Tag: Film Independent

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Truly Free Film

Support Your Family! Give To Indie/Art Film Infrastructure

I have always supported the idea that you need to vote for the world you want with your dollars. I am the odd bird that believes in both optional and mandatory contributions to a better world; what’s all the beef about taxes? If our tax dollars really went to things I cared about, I would be all for more of them (as long as there was REALLY HEAVY penalties for corruption too that is). Hey, I’d even vote for mandatory conscription if it had more options than just military and if they provided some real training to the participants. But that’s a different subject, better suited for rants elsewhere. Let’s get back to the world of cinema…

Here on TrulyFreeFilm the goal is to find a way to build an infrastructure that can support diverse work (and promote it — the work, the participants, & the infrastucture). To that end, I think everybody that partakes in and benefits from the infrastructure, should give back to it. Sometimes this giveback comes in the form of labor and participation, and sometimes it depends on $$money$$. It costs to build the world that we want and being responsible means accepting that fact, and recognizing that it is our place to contribute.
By that standard, how much show one give to build the infrastructure for the culture we want? Should it be 5% of your income like they encourage in some churches? Perhaps even more is mandated when it also is your livelihood that needs support, right? If we don’t support our industry’s infrastructure, how can we expect it to be around to support us?

Beyond money though, we must fight for what we want with our actions. The phrase “stand up for what you believe” always felt off to me. Shouldn’t it be more “Step forward for what you believe“. Even if you are broke (it is indie film afterall) then hopefully you still have some time you could you give weekly to move the culture a bit closer to the one you want. Why don’t more people use their labor in this way?

So… what should we all be doing? Well, I have made that list before.
Maybe it’s time to air our laundry. Show our true colors. Perhaps we should discuss what we each really do, and figure out what more we can do. I am pretty public with my thoughts already, and with most of my actions too. But is it enough?
So… this is that list of mine as to what I have done this year to support indie film in terms of donations. I am showing you mine, not so much in hoping you show yours too, but to motivate you & others to do likewise). I recognize this list is just a start. I want to get more on the ball. I hope this list doubles next year — particularly in the artist support category (this is the dawn of crowdfunding). We all have to do a whole lot more. I know I have to give more money for a more diverse and vibrant cinema. I need to do more to support the existing apparatus. So this is that list in hopes that maybe you will be motivated to give a little more.
$ DONATIONS FOR A NEW MODEL:
$ DONATIONS FOR ARTISTS I SUPPORT:
$ TO SUPPORT EXHIBITION & CURATION:
Exhibition Membership: Film Forum
TIME DONATION: MENTORSHIP:
Sundance Creative Producer Lab Mentor
Made In NY Mentor
This is that Internship Program
WHAT I AM NOT YET DOING:
Active Membership In Organizations
The thing that I have been wrestling with is that I do not participate in any organization. I have previously been on the board of the IFP and have been on various advisory boards, but as of now I am not on any other than the Adrienne Shelly Foundation. I have thought hard about becoming more involved in the PGA, the IFP, & FIlm Independent but for various reasons of my own, haven’t thought my time is best spent there, as much as I admire each organization. I think this is a failing on my part but am not sure how to best to resolve it. I like to work where I am most needed and those organizations have a lot going for them already — although personally speaking I still think it is a lame excuse.

Supporting More Artists
Hopefully this will become easier to both identify and give in the new year with the rise of crowdfunding models.

Supporting More New Model Exploration
Hopefully this too will become more widespread and easier with crowdfunding in the new year.
Note to self: resolve to do better in 2010.
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Truly Free Film

Twitter Posts: Another week gone by

  1. @nathanwrann I am glad you thought Adventureland was excellent. I guess now I can offer you the $ back guarantee. Thx 4 not stealing it!
  2. Rob Zombie grew up in Haverhill, MA I blv. I grew up next door. How come we make such dif movies? We drank the same h2o but dif koolaid..
  3. Intnl Panl on Climate Chg (IPCC) predicts up to 30% of species worldwd r @risk of extinctn @a glbl temp increase of a few degrees Celsius.
  4. @FrontAve I recommend you contact an Indie Film mag or blog and offer to cover it for them if they can get you press credentials.
  5. Throw out ystrdy’s papers & reYer yr brain: IndieFilm v3.o is blossmg right now & if u aren’t participatg in http://bit.ly/11hC60 u r 2late
  6. Wow. My A Thousand Phoenix Rising speech for Film Indep. has just been translated into Spanish: http://bit.ly/4fHbV
  7. Hey, whoever sent me the box set of LoveTrain: The Sound Of Philadelphia, thank you! But it seems an intern threw away any note that went w/
  8. RT @prachman: the more we learn things on our own through inspiration, the more we own them.
  9. Even when it is more questions than answers, it is worthy. It is part of our process of discovery.
  10. Great co Adventureland is in! Goodbye Solo, Life Is Hot in Cracktown, Nights & Weekends, Rudo y Cursi, Sunshine Cleaning, Trouble the Water
  11. With this I pass Babe Ruth’s HR ttl & Quaalude’s ID# in # of tweets. Old Good Machine office was 417. What is it all about? GadDagGodDog?
  12. Forget about exhib glut, what about DVD glut. So many great DVDs came out on Tuesday!
  13. @vdovault min wkly amount of intros is bcz IndieFilmBiz crumbling needlessly. We have tools content & knowhow but every1 is solo. Why?
  14. the P2P user attends 34% more movies in theaters, purchases 34% more DVDs & rents 24% more films than avg Internet user.http://bit.ly/3XO51I
  15. What would happen if we all introduced 10 of our associates, friends,comrades, contacts to each other every wk? This wk I’ve done >20.
  16. Qualities Of Better Film #29 of 32: LEAVING SOME THINGS UNEXPLAINED now up at: http://www.hammertonail.com/
  17. I used RSS feeds to gather info but my mailbox just filled up unread. Now I use Twitter for the same thing & I like it better.
  18. @chlotrudis U R right! “COLD SOULS was really good! Witty, funny, moving, visually stunning and original.” Everyone MUST see this film.
  19. @JavianAshtonLe Thanks 4 help on Adventureland. Still wondering how many others optd to help t artist vs stealing (& thus how to survive).
  20. Mike Goodridge is going to moderate conversation w/ Thomas Mai & me at Toronto Intl Film Financing Forum 9.13.09 I hope you can come.
  21. I am a fan of t “my mind’s been blown by the life I’ve chosen” genre of film. There’s been a bunch, but WeLiveInPublic does it really proud!
  22. My wife just said (lovingly) that in the Adventureland bts featurette my hair looks like PeeWeeHerman’s, only sideways! & she’s right…!
  23. Bordwell: Storytllg is * all about control. It smtmes obliges t viewr 2 take advntrs she couldnt imagine. http://trulyfreefilm.blogsp…
  24. @prachman Ah, don’t go looking for the brightside. It’s one of the reasons why most films are redundant and dull. Same thoughts retold.
  25. Thx @SportaboutSarah! Thx @dom_lefebvre Thx @CineVegas I love that you love Adventureland! The world should follow all of you!
  26. Avg Studio director? male, 93% white, prev directed 6.1 films, age 45.62. Hmmm… Ready for a change? http://bit.ly/6v5Tp
  27. Big Fan opens 8/28. I loved it. Patton Oswald & Kevin Corrigan are the best screen team since, since, since… just the best period.
  28. @filmstudiesff Thanks & I dig your stuff 2. Here’s to more thoughtful mindful film consideratn! Btw check out http://www.hammertonail.com/
  29. Want to help out a struggling IndieFilm producer? Tweet; “I love Adventureland”. Also “Buy the Adventureland DVD now!” Thanks muchly.
  30. Completed my Adventureland Tweet Sentiment check with http://twitrratr.com/ Gives clearest presentation of 3 but still more to be done w/.
  31. We need to put “love” next to Adventureland more often. Just checked http://twendz.waggeneredstr… and many mentions w/o sentiment.
  32. “The work goes on, the cause endures, the hope still lives and the dreams shall never die.” ~Ted Kennedy
  33. September 4th at 8pm, Alec Baldwin hosts WILLIAM KUNTSLER: DISTURBING THE UNIVERSE at Guild Hall in East Hampton. http://bit.ly/2TCRzq
  34. Here is something I really like about some films: http://thesearethosethings….
  35. Want to see a whole lot of great stuff? Check out: http://marcschiller.postero…
  36. RT @MarcDSchiller “This fan created vide for Grizzly Bear’s “Two Weeks” is absolutely lovely http://post.ly/2roW ” I 100% agree!
  37. Wondering what’s the best way for composers & musicians to break into FilmScoring? Surely there is some easy way to access filmmkrs.
  38. The best thing to do when you don’t have the money is work on the script. But what’s the second best thing to do?
  39. Our next Goldcrest Screening is Wed Sept 2nd. NY Premier of Pastor Brothers’ CARRIER starring Chris Pine & Lou Pucci. A Likely Story Prod.
  40. Tweetfeel says 71% of TwitterUniverse feel the right way about Adventureland — they love it! What did I do wrong that its not higher?
  41. I wonder how many ppleare going to race out & buy the ADVENTURELAND DVD when it hits the shelves today? How soon until it is on BitTorrent?
  42. Adventureland DVD hits the streets tomorrow. I am definitely putting this one in my collection.
  43. Just met with my IFP MADE IN NY mentoree — who’s great. You can’t SAVE INDIE FILM without being a mentor or 2 or 3. Better get yours asap.
  44. @kvpi print is a different sort of attentn & commitmt, & thus pleasure. We lose much with its loss. We gain w access & speed but lose more
  45. Fantastic! Harvey Pekar has a new comic up for free over at Smith: http://www.smithmag.net/pek… & follow him at:@PekarProject
  46. No News IS bad news. I nvr thought that havg a hometown newspaper was a privilege. I hope the NYTimes nvr goes bust: http://bit.ly/1JWP1x
  47. “The tree of crazy is an ever-present aspect of America’s flora.”: Rick Perlstien on Birthers, HealthCareHecklers etc: http://bit.ly/cJcUL
  48. @alisap27 tipped me to Poland’s Why Twitter Doesn’t Matter (Much) To Film Marketing: http://bit.ly/RDzqQ
  49. How great Costume Designer Arianne Phillips got started (& why she’s successful): http://bit.ly/18uP91
  50. Top Indie Distribs this yr? First Run & Zeitgeist. Then: Argot, IFC, Koch Lorber, Regent & Strand – @indigochameleon http://bit.ly/ZblWc
  51. RT @gflahive By Michael Erard: A Short Manifesto on the Future of Attention http://bit.ly/4SGYr #filmmakers MUST READ
  52. Bordwell: “Storytelling is artistic tyranny, and not always benevolent.” http://bit.ly/dICOz
  53. RT @noahharlan Bordwell on transmedia, specifically work of @lanceweiler and @tedhope (& HT’s @filmmakermag) http://is.gd/2sTxg – Must Read
  54. Bordwell: Storytelling is crucially all about control. It sometimes obliges the viewer to take adventures she could not imagine.
  55. Chris Jordan AGAIN does some great art that dramatizes the real story well:http://bit.ly/phIk5
  56. 90% Americans don’t listen to music on cell: http://bit.ly/Wscdj but Blkbstr puts movies on some cells: http://bit.ly/OOAQX
  57. @powertothepixel ‘s position on digital innovation should be adopted by all: http://bit.ly/gSDnu
  58. American consumers looking for less exp alt to local cineplexes (click twice to enlarge: http://bit.ly/SqYPG (thanks to Reed Martin)
Categories
Truly Free Film

Update: Screenwriter Labs & Writers Colonies

Hmmm…. Is the Facebook community more activist, participatory, and just generally helpful than the blogging world? These comments came in on my FB page via my inquiry here on behalf of a filmmaker about other labs & colonies.

Producer Jack Lechner pointed out:

The colonies aren’t labs — they’re just places to write. There’s no mentoring or criticism involved, although colonists sometimes present their new work to each other.

Cornelia Ravenal made a comment that:

Waiting to be accepted by one of the more prestigious labs often takes 2 or 3 tries, as in years. Best guidance to get started immediately is John Truby’s book THE ANATOMY OF STORY: 22 STEPS TO BECOMING A MASTER STORYTELLER or his genre CDs. In fact, anything he offers at http://www.truby.com is useful.

Filmmaker Rodney Evens added:

Hi Ted- I just finished the Binger FilmLab’s Director’s Coaching Programme which was fantastic (http://www.facebook.com/l/;www.binger.nl). They also have a screenplay development program as well which is 6 months.

I can also recommend Virginia Center for the Creative Arts (VCCA), Hambidge, the Vermont Studio Center and the Edward Albee colony (in Montauk during the summer). I have also heard good things about The Millay Colony, Ucross, Djerassi and Blue Mountain Center but haven’t been to those. Chateau de La Napoule in the south of France is great and people have also said good things about Sacatar in Brazil. http://www.facebook.com/l/;resartis.org is a good website for international residencies and here is a book for domestic places:

http:www.amazon.com/Artists-Writers-Colonies-Retreats-Residencies/dp/0936085347/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1251118035&sr=8-2

I write a lot at art colonies and residency programs and find it very helpful to get away from the distractions of everyday life. They definitely work for me.

Jade Wu these additional Screenwriting Labs & Colonies recommendations:

Film Independent (LA) – many projects graduate to production and festivals(LA Film Fest and Spirit Awards)

IFP Narrative Lab (NY) – a younger program, but has helped projects move to the next level and most have played the festival circuit

BlueCat Seminars (throughout U.S. cities) – the contest is run by Gordy Hoffman (Love Liza) and has garnered reputable status. Didn’t do the seminars, but I placed as Semi-finalist – no cigar in the reality scheme of things, but I was thrilled nevertheless. Ballast won a BlueCat Award.

Disney/ABC Writing Fellowship (and they pay you to learn). I was a Fellow in the Daytime Drama Series Writing Program.

Marilyn Horowitz, whose on FB, is a great teacher/mentor. She’s teaches at NYU, in addition to her own seminars (private/group/online).

The answer really depends on what this filmmaker expects/wants out of a lab and where he/she falls on the writing level scale. “Learning how to write” and “developing a screenplay” are very different goals.

Screenwriter Caitlin McCarthy (and TFF blog contributor) said:

The Atlanta Film Festival Screenwriters Lab is amazing. They accept six people each year. I participated in their inaugural lab in 2007 with Joy Lusco Kecken and Michael Lucker as my mentors. I can’t think of any other screenwriting labs out there, other than what’s been posted. This is why more labs are needed in the industry for up-and-coming screenwriters who want to develop their craft and find mentors. Without labs, budding writers are on their own. MacDowell and Yaddo won’t accept budding writers, from my experience. They seem to want more established artists with at least one produced work. The Virginia Center for the Creative Arts is supposed to be more “budding writer” friendly, but I’ve never applied to it, so I don’t know how it really is. The San Francisco Film Society has a Djerassi/SFFS Screenwriting Fellowship which provides a one-month residency for emerging or established screenwriters in the Santa Cruz Mountains. But it doesn’t provide mentors like the labs. More labs, please!!! The fact that no one can rattle off a list of labs here speaks volumes. The film industry as a whole is not actively trying to mentor new talent. The question is WHY? So no one new can break in unless by some miracle these days? Makes you wonder….

Not bad, considering we have yet to have a comment directly here. Dang.
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Truly Free Film

Maybe It Shouldn’t All Be Free

I find the current debate regarding micro-payments for print journalism fascinating.  Each morning, I work to talk myself out of a panic that we will soon be deprived of all the great newspapers, writers, and journalists.  A friend chimed in that after the papers fall then next up is the free internet.  The line of dominos is really easy to imagine. 

But maybe it shouldn’t all be free.  I, like all my film friends, are looking for a model of survival, no longer success.  Reading Steve Brill’s defense of micro-payments makes me wonder if there is anything that film fans and workers are really committed to paying for.  Variety & Hollywood Reporter start to feel like real luxuries these days.  Guilds and unions, like membership in IFP and Film Independent, are crucial in the same way that if you want a vaccine to work, virtually everyone has to partake — but my son still screams with every shot (maybe if vaccines had a networking attribute like these organizations my son would respond better…). 
But what will we pay for?  My Netflix subscription seems like a better value with each new film that is available for streaming, even if I still prefer DVDs.  As they just hit 10 Million subscribers it seems that everyone will pay for access to every film.  As a devourer of new international film, I need a festival diet of projected new work from around the world every two or three months.  It’s one of the reasons I can never leave NY.  Jaman may offer it online but I need to see it large in a room full of people.  And as much as I like to see it, I like to talk about it, read about it.  So what will I pay for?  I honestly don’t know.
Anyway, read Brill’s suggestion, and ponder the applicability to our world of film.  I am.
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Truly Free Film

Film Independent’s Project Involve

We’ve had a fair amount of discussion about the need for producer training programs here.  The need for training programs in other film-related disciplines is equally pressing.  The need for training programs that focus on diversity and champion under-represented groups is particularly of need.  Let’s face it, the film industry remains a bastion of privilege, and unless serious efforts are made, everyone just keeps helping out people that are like themselves.

Luckily, one of the longest running training and most successful programs is dedicated to increasing diversity in the film biz, and that is Film Independent’s Project: Involve.  THERE IS A FEBRUARY 23rd DEADLINE so best download your application here, fill it out, and submit it pretty damn quick!

WHAT IS PROJECT:INVOLVE?

Project:Involve is Film Independent’s signature diversity program, dedicated to increasing cultural diversity in the film industry by cultivating the careers of under-represented filmmakers. The program, which runs from October through June, selects filmmakers from culturally diverse backgrounds and filmmaking tracks. The Fellows are paired one-on-one with a mentor from the film industry. In addition to the mentorship, the Fellows also attend filmmaking workshops, community screenings, and receive career development assistance.

During the nine-month program, the Fellows are assigned a 2-minute short film project. They work in pairs to develop and shoot a short film that incorporates the concept of diversity in our every day life.

40 Fellows are selected for the program each year.

Project:Involve Fellows receive:

A one-year membership with Film Independent
A pass to the Los Angeles Film Festival (Westwood Pass)
Alumni support
Applications are accepted in the following categories:

Acquisitions, Acting, Agent/Manager, Cinematography, Composing, Costume Design, Development Exec, Directing, Documentary, Editing, Entertainment Law, Film Programming, Marketing/Distribution, Music, Producing, Production Design, Screenwriting, Sound, and Writer/Director.

Read more about here.  And again, download the application here.
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Truly Free Film

Hope For The Future pt. 10: The List #’s 39 -42

39. Producers are being recognized for doing more than just sourcing or providing the financing and administrative structure to a production. A good producer makes a better film and not just by making it run smoothly. Sundance – who has been recognizing producers’ contributions for years — just held its first Creative Producing Initiative. There still remains a lack of clarity in the public’s mind as to what a producer does, but when leading organizations like Sundance take the effort not only to clarify that producing is a creative act, but also help producers to build their creative skills, change will come. This clarity and the restoration of the integrity of the producer credit won’t just restore producers own recognition of self-worth, but will lead to stronger films.

40. Senior film organizations, like the IFP, Film Independent, and IFTVA/AFM are working together, along with advocacy organizations like Public Knowledge to try to maintain key policies crucial to indie’s survival like Net Neutrality and Media Consolidation. If everyone with common interests learned to work together…. Wow.

41. There appears to be real growth beyond navel gazing in terms of subject matter among the new filmmakers. Filmmakers aren’t just interested in whether the boy gets the girl or the boy gets the boy. We seem to be moving beyond strict interpersonal relations in terms of content and looking at a much bigger picture. Chris Smith’s THE POOL, Sean Baker’s PRINCE OF BROADWAY and TAKEOUT, Lance Hammer’s BALAST, and Lee Isaac Chung’s MUNYURANGABO to name a few, point to a much more exciting universe of content to come.

42. New technology makes it all a whole lot better. Whether it is new digital cameras or formats, digital projection, or editing systems, it just keeps getting better, faster, lighter, cheaper. Reduced footprints, sharper images, and quicker turnaround: who amongs us does not believe all these things lead to better films?

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Truly Free Film

They Want To Give You Money

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.