Marvin V. Acuna

“There is nothing makes a man suspect much, more than to know little; and, therefore, men should remedy suspicion by procuring to know more, and not keep their suspicions in smother.”
- Francis Bacon

With that said, allow me to focus your attention on the second pillar of a successful screenwriting business…

Pillar #2: Market Intelligence

Market Intelligence is the information relevant to a company’s market which is gathered and analyzed specifically for the purpose of accurate and confident decision-making in determining market opportunity, market penetration strategy, and market development metrics. (From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia)

LISTEN TO ME: You are your own Company. You are! When you begin to generate that huge revenue you aspire to attain, the first thing your reps will suggest is that you legitimatize your company and form a corporation.

The very same entertainment professionals that you are seeking to attract into and partner in your business are successful BECAUSE they gather market intelligence.

In fact, an agent’s primary responsibility at an agency is to “cover” their assigned studio. In essence, they must report back to their superiors every bit of information they can mine from the studio executives and the entertainment community so that it can be distributed to the entire company. The more effective they are at gathering market intelligence the more valuable of an agent they become to the agency and to the agencies clients.

Consider this: Industry market intelligence is so valuable to executives, producers, and representatives that in the late 1990’s a dozen or so very entrepreneurial studios executives formed the company Filmtracker.com, the epicenter of privileged information.
Immersing yourself in the business will afford you a competitive advantage over other aspiring screenwriters. And believe me in a business as competitive as screenwriting… You want every advantage.

Entertainment professionals fully embrace Sir Francis Bacon’s other eloquent quote, “… Knowledge itself is Power.” They recognize the value of understanding the market needs, demands, and opportunities.

Do you?

I’m thrilled to announce that I am now officially in the final moments of officially launching full steam ahead into my next feature, JUMP. Think a reimagination of MIDNIGHT RUN. 

Step 1 – Make a pay or play offer to a director.

We have complied our lists and will be meeting with Endeavor next week followed immediately by other agency meetings to hear their pitches and identify the right director and present our first official offer.

I thought this would be a great forum to share with you the journey I’m about to embark on with JUMP.

I assure you it will be a doozie…they all are. Making a film is like climbing Mt. Everest (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mount_Everest).

There will be frustrations, false starts, brusied ego’s, lots of yelling (not from me mind you), broken promises, unanswered phone calls, expired offers, agents begging, the wrong actors agressively positioning for a role, people will be fired, lots of meetings that will last way too long, and absolutley lots of drinking, eating, and other debauchery…all in the name of making a movie!

I love this business!

Stay tuned….