How to Organize a Filmmaker's Boot Camp
- 1). Research other filmmaking boot camps. See what's out there. You want to be able to offer something different, or better than the competition. The point is that your boot camp should be unique.
- 2). Plan what sort of boot camp you will offer and organize. It could be a prep, production or post boot camp. Or, it could be a gathering for writers learning to direct. It also could be a boot camp about making a particular genre of film. What all boot camps have in common is a full immersion in the process of making a film, or high-definition video.
- 3). Make a budget for the boot camp. Organizing a curriculum for a group of filmmakers can be as complex as organizing an entire movie. You'll have to figure how many days the boot camp will last and also how many hours per day it's going to be. You'll have to rent film or video production equipment for each student, times how many days the camp will run. Decide if you will be providing housing and meals as these will drive up costs.
- 4). Contact instructors for the boot camp. Even if you're an expert, you can't teach everything if it's going to be a hands-on experience. There might be people with whom you have worked who could volunteer, or perhaps old film school friends who might want to get involved. If you offer to pay your instructors, you will widen the pool of available talent, but also add to your budget.
- 5). Plan the venue. The location where you hold your boot camp will have to accommodate the filmmakers as well as their equipment. It could be in a major metropolitan entertainment hub, or it could be in an isolated rural environment.
- 6). Plan the structure and curriculum of your boot camp. This is when you need to know the length of the program, the planned daily activities and not, insignificantly, what the fees for each student will be.
- 7). Market your filmmaker's boot camp. Create a website that shows what your boot camp is all about. List your credentials and those of your faculty members. If it is within your budget, take out ads in the film industry trade papers and magazines.
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