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If you’re not raising money,
your trailer isn’t working!
- Carole Dean, Roy W. Dean Film Grants
FREE CONSULTATION
First, contact me to introduce yourself and your
project.
Then send a link to your trailer or upload a video file. I will
formulate ideas to improve it and arrange a time to discuss them with
you on the phone. If you have little or no footage shot, send me your
project proposal, your pitch, selected video clips, etc. I will look
them over and phone you with my thoughts about teaser concepts and
suggest what B-roll should be shot first. (Please don’t send material
before talking with me.)
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IN-DEPTH CONSULTATIONS
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After a free consultation, you may want to explore more options:
Trailer editing guidance -
I take a deeper look at your material and develop
well-thought-out ideas and concepts that can make it work
better. We have a collaboration session on the phone that
combines my trailer experience with your knowledge of the
material. For example, I may visualize a new concept for the
trailer’s ending and you identify new audio bites or visuals
that could make it work. We bounce ideas back and forth as we
shape and reshape your cut from top to bottom. Once you have
edited a new version, follow-up consultations can further refine
it.
Fee: $55 an hour
Re-editing your trailer –
I physically rebuild your trailer sequence to demonstrate how my
ideas can work. First I will deconstruct it, analyze it and
rearrange some of the elements to enhance its pacing and flow.
This often includes changing title cards or rewording the VO,
sometimes substituting new music cues. The result is a new
stronger trailer structure that you only need to polish and
present.
The process usually involves creating one or more versions and
discussing them on the phone. I work directly from your drives
if your project’s in Avid. If it’s FCP, we work from the QT
files and create a trailer assembly template to conform your
sequence. The fee includes importing the material, 2 days of
editing time plus exporting and uploading trailer versions and
discussing them with you.
Fee: $500 (50% to begin work) |
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A
trailer editing “house call” -
We work side-by-side in your edit room (L.A. area). I take
the role of supervising editor, generating new ideas and
shaping the style and flow of the trailer. These sessions
always feature a stimulating collaboration that produces
insights that can enhance your overall project.
Fee: $50 an hour
No material, but you need a
teaser trailer –
You have very little material shot and want ideas for a
fundraising or teaser trailer. You “pitch” me your project
and show me samples of interviews and B-roll if you have
them. I can do this in your edit room (if in L.A.) or
online. I will suggest and discuss ideas for forming a
trailer structure. Afterward, you’ll receive my typed-up
notes.
Fee: $175 - 250 |
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“Bill is extremely sharp about pulling
strong sound bites and structuring them in a compelling fashion.
He has great energy and it comes through in his work.”
- filmmaker,
Heather Lenz (”Kusama”)
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"No
one was impressed with my first fundraising trailer. I was going
around in circles trying to fix it until Bill pointed me in the right
direction. Now it's generating major interest on my website."
– filmmaker,
Colleen Stratton (“Psycho Kitties)
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FULL
SERVICE TRAILER PRODUCTION & EDITING
The trailer consultations above are limited to
taking an existing trailer and finding ways to make it better. It’s a
much larger challenge to create a fundraising or theatrical-style
trailer from scratch using your original media. I must review the whole
range of your material and formulate ideas to find the emotional and
conceptual “keys” that can best unlock your material and fashion it into
a successful trailer – a process that requires time for creative
experimentation. After we sign a deal memo, I spend 2 or 3 days looking
at your material, digitizing it and trying out ideas. I will probably
show you two or more versions on our way to a polished final cut and
export. Over all, this can take two weeks (longer if you test screen the
versions).
Costs vary. The deal memo will spell out what work will be done, the
timetable for completion and a payment schedule. $3200 is a realistic
estimate for a full-service trailer production. In many cases, you may
want additional versions of the trailer for different purposes or a
recut of it when new material becomes available. I retain your project &
media so these can be done quickly and cost effectively.
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