Of course you can’t get it here, so you can only eat with your eyes today.
thanks to the Vulture for the tip!
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Month: February 2011
Have you had this dream?
Hermanos Inglesos feat. MeMe – “Wanderland” from Michélé De Feudis on Vimeo.
Thanks to CoolHunter for the tip!
This was once going to be a single post. Today is part three. There will be at least two more to come. I started it here. And then yesterday we tried to determine the factors for accessing foreign value. Today, let’s look stateside.
Until the double whammy of Toronto 2010 & Sundance 2011, it looked like the US acquistion market for feature content had fully collapsed. No reasonable P&L would have shown more than a modest six figures for US acquisitions. Hybrid & DIY models have not been developed yet to consistently deliver returns in excess of this amount (or even at these figures). Perhaps this is now changing, but it would still be foolish for any filmmaker or investor to expect this and we can’t budget for such expectation.
How many of the 7500 films produce in the US annually return 20% of their negative cost from US licenses? Although it puts emerging filmmakers at a great disadvantage, I think the surest determining factor for predicting US acquisition potential is
Flying Lotus – Kill Your Co-Workers from beeple on Vimeo.
In celebration of “Kill Your Co-Workers” Day. Many thanks for the gorgeous gore to Flying Lotus, Bleeper, and the tip from Vulture.
Today’s guest post is from filmmaker Matthew Porterfield. Matt’s contributed before, and his feature PUTTY HILL opens tomorrow. We had the good fortune to screen it recently at our screening series and had a packed house that all stayed for the Q&A. Matt blends a variety of techniques, from documentary and observational camera, to the more experimental. A portrait of a small town but through a Nan Goldin-ish eye, it is not one to miss.
It’s been a long and winding road, but this week PUTTY HILL opens theatrically in New York City.
PUTTY HILL spent the last year touring festivals and was picked up along the way by Cinema Guild, who will handle all U.S. rights, beginning with a theatrical rollout on February 18th at Cinema Village. We’re very happy to be in such strong hands and feel confident that our timing is right: if Sundance is a barometer for the state of indie film, audiences are embracing stories about America outside the mainstream.
That said, it’s hard for a little film to get noticed without substantial buzz. I remember back five years, when my first feature, HAMILTON (2006), opened at Anthology Film Archives the same day HALF NELSON hit theatres. I went around the LES with my wheat paste and posters trying desperately to find some free space beside the ubiquitous Ryan Gosling, hoping to share some of that limelight. Or, I think of Stockholm, when HAMILTON played right after a sold- out screening of OLD JOY and I thought, this is good: a perfect double feature until OLD JOY ended and everyone left the theatre but me and 11 people (one of them Ryan Fleck). Point is: I like these movies and I think audiences that like these movies will like my movies.
So how do I connect with them?
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Save Public Radio & Television
WNYC just sent me this:
Within days, Congress will vote on legislation that could cut 100% of funding for public broadcasting, which includes $3 million to fund programming operations for New York Public Radio (WNYC and WQXR), plus an additional $1.25 million for innovative, original programming. These proposed cuts threaten WNYC and public broadcasting as a whole.
170 million Americans rely on public radio and public television for trusted news and perspective and programming that brings the arts to everyone — for a minimal investment of $1.35 per U.S. citizen per year.
You can make a difference — contact your representatives in Congress to let them know how you feel about federal funding for the independent journalism, thought-provoking news, conversations and cultural programs you hear on WNYC.
I encourage you to take action now to let Congress know what public radio means to you.
- Click here to send a pre-written (and editable) e-mail.
- Or call your representative in Congress at (202) 224-3121.
Your support for public radio helps our democracy thrive. Your voice now can make a critical difference.
Today continues my efforts to try to define the takeaway from the two most recent and robust US acquisition markets of Sundance & Toronto. I (and hopefully we) will try to extrapolate from them where we are today. How can we use our most recent experiences to determine the reality of our filmed dreams today? How can we move to a more realistic model of indie film finance?
Foreign estimates still set the initial value for films, and it is CAST that is the predominate determinator for this value. Before a film is shot, there are three types of actors that mean something to foreign buyers:
- 1) stars that have been in big hits in the relevant territories;
- 2) stars that have been in popular television shows in those territories;
- 3) stars that can be expected to generate a great deal of publicity everywhere.
Other than stars, there are a few other aspects of a film that create foreign value. Stars are another entity altogether from cast or actors — and it is really the stars that determine foreign value.
Are there any other factors that help shape what your project is determined to be worth overseas? Fortunately, yes!
