Netflix and Film Independent have teamed to offer a first time feature filmmaker a production grant worth $350,000. And you will get it distributed on Netflix too. The application is here. The deadline is February 9th. Get to it.
Categories
Category: Truly Free Film
We are on the verge of a new film culture and infrastructure.
MeDeploy is an online distributor. Join the Spout community and you get your MeDeploy setup fees waived. You also get a Macrovision identification number assigned — something that helps your film get listed in all databases.
Read all about it on Spout here.
Where does the money come from that funds all those indie films applying to all those festivals? I am imagine 80% of it is somehow related to the directors of the work, but I have never been so lucky to have that situation.
Most of the movies we make over at This is that are funded at least 50% by private equity. We haven’t gotten money from hedge funds or venture capital groups, but still these stories/figures below gave me some cause to pause. And not that it was anything that everyone didn’t already suspect, but still unsettling none the less. Here’s hoping that there are still high net worth individuals who believe in the power of art and the future of entertainment. Feel free to give them my number when you meet them.
From your friends at Dow Jones:
We have a lot of great projects to make this year. It’s going to stay interesting that’s for sure.
But then again this kind of news is pretty crushing:
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Web Resources
This was supposed to be a blog about film and building the new infrastructure for what truly could be called independent film.
Sometimes I feel that the web side of it all is completely taking over. It’s a given that gaining a rudimentary understanding of what is possible using the existing internet tools will be key to building that new infrastructure. To that end, all of our job descriptions should include a specific amount of time per week (per day?) devoted to that education.
To that end we will be providing a new column on the right specifically for “web resources” — those sites that aggregate all that is happening in the field and are worth a filmmaker’s regular visit. Stay tuned, for that, and hit us with your suggestions.
To that end, check out ReadWriteWeb which tracks technology, social media, and social network trends, and has a lot of great How-To posts too.
We’ve been trying to keep track of what films are really ready for this new version of Sundance (you know, the one that no longer is a sales market). Variety has The Greatest up (hat tip: Filmmaker):
But my favorite trailer is John Water’s advice for Obama. Check it out over at TheseAreThoseThings.
30. Some of the major specialized distributors recognize the need to build film education and appreciation into their job description. Focus Features “Film In Focus” website, in partnership with Faber & Faber, demonstrates this impulse beautifully. Independent, Specialized, Art, Foreign, and Truly Free Film all need an audience who acts out of choice not impulse. They need to remain review driven despite the loss of so many critics nationwide. They need to be able to recognize what qualities make a film better or unique. They need to recognize what makes a film art. They need reading that helps their love of cinema grow.
31. The need for digital preservation of indie films and their history is slowly being recognized. Granted this is a little hard to document, but I have had a handful of conversations this year with organizations contemplating both the preservation of specific films and of filmmakers’ archives. In this digital age, preservation is all the more difficult due to the lack of physical copies. Additionally the technology changes, and what was stored on form of drive is not compatible with another. Blogs are born daily and evolve so quickly, we are left wondering how to chart their progress.
32. Communities are renovating their historic town center theaters and turning them into community centers, with capabilities of film and/or digital projection. The great old movie theaters are the shrines to the first century of cinema, and a truly wonderful way to see a film.. Organizations like the League Of Historic American Theaters and the Theatre Historical Society Of America which are dedicated to the restoration and operation of these palaces. Often situated on the old main streets of many American cities, the restoration can often be the cornerstone for the revitalization of the old downtowns. But apart from being great for the local municipalities, for filmmakers these palaces are the antithesis of small screen viewing experience that most seem to think has become the defining indie experience – they are places of worship.
33. Theater owners and managers recognize the need to make the community vested in their success. I have heard of theaters giving back Monday nights to different community groups to program and in doing so building loyal audiences. Michael Moore’s Traverse City theater has 25 cent admissions for childrens’ matinees and Wednesday classics – investing in the youth and education of their community. New and best practices are developing and the theater community is sharing it’s knowledge.
Joanne Feinberg of the Ashland Independent Film Festival writes in…
Referring back to your post “Who Do you Really Need to Meet at Film Festivals?” I wanted to talk about how we (film festivals) can be helpful to filmmakers beyond the hope of a big distribution deal… I think I can speak for most of us when I say that festival programmers are in this because we are truly passionate about film, and really want to help films find their audience. I think there are many ways that festivals can help independent filmmakers reach out into our communities and build their audience. Our audience here in Ashland is hungry for truly independent film (and for the interaction with filmmakers that is such an essential part of the festival experience). I hope that we can continue to work with filmmakers to develop new business models that will benefit both their distribution efforts, and a healthy future for film festivals and independent theaters, as well.
You asked for some suggestions… I mentioned recently in a response to your blog (http://www.ashlandfilm.org/News.asp?NewsID=30), that our festival helps to bring back festival films for theatrical runs at our home base, the Varsity Theater (part of the Coming Attractions theater chain). We work with their Programmer by giving suggestions of films we think are appropriate, and then we help them by publicizing the films to our mailing list (building on the word-of-mouth that was created during the Festival), and by use of in-kind advertising that we have with local media.
I’ve heard many positive stories from our filmmakers about meeting up with other programmers and exhibitors during the festival who have then gone on to book their films at their festivals and theaters. These are people who are often on our juries (another benefit to having your film at a festival – a great way to build relationships and get exposure to people in the industry). For example, Richard Beer, the Artistic Director of Film Action Oregon/The Hollywood Theatre Project in Portland (and part of The Art House Convergence
happening at Sundance this month) is on our Advisory Board, has been a juror at our festival, and he and I often share ideas about films we are excited about. This has been mutually beneficial for our programming here at the festival and at the Hollywood Theater, and especially for the filmmakers whose films we both screen. Recently Richard told me that after meeting director Todd Darling at our ’08 festival, he programmed SNOWMOBILE FOR GEORGE as part of his weekend documentary series, and after seeing THE CAKER EATERS here, he invited it to POW Fest (where it won Best Feature) and will be giving it a theatrical run this spring.
Filmmakers have told me about selling large numbers of dvds after screenings (in our lobby), collecting emails from the audience to continue their outreach, and of making contacts with attending press (also often on our jury). I think the Art House Convergence at Sundance is a very exciting opportunity for programmers of festivals to network with exhibitors, and for filmmakers to meet us all.
Personally, I’d love to hear more from filmmakers about their successes and especially about what festivals can do to help self-driven distribution efforts, so we can offer more than the hope that “your film [will] be discovered and you [will] be given a pot of gold and the keys to Hollywood.” 🙂
…………………………………
Joanne Feinberg
Director of Programming
ashland independent film festival
8th Annual, April 2-6, 2009
joanne@ashlandfilm.org
www.ashlandfilm.org
P.O. Box 218
Ashland OR 97520
non-profit (501) ( c ) (3)
Ted adds: Joanne’s wish to hear more from filmmakers about how the festivals can help is ours too hear at TFF. What ideas do you have?
