By Ed Fletcher 

There was a time in the not too distant past where I would have been happy to sell my screenplay “Pink” for a reasonable price and crossed my fingers in hopes the studio would actually make the movie.

Those days are now gone. After attending American Film Market in Santa Monica this November, I’m convinced that I want to be part of the critical decision making process that takes the script and transforms it into living breathing art. Who directs, who stars and the budget are just a handful of the decisions that can turn a good script into a shitty movie or turn a great script into a timeless work of art.

With more than a decade writing as a professional newspaper reporter, I took up screenwriting in 2011. Not so surprisingly, that’s also when I began producing.

While they’re small potatoes compared to producing a feature, my work on the shorts only illustrated how critical the producer is to the finished film.

After I finished writing “Pink,” my feature length dramatic comedy about Sacramento’s 1969 “bottomless” stripper trial, I very much looked at it as a 50/50 proposition as far as selling it versus producing it. But as difficult the task of producing it is, believe path of an unknown screenwriter is equally difficult and is more passive route, as writer hope to win a screenwriting contest to be even considered by an agent.

With plenty of time to think during the drive home from Los Angeles to Sacramento, I resolved to redouble my efforts. If I want to sit at the big table as a producer, I need to start acting like a producer.

In that spirit I’ve decided to kick off 2015 with a bang. On Jan. 1, I launch my debut short “Dance Step of Death” as free content on Vimeo, after a good run on the Amazon Marketplace.

On Jan. 14 we’re hosting a live screening of my 2014 project “Goldie.”(Yes I know there is something else big happening that night.) The “audience choice” winner of the Sacramento International Film Festival’s “48 hour film challenge,” “Goldie” is an LGBT-friendly dramatic short about a woman trying find her way after making a big life change.

My focus remains on making Pink happen, but by working the mechanics of digital distribution, festival submissions and supporting the projects at festivals I will undoubtedly strengthen my film connections, help build an audience for Pink and earn credibility among investors.

By Ed Fletcher

Armed with a stack of business cards, some new pink ties and a four-day pass ($500), I recently attended American Film Market one of the world’s largest film markets to develop or sell my screenplay Pink. For more information on Pink, a sexy dramatic comedy based on Sacramento’s 1969 bottomless stripper trial, visit my blog or find us on facebook. What follows is a rundown of things I learned or reconfirmed from American Film Market for the first time and as someone new filmmaking.

1. Hollywood is not about openness or inclusion. It’s a meritocracy based on your ability to make them money. That’s not an indictment, just real talk.
2. In the film world there are creative types and the business side types. AFM is more about the business or film. It ain’t called a market for nothing.
3. There is little demand for comedies, dramas, sports movies or urban movies overseas. As a result, there are is an exorbitant number of low budget thrillers, action movies and beast/zombie movies being made and marketed. 
4. Getting on stage at the Pitch Conference and can make you interesting to all the other filmmakers in the room, but since heavy hitters where in the their temporary sales offices blocks away and didn’t hear the pitch, you’re still a nobody to them. 
5. Just because somebody retweets you doesn’t mean you’re somebody to them. 
6. Having a good pitch is one thing, but have it packaged (name director or talent signed on) and you’re cookin’. I wasn’t cooking.
7. Wearing a Pink tie everyday was a great idea. Who forgets the Black guy, wearing a pink tie, and talking about a screenplay named Pink. 
8. Cell phones are a security blanket for people are afraid to be alone. It’s hard to spark up a conversation when people are all checking their security blanket.
9. The Producer Forums are popular. Get there early. Disregard No. 9 if you have a confirmed “producers” credit and can skip the line. 
10. Despite the new ways to network through social media, nothing beats spending time in the lobby bar is terms of making connections.

By Ed Fletcher screenwriter/producer

I suppose the biggest difference between screenwriters and producers is the ability to ask people for favors and money.

I'm not afraid of the ask when it's my project and I'm passionate about it.

That's why"Dance Step of Death" is a produced short and many screenwriters never put together their team to producer their shorts.

In that vein, as in the weeks between revisions of my feature length script my mind peaked over the fence.

Where as we raised $4,000 on indiegogo.com for my zombie comedy, I believe "Pink" is a $3 million to $10 million project. Yes grown folk money.  

I never went to film school. I studied journalism and political science, but in this day-and-age the answer to the question: "How do independent films get financed?" are only a few keystrokes away. 

I joined the Independent Screenwriter's Association, started following film people in twitter, spent evenings watching videos on youtube, joined an indie film maker group on linkedin, and started hording blog posts on the subject. 

The lasted development in film financing is equity crowdfunding. Unlike kickstarter, which allows people to give you money, equity crowdfudning allows people to buy shares of your movie's future profits. This wasn't legal until a recent SEC rule change. It doesn't change how most indies are filmed -- people with the means take a calculated risk and give film producers money for the first cut of the profit. It just move that introduction, vetting and courtship to the Internet. 

Here are some of the resources I've found For those curious about the project the launched this quest, here's a link to my blog page. 

Top Five Equity Based Crowdfunding sites.

Youtube collection of film finance videos. 

Why Zack Braff Turned to Kickstarter.

http://www.filmspecific.com/

Deon Taylor talk film finance.