The pitch on a poster that made the rounds last December sounded intriguing: "Get the big picture," the main heading shouted, " - and get working! BFI's industry driven business of film program in association with Wilfrid Laurier University gets you job ready."

The offer: a one time only, 10-week program, complete with lectures and hands-on workshops covering subjects such as "acquisition, distribution, licensing, financing, global revenue, purchasing and marketing," for anyone interested, including non-WLU students. Space, however, was "extremely limited."

Business of Film 101 is an unprecedented endeavour. No one knew quite what to expect. The original idea was to offer something for students in the film studies program at WLU. If a few people from the community at large who are involved in the business of film in some way were interested in participating, so much the better.

The response, as it turned out, was overwhelming. There had been only a few weeks advance notice, conveyed as a simple e-mail message. Calls started flooding in immediately, and it soon reached the point where enrolment had to be restricted.

In the end, more than 90 registered for the program -- about half were students from WLU while the rest were from the community at large.

BFI stands for the Business of Film Institute, which is associated with a name that is well known throughout the region: Ken Nakamura, the founder and director of the Grand River Film Festival, which was successful beyond all expectations when it was launched at the School of Architecture in Cambridge last fall.

The idea for offering some kind of introduction to the business of film at WLU predates the Grand River Film Festival by a several years. When Ken Nakamura moved to Cambridge, bringing with him 20 years of experience in the movie business, one of the first things he did was contact with Dr. Philippa Gates, film studies program co-ordinator at WLU.

The Department of English and Film Studies at WLU has 20 full-time faculty members, of whom about half are involved in film-related teaching and research. There are over 100 students majoring in film at WLU, normally as part of a combined honours study stream.

It was obvious immediately that Nakamura, with his wealth of experience in the independent production and distribution of films, had a lot to offer students in the film studies program, which, as is usually the case in university offerings of this kind, concentrates on history, theory, criticism and analysis. The business side of things has generally remained peripheral.

Since then, a number of students have worked with Nakamura as interns on various projects, most notably the Grand River Film Festival, which is dedicated to "providing year-round skills development, professional training and mentoring opportunities" for the next generation of film professionals as part of its mandate.

All these developments helped set the stage for Business of Film 101.

I went to the first of the 10 sessions in the series, which was presented in a large lecture hall in one of the newer buildings at WLU on Thursday. I saw a lot of familiar faces. There was an air of expectation in the room. Then Ken Nakamura got up and started talking about the movie business, which he described as "the toughest industry that I know" -- you have to be something of a masochist to want to get into it -- but also "the most gratifying."

He talked about attitude -- "adjusting the mind for success." For the novice, it means making cold calls, pounding the pavement, getting to know people, what they need and want, and also be prepared to be ignored, rejected, cheated and exploited -- all with a cheerful persistence.

Learning the ropes includes learning the lingo: Everyone who signed up for the program was sent a glossary beforehand, a long list of terms such as "ask & take," "billing block," "completion guarantor," "droit moral," "first dollar gross" and so forth, with no definitions provided. You learn the language by hearing it and using it.

Business of Film 101 is a kind of immersion course in the special language of show business, led by a seasoned player who loves the game.

Dynamics of Movie Financing

• Studio Financed & Independent
• Concept of Perpetuity
• Advantages / Disadvantages: Studio Structure Vs Independent Structure
• Owning Copyright & Negative
• The Film Library
• Trends in the Ancillary Market

Revenue Streams - Global - Studio Owned or Financed

• Cinematic Rights
• Videogram Rights
• Television Rights
• Ancillary Rights

Revenue Streams - Global - Independent Financed

• US Negative Pick Up (All Rights)
• International Pre-Sales Licenses (All Rights)
• Videogram Rights
• Television Rights
• Ancillary Rights

The Screenplay

• Writing Agreement For A Treatment
• Commissioned Writing Agreement
• Option / Purchase Agreement
• One Dollar Option Agreement
• Reversion To Author Clause
• Option To Re-purchase Clause (under WGA rules )
• Certificate of Authorship and Assignment
• Moral Rights
• Definition Of Net Profits
• Canadian Copyright Laws - Out Dated
• Copyright Registration (Form PA & Form 10)
• UCC (Universal Copyright Convention)
• WGA/WGC Scale Rates (Treatment, 1st Draft, Rewrite & Polish)

Needle In The Haystack - Reading The Billing Block
Dynamics of a Domestic Agreement

• Off-Balance Sheet, Negative Pick Up

Workshops :
Provocateur, Negative Pick Up (Artisan, Formerly Live Entertainment), Ken Nakamura Executive Producer
Review of Major Studios and Mini Majors

• The workings of a studio system
• Studios that are looking for negative pick-ups
• Studios that are producer friendly
• Studios by genre

Review of Lions Gate Film - Last Of The Indies
Acquisitions For Canadian Distribution

• Why so difficult?
• Why is Canada considered sale of last resort?
• What makes A Film Theatrical?
• Due Diligence For Acquisitions (Pre-Buy)

Additional Protection In The License Agreement

• Material Elements
• Bonded Delivery Date
• Mandatory Delivery Materials
• Technical Specifications For QC
• 3rd Party Escrow Account For Deposit Payments
• Additionally Insured In The Completion Bond
• Additionally Insured In The E & O
• Material Deviation Clause
• Non Disturbance Clause

CanCon, CoProd: Advantages & Disadvantages
* Review of CanCon requirements
Workshop: Canada / UK CoProduction Agreement
Films Distributed By Canadian Distributors - 2004
Review of Canadian Distributors, Advantages & Disadvantages
Workshop: Dirty, starring Cuba Gooding Jr.
Note: Script must be read prior to the workshop and each student will represent a specific Canadian Distributor and Debate the pros and cons on whether to acquire this movie based on the Distributor , corporate strategy
Mind Set For Success In The Film Industry
Strategy For Pre-Sales (Both Domestic & International)
Advantages / Disadvantages
Case Study: Gangs Of New York
Out Put Agreement: Advantages, Disadvantages - Workshop: Alliance Atlantis (Miramax & New Line) 2004 Releases
International Multiple Rights Deal Memo (AFMA)
Distribution License Agreements

• Canadian License Agreements
• Workshop: "The Wrong Number" ,"The Actress"

Problems With Broadcast License Agreements
International Distribution License Agreements

Workshop: "Spreading Ground / Helkon Media FILMvertrieb GmbH (Germany); Ella Enchanted / Shinabro Entertainment (Korea).

Notice Of Assignment & Distributor Acceptance
Case Study: 3368467 Canada Inc., The Completion Guarantors, Video Film Express, Imperial Bank, Omega Pictures Int'l "The Spreading Ground" by Ken Nakamura Producer
Notable Acquisitions: What Happened

• A River Runs Through It
• Basic Instinct
• Bound
• Cliffhanger
• Dances With Wolves
• Die Hard With a Vengeance
• Reservoir Dogs
• Robin Hood - Prince of thieves
• Tombstone
• Total Recall

Notable Disasters: What Happened

• 1492, The Discovery
• The Arrival
• Chaplin
• Farewell to the King
• I love trouble
• Mr Holland's Opus
• Serial Mom
• White squall

Division of International as a Territory

• Why structured this way
• 10 Territories Account For 80% Of Int'l Revenue
• Other territory inclusions
• Territories discounted by bank
• Step Payments To Maximize Your Collateral

Value of Major Territories As A % Of Budget
Ask & Take
Primary Vs Secondary Territories
Sales Agency Agreement
Use of EDC (Export Development Corporation)
Overage Report
Know Your Elements & Genres

• Genres Travel Differently
• Elements Travel Differently
• Who is HOT in the US is Not Necessarily the Case in Int'l

Double Taxation Issues - Use of Hungarian KFT

• Atrium KFT
• Magyar KFT
• Pueblo KFT

Understanding Mandatory Delivery Items
Understanding the Lab Access Letter
Marketing Around The World

• AFM
• Berlin Film Festival
• Cannes International Film Festival
• MIPCOM
• MIPTV
• NAPTE
• Pusan International Film Festival
• Sundance
• Venice Film Festival etc

Review of Sales Agents

• The good, the bad and the ugly
• Who are bankable
• Match the project to the agent
• A Busy agent is not always the best
• The cheapest agent is not always the best
• Who will advance marketing costs?
• Bookings meeting: Agents POV / Buyers POV
• Avoiding Multiple Packaging
• Demanding A Collection Agreement

Know Your International Distributor

• The Majors
• Publicly Traded
• Financial Statements
• Broadcasters

International Trouble Spots

• Birds eye view

Course Structure	Lectures, Workshops, Assignments etc
Tution	$1,600 Regular $1,300 Film students and members of LIFT, WIFT or Reel Asian Film Festival $1,000 Reader/Interns of TNGA No Charge: Invited Guests of TNGA * Tuition includes all course materials and HST
Tution Assistance	Students requiring payment terms, please contact Ken.Nakamura@live.ca
Payment	By cheque payable to Ken Nakamura along with Application Form
I.D	Students, members of LIFT or WIFT please attach a copy of your ID card
Duration	8 weeks X 2.5 hr classes
Classes comeences	March 2012
School Address	Studio 92 397 Donlands, Suite 305 Toronto, Ontario 4J 3S2 Tel: (416) 467-9597 (Donlands Bus, get Off @ O'Connor)

Ken is an acquisition consultant for international distributors of Motion Pictures with over 20 years industry experience. Recent pre-buy acquisitions include The Hurt Locker, Voltage Pictures; Twilight, Summit Entertainment; Departures, Content International; and Slumdog Millionaire, Pathé International. On behalf of his clients he has accumulated a film library in excess of 800 titles.

Understanding the importance of the 2nd largest film market in the world, Ken, over his career has paid special attention to the needs of Asia and as a result developed an expertise for the region and an intimate network of broadcasters, distributors, producers and other industry contacts in Japan, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Taiwan.

His producing credits include Wrong Number, starring Eric Roberts and Brigitte Bako, winner of the Silver Award, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2001; The Spreading Ground starring Dennis Hopper, Leslie Hope and Frederic Forrest, directed by Derek Vanlint, which was nominated for Golden St. George Award, Moscow International Film Festival 2000, and winner of the Gold Award, WorldFest-Houston International Film Festival 2000; and Provocateur which starred Jane March, Lilio Brancato, Cary-Hiroyuki Tagawa, Nick Mancuso, and directed by Jim Donovan.

Ken is also the recipient of the Bernice Adams Memorial Award for Performing Arts 2009. He currently sits on the Board of The Grand River Film Festival as the Artistic Director and the Board of the Region of Waterloo Arts Fund

After graduating from the University of Toronto's Cinema Studies program and taking some practical courses at Sheridan College's Advanced Film and Television program, I was at a crossroads of where I can go with my career.

I came across the Business of Film Institute by pure serendipity and decided to take the plunge to explore the business side of the industry as my previous training had not touched on the critical aspect of sales, financing, distribution, licensing and acquisition

Ken Nakamura was a consummate instructor and taught us all-important skills such as market and industry insight, the rules of the game, the players, and how to navigate your project and career in this highly competitive industry.

The training I received at Business of Film Institute has been invaluable and has given me unique insight and perspective to the business, opening up for me the opportunities to working with ReelWorld Film Festival, as well as my current privilege of working in the office of the Executive Vice-President of English Television of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation.

- Karen Dantas