The Importance of Networking
I did not fully understand how important networking is for anyone to succeed in the film industry until the late 1990s, which was strange as I had been hosting/ co-hosting networking events one way or another since 1977.
In those days, most people would call them parties, though I preferred the term Salon or Soirée’s.
I was asked by a prominent journalist who used the same gym as me if I would invite many of the actors and theatricals, I knew to parties he held because most of the people he knew were politicians or leading business people. He had wisely realised that having people from the entertainment industry would liven up what he knew to be rather dull affairs.
For over 15 years, I happily obliged by inviting a few famous film stars, but most were struggling actors, filmmakers, screenwriters, etc. As the food and drink were free, I had no trouble enticing many people to attend over the years. Decades later, the journalist said that my friends and acquaintances enriched his gatherings and greatly helped him be known in the world where he worked as an outstanding host. I wish I had charged a fee.
Looking back, I realised my first break into producing happened because of one of these parties.
In 1979, I had taken out an expensive option on Tom Sharpe's book PORTERHOUSE BLUE. Then I spent two years and all my life savings from acting trying to make this into a feature film, and despite having stars like Denholm Elliott and Donald Pleasance attached, I appeared to be getting nowhere. Tom’s agent at Curtis Brown told me that I could no longer renew the book as I was indeed getting nowhere.
One of the other agents there, Sarah Lawson, who felt angry at how I was treated, sent me a script written by one of her clients, Hugh Stoddart, an adaptation of Virginia Woolf's TO THE LIGHTHOUSE. I thought it outstanding and contacted the director, Colin Gregg, to offer my services for no upfront charge in raising the production finance.
In late 1981, Colin and Hugh were finishing a feature film, REMEMBRANCE, for the yet-to-start-broadcasting fourth UK television channel suitably named Channel 4. At the time, every single independent producer was working with them. After an initial discussion with David Rose, the Head of Drama at Channel 4, which included films, he made it clear that he did not want to make another film with Colin and Hugh so soon.
Therefore, we went to the BBC, and surprisingly, Keith Williams, the Head of Plays (including films), told us that no other Indy production company had approached him with anything. He loved his screenplay, and in the last week of March 1982, he said that the BBC would co-finance/ co-produce the film as long as we raised what turned out to be 40% of the budget. The BBC would provide the rest for two UK showings only. The money we raised would pay for the rights, the screenplay, the actors, the extras, all our own costs and fees, the music and musicians, and several other costs. The sum we needed was £217,000.
The problem I had in raising the money was that Keith wanted to start filming as he had a full crew, he knew would not be working from the 1st of September 1982 for five weeks as a scheduled film had fallen down. He, therefore needed to know for certain that I had raised the money by the 1st of July at the very latest. That gave me just three clear months to not only raise the money but to structure a whole new way of working with not only the BBC but also with the actor’s union Equity. Both of these I did on my own with a lawyer Barry Smith there to help but only after I had structured something first. I was just 26 years old and had never produced anything, and was very green. Colin Gregg totally trusted me.
I spent the whole of April writing several hundred letters to anyone and everyone in the City of London. Included in this long list was Ronald Artus, chief investment manager of the Prudential Assurance and one of the grandest of old school City grandees whom I had met the year before at one of the journalist’s parties I co-hosted, and we really hit it off. I made him laugh a lot.
He came back immediately and told me that the Prudential Assurance had provided a large amount of working capital for a company called United Media Finance and that he would instruct them to take me very seriously and fast-track the project. He loved the idea of working with the BBC. His advice to me was to put together a strong business plan, which at the time was something no filmmaker ever did.
United Media Finance provided the £217,000 (around £750,000 at 2023 prices), and the film became the first true independent production ever made with the BBC. It would be nominated for a BAFTA and featuring an unknown actor, Kenneth Branagh, it won several important film awards, even though it was a TV movie. I was later told that UMF only really put in the money to keep Ron Artus sweet as he was their main backer. It lost most of its money, mainly because we had to pay back the investment and a 15% interest charge which grew considerably each year.
This was the fastest production financing that I have ever been involved with. Colin Gregg only agreed to work with me in February 1982, and by July of the same year, I had all the money in place. Three things made this film happen -
Hugh Stoddart's outstandingly good screenplay.
Keith Williams being open to working with an independent production company. Many at the BBC including Michael Grade, who would later marry Sarah Lawson was hostile to the Corporation working with outside producers.
Meeting Ron Artus at a party networking event.
Since then, I have given many parties, which have now morphed into networking events and rather pompously, when people attend the ones I host now and call them a party, I snap back at them and say “it's not a party it's a networking event and we're all here to work”.
The biggest networking ever I hosted was on a boat during the Cannes Film Festival around 20 years ago. I was approached by a film finance company looking to invest in British films and they wanted me to present this because as I was only releasing British and Irish films I knew most of the UKs producing talent. They said I could use the crew to help give out food and drink, but it was restricted to four hours. They bought 200 bottles of champagne, especially for the event and ensured the best food was available to all my guests.
I invited everyone I knew and many who attended did say it was one of the best parties of that year. I kept having to deny entry from time to time because the boat had quickly reached maximum capacity and people was slow on moving off to another event.
It was not fruitful as the financiers did not find any suitable films, as no one who attended had projects that were ready to go but it was certainly enjoyable. Sod’s Law. They had the money no one had a project. They never asked me to host a “party” again.
I now give networking events three times a year in London but again I'm never sure how rewarding they are for those attending. Recently I changed the structure so that each event has at least two guest stars one of whom is involved in the financing of films and the other a prolific producer. Hopefully those film makers and actors attending will make the right connections, and although there is a party atmosphere these, they are very much work events.
I must have given well over hundred by now and although I do not arrange these for any personal benefit, in 2017 I was curiously offered five acting jobs as a direct result of one of my own events and being asked by someone who was there if I would consider acting again. I said yes, probably, and he immediately sent me a script. This news then got around and other offers came up. Most of them needed a man in his 60s with a beard. I ended up agreeing to three of these as they were all small parts so I would remember the lines (so much harder when you are older and have not exercised that muscle for decades). I have also raised £70,000 as a result of one networking evenings and that came about because of a casual throwaway remark I made.
I have a very good friend who I acted with in a play in the 70s. One year I paid for him to attend the Cannes Film Festival, as I did for three other people in other years. This was when my company had money to spare. He was having a hard time getting work and I thought this a perfect opportunity for him to promote himself to people who did not know his work. He had never been in a film just lots of theatre and television. At most of the networking events we went to, when I had gone to talk to someone else, he slipped away and went back to his hotel. I had a long chat with him about this and to my surprise he told me that he felt bullied into attending and that this was my world and not his and he refused to participate anymore as he thought it was akin to prostitution. He caught an early plane back to the UK. From that day to this he has hardly worked and when asked why he blames the industry for being a closed shop.
I started in the entertainment industry in 1970 and I now know that most work comes about because of who you know whether you like it or not. Yes, talent comes into it, but talent alone often is no guarantee of success or even regular work. Hugh Stoddard script was brilliant but without Keith Williams saying yes and Ron Artus fast tracking it, it might still be on a shelf.
My old business partner Gary Tuck who grew up in America always used to say “ In this industry to need to tell people what you do, and then you need to remind them ALL the time”.
I used to think that this was American psychobabble until late in the 1990s when I very painfully discovered it was true. But that is a story for another day. This one has gone on long enough.
David Nicholas Wilkinson