Category: Truly Free Film

We are on the verge of a new film culture and infrastructure.

Petitions For A Wider Release?

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date September 28, 2009
2 Comments on Petitions For A Wider Release?

Well, it seems like petitions have worked to secure a low budget film a wider release. Morris: A Life With Bells On got 9000 folks to request the film and now they have 50 datesin the UK. Read about it here.

How about that? Add that to the arsenal of tools that you have to get your film booked. I wonder if anyone has used iPetitions.com or the like to similar effect. And if not, why not?

Tags Morris, petitions

Truly Free Film

Why Indie Film Industry Needs Producers

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date September 27, 2009
86 Comments on Why Indie Film Industry Needs Producers

Time and time again, I get the impression that the “Film Industry” generally does not value producers. I suppose I shouldn’t deduce that The Studios’ abandonment of Producer Overhead First Look Deals means that the business doesn’t value Producers, and just that The Studios need to control costs or that they have other ways of accessing content, but…

Well, it’s hard not to feel that it’s just that Producers aren’t respected. I suppose that financiers willingness to under pay Producers should not lead me to think that they don’t know how much a Producer does. Maybe they are just trying to get a good deal. I suppose that I could take it as flattering that experienced folks in the business, assume that my overhead is covered, that my assistant’s salary is taken care of.

So what is it that Producers do for the Film Industry at large?

Producers bring new investors into the business, both in terms of sourcing them, and structuring deals that make sense from an investors’ perspective
Producers look out for investors’ needs (substantially more than distributors do), as Producers think long term and need private equity to stay in the game.
Producers provide development supervision to get the scripts right — and they usually get a lot more writing done without additional costs — because the authors know they are doing it to get the best movie made, and not just to justify their jobs.
Producers inspire talent to embrace work for affordable yet just rates — because everyone knows that the producer is doing also for the love but for a whole lot longer.
Producers counter-balance industry pressure to increase costs and keep movies’ budgets at levels that make sense — which is good for the industry.
Producers innovate — be it in the search to deliver a better film or to control costs, innovation is in their blood.
Producers develop talent and take the chances on emerging artists.
Producers keep in touch with the audience, weighing where their tastes and habits are.
Producers bring content, talent, technology, audiences, investors together.
Producers help show the business and the culture where they might aspire to be going.

Tags producing

Truly Free Film

Required Reading: NYC Indie Film Summit Wrap Ups

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date September 27, 2009
1 Comment on Required Reading: NYC Indie Film Summit Wrap Ups

I hope to get a breath to give my thoughts on all this, but it more likely will come in the form of short subject posts, but I am really impressed with the wrap ups that greeted me this morning.

Scott Macauley’s 8 Notes On A Crisis

Ira Deutchman’s 9 Responses To “Indie Film Summit” Issues

Anne Thompson’s Overview Of The Hash It Out @ MOMA Summit

Eugene Hernandez’ The Indie Summit

Michael Lynne: Stay Independent

As much as I hope to address this in the weeks ahead, I am even more excited to hear from those that weren’t there. I have heard a plethora of solutions and reasons for hope in recent weeks — but from those in outside the film biz industry and those who have not been ordained into the establishment.

I am more energized than ever as I feel that although the business has changed we have a wave of new leaders about to claim ground. It won’t be the same old cinema, the same old festivals, the same old windows that it has been.

Sure it may mean my way of doing business is dead and I will soon be out on the street with my tin cup, but I guess that’s the price for thinking I was doing it right for too long. On the other hand, we have some movies going and I know my next group of films are even better than the ones I have made before so maybe I will get a few more years before execution.

Anyway, I would love to hear your responses to these articles.

Tags Anne Thompson, Ira Deutchman, Scott Macauley

Truly Free Film

Tools: Organizing Audiences

Post author By Ted Hope
Post date September 26, 2009
5 Comments on Tools: Organizing Audiences

Mike Hedge pointed out to me that we now have a major distributor using Eventful to organize screenings on a local level. Back when Adventureland was released, I few fans found me to let me know that they had organized screening groups on MeetUp. Both of these are powerful tools, that the indie film community needs to make more use of.

And of course, let’s not forget where we first heard of this sort of thing. Arin & Susan paved the way for Dreamworks… ?! Let’s make sure this kind of thing becomes an indie filmmaker staple.

Imagine that when a filmmaker announced that their film is going to debut at a major film festival, that in addition to launching their trailer and going into a new phase with their blogging they also utilized these tools to aggregate audiences on a local level. There might be a film that was able to go on a tour immediately following the premiere taking the work directly to the core. I wonder what sort of impact it would have with the old school distributors to hear that a filmmaker already had thirty or more dates that the fans themselves requested.

Filmmakers could motivate fans to organize these screenings and to recruit audiences by offering a wide variety of incentives from exclusive music downloads to Skype Q&A’s afterwards. Film clubs could easily do the same. Heck, so could distributors. We have an Indie Film Promotional Army out there, already armed, and waiting for the call.

When I look at the number of tools we have at our disposal (check out the list on the right to start) that filmmakers are still underutilizing, I feel like we have all been given crate loads of matches but we still all live in the Dark Ages.

I would love to hear of some filmmakers direct experiences utilizing these specific tools.