For the second year in a row, Adobe Project 1324 and Sundance Institute are teaming up for a short film challenge to find bold new voices in the next generation of filmmakers. If you’re a filmmaker between the ages of 18 and 24, you can create and submit an original one to eight minute film exploring the theme “What’s Next?” “We encourage you to respond as broadly or specifically to the prompt as possible,” advises the Adobe Project 1324 web site. According to the Sundance Institute, films will be evaluated for technical excellence, demonstration of an original voice, innovative storytelling and strong […]
Last month, The Redford Center announced the launch of Redford Center Grants, a grant program aimed at supporting the production of films that seek to raise global awareness of environmental issues. Funded by The New York Community Trust, The Redford Center Grants program will support filmmakers with feature-length projects that are in early stages of development and that are focused on driving awareness, education and action on environmental topics. Though there is no specification that the films must be non-fiction, on the list of Films We Love, The Redford Center highlights documentaries such as Super Size Me, Gasland, Virunga, The Cove, and […]
At Filmmaker we have covered Section 181, the United States’ film tax credit incentive, quite extensively, but this article by entertainment attorney Daniel J. Coplan, Esq. is both a great overview of how the incentive actually works for individual investors as well as an explanation of one underknown element. The latter concerns the ability of some investors to deduct against ordinary income, not passive income. In short, if you’re raising private equity for a U.S. film this year, read on. (This piece was originally published on LinkedIn and is reprinted with permission.) The purpose of this short article is to […]
A new partnership between Alamo Drafthouse, the independent theater chain and distribution company, and Legion M, the world’s first fan-owned entertainment company, could help pave a new way for independent films to get financed and developed. The two companies announced yesterday that they had formed a strategic partnership to develop and distribute genre content, including feature films, shorts and virtual reality. On May 16th, Legion M launched a public equity crowdfunding campaign under new rules adopted by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the the 2012 JOBS Act. Since it launched the campaign last week, the company has raised $400,000 from accredited investors and […]
My name is Nijla Mu’min and I’m an award-winning writer/filmmaker from the East Bay Area. In March, I launched a Kickstarter campaign to raise $25,000 for my first feature film, Jinn. Jinn is a coming-of-age drama about a teenage black girl named Summer whose life is turned upside down when her mother abruptly converts to Islam and becomes a different person, prompting Summer to reevaluate her life and identity. It’s a fun, fresh exploration of millennial culture, Islam, and first love. Since the campaign ended, fellow independent filmmakers and colleagues have reached out to me for insight on how to […]
Jan Švankmajer, the 81-year-old surrealist Czech animator, along with his longtime producer Jaromír Kallista, has launched an Indiegogo campaign to fund the filmmaker’s final project, Insects. Švankmajer, known for his dark but playful satirical works, has directed over 30 short and feature-length films throughout his career including Alice, Little Otik, and Dimensions of Dialogue. As a pioneer of stop-motion animation, he has had a direct influence on the works of Terry Gilliam, Tim Burton, David Lynch, and the Brothers Quay, among many others. Švankmajer wrote the screenplay for Insects, which is loosely based on “The Insect Play” by the Čapek brothers, an allegorical comedy from 1922 […]
The Venice Production Bridge, a platform connecting European and international producers with potential sales agent, distributors and financiers able to provide final financing for their projects, announced today a new Gap Financing Market to take place during this year’s Venice Film Festival. Running September 2 – 4, the initiative will curate a selection of 25 European and international projects seeking the final 30% of their financing. Projects can be at any stage, from development to post-production, but must prove that the 70% of their existing financing is secure. Significantly, the initiative is open to both documentaries as well as fiction […]
Though he wrote the novel on which David Fincher’s 1999 hit Fight Club was adapted, novelist Chuck Palahniuk has never written a screenplay. That will change with the upcoming film adaptation of the author’s 2002 novel Lullaby. Palahniuk will executive produce and co-write the screenplay with director Andy Mingo. Along with producer Josh Leake, the team has turned to Kickstarter to raise $250,000 to fund production of the film. Lullaby follows the life of Carl Streator, an over-the-hill reporter whose family mysteriously died years earlier. Palahniuk wrote the novel during the murder trial of the man eventually convicted of murdering his father. “Chuck doesn’t […]
Raising over $1.1 million on Kickstarter, Who the F*@% is Frank Zappa (working title) recently shattered the crowdfunding record for a documentary project, previously held by the Bill Nye film. Directed by Alex Winter (Deep Web), the film is an authorized exploration of the iconic musician’s life and work. Of course, the project benefited from Zappa’s name recognition and hardcore fan base. But that alone isn’t enough to carry a crowdfunding campaign. In order to drive engagement, the filmmakers extended the campaign far beyond Kickstarter itself with coordinated benefit screening events of Zappa’s concert film Roxy: The Movie around the world, additional “Add On Rewards” including […]
Despite outliers such as Alex Ross Perry and Todd Haynes, the general consensus among independent filmmakers is that shooting on film is too expensive to be feasible. Over the past year, Kodak has been working to get the word out that shooting on film is a possibility – even for low-budget indies. Along with Kickstarter, the Eastman Kodak Company today announced a new initiative to support independent filmmakers who want to shoot on film. The program is open to cinematographers launching a Kickstarter campaign in order to bring their vision to life using 35mm or 16mm film. Four directors with upcoming Kickstarter campaigns […]