Author: Ted Hope

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Truly Free Film

Long Tail, Teaching Old Docs New Tricks

by Andrew Einspruch

Filmmaker Andrew Einspruch recently attended the Australian International Documentary Conference and wrote a series of articles for the event, which he’s graciously allowed us to reprint here. These articles originally appeared in Screen Hub, the daily online newspaper for Australian film and television professionals.

Screen Australia data showing an overall improvement in the documentary sector was shown at more than one session at this year’s Australian International Documentary Conference. Since the Producer Offset was introduced in 2007, production budgets and hours are up.

That’s good.

For some.

According to Sue Maslin, currently an Investment/Development Manager with Screen Australia, and a long-time producer with her company Film Art Media, the problem is that these improvements are not evenly distributed. That’s because the trend is decidedly toward series over one-offs, and series heavily favour the larger, more established players.

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Truly Free Film

Hollywood “Bombs” And Why The Film Biz Is Falling Apart

I must confess, even more than watching, even more than making, I LOVE talking about film. I particularly like it when I get to do it with a great group of passionate & knowledgable folk — as I just did. On Friday, I was invited to join just that type of conversation on Chicago NPR radio WBEZ. The pleasure for me comes from the same thing that leads me to blog: I think if  we are willing to share our thoughts and hopes, we may just find our way to a better place.

You can check out the full show, via Soundcloud:

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Truly Free Film

The Digital Recession, Pt 4: The Future

By Jim Cummings

(This week we have enjoyed this discussion on The Digital Recession. It concludes with this post.)

Should schools still charge so much for things that you can learn on youtube for free? Will anyone be able to in 20 years?

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Issues and Actions

FILMONOMICS: The Trillion Dollar Baby

By Colin Brown

For 15 months now the independent film world has been eagerly awaiting the regulatory fine print on the JOBS Act that many believe will both broaden and quicken their fundraising efforts across the U.S. Now that the SEC has finally published those first rules that allow filmmakers and film startups to advertise their investment proposals to the public, some will have been intrigued by a new amendment that specifically disqualifies bad actors.

Before film critics all rise up in celebration, let’s be clear that America’s financial watchdog is not about to outlaw scenery-chewers, hams, stilted amateurs and all those glorious Raspberry Award winners from being pitched to millionaires. There would be too little film industry left to regulate. But the “bad actors” referred to here will be just as familiar to anyone who has done enough time in the film market trenches: financial miscreants.

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Truly Free Film

The Digital Recession, Pt 3: The Dreamer’s Disease

By Jim Cummings

This is part three of a four part post.  Part One.  Part Two: The Problem With Piracy.

Many of our peers seem to have rifts in their thinking about the digital revolution, that our future is uncertain, but that considering the negatives might distract from the steadfast pursuit of our work and thus lessen our chances of success. Does considering the reality of our own deaths prevent us from pursuing our lives or living them to the fullest? Of course not, so let’s stop deceiving ourselves that the death of the industry is not a real problem that deserves real answers.

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Truly Free Film

The Digital Recession, Pt 2: The Problem With Piracy

By Jim Cummings

The amount of digital piracy in a country is correlated to the average internet speed. It would be very time consuming to download Avatar on a dial-up modem, so many in El Salvador will have to buy a hard copy, but Americans often watch movies online for free simply by googling the movie’s title followed by the word “streaming”. As if this isn’t already easy enough, advancements in internet speeds will only make watching movies for free easier, or in my opinion, ubiquitous.

In 2010, a filmmaker friend of mine raised

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Truly Free Film

The Digital Recession

By Jim Cummings

In 2011, a speaker at a reputable film festival said to an audience of filmmakers, “the best part about making movies today is that anyone can make movies, and the worst part is also that anyone can make movies.” I turned to inspect the audience because I wondered, as I do still, to whom he was speaking? How could it ever be good for artisans that everyone can make art? What realtor or travel agent is thrilled by new advancements in global connectivity and the democratization of their work? We are all the victims of an imploding digital revolution and although many seem confused about what this means for our future, and the pursuit of film as a career, I’d like to be honest about my experiences in the economics of art, where we seem to be heading, and how we might survive the fallout.

Our first short film was seen by over a million people in 140 counties.

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