100 Million Investment

Yesterday I had a thought of something the studios could do to invest in the future. Wouldn't it be cool if a studio invested 100 million in school scholarships? That is one summer blockbuster but instead of getting ticket sales they would be getting access to future directors and scriptwriters. 

Script image from Thoughts On Acting 

Imagine with this 100 million scholarship being broken down into 1 million parts that would go to high school film departments. Each school needs to present a production plan. That would include a script. This could be worked on by the students with the help of the English department. The script would need to meet some criteria and be of quality. They could submit them to a board of industry professionals who would use a grading rubric to make a standard grade. something that measures the precise nature of a script in meeting the technical requirements for a Script. 

After that process, they would need to be graded on the content. Have another set of industry professionals read them and rate them on a scale and the ones that get the most response gets sent back with a letter saying they have been selected to move forward in the selection process. The ones that didn't make it past this process would need to get back the script with an explanation of where it lost points and some feedback on how to improve for next time. 

Storyboard image from Advanced Portfolio Blog

The second phase would have to be taking that script and put it into a production book. to include storyboards, this could get the art department involved. A marked up the script, budget and location shot list and the rest of the needed documentation. Once they have it they would submit them back to the studio and it would go through vigorous review again and the top 100 would each be given 1 million dollars to buy equipment and produce the film they have written. 

So the movies could all be reviewed by students in the English department to determine the best film. Only schools who didn't make a film would be allowed to participate in the review of the film. This could get more people involved at all of the schools. The movie that gets top marks in all criteria would win the filmmakers a fellowship at a studio for a summer or year after graduation. 

This is the same kind of thing that the Young Eagles do. They get kids in the air and fly at a young age to get them hooked into a future in aviation. The thing is if I had this kind of film opportunity when I was in school, I would have been in the industry. 

So to sum up, this project would get the English, Art, Drama, Math and Media departments all involved in a project that could one day lead us to a person who could make a movie that touches millions and all for the cost of one summer blockbuster bomb. I would have rather watched 100 student films with heart than say The Lone Ranger. 

Ideas like this never go anywhere because they have no financial bottom line that can show a profit. I wonder in Freakonomics could do a show on this and prove if this is a worthwhile project even if there is an easy bottom line to see. 

I am going to watch a few films for a cooperative project I am working on. A friend of mine Jon McMillan and I had an idea about comparing original movies with their remakes. Well a
film student/blogger in the UK and I are going to try and do just that. 

Is there anything you want me to talk about for this month, let me know.