In response to a million and one hypothetical questions, here's a very real problem I dealt with yesterday. Additional information can be provided. Names have been changed to protect the innocent.
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I worked on a film (we'll call it "Fishing Days") with some guys a while ago. We'll call them Tom and Dick. Tom's a director. Dick's a producer. The movie, for what it was, did very well. It was on the Sci Fi Channel about a month ago and has been released in seven markets (most of the world).
Dick has friends - we'll call them Harry and June. Harry is a screenwriter. June is not attached to the movie industry but wants to be; she's an extremely successful internist by day, movie producer by night.
Long story short, June is a much better internist than producer. She has, to date, made four movies, all of which have lost money hand over fist. June hired Tom to direct a film (we'll call it "Dance Wolf") that was written by Harry and which stars her daughter April (all of her movies star her daughter April). As a part of this process, June and Tom got to talking about previous projects, one of which we'll call "Poky Stick" (as it's a slasher film in which the psycho's weapon is a sharpened broom handle).
Poky Stick is a terrible film. However, Tom has been so impressed by my skillz that he convinced June to hire me to do the audio postproduction on it. Which I did. It's still a terrible film, but at least it doesn't sound like a terrible film. Poky Stick, the 2nd of June's films, was made for approximately $150k and managed to sell in the US market for $50k. Because June's first film was made for approximately $400k and sold for $5k, this was a resounding success as far as June is concerned. June and Harry are over the moon.
Unfortunately, it has also convinced Harry and June that they know how to make films. Worse, they've managed to convince themselves that they can handle distribution delivery, the true "sausage-making" of indie film. Most film companies hire a finishing service to handle the various and sundry requirements of distribution, and these finishing services charge between $50k and $65k. Which, without doing too much math, pretty much reduces Poky Stick's revenue to zero.
Tom and Dick (mostly Tom), taking pity on June, offer to handle the finishing on Poky Stick. June is initially delighted but soon finds herself beset with suitors who are offering to handle the finishing (much like sharks who smell blood in the water, finishing services can quickly discern if a producer has half a clue and June doesn't). However, since June managed to sell a $400k film for $5k, she's convinced she knows enough to keep herself out of trouble. Tensions flare between Tom, Dick and June. Harry is unable to intercede (he lacks the people skills). April's relationship with Tom is a possibility, but she's years younger and he mostly just hits on her. Dick's thought is that June should be allowed to make her mistakes and suffer accordingly, except for the following complications:
1) Money from Poky Stick's sales is underwriting the post-production of Dance Wolf, which Dick has already edited, Tom has already shot and nobody has been paid for. Suck up all the money by finishing Poky Stick wrong and Dance Wolf is dead in the water.
2) Some of us haven't been paid in full for our work on Poky Stick. We are holding off on Dance Wolf until we are fully remunerated, which adds to the distrust.
3) All June's available cash is wrapped up in Poky Stick II, which finished filming two weeks ago, and which was such a terrible script I advised Tom not to direct it. As a consequence, Harry directed it (his first). And, because June is so cash poor, Tom rolled tens of thousands of dollars - his sum profits so far from Fishing Days - into it as a "soft money lender." (Tom does not know I know this, because Dick has been admonished not to tell anyone)
4) The editor June hired on Poky Stick has been incapable of delivering a final negative that lacks sync issues, which means you (me) have to conform to the new negative, which will invoke your "grevious forced error clause" which you injected into your contract, which will cost June tens of thousands of additional dollars.
5) June's level of distrust has mounted to the point where she has employed an independent sales agent who is attempting to get June to agree to tens of thousands of dollars more work in hopes that Poky Stick will get sold at Berlinale THIS WEEKEND.
SO:
- If left to her own devices, June will bankrupt her company, taking with it the thousands of dollars owed you, the thousands of dollars owed Dick, the tens of thousands of dollars owed Tom and kill two films before they can even be finished.
- June's lack of trust and inexperience with the market has led her to this juncture, so illustrating that she lacks experience only increases her distrust
- Because everyone distrusts everyone else, the only person who can clear the air is you, except your first conversation with June is going to be about the sync issues that are going to cost her tens of thousands of dollars to your benefit.
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How do you keep June afloat without spending any of your own money, costing anyone else theirs, and return everyone to a position of trust? Three of your friends stand to lose upwards of $50k if you fail, and a producer that has already paid you substantial sums of money (with two more projects already waiting) is likely to go bankrupt and never make another film.
I pulled it off. We're back on track. Let's see what you can come up with.