Year: 2013

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Truly Free Film

The San Francisco Film Society’s Great Sundance Hope: Ryan Coogler & FRUITVALE

Last year, the film that the San Francisco Film Society had supported with grants went on to great things.  Sure prizes and deals are not the only way to measure success, and really just getting a movie made is the real achievement — and hell, getting it into Sundance is pretty damn sweet.

I have loved what I have seen of Ryan’s work so far.  I also love all he has to say about the film. I also love the the film is about something real to us all; in this case the killing of Oscar Grant at by a police officer. If you haven’t checked it out this video already, I recommend you do so now:

 

If you’d like to read more about this and the original case it is based on, this HuffPost article includes many photos of the Oakland riots that followed after the officer was sentenced only for involuntary manslaughter for two years, minus time served.

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Truly Free Film

Can The Harvard Business School Find The Solution To The Indie Film Dilemma?

By  Kavita Pullapilly

Going into their next feature film, BLUE POTATO, award-winning filmmakers (and past contributors to this blog with a great series of posts “The DIY Chronicles“) Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly wanted to answer a question that all independent filmmakers want to know:  How can independent filmmakers and studios collaborate in a more profitable and cost-effective way to get quality films into the marketplace?

Working with a team from the Harvard Business School, Gaudet and Pullapilly created a strategy to minimize risk, increase audience reach and maximize profit potential for potential distributors for BLUE POTATO. Read about how they developed key strategies for marketing and distribution that makes their film attractive to studio buyers. And find out how they evaluated their film so that they could reduce their financial risk while still accomplishing their goals in production.

“You have to find out what your movie is capable of going out there and making and then make your film for less than that. Set your budget at

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Truly Free Film

The State Of Cinema (as per Jonathan Lethem)

One of the many cool things of the San Francisco International Film Festival is the prestigious State Of Cinema address.  Last year Jonathan Lethem gave it.  Let me know who you think should give it for 2013.

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Truly Free Film

More Advice for 1st Time Film Festival Attendees

[tweet https://twitter.com/TedHope/status/276351869205499904]
 

A couple of  weeks back I  used Twitter to crowdsource advice on what first time attendees of Film Festivals should do. See the responses below. It makes a decent follow up to yesterday’s post.  And if you’d like to be part of future discussions, just follow me on Twitter: @TedHope.

 

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Truly Free Film

FIRST TIME AT THE FEST: 20 Guidelines for a Successful Festival

By Melanie Coombs

FIRST TIME AT THE FEST: 20 Guidelines* for a successful Market or Festival  (*Producers don’t do Rules; ‘everything is negotiable’)

Over the last decade I have assisted new Producers as they attend their first market or festival.  Here are 20 tips to help you enjoy the event while looking after yourself, your project and your professional reputation.

1. PRODUCING IS NOT COOL – tragically for us all, if you haven’t been completely humiliated you probably haven’t really financed your project.  Be warm, not cool, and be all the things that make you a Producer – an Advocate, an Enthusiast, an Eccentric, a Charmer and an Artist.

2. PRODUCING IS NOT A COMPETITIVE SPORT – help each other.  It is so rare that you are ever genuinely competing with your fellow producers – you have different taste, projects, Directors and are approaching different investors at different times.  By working as a friendly colleague you will not only help others but will get their help in return.  And you wont be alone as you go about the often frightening business of pitching into the marketplace for the first time.

3. DO NOT PITCH UNLESS ASKED TO DO SO. 

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Truly Free Film

Don’t Think Facebook is Helping Your Film? Maybe You’re Not Doing It Right.

By Reid Rosefelt
Can you really sell your film on Facebook with one of those dinky ads on the right side of the page?

 

Let’s begin by taking off the table the fact that many people really hate them.  Assuming that that’s not the case,  usually the 100 pixel x 72 pixel size is too small to even show the poster image, and the maximum 90 characters makes a tweet look like a novel.   It’s true that Facebook ads can be dirt cheap– for the price of one weekly ad in IndieWire– I once got 60 million “impressions” (times displayed) on Facebook– and it offers prodigious targeting abilities allowing you to zero in on fans of any director, actor, movie, social issue, among other  things, but still, you end up with a bargain price on a zillion itsy-bitsy ads that I personally don’t think will directly lead to anything as big as a ticket purchase or a video viewing.  Selling shoes or an exercise program or ice cream cones, yes; movie tix, no.  In my opinion, the sole purpose of those itsy-bitsy teeny-weenie ads on the right side of the page is to drive people to like your Facebook page.  It’s worked for me and countless others and it can work for you (if you do it right).

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Truly Free Film

There Is A Time To Get Paid & A Time To Promote

By Rob Millis
 
As everyone (hopefully) knows at this point, before you can become the next Edward Burns or Louis C.K., you’ve got to invest the time and effort to connect with your fans, reach out to new ones, and build a long term relationship with your audience.
 
Distributing trailers, short films, outtakes and other videos for free can be a huge help in building a dedicated fan base. For the greatest effect, filmmakers should be sharing samples of their work everywhere they possibly can, and then engaging fans in discussions about those videos, especially on Facebook and Twitter. But in order to get your audience excited about your work, you have to

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