by Voyage | Oct 25, 2011 | Uncategorized
AN INTERVIEW WITH VOYAGE FOUNDER, NAT MUNDEL TS: Since Voyage does so many pitches, you have a unique vantage point on what’s working and what’s not. What are notable trends you’ve seen lately in this highly competitive marketplace? NM: There’s definitely a higher degree of sophistication and thinking going into the marketing and sales process. With more people and fewer opportunities, the players who continue to be students of the process-the ones who remain curious and ever vigilant about fresh, creative tactics-are the ones who are evolving and ultimately winning the day. One of our clients, Jerry Bruckheimer, has employed three vastly different approaches over the last three years and each one has resulted in a successful deal. And this is a company with a name that essentially could sell itself. TS: Can you give us some examples of what’s working? NM: For starters, it’s about analyzing who the immediate audience or customer is and then taking the steps to make an impact with that person. How can you make their jobs easier or more rewarding? What tools are you providing them with to be a champion of your work? Our most successful clients are diving deep into the process and finding ways to facilitate and incentivize the decision-makers they’re looking to partner with. These are very nuanced relationships and the more you can empower individuals to be advocates for your work, the greater your chance of ultimately selling your idea through. Pitch tools like ‘leave-behinds’, look books and sizzle reels are no longer new to the game, they are becoming the norm so the sophistication with which they...
by Voyage | Aug 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
Know Who You Are; Make Sure We Know It Too No, you’re not paranoid; when it comes to building a successful career in entertainment, the odds are stacked against you. There’s not a lot of room at the top, and there are already many younger, smarter, better-connected people out there. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still get the advantage by employing some street-smarts and business-savvy—and building a personal brand. For starters (wary artists), let’s go over what a personal brand isn’t: The word “brand” might suggest cliches, like you’ll have to wear a certain kind of shoe, get a fashion-victim haircut and always wear black, i.e. pigeonhole yourself in some way or another. To be clear, that’s not what we’re talking about. According to Personal Branding expert and Voyage Team member Nance Rosen, the real point of personal branding is to be memorable—to stand out based on an expression of your authentic self and a connection with what your audience really needs. Diablo Cody (Juno) is a great example of a screenwriter who expresses her authentic self all the way to the bank. You’d recognize her dialogue style anywhere—it’s never a Little Miss Moffet message—and her audience finds it refreshing. Writers and directors have a great advantage because they are used to creating characters with distinct voices– now the work is to find their unique character. Rosen breaks down the 3 dimensions of a personal brand: 1. Your voice—what do you sound like, and why? 2. Your values—how do you work? Are you refined and traditional like Clint Eastwood or whimsical and inventive like Michel Gondry? 3. Your...
by Voyage | Aug 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
Make A Plan & Work It! A lot of people approach their creative careers with die-hard passion, belief in their talent, and lots of people pulling for them—but no strategy. It’s no wonder that so many reach a certain level of success and then find themselves stalling or stagnating somewhere “comfortable” and doing work that doesn’t really satisfy their true ambition. Plainly put, if you don’t take steps to decisively tell the industry who you are, it won’t know—and certain decisions will be made for you. One way to combat inertia is to define your plan and figure out what it will take to progress from one milestone to the next—i.e. map it out using these 5 important business tools: 1. Strategy – You have to start with your dream. And a great way to ensure that you’re truly passionate about your dream is to write it down and then multiply it times 100 – that’s your real dream (scary, I know). Go for it. Another great building block of strategy comes from Jim Collins (author of “Good to Great”) – Collins’ personal “hedgehog strategy” lies at the intersection of (1) What you’re truly passionate about (2) what you’re genetically encoded or “made” to do and (3) what things can you be paid for. Click here to read the other 4 business tools (link to article on The Professionals program blog) 2. Milestones – you can’t eat a whale all in one sitting. Break impossible dreams down into achievable goals and work through them one at a time. 3. Process – Are you doing things in the right order,...
by Voyage | Aug 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
Use your resources to raise your profile Up-and-coming film students (i.e. the next generation who will be breathing down your neck soon enough) routinely invest over $100k just to get their feet wet; young professionals wait tables, walk dogs, and donate hundreds of hours of their labor in internships; working writers, producers, directors, and talent re-invest (at least) 10% of their income into their careers, paying their agents & managers and developing projects—what they’re all doing is investing in their careers. And it’s a no-brainer that you need to keep up. Back the talent that you know best: your own. So once you’ve defined yourself and your message it’s time to get the word out, because Hollywood wants to see evidence that people will get in line to check out your work. How do you prove to them that you’ve got audience appeal? As you build your transition strategy, include Social Media and PR to raise your profile. Voyage team member Libby Gill, who helped build the reputation of Dr. Phil and other high-profile personalities’ through personal brand strategy and publicity, weighs in on this topic: “When people are surfing online, you’ve got about 5 seconds to grab their attention- so what’s the most important thing for people to know about you? It might come in the form of a photo, a video snippet, or something quirky and unique that only you can come up with. If you had to sum yourself up on a billboard or T-shirt, what would you say, and how do you say it in a way that nobody’s gonna forget?” Social media tools and...
by Voyage | Mar 12, 2011 | Uncategorized
3 WAYS TO BREAK INTO LONG FORM by Kathleen McLaughlin Whether the goal is to spearhead big studio tent-poles or helm smaller independents, the time has never been better for directors to take control of the creative process and forge their own careers. Enterprising auteurs are turning out terrific work on the Internet and while film school is still a gateway to a career as a feature film director, it is no longer the only, or even the best path to a career in feature films. Here are just a few other ways to start making it happen. Create a product As a director you’re looking for someone to take a chance on you, but if you write a killer script you’ve also got a product to sell. With studio development budgets slashed and indies looking for go projects, if you want to be a director, do what the screenwriters’ do: develop your own material and create a some great material. Read screenplays; find a book or graphic novel, flesh out your own ideas. Alfred Hitchcock used to say that once he’d finished developing the screenplay he didn’t need to shoot because he’d already made the film. Like Hitchcock, find a story you love, “direct it on paper” and give them the confidence that they can’t see anyone else doing the job but you. If you’re not a writer…don’t Okay, you’ve got a great idea but you discover you’re just not a screenwriter. The truth is that the bar is set higher for a screenplay written by a director. If the idea is great but the execution isn’t they...
by Voyage | Nov 22, 2010 | Uncategorized
BUILDING AN ONLINE PRESENCE FOR YOUR FILM & TV PROJECTS I blog. You blog. We all blog. It’s an undeniable fact: Web logs (to use the old-fashioned term) are now as relevant as major newspapers and magazines, supplying millions of readers worldwide with news, updates, and random pieces of information. When it comes to developing a project – whether it’s a film, a commercial, a viral video or a TV show – a blog can actually serve your process. It can help you to identify your audience and give them the opportunity to talk back (through comment feeds). Blogging about your project and the different stages it’s going through opens what I like to call the Door to Collaboration, a dynamic give-and-receive process that can help shape your idea into the Best Possible Product. If you have investors involved it’s a great way to maintain their excitement. A blog can keep them up to date on how the project is moving and offer them reassurance that their money is being used wisely. A blog can also stir up some buzz, create more awareness of your product and potentially generate more support. For writers, blogs can showcase their wit, style, and chops, and act as a kind of cyber calling card. A great blog can also show that you are a serious, professional scribe taking pride in your craft and not just a weekend hobbyist jotting down grammatically-incorrect, incoherent rants (Blogger’s note: if you wish to be taken seriously, be your own editor, proofread what you self-publish, and write as if you’re on assignment for a revered magazine or newspaper)....
