I Saved Four Years And So Can You
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I took this picture in Delaware at a rest stop on my trip down to Virgina this past weekend around sunset.
This past weekend I took the opportunity to save four years of my life through the experience of someone who had been through the think and thin of the trials and tribulations of delivering a movie to an audience. I’ll say that I’ve never gotten this much value in a seminar that covered material that isn’t taught in school and comes only from the experience of going through it oneself.
If opportunity doesn’t knock, build a door.
~Milton Berle
Earlier I invited all of you to be my classmate for a seminar taught by Jerome Courshon on the Secrets of Distribution. See some of my notes I posted several months back on his video Distribution 101.
My friend and I left New Jersey a few hours after the Friday prayer and drove down to our family friend’s home where we planned to stay for the weekend. The seminar was in Arlington, VA which was abou ten minutes from where we were staying.
This seminar was amazing in content. It got me really thinking about how I want to approach the business aspect of films from a professional stand point for the future (including Tufaan), what to really consider and plan out future documentaries and how to realy turn this profession in an on busteling career for the time to come.
The seminar was also a great oppurtunity for us to meet and network with some very nice and interesting people, who also take this profession with seriousness. Many of the attendies were from the Greater D.C. area, while there were some travelers from as far as Florida, Texas and New Jersey 
It was great having dinner with Jerome, the organizers of the seminar and the other classmates. It was a great oppurtunity to futher discuss each of our own projects and share with each other the different experiences we’ve had and learn from each other.
I intend to share with you what I’ve learned over at MessageMastery.com in the near future for you all to benefit. The following is just a brief outline of what was covered:
- Reality of distribution. What the real deal is holding on to the right beliefs to get yourself through it.
- Reality of the Marketplace.
- 8 basic distribution models.
- Theatrical distribution. What the tried and tested ways of getting your film into the theater are, whether its through the studios, film festivals, producer reps, home video distribution, other forms of distribution, etc.
- Art work & Press Kits. Understanding the importance of and knowing what is needed to get your movie the attention it deserves from distributors.
- Conventions and Organizations. Knowing what conventions are important to attend and which organizations and authorities should be given proper attention such as VSDA, MPAA and others.
- Deals & Contracts. Giving proper attention and due dilligence to your movie when it comes to legal matters such as E&O (Errors and Ommissions), clauses in contracts, lawyers, contacts, etc.
- Questions & Answer. Having the oppurtunity to pick the brain of a professional had immense value on its own.
If I had to fly over to Los Angeles to take this seminar, I would have done it (I was about to, but I saw it was going to be in Virginia). Jerome Courshon does not teach this seminar often. He’ll teach it only one more time this year in November. Take this opportunity and grab the bull by the horns.
“If you have the will to win, you have achieved half your success; if you don’t, you have achieved half your failure.”
~ David Ambrose
The seminar took place on Saturday. Sunday after we left Virgina we took a quick stop to College Park, MD where we hung out with Nouman Ali Khan of Bayyinah for several hours. This was an awesome brain picking and brainstorming session on subjects of Arabic, tafseer, future projects and film ideas, some of which I would love to produce with him, insha’Allah.
This is Nouman Ali Khan asking me if this picture will go on YouTube. As promised, it’s just for the blog post. If others decide to post it elsewhere, that’s out of my control
We drove back home and arrived around 10pm, after which we got down to the material and began reviewing and discussing what we learned. A lot of new ideas and thoughts came about from this session as well as questions which I’m going to post back to Jerome.
Overall this was an excellent learning experience that was well worth the travel, money and oppurtunity costs.
