Navigating the Film & TV Business
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About this Live Online Course
I found it incredible how a project I worked for so long on was able to gain a new kind of clarity as the course progressed. I ended with a deeper understanding of the project I had created and a way to market it to others and make it a reality.
—Emily W., Los Angeles, CA, USA
Sundance Collab offers a robust collection of online courses in the Sundance spirit of amplifying your independent voice as a storyteller. Join our global community to hone your craft, network with other creators, and develop career strategies to help you navigate the film and television industry.
Learn how to navigate the business in order to pitch your project with experienced advisors as your guide. In this live online course, you will develop and rehearse a pitch for your project and discover what a writer or director needs to know about the business of U.S.-based film and television.
In class sessions, you will learn about business elements of the screenwriting and directing fields, complete interactive exercises, and discuss strategies with course advisors. Homework is designed to prepare you with critical tools needed to sustain a career, and will be reviewed by your advisor.
By the end of the course, you will:
- develop and practice a pitch for your project.
- acquire skills to present your project to agents, managers, executives, potential financiers, and/or collaborators.
- understand the differences between literary rights agreements, directing agreements, collaboration agreements, and life rights agreements.
- learn about unions and representation (attorneys, managers, and agents)
- understand the structure, financing, revenue, and distribution of the business for theatrical, television, and streaming platforms.
- identify the roles of a lead producer, line producer, and executive producer, and how to develop a successful partnership.
This course is ideal for:
- writers and directors seeking to build confidence in pitching and presenting their work by acquiring and applying strategies and practices.
- writers and directors looking for guidance from an experienced instructor on the business of film and television and what they need to understand as a writer and director to succeed.
Course enrollment is approximately 50 participants per session, with a participant-to-advisor ratio of 12-to-1. To apply, you should have a film or series that will be the basis of a pitch to be workshopped during the course.
Space is limited. Applications for this course are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Accommodations and services are designed to meet the needs of each participant. Please email us at accessibility@sundance.org to arrange for services.
Live Online CourseScholarships
Sundance Collab offers a limited number of full and partial need-based scholarships for individuals who need assistance.
Due to limited scholarship funds available, we prioritize one course scholarship per participant in a 12-month period. Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline and do not stack with discounts or promotions, including early registration.
Outline
Topics covered include:
- Introductions to Creators
- What to expect in the course
- What is packaging?
- What are the elements to package?
- Key legal agreements
Topics covered include:
- How to present yourself to an investor
- How to present yourself to rights owners (e.g., life rights, books, etc.)
- How to present yourself to necessary talent
- How to present yourself to distributors of content
- How to present yourself to an agent or manager
- Pitching introduction and overview
- Preparing and building the pitch presentation
Topics covered include:
- Overview of the film business (major studio, mini-major, independent production company, independent distribution company)
- Distribution (theatrical, streaming service, self-distribution)
- Independent filmmaking case studies in film
Topics covered include:
- The TV business (major broadcast TV network, major TV production company, cable vs pay-TV broadcaster)
- Distribution (network, streaming service, self-distribution)
- Independent filmmaking case studies in TV
Topics covered include:
- Your project’s audience
- Potential budget
- The initial format of your project
- What are you willing to concede for the attachment(s)?
Topics covered include:
- What is the role of a manager?
- What is the role of an agent?
- What is the role of the unions?
- What is the role of the “lead” producer?
Topics covered include:
- Shaping your pitch for an investor, studio or TV network
- Plan for making critical attachments
- Strategy for scheduling meetings
- Best practices for reaching out to executives you don’t know
- Next steps
The course concludes with a one-on-one mentoring session with your advisor
Team
Rachel Liu
Advisor
Rachel is a Chinese-Canadian-American filmmaker. After graduating from the University of Pennsylvania with a degree in Bioengineering and Entrepreneurship, she produced her first feature, SLEEPWALKERS, which won Indiewire’s Project of the Year.
Rachel’s past producorial work includes official music videos for platinum recording artists such as Andy Grammer and AJR, short films that have screened at top tier festivals, and award winning feature films including IN A NEW YORK MINUTE, LUMPIA WITH A VENGEANCE, and BITE ME. Most recently she produced the animated pilot ACTION DINOSAUR and horror feature STUDENT BODY. Her past directorial work includes episodes of the podcast ANTHOLOGY, episodes of the comedy webseries CARDBOARD CHURCH, commercials and campaign videos.
Rachel currently has projects in development with Cartoon Network and Adam F Goldberg Productions and is a two time Tribeca Film Institute alum.
Jennie Lew Tugend
Advisor
Jennie Lew Tugend has produced some of the industry’s most memorable franchises: THE FREE WILLY trilogy, LETHAL WEAPON 1,2,3 and HBO's TALES FROM THE CRYPT.
As former Co-President of Kadokawa Pictures USA, Tugend was a producer on ONE MISSED CALL, a WB release and two episodes of Showtime’s MASTERS OF HORROR.
Producing credits include LOCAL BOYS starring Mark Harmon and STAR KID, which received an Award of Excellence by the Film Advisory Board; and for MGM, the romantic comedy, RETURN TO ME starring David Duchovny and Minnie Driver; RADIO FLYER for Columbia Pictures and SCROOGED for Paramount Pictures starring Bill Murray, and was instrumental in the development and production of THE GOONIES and THE LOST BOYS.
Currently, Tugend and her partners are developing the feature film adaptations of: NY Times best selling novel, “Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet” with Oscar and Emmy nominated director Bing Liu. Tugend also Executive Produced the independent feature film ALBATROSS released in 2021, which was directed by award-winner writer/director Myles Yaksich, with whom she had previously collaborated on two award-winning short films, POPPIES and ERIN.
Tugend is an active member of the Producer’s Branch of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences and the Producers Guild of America. Tugend was a mentor in the prestigious Peter Stark Producing Program at USC and has taught film production at UCLAx. She is currently a Senior Creative Thesis Mentor at the American Film Institute Conservatory (AFI).
FAQ
In Sundance Collab’s Live Online courses, participants attend live, virtual class sessions on the same day and time for a specified period. These sessions are led by an instructor and in some cases, supported by a team of advisors. In some courses, you are given assignments with submission deadlines to help you take the next step with your work.
- Each week you will be able to attend live lectures via Zoom video and ask questions of your instructor.
- In some courses, you will receive individualized feedback from your course advisor on elements of your work.
- In some courses, you will have the opportunity to have a 1-on-1 session with your advisor. Depending on the course, this session may be included or may be purchased separately for an additional cost. Check the course description for specifics.
All members of the Sundance Collab community are welcome to register for Sundance Collab courses. Please review the course description and any eligibility requirements to ensure the course is a good fit. If you have any questions about a course, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Note that space is limited. If the registration window is open, you will see a “Register” button on the course page. If there is an application, applications are considered as they are received and applicants are accepted on a rolling basis until the course is full or the deadline has passed, whichever comes first.
We do not allow creative partners to do our live online courses as a team. However, both creators can individually register for the course.
Part of Sundance Collab's unique educational approach is to create a teaching team for every course. Each class is led by an instructor who may be accompanied by additional course advisors. This allows us to keep an intimate ratio of participants to advisors and to provide a diversity of voices and approaches to the course content.
We often offer a limited number of need-based, full or partial scholarships. Check the course description to see if that course currently has scholarships available. Scholarships are prioritized for one per person per year (from the date of issue). Scholarship applications are available up to one week before the registration deadline. To apply for a scholarship,complete the registration form by clicking the REGISTER button and selecting the option to apply for a scholarship, if available.
Applicants will be notified about their scholarship decision prior to the first day of the course. Due to the volume of applicants, we are not always able to provide a scholarship, but we may still offer a spot in the course. In this case, depending on the course, payment plans may be available and can be selected at checkout.
Yes, we offer two or three-part payment plans for Live Online courses, depending on the length of the course. In all cases, the first payment is due at the point of registration. The remaining payment(s) are spread out throughout the course term. For specific payment plan dates for a course, please reach out to our team at: collab_courses@sundance.org.
Yes, you are welcome to take a live, online course even if you can’t make the live sessions. Recordings of each class session are available online by the following day so you can keep up with the course lectures. For courses that include a 1-on-1 session with an advisor or instructor, the meeting is scheduled according to your (and their) availability.
All sessions are recorded and usually made available within one business day. The videos will also contain the chat and transcript from the class session, viewable in the video playbar.
Participants will have access to the recordings for one year following the last class session.
All participants will receive a Certificate of Completion. The certificate will include the name associated with your Sundance Collab account.
You can find any courses that you are enrolled in or have already completed in the profile section of your Sundance Collab account under “Courses.”
You can join a course via a computer or mobile device. All of our live, online courses are conducted via Zoom.
Download and set up the Zoom software (https://zoom.us/download) and make sure you have the latest update. Here are some great resources from Zoom’s Knowledge Base to take a deeper dive into using Zoom:
- Watch Zoom's Video Tutorials or review training materials on the Getting Started page
- Join a Live Training from Zoom
If you have any further questions, please email collab_courses@sundance.org.
Sundance Collab provides accommodations and support services to participants with disabilities. Please contact us at (435) 776-7790 or email us at accessibility@sundance.org to ask any questions or to discuss your specific needs after you have been accepted into the course.
No currently scheduled sessions
Interested in hearing about the next session of this course?
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