How to Write a Film Business Plan

A business plan is only as good as the company or organization behind it, so you will have to remove your creative filmmaker thinking cap and be willing to think like and wear the hat of an investor...or be willing to hire people to do this for you. We show you exactly how to do this, where to find the right people for your film and how to best showcase all your team's talent in your Business Plan.

Do you know what makes your independent film special and sets it apart from the others? Do you know the answer to this question in such a way that it makes it clear your film is a good investment? While your film may have a great social message or even its potential cast and production are merits you wish to highlight, know the investor reads every word in your plan with the mind and eye of a business person. We want to ensure the content of your plan continually reinforces there is a promising opportunity for return on investment and we show you how to make it look like your project does just that.

You should write your industry section as if you are describing the ins and outs of the industry to someone who does not know the film business at all. Statistics, history, industry successes, how and why the industry is growing, both domestically and internationally, and home video streaming trends are some of the areas you will cover in this part of the feature film business plan.

One of the MOST important questions you are going to ask yourself while writing your your film business plan is, "Who is going to pay money to see your independent film?" Who is your target market? Where are they? How many of them are there? What are their movie-going habits? How and where do they spend their money? What are their other habits that might piggy-back well with film? We show you dozens of resources to help you answer these questions and make a compelling case to your investors that your film does, indeed, have solid market potential.

In order to effectively convince your film financing investors and build a solid feature film business plan, you will need to understand the ins and outs of film investment. Learn about multiple financing sources, such as cash, soft and hard money and multiple other ways of coming up with your negative pick up costs and how to show investors you've put real financial value into your project - even if you have NO cash to add!

How are you going to maximize the distribution of your film? Here is what the Wall Street Journal tells film investors when advising them on the BEST films in which to invest, "...as with any business investment, you want to see a well-conceived marketing and distribution plan that makes sense and isn't built on hope." We want YOU to have your own distribution plan that makes sense, whether traditional distribution S/VOD, TVOD and all the various combinations of distribution channels and release types.

If you think the hard part of writing a film business plan is the Financial Projections, don't worry for a minute. We break this down for you in an easy to follow and understand format. We tell you what potential investors will expect to see, how to choose the correct films for comparison, all disclosures and risk statements required and much more.

What else do you need to know about writing a Film Business Plan? After this course, you will know so much more about YOUR film and about the movie business and film industry. We'll go through some additional investors, keys to film financing and leave you with all the right tools, tips and templates to complete your business plan.