STANDARD COMPETENCIES:

 Students should be able to navigate the ¿biz¿ through an understanding of generally accepted business principles, how those principles apply to film and the models used to finance independent motion pictures.

 A. Communicate and evaluate different business decisions and entities.

 B. Understand and assimilate business and motion picture jargon as used by professionals.

 C. Read and understand business documents like business plans, agreements and releases.

 D. Demonstrate an ability to make informed business decisions based on information available.

 E. Demonstrate an ability to communicate with different financing agents.

 F. Understand and evaluate the different marketing agents in the industry (i.e.: Theaters, Festivals, Markets, Home Video Outlets, and Ancillary Markets).

 G. Identify and participate in discussions and debate around business considerations when working on a motion picture.

 a. The above information is reinforced through weekly tests done online from home.

 b. A paper on a spill-over success film requires students to take the subject matter and analyze how it caused the success of that film.

 TOPICAL OUTLINE:

 A. New Venture Creation

 1. Contents of a Business Plan

 2. Avenues to Finding Financing

 3. Analyzing Your Production Company

 4. Using these Techniques to Produce Films

 B. Agency Law

 1. The Principle-Agent Relationship

 2. Agency Structure of Different Entities

 3. Fiduciary Responsibility

 4. Compensation, Cooperation, Reimbursement

 5. Safe Working Environments

 6. Responsibilities to a Third Party

 7. Authority and Scope

 8. The Agent-Talent Relationship

 9. The Distributor-Producer Relationship

 C. Employment Law

 1. Employment at Will & Right to Work

 2. Labor Law

 3. Discrimination & The Civil Rights Act

 4. Protection for Employees

 5. Workers Compensation

 6. Privacy Rights

 7. Employment Contracts and their Strength

 D. Contract Law

 1. Offer, Acceptance, Consideration

 2. Remedies for a Breach of Contract

 3. Written vs. Verbal Agreements

 4. Expressed vs. Implied Agreements

 5. The Union Loan-Out Agreement

 E. The Screen Actor¿s Guild

 1. Applies Topics A-D through Analyzing the Screen Actor¿s Guild

 2. History & Purpose

 3. The Steps to Shooting Union

 F. Intellectual Property Law

 1. Trademarks, Patents, Trade Secrets, Copyright

 2. Securing Rights for Protected Material

 3. Fair Use

 4. Protecting Your Material

 G. Marketing

 1. Marketing for the Independent Film

 2. Marketing Plans

 3. Market Analysis & Research

 4. Marketing Packages

 5. Identifying the Specific Target Market for a Film

 6. Festivals for Advertising Purposes

 7. Responsibilities of Each Marketing Entity (i.e.: Theaters, Festivals, Markets, Home Video Outlets, and Ancillary Markets).

 H. The American Film Market

 1. How it works and How to sell

 2. Applies Topics D-G through Analyzing the Market

 I. Managing the Production

 1. The Production Hierarchy (Who Does What?)

 2. The Art Departments

 3. The Other Production Departments

 4. Leading and not Managing

 5. Conflict Mediation and Negotiations

 6. Turning Artistic Vision into Corporate Vision

 7. Motivating the Team

 8. Using Orson Welles as an Example on Managing Dos and Don¿ts

 J. Accounting and Finance

 1. Familiarize Students with the SEC and FASB

 2. Help Students Understand the Concept of ¿Time Value of Money.¿

 3. Familiarize Students with all of the standard accounting statements.

 4. Discuss the Revenue Distribution Table and where income from a film comes from and where the money goes from a film.

 5. Discuss historical techniques for financing motion pictures.

 6. Discuss the techniques used to analyze financial decisions.

 7. Prime the Students for the Process of Budgeting a Picture.

 8. Familiarize the Students with Completion Guarantees.

 K. Taxes and Tax Law

 1. The General Rules on Taxation

 2. Determining Marginal and Average Tax Rates

 3. Tax Consequences for Different Business Entities

 4. Tax Incentives for Film Production

 L. International Business

 1. Revenue from Domestic vs. Foreign Distribution

 2. The Different Systems of Law and how they affect the ¿biz.¿

 3. The Concept of Free Trade and Trade Barriers

 4. Exchange Rates & Currency Risk

 5. International Deal Making

 6. International Mediation over Attempting Litigation