Category: Truly Free Film

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

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Truly Free Film

Facebook Killed TV

“Why TV Lost” is an excellent article by Paul Graham on why broadcast lost to the internet and computers.

What decided the contest for computers? Four forces, three of which one could have predicted, and one that would have been harder to.

Graham captures the appeal of piracy, which is not because it is free:

The third reason computers won is piracy. Users prefer it not just because it’s free, but because it’s more convenient. Bittorrent and YouTube have already trained a new generation of viewers that the place to watch shows is on a computer screen.

He states in very simple terms what misconceptions industry leaders have long held about their industry and what the internet offers as an alternative:

Whether they (the television industry) like it or not, big changes are coming, because the Internet dissolves the two cornerstones of broadcast media: synchronicity and locality. On the Internet, you don’t have to send everyone the same signal, and you don’t have to send it to them from a local source. People will watch what they want when they want it, and group themselves according to whatever shared interest they feel most strongly.

Give it read.  It’s worth the visit.

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Truly Free Film

Take A Lesson From The Master

It seems to be pretty much the gospel now that Slumdog could never have rewritten the rules as it has without Searchlight’s help.  Everyone marvels at their marketing campaigns, and how well they work.  People say they’ve trademarked color, to the point if you use a bold singular shade in your campaign, folks feel you’ve copped a page from Ms. Utley.

Titles are always a difficult thing in the positioning of a film.  Posters however make titles look easy.  When our films are handled by one of the top distributors we often see over 100 different mock-ups.  And it’s rare that by the time a choice is made, I frequently feel we made a wrong decision, or rather never found the answer.  One of the real challenges is finding a poster that not only serves the campaign in terms of positioning the film and enhancing desire to see it, but also serves the test of time and rests comfortably on the wall years later.
All the tests though are compounded when you have little or no funds like most indie filmmakers.  I recently posted on TheNextGoodIdea about CrowdSpring where you offer a prize and hold a contest among designers to see who will make the best poster (or logo or whatever).  It certainly is a good way to get a lot of interesting ideas.  Searchlight, the undisputed master, takes up one notch with their campaign for 500 DAYS OF SUMMER.  They are using the multiple images to increase pre-release buzz by holding a poll regarding four different posters, apparently pulling the audience into the process, and cementing allegiance to some degree in the process.
The contest for a final image campaign seems like something all indie filmmakers should put in their playbook.  When would be the right time to run it?  Seems to me that if your film has played one of the major film festivals and garnered some good attention, right before the next big festival would be the ideal time.   Hey, isn’t that exactly what Searchlight is doing?  500DOS played Sundance and will soon be screened at SxSW and now the SL poster poll is go.  Which basically means that if you are going to have 4 images to select you need to start to get them in at least a month prior to first fest screening.
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Truly Free Film

Indie Film Lobbying In DC

I wasn’t aware of this until it was too late, but there has been a fair amount of inquiry within the community about how we can build better relationships with our representatives.  There’s probably never been a more critical time or an important one than now for a host of reasons.  There are critical issues being decided.  The MPAA has had it’s budget cut by $20M!  Although the studios’ issues sometimes conflict with the indies, generally we have all greatly benefited by their lobbying efforts.

Lloyd Kaufman of Troma films brought this apparently annual summit to my attention (after a tip from Peri!) via Facebook.  Unfortunately it was yesterday.

“Filmmakers on the Hill” –
Location: Capitol Hill – Rayburn Building Room 2203
Organized in association with the Office of Congresswoman Diane E. Watson, Hosted by the Congressional Entertainment Industries Caucus

Filmmakers come have your Mr. Smith moment. Formerly known as Advocacy Day, this Forum provides leading industry, legal and government experts the opportunity to discuss key issues that impact the independent film and media industry. In the past the panels covered varied subjects including: How to stimulate independent film production in the U.S.; creative new solutions for filmmakers struggling with financing, distribution issues and copyright licensing issues; new international financing opportunities and the role of governments in film production. DCIFF 2009 marks an expanded program with prominent speakers in two consecutive interactive panel sessions. This is a unique opportunity to hear concerns about the state of the independent film industry in the U.S..

9am – Meet & Greet – Meet your government representatives and other filmmakers.

10:00 – 11:15am: Session I:
A discussion of the ways in which American independent film strengthens the U.S. economy both domestically and abroad and how it is integral to the artistic and cultural profile of the United States. This industry is also an incubator for forward-looking digital innovation and technological advances. Considering its economic impact and cultural breadth in the global digital era, can legislation protect and nourish independent filmmaking and media? Data and research will be presented.

11:30am. – 1:00pm: Session II:
The challenges of making independent filmmaking sustainable by discussing options, incentives and realities under the umbrella of small business, taxes, distribution and location production costs. In particular, independent filmmaking is a potential engine of small business growth. The discussion will take on existing issues and creative ways of conceptualizing independent filmmaking in the context of state government involvement and incentives.

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Truly Free Film

Fathom & Cinedigm: reinventing cinema entertainment

Tuesday’s post on  A POWERFUL NOISE introduced me to Fathom.  It seems like a great service but I have no idea about the pricing.   I am curious to hear more from folks that have used it.

From Fathom’s website:

Fathom, the entertainment division of National CineMedia (NCM), is reinventing the who, what, when, where and how of cinema entertainment. It’s a revolutionary concept that uses NCM’s vast nationwide Digital Content Network to deliver truly one-of-a-kind entertainment events — all showcased in amazing High Definition with Cinema Surround Sound — to movie theatre audiences across North America. And each benefits from extensive marketing support.

Working directly with the country’s leading entertainment producers, Fathom offers unique marketing and distribution opportunities for highly coveted programming: live concerts, theatrical and DVD premieres, live broadcasts from The New York Metropolitan Opera, sports events, exclusive stand-up comedy engagements and much more.

The Digital Content Network is comprised of more than 14,500 digital screens, with 75% of the screens in the top 49 markets. This puts well over half of US households within 10 miles of the theatres, including Regal Cinemas, United Artists, Edwards Theatres, AMC Theatres, Cinemark/Century, Clearview Cinemas, Kerasotes Theatres, Goodrich Quality Theaters, Hoyts Theatres, Marcus Theatres, Malco Theatres, National Amusements Theatres and Georgia Theatre Company. Additionally, Fathom has limited distribution in local performing arts centers and theatres in specific markets.

Fathom’s technical staff receives, tests, encrypts and digests source content for seamless playback over the network to all participating theatres’ auditoriums. Each auditorium is tested for optimum audio and visual presentation prior to event day. Plus, Fathom has a dedicated “event management” department that manages all troubleshooting before, during and after the event to ensure its success.

It’s mostly been opera, concerts, and anime so far, but they have also presented This American Life and a live event with the film IOUSA.  The full list is here.

Another similar service is Cinedigm, which to date seems to have focused solely on live events.
Michael Walker over at PangoFilms just tipped me to this announcement in BusinessWeek that says that focus is about to change.  They have just done a distribution pact with Olympus Pictures  for some indie films. Things a be a changin’…
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Truly Free Film

Register Your Work: Fair Share

Fair Share allows you to track your work and make sure it is being used by others in the manner that you’ve permitted — via Creative Commons.  It’s a smart new idea that I first posted on InfoWantsToBeFree.

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Truly Free Film

Who Is Making Additional Material For Their Features?

I am not even talking about true transmedia work with developed story lines and expanded narratives; I am just wondering what examples are out there of additional material that has been used by filmmakers, mainstream and the indie DIY side both, to help bring audiences to the films.

Rainn Wilson tweeted about the shorts he did with Slash for The Rocker a few days ago, and I checked them out, but at that time, six months after the release less than 300 people had watched them on YouTube.
We have the videos s that Arin & Susan did for Four Eyed Monsters and set the bar for indie film promotion.  We have Judd Apatow’s Knocked Up skits, and Wes Anderson’s short for Darjeeling Express.  But what else is there?  Why isn’t everyone doing it?  I would think that it is by now standard practice, but no.  It’s not truly a money issue because there are lots of ways to do work on the cheap.
On Adventureland, we came up with a couple of short pieces that will soon debut on iTunes and elsewhere, but that was the first time that a studio “let” us do it.  I want to do it on every film now, and hopefully scripted well in advance.
Let us know what other examples you’ve found.

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Truly Free Film

Great Promotion! Great Cause! Hopefully A Great Film.

 Mark Wynns hipped me to this campaign via his Tweet. Check this out.  They holding the first ever TweetAThon to raise money for CARE and promote the film A POWERFUL NOISE.

You can help fight global poverty on Twitter! Just tweet “#apowerfulnoise” anytime from March 2nd to March 5th, and NCM Fathom will donate $.10 for up to 50,000 Tweets to CARE, an organization working to end global poverty, in honor of the upcoming one-night event featuring the acclaimed documentary A Powerful Noise.

In honor of International Women’s Day on Thursday, March 5th, Fathom Events presents the acclaimed documentary, A Powerful Noise. This exclusive event will be followed by a live panel discussion with top experts and celebrity activists. You can be a part of the discussion by submitting your question for the panel here.