Filmmaking
Filmmaking
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What Do You Do When Your Funding Falls Through? PROXiMITY
What do you do when the funding for your short movie falls through? Make a different short movie! That’s what Ryan Connolly of Film Riot did after a large portion of the funding he was counting on for his big-budget short film project Outsiders fell through just days before shooting was to begin. In a similar situation most people would probably spend a week or so re-evaluating their life choices. But since they had the gear and the people had already flown in, Connolly decided instead to come up with, and shoot, a different short. The result is PROXiMITY, an […]
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Nymphomaniac Set for March and April US Release
The latest surprise twist in Nymphomaniac‘s marathon marketing campaign is not one of the visual variety. Well, not yet. Magnolia Pictures announced today its US theatrical and VOD release dates for Nymphomaniac: Part One and Nymphomaniac: Part Two. Forgoing the festival circuit, the first part of von Trier’s latest provocation will be available on demand March 6, 2014, and in theaters March 21, 2014, with Part Two released on VOD April 3, 2014, and theatrically, April 18, 2014. Nymphomaniac: Part One unfolds as Seligman (Stellan Skarsgård) discovers a beaten Joe (Charlotte Gainsbourg) in an alley way, and takes her into his home […]
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“I Can’t Hate Anyone Unless I Love Them:” Drew Tobia, Eleanore Pienta and Rachel Wolther on See You Next Tuesday
Once in a while, a film comes across your radar that plays so perfectly to your sensibilities, it seems someone handcrafted it with you in mind. These sorts of films are usually small, personal endeavors, that — preference-pending — are too niche for mass audiences, and struggle to find the complimentary festival or forum that will realize their loaded potential. Drew Tobia’s See You Next Tuesday is the lastest entry in this unjustly underground canon. A cult hit in the making if there ever was one, See You Next Tuesday concerns Mona, a pregnant, loudmouthed, lonesome and unhinged grocery store cashier, inhabited by the utterly uninhibited […]
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Visual Effects on a Budget – Don’t Fix It in Post
Visual effects supervisor Scott Squires appeared this week in an online webinar for Moviola.com entitled “Visual Effects on a Limited Budget.” His number one tip? – Don’t fix it in post. The presentation began with a look at the different roles in Visual Effects and the factors to consider when designing shots. Squires, who worked on movies such as The Mask and Star Wars: Episode 1 – The Phantom Menace, then spent some time stressing how important planning is, and how shooting it right the first time, rather than fixing it in post, will save you time and money. It’s particularly important to avoid […]
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Only 7% of U.K. Films Earn a Profit, Claims BFI Report
Only 7% of British films released from 2003 to 2010 were profitable, claims a BFI report issued this week at London’s Screen Summit. From Michael Rosser’s article in Screen Daily: The stats showed that just 3.1% of films with budgets under £500,000 turned a profit. The numbers increase as budgets rise: £0.5m-£2m: 4.1% £2m-£5m: 4.6% £5m-£10m: 12.1% £10m+: 17.4% Speaking on stage, Steele said: “What does one do faced with those sorts of numbers? Clearly, portfolio investment is necessary to negate the risk and secondly, qualitative judgement. Try to choose filmmakers projects that have above average chance of making a […]
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How Many Films Does The Average Low-Budget Filmmaker Make?
Independent filmmaking is the land of the never-ending benchmark. If you’re not heaving a sigh after finally completing your film, you’re praying it’s accepted into a festival, that someone buys it, that it finds its audience, that you reap a modicum of returns, before daring to do it all over again. Or maybe, not. With the assistance of BFI, British producer Stephen Follows managed to fashion a list of all UK films budgeted at under £500k since 2008, and over £500k since 2003, for a data comparison on the career trajectories of filmmakers behind 2,737 films. His findings, while vaguely depressing, are […]
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American Hustle Tops New York Film Critics Circle Awards
If last night’s Gothams marked the first stop in the ensuing months-long award season, today’s New York Film Critics Circle Awards kicked off the circuit’s highbrow counterpart. At best, the two distinct forms of awards bodies function like a venn diagram, with critics bolstering fringe contenders for the televised shows, while marching to the beat of their own drum in equal measure. The NYFCC, however, has often tended to the inoffensive, lauding popular names and titles that will be all too familiar come March. This go around, they chose to throw their weight behind David O. Russell’s latest Hollywood fare, American […]
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Director Ryan Lightbourn shoots Sleepwalkers with the RED Scarlet and a Blackmagic Pocket Cinema Camera
Ryan Lightbourn grew up in the Bahamas, but went to business school in the U.S. Becoming interested in music, Lightbourn transferred to Full Sail University after graduating. He wanted to become a music producer, but after playing with Final Cut Pro he started making “goofy little short films and music videos with my friends.” Switching to the film program he quickly decided that he could learn more by going out and actually shooting things than by going to class, so he dropped out and bought some gear. He continued shooting music videos, but always wanted to make films, and in […]
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Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez on the Importance of Transmedia
As a continuation of Filmmaker‘s coverage on upcoming courses at the MINY Media Center by IFP, Starlight Runner CEO Jeff Gomez opted to share a few of his thoughts on why transmedia is no mere trend. “At the turn of the century,” notes Gomez, “our entire communications system went into hyperdrive, and has only been picking up speed. At the same time, our three network, three newspaper, three neighborhood movie theater world has been blown to a million pieces.” How one capitalizes on the wealth of new media is exactly what Gomez aims to instruct in his masterclass, “Creating Blockbuster […]
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How Much Can Your Film Make From Festival Screening Fees?
Film festival screening fee revenue is often a contentious topic, with festivals arguing the value of community and exposure while filmmakers point to the fact that the regional festival circuit is, for many, taking the place of traditional theatrical distribution. But what kind of numbers are being argued over? The Film Collaborative sends out a regular e-blast, and the most recent tackles just this topic. Gathering data from the films they’ve been involved with over the past several years, The Film Collaborative has determined screening fee revenue ranges based on films’ niches and premiere venues. Yes, where a film premieres […]
