Basic Project Description

For this project, we are researching to find production companies that might be good for for our clients to sell their Television Show Script (Pilot) or their feature film script (a movie).  We will take various steps to find companies that do projects similar to the one our client is offering.

To do the research, we will start with elements of information, which could be from them or from our own ideas. The information may include Names of Projects (film, TV shows), Individual names, or company names. 

The general concept is that whatever data you have, you will look it up on IMDB and then through a process described in detail below, you Drill Down to find companies associated with that project, company, or individual to add to our list of potential companies to select for the client to market their script to. 

For example, if the client is marketing a comedy, then we may research comedy actors and see if they have a production company we could send to. Or we may look up comedy films on IMDB and see who the production companies were for those.  We could even look at the name of the director or producer for a comedy film and see if those individuals have a production company we might send our client to.  

The overall concept is to find more companies who might like the client’s project, and then to make sure that company is Qualified. Sometimes a production company is created for a brief period of time to handle a few projects, then it goes away. Companies are created in many different situations in the film industry, so we have to vet the companies sufficiently before deciding to include them. (Qualified is described in depth in one of the lessons. For instance, there have to be people employed at that company and they have to meet a few other criteria.)

The second aspect of this project is to look up and find out if the Qualified companies are in our EXDB. Many of the prospective companies we find will already be in our EXDB, but some won’t.  If they’re in the EXDB, you’ll mark them to include in the client mailing. If they are not in the DB, you’ll add them to the DB appropriately, then mark them to include for the client.

The overall task for the V.A. is to find potential companies for the client — as long as they meet certain criteria. You’ll then add the company name and IMDB Link  to the client research doc to prepare for the next steps.

Getting Started

You will receive a Client Pick Slate document with various elements of data to do the iMDB research on. It may include Names of Projects (film, TV shows), Individual names, or company names.  Whatever data is supplied, the desired outcome is the same: We are trying to find potential Qualified production companies for our client to market their screenplays to.

Each step in this process is clearly detailed in this course.

But now let’s go up one level to see how this step fits in the Entire Process for selecting producers for client mailings. This is important to understand, because little by little, more steps of the big picture will be added.

Overview of This Step in the Whole Process

The main steps in the process for selecting production companies for a client to target to market their script to is as follows, some steps are done by the VA and some done by MJ.  And for each project, who does which steps may vary.

• Set up the Client Pick Slate: Organize the client’s input into a document. Add any film titles, companies, or individuals that Smart Girls wants to add, either by brainstorming or Googling and finding lists to parse out. The Client Pick Slate document will end up with tidbits of data to do further research and evaluation of companies.
• Identify Qualified Companies for the client mailing using the Drill Down Process. Research each element per the process on IMDB to find production companies that could be right for the client’s project and make sure these companies are “Qualified” per Smart Girls requirements.
• Check in EXDB (our DB) to see which companies are already in EXDB and which ones are not.
  • Note that status by putting [ALREADY IN EXDB] or [ADD TO EXDB] — by the Company Name on the client Pick Slate doc.
  • OR… if they don’t meet the criteria, then make a note of that.
  • When you find companies to ADD (who meet the criteria) and are NOT in the EXDB, you’ll go back to the IMDB record and also find the name of a person and their position to add. Put this on the client research list also.

• At that point, MJ will review the potential companies to ADD and confirm YES or NO, as well as the Name of the Individual.
• After that, the VA will add the new companies to our database as a complete record and will also add the Client Code to the element field of all fo the companies on the list.

The next lesson will explain what a Qualified Company is.