Closing the deal?

[Denise Quesnel]

Douglas,

I think what is most difficult when you are young and first starting out is getting together a reel and website that is confidence inspiring to the market you wish to target.

What I mean is that if you have music videos/parties/sizzle reel type footage, a corporate type will be very unconvinced that you can make a video for them. Clients need to see the same type of footage that they want made. In order to get this type of footage, you need to work for free and take a pay cut. Clients don’t care if you say you can do it, they need to SEE it.

People on the Cow constantly talk about never working for grinders or working for nothing, but most will agree when you are first starting out and do not have experience in the market you wish to target, you need to get this experience in any way that it takes. I certainly had to do free projects, 24 hr film festivals etc to prove myself. I think we all do. Just make sure you and the client you are taking a pay cut for understands this and also realizes other commitments you have.

In the meantime don’t quit your day jobs, you will need some income to flow in while you build your business. You will also find that word of mouth gets you more business than anything else.

[Zane Barker]

[Douglas Wright] “For the level that we are at now, how do you think we should approach the more corporate clientele other than giving it away?”

Noting is wrong with giving it away, just don’t over do it. When I was getting started I even did a couple of video for free for friends that I knew who had there own businesses. Offering to do a 30 second video spot for a friends store or in service that they can post on there web site it a good way to get some more diversity in that demo.

You can also just make up a video for nobody. Create a commercial for some sports drink or something, just make up a name for the drink photo shop up a logo and label and place it over a bottle of gatorade or something and make a commercial for a product that does not even exist. Or for a corporate type video find a friend/relative that has a woodworking shop in there garage and so a simple safety training video for a power tool.

A sample safety video for something could probably be busted out all in a day. Pick some item, look at the safety portion in the manual and spell out those points in the video. The same can be dome for a how to assemble video. Just make a video that follows the instructions in the set up of a desk, a chair or a bookshelf.

These are all simple things that you can do that are only going to cost you time and a few tapes. Remember that these videos don’t need to be long at all, to 30 sec commercial or a 3-5 min training video.

As you get more real work you can simply start working those into your demo real. Its also a good Idea to have separate demo reels for different kinds of work. Have one for events, one for corporate etc.

Now take the lans cap off and get out there and make yourself something to show off.

There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[Douglas Wright]

Thanks for all the tips guys, I will definitely work on trying to expand our reel as soon as we wrap up the few projects we are working on now.

There’s still one thing, for the people that are viewing my reel and liking the level of work that I’m offering already… what could I be doing to close more on those clients before I get to the point of being able to take on big budget clients?

legendsfilms.com

[Zane Barker]

[Douglas Wright] “There’s still one thing, for the people that are viewing my reel and liking the level of work that I’m offering already… what could I be doing to close more on those clients before I get to the point of being able to take on big budget clients? “

Well I think that we have been addressing this in ALL of our replies.

The key to getting someone to agree to hire you do do anything for them is to make them confident that you can deliver the product they want and need. If I was I potential client that wanted a commercial or corporate video and I saw your demo reel I would NOT have that confidence in you. Seeing a video with noting but a bunch of clips of rap videos will most likely appear immature to a business provisional, and that will not make them have any confidence that you can deliver a professional product.

I mean absolutely no disrespect top your work, its just that I would never show a reel like that to anyone wanting a more professional commercial or corporate video no matter what the budget of the client.

Think about what type of video your potential client wants to have done and throw something simple together that will make them feel confident that you can deliver what they want.

There are no “technical solutions” to your “artistic problems”.
Don’t let technology get in the way of your creativity!

[Bob Zelin]

this is my stupid opinion. I just watched your reel. If you are trying to get music videos, this is the right reel – for everything else, it’s the wrong reel.

A well known fashion producer that I know used a DP. The DP wanted to get a hi paying corporate industrial (talking head convention) video job, but his reel was all fashion models – all film, all “name brand stuff”, and he did not get the job. My friend the producer said a wonderful smart ass comment “we see that you can shoot washers, but can you shoot dryers ?”.

I don’t know the market you are going after. But I see that if a company does local car commercials, this is ALL they do. They get one car dealer, and they solicit ALL the car dealers. You get one hair salon – you go after ALL the hair salon’s. If you are a famous TV commerical director, no one is going to offer you a feature film deal, even if you make millions in commericals. I don’t know what market you are in, but you need to get a “mainstream” reel if you want to get mainstream clients. Rap videos and tough guys may get a music video, but they won’t get the local restaurant chain, muffler repair shop, or car dealer.

Once you get “client x” – even if you make no money on it, it will be much easier to get his competition to hire you, once you show him “their” commercial. Same with corporate video – if you show in your reel “the national drug company x convention 2009”, then the national drug company “y” will want to hire you, once you show them your reel.

Bob Zelin

[Todd Terry]

Bob’s right…. a lot of potential clients tend to not be visionaries. You might have a killer reel, but if you don’t have something similar to their business, some of them just can’t see it.

Our little company started out with one client… a grocery store. After that we were able to get several chains of grocery stores… I think our max was one week when we produced 42 commercials for grocery stores all over the country. We couldn’t get a car dealer for a long time, because we had nothing to show them but groceries… they just couldn’t comprehend it. But after we nabbed one, a whole bunch of others jumped on board. It took a while to snag the first plastic surgeon, but after we did it was fairly easy to get more, and now we do fairly high-end (usually 35mm) spots for 12 different plastic surgeons at last count.

No matter how smart they are business-wise, some clients just have zero vision about advertising and marketing. With those, you pretty much have to show them something like what they do.

I’ll only take one exception with Bob here…

[Bob Zelin] “If you are a famous TV commerical director, no one is going to offer you a feature film deal, even if you make millions in commericals.”

In actuality, this has happened quite a few times. A fair number of commercial directors have moved from selling soap straight into big-budget feature directing… sometimes with surprising success with their first features. Most recently Josh Gordon, Will Speck, Joseph Nichol come to mind… and quite a few more through the years. And it’s even more common for commercial DPs to move into features.

T2

__________________________________
Todd Terry
Creative Director
Fantastic Plastic Entertainment, Inc.
fantasticplastic.com

[Douglas Wright]

Thanks for all the advice guys, I will definitely begin switching my approach immediately. Music videos and parties definitely aren’t where the money is at, and I understand I need to have a reel that caters to a different clientele. Thanks

legendsfilms.com

[Tim Wilson]

[Todd Terry] “A fair number of commercial directors have moved from selling soap straight into big-budget feature directing”

Also, Alan Parker, Ridley Scott, and, David Fincher. The website for Oscar-winner Errol Morris has hundreds of commercials he’s done — including an entire series of spots he made that never aired! He still does tons of commercials.

[Todd Terry] “You might have a killer reel, but if you don’t have something similar to their business, some of them just can’t see it.”

I’ll second the suggestion that others have made: if the kind of work you want to do isn’t already on your reel, PUT it there.

This starts to get into a whole other discussion, but I think it can be a serious mistake to make your reel and your resume look too much alike. That’s fine for your website, so that people can see a broad idea of your work…but you’re pitching to people who care less about what you’ve DONE than about what you can do for THEM. This is why it’s quite common for people to have multiple reels for the different kinds of work they do on their own websites.

I built 2 different “Parade of Homes” style TV shows from a pitch video I made using my own house. I cut a different version for each of the brokers I pitched it to, with very specific tweaks (graphics, etc.) that left NOTHING to the imagination.

You’re presumably casting your net wider than 4 realtors, but the point is the same. Whatever kind of work you want to do, put THAT in your reel.

Okay, I’m going to stop calling it a reel in this context, and flip it another way. It’s a commercial for yourself.

Every brand has more than one message, and it uses different spots to underscore that — Budweiser is hip and fun, synonymous with sports, and the prestigious symbol of core American values like farming, ingenuity, and immigrants building a heritage of business success in the new world. You can probably think of half a dozen Bud spots to put into each of those categories, probably come up with some more categories.

So if you want to generate a lot of new, cruiser-class business, tell the story that you can do this work by DOING it.

You’ve asked a bunch of great questions, but that’s my answer to this one.

[Ron Lindeboom]

[Tim Wilson] “I’ll second the suggestion that others have made: if the kind of work you want to do isn’t already on your reel, PUT it there.”

Over the years, there have been a number of occasions wherein Kathlyn and I have created prototypes of various projects we wanted to work on so that we could pitch them and gain contracts for doing these projects. (For the newbies around, these kinds of projects are called “spec” projects — short for doing them as speculative projects.)

As has been stated here, people ofttimes cannot see what you are talking about. Creating spec work and using “dummie” artwork that hints at a type of market without actually using trademarked products, etc., gives your prospect a “mental hinge” around which your pitch can swing and move.

Best regards,

Ron Lindeboom

Creativity is a type of learning process where the teacher and pupil are located in the same individual.