many times and are mildly excited to see another venture work out, if your numbers are right and the project your selling them on is one you believe in you should be relaxed too. Bottom line, you both want to make money and nobody wants to waste the other person's time.

The social investor: This should probably go in a "Pit-falls" section. Basically a social investor is somebody with money but no real interest in dealing with you financially. They want to go to parties and hang out with you and talk about film. They want to be a part of the scene with out taking risk. So you'll hear them from time to time talk about their cash but mostly they just want to be social.

The good part about this type is that they often have massive networks of industry people and it is a good way to meet folks who are higher up on the film food chain. Maybe even actual investors. So keep the contact but don't get your hopes up.

Recap:

• Have your numbers ready ahead of time.


• Be ready to defend your script.


• Don't be afraid to walk away to protect your project.


• Don't lie about what you have in place.


• Don't be intimidated, if they are not gonna invest they are waisting, YOUR TIME!

*Distribution is your most important piece next to the script. If you have distribution in place with actually theaters, include that. ANY theater that you have on paper is a huge step in the right direction. Internet, and Film festival's almost don't count unless your target is a festival. DVD distribution at retail stores and other avenues(ie RedBox) have forms that you can download to submit your project. They want a finished project though, unless you have some special relationship with them. I add the filled forms for the different DVD avenues in the packet at the back of the distribution section. When I say filled out I mean a printed pdf, not filled in with pen.