On Learning from Books

Much of my production knowledge comes from experimentation and experience.  Much of the rest of it comes from books.

The most recent book I read on the subject brings to light some of the difficulty of learning from books -- in some ways, anybody can publish anything these days, and that makes the information found in books somewhat suspect at times.

Tom Malloy wrote a very good book.  "Bankroll" is the kind of book that I wish there were more of -- it's informative, clear, concise, fast-paced and useful.  Unfortunately, if I were to follow its recommendations precisely, I might find myself in violation of state and federal law!

I know this because (as it happens) I'm currently working on a film that happens to have a decent legal team.  They've been very good about educating me on some of the subtleties of film financing, especially when it comes to law.  The clearest example has to do with finder's fees, a ubiquitous component of movie fundraising, and an entirely illegal thing to do!

The book (which I like, I'll reiterate!) has a whole chapter devoted to finder's fees, where people are offered 5% of whatever money they raise for a film as incentive to go out and raise it.  A week ago, I attended a seminar by bigshot entertainment attorney, Hal "Corky" Kessler, in which he shocked an audience full of film industry types when he explained that this kind of scheme is entirely illegal.

I don't know how it is that so few people in the industry know this, or how so many people use finder's fees in the industry without being aware of the law, but seeing it in print in a popular how-to book further emphasizes just how entrenched the practice has become.

Being a relative newbie to Hollywood comes with its pressures.  It's certainly tempting to look at what so many other people are doing, and to want to do the same thing.  At the same time, I've seen enough calamitous productions in this town to reaffirm William Goldman's famous industry claim "Nobody Knows Anything".  I think I'll stick with my instincts on this one.

-Arnon


Mr. Malloy's book:
 

My favorite book about the industry:


William Goldman's book, where that quote is from: