Back From LA
 I've spent the weekend working on the Proposals for Jason's film about the homeless and my two Zambian films.
The big plus to working with Jason on his proposal (besides being able to support him in what he's trying to accomplish) is that it helped me clarify what I need to put together for my projects. Having spent last week at the South by Southwest Film Festival, I heard a lot of discussion in the documentary panels about what to put in one's proposal package. Working with Jason, I could really see the value of the process because it helped ME clarify what he was trying to do. His documentary has a modest budget and the proposal shows why investing in the project would be a good investment and morally satisfying, too.
Among the things that go into a proposal package:
- Treatment / Summary of the Story
- Qualifications of Key Creatives
- Production Schedule
- Budget
- 4 to 6 minute promo piece
- Marketing Plan
It was a grueling process. For creative people who think and work visually, the proposal generation is tedious and agonizing. But, in the end, it was really useful. I can't believe how much clarity it brings to everything. One of the challenges is that film ideas are always wonderful and perfect in one's imagination. It's the manifesting of that idealized story into reality that is quite tricky. As they say, if it were easy, everyone would be doing it.
11:56:25 AM 
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