DIY
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WATCHING SETH FISHER MAKE A MOVIE
There’s a lot of filmmaking advice out there, but as you know from reading this magazine and website, I favor instruction from people who are in the trenches themselves. Director Seth Fisher sent me an email about his movie, Passing Harold Blumenthal, a while back, and I’m only just getting to it now. Consequently, I missed the chance to plug his Kickstarter — not that he needed it, though, because he successfully raised $50,000. But it’s not too late to plug his blog, which I’ve just paged through. At Watch Me Make a Movie, Fisher is walking you through his […]
by Scott Macaulay on Jul 26, 2011 -
The Microbudget Conversation: What Is Regionalism?
Last summer, at about the same time I was shooting Orphaned, Columbia Pictures was shooting second-unit/chase scenes for Salt here in Albany, NY. Apparently we have a really dope set of off-ramps and bridges that made it necessary to shoot one scene in Upstate New York. They brought in all their own people and all their own gear. Many of the actors that worked on Orphaned got day-play extra roles and stand-in gigs, and downtown was a mess for a week. The film community of Albany was pissed and ecstatic all at the same time, and the experience acted as […]
by John Yost on Jul 19, 2011 -
MY OWN FILM SCHOOL
There are some jobs that bring about as much pain and rejection as they do inspiration and success. Screenwriting might be at the top of that list of professions. For every motivational tale of years spent toiling, hunched over the keyboard finally resulting in a six-figure sale, there are thousands of writers who continue to pound keys in front of just the pale, blue glow, still dreaming of being illuminated by a larger spotlight. Beginning writers are known to try everything in order to fulfill these dreams. They spend hours scanning the internet for names of agents and managers. They […]
by Eric Samulski on May 16, 2011 -
Zenith Creator Vladan Nikolic
As Vladan Nikolic’s Zenith continues its slow roll-out — finishing its U.S. screenings while premiering on Amazon and iTunes — I thought I’d post on the blog this piece on the film that originally ran in slightly different form in our Winter, 2011 issue. “What is Zenith?” was the question posed on About Top Secret and other conspiracy-related websites last Spring. Paranoid-minded posters jumped in and followed a breadcrumb-trail of online clues relating to everything from the Bavarian Illuminati and fluoridated drinking water to biochemistry and the New World Order. They clicked through a maze of 50 other websites (priestoftruth.com, […]
by Scott Macaulay on May 4, 2011 -
Milyoni’s David Raycroft on the Facebook iFanstore
After reading that Warner Bros was streaming The Dark Knight and soon thereafter the Harry Potter films though Facebook, I immediately thought it was a genius move. More information is shared on Facebook, and this would be a great way to close the window between discovery and consumption. In addition, on Facebook distributors and filmmakers are provided very meaningful analytics — and then, of course, there’s the monetization aspect. In Part One of this two-part email interview I talk to David Raycroft, co-founder and Vice-President of Product and Operations of Milyoni, the company that made this all happen. He talks […]
by Malaika Mose on Apr 27, 2011 -
OPEN SOURCE FILM TOUR – OR HOW I’M TRYING TO SPARK A POPULIST FILM MOVEMENT
“You have no idea what you’ve created, and how many people this will help” I was wrapped in warm embrace with a woman I had just barely met when she whispered this sentence into my ear. We were standing in the lobby of the Egyptian Theater in downtown Boise, Idaho where my film, JENS PULVER | DRIVEN, had just let out after a lengthy and fairly emotional Q&A with me and Jens Pulver, the subject of my film. This surprising interaction was the first of many that night, and one that came as quite a shock to both myself and Pulver. I […]
by Gregorybayne on Apr 4, 2011 -
BUILDING AN ONLINE MARKETING PLAN
At the Los Angeles New Music Seminar yesterday Ian Rogers from the fulfillment service Topspin gave a talk titled “Getting Practical: a Step-by-Step Sales Plan to Building an Online Sales Plan That Works.” Topspin has posted the PowerPoint slides on its website. The specific plan is oriented towards musicians, but Topspin services filmmakers too, and there’s relevant info here for those looking to build an online business. It’s all about converting casual listeners to fans and followers, getting them to throw down for the swanky merch and not just the buck downloads, and there are recommendations here for maintaining a […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 18, 2011 -
Brent Green on Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then
Brent Green is a self taught filmmaker and artist who lives and works in the Appalachian hills of Pennsylvania. His unique hand drawn and stop motion short films have played venues including the Sundance Film Festival, the L.A. Film Festival and the International Film Festival Rotterdam. He was also one of Filmmaker’s 25 New Faces in 2005. Recently he wrapped up filming his first feature-length film, Gravity Was Everywhere Back Then. Shot entirely in stop motion using human beings, the film tells the true story of Leonard and Mary Wood, two people joyously brought together but separated through forces far […]
by Webadmin on Feb 17, 2011 -
Are You A Nobody Filmmaker ?
Filmmaker Christopher Boghosian has a great post up today at Truly Free Film. Titled, “I am a Nobody Filmmaker,” it’s not a self-pitying whine but rather a rational discussion of what a young and relatively unknown filmmaker can expect from the independent film marketplace as well as audience. He writes: I’m a nobody filmmaker: I don’t have a recognizable name nor a recognizable film. In essence, most of the world couldn’t care less about me nor my movies. This sounds pathetic, I know, but coming to grips with this reality has truly liberated me and provided an invaluable perspective on […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 7, 2011 -
A RESPONSE FROM NEOFLIX’S JC
Before I posted Thursday’s blog post about financial troubles at independent fulfillment service Neoflix, I tried to reach its owner and president, JC, for his account of the situation. Tonight I received from him an email addressed to me and Jon Reiss, whose blog post I included in my posting. I am reprinting JC”s response here in its entirety Dear Jon and Scott, Those in the Indie film community who are interested in self-distribution deserve a direct update from me on Neoflix shutting down. I hope you will include this letter in its totality in any articles or blog posts […]
by Scott Macaulay on Feb 5, 2011
