Advanced Producing Webinar: What To Do When Your Talent Or Money Falls Through

Get the lowdown on how to save your film even in the worst case scenario with a veteran producer with over 35 films under  her belt. Comes with example Letters of Intent

Try as hard as you might, even when you dot every ‘i‘ and cross every ‘t’, the production of your film is never going to go perfectly. Things invariably come up or go wrong that are outside your control. Ask any producer—it is a certainty. As a result, it’s not the mark of a good producer to prevent unexpected problems from coming up, but instead to be able to address these issues when they do inevitably arise. You’ll never know what might come up during the course of your film’s production, but two of the biggest and scariest issues are when your money or your talent fall through. Even with everything else set to go, a full team intact, your locations booked, and your equipment prepped, if you lose either of these two crucial elements, it can bring your entire film to a grinding halt.

Losing your film’s money or top-level talent just before production begins is a more common issue than you might think, and while it’s certainly a difficult situation to navigate, it doesn’t need to derail your project. There are strategies you can use as a producer to soften the blow, move forward, and bring the money or actors back on board. It comes down to attitude, knowing your options, always having contingency plans, and being smart and measured in how you communicate with financiers, agents, and actors. So how do experienced producers deal with losing these elements last minute? How can they convince financiers to stay on board? How do they renegotiate with actors without going over-budget? And how do they know when to re-approach and when it’s time to part ways?

Aimee Schoof is the co-founder of Intrinsic Value Films and a veteran film producer with 35 features under her belt. Of those 35, 9 have premiered at the Sundance Film Festival, four at the Tribeca Film Festival, three at SXSW, and one each at LA Film Festival, Toronto, Venice, New York FF, New Directors/New Films, and Berlinale, to name a few. Aimee’s company develops, produces and sells independent films that have been distributed worldwide, have won many awards and been honored with numerous nominations. Accolades include winning a Sloan Sundance Award and a Sundance Special Grand Jury Prize. Aimee’s work has led her to be nominated five times by Film Independent as a producer. She is currently both a Sundance and Film Independent Fellow and has worked in international sales attending all major markets, and regularly lecturing on film finance and production. Through her career, Aimee has had to navigate losing money and losing talent many times and has developed valuable strategies she will share with the Stage 32 community that has kept her projects moving and allowed them to find success.

Aimee will walk you through what exactly you should do for your film if either your funding or your talent fall through during the course of pre-production or production. She’ll lay out the first steps you should always take when you first find out you’re about to lose either of these elements. She’ll then spend time discussing financing specifically and strategies you should employ. She’ll talk about how to figure out what really went wrong and how to renegotiate with the financier, including how to offer points or credits. Aimee will also talk about how you can move forward anyway by paring down expenses and altering your schedule. She’ll also tell you how to reapproach investors or partners that said no in the past. Aimee will also spend time discussing strategies specifically for losing talent. She’ll tell you how to gauge if the talent can be recovered, and offer actor-specific tips on how to renegotiate. She’ll talk about communication tips for both actors and their reps and advise you on when it’s worth it to reschedule your shoot. She’ll also go through how to find new acting choices and use leverage to get a last minute replacement. Finally, Aimee will show you how you can best recover when things fall through and how to move forward with your plan B without sacrificing the quality of your film.

Along the way, Aimee will share personal stories of her own past and even show you specific emails and language she used to renegotiate or find new funding or actors.

You’ll never be able to fully prepare for problems that come up last second, but Aimee will give you the tools and confidence you can use to navigate these problems and keep your project afloat.

Praise for Aimee’s Previous Stage 32 Webinars:

"I've taken many Stage 32 webinars and they've all been wonderful, but Aimee's had me ready to run through a wall! So much thoughtful and intelligent information!"

- Debra S.

"This webinar was jam packed with so many useful and accessible strategies I can start using today. Thank you!"

-Brian D.

"Grounded and Practical"

-Jennifer S.

“Aimee was able to take these big ideas and make them feel totally accessible and easy to understand. I really enjoyed hearing from her”

-Howard F.