I am using Kickstarter to fund my latest feature film, Somewhere in the Middle. The film follows the intersecting lives of three individuals in three overlapping relationships. The way it’s told is unique, not only because we rewind and see different moments from different perspectives, but also because we started without a script. My first feature August the First was made the traditional way. I sat down with my writing partner, wrote a script for two years and afterwards we filmed it. The results were good. The film premiered at the SXSW Film Festival and was well traveled on the […]
Louise Rosen is a media executive with more than a quarter-century of experience. She formed Louise Rosen Ltd. in 1996 “to specialize in setting up international television pre-sales and co-productions on behalf of independent documentary and non-fiction producers.” She has done everything from research and budgeting to distribution and management. Among her credits are Oscar, Emmy, Sundance, Prix Italia, and International Emmy award-winning projects. Suffice to say, she knows a thing or two about documentaries and getting your film made. Luckily for filmmakers without Rosen’s breadth of experience (or those who do, but can still learn a thing or two), […]
The Tribeca Institute’s artist program Tribeca All Access, now 10 years old, today announced 11 new projects that it is supporting. Two of these are by 2012 “25 New Faces” alums: Long Year Begin, a doc project co-helmed by Malika Zouhali-Worrall (Call Me Kuchu), and Terence Nance’s political thriller The Lobbyists, a very intriguing follow-up to An Oversimplification of Her Beauty. Other promising projects already on my radar that TAA is funding include Roots & Webs, a mushroom-themed doc produced by Beasts of the Southern Wild‘s Josh Penn; Obvious Child, Gillian Robespierre’s edgy rom com; and Pilgrim Song director Martha Stevens’ third feature, Papaw Easy. Commenting on Tribeca All Access’ […]
“There are no limits. There are only plateaus, and you must not stay there, you must go beyond them.” -Bruce Lee If you are pursuing something as ambitious as acting or filmmaking, you know that one of the most valuable assets you have is your time. I work full-time as a doctor, and if you work full-time like I do and you want to make it big in the film industry, you’ve got to learn how to make sacrifices and budget your time. For instance, I performed surgery this morning, did an interview at noon, and edited some scenes of […]
My film partner and I reached our crowdfunding goal for our documentary film project, The Keepers, last month. I previously wrote about some of the issues and questions about crowdfunding and documentary ethics that came up during our long campaign. This piece is a useful follow-up that explains how we were actually able to beat the odds and raise half of our goal in the final week. This was written with the hopes that other indie filmmakers can apply what we have learned to reach their own fundraising goals. What they say is true By now it’s common crowdfunding lore […]
Hacks, four-hour workweek condensations, and digital outsourcing — I’m often dubious about the efficacy of many strategies promising “the answer” when it comes to both creative and business endeavors. That said, “Hacking Kickstarter: How to Raise $100,000 in 10 Days (Includes Successful Templates, E-mails, etc.),” found on the blog of Four-Hour Work Week guru Tim Ferris, is an excellent walk-through of one very successful Kickstarter campaign, and it’s full of practical advice. The Kickstarter was for Soma, a designer water filter, but much of author Mike Del Ponte’s advice can be applied to filmmakers too. I don’t agree with 100% […]
I’ve been a huge fan of Frankie Latina’s since I saw his awesome debut feature, the new wave-tinged exploitation flick Modus Operandi, at CineVegas in 2009. Scott shared my love of the movie and that same summer put Latina on Filmmaker‘s “25 New Faces” list. Modus Operandi came out in 2010, and since then Latina has been somewhat quiet. Until now, that is. Yesterday he launched a Kickstarter campaign for his new film, Snap Shot, with an excellent, attention-grabbing video starring Danny Trejo, who’s one of the leads in Operandi and will also appear in this upcoming project. Latina’s $75,000 target […]
Is it possible to produce a cinematic narrative based on the collective wisdom of a tribe with no real actors? Can a film be made where true stories are brought to life by the people who have actually lived them? Joey L. not only believes it is possible, he has every intention of making it happen. By the age of 18, he was commissioned to photograph the movie poster for Twilight. Currently his work, on National Geographic’s Killing Lincoln promos, can be seen on billboards from Times Square to Sunset Boulevard. So how does someone who makes a living routinely […]
Last week, my production partner and I reached our Indiegogo film crowdfunding goal. We worked a ton, both on and offline, spun our wheels a bit, thought we set our goal too high, figured we might be harassing our friends too much, worried we picked the wrong time to fundraise, and grew concerned that our campaign was too long. But, in the end, we were able to course-correct and come out on top, beating the $15,000 goal by some $700, with the last $7,000 coming in the final four days of the campaign. Like anything that really tests your faith […]
Wanna give the finger to Big Pharma and maybe meet the Dalai Lama? Danish director Phie Ambo’s Free the Mind was one of my big discoveries at IDFA 2012. The film’s a truly revelatory exploration of the mindfulness movement, led here in the States by the University of Wisconsin’s Richard Davidson (who made Time magazine’s list of the 100 most influential people in the world back in 2006), an expert in “contemplative neuroscience” who moved into the field after being asked by none other than the Dalai Lama why modern neuroscience didn’t study kindness and compassion. Ambo’s doc is a […]