Self-Distribution

Q: If I decide to self-distribute my film will it hinder my chances of getting a traditional distribution deal?

A: No. The exception being if your film is headed for Sundance or Toronto and has a REALISTIC shot of being acquired by one of the mini-majors for an All-Rights deal. While many people WISH their finished film had this type of chance, only you can decide if this is the case. If you have a shot at the "big time", you would want to hold off on self-distribution until you see if you can get that type of deal. Oherwise, self-distribution can actually enhance your overall distribution strategy and it's quite common to Self-Distribution and pursue traditional distribution deals at the same time.

Q: I need to start paying my investors back. Can I actually make money with self-distribution?

A: Yes! Although it will entirely depend on what TYPE of self-distribution you execute, but you can actually start making money right away doing self-distribution
and the good part is that the money goes directly into your pocket (it's not gobbled up by a distributors or middle man).

Q: If I submit my film directly to Distributors, without the help of a sales agent will they take me seriously?

A: Yes, if you do it the correct way. First, you should have have a professional looking website and trailer, and you should email the distributor with a link to your trailer NOT just blindly send a screener. Doing this will significantly increase the chances that a distributor will take you seriously AND if you have done your market research before hand and know that the distributor you are approaching is a realistic candidate for your film, chances are if they like your trailer, they
will request that you submit a DVD screener to them.

Q: If I have a finished film, where do I start? Film festivals? Self Distribution? Submitting directly to distributors?

A: It all depends. You have to decide and be realistic about what type of film you have. Do you think it?s one that will play well at festivals? Is it a straight-to-DVD product? Does it have theatrical potential? These are only a few of the things
that you need to take into consideration when developing your over all distribution strategy.

If you have a low-budget horror film that isn't really a 'festival' type film, and if you need to start making money right away because you have investors breathing down your neck, then you might want to consider skipping the festival route, and going straight to U.S and foreign DVD distributors that you know actually buy
low-budget horror films (yes, they do exist!). Maybe you'll also want to explore some self distribution strategies simultaneously to submitting to DVD distributors as well.

No journey is possible without a destination. You will be more confident in yourself if you have a DEFINITIVE distribution strategy behind your film and if you knew the results you wanted to achieve with a specific road-map on how to get there. Do your research well and isn't that a nice way to start off the New Year?

(c) 2007, Stanley N. Lozowski. All Rights Reserved.

MARTIN McDONAGH'S "IN BRUGES"

WORLD PREMIERE OF MARTIN McDONAGH'S IN BRUGES TO OPEN 2008 SUNDANCE FILM FESTIVAL

The Sundance Institute has announced that the Opening Night Film for its 2008 Sundance Film Festival will feature the world premiere of IN BRUGES, written and directed by first-time feature filmmaker and award-winning playwright, Martin McDonagh.

With an international cast starring Academy Award-nominee Ralph Fiennes, Colin Farrell and Brendan Gleeson, IN BRUGES tells the suspenseful, twisted tale of two London hit men ordered to take a forced vacation in Bruges, Belgium, and how their subsequent time in exile goes awry.

Geoffrey Gilmore, the Director of the Sundance Film Festival stated that,“In many ways IN BRUGES is a quintessential Sundance film—it’s brutal, philosophical, funny, and totally original. Martin McDonagh is a masterful storyteller, a tremendously gifted playwright and provocative risk-taker and we are thrilled to showcase his feature-length directorial debut.”

McDonagh’s first foray into filmmaking was with a short film, SIX SHOOTER, also starring Gleeson, and this film which won the Academy Award for best live-action short film in 2006.

Winner of two Olivier Awards for the plays The Lieutenant if Inishmore and The Pillowman, Martin is also a four-time Tony Award-nominated playwright of The Beauty Queen of Leenane, The Lonesome West and The Pillowman. Born in London, McDonagh divides his time between England and Ireland.

After creating many scripts for radio plays early in his writing career, McDonagh is now recognized for his sharp dialogue and vivid storytelling that is both provocative and powerful. "I'm stunned and thrilled that IN BRUGES will be opening a festival as prestigious, and as cool, as Sundance, and I simply can't wait to attend," McDonagh said.

The 2008 Sundance Film Festival runs January 17-27, 2008 in Park City, Salt Lake City, Ogden, and Sundance, Utah.

LEARN MORE...© 2007 Penton Media, Inc.

http://reel-exchange.com/insider/Sundance_2008_Opening_Film

SEEING RED?

Are you thinking about using the Red camera on an upcoming project? Tune into this webinar series for real-world workflow alternatives available to you now.

Learn from leading cinematographers and editors about alternative workflows that will give you the most potential from your footage. What are the gotchas? Key choices? What’s available to you right now? What’s coming?

These two hour-and-a-half sessions will allow you to benefit from the lessons learned by early users who’ve developed best practices. And ask them questions that relate to your own workflow challenges during a rolling Q&A session.

Attendance to the webinar is limited, so reserve one or both dates today. See Red, stay off the bleeding edge!

Sign up for one at $85 or both at $145.

LEARN MORE...
https://secure.iian.ibeam.com/events/acce008/24644/

Screenwriter Jessica Goldberg

After six internationally performed plays to her credit and much respect in the legit community, Jessica Goldberg has made a daring midcareer shift from stage plays to screenplays in pursuit of a passion she developed as a movie usher.

Jessica is one of the ten best upcoming Screenwriters to watch.

Growing up in Woodstock, N.Y., she spent her teenage years working in an arthouse theater where, she says, her love for writing was fueled by modern silver-screen classics such as "Wings of Desire" and "Do the Right Thing."

Goldberg says living near the Big Apple eased her toward curtain calls rather than movie sets even though she watches many movies.

She enrolled in NYU's dramatic writing program and later Juilliard after high school. Then, she wrote a series of plays including "What You Need," which was commissioned by the Atlantic Theater Company. She also wrote the Off Broadway production "Refuge."

"I felt like theater was more accessible to me, but I think in the back of my mind I always wanted to write screenplays," she says. It's "such a wonderful way to merge actual playwriting with narrative."

With years of accolades from the dramatic community under her belt, including the honor of becoming a Tennessee Williams Fellow at the Univ. of the South, Goldberg decided to follow her dream of writing screenplays structured around meaty social conflict.

"I love films where the political meets the personal in people's lives -- really intense portraits of human beings," she says.

Her early screenplay work caught the attention of filmmaker Peter Berg and exec Sarah Aubrey at Universal and Imagine. They were convinced she could turn an emotionally weighty Vanity Fair article written by Buzz Bissinger--Berg's cousin--into a film. Aubrey says the scribe has a light, natural touch with dramatic material and was willing to tackle an ambitious project.

The result was "Absent Hearts," a teenage love story set on a Colorado military base where many young adults are growing up as one of their parents serves overseas in the Iraq War. Goldberg's script was motivated by the original article but evolved from relationships that she built with military families.

"Just by its very nature and by what's going on in the world, it's a very sensitive subject and it's easy to become a polemic," says Aubrey. "Jessica has avoided all of that but at the same time given us a really detailed portrait of that world and what it's like to be a kid on an Army base right now."

READ MORE...By DAVID FRIEND
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117967386.html?categoryid=2607&cs=1

© 2007, Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Seven Ways To Finance Your Independent Film

Financing your Independent Film
Not the final word, but his article will give you a look at the landscape you're dealing with when looking for film funding. I've heard of people selling T-shirts, saving up rebates and tips and having car washes to fund their films, so this list is just a starter list. Make your film with whatever method of financing works for you.

1.Private Investors

This is one of the most common ways to finance your independent film. Of course, everyone wants to know "but where do I find private investors for my film?". Unfortunately, there is no straight answer to this. I've heard of people finding private investors through friends, family, neighbors, local businesses, and even Craig's List (www.CraigsList.com). If you're sitting there saying, "Yeah, but I don't have any rich uncles" then all is not lost if you can get creative and pull together a little bit from here, a little bit from there and so on. I've even heard of filmmakers raising money from private parties through $100 or $1000 increments.

2.Development Deal

If you're looking for financing from a Studio or Mini-Major, here's the deal and it's called a Development Deal. You can't just send your script to a Studio or Mini-Major and ask them to finance it without them taking over COMPLETE control (that's right, you're out of the picture for now). What they will do is option your script, develop it in house, and IF it makes it into production, you'll get paid for the script eventually.

3.Pre-Sales

A Pre-Sale is when a Distributor who has good reason to believe that he will be able make money off your film in one way or another, pays you a distribution fee up-front, for the rights to distribute your film in a specific territory or territories once it's completed. Pre-sales used to be popular in the 80's and 90's when the DEMAND for independent films far out-weighed the SUPPLY. However, you can kiss those days good bye now that everyone and their brother can make a film with technological advances and cheap prices on digital cameras. It's no longer a Seller's market, but a Buyer's market, and the only way to get pre-sales for your film is to be an ESTABLISHED director with a track record of box office hits AND an A-list cast. This is usually the type of insurance distributors want these days before financing your film in the form of pre-sales.

4.Self Finance

Self-Financing may be the most realistic way to finance an indie for most people and it's surely the quickest way. You don't have to wait around for anyone to get back to you, or see deals fall apart, you just empty our your savings or max out your credit cards or both. Seriously, I don't recommend doing self-financing if it's going to put you or your family in financial jeopardy, but fortunately making films is cheaper than ever these days, so if you just want to go for it, spend whatever you can afford and get your film in the can now!

5.Tax Rebates

Several states have Tax Rebates for filmmakers who shoot films in their state (some examples are New Mexico and Louisiana). I know they will only finance a certain percentage of your film's budget, and there are many stipulations, but if you can swing it, then it might be worth it to get a percentage of your budget covered and then go knocking on other doors to get the rest. A lot of times if you have SOME type of financing committed to your project, that's all it takes to get the ball rolling and get others to chip in as well.

6.State Subsidies

Fortunately for filmmakers living in countries outside the United States, there are generous government funds to help finance your films. Here in America we wouldn't know about that, but since many of you reading this live outside the U.S, I thought it was worth a mention, especially if you're living in the UK or Australia where I know the subsidies can be generous (well, generous to American standards).

7.Institutional Investor Groups

I'm sure many of you have heard about these new investor groups popping up all over the place ie: Hedge Fund groups and the like. The deal with these is that most of them are looking to finance SLATES of films, not just one here or there. So if you're a production company looking to finance an entire slate of films, this option may be a good one for you. And the good news is that most of them can readily be found right on Google.

GOOD LUCK TO ALL WHO DARE TO DREAM!

-

QUARTERLIFE sold to NBC!

Quarterlife has just been sold to NBC! If you're making small-screen content, look for a whole lot of follow-the-leader responses if this airs well. But keep in mind that these web shows cost about $500K/episode and come from big league producers, Ed Zwick and Marshall Herskovitz.

According to the NY Times (11/17/07) in an article by Bill Carter, NBC will acquire Quarterlife for distribution as a one hour series after it's played in eight-minute segments on the Web. It's a first-of-its- kind deal. NBC plans to begin broadcasting in February, after Quarterlife has complete its run on MySpace.com and the Quarterlife site.

QUARTERLIFE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/09/13/business/media/13quarterlife.html?_r=1&oref=slogin

Quarterlife deals with a group of creative 25-year-olds and how their personal lives are described in the Weblog of the lead character, a would-be writer named Dylan Krieger.

NBC agreed to become a partner by paying a license fee described as "much less than what is paid for conventional shows" though no exact numbers were given. NBC can replay episodes on its own Web sites after the broadcasts and sell the episodes internationally. But episodes will always appear first on the Quarterlife site.

Norman
ncberns@gmail.com

Big Apple Con to Host "Mastering Narrative Technique" seminar with Jim Steranko

Sunday November 17th writer and graphic artist Jim Steranko will host a seminar as part of the Big Apple Con festivities on narrative technique that may be useful for understanding the conceptual stages of any visual or graphic story project.

From the indispensable wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Steranko):

"Steranko earned lasting acclaim for his innovations in sequential art during the Silver Age of comic books, particularly his infusion of surrealism, op art, and graphic design into the medium. His work has been published in many countries and his influence on the field has remained strong since his comics heyday."

The Big Apple Con event will be held at the Penn Plaza Pavilion, on 7th Avenue at 33rd Street, directly across from Madison Square Garden, and like all 'cons, promises to be a Harry Potter of an adventure just walking through the door.

Registration is a little steep at a fee of $50 for the seminar, but includes a full day's admission to the convention on Sunday, Nov. 18 and a signed Steranko art portfolio.

As I walked by the garden today the Ghostbusters had just arrived with a Storm Trooper out front, so it promises to be a party-friendly and informal crowd with a unique chance to ask Steranko whatever visual narrative question your heart desires.

Details can be found here: http://newyork.going.com/event-150560

...and here: http://www.bigapplecon.com

Why (Exactly) Are Writers on Strike?

From cocktails to business power lunches, New York is abuzz with the same sarcasm expected of a city that views waitressing actresses with almost as big of a snort as they do bright eyed tourists joy riding in figure eights from Madison Square to ye olde Hard Rock Cafe.

This time the quips go something like "what's a writer going to do with that fifth house in the Hamptons that couldn't be done with the one on Cap Cod?"

Your intrepid writer sits mildly in front of her guacamole as the table turns nervously in my direction, seeing if I'll take a bite. I was outed as a writer a while ago and it hasn't helped my reputation.

Personally I'm at an odd angle on this because I work both on the production side of new media and as a creative advocate. I understand the constraints any modern production is under from flighty actors to hard drives confiscated at the Canadian border. But I can fully sympathize with the legion of writers who must pay it forward from cradle to grave, unsung and under appreciated financially while the world goes on thinking writers get dedicated limos to deliver them home after movie premiers and five second interviews on late night cable access stations.

Writers are a little bit like actors in that they must play a part while in the public eye. They hold their lattes like they're supposed to not because they've been partying with the veterans, but because they've been re-writing story arcs all night to compensate for a set location that must be cancelled, an actor who's been thrown off set, or a producer who can't pay the bills to finish a set the way it's supposed to go.

Of course they're going to have a nice car if they can afford it, but like any construction worker or school nurse, whatever they purchased is only going to get the blue book offer when they arrive back a year later with a new car seat in the back and a top heavy mortgage to pay.

New writers themselves buy into the idea that once they have a marketable screenplay they'll be set for life, which of course has the other pretentious court of the New Yorker trust fund literati snorting froth off their lattes and onto fine linen table cloths predictably by the hour.

What was resolved in the last strike twenty years ago for the average working Joe Writer is at stake once again. With each new format coming available on the internet, common sense dictates that residuals given to writers for DVD and video sales would of course include new formats like streaming media and video purchases made online.

Common sense and Hollywood rarely meet for toe tapping in airport bathrooms, though perhaps it would be an improvement for negotiations if affections were withheld where it counted, and that's just where writers have been driven now that Hollywood is refusing to offer any residuals whatsoever for any non-standard (read: not contractually obligated) media format they're now selling all over the place with no overhead or manufacturing fees to bite into the pure profit that's streaming in from every direction.

To quote a recent Newsweek article (http://www.newsweek.com/id/70297/page/1):

"Right now, if you go online and watch a streaming version of a TV show, the company that owns that property is getting paid by the advertisers whose commercials appear at the top of it. Just like TV, but with one difference: the writers are paid no residual, not even the four cents [already agreed on for DVD and video sales]. The companies say they don't need to pay us for this: it's "promotional." By that I suppose they mean that it promotes the size of their earnings from smaller to larger."

That's really the point that's been getting lost by the media and major news outlets shivering in fear of industry moguls intent on painting writers as padded royalty. (Did you hear my snort? Did you?)

In truth we'd like to write for free if money grew on trees or Hogwarts apperated gringots under the door each day for tea and cakes as we sat scribing the next "Heros" or "Lost" or "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" from dawn till dusk. (Dusk till dawn for the working set.)

Instead we live in a world that makes the best stories, and so gives us the material to write what you love and hate and fear and need in exchange for living right in the thick of it with you. We have fights with our Health Insurance providers and need braces for our kids, and at a minimal level, food for our shelves as we sit manically mapping the quadrants of our character psychologies and conflict resolution scenarios while you do loop-de-loops on Broadway hoping at some point to make your IMAX showing at the theater that was across the street from the cab you shoved a hand in the face of a teenager to get into first.

So yes, money helps. We need our coffee and we do have day jobs.

If you've skimmed this far, go back and see above.

WRITER'S STRIKE NEWS

--- Anthony Peterson wrote:

Eisners comments are interesting. Major corporations dont do anything unless there is a return in it. They dont scratch their bums unless an MBA has done the financial modelling and worked out the net present values based on an appropriate risk assessment and the weighted average cost of capital (WACC).

So is there money in internet distributiuon? Yes.

Were writers stupid in dropping their pants on VHS/DVD rights all those years ago? Yes.

Is the strike a massive overkill? Maybe. But collectively they have very little choice.

Im only a new observer in all this. I'd be interested in hearing what more experience film veterans have to say about Eisner's comments.
--
Anthony Peterson
Writer / Director
Sydney, Australia
http://www.myspace. com/anthonyrpete rson
-------------------------------------------------------

There is no actual formal distribution on the net. That's what Eisner was getting at. If the distibutors can't sell to separate markets, whare are they gonna get their revenue?

Why do you think so many amateurs are using the net to show their work? It's free!!!

The Net is not an actual market you can sell to. You can only sell or rent through your own websites like MGM do. This is bypassing distributors, because on the internet they (distributors) are not needed. (unless you want to call that webside dedicated to millions of amateur home movies a distributor).

Mike

------------------------------------------------------------------

Andy, thanks for your solid reply. The art of fishing aside, there's one fact that's not quite right. When you buy a DVD or a novel or a song, you don't actually own them. You own the personal right to view or read or listen. You can't make copies to send off to your friends, you can't even quote too much of the novel or repurpose so much as the tiniest clip of the movie or song.. In some cases (downloaded movies) you can't even give it away.

A screenplay is much the same. When you "buy" the property, you're really acquiring the rights to it. Like every other medium, you're only getting certain rights, not everything.

BTW, The New York Times had a great article about the real causes of this strike - the fact that Hollywood is LOSING money because of huge NET profit deals with major stars and directors, not because of anything the writers want. The article is at
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/business/media/12strike.html and datelined
LA, Nov. 11.

Let's just hope they settle this strike before we're doomed to another instant of reality TV or somebody's script from the back of the closet. There are real reasons that the pros get real money for their work.

Norman C. Berns

CLICK HERE TO TEAD THE NY TIMES ARTICLE
http://www.nytimes.com/2007/11/12/business/media/12strike.html

Copyrighted MUSIC FOR FREE?

I have spoken with some music publishers and they all have told me that if I am not going to sell the music and it is only for public use ie. Festival film then go ahead and rip of the CD...

However if that film is successful and you want to do something else with it...then you will need to pay a usage fee. They say that it is all about the point in which that music becomes a new product for market. If it is part of something that you are selling then you need to pay the fee. Other wise if you are just planning to show the film at festivals like Sundance or Telluride or Tribeca you can show your film just not sell it. It is a quagmire however is possible to use.

Also yes! a bunch of Reality TV might just force me to go to the club more... might actually have a positive effect on me.

I think that if nothing is done before Thanksgiving then all the writers are most likely screwed for the holidays... since we all know that the industry basically shuts down from Thanksgiving to New Years. Might be long and unhappy holiday for some. Bad timming I say... maybe they should have postponed the strike till after the New Year.

Funny how that article talks about exactly what I was saying... The big folks who pay the least in fees...ie in comparison to what they are pulling in are the ones getting the best deals. I do see how the actors claim that it is their recognizability that sells movies so I can kind of see that reasoning behind that...

However I still hang on my views of collaboration and that a film is a huge process and not one person should be thought of as more important... it is a team thing and if anything is given away it should be divided up amongst the group. Funny how this article is showing how two faced all the guilds are... yet recently I saw some shots of these actors that have taken to much from the pie hanging out with the writers. This just goes to show that the game of life sometimes is much closer then you think. This is an industry that is very good at magic tricks. Slight of hand if you know what I mean.

Just wondering if you feel the same way about television shows. I mean didn't Bruckheimer' s company pay and develop the CSI franchise. How can someone that is hired to write for a show that has already been developed... Ask and get a pice of the DVD sales. I feel very different if a show that a writer has originated wishes to sell that idea and ask at the time for this kind of deal. This is the real area that I am interested in.

I mean that most TV show's that are seeing a huge success on after market DVD sales are all developed with studio dollars and by independent production companies. How is it possible for a studio to have a work for hire kind of set up on these programs and then those working on the lines actually get a cut.

I mean that would be like all the workers in the factories in Korea working on Nike shoes say hey you are making over 100% profit on those shoes we deserve a cut. Anyways I see the delema and if I were a writer I would be pissed at the folks that have made the studios very leery... Maybe more folks should read the writing of The New York Times.

Good luck,
Andy
Andy Collen
Producer/ Director
Happy Trails Animation LLC
andy@happytrailsanimation.com
----------------------------------------------------------------

Andy,
I just wanted to touch on something you wrote about music which is incorrect. I don't know which music publishers you've been speaking with that told you that you can use music for free in film festivals, but the information you've been given is very wrong, and as a producer-director (like myself) you should know better.

I just finished a music documentary, and you definitely have to pay for whatever music you use - whether it's just for a festival, or for a theatrical release. The fees are different, but if you use someone else's music, you have to pay. You can be sued if you use music for festivals and don't pay for it. Sure, if your film doesn't make any money, they won't get anything, but it could very well hurt future projects and more importantly, your reputation, if you don't pay.

If publishers and labels know that you haven't paid in the past, they're unlikely to want to license you music in the future. Think of it this way - a festival can't just show your film without permission - it's your intellectual property. Same goes for music.

Additionally, I think as artists it's very important that we respect the work that others do - we should never download for free or just "rip off the cd". If people download our films for free, we won't make money and won't be able to make films in the future.

At least bands are able to tour and there's an audience who wants to see them live - but once a film is downloaded and put out there on the internet for others to download for free, there is no future life for it. Respect the work that others do, and try to bargain the fees down - everything is negotiable, but you do have to pay.

Susan
"sdynner"
-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Susan, in Andy's post, he implies that he's contacted the artist first, and verified that the use of the music was for a non-profit use and obtained permission to use it for such purpose.

If he makes no money on the project he pays nothing for the use of the music and the band gets some free promotion. If he does make money, then he pays for the music. This is, indeed a true model and I have used it from major bands to create content for non-profit school entertainment. I was able to contact the band's management and
obtain written permission to use their music in my show to be performed for at a school for in a not for profit situation.

The band got a little free pub, I got great music and the children were well entertained. So, I disagree with your assumption that in this instance Andy promotes the stealing of music. He is actually relating a very real way of using music in a public use with permission that bears zero initial cost and is perfectly legal and benefits both artists.
cleave frink, jr
cleave@mac.com

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Ditto on that, Susan.

You must get permission to use music (or any other copyrighted material) for any use, public or private. Most festivals require you to sign off that you indeed have secured all rights, and many of the larger fests actually reuire you to submit all permissions and releases as a require to being accepted. That doesn't necessarily mean you need to pay for it, but the CR owner must agree, and it's best to get that in writing.

For those who are doing indy, non-commercial (in the foreseeable future) work, and would like some very professionally produced music to use w/o charge, check out www.mobygratis.com.

Moby, the trance-mix artist has made many tracks available to indy fimmakers and students for free if the piece remains unsold. If it is eventually sold, he asks that you make a charitable contribution to the humane society as license payment. Great music for the right piece. See the website for details.
Ian Barbour
"Ian Barbour"

-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Susan,

Well you do have to contact the licensee of the music... seems like every-time I have dealt with a piece of music or at lest the two times I did they both said go ahead and use it. If you use it for anything other then just public display then you will need to pay the fee. Could be that this is a personal film that I am talking about and not a bigger budget documentary or film that I am going to sell.

I do not want you to think that I am for taking and just ripping on the music folks. I pay for every time I play. I was just trying to make a point that if you are a small time film maker and are making a passion film for just festival use you may indeed be able to use it.... if you ask of-course. I talked with one of the worlds most awesome folk singers and company that owns his rights... they were all okay with me using his tunes... and were willing but if anything more happened they said please pay the fee... and told me what the fees were. Please I am not about pilfering.

I am about talking to those you need to make a deal. When you are independent you need to deal and it is possible. When you are straight with folks they will sometimes help you out. I think it is about working together. Sorry for the misunderstanding.

Andy

Andy Collen
-----------------------------------------------------------------------
Susan,
I want to add to what you are saying about having to pay for any music used on a film for festivals, that one other option is to call the record publisher or the Artists manager, (who ever governs the rights) and ask if you can use their song for festival use only for free.

I did this for Pink Floyd and the manager gave me one year of festival use for free. If I were to benefit financially from the use of the song, I would have to pay them a fee of about $500.00. It is always worth the effort and honesty that may result in getting a good deal.

Todd
"Todd Grodnick"

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Copyright © 1994-2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

The New York Comedy Festival

For anyone who hasn't caught it yet, the New York Comedy Festival runs through this weekend featuring great comedy performances from some of film and tv's hottest acts.

This weekend includes Charlie Murphy, Matt Besser, Amy Poehler, Ian Roberts and Matt Walsh.

Here's a chance to see them in action and gain some insight on good material from a live audience.

Visit here for details:
http://www.myspace.com/nycomedyfestival

TUTORIALS: Rotoscoping with Imagineer Motor

This first tutorial shows two examples of rotoscoping techniques within Imagineer Motor.

CHICK HERE FOR THE LESSON
http://aimediaserver4.com/studiodaily/videoplayer/?src=ai4/motoredit1/motoredit1.swf&width=880&height=640

CLICK HERE TO CHECK OUT AND LEARN FROM the All New Video Tutorials on Softimage Face Robot, NUKE, Avid Liquid, After Effects, FCP and dozens more!

http://www.studiodaily.com/main/archive/richmedia/

WHY WE FIGHT

If the (writer's) strike is prolonged, internet series/webisodes may become a new and important source of work.

Larry Lerner
1st Assistant Director DGA
Email: llad@yahoo.com

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I found this short video that clearly and concisely explains the WGA's reasons for going on strike:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oJ55Ir2jCxk

This isn't just the WGA's fight - we're on the front lines for the actors and directors as well. Also, if the studios and congloms can get away with cutting out the creatives' share of the pie, they'll be going after the independent producers next.

I'm a producer as well as a writer, plus I have more than a decade of experience working in the corporate side of one of the studios. With all of that as perspective, I'm convinced that this is the most important collective-bargaining issue of my generation.

I'd be happy to answer any questions anyone has. I'm sincerely sorry to any of you who feel the crunch of this strike. I would have done almost anything to avoid going on strike, but the studios are being intransigent on the one issue on which we can't afford to give up.

All independents that are of course signatories to the WGA, are effected in very similar ways that all other producers are if they have a script that is not complete and ready to go into production as of 12:01am Monday. They too, will not be allowed to use their WGA writers to make any further revisions on the script and since they are a signatory, may not hired a non-union writer to finish the script. But if the script is ready to go into production, they can proceed. During shooting, changes in dialog that occur on the set by the director or actors will still be allowed.

Let us all hope for the good sake of everyone that makes a living by working in this industry, that the strike lasts very short.

Todd "Matthew Hintlian"

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Okay! so does the extra 4% that the studios sometimes use to entice a director or specific actor will now go to the writers?

Also what is the fee that studios pay for an Option? is that just a toss away because we know the studios are money bags and should just keep spending on IP even if they buy it out right. It is funny because writers like you that actually have lots more to offer on a deal that actually end up negotiating a better deal. I wonder if those that can should and those that can't shall not. I mean I have worked on many a successful commercial campaigns and have not seen any extra fees on merchandizing for any characters I have created for my clients. Saatchi and Saatchi shoot thousands of feet of footage for Nissan and can't repurpose any of it... their client owns everything that comes out of the camera.

I wonder if the real question here is the studio and writers really understanding the others side. I mean usually if you invest in the project or feature or TV show then you get to negotiate a deal. So since some article back mentioned that the typical script writer for a successful TV show earned 100K to 250K per script. This has me wondering where or why they don't seem to have the funds to develop and negotiate deals on there own. This is obviously a skill that you have developed along the journey of production.

Andy
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It's not a zero-sum issue. If we get another 4 cents per DVD, that's not going to come out of the pockets of the actors or directors. On the contrary, if we can get a fair deal now, that will set a precedent for the actors and directors to get fair deals when their contracts come up for negotiations in mid-2008.

(And please note that we're asking for FOUR CENTS per DVD (or 1.2%), *not* FOUR PERCENT of each DVD. For every dollar they make, we just want a penny and a half.)

I'm not sure I understand your second point? I'll try to address what I think you're asking, but if I don't make much sense it means I didn't get what you're asking about.

An option on a screenplay can be freely negotiated, but in the feature world (I'm a features guy, won't pretend to know much about how the business end of TV works) it's common to start at 10% of the purchase price. There are *minimums* established for purchase prices, but more successful writers can freely bargain for as much as the market will bear.

The issue with ad agencies has to do with "work for hire" employment. Essentially, the ad writers and directors and producers work under the legal fiction that they're not actually the authors of the work - the clients are legally the authors. Under that fiction, the real creators of the campaigns aren't entitled to anything more
than what they negotiated for up-front.

The WGA does mostly work-for-hire employment as well, so we don't have an *automatic* right to residuals. We had to fight for them for the last 30+ years, and with this "new media" issue the studios see an opportunity to cut 80% of the average writer's income.

About how much writers make... It's true that some A-List writers make a hell of a lot of money, but you shouldn't believe the false statistics that are being bandied about in the media. At any given time, half of the WGA members aren't employed as writers at all - they're either working for free with the hopes that someone will
eventually buy what they're working on, or they had to get a job at Starbucks or something. If this strike last for more than a month or so, I'm going to have to find a day job -- I certainly don't have a mansion and a yacht and a huge bank account to tide me over.

Almost all writers are middle-class people. Just like it wouldn't be accurate to look at the salary of the CEO of General Motors and conclude that the average employee in the auto industry makes 15 million dollars a year, it's not accurate to look at Mark Cherry or Scott Frank as the median wage earners for their jobs. My friends wrote the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise, and they got well-compensated for it, but they still only got a pittance compared to the 3 billion dollars that Disney has made so far.

About negotiating for better deals... As I said, I don't work in TV, so I won't pretend to be an expert at it. But my understanding is that most successful TV writers are TV *producers* as well, and their negotiating leverage as producers far exceeds their negotiating leverage as writers. When it comes time to negotiate the TV writer/producers' individual contracts, the studios don't want to set any precedents that will allow writers to be better-compensated, so whatever ground they give will be given on the producer side of the deal.

I hope that answered your questions. Please let me know if I misunderstood you.

Steve Barr

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Now that Craig has clarified his point, I will add that if the WGA strike does go on for more than 3-5 weeks, there will be a majority of TV shows that will be shutting down. When this happens, the union crew can find other work to do if, and only if, there are indepentent films that are going into production because they do not have a WGA writer. - Todd Grodnick

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Steve,

I think you answered it pretty well. I just feel that the real issue is where you are in the totem pole of productions. I think that those with the financing are on the top as we can all agree since they are risking the most. So with that... I do understand they need to hold on to every option.

So then... when do the Cinematographers get there percentage or the costume folks, or art directors I mean the list can go on because as you and I know a feature or TV
production or even a commercial production is such a collaborative process and has a lot of hands in the creativity and eventually its success.

I know how important good writing is... BUt I have heard some writers blame Directors or casting for a failed film. The problem here is that the folks with the money are in the drivers seat and those folks that get more involved with a successful project earn their strips and thus are compensated on their next project. Being a good writer seems to be a great shoe in for securing you as a producer or something thus opening the playing field. We shall see how this all works out.

I just think that the money folks might just bank on the Indie's young and eager. I mean they stole and cheapened that term anyways maybe now they might actually really
understand the power underneath the term indie spirit... OR just take advantage of some young punks. Every one may be in for a valuable lesson. I am sorry for the inconvenience but I think this is a struggle that has been headed for a show down for a long time.

I just know that regardless of 1.5 % or whatever. I am creative enough to find a way to not have a UNION or guild argue my deal...I do it my self or with my agent... Eventually when the contracts fly that's what the layers are for. A legitimate deal! Union due or legal fees you decide. This may change the way the industry is run.

For all the other might be striking folks(actors/ directors) I think they are in a different pool. Sorry!

Power on Garth! Thanks for the fun back and fourth! - Andy Collen
andy@happytrailsanimation.com

Copyright © 1994-2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

THE DIRECTOR’S JOB: DIRECTING THE FILM

The Director must care about and be responsible for every frame of every movie he makes making it the best possible movie he can make.

Good directors usually achieve a sensual satisfaction in working in close unions with strong, independent and creative people: actors, assistants, electrics, production staff, props, make-up, costume designers - all those personalities who populate the day and make it possible to get through.

A director gradually builds up the psychological situation piece by piece, using the camera to emphasize first one detail, then another. The point is to draw the audience right inside the situation, instead of leaving them to watch it from outside as happens on the stage. And you can do this only by breaking the action up into details and cutting from one to the other, so that each detail is forced, in turn, on the attention of the audience revealing its psychological meaning.

If the camera is always in one position and you don’t cut, you will soon lose your power over the audience. They will watch the scene without really becoming involved in it. They won’t understand what the characters are feeling.

If the take is good, move on. Try to improve on something later, not something that doesn’t need it now, or isn’t going to be any better. Look for something that has style and visual energy.

Given time and freedom, the actors will fall naturally into their places, discovering when and where to move, and you will soon have your shot.

THE ESSENTIAL PRINCIPALS OF CINEMA HAVE TO DO WITH THE HUMAN NEED TO MASTER AND KNOW THE WORLD.

Consider the music and sound effects the moment you begin directing a film.

Directing a Film does not only mean creatively handling actors and interpreting the screenplay. It also gives the director the ability to complete a day's work on time and on schedule. A good director who is properly prepared allows for creativity, while planning for the inevitable problems.

A director who is able to think creatively while making instantaneous decisions based upon the pressures of production is a successful director.

"A movie is never finished, only abandoned."
George Lucas

READ MORE...
http://www.wildsound-filmmaking-feedback-events.com/directing-a-film.html

Make a Digital film for a few hundred bucks

Now that the cost of prosumer and consumer electronics has fallen, most people can afford to make their own home or independent film movies. Whether you just intend to post to a popular video hosting site such as You-Tube, Myspace or Google or Yahoo or AOL Video or want to get involved in making short films to enter a short film art festival. It is important to know a few very low budget ways on how to get started.

If you have a PC already you won’t even have to purchase editing software. Windows movie maker is installed on most operating systems if you bought your home computer in the last few years.

I recently purchased a Panasonic 3ccd camcorder for 430 bucks that is compact and offers great picture quality. But you don’t even need that. Whether you go to Ebay or the online classifieds or buy a new camcorder you should be able to get a decent camcorder for 150 to 250 dollars.

Lighting, no problem. Those old painter or mechanics lights will work fine. You can build in cinematic or artistic interest in making your lighting more or less extreme. That takes some practice and experience all of which makes it fun.

Actors are probably your hardest part. Of course, you can grab a few of your closest friends for a weekend and put something together. But, my recommendation if you are starting out at the beginning level would be to enter one of those 48 hour film making competitions where teams enter and write, shoot & edit a 5 minute film all in one weekend. This way, no-one would have to commit for a large length of time and your production will happen quickly. If any of that doesn’t work, then at least bribe your buddies by offering to pick up the pizza.

Once you have assembled your equipment and a list of potential actors to join you in this quest for making movie history. You are well ready to begin writing a short script. It is recommended that one person takes the lead and makes the main decisions regarding the overall story. But, it is more fun in this setting to make it a collaborative brainstorming effort and invite ideas in from all interested and make a film that everyone is excited about doing.

Some additional items that will need to be considered is locations for the story, special props that will be needed and royalty free sound for background (like the latest hit, from your neighbors garage band.)

Film making is on the rise, movies being posted to the internet 24/7 as many novice film makers are putting their creativity into motion. You don’t have to spend much money and until you have developed some greater experience in film making it is suggested not to invest too much money. Remember keep your day job…but keep producing and make it fun.

About the Author: Kerry is a small independent film maker and has made several short films with budgets of 50-450 dollars of his own as well as being a production designer and graphics designer for larger feature films being produced currently in Las Vegas. You can view his projects and more tips on film making at: www.austincircle.com

How to make AWESOME green screen

An 8 minute lesson with Mark Apsolon

What you should know about Chroma Key.

How to make AWESOME green screen

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w6brdwY-dvU

How do you work out your primary budget?

QUESTION:
How do you make out your budget?

Everyone has different experience. But when you come in as a newer, I think the best bet is divided the project into several parts, each one can be dealed with.

For example, from time scope, you can plan from conceptive,discuss, writing, organize, shooting on site, edit, postproduct, release etc, parts. After conceptive, you can discuss with your friends, dealer or managers your idea and granted by them.
1] Then, ask a writer to make out an outline, you begin to pay.
2] He writes scenario of the play.
3] Orgnize a team, you would pay
a] Director; b] main actor and actress; c] staff; photographer' clothing design, sound design, effect design; make up design producers and management crew etc. are all included in this staff.
On the shoot site, you pay
a] site charge;
b] equipment rent fee;
c] hotel;
d] traffic
e] crew
f] film or tape mulply dates. as well as follow
In studio. you pay studio rent fee, lighting related equipment charge sound recorder equipment, nixing; dub you pay: processing your film or copy your tape for release.

On the step of release, you pay advertise conference; printing poster; sales charge

Next, I shall list one by one. you can fill in blank according to your district standard to conclude the sum primarily. Is it useful? if not I shall stop at it. -cnndt

ANSWER:
Before you delve into this too deeply, start scouring the files here or at Producers & Directors (http://www.producersanddirectors.com).

There are reams of training files written by industry pros who are out there every day, making their livings doing exactly this kind of work.

Your perspective is appreciated, but there's no reason to reinvent this wheel. - Norman C. Berns

Copyright © 1994-2007 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

Online Video Distribution

For most of us, creating and editing a video isn't enough - we also want to share it with the world. Previously, that meant either wearing out a lot of shoe leather going from door to door to convince people to see it, paying for VHS or DVD distribution or convincing a TV or cable channel to air it.

Thanks to the Internet, those bad old days are gone forever. Too many still think that video distribution means two choices: YouTube ( www.youtube.com) and Google Video (http://video.google.com). And while those early heavyweights are still great choices, several other online video options are up and running. But first, let's go inside YouTube to understand how video distribution via the Internet came of age in 2005.

YouTube, with Over 100 Million Videos Served Daily, got there early and made its name as the McDonald's of online video distribution. Launching in late 2005 and purchased less than a year later by Google for a cool $1.65 billion, it was one of the first sites that made it very easy for bloggers and others on the Internet to embed video clips on their Web pages. (http://tinyurl.com/2n4c7q)

Before YouTube, online video often required an annoying wait while its data stream was downloaded and buffered into the viewing computer. YouTube considerably increased download speed for most broadband users by using Macromedia's Flash Player 7 or higher (already in about 90 percent of Web browsers) and the Sorenson Spark H.263 video codec (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/YouTube). The use of a readily-available viewer like Flash Player meant that although the video creator still needed a little technical savvy to upload the video, the viewer had nothing to do but click. And that was the simple secret ingrediant that made all the difference.

Reuters estimates that YouTube has more visitors than those of all of its rivals - combined. However, YouTube has its flaws. Today, it has a reputation for removing any video that might remotely have a copyright violation and anything vaguely controversial, if someone complains. And unless you've got a high-end "director's account" with the site, your videos will have to be under ten minutes in length.

Although speed is of the essence, YouTube is far from the only option for online video distribution. Scott Baker and Liz Stephans, veteran television journalists left Pittsburgh's WTAE-TV to become partners with Andrew Breitbart, the proprietor of the news aggregation site Breitbart.com (www.breitbart.com), in a new venture called Breitbart.tv (www.breitbart.tv). Breitbart also assists Web sites as diverse as news aggregator the Drudge Report (www.drudgreport.com), and the Huffington Post (www.huffingtonpost.com) celebrity Weblog.

Baker and Stephans are Breitbart.tv's technical advisors and have experimented with uploading potential content for the site to numerous online video distribution sites. Visiting the URLs that they suggest will be a great starting point to deciding which video distribution site or sites are best for you.

One criterion for Baker and Stephans is how quickly they need to get breaking news clips online. The time it takes to get your video uploaded, converted into an easily downloadable format and, in many cases, approved may not matter if your video isn't time-critical. But with more bloggers adding a video component to their sites, upload time can be very important.

So, for those where speed is of the essence, the question is which sites offer the fastest turnaround for uploads? "This wouldn't be a scientific study, of course," Baker says, "but I think YouTube is not bad. We haven't used BitGravity (www.bitgravity.com) a tremendous amount yet, but one of the reasons that we like them for distribution is that they have a really fast play." Liz Stephans adds, "I know that Blip (http://blip.tv) is also really fast. I think that they actually put your video up while they continue to convert it, so I think you get a pretty quick turnaround there."

Baker also likes Revver (www.revver.com) for its speed. "But Revver says that they require human approval, that there is an actual person who will have to clear that video, and some of the other hosting sites have that step as well." As a way of offsetting the site's costs, Revver does typically insert an ad for another video or Web site at the end of each clip, which may or may not be an issue for your project.

In contrast, Stephans says, "We like Google Video, and we've put things on there that have done well, but it takes a while" for a clip to be added to the site. Google also lacks the ability to add chapters to its content, unlike sites such as Motionbox (www.motionbox.com). However, for those who wish to aim content at a marketplace that may not have broadband, Google Video's download video option may be a plus.

READ THE REST OF THE ARTICLE by Edward B. Driscoll, Jr.
http://www.videomaker.com/article/13375/2/(c) 2007, MediaBatch. All Rights Reserved.