Author: Ted Hope

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Truly Free Film

Forward! Online Sales, Dynamo and The Torso

By Rob Millis

Good news for filmmakers: there has never been a better time for independent distribution.

When we unveiled the Dynamo Player at SXSW in 2010, Will Coghlan and I gave an overview of every similar online rental system available to independents. At the time this included Amazon’s Instant Video, YouTube’s brand new Rentals program and — nothing else.

We always thought our greatest competition would come from companies like Amazon and YouTube, but while many startups have entered the market, these two goliaths have been painfully slow to introduce new features and improve their terms for filmmakers (Amazon still asks you to mail in a DVD!). Meanwhile, a flurry of transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) services like Distrify and Chill since launched, and even Vimeo is cautiously getting into the game this year.

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Truly Free Film

Forward! 4 Must-See Speakers at SXSW

By Rob Millis

Of more than 300,000 people going to SXSW this week, there are four whom every filmmaker should pay especially close attention to. They are easy to find if you’re going to be in Austin this week, because they will all be part of the Meet the Insiders sessions. For those of you staying at home, bookmark this list and do a little googling to keep tabs on what these four gurus are up to.

Ingrid Kopp, Tribeca Film Institute
Ingrid Kopp has been deeply involved in breaking new ground for independent filmmakers for over a decade. From her time at Channel 4 in the UK to running the US arm of Shooting People to her work with Tribeca Film Institute, she has a uniquely valuable understanding of where film has been and where it is going.

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Truly Free Film

Diary of a Film Startup: Post # 22: Outlet Soup

By Roger Jackson

Previously: Delivery Begins

Outlet Soup

It seems like every few days there’s an announcement of another video-on-demand platform. We’ve been tracking them since we started 6 months ago. I have a spreadsheet listing them all — where they are, what type of films they want, deal terms, ownership, traffic ranking, etc. As of today there are 163 on my list, and I’m sure I’m missing a few. What does this mean? How is it possible for even a fraction of these platforms to thrive and prosper in a VoD ecosystem dominated by large incumbents with established brands, pre-existing audiences and deep pockets? Netflix has 27m subscribers in the USA and is rapidly expanding in Europe and Latin America, with 6m+ non-US subscribers already. Amazon has a multi-billion dollar VoD war-chest and has gobbled up LOVEFiLM in the UK and Germany.

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Truly Free Film

What Happens After Sundance?

Joe Brewster and Michèle Stephenson’s film American Promise screened at this year’s Sundance Film Festival. Below is part 3 of 3 of an interview with them discussing what it was like to attend Sundance.  Prior sections included what it was like to get the confirmation call and  preparing the film for Sundance.

Joe: This has certainly been a roller-coaster ride for us.  We were accepted into our dream festival and left Park CIty, Utah with an amazing outcome.  We were honored with a special Jury Prize for achievement in documentary filmmaking and we received amazing reviews from the critics.  Yet, there is a cloud of worry looming over my head and I cannot pinpoint why.  It is not the 12 inches of snow outside my Brooklyn doorstep nor the cough I acquired from our nightly Sundance celebrating.  My concern is that our Sundance storybook beginning was just that – a beginning.  What happens next?

 

Michèle: I guess the concern (or fear) is that this

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Truly Free Film

VIDEO: Let’s Have Coffee Together! Live (sort of) From Slamdance!!

Thanks Slamdance for inviting me to chat with everyone!

Coffee with TED HOPE from Slamdance on Vimeo.

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Issues and Actions

Dept. Of The Obvious: The Film Biz Has No Gender Equality

That lack of gender equality in the film business has been clear for so long.  A lot has been written about it, and a lot more shall.  Like so much, it is a problem for everyone, not just whom it effects most.  It is all one world after all.

For a long time, white people did not accept that

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Truly Free Film

What Am I Doing? Have You Checked Your Mission Lately?

I keep trying to define my own personal mission.  Do you?  I think knowing what we want to do, to accomplish, goes a long long way towards maintaining our enthusiasm as to how we use our labor.

Such a definition though is a bit fluid and needs regular check-ups.  It is dependent on our time — both in terms of where we are (the right here, right now variety) and how it is expended (the tick tick tick beating of the eternal clock).

In so many ways I am fortunate.  One of them is

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