I don’t think we can get a clearer marker that times have fully changed in the Film Biz than James Schamus leaving Focus Features. And this is a curve that is not in a positive direction.
With his bow tie no longer the Focus brand, we can firmly say that the corporate suits see no business in art. James made money from beauty, found gold by reaching higher,
By Jacob Kornbluth (See Part One HERE).
So there I was. I had totally given up on my film career in LA, and gone to live in Berkeley, CA. In trying to put together a fiction film, I had met Robert Reich and become friends with him. Reich and I had started making short videos together, they were successful, and I had begun thinking about how to make a film about what had happened to the American economy and the Middle class. But I had no idea where to start.
The first thing I did was try to get some sense of who was making films in the Bay Area.
By Marc Schiller
Back in early May, I had the pleasure of attending “A2E: Artist To Entrepreneur” a fantastic lab organized by Ted Hope and the San Francisco Film Society. Over a three day period, a group of extremely talented filmmakers, technologists, marketing and distribution experts came together to explore new paradigms for film distribution.
On the first day of the lab, Ted and his team passed around a worksheet that all of the filmmakers were asked to complete. While filmmakers are often asked to submit information when applying for funding, few are compelled to explore their film from a marketing and distribution perspective as effectively and as thoroughly as the A2E worksheet demanded.
If you make films, it is your responsibility to help others discover what is good to watch. If you love films — or a particular type of film — it is your responsibility to help others learn to appreciate those films too. “Discovery” is not something you can expect others to EVER do unless you yourself embrace the practice first. “Spreading the word” is part of a filmmaker’s job description, albeit sincerely & authentically.
Independent filmmaking must be a community activity if it is to survive. You can’t leave good films alone. You have to make it your battle to get those movies seen. If you don’t accept this as your mission, you are helping to hand indie it’s death sentence.
I love
Part One: The Stuggles You Are Facing and How You Can Cope
By Jon Reiss
Since the collapse of the traditional distribution for filmmakers in 2007 we as a community have been struggling to figure out new solutions of how to monetize our work – in other words: how to make money from our content and create a sustainable living. In this two part series I will reformulate and address some of the problems we are facing – but also present some potential solutions for independent filmmakers. These thoughts come from a creating a series of new presentations on Artistic Entrepreneurship over the past year that I presented at the recent SFFS A2E Workshop (http://www.sffs.org/Filmmaker360/A2E-Artist-to-Entrepreneur.aspx) and this spring’s IFP Filmmaker Labs (http://www.ifp.org/programs/labs/). I welcome your comments!
While there were a number of factors that caused an upheaval of the distribution landscape in 2007 and while there have been many positive signs of improvement, filmmakers and all artists still face an enormously changed market for content.
Imagine one of the most beautiful places in the United States. Give yourself a month there. Imagine a private room designed by a great architect. Add on a miles and miles of a private art park, kind of like Storm King in NY but with the work hidden and no one else to encounter in the woods. Did I mention old growth forests? Add that too. Now sprinkle on a dozen artists of different disciplines. Top it with a private chef.
Would that be enough for you to apply for a screenwriting fellowship?
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Two weeks ago at The San Francisco Film Society we launched A2E (Artist To Entrepreneur), a specific line of programming designed to provide filmmakers with the necessary entrepreneurial skills and best practices needed to have a sustainable creative life. We launched with A2E OnRamp, a workshop to allow filmmakers to budget, schedule, and predict possible revenues for their film throughout the direct distribution process.
Before we rolled up our sleeves to start the practical, I warmed up the crowd with a series of short lectures focusing on what all filmmakers should know about the film biz, the current culture, and recommended best practices for themselves. Last week I shared with you what we discussed about culture in general. Prior to that, I shared with you what I felt we had to recognize and accept, at least for now, about the film business.
Today, I offer you my recommendations on best practices in times like these if you want to have a hope of a sustainable creative life as a filmmaker. Don’t worry if it looks like there is more than you can currently achieve. It is a process and you are not alone. It gets better. We can build it better together.
