I had the pleasure of participating in the panel “New Narratives: Building An Interactive Storyworld” at SXSW this year with Karim Ahmad of ITVS & Future States, Aina Abiodun of Storycode , and Mike Knowlton of Murmur. It was a lively panel and we packed the house.
I had a few takeaways from the panel I thought you might like me to share. 20 to be exact.
by Kirsty Stark (Producer), Ella Macintyre (PMD) and Victoria Cocks (Writer/Director)
Part 5. Release: Wrap-Up & What’s Next
Our final step in this stage of the Wastelander Panda journey was to release the films. We did this in three stages – a preview at the SXSW Film Festival in March, two back-to-back screenings at a local cinema in Adelaide on May 27th, and an online release that same evening.
We had different reasons and goals for each of these three steps:
By Jim Cummings
The amount of digital piracy in a country is correlated to the average internet speed. It would be very time consuming to download Avatar on a dial-up modem, so many in El Salvador will have to buy a hard copy, but Americans often watch movies online for free simply by googling the movie’s title followed by the word “streaming”. As if this isn’t already easy enough, advancements in internet speeds will only make watching movies for free easier, or in my opinion, ubiquitous.
In 2010, a filmmaker friend of mine raised
Did you notice what happened yet again last week? The appreciation for diversity in our culture was demonstrated. Or was it another vote against pure market forces as the driver of culture? Depending on how you squint, you might have recognized it as either the proof of principle that a change is going to come, or a battle cry that is starting to build towards a universal “I am mad as hell and I am not going to take it anymore”. A downpour of bricks thrown with love towards a beast that maybe just won’t ever get it? Hope or fear? I think what I heard is that hope is here.
By Rob Millis
Good news for filmmakers: there has never been a better time for independent distribution.
When we unveiled the Dynamo Player at SXSW in 2010, Will Coghlan and I gave an overview of every similar online rental system available to independents. At the time this included Amazon’s Instant Video, YouTube’s brand new Rentals program and — nothing else.
We always thought our greatest competition would come from companies like Amazon and YouTube, but while many startups have entered the market, these two goliaths have been painfully slow to introduce new features and improve their terms for filmmakers (Amazon still asks you to mail in a DVD!). Meanwhile, a flurry of transactional video-on-demand (TVOD) services like Distrify and Chill since launched, and even Vimeo is cautiously getting into the game this year.
By Rob Millis
Of more than 300,000 people going to SXSW this week, there are four whom every filmmaker should pay especially close attention to. They are easy to find if you’re going to be in Austin this week, because they will all be part of the Meet the Insiders sessions. For those of you staying at home, bookmark this list and do a little googling to keep tabs on what these four gurus are up to.
Ingrid Kopp, Tribeca Film Institute
Ingrid Kopp has been deeply involved in breaking new ground for independent filmmakers for over a decade. From her time at Channel 4 in the UK to running the US arm of Shooting People to her work with Tribeca Film Institute, she has a uniquely valuable understanding of where film has been and where it is going.
If we didn’t have the Indie Film support organizations, you wouldn’t have indie films in the theater. Cinereach, IFP, Film Independent, SxSW, Tribeca, Sundance, and yes, my new home, the San Francisco Film Society — it takes more than a village; it takes a freakin’ army.
The proof is in the pudding. Look at all the films in theaters this week. All these films were discovered at Sundance and supported by these various organizations. Where would they be without them? And that’s just the tip of the iceberg. And just the start. If you don’t go see them — and soon — our very culture will be threatened!
BEASTS OF THE SOUTHERN WILD written by Benh Zeitlin and Lucy Alibar and directed by Benh Zeitlin
http://www.foxsearchlight.com/beastsofthesouthernwild/
HELLO I MUST BE GOING written by Sarah Koskoff and directed by Todd Louiso
http://hello.oscilloscope.net/
KEEP THE LIGHTS ON written by Ira Sachs and Mauricio Zacharias and directed by Ira Sachs
http://keepthelightsonfilm.com/
LITTLE BIRDS written and directed by Elgin James
SLEEPWALK WITH ME written by Mike Birbiglia, Seth Barrish, and Joe Birbiglia and directed by Mike Birbiglia and Seth Barrish
http://www.sleepwalkmovie.com/
COMPLIANCE written and directed by Craig Zobel
http://www.magpictures.com/compliance/
THE WORDS written and directed by Brian Klugman and Lee Sternthal
