Comic TV commercial stars Bruce Lee and Steven Seagal

Steven Seagal tries to buy a tank from a ninja store owned by Bruce Lee in this comic TV Commercial.

MOVIE TITLES

You're writing a movie. What are you going to call it?

You're having a baby, what's his or her name?

Names and Titles are tough!

I think so, at least. Lots of people downplay their importance and say you should save it for last. Write the whole story and figure out what to call it afterwards. I come down just on the opposite side…

I wouldn't write a screenplay without knowing what its title is. Not me. Even if it's a bad title, I want one. I'm ok with a working title I guess, but I do like it when I find a good title.

Now, maybe those people telling us to save titling for last are talking about novels and short stories and other prose forms – probably, they are. And those forms of writing are a little more free-form and allow for free-er naming and titling.

But in our game, the title is all part of the marketing, isn't it? I've actually spoken to colleagues who've mentioned project titles to their agents and had their reps say "I can sell that title." I even have a friend of a friend who DID sell the title to their movie…and JUST the title, which was then made into an entirely different movie than they had envisioned. Which is only slightly more unusual than having that done with your script…

Studios actually have entire research departments that worry about titles…

I was lucky enough to meet, years later, the guy in charge of coming up with different titles for MY movie, Firestorm.

Firestorm, by the way…not the original title.

Not the title that I first came up with, anyway. I was originally going to call the movie Smokejumper…that seemed totally cool to me. My first hearing that word caused me to start looking into the world the movie would ultimately be set in. But then I did some more research…

…and I came across my title. Firestorm, as well as having entered the national parlance as a hyperbolic term for anything with a lot of conflict – "touching off a FIRESTORM of controversy", etc., is an actual technical term of art used by the US Forest Service, as well as…well, if I do say so myself, a pretty cool and sexy sounding title, at least for the type of action movies they used to make back in the day…and when that specifically happens at the climax, it makes it the right title
for this movie.

FIRESTORM, it should be noted, was the most registered title at the WGA at the time, or so I was told, and I later learned of at least two other projects by that title in development. One of them, I learned of while I was writing the screenplay, something about fighting wildcat oil fires in the Middle East.

I should also mention that I later learned there was another forest fire movie out there in development too – and then, I heard about another one later too. And it was just lucky that I DIDN'T learn about those while I was writing…THAT would have been discouraging.

But titles are a different story. Sure, you probably can't send out your spec script with the title Titanic, or Rocky 6 but if something's in development with a similar title, you shouldn't worry unless it's about to go before the cameras with a major star attached. That is…if you have the perfect title.

So, what makes a good title?

Well, the aforementioned cool and sexy-sounding, that's important.

With all due respect to art, nobility, instinct and the story in your heart, I don't think we can get too far from commerce on this – the title is marketing, baby.

And not just for the studio when they ultimately make and market the movie, but for YOU when you market it to them. Do you think they're not thinking about how to market it when they read it?

MAYBE not…but I doubt it.

I was pitching last month and they asked me "What's in the trailer?"

I've been pitching before and they said "What's the poster?"

So I can't think they're not thinking about the title on that poster. Don't forget that the money spent to make and market a movie is equal to what's spent by some major brands to make and market the products you know the name of and buy – and movies are a product, make no mistake about it. And what's a good name for a product?

One that tells us what it is. And is catchy. And makes us happy or interested or excited to try it. We don't go to a movie because it's made by Paramount or Warner Brothers…I would guess most of the movie going public couldn't tell you which studio made what movie until the logo comes up before the show starts…but they know the title of the movie they're seeing.

So, again, what makes a good title?

Besides sexy? Well, that goes a long way, and it's what is often used when there's nothing better – and it's hard to get better than sexy, but what I mean is good because it's sexy AND something else…

…more thoughts on this later. I'll close this one with one way to test a title for sexiness. This one comes from a great writer and friend.

THE DUDE TEST:
The demographic that goes to movies is men, age 15-35 (sorry ladies). These guys call each other "dude". So, If you want to know if your title is good… put it at the end of this sentence:

"Dude, wanna go see (INSERT YOUR TITLE HERE)?"

And imagine what the answer would be… "DUDE!" Good title.

"Duuuuuuuuddddddeeeee….?" With an implied tone of "that sounds WAY gay." Or dumb, or boring, etc. At least…not that attractive. Then you might want to keep looking.

Once you've got your title, if you still need a story, I hope you'll take a look at our method of story design and structure. It's by far the best I've found in my years of writing and study, and will make your next script the best you've written so far --

Thanks "A Million"
chris@milliondollarscreenwriting.com
GO TO: http://milliondollarscreenwriting.com/

3D TVs are eye-popping

but they have their drawbacks...

It's all about 3D at the Consumer Electronics Show this year, and believe me: there's no shortage of eye-popping, head-ducking 3D demos on the show floor. It's all quite impressive, but look a little harder and you start to see the flaws.

READ MORE - http://tech.yahoo.com/blogs/patterson/63421;_ylt=AudV9FwdyscsHM04C7nldJ2dMJA5

Copyright © 2010 Yahoo! Inc. All rights reserved.

10 Years of Movie Predictions

The Future is Now!

Replicants! Hoverboards! Vampires! Apocalypse!
We're in for a turbulent decade, according to the movies...

If, like us, you began the New Year with the thought that it's only five years 'til we get to ride hoverboards, the decade ahead would seem to be full of amazing technology and stuff. But if movies are to be believed, there'll be a lot more to worry about in the next 10 years than the matter of "Where the hell are our flying cars, anyway?"

It starts with alien contact and a viral outbreak. Then there are nuclear wars, economic collapses, killer tsuanmis, fascist takeovers, unhinged replicants and giant lizards to look forward to. If the movies are right, the future's so bright you'd better wear those 3-D glasses as protective shades.

READ MORE by Michael Adams - http://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/10009460-the_road/news/1867748/the_future_is_now_10_years_of_movie_predictions

Copyright 1998-2010, IGN Entertainment, Inc.

Advertising Broadway

To advertise his new musical, Subways Are for Sleeping, David Merrick stacked up one above another the names of Manhattan's seven daily-newspaper critics, and in huge block letters proclaimed that 7 OUT OF 7 ARE ECSTATICALLY UNANIMOUS ABOUT "SUBWAYS ARE FOR SLEEPING."

Beside each name was a quote. Walter Kerr, for example: "What a show! What a hit! What a solid hit! If you want to be overjoyed, spend an evening with Subways Are for Sleeping. A triumph."

Howard Taubman: "One of the few great musical comedies of the last 30 years, one of the best of our time. It lends luster to this or any other Broadway season."
Beside each name there was a photograph. But the seven faces were somewhat unfamiliar.

The man pictured beside the name of Howard Taubman bore little resemblance to the Howard Taubman who writes dramatic criticism for the New York Times. But he was Howard Taubman all right—an audio-equipment salesman on Lexington Avenue.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,828936,00.html

FREE STUFF and Almost FREE STUFF

There are two great things in life: free stuff and stuff that’s almost free.

Unfortunately, it seems as if nothing is free in the filmmaking process, and there are plenty of companies looking to make some nice profit from every aspect of the industry. All the more reason why any available freebie is more precious than water to a thirsty man in the desert.

READ MORE by Dennis Toth - http://creditspectrum.com/2010/01/film-fund-amentals-on-the-cheap/

It all started with a bank loan

Nasty Old People was originally released on The Pirate Bay with a creative commons license.

In the autumn of 2007 Hanna Sköld took a private bank loan of 10 000 euro to make her debut feature film "Nasty Old People". Now she continues to ignore the middle men in the film industry by distributing it together with the film collective RåFILMs Luffarbion, aka Vagabond Cinema, and the file sharing site The Pirate Bay. In addition, she releases it under a creative commons license so that anyone can download, share or remix the film.

FOR MORE INFO, please visit http://www.nastyoldpeople.org

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MEMBER OF THE FUNERAL - FREE NY Premiere Jan 26

MEMBER OF THE FUNERAL
FREE NY Premiere Jan 26

FREE ADMISSION to the Award Winning Film
"MEMBER OF THE FUNERAL" NY Premiere - Jan 26

2009 sucked.
2010 has got to be better.
And as a part of the "Let's make 2010 a better place," relief effort, from now until December 14, 2010, the Korean Cultural Service will be screening FREE KOREAN MOVIES

KOREAN MOVIE NIGHT - Jan 26

Tuesday at 7pm; Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street
(on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops)

Price? Free. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.
Or if you want to guarantee a seat, just RSVP to info@koreanculture.org or call 212-759-9550


TUESDAY, JANUARY 26 @ 7pm
MEMBER OF THE FUNERAL (2008, 99 minutes, North American Premiere)
Seventeen-year-old Hee-joon is dead and a group of people are gathered at the funeral. By the way they refer to one another they are members of a family composed of father, mother, and daughter. They are also the leading characters in the novel that Hee-joon wrote before he died, and they have no idea what relationship one another had with the boy.

Jun-gi, a middle aged trainer for a college basketball team, carries a dark secret and has queer relationships with his students. Jung-hee, a bizarre high school literature teacher who assigns her students to write their own will, dreams of becoming a mystery novelist like Agatha Christie. Ami, a high school student and an undertaker of five years, becomes Hee-joons friend after she sees the razor blade scars on his wrist. As Hee-joon spends time with each of the three family members, he completes his novel Members of the Funeral

Considered one of the most intellectually ambitious of Korea's current crop of indie features, this film's lush visuals and caustic performances hide the fact that it was shot for pennies. Member kicks off with a family of three going at each other's throats during a funeral for a teenaged boy.
Flashbacks show the wounded innocents who grew up to become these monsters and as they flay the skin from their faces with their barbed words, the movie gradually darkens and deepens into something much more profound than a simple family snit fit.

NEW! Streaming Media Video Tutorial

If you are not producing high-quality webcasts, it is now both affordable and fast!

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER TO WATCH (http://tinyurl.com/kog553) this video to learn the few easy steps anyone can use to stream live and on-demand video to computers, laptops and mobile phones.

Producing Live Webcasts with the Niagara® 2100 by Jan Ozer REQUIRES REGISTRATION.

Copyright © 1998 - 2010, StreamingMedia.com, an Information Today Inc. company. All rights reserved.

YouTube to charge $5 for some videos

YouTube this week begins a test to see if folks will pay to watch movies on its site.

The Web's most popular video sharing site is now offering five feature films from the 2009 and 2010 Sundance Film Festival for a fee around $5 .

It's a way, YouTube says, to bring more exposure to independent films. But it's also a test to see if viewers will pay for content, YouTube says.

READ MORE By Jefferson Graham - http://content.usatoday.com/communities/technologylive/post/2010/01/youtube-to-begin-charging-to-watch-videos--test/1

Copyright © 2010 USA TODAY, a division of Gannett Co. Inc.

one minute movies

MAILROOM is a 1 MINUTE FILM about FRIENDSHIP
How do strangers become friends?



This is the FULL VERSION of the landmark 1minute film.
Directed by Mathew Toffolo; Edited by Peter Brusikiewicz.

Declaration of Indies: Just Sell It Yourself!

In the Old World of distribution, filmmakers hand over all the rights to their work, ceding control to companies that might soon lose interest in their new purchase for various reasons, including a weak opening weekend.

If the D.I.Y. drumbeat has grown louder in recent years, it’s partly because the major studios have backed away from the independent sector.

But artists who want to reach an audience are rarely if ever really free of the marketplace, and filmmakers working in the commercial arena tend to be even less so. For Mr. Reiss and other do-it-yourselfers, the most important thing is to reach their audiences, any which way, niche by niche, pixel by pixel, in theaters or online. “This is the other voice of film,” Mr. Reiss said with urgency, “and if this dies, all we’re left with is the monopoly.”

The downside to this new D.I.Y. world is that filmmakers, who already tend to expend tremendous time and effort raising money, might end up spending more hours hawking their wares than creating new work. “I struggle with this all the time,” said filmmaker Reiss.

READ MORE By MANOHLA DARGIS - http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/17/movies/17dargis.html

Copyright 2010 The New York Times Company

IMAX goes HOME

3D technology has found a place in your living room...

THE HOOK

When I first started writing, I was coached to include a hook in the first five pages.

I had a vague idea of what a hook was, but as I tried to construct one and include it in my manuscript, I failed miserably. Being a young impatient writer, I decided my best course of action was to rebel against the hook. I told myself that hooks were for lesser writers...

READ MORE by CreateSpaceRichard - https://www.createspace.com/en/community/community/resources/blog/2010/01/13/the-hook

Copyright © 2000 - 2009, CreateSpace, a DBA of On-Demand Publishing, LLC

PRODUCE YOUR FILM: In Search of Funding

There are a great many ways to acquire money for your small-budget film. For example, you can sell your organs on the black market; that should be good for a few thousand bucks. But once you run out of spare kidneys, you’ll probably want to adopt an alternative plan and strategy.

Thank the Lord for Google and the Internet!

There’s an unlimited number of people out there just waiting to give would-be filmmakers advice and there are even a few sites out there that actually know what they’re talking about. Not many, but a few.

OK, a couple of these sites sound as if they’re operated by the same “bankers” in “Kenya” who send out those e-mails about the millions of dollars they’d like to transfer to your bank account...

So always keep in mind the key rules concerning everything on the Internet:
1) Never give out personal and financial information, and
2) Don’t believe much of what you read or hear.

READ MORE by Dennis Toth - http://creditspectrum.com/2010/01/film-fund-amentals-in-search-of-funds/

Daytime Drinking FREE NY Premiere Jan 12

FREE ADMISSION to the Award Winning Film
"DAYTIME DRINKING" NY Premiere - Jan 12

2009 sucked.
2010 has got to be better.
And as a part of the "Let's make 2010 a better place," relief effort, from January 12, 2010 until December 14, 2010, the Korean Cultural Service will be screening FREE KOREAN MOVIES

KOREAN MOVIE NIGHT - Jan 12
Tuesday at 7pm; Tribeca Cinemas
54 Varick Street

(on the corner of Canal Street, one block from the A, C, E and 1 train Canal Street stops)

Price? Free. Seating will be on a first come, first served basis.
Or if you want to guarantee a seat, just RSVP to info@koreanculture.org or call 212-759-9550




DAY TIME DRINKING (2008, 116 minutes, New York Premiere)
One of the rudest things you can do in Korea is turn down a drink. It's like spitting in someone's face. DAYTIME DRINKING is a rapidly escalating farce that tweaks the humiliation-meter up and up and up and up as Hyuk-Jin, newly broken up with his girlfriend, finds himself bullied into drinking an infinite amount of soju in a series of progressively more surreal situations.

The debut film from Noh Young-Seok, Drinking became a word-of-mouth hit in Korea and has played dozens of film festivals around the world. With a vibe somewhere between Jim Jarmusch's Stranger than Paradise and Broken Lizard's Beerfest the only thing dry about this flick is its humor.

VIRTUAL 3D people - 2010

This is the state-of-the-art: 2010

This is the state-of-the-art: 2010

Created and rendered in Maya 4.0. Texture was hand-painted in Photoshop as part of the study. No photos were used except for the background. 100% digital girls:





and guys…


CLICK HERE FOR assassin-angel-bundle rotation - http://www.daz3d.com/i/shop/popup/swf?item=10167&num=9&h=675&_m=d

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PIGEON IMPOSSIBLE

PIGEON: IMPOSSIBLE is the tale of Walter, a rookie secret agent faced with a problem seldom covered in basic training: what to do when a curious pigeon gets trapped inside your multi-million dollar, government-issued nuclear briefcase.

The film took nearly 5 years to complete and is the first attempt at animation by writer/director Lucas Martell: "When the project started, it was mostly an excuse to learn 3D animation, but by the end of the project I had spent so much time reworking and polishing the story that I just wanted people to laugh."

The end-result is a hilarious 6-minute romp through the streets of Washington D.C. as our hero fights to save himself, and the world from the chaos reigned down by a hungry pigeon. Breathtaking visuals and a sweeping soundtrack showcase the work of nearly one-hundred talented artists and musicians, and the film stands as a testament to what can be accomplished by a team of dedicated volunteers working for the love of their craft.

Pigeon: Impossible @ Yahoo! Video

CLICK HERE & FOLLOW THE PODCASTS: http://www.pigeonimpossible.com/podcast/001.html

WHAT DOES A PRODUCER DO?

THE "PRODUCER'S CREDIT WHAT DOES IT MEAN" is moderated by JOHN MAY, Award winning Producer, Screenwriter and Script consultant.

Build your own Hollywood AVATAR movie camera rig

Based on my own limited understanding of the Cameron Virtual Camera rig, and not having access to more material on the subject, here is a post that may inspire directors with a lower budget to do something similar.

LEARN MORE and Build your own Hollywood AVATAR movie camera rig - http://bit.ly/8hcdlA

AVATAR the movie has been hailed as a revolution in film making and as an entertainment blockbuster, and rightly so. It created many firsts, for example being one of the longest new era 3D films of approx 160 minutes, that did not give audiences a headache. Far from it! the movie was actually engrossing and used stereoscopic 3D very effectively in story telling.

Billy Wilder’s Eleven Tips on Screenwriting

As a screenwriter, I have learned to take the audience into consideration and even respect it. And believe me, for a born and raised film snob and idiosyncratic filmmaker, it was a long and painful process.

I think Billy Wilder expressed it best, "An audience is never wrong. An individual member of it may be an imbecile, but a thousand imbeciles together in the dark - that is critical genius."

In the documentary Billy Wilder Speaks, Volker Schlondorff asked Wilder what should be in a screenplay.

Wilder responded: "Interior. Exterior. Day. Night. That's it."

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE FILM: http://www.veoh.com/browse/videos/category/drama/watch/v18575289QpRxysNz#watch%3Dv18696739QzEWPzHF

The Top 10 Viral Videos of 2009

You can't argue with 30,000,000+ viewers!

She may not be the fairest of them all, but she was arguably the most viral. Susan Boyle tops the list (with 330,000,000+ viewers), but see who else TIME chose for the year's top viral videos!

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/video/player/0,32068,59392900001_1950326,00.html#ixzz0bPMg6lOO
SEE THEM HERE!

The Top 10 Everything Else of 2009

TIME MAGAZINE charts the highs and lows of the past year in 50 wide-ranging lists.

Read more: http://www.time.com/time/specials/packages/0,28757,1945379,00.html#ixzz0bPVZBoBf

CAPTAIN EO Returns

The Untold Story of Captain EO

With Michael Jackson’s tragic death in June 2009, there was a flood of special magazines and media tribute projects that detailed the life and achievements of the innovative singer/dancer. I eagerly flipped through all of those magazines and watched the specials in hopes that there would be a section devoted to the film Captain EO, a high-profile Disney project about which I really wanted to know more. Strangely, it wasn’t even mentioned in most of these tributes.
Even in Jackson’s own autobiography, Moon Walk, published just two years after the premiere of Captain EO, there are barely three paragraphs.
READ MORE by Wade Sampson - http://www.mouseplanet.com/9085/The_Untold_Story_of_Captain_EO&urlhash=9Nhj&trk=news_discuss

The full version of this 1986 short film, includes the song "We Here To Change The World". The film stars Michael Jackson. It was directed by Francis Ford Coppola, executive-produced by George Lucas, choreographed by Jeffrey Hornaday, photographed by Vittorio Storaro, produced by Rusty Lemorande, and written by Lemorande, Lucas and Coppola. The score was written by James Horner, and featured two songs ("We Are Here to Change the World" and "Another Part of Me") by Michael Jackson. The Supreme Leader was played by Anjelica Huston.

Andrew Bergmann filmed "Jackrabbit Sky"

The simply monumental task of making an independent feature film is something that always moves the artist in this writer. The effort, dedication, and technical know-how required simply breaks most before they even finish the film. Now say you are both the director and lead actor, you would think that was nearly impossible to do. And although he said he does not recommend doing it, Andrew Bergmann did it, and from the looks of the trailer, did it very well.

A recent phone interview with Bergmann revealed more about the process of making the film and some ideas about his philosophy of filmmaking.

READ MORE by Eric Shlapack - http://www.examiner.com/x-17667-Tucson-Film-Industry-Examiner~y2009m11d2-Andrew-Bergmann-brings-Tucson-filmed-Jackrabbit-Sky-to-The-Loft-Cinema-Wednesday-November-4th
Copyright © 2009 Clarity Digital Group LLC d/b/a Examiner.com. All Rights reserved.
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THE ORIGINAL, “VINCENT”

OLD MEDIA writing, film, music and video existed separately.
NEW MEDIA writing, film, music and video is digital and all these things can be stored and summoned up in related files that can be used in so many ways...

The song, "Starry, Starry, Night" by Don McLean is one of my favorite songs as it captures the duality of the artistic genius which was Vincent Van Gogh. A preacher, he was dismissed for being overly zealous. Incredible. He was filled with LIFE and with passion. He was brilliant and yet sold only one painting while living! His genius was appreciated fully only after his death. Was he insane? Did he 'see' something the rest of us can not? Did he experience beauty so deeply that the average person found him to have been mad? Did he comprehend the spiritual realm to a degree so intense the average person was uncomfortable to be near him? I ask myself these questions as I marvel at his incredible gift. Only about 3 solid years of practicing his craft before death. He left us with a legacy of artistic brilliance never to be matched.
- Lisa Callihan



For me, the best crafted song ever written. I loved this when I was seventeen and I love it now. Then I didn't know it was a song about the artist Vincent Van Gogh.....since then I've seen the artists work int he national gallery in London and I know what a humanitarian the man was. His relative, Theo, was murdered in the streets of Amsterdam by an islamic killer because he made a film which depicted the violence against muslim women in the islamic community. - wlwak

This is Veteran Singer-Songwriter, Don Mclean, giving the audience a little humor and performing his hit "Vincent" live with his backing band in Spring 2007.
Shot & Edited by Mia Johnson