The Out of the Woods Project Production Packet

The Initiative Production CompanyTHE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY

THE OUT OFTHE WOODS PROJECT TABLE OF CONTENTSIntroduction 2Excerpt from the script 3Synopsis 5Logline 5Why The Out of the Woods Project? 6Concept Art 10Business Plan 14The Production Team 16Current Production 17Project Risks/Issues 18Marketing Strategy 21Distribution Strategy 22 THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY

INTRODUCTIONThe Out of the Woods Project isthe second feature film from TheInitiative Production Company.The Initiative Production Com-pany is a collective of creativeindividuals from around theglobe. Its core team is based inBrisbane, Australia where it hassuccessfully produced awardwinning short films, docu-mentaries, and its first featurefilm called The Umbrella.In this debut feature film, the continue creating. We are so ding our growing number ofInitiative was able to bring excited to launch the new film contacts to make this film tight,together an incredible cast and from The Initiative family, The enthralling, and filled withcrew to realize the full potential Out of the Woods Project. action. While the heart of theof the poignant indie film... The story includes family drama thatUmbrella. We worked with talent The Out of the Woods Project will be sure to grip any audience.across the globe from the Florida builds on The Initiative’s alreadynative musical composer Kyle strong flair for drama. This Join with us as we take theCox, to the golden globe award movie adds the extra ingredients plunge with our exciting sopho-winning sound mixer, Stephen of suspense and mystery to more feature, The Out of theTibbo. power the page-turning script. Woods Project. We are capitalizing and expan-Now the film is celebrating itsinternational distribution thro-ugh Heritage HM in Australia.The next natural step is to THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 2

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“Will must come face to face with histrue self and find anew way to be alive” SYNOPSIS help him piece together how he To anyone else, Will’s a huge got in this situation. He finds a success. Someone who’s made it,WILL DENOVAN wakes up in picture of his family that focuses but Will has his own secrets...the middle of a vast forest. He is his attention on the past… Trying to maintain a high func-dirty. His clothes are muddy and tioning lifestyle proves too diff-disheveled. He has two scabbed ...labouring to survive and driven icult, and an addiction toover wounds on his abdomen. to succeed in his life before the prescription medication becomesHe doesn’t know where he is. He woods, Will tries to make a name out of control.has no memory of how he got for himself as a real estate powerthere. His only desire is to get out broker. Everything’s looking up ...With the woods testing all hisof the woods and back to his for him as he climbs the limits he is forced to re live hisfamily. competitive corporate ladder. It spiralling past and ultimately is not until Will meets ROBYN, conquer his fiercest opponent...Will takes refuge in small hun- that he realises there could be Himself. He must find a new wayting cabin as he struggles to more to life than simply to survive, or he may never findadapt in his new surroundings. surviving. his way out of the woods.He begins to realise the woodsare not what they seem. No They marry, but after a few years,matter what he tries, the woods as any marriage does, the chal-will not let him go. He cannot lenges mount up; Will begins toescape. hide things from Robyn and sheWill tries his best to remember begins to question if they’re trulyanything from his past that can a family. Logline - Will Denovan has made a living for himself in the businessworld by adhering to the principal of “survival of the fittest,” but when hewakes up in a mysterious wood with no recollection of how he got there, hissurvival skills are truly put to the test. THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 5

WHY THE OUT OF servatively estimated at $750,000 Proven EntityTHE WOODS USD. This is not at all the casePROJECT? with The Out of the Woods With the completion of their first Project; with the freedom to feature film, The Umbrella, whichThe Low Cost shoot in mostly found locations, was produced for less than the use of in-house equipment, $50,000 USD as well, TheThe Initiative Production Com- and with the majority of its crew Initiative has proven that theypany prides themselves on their donating their sweat equity, the are more than capable of creatingability to stretch a penny, which company is able to keep their a quality product. Upon com-is an American euphemism for costs down and focus the funds pletion of the film, they were ablebeing able to make a little bit of on high production value and to secure a distribution deal withmoney go a long way. In this finding world class actors. the Queensland distributioncompetitive film market, there company, Heritage HM.are countless films looking for Keeping budgets low and pro-investors, but few of them have duction value high is the key to Marketable Premisethe low price tag of The Out of lowering the risk of an inde-the Woods Project. pendent film investment. The In terms of story Out of the profits of a box office hit can be Woods has similar elements asIn fact, “independent” films are tremendous, and this is the many other recently releasedbecoming more and more primary reason that many dramas with themes of survivaldependent on large amounts of investors find independent film like The Grey (2011) and 127finances to pull off with the investment an alluring pro- Hours (2010), as well as the olderaverage budget being con- position. Robert Zemeckis film, Cast Away…Film Budget Domestic Gross (USA) Foreign GrossCast Away (2000) $90,000,000 USD127 Hours (2010) $18,000,000 USD $233,632,142 USD $196,000,000 USDThe Grey (2011) $19,665,101 USD $18,335,230 USD $42,403,567 USD $51,580,236 USD $25,698,095 USD THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 6

….Additionally, The Out of the great and to matter, and often at theWoods Project deals with family expense of our personal relationships.dynamics and the complexity of How did we get to the point as awanting to have a successful career culture, we wondered.and a successful family in this modernage. It’s almost cliched at this point, Whatever the reason for it, it has ledbut it’s cliched for a reason; it’s a to a rise in substance use and abuse inprimal story that resonates the workplace; from some-thing aswith audiences everywhere. innocuous as coffee, to something as dangerous as cocaine. This alsoWe all want to be great and make includes the rise of performancesomething great of our lives, and that’s enhancing drugs in the averageexactly what this film is about. workplace. Dr. Peter Holland, a SeniorSome of Western society’s Lecturer in Human Resource Mana-most beloved films are about gement and Employee Relations atthis very thing: It’s a Wonderful Life Monash University, says in his 2005(1946) and The Godfather (1972) are study, “Increased stress, job insecuritytwo prime examples of this theme of [in Australia] has combined withthe tension of wanting both a longer and more intensive worksuccessful family and a successful duration to become the norm in thecareer. white-collar workplace providing fertile ground for the development ofWe Believe in Story a drug culture.”Thinking outside of merely the Taking all of this into account, thefinancial aspect of filmmaking, we director of the film and creativebelieve that film and story has the director of The Initiative, Jason Solari,potential to shape and change culture. thought of this beautiful allegory of aWe want to tell stories that are man lost in the woods, trying torelevant and matter, and The Out of survive on his own and make his ownthe Woods Project is both. way. He feels trapped and isolated, blaming the mechanism of hisWhen thinking of what our next isolation, the woods, for his terriblefeature film should be, we took a hard plight. However, in the end he learnslook at our culture, at ourselves, and the only thing keeping him in thefriends and family and came to a woods was himself. This is not onlyconclusion; we are, on a whole, an speaks to the nature of…addictionexhausted group of people. We put so and isolationism ….much pressure on ourselves to beTHE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 7

…but to our culture that as a very different kinds, looking like theywhole, celebrates personal achie- are set in San Fransisco or thevement above all. Bahamas for example. As the state capital, Brisbane has a growingPassion is an overlooked commodity number of young artists and a highin the film industry, but this is number of talent for film production assomething The Initiative has in spades. well as acting. The infrastructure is very well developed and safe whichNot only are we passionate about the makes even further out locations easilyfilmmaking process, but we are accessible for production vehicles.passionate about the story of this film.We believe that it’s timely and relevant, With Queensland being known as theand can’t wait to see how the story “Sunshine State“ of Australia, theaffects the audience and provokes weather is stable and consistently goodneeded discussion on sensitive issues. through-out the year, ideal for film shoots and transportation.Why Brisbane? Beside the beauty and variety ofAs the state capital of Queensland, locations, Brisbane also providesAustralia, Brisbane is a very promising public bathrooms, free drinking waterlocation for feature film productions - fountains, parking opportunities andboth as a residence for film companies, many opportunities for accom-but especially in terms of filming modation and catering for crew andlocations. cast members. Brisbane is considered a safe city by world standards with a lowBrisbane has just recently been voted crime rate.the 8th most beautiful city in the worldby Rough Guides, “Australia’s Happiest It has also been host to a number ofCity“ by Lonely Planet and it’s on “The film productions in the past and theGuardian’s list of 2015 Holiday Spots” City Council is open and supportivebecause of “its winning combination of towards film productions. A list of pasthigh-rise modern architecture, lush film productions set in Brisbane isgreen spaces and the enormous provided on the following page.Brisbane River that snakes its waythrough the centre before emptying itselfinto the azure Moreton Bay”. Withmany unique characteristics this city isthe perfect backdrop to tell stories of THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 8

Production Type Year Areas featuredUnbroken Feature Film 2014 Fort Lytton National ParkSan Andreas Feature Film 2013 CBD, Archerfield and AscotThe Railway Man Feature Film 2013 Fort Lytton National ParkSecret and Lies TV series 2013 AshgroveThe Strange Calls TV series 2012 Toombul Shire HallTerra Nova TV series 2010 Treasury Lane, BrisbaneDaybreakers Feature Film 2009 Riparian Plaza, Eagle street, BrisbaneK9 TV series 2009 Locations around the city; set built in a South Bank warehouseFool’s Gold Feature FilmSwimming Upstream Feature Film 2008 City Botanic GardensInspector Gadget 2 Video 2003 Spring Hill Baths 2003 Kangaroo Point, South Bank,He Dies With a Felafel in Feature Filmhis Hand Feature Film University of Queensland, William Jolly BridgeJackie Chan’s First Strike 2001 Annerley 1996 Chinatown Mall, Fortitude Valley THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 9

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BUSINESS PLAN crowdfunding and crowdsour- this total. Meaning the self- cing as well as an investment published authors are receivingThe film industry is changing; scheme. an average of $20,670,000 everytwenty years ago the studios month on sales of their inde-almost exclusively controlled the Book Sales & pendent work. Most books beingcommercial industry. Now with Other Transmedia purchased are by independentthe popularisation of social authors, because the initial salesmedia, and affordable, high With our love for story, we are price for their ebooks are chea-quality film equipment inde- not only producing the film, The per than their more well knownpendent film is on the rise. The Out of the Woods Project, but competitors.studio system is still success- have a plan to release severalful, but just as many of the other transmedia versions of this Along with our book release ofartistically relevant, critically story. Most notably, the novel. The Out of the Woods Project wecelebrated, and commercially With the ever growing pop- will also be producing a sound-successful films are being created ularity of amazon books, it has track for the film, for release onindependently of that system. never been easier to make a platforms like iTunes. Inde- profit writing novels. pendent composer, Kyle Cox,They are doing all of this on a who previously worked with ussignificantly smaller budget, Every day over 1,064,000 ebooks on The Umbrella, will be re-which highly increases the are downloaded. Consumers are turning to help us with this film.potential for large profit. Our spending up to $5,755,000 a day, Kyle is an up-and-cominggoal is to keep costs low and with over $68,181,000 in roy- musician from Orlando, Florida,production value high. We want alties being paid out to authors who's currently living in Nash-to deliver a high quality product every month. The percentage of ville. His most recent project,for the fraction of the cost, royalties going to an inde- The Plan, The Mess was recordeddepending on a mixture of pendent author is roughly 44% of with Mike March… THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 14

…(Avett Brothers, Dashboard We want our lives of dedicationConfessional). He’s been touring to be an example of hard workextensively in the last year and coming to fruition.we are excited to have him createthe musical backdrop of our The documentary, will also showfilm. our model of training and equipping the next generation ofAnother platform we will be filmmakers. As we will beproducing for this film, is our running an internship alongsidedocumentary - the making of production.The Out of the Woods Project. Wehave a dedicated team coming Long Term-Goalson board to film the entireprocess and will initially be We hope to be a part of creatingreleasing a webisode series of the a thriving film industry in thebehind the scenes. Queensland area. By filming The Out of the Woods Project in theWith the quality of the crew greater Brisbane area, we willcoming for this, we are planing activate local filmmakers andon creating a full feature length actors, as well as involve localdocumentary. This documentary businesses and the local com-will follow the process of The munity. The marketing, distri-Initiative Production Company bution and exhibition of the filmmaking the film from the will bring further awareness ofbeginning to the end. It will be a the potential of Queensland as araw, no holds barred, in-depth location to produce feature films.look at one little independentfilm company, pouring their Secondly, we desire to developsweat, tears and blood into the young, up-and-coming film-process of bringing story to life makers in their craft. Graduatesand most amazingly, doing it for of our film and acting programsthe pure love of film. will have the opportunity to get hands-on experience throughWe hope this documentary, will their involvement in the pro-not only be a source of en- duction of the feature. We will betertainment, but also inspire running an internship programbudding filmmakers to pursue for young filmmakers along sidetheir dreams, no matter what. of the production of this film.THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 15

THE PRODUCTION TEAM Jason Solari Jason has been working in the entertainmentDirector/Writer/ industry for more than 10 years, starting outExecutive Producer in radio. He started working in film in 2005, leading a film education program thefollowing year. In 2007 he worked on his first feature film, The Seeker: TheDark is Rising; a full budget film with Fox Studios and Walden Media. Sincethen, he has been directing shorts, winning best director for his short Lifeon the Road. In 2015, he completed his first feature film as both directorand producer, The Umbrella, which received international distribution. Charis Joy Jackson Charis began her film career in 2005 when sheProducer was pursuing a career in acting. Now her focus has shifted to the production side offilmmaking, having produced, written, and directed several short films.Charis has crewed several independent feature films, such as Relapse, TheLand of Eb, and most recently The Umbrella with The Initiative. This is herfirst feature film as a producer. Josh Harmsworth Josh has been involved in film since 2005Director ofPhotography working on various short film projects in differing crew positions, and in 2007 he joined the crew of his first feature film, The Seeker: The Dark is Rising with Fox Studios andWalden Media. Josh has since gone on to work as DOP on the indiefeatures, The Land of Eb, The Umbrella, and Midori in Hawaii. Brenden Bell Brenden joined with The Initiative in 2011 asWriter an intern; working on several short films with them and producing, writing and directing afew of his own. He was part of the production team on The Umbrella. Thisis his first feature film as a writer. THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 16

CURRENTPRODUCTIONUsing the studio system, a film like TheOut of the Woods Project would costaround $50 million. With the increase ofavailability and quality of high definitioncameras, an independent film-maker canmake a film of this nature for less than atenth of that. Through crowd-sourcing oreven a deferred payment scheme, this filmcan be made with seed money of approx.$90 thousand. There is a more detailedbudget breakdown on the followingpages.Even though the filmmakers may notreceive any money for this project, theydo get experience and a screen credit,both of which are needed to make a breakin this business. It can open doors andintroduce people to other industryprofessionals.This film, and subsequently future filmswe plan to make using this model,become a spring board for aspiring film-makers, giving them skills needed fortheir own projects.We will begin principle photography early2016 and film for five weeks, with oneadditional week set aside for reshoots andpick-up shots. From there we will gostraight into fifteen weeks of postproduction. THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 17

PROJECT RISKS/ISSUES Risk: Funding While this is a very low budget film, there is money needed for basic requirements: materials such as additional cameras, further sound equipment, props, war- drobe and other technical gear, as well as pay for actors and more specialised crew positions such as sound editor and composer. The Initiative already owns a large amount of equipment used for our film training courses, all of which is fully covered under our insurance. As a result, we wouldn’t need to rent large amounts of equipment for our film shoot. This is of course, a major way the The Initiative hopes to help keep the budget of the film low. The largest concerns would normally be money for pay checks and catering. Since all of our crew are volunteers and will be paying for their own food and accommodation, any concerns for paying weekly salaries are gone, except some of the major cast members.THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 18

Risk: Film Popularity the Woods Project has great The loss of the services of any of potential to be as successful. these professionals will have aEvery year many films get made material adverse effect on theand don’t really find an audience. Risk: Competition film project. If any one of theseThis is often due to poor quality, individuals should becomebad scripting, over the top All aspects of the film industry incapacitated or otherwiseacting, or no marketing (or all of are highly competitive. The unavailable, a qualified successorthe above). For The Out of the Initiative faces competition from will be engaged. There can be noWoods Project, we at The In- the major studios as well as from guarantee that such a qualifieditiative already have a distri- fellow independent filmmakers. successor could be obtained, or ifbution company pledged to help This is not only in attracting obtained, on the same terms andus with marketing, before film- people to the project, but in conditions.ing even starts. finding an audience for the film as well. Thankfully, most of the Risk: Insufficient crewIn terms of promotion we have crew are graduates of the pro-been successfully utilising social duction company’s training While most of the key positionsmedia platforms such as Face- program; there is a built in have already been filled, there arebook, Instagram, Twitter and loyalty and trust. Also, though still lower positions that needYoutube and plans to use it for there are film projects happening crew and cast. If these aren'tThe Out of the Woods Project as in Brisbane, there aren’t many filled, it could put pressure onwell. The last couple of years features filming on a regular the existing crew. This addedhave shown that independent basis. With feature film work pressure could cause furtherfilms, even with micro budgets scarce, actors and crew in Que- stress and make them less likelyhave made their way up to the ensland flock to the idea of being to dedicate five weeks to theHollywood standard level. On a part of a feature film. As for production.the next page there is a list of competition with other films,independent productions with a most of this is minimised by our The principle risk associatedbudget close to $1 Mil. that made promised distribution with with this project would be theit to the big screen. Queensland distributor Heritage inability to complete due to lack HM. of funds. This is of courseInvesting in independent films minimised by raising sufficientwas once difficult and a risk for Risk: Dependence on funds. Along with this, most ofinvestors. Thanks to the break Production Team the crew or cast are taking pay, orout success of films in the past they’re willing to defer payment.such as The Blair Witch Project, The Initiative’s success will beand the more recent success of largely dependent upon thesome of the films listed above, personal efforts of the membersthis risk has been decreased. of its company, in particular ourTherefore, we believe The Out of creative director, Jason Solari. THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 19

Film Budget Domestic Gross (USA) Foreign GrossIt Follows (2014) $2,000,000 USD $14,674,076 USD $3,509,515 USD (estimated)Boyhood (2014) $4,000,000 USD $25,352,281 USD $19,143,000 USD $12,795,746 USD $8,312,000 USDBeasts of the Southern $1,800,000 USDWild (2012) (estimated)Safety Not Guaranteed $750,000 USD $4,010,957 USD $413,742 USD(2012) (estimated)Another Earth (2011) $100,000 USD $1,321,194 USD $455,741 USD (estimated) $9,706,328 USD $2,649,406 USDBlue Valentine (2010) $1,000,000 USDParanormal Activ ity $15,000 USD $101,918,810 USD $85,436,990 USD(2007) THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 20

MARKETING film’s target audience. The main single social network platformSTRATEGY character, Will Denovan, is like with any popularity. everyone in this demographic;Target Audience struggling to find his place in the The plan is to fully utilise social world, juggling his career ambi- marketing, updating The Initia-This film is primarily targeted tions with his newly formed tive’s Facebook page, Twitter,towards 18-45 year old educated family. Instagram, etc, as well as creatingprofessionals from the western videos to share about the filmworld with disposable income, The Plan itself. We want to gain onlineparticularly those who are momentum for this projectstarting a family. Using outlets such as Facebook, before it even films; in a sense Instagram and other social building an audience for the film.According to the MPAA’s 2013 media platforms The Initiative Our Facebook page already hasTheatrical Market Statistics, the impacts not only the youth, but close to five thousand likes, aslargest demographic that go to multiple generations. There are well as growing followings onfilms are in the 25-39 age range. over 1.32 billion active users on Instagram and Twitter.These are the people going to see Facebook alone, with 86 millionfilms and The Initiative's aim is of those within the film’s target As the film is closer to com-for our film to appeal to this audience, social media is beco- pletion, we would hand over thedemographic. ming more and more the place to marketing burden to our distri- spread the word. Unlike tele- bution company or a marketingThe Story vision and radio, the marketing firm. is free; it’s free to create anThe story itself centres around a account on just about everyyoung man in his late 20’s/early30’s mirroring the age of the THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 21

DISTRIBUTION for the film. This is because P&A (Music and Effects) edit of theSTRATEGY funds held by the company can film as well. This is a form of the assist in the negotiation process, edit where the music and effectsDomestic Distribution as percentage deals with the are spilt from the dialogue so the distribution companies rise sig- film can be dubbed into a foreignThe Company has a strong, nificantly when the distribution language without taking awayexisting relationship with a company is not providing the from the rest of the original filmdistribution company; we al- P&A budget. soundtrack. Doing this can openready have a promise for both up a wide variety of foreigndomestic and international Heritage HM picked up our first markets and sales.distribution for The Out of the feature film, The Umbrella,Woods Project. We are also broadcasting it on television Our promised distributor, Heri-planning on having a P&A (Print nationwide in Australia, as well tage HM, has a broad scope and& Ads) budget, resulting in high as securing VOD distribution on sells in a variety of marketsprobability of a theatrical release iTunes in Australia and New including Cannes (France) Zealand and similar platforms. (MipCom & MipTV), the AFM (Los Angeles, USA), the NRB International Distribution (Nashville, USA), the EFM (Berlin), and Hong Kong Inter- Internationally, we are planning national Film & TV Market. in our budget to include an M&E These are the markets The Um- brella was exposed to, finding interest in several foreign mar- kets including Turkey. THE INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY 22

The Initiative Production Co. 671 Samford Rd Mitchelton, QLD 4053 Australia PH: +61 7 3855 5111 [email protected] INITIATIVE PRODUCTION COMPANY