Choose the team to work on the seminar and designate specific tasks for each one. Ideally, one should act as project manager or chairman, another should take charge of publicity and marketing and another should work on the documentation. There should also be someone assigned to do clerical and secretarial work, someone to work on auditing tasks and someone to act as treasurer. The number of people needed to work on the seminar depends on the project's scope of and how large the projected number of attendees would be.
Set meetings with the team and confirm the project's goal. Your movie seminar may be a fund-raising project, an advocacy work or a way to market an organization or production house. During meetings, confirm the various concerns on logistics in reference to the confirmed budget for the project.
Finalize the name of the seminar, its program flow and its schedule. A seminar is usually an event set for one day, a few days or one week. The program should be based on the seminar's main goal. For instance, a one-day seminar can focus on basic film-making or it can be a movie appreciation seminar. A one-week seminar can feature discussions and case studies about film theories, the technical sides of shooting movies, film distribution and marketing, scriptwriting, directing, cinematography, production design or production management. Also, make an outline and schedule of the seminar, then include them in the seminar kit to be distributed to the attendees.
Choose your speakers for the seminar. Choose people who are credible individuals in the film-making field.
Disseminate marketing and publicity materials at public places, through social networking sites and through emails. Others also host related events to help spread the word or create viral videos to help bring buzz about the seminar. Include key information like a brief but catchy description about the movie seminar, an impressive visual representation that can attract more people to attend and the contact details for the seminar for those who are interested in attending. If your movie seminar is a partnership project with a school or organization and there is already a confirmed audience for it, have your publicity materials tailor-made for such.
Complete all resources you need prior to the seminar proper. These typically include presentation files, handouts, seminar kits, visual aids, informational CDs or DVDs, movie equipment to show attendees, computers to use throughout the duration of the seminar and other miscellaneous requirements and support materials. Secure the seminar venue and confirm agreements you have with food and equipment suppliers.
Conduct a final meeting to see if there are some concerns that still need to be addressed. Once all issues are resolved, make the final preparations in time with the official start of the seminar.