Week Eight: Shoreline

Hi Everyone!

I’ve learned a lot while working with Shoreline this summer. I’ve learned a lot about the company itself as well as how the sales and distribution side of the film industry truly operate. Some of the most useful information I’ve learned working with Shoreline, is how to get your work shown to sales companies and distributors. Since a large part of my tasks at Shoreline involves seeking out films that Shoreline can pursue for acquisition, I’ve learned some ways that make a film stand out to sales companies or not. I think this will be incredibly advantageous as I continue to work on my own films because I will already have good idea about the typical sales/distribution part of the filmmaking process once the film is complete.

The only aspect of working with Shoreline (and really the film industry in general) is how much of a focus there really is on selling, marketability, and star power so to speak. Because the end goal is to make money on the film (by selling it to audiences), most film companies spend a lot of time trying to find films the they know (or mostly assume) will sell well. Of course, this doesn’t always mean that the films are phenomenal, so long as they fit the current trends and would appeal to a certain audience. Learning this and seeing it first hand has helped me further understand the kinds of films I know I want to make as well as what kind of market they may appeal to.

My highlight from this week was receiving my first screener from a film I contacted a few weeks ago. Although I watch screeners all the time at Shoreline, getting this screener is a big deal because I found the film, reached out the filmmakers, and completed all the communication for the film as an individual project. There’s still a lot to discuss between the filmmakers and Shoreline before any deals can be made, but from the screener I saw, the film looks really good so I hope Shoreline decides to continue pursuing it!

-Courtney