Film Talks take place virtually using Zoom and can be accessed by All-Access, Day Pass, individual and combo (all 3 Film Talks) packages. Limited tickets. Order before October 30th, save 25% enter code ” NEFL25OFF “
FILM TALK 1: HOW TO PITCH Keynote Presentation with Jacob Krueger 
9:45am Friday, Nov 13th. Join opening remarks starting 9:30am
Fix your pitch! Prepare for NEFL’s pitch-contest with this special Film Talk with award winning screenwriter Jacob Krueger. 75 minute presentation will include Q&A for all joining us virtually. Here’s what you’l learn:
- What a producer, agent or manager is really looking for when they hear a pitch
- How to succeed at pitching even if you’re shy!
- The 3 keys to every successful pitch
- How to avoid the 5 most common pitching mistakes
- How to find pitchable elements even in a “low concept” or “character driven” project
- How to find your hook and make producers salivate without “selling out!”
- Unique pitching techniques specifically designed for NEFL’s 3 minute pitch contest (Nov 15th).
- Purchase the combo Film Talk 1 + Pitch Contest & $ave!
About The Keynote: Jacob Krueger
The founder of Jacob Krueger Studio in NYC, Jacob has worked with thousands of writers, from Academy and Tony Award Winners, to young writers picking up the pen for the first time. His writing includes The Matthew Shepard Story, for which he won the Writers Guild of America Paul Selvin Award and was nominated for a Gemini Award for Best Screenplay. To follow Jacob’s screenwriting podcast or to study with him online, please visit WriteYourScreenplay.com.
FILM TALK 2: FINANCE & PRODUCTION during Covid – 1:15pm Sat. Nov 14th
As if filmmaking and fundraising weren’t hard enough, award-winning writer Andy Maycock will take us through the steps he used to raise $7,500 in under 30 days to direct and produce the trailer to his feature Best Man’s Privilege. Vinca Jarrett, a film finance Pro (she founded the company), will share what to say to investors and how to strategize your next fundraising campaign, whether a one-off or slate. Yes, it’s challenging, yet it’s possible, even during Covid. Other panelists tba.
VINCA JARRETT is president of FilmPro Finance, a financial consulting service for investors and producers for funding one-off films and building film slates. Vinca has worked on slate financing deals with investment banks including CIBC, West LB, Bank of America, Merrill Lynch, and ICB, to introduce financiers to top tiered producers with A-list packaged projects. She is currently writing SHOW ME THE F#©K!NG MONEY (SMTFM): HOW TO INVEST, RAISE AND RECOUP MONEY IN THE FILM INDUSTRY, and launched the TV series of the same name in 2014 in which she interviews A-list financiers, distributors, bankers, investors, attorneys, casting agents, and producers from around the world during Cannes, TIFF, Berlinale, and AFM. Sample SMTFM episodes can be watched at Facebook For more see Vinca’s full bio here.
Carole Dean, From The Heart Productions
Carole Dean, author/producer/grantor. The Art of Film Funding Second Edition & The Art of Manifesting: Creating your Future. Executive Producer credits BAM 6.6, Women Behind the Camera, Step Away From the Stone, American Chain Gang, and more on IMDB. Carole is an entrepreneur, created and ran a film business in Hollywood, NYC and Chicago for 33 years, and sold it in 2001. Carole created the Roy Dean Film Grant in 1992 and has given over $2,500,000.00 in grants to independent filmmakers. She is currently the President of From the Heart Productions, 501(c)3 nonprofit where she managing the Grant and fiscal sponsorships for the non-profit and teaches film funding through her Intentional Filmmaker classes found on FromtheHeartProductions.com and her pod casts on blogtalkradio.com. Her latest Power Point and book is How to Fund Your Film. Visit Check The Gate Replay for more.
ANDY MAYCOCK‘s grand-prize-winning script THE HITCHCOCK MURDERS (NEFL 3) earned him a trip to the Sundance Film Festival in 2016, he’s been a two-time semifinalist at the Austin Film Festival, and his haunted-house thriller THREE STOREYS is currently under option. Under difficult conditions but with the help of a tremendous team, Andy finished shooting the trailer for his feature-length romantic comedy THE BEST MAN’S PRIVILEGE over the summer (see pic)
. He was named a “Top 25 Screenwriter to Watch in 2020” by the International Screenwriters Association, and teaches English at Guilderland High School.
DAN MIRVISH is founder of SLAM DANCE FILM FESTIVAL. He’s also a director, screenwriter, producer and author who was filming “18 1/2” a Watergate conspiracy thriller/dark comedy, before being forced to take a “pandemic pause.” His award-winning, critically-acclaimed feature BERNARD AND HUEY, scripted by Oscar/Pulitzer-winner Jules Feiffer, and starring Oscar-winner Jim Rash and David Koechner screened in over 30 film festivals on 5 continents and held a 20-city theatrical release by Freestyle Releasing/Entertainment Studios in the US. Bernard and Huey sold to over 49 countries (before the foreign sales company went bankrupt). The film won several festival and end-of-year awards and nominations, including Best Picture, Best Director and Best Screenplay. Dan is the author of the bestselling non-fiction book “The Cheerful Subversive’s Guide to Independent Filmmaking” from Focal Press/Routledge.
FILM TALK 3: MARKETING, PROMOTION and DISTRIBUTION – 11am Sun. Nov 15th
It feels like the wild, wild, west (again) with festival schedules turning topsy-turvy and on-line platforms multiplying, a few axioms still holds true: filmmakers need to (a) know their audience better than anyone; (b) involved in their film’s marketing strategy, and (c) understand the fine print such that “Royalty Checks” become a reality. Publicist AMY PRENNER, Prenner Group in LA, will share what, when and how DIY marketing on a low budget. Attorney, VINCA JARRETT of Film Pro Finance to share key points to distribution agreements such that you and your investors’ ‘points’ mean something. PATRICK JEROME, Boston Film Festival, will share insights into changing platforms .MAT LEVY, sales acquisition head for Passion River Films will review changing platforms and requirements needed
VINCA JARRETT co-chaired the prestigious BLOOMBERG INTERNATIONAL FILM & TV FINANCE SUMMIT for more than a decade held bi-annually in NY and LA. She speaks around the world on film finance addressing investors, financiers and industry professionals, and has appeared on Fox Business News, CBS, and NPR’s All Things Considered as an expert on film and television finance. Read her full bio
PATRICK JEROME (Founder BOSTON FILM FESTIVAL) Filmmaker, Writer, Director, and Producer, has made feature-length movies, short films, documentaries, music videos, and television programming since 1991. These cinematic offerings have received praise from audiences, and Broadway Pictures Entertainment Inc. continues to produce entertaining and powerful films. A longtime staple of Boston’s thriving arts community, Patrick is also the Founder and Executive Director of the Boston International Film Festival.
MAT LEVY has worked with Passion River Films since 2004. With a background in Film and TV publicity, Mat has worked with film campaigns for New Line Cinema, Sony Pictures Classics, Magnolia Pictures, Warner Independent, and Picturehouse. He has also worked with producers from VH1 and MTV on promotion and development. Mat attends most major markets and film festivals including Sundance, SXSW, Tribeca, AFM, and Hot Docs; as well as national retail and library trade shows including: National Media, Ingram, Alliance Entertainment, Baker & Taylor, CTAM, and ALA.
AMY PRENNER – THE PRENNER GROUP – PUBLICIST
Veteran entertainment publicity executive Amy Prenner has been at the helm her agency since 2007 focusing on getting earned media for her stable of consumer, entertainment and lifestyle clients. Prenner most recently has been overseeing new business and publicity efforts for the agency’s film, television, streaming and brand clients, and along with heading up National Publicity teams in Los Angeles and New York. Her clients included the Infinity Film Festival, a 2019 Academy Awards campaign for John Travolta for his leading role in “The Fanatic,” Elf on the Shelf, Riot Games, Studio Movie Grill, Hulu’s “Into the Dark, (season one)” the Blumhouse Anthology, Telemundo’s “La Reina del Sur,” El Rey Networks, the Saudi Arabian venture company Seven, The Golden Screen Awards, Nat Geo’s Sharkfest at Comic Con and Cirque du Solei’s Amaluna and Luzia. She’s consulted on Emmy campaigns for NBC hits such as “The Office,” “Parks and Recreation,” and “America’s Got Talent,” and worked to secure placements and awareness at major film and television festivals for a variety of clients, with presence at The Oscars, the Emmys, Television Critics Tour, Comic Con, The Sundance Film Festival and Cannes Film Festival.
