How do I approach somebody to produce an idea that I want to make into a mini movie (60 minutes). I have the character bios of the major characters involved completed and a synopsis of the film. I would write the script itself, but I'm really inexperienced in screenwriting. If we want to get this done at a reasonable time they would have to hire a person with experience to do it. The major problem is that because of the economic crash of 2008 it financially wiped me out and I have no means to help finance this. I know that I'll have to give them final say on everything which I'm not opposed to doing this. I'm a very task-orientated person and I'm not afraid of hard work.
Anything Goes : Getting a EP by Brian McAndrew
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if you have no previous project that have made any money... Chances are you'll be the EP and making it with your own money, or family / friends.... No professional EP is going to hand you money without proof of deliverable abilities.
What if you have no money.
Honestly Brian... I'll continue to get kicked around the block for being a mean old curmudgeon, but, if you want to make a movie, pilot, TV show, Short, whatever... and you have no previous delivery experience you'll need to start with something you can afford, and take the few years, do a few projects that actually make a few bucks, proving you CAN deliver and you CAN make money... it will take time to get where you are a proven entity, both financially and marketable. Then pull out that expensive movie script and you'll find that financing. "backers" want return on investment and they want a proven person/team at the helm.
What if you give them final say on stuff.
when it comes to broadcast/cable projects there isn't a single network on the planet that will give a newcomer a budget to shoot anything, let alone a project that the new guy came up with. What will potentially happen is , IF you have a good enough story, project bible, characters, etc and you pitch it correctly ( most likely via an established show runner ) is that they will buy the right to your project, make you either an associate producer or -one- of many writers... you will lose all creative control and you'll get a salary and a tiny backend. They'll definitely throw it to an established production company they have worked with in the past with a history of delivery to the network/cable company.
This would be independently done.
no problem then. you'll have to raise the money on your own... again, unless you have proof of previous delivered and commercially successful projects you are not likely to get any investors... You're wasting your time hunting. Make the film you want to make on your money and probably friends / family / and a bit of crowd funding. Real investors want ROI with limited risk. A first time director/producer/writer is a bad risk.
There have been a number of successful crowd funding campaigns for films not unlike yours. The perks are not really a ROI and the 'investors' are quite a different crowd but still, you might be able to raise enough for a box movie. Also, are there festivals or other film promotion groups in your area (such as raindance http://www.raindance.org )? There organizations often have live networking events where you might be able to gather enough people to at least make a trailer. They are also often filled with screenwriters looking to work on projects for their own development. Finally, have you considered packaging it as a web series? Actually, I guess I'm asking what you foresee for distribution.
Direct to video and instant download.
Did you ever get the script written?