Hi, can you advise me on whether this is worth pursuing or not? I've been caught out before but they do have IMDB and significant film credits and award nominations. They want $1300 but it's negotiable and can be refunded after an NDA ha been signed but no NDA will be made until the payment is given. They said they would work from development to post.
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It's a scam, Derry Felton. Producers pay writers for scripts. Writers don't pay producers to make movies/shows.
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Derry Felton This guy has some big ones on him. I've had "producers" quote me their price before, but never one that high. I guess this guy doesn't understand the concept of "the Starving Artist." For $1,300, you can produce your own Proof of Concept video.
as a director and producer, Derry, you should know that all the things in development are not that tough to figure out. It's all about the pricing of things on a daily basis and shooting out of sequence to capture all the shots you need while at a particular location and for how many days you have a certain talent.
I have a $1.5M budget action film that has a 38 shooting schedule that does not include weekends off and working 8 hour days. Now before I even break down a day to day budget, and this is without any fancy budgeting software, I know that after figuring out the budgets for Cast, Crew and Equipment and subtracting 25% for Post Production, I have $910,000.00 to work with over 38 shooting days. which comes out to about $24,000/8 hour day. If I use less days, I save money. If it's a light cast and crew day, I save money.
Now if your story is a big budget project, there will mostly be a reliance on sound-stages and set construction. Lower budget films require rental properties or existing apartments and expect some necessary ADR (Automated Dialogue Replacement) needed.
If you know how to construct a business plan or the lesser informative pitch deck, you can have a better understanding of the business and be able to present a more convincing argument for your screenplay. to find a green light.
Bottom line is that if a real producer likes your script, he would know all this as well and have the programs to immediately be able to prepare a presentation. It sure as hell won't cost you anything.
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Don't go there.
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I've been told that this style is a no-go. However, this is how Bondit/Buffalo 8 works, and they're legit. Soooo??!!! Anyone's guess.
Derry Felton Not clear what the offer is discussed but in general it is Ok to ask for an advance for your contribution, whatever stage of production it is, especially working together for the first time and knowing your value. This is business. This might be just misunderstanding and you expect in-kind contribution or deferred payment or whatever. Just need to be explained. In my practice 30% advance is good, then the rest is split in two-three installments
There's always a test question. You can agree to a rewrite that 1300 from the script and have popcorns ready when they explain why not.
Guessing there are hundreds of other wannabe car salesmen that you'll be moving on to next.
Be sure to mention that. Shows you've done your company research.
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I have produced 22 hours with no-budget films. I know that one can easily have something at IMDb. And besides, I can imagine scammers stealing an email address from somebody who is at IMDb.