Month: May 2013

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Truly Free Film

10 Ways To Turn That Script Into A Movie ASAP

We often wait and wait, strategizing and hoping, but for what?  Most scripts never get made. Even if they “finish” a script, many people stop less half way before they get it done.

I would argue that most scripts don’t become films because the people behind them aren’t willing to face reality and do what is necessary to get them made. The dream of the knight sweeping down and rescuing them for their beauty/wisdom/talent/genius is a toxic poison.  Wishing for privilege, wishing for good fortune, these dreams get in the way of recognizing the hard work that can often get things done.  

Okay, money, connections, talent — they all have a great deal to do with success, but it is also a state of mind that is needed to make things real. Much of that mindset is preparation.  Some of it is process.  And some is that heady cocktail where action and philosophy mix.  You want to get your movie made? Change how you are thinking, and then change your actions.

WARNING: The myth of hard work earning just rewards is equally false and debilitating, but if you want to change your outcomes, preparation is probably the key influencer.

Here’s my list for today of ten short cuts to production.

  1. The best way to raise a budget is to
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Truly Free Film

Why Every Filmmaker and Artist Should Have a Pinterest Page

By Reid Rosefelt

As a busy filmmaker or visual artist, you may feel you’re already spending too much time on Facebook and Twitter, and the last thing you need is to start soaking up your time with another social media platform.   I understand that completely, but I’m going to show you how Pinterest can help you even if you don’t really use it.

In case you haven’t heard, Pinterest is a new and increasingly popular social media website that allows you to “pin” images and videos to virtual pinboards that you create, organized around themes.  You can either upload your own creations, bring them in from other websites, or “repin” them from other Pinterest users.

A recent survey found that Pinterest is only one percent behind Twitter, up from twelve percent in August 2012 to fifteen percent in February.  It skews very heavily female at this point, but that may shift as more people use it.

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Truly Free Film

Diary of a Film Startup: Post # 28: Dough Ray Me (Getting Paid)

By Roger Jackson

Previously: London Calling

Who Pays What?

At the recent Artist to Entrepreneur (A2E) summit at the SF Film festival, a frequently asked questions from filmmakers was “How much can I expect to make from VoD?” The question was greeted with stony silence, mostly because the data just isn’t out there in a meaningful, predictive way. That is, there aren’t enough proxies. A proxy for your film would be a film in the same genre, similar level of name talent, similar marketing budget — and perhaps comparable subject matter for documentaries. In short, a film with much the same chances in the market. That’s a proxy, and they just don’t exist. Or rather, the data isn’t being made public. Why? It’s not a nefarious conspiracy, it’s simply because no one has an incentive to release this data — and anyway there’s no much of it to begin with. So I thought it would be useful to shed what light I can on how much you might expect to make from various types of VoD outlets — ad supported, subscription, transactional, etc. The BIG caveat here is that KinoNation is just getting started, we’re only delivering films to a handful of “beta test” outlets, and so far films have only been live for a month or so — not nearly enough to make revenue predictions.

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Truly Free Film

10 Steps To Determine If This Is The Right Partner For You Right Now

In my producing pursuits, I have had some of the best partners in the world.  I think we have served each other well.  But what was good at one time, does not always apply to your situation today.  People change faster than relationships do.  It’s hard to keep up. A good business and creative partnership is constantly evolving to shift with the personalities involved.  It’s hard sometimes to step back and see it how it really is.  The answers and the problems are often hidden in plain sight.  How do you evaluate what is right?

Work with those you know will turn the wheel to the right
Work with those you know will turn the wheel to the right
  1. When the truck is careening down the road and your partner is behind the wheel, which way will they turn?  If they are in America, you need the partner that will alway turn to the right, putting themselves between you and the truck.  Likewise, if
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Truly Free Film

The Cost Of Doing What We Love

When he gave the San Francisco State Of Cinema Address at the 56th SFIFF, Steven Soderbergh nailed it, several times over actually.  In regards to the privilege of getting to make movies, he said that “the only way to repay that karmic debt is to make something good, is to make something ambitious, something beautiful, something memorable”.  

That’s true, right?  That’s the deal.  That’s the deal in front of us every day.  The deal on the table, day in and day out.  But do people abide by it?

Most people exchange their labor for things they don’t care about and the money is supposed to make it all worth while.  And we know how well that works, how far forward that structure has brought us, right?  Money

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These Are Those Things

Love Letter For The Back Of The Double Hope Sock Drawer

We walked under the light and realized that each of us were tattooed with an invisible map that led us directly to each other. We paused and recognized that the din was that song we had been wanting to learn to sing for too long. Looking back we could see that together we

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Truly Free Film

16 Recommendations For Filmmakers To Discover Best Practices For A Sustainable Creative Life

Note: If you’d like to share this post, here’s a shortened link: http://bit.ly/SustainCrtvLife

Two weeks ago at The San Francisco Film Society we launched A2E (Artist To Entrepreneur), a specific line of programming designed to provide filmmakers with the necessary entrepreneurial skills and best practices needed to have a sustainable creative life.  We launched with A2E OnRamp, a workshop to allow filmmakers to budget, schedule, and predict possible revenues for their film throughout the direct distribution process.

Before we rolled up our sleeves to start the practical, I warmed up the crowd with a series of short lectures focusing on what all filmmakers should know about the film biz, the current culture, and recommended best practices for themselves.  Last week I shared with you what we discussed about culture in general.  Prior to that, I shared with you what I felt we had to recognize and accept, at least for now, about the film business.

Today, I offer you my recommendations on best practices in times like these if you want to have a hope of a sustainable creative life as a filmmaker.  Don’t worry if it looks like there is more than you can currently achieve.  It is a process and you are not alone.  It gets better. We can build it better together.

  1. Focus on developing Entrepreneurial Skills as well as the creative.  The corporate distributors don’t need your work to the extent that they will ever value it as much as you will.  If you want your work to last, engage, and be profitable, it is up to you to be prepared to use it to ignite all opportunities.  Armed with a good story and good storytelling skills, you should be able to profit if you know how to take responsibility for your creation.
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