The Business of Film: Media Workshops
This series of seminars offers valuable understanding and experience in understanding and analyzing business issues in various aspects of the movie industry and growing video and film content business. During these courses, participants will be mentored by members of our distinguished faculty of media managers and build networks with peers in the industry. The courses will examine the most cutting edge thinking and details on these topics in today’s and future media industries: basic essential knowledge, hands on experience, industry perspectives, media management and leadership, media economics, information technologies, competitive strategies, and corporate responsibility.
Through these courses, filmmakers, producers, attorneys, and film and media production executives will learn how to understand and navigate the varied business, legal and regulatory issues around these topics, learning key terms, legal contracts, sources for further information, and will benefit from learning how to best create, understand, and protect and promote their work and intellectual property throughout the process of filmmaking.
This workshop teaches students about the essential terms, techniques and process of financing movies in a variety of budget ranges. The difference between corporate and picture financing will be explained, including related terms and concepts of debt, equity and soft money sources. Readers will learn about the trends and platforms in crowdfunding, the widespread popularity and economic developments in film production incentives in the US and worldwide, as well as new developments related to the future of financing. The terminology in financing and relevant deal points of legal agreements for financing during the movie financing process will be explained.
Tuesday, March 12, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Tuition: Free
FILM DISTRIBUTION
This workshop outlines the importance and details of the film distribution landscape, including an overview of the legal distribution agreement, current changes affecting the landscape, like OTT, convergence within technologies and platforms, as well as the various disruptors. Students will understand the impact of the Internet and mobile technology on the financial and distribution architecture as well as the effect of direct and hybrid models of film releasing. The course shares the wide-reaching global influences on distribution patterns as international audiences shape the size, scope, and stories in the movies industry today.
Tuesday, April 9, 5:30 – 7 p.m.
Tuition: Free
Meet the Instructors
- Stephen R. Greenwald
- Robin McMillan
- Paula Landry
- Robert Garson
Stephen R. Greenwald, LLM has served as an executive, financier, consultant, and lawyer within the motion-picture industry. He is managing partner of G&H Media, COO of Grey Eagle Films, and Director of Media Studies at Wagner College in New York City. Greenwald has worked widely in the movie business, and from 1999 to 2007 was president of the Metropolitan College of New York, launching the first graduate business program in media management.
Robin McMillan is a 40-year veteran of the media industry, having written, edited, and produced hundreds of magazines, books, newspapers, and digital platforms over the decades. His has worked with some of the country’s major media companies, including Time Inc., Times Mirror, Time4, and Tribune Co. He also is the author of six books and several network television shows. Although a native of Scotland—he studied journalism at Napier Universiry in Edinburgh—Robin has lived and worked in New York City since 1979. He now lives in Manhattan with his wife Gail, not too far from their two grown daughters. This is his first position with Wagner College. 
Paula Landry, MBA is a writer/producer and film business consultant, crafting films, branded content, business plans, budgets and schedules. Landry is president of IdeaBlizzard Productions and the author of Scheduling and Budgeting Your Film: A Panic-Free Guide, second edition. Landry conducts media seminars worldwide, teaching in colleges in New York City.
Robert Garson, BA (Hons), Dip. Law., LLM is a dually-qualified Barrister and New York attorney, having led a successful career in the UK before moving to New York City to found GS2Law, where he has served as Managing Partner for over 7 years. One focus of Robert’s practice is the representation of independent movie producers and film funds where he has negotiated and drafted the full panoply of contracts that are routinely encountered in the business of film – from literary options, to key cast and crew, through to distribution agreements