Advice for Indie Filmmakers

The New Orleans Film Festival brought together a panel of filmmakers for the session “The Indie Filmmaker – A Survival Guide”.

They discussed the challenges and obstacles facing aspiring auteurs. The topics ranged from common mistakes made in low-budget features, the importance of the script and how to trust feedback, what crew members should absolutely be paid, financing options to casting and this may very well prepare you better to be a much director than going to film school.

No one has any money when you are first starting out to make films. Some of the most grievous mistakes one makes when starting out is cramming everything into a really short production schedule. You need to have a certain amount of time.

Secondly is paying a couple people on your staff, and paying the right people. A DP is important but - and DPs may hate me for saying this - most DPs will work for very little or nothing because they want to shoot their first feature. There’s certainly no shortage of DPs out there.

The people you have to pay are what I call your insurance policy. You’ve got to get an experienced script supervisor because you want to make sure you are covered. If you are a first time director you are going to overlook something, so they are your insurance policy.

READ MORE by Matt Armstrong - http://www.studiodaily.com/main/work/10058.html

STUDIO DAILY © 2008 Access Intelligence LLC. All Rights Reserved.

3 Common Film Script Errors

The number one offender is: The film’s central idea isn’t good enough.

How can you know for certain if you’ve got a weak central idea for a film?

Actually, this is a simple question to answer. Ask yourself the following question, "Is there one visual image that sums up the movie, a great ten word tagline and a hundred words of text that can sell the story?"

You’d be amazed at how many people don’t even look at this issue until their film is in the can. Most people also have very weak sale’s pitches. If you can’t persuade someone to rent your movie based on a DVD cover image and a hundred words, then it stands to reasoon that your central film concept isn’t strong enough. To take it a step further, your cover image has to be strong enough to persuade someone to read the one hundred words.

READ MORE by Clive - http://www.1000dollarfilm.com/3-common-film-script-errors/news/2008/08/19/#more-376

Copyright © 2008, 1000 Dollar Film

The BEST just got BETTER! Celtx 1.0.

Celtx today announced the free public availability of version 1.0 of their software.

Celtx 1.0 new features include:

1. Adapt To - a single click now converts a fully formatted script of one type into a fully formatted script of another – for example a Stageplay to a Screenplay – displaying instantly the multi-media potential of your work.

2. Comic Book - a new editor to write properly formatted Comic Books, and a common framework for collaboration between writer and artist.

3. iPhone - now view your Celtx projects from just about anywhere with a display optimized for your iPhone.

4. Catalogs - a new organization and searchable dashboard view of all your story’s elements and production items.

5. Sidebar - annotate and break down each scene with notes, media (images, audio, and video clips), and production items through an easy to manage, thoroughly upgraded new sidebar.

6. Project Scheduling – has been vastly upgraded to fully integrate with the script breakdown and provide a Call Sheet and a host of new shooting reports.

7. Storyboarding - you can now choose from a variety of ways to view and manage your images, create a storyboard outline based on your script, and add shot descriptions to each image.

To download Celtx 1.0 FREE, please visit http://www.celtx.com/

And look at what it can do! http://blip.tv/file/948797

NO OTHER program does this much.

http://www.pixelheadsnetwork.com/2008/06/09/tip-43-celtx-new-features-in-version-10/

Top Film Instructor Comes to New York: Bob McKee's Story Seminar is the Hot Ticket

Everyone knows McKee. This is a solid assurance like gravity goes down and the protagonist starts from the right and ends going towards left after an appropriate amount of scene turning. Ok, maybe you didn't know that last part. Probably you did, but like the big bag of tricks McKee is well noted for analyzing from some of film's best, his Story Seminar is the quintessential starting point for polishing and aligning your characters. Understand and use the loose ends dragging down on your plot until your overarching themes are gleaming like the Taj Mahal, and everybody wants to take a chance on your story. That's always hope, but hard work and a mastery of your craft always gets the best results.

HBO knows McKee. When asked what one resource he would recommend to new writers interested in pitching to him, Andrew Goldman, VP of Program Planning & Scheduling for HBO/Cinemax suggested McKee's Story.

Oscar-winner screenwriter Akiva Goldsman finds the course "insightful" and "concise" which is really saying something about the density and quality of the material, as it stretches for three days of intense, vital info on how to make your good or ok film idea into a prowling winner by design.

In fact, take a course with this guy, and you'll walk away for the rest of the year realizing every single blockbuster has consulted with him at some stage in the game. He's the guy in the eggshell chair in that room on "the island." No, really. It's worth the admission, and he keeps the costs down because he's one of those rare industry experts who likes to pass it all down.

Learn more at McKeeStory.com. Story Seminar is in New York on October 19th-21st. Register early to guarantee your seat.