Whether it is “Doc Ellis And The LSD No No” or “I Met The Walrus“, I have a unique spot in my heart for Animated Docs. It may just be because on the surface it doesn’t seem to make sense: how can truth be animated? But then, ultimately my mind rebels against itself and determines that it makes more than sense: it makes truth.
Today’s installment, further enhancing my affection for the genre as a whole is, Sascha Ciezata’s (iT’S ALIVE! ANIMATION) “When Herzog Rescued Phoenix”
It took me a week but I finally caught up with Mynette Louie’s IFP Blog Post “Innovate Or Die“. She does an excellent job at capturing the Indie Producer’s life at this point in our cultural era. More importantly, she makes a fantastic and necessary plea to us all:
“let’s put our heads together and figure out how to sustain not only ourselves, but ultimately, the art that we love so dearly, and the diversity of artistic voices that make it. There is a better way, and we’ve got to find it soon.”
Read the whole post here.
guest post by Todd Sklar
A few weeks ago, my good friend Dean Peterson emailed me about releasing his film Incredibly Small for free on the internet. In full disclosure; he was emailing me not because I know a great deal about releasing movies on the interner (I don’t), but because I was a producer on the film, and had been assisting with the film’s release over the past year.
Guest post by Jill Savarese
If you read “Sell Your Film WIthout Selling Your Soul” you are surely familiar with THE BEST AND THE BRIGHTEST. Or perhaps you saw it in one of the over 200 bookings they had on their way to being one of the greatest Direct Distribution stories of 2011. Either way, how can you not be excited to hear not only of a filmmaker’s success in bringing a film out themselves — particularly when the process not only yields a new business, but that business has the possibility of helping out over 30 new films? Well, if you like such stories, keep on reading…
There was a joke floating around amongst the production team at The Best and the Brightest that this 4 million-dollar film’s distribution was in the hands of a stay-at-home mom and a student with cerebral palsy. It was tempting to be a little offended since I was this “mom” but considering that our team got the film 200 screenings and such momentum that Emerging Pictures picked it up for more, I would have to say it’s a coup for moms and people with disabilities everywhere.
I have been producing movies for about twenty-five years. And it still is a thrill when an executive asks me to submit a project. But does a simple request mean you should send the project you have slaved over on in to them?
I have never had a company actually finance a project that is not either already somewhat packaged with cast or has pre-sales done on it. I have to remind myself over and over. Good acquisitions execs craft all sorts of arguments of why I should submit my projects early — and sometimes I fall for it. I think when they succeed in suckering me in they too honestly believe that they can get it made without already being fully realized (short of execution); but they soon learn they can’t. Which is not to say that they can’t get it set up, but that is often a far cry from getting it made.
Acquistions executives job is to bring projects in, period. So they ask. And often we comply. If the sign of insanity is to repeat the same action over and over, expecting the result to change, are we insane to keep doing this practice?
guest post by Brian Godshall
I know how important music can be to your projects.I wanted to point out some new developments in the music business that may prove advantageous for any upcoming media you are producing. You may already be aware of some of these and some may be new to you. I hope this information is helpful. After you’ve taken a look at this, if you have any questions, please feel free to contact me.
1. Putting brands together with music and indie films I have been working on some ideas and connections to put together a brand or brands with music and indie films. Specifically I am proposing that an advertiser can pay for some or all of the music rights in an indie film in exchange for co-promotional opportunities. If you have questions or are interested in this concept, please contact me directly.
Don’t you love it when you see a film and want to change the world? Don’t you love it even more when you see a film and learn that that film has already changed the world — and for the better? I sat watching Amy Ziering’s & Kirby Dick’s THE INVISIBLE WAR with my jaw hanging open, literally; my fury growing by the minute. When I was done, my understanding of the world had expanded, and my confidence in the power of film was confirmed.
As informed and engaged as we all are, there are significant acts going on that we may not be cognizant or aware of, but if we — and our representative institutions — don’t take action we are essentially giving consent to continue. Part of the complete definition of cinema these days is engagement and action, and THE INVISIBLE WAR fulfills this commitment (and more). It has made the world a safer place for those that work to make our world safe.
Ziering & Dick not only deliver an argument but provide all of the intimacy and emotional impact that a direct personal relationship usually brings. When you encounter those who have been the victim of a system that seems to endorse and covers up rape in our military forces, you can’t help but be outraged. A female soldier in a combat zone is more likely to be raped by her fellow soldiers than killed by enemy fire.
THE INVISIBLE WAR won the Audience Award at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival. It opens on June 22nd, but thanks to Goldcrest, I am hosting a free screening for those on my list. Hopefully everyone brings a bottle of wine or the beverage of their choice and we discuss it afterwards.
Visit the website here: http://invisiblewarmovie.com/
Watch the trailer here: http://youtu.be/ECOqpv45tIo
“Like” the film here: http://www.facebook.com/invisiblewarmovie
