Month: April 2010

Categories
Issues and Actions

The Possible Benefits Of Film Futures Exchanges, And…

By now you’ve probably heard that the US Congress has approved two different film future exchanges, (i.e. commodity exchanges).  Variety, among others, have been covering the story in what we have to recognize as an inflammatory way (then again, why should they not be like the rest of the media).

The  press has uniformly been very biased in the way the story is told, always positioning the exchages as “a gamble” and a haven for speculation.  Sure, I suspect that these exchanges will prove to be a very disruptive influence, but that does not mean they are shouldn’t be allowed.  And yes,  I am all in favor of far greater government supervision of our financial industries, but again that does not mean new mechanisms shouldn’t be given a chance.  There is a great deal more to the story of these exchanges that needs be put on the table, as they offer us many benefits beyond what the press would have us understand is a simply another opportunity to gamble.

I am grossly disappointed in the lack of action from film industry leaders to do anything to help to establish a sustainable investor class for the entertainment industry.

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Categories
Truly Free Film

Reinventing The Wheel, Again and Again and Again

If I had to state one of the most crucial things we need to focus on in the indie film world right now, I would say that working to establish a sustainable investor class ranks right at the top.  If only it did not take a bit more than simply stating it…

I have made over sixty films in about twenty years.  Each film is a new start up with a new structure and new investors.  It is not a very efficient system.  Folks from The Business Community often express interest in trying to bring some greater reason to our world.  I hope they succeed and I am available to help, but it is not so easy a mission.

One of the reasons that each film has it’s own financial structure is that every film has its own needs.  We are not making a standardized product, but we are working with artists who have developed unique talents for getting their visions and emotion up and out there.  Filmmakers need a protected environment to work in.

At the same time, Investors need access to the process to trust their needs are being taken care of.  These needs are most often quite different from the filmmakers’.  How to provide trust, confidence, and comfort is part of what makes producing such a challenge (and pleasure).

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Categories
Truly Free Film

Losing It: Reflections On The First Time

Today we are pleased to present a conversation between Keith Bearden and Jordan Horowitz, the first-time Director and first-time Producer of MEET MONICA VELOUR, starring Kim Cattrall, about what it was like to make the film, the lessons they learned, and expectations for the future. The film will premiere at the Tribeca International Film Festival on Sunday April 25th, and other screening times can be found here.–

Keith Bearden: I have to start by saying that having done well with short films and commercials, the important parts of feature filmmaking were there when I started (when I hear about writers jumping head first into feature directing I wince in sympathy pain). But of course, there were still a lot of challenges ahead.

My biggest lesson was learning what you don’t need in a screenplay.

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Categories
Issues and Actions

Are you joining me tomorrow?

I am speaking at the Tribeca Film Festival.  I promise to say some lively things, even some things controversial.  I know it should be fun and informative — there’s a lot of good people on the panel.

This is the panel description:
Is The Sky Falling? A Closer Look at the Future of Film Distribution
Depending on whom you ask, the landscape of film distribution is changing either for the better or worse. So which is it? Is the sky really falling on the film industry? Join filmmakers, sales agents, and distributors in a discussion about enabling independent film and filmmakers to reach audiences and make money in this digital landscape. Panelists include Eamonn Bowles, president of Magnolia Pictures, Ted Hope, producer/partner of This Is That Productions, Efe Cakarel, founder and CEO of The Auteurs, Arvind Ethan David, CEO of Slingshot Studios and producer of The Infidel, Paul Cohen, president of Red Hills Releasing, and Marc Simon, partner at Cowan, DeBaets, Abrahams & Sheppard LLP. Moderated by Geoff Gilmore, Chief Creative Officer of Tribeca Enterprises. Friday, April 23, 2:00 PM, SVA Theater 2

If you haven’t already: buy tickets here.

If you missed it here is Tribeca’s wrap up of it.

Categories
Truly Free Film

Discovery Tools: Better Internet Interfaces & Playlists

Finding what you want to watch when you want to watch SHOULD be the easiest thing in the world.  It still will always be hard to know what you want to watch, mind you — but if you do, you should be able to find it.

In terms of the knowing part of the equation, playlists are a start.  Every social media site should have an easy to use playlist function that allows you to post what you are going to watch, and for others watching those films to find you.  The film watching experience is only partially about content. It is also about social and we need to have easier tools to connect with if we are going to make it all work again,

And combining playlists with easy searches of what is available online is the start of something truly great.  Clicker helps a great deal in this regard. The ability to share playlists is a key thing when it comes to discovery and it doesn’t look like that is a possibility with Clicker unfortunately.  We want to be able to build playlists, post them, embed them, share them.

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Categories
Truly Free Film

Filmmakers vs. Aggregators: Distribber speaks of Win, Win!

Today’s guest post is from Distribber founder Adam Chapnick responding to the question of just what IS Distribber and how can it make the world safer for filmmakers.

Distribber was recently acquired by IndieGoGo, and in the wake of the publicity surrounding the announcement, we received a tremendous outpouring of enthusiasm and interest in Distribber’s service.  As is inevitable, there’s been some confusion around what Distribber does and doesn’t do.  

Distribber was created to help rights holders maximize the payback from their work and investment.

More specifically, Distribber was conceived as a solution to several persistent complaints from filmmakers and other creative rights holders about distributors in general and aggregators in particular.  (“Aggregator” is the term used for a company that acts as a gatekeeper between a rights holder and a retail platform, such as iTunes, Netflix, Hulu or Cable VOD operators like Comcast, Time Warner, etc.)  

The complaints surrounded 3 specific pain points: 

Complaint #1.  Eternal revenue-share for finite service

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Categories
Issues and Actions

Talk Back To “The Take-Back”

Although there is certainly a lot of “truth in the jest”, HammerToNail’s Tully’s plea to end all the blah-blah-blah of film panels on how-to-social-media-ize-your-film-to-glory and Stop-the-sky-from-falling-by-old-white-guys (I am on one this week!) is still written as humor: no one really needs another manifesto (and I live to write a manifesto each week). Yet…

The Take-Back has gotten a good deal of Talk Back. I think many of us fall on both side of the fence: tired of the same old, same old, and desiring to figure out some way to get the conversation started. Let’s face it: we need to figure out how to get people to talk about culture in a more meaningful way. Still though, Tully’s started a lot of good dialogue on film panels and their relevance. Now Brian Geldin of The Film Panel Notetaker has chimed in. Check out his post and lend your voice to the discussion.