Creating Sustainable Proof of Concepts within our Stunt & Film Program

How we are creating Sustainable Proof of Concepts within our Programming to give our Artists the best possible chances of Visibility and Opportunity:

Itemized List of Production Costs on the “No-Budget Feature Film” (Proof of Concept)

Item	Cost	Notes
Script	$0	We don’t pay for our scripts.  We write them ourselves, which means years of free labor we’ve put in.
Camera Equipment	$500-$800 – repairs/upgrades to cameras, batteries, ect… $240-$350 – for software programs and licenses (One plugin to our software can cost upwards of $700/each, but thanks to AOF, we’ve gotten $5,000 worth of software plug-ins for FREE).  Our operations are professional, high end tech, and on the cutting edge of industry standards.	We invested tens of thousands of dollars into camera equipment early on so that we could make our films.  This means you aren’t paying for the rental or initial investment of any camera equipment.  But we often have to make repairs/replace parts, or purchase software.  We set aside a budget to cover the wear/tear on our equipment and the software memberships that we need to make the films.
Actors/Stunt Players	$0	We don’t pay our actors or stunt players (yet).  We use our students so they get the visibility and credit for making an awesome movie.
Crew	$0	We don’t pay our crew (yet), we use our students and helpful volunteers, and ourselves to do the labor necessary to make the film.
Rehearsal Location	$0	Media Academy student tuition does not go towards paying for Free Flow Academy business expenses of Rent/Insurance/Employee Salaries, Utilities… ect.  All the tuition money goes directly into making the production.
Filming Locations	$0	We rely on our cast/crew to deliver up many of the locations (private properties, personal homes, nearby public parks (which are often free to shoot in/permits are free) ect…
Wardrobe	$20-$100 per character	We usually have to spend money on costumes, depending on the type of project.  For “Immortal Fist” it was our biggest expense.  One mask cost $70, and wardrobe cost was around $20-$30 per character.  It all added up even when some actors wore their own clothing.  Expect to wear your own clothing in some scenes, or perhaps for the entire film.
Props	$500	Again this depends on the project.  For “Immortal Fist” we needed a lot of cool looking weapons and interesting props to make the characters and scenes dynamic.  They were also part of the storyline.
Food/Craft Service	$0	Generally on a no-budget film, food is the biggest expense.  It is industry etiquette to, at the very least, feed your people.  But we also know most of our talent and crew still live at home and usually can’t handle long hours on set anyway (we work with a lot of kids), so we ask everyone pack their own food/snacks.
Permits/Insurance	$100-$500	We can’t get around this one, we have to be insured in order to operate our business.  And the State of CA does require filming permits, even if you’re doing it on private property.
Editing/Post-Production	$0	We do all of this in house.  We don’t have to pay anyone for post-production costs.
Music Licensing	$500 is our budget.  This covers the license costs on small indie license fees. Bigger labels charge $700-$1000 per minute of song use	Even when we are using indie/local artists, and trading for credit, there are still costs that come with music.  Sometimes it’s a software program we need to get for sound effects, or one time license fee for some songs on the net.  It’s really important we cover our basis on getting the proper clearances because if we don’t, that can sabotage the entire production.  We cannot get a distribution deal if our clearances are not in place.
Audio/Lights/Grip	$400	We lost around $1,000 worth of lighting on our last production.  They didn’t like the rain/moisture in the air that poured down upon us unexpectedly.  But we were able to make repairs for a few hundred dollars.

Our total Production Budget for above items is estimated at $3,000

What about teachers? 

Yes, we do need to pay teachers to run the weekly stunt and film workshops.  Free Flow Media Academy is FIRST and foremost an enriching educational opportunity.  We pay our teachers hourly for the time and energy they spend with the students over the course of 3 months.  We usually have 5-7 coaches working with students throughout the course of the 12-week program.  This cost is factored in and usually takes up our remaining budget.  Our teacher to student ratio is around 6:1

Our Total Expenses on the Production/Program Orchestration is estimated at $5,000-$6,500 (That’s less than a school play, or a basketball tournament).  But does a school play or basketball tournament give you a professional IMDB profile?  Something to put on your resume?  An exciting extracurricular to put on your College Application?  A potential career?  A fun and exciting side hustle? Years or possibly decades of extended opportunities?  It’s a no brainer…

What about distribution costs?

-          Film Festivals

-          Film Markets

-          Aggregators

-          Self Distribution Platforms/Peer to Peer Networks

Film Festivals - We didn’t have a budget for distribution expenses when we shot “Immortal Fist”.  We came out of pocket to submit the film to film festivals, (which we got in to AOF and had our film premiered at Brenden Theaters/Palms Casino and Resort in Las Vegas, NV) and we had the opportunity to see our film on the BIG SCREEN!  We also had a Red Carpet Premiere and had the opportunity to participate in fun workshops.  It was a very enriching experience for our students, and our plan is to submit to AOF every year. 

Because we had to come out of pocket for festival expenses, we only submitted to one.  But we really should submit to 5-10 festivals so that we can have more visibility and opportunities to network with other artists.  Film Festivals are an opportunity to have your movie peer reviewed by other working artists in the industry.  Your industry peers can become your greatest allies and friends, because they will help spread the word about your film, and there is a possibility you will connect with other content creators, and help make their next movie!  Film Festivals house a wide range of talent, from directors, producers, actors, stunt players, writers, journalists, and more.  We’re going to be picky about the festivals we submit to, so we will only submit to moderate to large festivals that have a strong reputation, and have been around in the industry for years. 

Film Festival Submission Cost - $55-$200 per film

Film Markets – Film Markets are different than festivals.  This is where buyers congregate from world wide territories to purchase content for their TV stations, Cinemas, and Streaming platforms.  You want your film at all the major Film Markets such as AFM, Mipcom, and Ventana Sur.  “Immortal Fist” went to all of these Film Markets.  We did not come out of pocket to go because we landed a Distributor that pays for these expenses.  The cost is a whopping $20,000 to bring your film to these markets.  But “Immortal Fist” is now being reviewed by the Chinese censorship board, and we just landed a distribution deal in Vietnam.  Visibility/Proximity is power, and you can’t earn that, unless you’re willing to market your product.  But marketing is a major expense.  We’d like to attend the film markets in the future, so we can help sell our product.  A single badge is around $400 to enter the markets. 

Film Market Badges - $400/person ($1,200 for Sales Team) (This price is just to get in.  Once you’re in, it costs around $50 for a taco.  So… we’ll sneak in our own food)

Aggregators – Aggregators allow you to distribute your content on Amazon, Netflix, iTunes, and a number of streaming based platforms.  This is pretty much how indie content is being picked up by the major guys.  You need to “pay to play,” and drive as much traffic as possible to the “play” so that the platforms can see your content is “commercially viable.”  Having your stuff on an Aggregator also means visibility and potential sales.  You get the major portion of the proceeds on each download, so this creates a pipeline to develop the content further (for a sequel or spin off).  Our plan is to create solid proof of concepts, and give them an opportunity to become a “commercially viable” entity.  If the show makes money, we all make money, and will have a return on our investment.  That doesn’t mean we’ll refund you for the tuition costs and then some.  It means that once we’ve reached a certain payment threshold to make another project, we will then develop a project (a sequel, or spin off) in which you will be a paid performer or creative contributor.  We need to reach a specific payment threshold so that we can pay EVERYONE that was a part of the project.  So once we reach a budget where we can honorably pay everyone for their time and energy… ($10/day for a performer is NOT honorable)… meaning we will use a model that is up to par with industry standards.

Aggregator Cost – Estimated $1,200 for each streaming platform (we’ll want to do the major 3) Amazon, Netflix, and iTunes – Total is around $5,000 (We are estimating moderately because you have to do a lot of spec requirements in addition to paying the basic fees.  They get you on that, because if you don’t meet their very specific technical requirements, you can pay them to do it for you, which is usually the case from what I hear). 

Self Distribution/Peer to Peer Networks – Distributing on YouTube is free, but you are also giving away your content for free.  So the possibility of making a ROI is slim.  You need millions of hits in order to earn anything, and YouTube is paying less and less for the monetized content.  But that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t do it as a last resort.  Again, visibility is a top priority.  But we always want to explore the other options before doing this.  We always want to give our Artists and our Project the best possible chances of success.  Once you distribute on a platform like YouTube, no one else will take your project.  It will be rejected by Film Festivals, and the film will be pirated, and downloaded/reposted to other channels, ect… Distributors will pass…

However, the peer to peer network is changing.  We expect some major disruptions to the industry due to some new advancements in technology, that is putting even more power/leverage into the content creators hands.  Peer to Peer networks will be using blockchain technology to change the playing field.  We are expecting some interesting new models by the end of 2018.

Estimated Cost – Unknown/Free (but we need to wait on this)

Total Estimated Marketing/Distribution Costs - $6,700 (This part we Crowdfund)

We aren’t going to ask our clients to pay for possibilities.  Which is why our tuition costs are broken down as they are.  Our clients only pay for what is concrete – the enriching educational experience.  

But we know the possibility is endless, and with a good strategy, we can optimize the experience for everyone.  Which is why we are going to crowdfund/fundraise for the distribution costs.  Remember when you were a kid and you sold candy bars to raise money for projects that may or may not come to fruition during your time at the school?  I remember my elementary school had bookoo fundraisers to build a new gym.  After years and years of fundraising we finally got the gym, and that was also the same year I graduated.  So even though I only got to use the gym a few times, my nieces and nephews now go to that school, and I feel proud that we had a hand in it’s manifestation. 

Our crowdfund campaigns will give our community and extended community a chance to get involved with project.  Your Aunt and Uncle might be named an Executive Producer, your friends and neighbors who own businesses may want some shout outs, and/or we’ll pre-sell limited edition copies with blooper extras… the point is, crowdfunding will be creative, and add a ton of value to the experience, without costing anyone a lot of money.