Tag: FH2A

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Truly Free Film

Tools Update: Theatrical Mapping Project

Jon Reiss writes:

I suggest TFF add the theatrical mapping project from the Workbook Project
“tools” section of the Truly Free Film site (consider it done, Jon! – Ted). This map was my first step in the theaters that I contacted for our theatrical release of Bomb It and as such was hugely instrumental in our release. We found other theaters that were not on the map and have since added them. The map was set up by the wonderful Lance Weiler – and it only expands if you contribute – so if you have a theater (or college campus) please add it – its very easy. I like Ted’s idea of potentially having another list or map of college campuses that screen independent film. We are working on booking Bomb It currently into colleges – so if you have any suggestions – send them along!

jon@jonreiss.com

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Truly Free Film

Slowing It Down: Chesanek’s Counterpoint Concludes (Part 6 of 6)

Brent concludes…

Another scary thing about the NYC DIY Dinner discussion is that essentially it’s asking filmmakers who’ve likely just worked for several years for no money to now take further losses and develop things they have no intrinsic passion for, just so that thing they do have passion for gains validity. 

Filmmakers like me already spend 70% of our time looking for permission (ie funds) to make our films from people perhaps not in the best position to be gatekeepers, and now that looks to be expanded to 90% or more. Our pay just went down, as if we were making enough to subsist on to begin with. Already, incomes in this country have been relatively stagnant for 30 years despite rapid growths in technology and productivity in most industries. 
We’re all expected to do more for less money. That seems exponential with independent film, and as I said, we’re now going to have to figure out how to do that part of it we love even less often for less money.

How do we improve this? Your idea about helping each other is a start. I suppose if it weeds out the ones with fleeting delusions of grandeur and dreams of wealth, that will help. If it means less films are fast-tracked, more time is spent on each film, then each becomes that much more focused and worthwhile in terms of individuality and distinction, then there is something to be hopeful for.

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Truly Free Film

Hope For The Future pt. 3: The List #’s 9-13

9. Plenty of DVD manufacture & Fullfillment places (see sidebar).

10. Plenty of places to place your content online for eyeballs to find (anyone want to generate a comprehensive list to share?).

11. Things like Netflix and Blockbuster.com make it possible for anyone with a mailing address to see any movie he or she wants. A lot of viewers who haven’t had access to theaters or even video stores that stock smaller films can now get them if they know about them. (thanks Semi!)

12. The Major Media Corporations retreat from the “Indie” film business. This will open up distribution possibilities for entities not required to produce high profit margins or only handle films that have huge “crossover” potential and necessitate large marketing budgets.

13. A new turn-key apparatus is evolving for filmmakers who want to “Do it with others” in that they can hire bookers, publicists, marketers – all schooled in the DIY manner of working. Instead of hoping for a Prince Charming to arrive and distribute their film, TFFilmakers are seeking out the best and the brightest collaborators to bring their film to the audiences.

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Truly Free Film

It’s Two Separate Schools: Chesanek’s Counterpoint (Part 5 of 6)

Brent continues…

This discussion can’t proceed forward until the two schools of thought here are separated. One school says traditional narrative is dead and new storytelling methods MUST be applied to new distribution models, while the other realizes there is still a market for narrative feature films that can be accessed through new technology and distro models.

If you want to expand your so-called brand while creating “content” and label yourself as a “creative” (in reality, it’s not a noun) or just want to create infinite ways and media for telling a story, then you’re in this field, so these are some options, these are the issues. If so, then it’s likely none of these marketing terms seem pejorative to your craft.

But many do find these terms pejorative. If you lean towards uninterrupted, feature length art films that show restraint and dexterity in the information provided to an audience, believe in the quality of a screening environment, are not about pushing as much content and info as possible but rather about expertly pursuing a craft you and many others still love but realize there are new opportunities for these works to be seen, then there is this discussion over here, these are the issues on this side of the situation.

These two worlds remain very closely aligned in discussions, and it seems not fully distinguishable from each other just yet, but also not completely on the same page. We need to clearly delineate and grow from there, learning from both sides but never assuming these schools are the same.

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Truly Free Film

Lance Weiler Responds To Brent Chesanek

Scott Kirsner wrote a book called “Inventing the Movies” which details the history of cinema from Thomas Edison to Steve Jobs. Within the book he describes three types of people – those who innovate, those who persevere and those who sit on the sidelines waiting. When I read your critique of the NYC DIY Dinner it is clear you fall into the preservation camp. Personally, I love films and prefer to see them projected when I can and when it makes sense. But I also grow tired of watching filmmakers struggle to get their work seen and to sustain. And the sad truth is that many talented filmmakers have fall prey to exploitation.

The reality is that the system is overloaded. Everyday 50,000 more videos are uploaded to YouTube. There are more choices (tv channels, countless blogs / sites, dvds, VOD etc.) that compete for peoples time. Theatrical bookings are very difficult. I know, I’ve personally booked my films into art-house and independent cinemas across the country. I’m a fan of independent cinemas and even though my work has cross-media components it will always have live event elements, and those live events will include theatrical screenings.

But this I think is our key difference and correct me if I’m wrong. But I don’t consider myself a filmmaker – I don’t shoot on film, I don’t cut on film and I don’t work on a single medium anymore. I believe in story and the emotional connection that an audience experiences from great writing, strong direction and wonderful acting. But I also believe that the form is changing and that is what excites me. It’s not one way or the highway. It’s a reality. Art forms change and audience’s relationships to the way stories are told change. The birth of 16mm cameras ushered in cinema verit. Desktop systems and advances in imaging technology have empowered a diversity of voices that have never had access. Last month, I was in Copenhagen for a film festival and I connected with friends from all over the world, many who I met online or via social networks. One friend is from the Philippines. In the last 12 months there’s been an explosion of DIY filmmaking there – doc, narratives, experimental works. The films are unique, artful and passionate. But yet they have not been seen here in the states. We live in a global film community, it is not just about the US it is about allowing voices to be heard all over the world. The social networks and online outlets that you consider to be nothing more than popularity contests are so much more. They are a voice, a way for people to connect. Yes some people use them for status but others use them as a way to understand other cultures and share experiences. It’s not a contest its a connection.

And when it comes to brands let us be honest. Many of the films that you love from well know writers and or directors were brought to you by some brand some where along the way. It might have been a critic, a well know film festival, or the publicity machines that rollout films both big and small or maybe even the art-house theaters that screened them. The fact of the matter is that “filmmakers” need to take some time to understand how various aspects of the process work. If you want to be a good director you need to understand the roles of your collaborators. And similar to how you crew up for a film ( producer, production designer, dp, ad, gaffer etc.) when we discuss the role of technology or branding or marketing we are calling attention to a part of the process that needs new “crew” positions. We’re not saying that an individual “must master” them or they are destine to fail. What we are saying is that if you ignore or consider it to be someone else’s duty or job then often you will be disappointed with the results. What is often ironic is that I’ve know many filmmakers who entered into deals with distributors only to find themselves doing a loin of the share of the work anyway. In some cases out of despration when they realized for whatever reason that their film wasn’t getting the push that it really needed. It is about understanding what is needed and having an open discussion about it. That way new processes can be discovered. Learning from each other is what will make the stories better, our work stronger. We need to build an infrastructure that will in turn help to establish a foundation for a truly free film community.

We are standing at an unprecedented time in history. We can for the first time reach and communicate directly with our audiences. There doesn’t have to be gatekeepers or middle men or filters. It can finally be about connections. People connecting to the stories that move them. So in some ways maybe you’re feeling overwhelmed by the possibilities – many within the industry are. But in uncertain times some amazing things have been innovated. In the economic downturn of the 70’s, apple computer which started in a garage and was born out passion, creativity and a desire to empower people. The beautiful thing is there are no rules, no right or wrong way. There is just progress. In the end the audience will decide what they want to see, how they want to see and where they want to see it. So I say its time to innovate and seize the opportunity instead of waiting for someone else to shape the future for us.

And Brent I’m more than happy to answer any technical questions you may have. And over at the Workbook Project we have a number of folks who know how to use social media, build audiences, create brands and release films in alternative ways – all of them would be willing to do the same. DIY DAYS, the Workbook Project and From Here to Awesome are based on open source philosophies, ones that encourage community and sharing. That being said, now seems like the perfect time for this new emerging truly free film community to help each other make great films – we just need a little bit of innovation to make it possible.
– Lance Weiler

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Truly Free Film

We Need A Community That Respects Artists’ Intent: Chesanek’s Counterpoint (Part 4 of 6)

Brent’s critique of the NYC DIY Dinner continues…
Still by the third video, the discussion is about filling a marketing niche or void, not telling a personal story in innovative ways. It feels like it’s just making a film about a new subject in the same way, something I react very strongly against. 

Eleven minutes in to Part 3 you take on this point very nicely. Mr. Crumley especially seems to be missing the drive that many art-house filmmakers have. We’re not particularly smitten with “creating content” or being web gurus or using all these marketing and advertising processes and terms (to some they’re thrilling and exciting; to others, they’re a necessary step but not what drives us in our work). 
And now there is an entirely new skill set to be learned, again another gatekeeping process. We no longer have to know how to expose film using an Aaton and splice film on a Moviola; the tools are simpler to use and attain, but now we have to learn additional tools. The tools are changing but they are now tools that we must master that we don’t necessary enjoy using and that don’t even affect the integrity of our product itself. Instead they affect the integrity of our “brand,” as if we were Maxwell House or Lysol. 
The successful filmmaker is not the skilled filmmaker but the skilled marketer? Why bother reading theory or watching old films when one can take marketing classes and develop a web platform to screen something?

Unfortunately right now, when Arin Crumley and Slava Rubin make certain points, I don’t feel they’re talking to me or to the other people who are in independent film because they — the filmmakers — are  neither good at nor interested in marketing or commodities-focused careers, nor are they interested in being cool or popular–which is the image of a new-media-social-networking-guru-web-celebrity.

Further, I am not hearing a director with a distinct artistic vision when Arin talks at this dinner, and I’m unfortunately not interested in his films because of their popularity — popularity based on Arin’s new pioneering new distribution and crowd participation methods. So if I’m not his audience, then perhaps his audience isn’t mine, and so my thinking then becomes one of retraction and distancing myself from the new mechanisms. Also, when Arin talks about reaching an audience, I feel like he is capitalizing on his marketing expertise to profit off them, not putting his soul on film–which is where my taste lies. I appreciate his work for filmmakers, but when he starts leaning towards telling a filmmaker how to be a filmmaker, he’ll have trouble getting his message across.

Lance Hammer is clearly an artist with a distinct vision, an artist whose film I saw multiple times at Film Forum and recommended over and over to friends, posting on my website and Facebook to GO SEE THIS FILM. Same with Pleasure of Being Robbed and Wendy and Lucy. I’ve still not seen or heard anything from the makers of Four Eyed Monsters that makes me take interest in their work or view them as an artist. I’ve only heard that their distribution is what makes them impeccable. Cart before the horse?

I know Arin is very intelligent and successful in his own way, but some of what he says comes off as disrespectful of that thing so many of us fell in love with and have chosen to devote our lives to as viewers and filmmakers, and unaware of that much of the things we’re told we must do to our films are things we find less than appealing and against the films’ nature. 

As you’ve said many times, people gravitate to art-house films the more they’re exposed to films. But some of the discussion seems to be saying that these art-house films are not wanted in their current form, what is wanted is a new You-Tube video game user-created content industry. But that’s not the case. 
And by then using terms pilfered by the advertising world, much of this talk seems to present the idea that the idea of a 90-140 minute art film playing uninterrupted is dying along with the old distribution models. I’m sure the intent is honorable, but the first impression and unfortunately probably a lasting one is that this talk makes art-house film makers and lovers, the very ones who need these new distro models, feel outdated, unwanted, and unimportant. As if: “Be a video game and webisodes and extensions of your film or you have no place in film.” This message feels very, well, George Bush. You’re with us or you’re against us. Join or die. Etc…. not about building a community that respects an artist’s intent–especially if that intent is to run against the new media/ ADD generation trends. I know that’s not the case, but only after carefully thinking through all the voices and claims being made.

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Truly Free Film

Wanted: Web Strategists & Consultants

We have gotten several requests from filmmakers regarding whom they could hire to help them design plans for their films.  First, I think those filmmakers need to move beyond the focus on the film itself, and ask how they can design a web strategy for their work in general.  But moving beyond that issue, I unfortunately don’t have many people to point them to (I would love to hear any recommendations you have).   Fortunately, once again, a lot of great resources and individuals have been gathered over at The Workbook Project.

If you are looking for a consultant or strategist for your web plan, check out Motive on the WBJ site.  Alex Johnson, Ana Domb, Micki Krimmel, Jon Reiss, Hunter Weeks, Liz Rosenthal, and of course Lance Weiler and Arin Crumley are available for hire.  If you are going to Sundance, you best get them on your team sooner rather than later.