WHAT DOES A SALES AGENT DO?

Today is the last day of DocNYC, which is billed, rightfully so, as New York’s Documentary Festival.  But the festival doesn’t just limit itself to great films.  Educating filmmakers is also a huge component to DocNYC.  Yesterday’s panels were built around the theme “Protect Your Rights” and covered topics including sales agents, fair use, crowdsourcing, revenues and royalties.  Great information was given throughout the day, but the session that I found the most useful was on sales agents, a niche of the business that I’ve always been somewhat mystified by.

The question the event posed was “Do I Need a Sales Agent?”

In short, yep.  You do.

That’s not a surprising answer from a panel of three of the industry’s top sales agents.  Of course, the panel didn’t end there.  Over an hour and a half, Cinetic‘s Dana O’Keefe, Submarine‘s Josh Braun and Films Transit‘s Diana Holtzberg dropped some serious knowledge about what they do, why they do it and how they do it.

There are nuts and bolts to what a sales agent does, but what it boils down to is advocacy.  Your sales agent is someone that signs your film and not only negotiates the sale, but also positions the film to do as well as it can.  They specialize in devising and implementing a strategy for a film’s sale.  A sales agent–or at least the three that spoke yesterday–only gets paid if and when you get paid.  In other words, they want you to do well.  It’s how their business succeeds.  They champion your film.

So… how do they do that?  All three panelists discussed the importance of the relationships they have in the industry and how those relationships affect the placement of your film.  While they can’t, of course, guarantee that your film will get into Sundance, they did talk about how they have contacts in the right places when it comes to programmers.  They can pick up the phone and call an influential programmer directly to make sure your film gets seen.  That doesn’t mean you’ll get into Sundance, but it does mean your film won’t get lost in a stack of screeners.  You’ll at least get a shot.  Of course, when a top sales agent like Cinetic, Submarine or Films Transit signs your movie before a festival premiere, it brings instant credibility to your project.  Programmers, broadcasters, etc. are certain to pay more attention to a film when it’s been validated by one of these industry insiders.

This, of course, brings us to the question of when do you get a sales agent.  Each person on the panel said that they want to get involved with a film as early as possible (with Dana O’Keefe joking he just wants to make sure he sees a project before Josh Braun does).  In some cases, they said, seeing selected scenes or an extended trailer is enough to decide whether or not they will take on a film. At the very least, it allows them to track what they’re interested in.  Across the board, they said they want to see the film before picture lock.  In some cases, they’ll offer creative suggestions to make the film stronger.  But overall, the earlier you can let them know about your film, the better.  For those of you who have been thwarted by agents, producers, etc. who have a policy to not accept unsolicited submissions, you’ll be happy to know this is not a barrier for sales agents.  Their contact information is readily available and, though it sounds like each differs slightly on what they want to see in that initial contact, basically, a strong synopsis could be enough to get them to review your material.

Some other highlights from the panel:

-10% is the average commission a sales agent takes

-on rare occasions, they’d get involved as an Executive Producer and help raise funds

-sales agents build their plan around a filmmaker’s expectations (ie. if you want a theatrical release, they’ll try to make that happen)

-agreements with sales agents are typically valid for 1-3 years (1 for Submarine/Cinetic, 3 for Films Transit)

-they suggested keeping a log of who’s seen your film and what you’ve shown them so they know if/how to re-approach those parties

-a sales agent helps negotiate the delivery schedule, which can end up saving you a lot of money in the end

Really, the word I took away from the day was advocacy.  Could you negotiate a deal on your own?  Absolutely.  Would it be the best deal available?  Maybe.  But in an environment that is constantly changing, sales agents are experts in how to maximize the value of your film.  And, with so many other players in the distribution paradigm trying to exploit your film, it seems like a sales agent is one of the few people fighting for you.

EGYPT: THE LAND OF FLICKERING LIGHT

As we set out for our first shoot with Bob Bradley and the Egyptian National Team for our feature length documentary WE MUST GO, the last thing on our mind was flickering light.  There were permits to get, flights to book, equipment to rent, a list as long as my arm of things to do to get ready for this epic, international shoot.  And after all, we had shot in Africa before, in Sierra Leone, for our doc BROWNSTONES TO RED DIRT (available now on DVD) and flickering light was not an issue in Sierra Leone.  This was, in retrospect, because when we were in Sierra Leone we didn’t have access to electricity so we shot almost entirely with natural light. 

As we reviewed dailies every night in Egypt, we occasionally noticed a little flicker here and there on the LCD screen on our Panasonic AF100 but didn’t think much of it. Even when we looked at the dailies on our larger field monitor, we were looking for other things and missed the flickering light. 

However, when we got home to the US and really started reviewing footage in detail and getting ready to work with it, we noticed a significant flicker in the frame when we were using a light source other than the lights that we brought from home (which were run through Amp and Hz converters).  Stadium lights during the Egyptian National Team’s soccer practice?  Flicker.  The light that was on in the background of our interview with Coach Bradley?  Flicker.

How could I have overlooked that we were shooting in a 50 Hz Country (the US is 60 Hz)?! And more importantly – how do I fix the issue so the next time it doesn’t happen?

Here is what my research has uncovered:

In the US or other 60 Hz countries, we like to shoot at 24p and a Shutter Angle of 180 degrees. We have found that this gets the most film-like look out of our AF100.  We want to mimic this look as best we can.

PLEASE NOTE: We are talking about Shutter Angle and not Shutter Speed.  At the end of this article is a quick guide for how the two relate to each other.

Here’s how we set our camera up for shooting 24p with a 180 degree Shutter Angle in a 60 Hz Country:
Set SYSTEM FREQ from the OTHER FUNCTIONS menu to 59.94 hz
Select 1080 24P from the SCENE FILE menu
Set the Shutter to 180 degrees from the SYNCRO SCAN menu

To eliminate the flickering light when in a 50Hz Country (and to get the same film look) we need to change our Shutter Angle to eliminate the flicker. Go to SYNCRO SCAN and set your Shutter Angle to 172.8d, instead of 180d.  That’s it!  So simple!

Well, the fix is simple, but the math and reasons aren’t quite so.  If you’re a nerd like me and need to know more, here you go:

Here’s the math behind your new Shutter Angle (23.976 x 2) / (25 x 2) = 47.952 / 50 = 0.95904  Then take this number and multiply it by the 60hz shutter angle you normally use: 180 x 0.95904 = 172.63 (this number rounds up to 172.8)

Another way to look at it is, if you are using Shutter Speeds rather than Shutter Angles, if your shutter is not a multiple of the oscillation of the lights (regardless of what the lights are) then you will see flicker/strobing. So… since you are in a 50 Hz environment you would want to us 1/50th or 1/100th, 1/200th etc. 

To find out what electric power frequency your country or a country you are visiting uses, use THIS guide.  

And as promised, here is a quick guide on what

Shutter Angle = what Shutter Speed:

SA  =  SS

270 = 1/32
180 = 1/48
178.8 = 1/50
144 = 1/60
90 = 1/96
72 = 1/120
45 = 1/198
22.5 = 1/348
11 = 1/696
8.6 = 1/1000

The next time we are in Egypt we will not have flickering light!!!  Hurray!!!  Hope this helps you out the next time you are shooting in a 50hz country.

BIG BIRD, MITT ROMNEY AND WHAT IT ALL MEANS

Well, that was just crazy, huh?

Last night, the internet exploded when Mitt Romney said he would stop the subsidy to PBSand singled out Big Bird.  People took sides, t-shirts were created, slogans were spun and hashtags were hashed.  It was nutters.  We rocked Twitter ’til 3 in the AM just trying to keep up.

We’re deep in the trenches making I AM BIG BIRD, which is about Caroll Spinney, who’s been Big Bird and Oscar the Grouch since 1969, so for us, last night was probably a little bit different.  We’ve been at this film since 2009 and we’re still about a year away from its release, so we feel like Big Bird is family (Oscar too: Chad’s son has already gotten a private show from the Grouch himself!).  And while we clearly support the wonderful work that PBS, Sesame Workshop and Caroll do, we’re not taking to this blog to be political.  Instead, what we took away from last night was how, after all these years, Big Bird is still the most identifiable symbol of Sesame Street.

Sure, back in the day, Jim Henson called Big Bird the most recognizable children’s character in the world (and attributed that honor to Caroll’s work), but it seems like all we hear about these days is Elmo.  There’s a reason for that: Elmo’s a great character, played by the wonderfully talented Kevin Clash.  I dare anyone to actually watch Sesame Street and not fall in love with the little red monster.  He’s charming beyond belief.  Caroll even dedicated a chapter in his book to talking about Elmo and how he had to make room on the block for the lil’ fella when he came along and Rosie O’Donnell and flashbulbs followed.

Elmo is DiCaprio, Big Bird is Nicholson.  We love and respect both, but one gets more magazine covers.

But last night, when Romney needed a quick, gettable symbol, he didn’t say, “I love Elmo.”  He didn’t say, “I love Grover.”  He said, “I love Big Bird.”  All these years later, Big Bird remains the most recognizable character on the show.  And, though Mr. Henson isn’t around to ascertain this, we’re quite comfortable saying that’s because of Caroll.  While many people are claiming it today on Twitter, Caroll is Big Bird.