Martin Cuff Consulting provides a range of projects and programs specifically for the support and development of the Film Industry. Our principle clients are Film Commissions and Film Offices, Government Departments considering Film as an Economic Development activity, and Film Associations working in the sector. We operate as consultants, as project managers, or even as mentors, depending on the requirements of the client.

Our modular programs include:

Business Planning

Writing an informed business plan for your film initiative may be one of the most important things you do. But how do you ensure that it’s tailored to the way Film organisations – film commissions, film associations etc. - work and the things it needs to do? Simple: ask us. We’ve been there, done that, and we can help you too.

Budgets & Financial Planning

Work with us to create the optimum budget and cash flow statements tailored to your specific needs and budgets. Use our hands-on experience to build a financial framework that can actually deliver.

Fundraising Strategies

Work with us on creating strategies, tools and action plans that can make a difference to your budget and your cashflow. We have created and operated private-public partnership film commissions and private film associations both in South Africa and the USA, and we understand the financial implications.

Corporate Governance

Make sure your financial efforts are backed up by comprehensive corporate governance documentation. We can help you on everything from Reporting to HIV/AIDS policies to BEE/Transformation plans. We can also help you with the tools you’ll need to manage your corporate governance obligations in the most effective manner.

Association Management

We can cost-effectively manage the day to day running of your association to ensure that goals are met.

Development Strategies

We can help build comprehensive development programme for your organisation. We can provide you with exciting and challenging workplans on the development and distribution of local productions, increasing audiences for film product particularly through your local film festivals, encouraging the study of film and the acquisition of film related skills, and supporting a climate of entrepreneurship.

Building Tourism Linkages / Tourism Product

Tourism may grow on its own, once there’s been an important film in your jurisdiction. But then again, it may not. Don’t leave it to chance; we can work with you to build dynamic and strategic campaigns to assist your tourism bodies to get the most out of any production.

Board Management Action Plans

Saddled with an unproductive Board? We can help you reinvigorate and reenergize your board – and we can create the formal frameworks by which you can hold them to their promises.

Staffing & Human Resource Management

The tools you’ll need to plan the ideal staff organogram for your specific organisation, as well as relevant job descriptions and reporting frameworks for each staff member you’ll be hiring.

Economic Research, Reporting And Trend Evaluation

The questions to ask (and when to ask them) for gathering the economic information needed to determine your activities..

Marketing Strategies, Marketing Plans, Marketing Materials

Marketing is an integral part of any programme of actions; we can help you create a focussed, cost-effective and clearly targeted plan that’s based on a decade of experience selling locations to the international market AND to local communities. We can even project manage the creation of innovative new marketing products for your organisation.

Event Management (Including Festival And Market Participation)

Based on our experience running national delegations to Film Events in Europe, Africa, North America and Asia, we can show you how to plan for your attendance at key markets and Festivals.

Development Of Film Incentives

Film Incentives are the mother load of any location. They are what gets Film Makers interested, and what keeps them coming back. But where do you start when you’re trying to build your own? How do they work? What do other destinations offer? We can build and coordinate a key team of advisors, draft documentation, marketing plans, lobbying programmes and a layman’s explanation of the process and progress – again, all depending on your specific requirements.

Co-Production Information

Co-production is an important feature of international production that allows Film Makers to raise production budgets from a number of different sources. We can help you negotiate your way through the minefield and begin developing Co-production programmes of your own.

Film Preparedness Programmes For Communities

Working with teams of film professionals, (Scouts / Unit Managers etc.), Film Commissioners and Film Commission staff, we offer a number of educational programmes where we can teach your communities what to expect from a Film production, and how to prepare themselves in advance. We also can provide detailed documentation to help anyone from home owners to young acting talent get involved in the film industry

Film Policies For Film Offices

Battling with your local government about how to make them Film Friendly? We were involved in the creation of a comprehensive Film Policy for the City of Cape Town (Africa’s first), which clearly outlined the roles and responsibilities for the issuing of permits, and the processes required from productions in this heavily-used destination. We can create similar policies for your location.

Building Support Programmes For Home-Grown Filmmakers

We have years of experience supporting the needs of home-grown film makers, and we can help you build everything from local film funds, to informal education courses on running a business, pitching a script, taking part in a Film Market. These activities simply add to the creation of your organisation as an invaluable part of the local community.

Mentorship Of Film Commissioners And Film Commission Staff

We can also play a longer-term role as Mentors for your Film Commissioners and Staff. Our mentorship programmes are discussed in the following section.

Film Commission Start Up

We specialize in providing jurisdictions with comprehensive Film Commission Start Up programmes. This includes not only the practical realities of all the above-listed interventions, but also the public participation process that can really help make a film commission fly.

Something Else?

Something that you’re needing that you don’t see listed here? Ask us about it and we’ll see if we can help.