Producing

In this 90-minute webinar, Academy & BAFTA Award-winning Producer Gareth Ellis Unwin will use his background as an experienced producer to showcase his approach to creating a successful international co-production.

Using examples from the various projects he has co-produced under Bedlam Film Product...

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No one likes to see a production company shut down, especially an independent film studio that is beloved or even an offshoot of a major studio. I’ve been employed in both of these when they’ve shut down and it’s never a pleasant day even when you know it’s coming.

But there are many factors that go...

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But there are many factors that go into these decisions, and very rarely are they a reflection of the industry as a whole. In the case of Participant Media, its founder and CEO Jeff Skoll has not been an active “participant” in the day-to-day running for sometime; for various personal and professional reasons he left others in charge. He has billions of dollars — it’s not as if he was bankrupt. However, a handful of years ago the person he had running it started a streaming channel long before everyone had one and lost $250 million. Skoll was more than willing to operate at a loss of 10 or 20 million dollars a year depending on Box office for his specialty titles. But this loss just made no sense even for someone who had the cash to spare and just wanted to do good in the world. He’s still going to run the library of all of the wonderful films that they made over the years, it’s just no longer going to be footing the bill. But they hadn’t been footing the bill for quite some time; the past several years Participant has only come in with partial funding for the films that had their name on them. As much as I admire the intent behind the content that participate media helped bring to life, the actual impact of these films was not as great as it could’ve been. Skoll still has his foundation, and he funded the Social Impact Entertainment Society.

Like most documentaries or narrative films that are heavy-handed about an issue they tend to limit their reach because most people that go see them are already in tune with the issue. In other words, they’re preaching to the choir. That is the problem with “cause cinema” in general. However, it doesn’t mean , that Hollywood can’t make an impact and entertain at the same time. I like to use a case study between AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH (2006), which Participant produced, and THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW (2004). AN INCONVENIENT TRUTH was extremely successful for a documentary bringing in just shy of $50MM at the box office, and earning all kinds of awards. But it didn’t have a measurable environmental impact. THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW brought in over a half $1 billion in box office money, and a study among all Ivy League Universities showed that as a result of seeing that film, enrollment in environmental studies increased, and according to Yale, the film also increased consumer perceptions on how their day-to-day activities impacted climate change. Now that is an impact and it certainly was not due to the fact that A DAY AFTER TOMORROW used it as a recruitment tool to universities or a soapbox for the crisis. But, imagine if ten-cents of every ticket sold went to scholarships for people who could not afford these academic endeavors or even just went to fund research into the effects of climate change. Ten cents of every ticket sold would have been over $9MM, that by now, 20-years later — we may be in a much different place.

Another case in point more recently, THE SOUND OF FREEDOM had its audiences screaming from the rooftops to save the children, that people must see this important film for the sake of the children. Yet not one cent of the hundreds of millions of dollars that film made went to actually help victims of child trafficking.

Participant Media and Hollywood in general are well intentioned in their philanthropic endeavors, but until the stories we tell actually do more than bring brief awareness — until they actually support change within the very communities and issues that they focus on, we’ve not made a strong enough impact.

When one door closes another one opens and I am stepping through.

Maurice Vaughan

14 hours ago

Thanks for sharing the article, Nick Phillips. Career Producers sounds like a great idea. Producers work hard on projects (I tried to produce two movies way back, so I know firsthand), and I think thi...

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Andy Byrne

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
14 hours ago

Thanks, Nick. Wow... Go Producers United.!We see wayyyy too many producers putting it all out there for years on projects for crumbs.

Amanda Toney

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
11 hours ago

Glad you shared this Nick. Great coverage by Deadline.

E Langley

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- Pat Alexander
- Maurice Vaughan
3 days ago

"Attack of the Killer Tomatoes."

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4 people like this
3 days ago

"The Warriors," Pat Alexander.

Stephanie Moore

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- Maurice Vaughan
1 day ago

Labryinth, though it may not work without David Bowie, it could work with someone like Jamie Campbell Bower though

Marsy Robinson

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- Maurice Vaughan
16 hours ago

i'd rather see any cult classic simply be re-released - re-introduced to a new generation - not rebooted.

Sydney Summers

I will be checking this out this weekend!

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Niki Galiano

2 weeks ago

Yeah, you're probably right. Thanks. (It's just that I have epilepsy and when I look at the computer too long, I start to get glitchy speech, and then I sound like a robot. Lol.)

Hey, Chris, I saw that you're a USAF vet. Were you ever stationed down in Tucson, by chance? I used to hang out with a bunch of pilots and their wives from Davis-Montham when I worked at St. Mary's ho...

Christopher Phillips

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- Niki Galiano
2 weeks ago

Niki Galiano Ah, not in Tucson. Guam and Grand Forks. Haven't been to Tucson. Must have been fun times!

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1 person likes this
- Christopher Phillips
2 weeks ago

Definitely...lots of fond memories!

19 hours ago

Christopher Phillips Hey, Chris, I came up with an idea. What do you think of you and I creating a sit-com called "Wings"...except instead of being set in Nantucket, we could set it in one of the plac...

Fernando Balzan

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
5 months ago

Thank you my friend

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- James Hoey
- Maurice Vaughan
5 months ago

Hi Fernando! I'd recommend networking with people here in the Stage 32 community. If you have an idea for a film and a script, I'd recommend putting it up in our JOBS section (top menu bar: https://ww...

James Hoey

Hey Fernando Balzan! My name is Jim Hoey and I am a new moderator here in the Producing Lounge. Amanda Toney said it all. Networking here on Stage 32 will not only get you pointed towards short film p...

Thea Touchton

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
6 days ago

I do! Suenitomedia.com send script to theatouchton@gmail.com

Check out Elena Weinberg, she is a freelancer that does great work

Gareth Ellis-Unwin

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4 days ago

Looking forward to hosting tonights webinar and getting to tell you a bit about the films I've produced with co-production partners over the years.

Ricki Linksman

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2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Ricki Linksman
4 days ago

Hi Gareth, I am a screenwriter and looking forward to this webinar. Last week, I attended a webinar and spoke with Joan Lane who wrote the screenplay of The King's Speech so I am looking forward to yo...

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
4 days ago

Looking forward to the webinar today!

JK Presnal

Whoever was looking at Estonia or based in Estonia, would love to connect with you.

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2 people like this
- Kerry Kennard
- Maurice Vaughan
6 days ago

This sounds like an amazing producing class!

Would love to have you a part of it Stephanie :)

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2 people like this
- Sydney Summers
- Maurice Vaughan
4 days ago

I will schedule it! :)

Here to help answer any questions, best email for myself and the education team is edu@stage32.com :)

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2 people like this
- Laurie Ashbourne
- Maurice Vaughan
6 days ago

This is so incredibly important to understand and thank you for shining the light into the "behind the curtain" Laurie Ashbourne, as to how things are truly working. Its important to have the corporat...

Laurie Ashbourne

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2 people like this
- Maurice Vaughan
- Stephanie Moore
6 days ago

Thanks, Stephanie Moore - the "light behind the curtain" isn't always about exposing a charade (although it often is) from my perspective, I prefer to look at it as keeping us all on a path that is tr...

Laurie Ashbourne thanks for being one of those that takes time to educate! It is so important to understand and innovate, be that positive change!

Dan MaxXx

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1 person likes this
- Maurice Vaughan
5 days ago

Highest paid bosses & the companies they're running should pay; not freelance employee-creatives.

The worse WBD stocks sink, the more the bosses make

6 days ago

Very cool, so sorry to have missed this AMA but I would love to catch what you said if it is available! You never can have too many insights into things to avoid, and things to open armed run to!

Mike Boas

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3 people like this
1 week ago

Certain equipment and facilities rentals require insurance. So if your production is above no-budget, you’ll probably need it just to get what you want.

Mike Boas absolutely, and with E&O insurance it is needed to make sure that someone doesn't decide that something about the project is theirs, or that paperwork wasn't done correctly or something like...

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2 people like this
- Sam Sokolow
- Maurice Vaughan
1 week ago

Sam Sokolow same! I am excited to see what I can learn from those on the insurance front lines!

Pat Alexander

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2 people like this
- Stephanie Moore
- Maurice Vaughan
1 week ago

Yup, always want insurance for proper film shoots. So much stuff can always happen! The cost is never not worth it!

Nope. IT is such a big risk to ignore the coverage of liability! Too many risk factors.

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