2016 Video Recap of the Lauglin International Film Festival

We're excited for the next month and half of activities as we get ready for the 2017 Laughlin International Film Festival hosted in Laughlin, Nevada.

We've got a quick video series with the co-founder of the film festival, Mara Karsen.  This interview series highlights the structure of the four day festival and gives you insight into what you have to look forward to for 2017. Let's take a look at the festival in review.

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 4 - Cont'd

Part 5

Part 6

Stay tuned for more information as we bring you the latest events and interviews as the festival gets closer.  Visit www.laughlinfilmfestival.com to get details on the films and the schedule when they are announced.

The Money Side of Film Fundraising

So you think you want to make a film?  But you don’t have a budget or any money.   What is your next step?  Building your brand and your following…STOP…what do you mean you don’t have a website or a fan page or a group or anything related to your film?  You don’t even have business cards or a flyer or a story you can talk about related to your film.  First and foremost does anyone know who you are?  If not, then that is where you would begin.  In the world of business, there is an order to doing business, running a company, growing your company and building revenue.  The same can be said for making a film or actually wanting to build anything.  If you truly want to be successful and you want to obtain the resources to create what you want, you have to know what you need, how much it will take to create your idea, a timeline around it and then the potential audience or support to help make it happen.  This essentially can be translated into a plan.

I sat down recently with an organization that specializes in using other people’s money to help establish business activities.  The first words out of his mouth were, “do you have a website and what’s your marketing plan look like.”  This particular resource deals with foreign money and investors entirely, however is building businesses in the US.  The lowest level of revenue generating companies he deals with is $55 million with a range up to $500 million.  As someone in marketing who has often preached about marketing in general, those words were music to my ears.  Only because in the most basic of all business training and schools and entrepreneurial training, the number one thing you will spend money on to make money is the marketing at the beginning of any business started.  When you are first launching a business the rule of thumb is that 75% of what you spend on your business should be marketing.

What does marketing entail, it is a long list of things (not all inclusive or exclusive to these items listed only) – 1) Market Research, 2) Target Market, 3) Product – what is it?, 4) Competition – who are they?, 5) Mission Statement, 6) Market Strategies, 7) Pricing, Positioning and Branding, 8) Budget, 9) Marketing Goals, and 10) Performance Analysis – how are you doing?  Okay, you think your film is not a business so why would this apply?  Think again, every film can be and should be treated as a business.  The moment you bring a second body/person into your film dream, you have now enlisted someone else’s time, energy, and/or effort and there is a value exchange for that.  Don’t be mistaken to think that because others may do things out of the generosity of their hearts, volunteer, give away for nothing, or donate, that there is not some kind of value exchange expected.  This is business; henceforth, why understanding the marketing aspects can only help you with your endeavors to actually even dream of making anything with the film you want to produce.

I know you so want to get to the fundraising and forget the marketing.  The fundraising cannot happen without the marketing.  As creative types are usually at the forefront of film making, it makes sense that you should have someone included in your film making group that understands the business side.  No matter how much guerrilla filmmaking you’ve done if you want to be taken seriously by others, you have to have a plan and a formula for what you are doing, again, why the marketing plan for your film makes perfect sense.  It forces you to the reality of what you know about your film, what you don’t know about your film, and it identifies the gaps of what you need to find out and then what you need to essentially determine in order for you to believe you can actually make money.  The ROI – Return on Investment – often times will become evident as you look at your marketing.  Demographics (part of the market research and the target market portion) are absolutely critical to understand in order to know who your potential market audience is.  This extends beyond your inner circle, your family, your friends, your acquaintances, your co-workers, and anyone else who may know you.  Your target market and audience should be defined based on the genre of film, based on the locations related to mass appeal, the interest in the topic, and the monetary ability of that market to spend money on entertainment, because that is the business you are in…entertaining.


You are now screaming at the top of your lungs that you just want to make films because you love it.  We all get it.  As an artist, we live and die by our passion that is how we are made up.  Not everyone can survive by that alone however unless you have a hidden treasure chest or a “Daddy Warbucks” or whatever other “trust-fund” you might have inherited…most individuals don’t operate by those rules.   To be fair, at the beginning of your endeavor whatever it may be, you must decide if you intend to make money on the effort or not.  It will save yourself and everyone heartache to admit that upfront.  Once you have determined however you are taking the plunge to make a movie with the potential to have a profitable return, the work begins.  The basic business plan for a film that is expected to go into fundraising, look for investors, or even financing, requires the following components:

1) Project Overview
2) Executive Summary
3) Film/Movie Write Up – including expected budget
4) Marketing Plan – including projected revenues, and one or all of the next three sections
5) Investor Plan
6) Financing Plan, and/or
7) Fundraising Plan.

Now that the basics have been outlined, you must answer yourself, do you have the wherewithal to continue and pursue your dream to make a film that makes money.  This is where you must assess the risk involved based on your own personal time, effort, and monetary investment and determine if it’s worth it.  Regarding fundraising, and more specifically crowd fundraising or a mixture of investor/financing/crowd, there are so many websites that exist and have been launched, you must review and find what you are comfortable with managing as you will be managing this like it’s a real live baby, because it is something that you actually develop from your seed of an idea and bring to life and birth.  So this effort is not to be taken lightly.  This listing of crowd funding platforms is a short list as many are being launched continuously:  1) Indiegogo, 2) Kickstarter, 3) Peerbackers, 4) GoGetFunding, 5) Seed&Spark, 6) Junction, 7) Slated.  Repeatedly you will find Indiegogo, bubbles to the top even over Kickstarter as it relates to film as the team has the option to get a portion of what is raised even if the goal is not met.  The international money manager and start up entrepreneur I talked with earlier even stated Indiegogo as their number one recommended crowd funding go to for their clients.

Once you’ve decided what route you are going down, there are some specific tips and realities you must keep in mind when pursuing your campaign run at fund-raising.  These are highly recommended tips you should follow and should not be pursued without all of the other information shared being considered if you want to increase your odds of making a dent to find that money you need.  These will not have detailed explanations provided as if you really want to pursue the fundraising, I recommend bringing on board someone who has done it before, find training available (which is literally everyone online or even with your local film organizations), hire a consultant that is proven their ability to direct and execute, or take the time to educate and train your team on what it takes.

1) Prepare and plan your strategy (take at minimum 3 to 6 months to plan and build your base following, if you launch a campaign and have no followers, no website, no social media, and no one knows who you are, do you really think you will be able to get crowd funding when you don’t have a crowd??? Be for real…).

2) Develop a strategic social media blitz and maintenance campaign.

3) Produce a great video (but not just one, several for continued updates along the way).

4) Have an information website or central location everyone can gather all basic information – Media Page.

5) Educate/Inform/Publicize the project, the purpose and vision of the project (Don’t ask for MONEY first – everyone needs money – and no one likes hearing “give me what you have or I’ll take anything…even $1”…sad but true).

6) Continue to grow interest and following throughout the entire campaign.

7) Over-communicate – it will barely be enough – but don’t SPAM.

8) Be real and personal – share the journey with the fans and followers.

9) Have directed attention to your current fans.

10) Make sure you thank everyone for supporting, participating, for allowing you to share, and for whatever else you can think of and use their names when thanking them.  The number one word that most people love to hear is their name in writing.

Participants in fundraising can choose to do one of these items or all of them and what makes the biggest difference in the long run is the commitment by the filmmaker and the team involved.  If you are not committed to do the work which includes all the marketing your success will not be likely.  If you 100% in and your team is 100% too, you are way more likely to make headway not only on fundraising but making your film a reality.  The behind the scenes and the administrative side of the business are not fun and always mean lots of what most would consider boring stuff, but this is the foundation that will make the dream come true.

For consulting services, contract services, and or project service support for your filmmaking, contact www.chronicbehavior.com to set up an appointment to discuss your project or fund-raising needs.  Let's make films.

LiFF Does It Again!!! A Film Festival that Rocks!!!!

Just finished attending the 2014 Laughlin International Film Festival (LiFF) this weekend and was blown away for the second year in a row by an outstanding overall film festival production for the four days (October 16 – 19^th).    

Erik Karsen Puhm, Mara Karsen Puhm, and Dave Davidson Co-Founders of the Laughlin International Film Festival have outdone themselves again by continuing the annual tradition of honoring and recognizing filmmakers from all over the world that participate and submit to the festival.  They are building a community that is becoming family and many are already planning on next year’s “Filmmaker Family Reunion” and looking forward to all the new additions to the extended family.  

The host city of Laughlin, NV along with the Tropicana Express (main Host location), Riverside Casino, the Acquarius and the Laughlin Outlets Mall –Stadium 9 Cinemas (viewing home of the films that made it into the festival) again proved to provide the perfect mix of location and environment to welcome filmmakers from all over as well as offer a close-knit set-up that enabled viewings, red-carpet photos and interviews (provided by Gianna Nicole Inc.), workshops, and of course all the parties.  The support from the community is clearly evident and it was nice to have so many visitors asking about the buzz and what was going on with all the festival attendees.  The word is getting out about this festival and the only direction for this event is UP and future growth is without any doubt going to happen. 

So here’s the quick run-down on the Film Awards presented at the widely appreciated and spectacular Awards Banquet (that included the opening emcee, Owen Dara, known and loved for his acting, comedy, filmmaking and great personality) that really exceeds expectations of all in attendance . (Disclaimer: This listing is a quick recap – in case any misspellings or errors - updates will be made accordingly as this information was captured at the event and the formal listing from LiFF will be published on their website)

Best Short Documentary – Jesse and the Fountain of Youth - https://www.facebook.com/pages/Jesse-and-The-Fountain-of-Youth/622534844497164 - Trailer - http://youtu.be/mOvHwsBrUck

Best Web Series – Royals the Series - https://www.facebook.com/royalstheseries - Meet the cast - http://vimeo.com/user24343951/videos

Best Soundtrack/Score – Moustache - https://www.facebook.com/moustachethefilm - Website - http://moustachethefilm.com/

Best Experimental Work – Only in LA – Twitter - https://twitter.com/OnlyinLA1 - Website - http://chroniclesfilm.com/

Best Animation Video – I Need My Monster – Video - http://vimeo.com/94518791

Best Music Video – Look Away (by Eliza) – Video - http://youtu.be/g1qzee0r1S0

Best Local Film – Verdict (by Rebel In a Box Productions) - https://www.facebook.com/rebelfilms.net - Twitter - https://twitter.com/rebelboxfilms

Outstanding Production Value – What Future - https://www.facebook.com/whatfuture11

Best Cinematic Film – Our Father – Website - http://www.ourfatherproductions.com/ - https://www.facebook.com/OurFatherMovie

Best Storytelling – Wolfgang Bodison – The Long Wait - https://www.facebook.com/thelongwaitfilm - website - http://thelongwaitfilm.com

Best Ensemble Cast – Goin’ Guerilla - https://www.facebook.com/goinguerrilla - website - http://www.twitchydolphin.com

Best Thriller Horror – Antisocial Behavior – Trailer - http://youtu.be/LyKYXxgslZY - Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/AntisocialBehavior

Humanitarian Award – One in a Million - https://www.facebook.com/CjdDocumentary - Twitter - http://www.twitter.com/@cjddocumentary

Best Lead Actress –  Christina Harding (in Moustache)

Best Lead Actor – Michael Gross (in Our Father)

Best Comedy Film – The Backseat - https://www.facebook.com/thebackseatmovie - IMDB - http://www.imdb.com/title/tt2184956/

Best Drama Film – The Badger Game - https://www.facebook.com/thebadgergamemovie - website - ttp://www.thebadgergame.com

Bud Holland Award - Victim: The Terrifying Story of Sunny Coleman by Andrea Zindel Smith

Best University Film – A Plush Life - https://www.facebook.com/aplushlife - website - http://www.brynscotthubbard.com

Tropicana Award – Best University Film – Into the Silent Sea - https://www.facebook.com/IntoTheSilentSea - website - http://intothesilentsea.com

Best International Short Film – Remembering the Fallen - https://www.facebook.com/rememberingthefallen

Best International Documentary – Shunned - https://www.facebook.com/Shunned - website - http://www.silentvoicesproductions.com

Best International Narrative Film – Blackbird - https://www.facebook.com/blackbirdthemovie - website - http://www.deerstalkerfilms.com

2014 LiFF Pick Award – Deuce of Spades - https://www.facebook.com/deuceofspades - website - http://www.deuceofspadesmovie.com

LiFF Director Award – Penance - https://www.facebook.com/penancemovie - website - http://www.penancemovie.com/

Best US Short Film – Premium Harmony - https://www.facebook.com/PremiumHarmony - website - http://www.premiumharmonymovie.com

Best US Narrative Feature – Three Holes, 2 Brads and a Smoking Gun -https://www.facebook.com/Threeholes  – Trailer - http://youtu.be/G1bj3JHk-AA

Best US Documentary – Music City USA - https://www.facebook.com/musiccitymovie - website - http://www.MusicCityMovie.com

Liff 2014 Grand Jury Award - Moustache - https://www.facebook.com/moustachethefilm - Website - http://moustachethefilm.com/

Stay tuned for more updates and information and if you have films, shorts, music videos, or any other film production, YOU MUST SUBMIT to this festival because you have no idea what you are missing until you attend and participate.  This is going to be on our calendar for as long as this festival will exist.  Hopefully that will be forever!!!

To find out what you missed and to get involved with the awesome Laughlin International Film Festival for next year 2015, go to their sponsor page or send a direct email to info@laughlinfilmfestival.com, submissions@laughlinfilmfestival.com, finance@laughlinfilmfestival.com .