There’s been some discussion on this blog, though nearly not enough, about the future of distribution in the independent sector. I’m a fan of cinemas as places but I have to admit that I’ve become more accustomed to watching films on my laptop. This is in no small part due to the increasingly excellent service offered by sites like iTunes, The Auteurs and IndieMoviesOnline. I imagine you’ve heard of the first of those. The Auteurs is a site that, even…

Combining two of the themes of my blog for March, here’s Dom’s Canon 7D view of the European Independent Film Festival… If you can’t see the video click here http://shootingpeople.org/blog/category/bensblog/2010/03/faces-of-ecu/

Last of the British winners at Ecu was Shooter James Rumsey who won Best European Short with his film Milk Man, a fantastic Hitchcock inspired slice of noir… And hopefully, since James is a Shooter, he’ll give me a shout the next time his film is screening and I can let you all know how you can see it… If you can’t see the video click here http://shootingpeople.org/blog/category/bensblog/2010/03/james-rumsey

OK if you’re interested in the new DSLR revolution then you’ve probably already seen this, but just in case – click on this link to see some pretty astounding evidence of how these little cameras hold up against film… http://www.zacuto.com/shootout

Louisa won Best Student film at Ecu. We did do a much more interesting and in depth interview about her film “The Highest Low” which is a beautiful, poetic, frank and at times surprisingly witty account of her struggle to rebuild her life following a terrible car accident. Sadly this interview doesn’t seem to have been uploaded so instead here she is being deservedly delighted at winning… And here is the trailer for her film… Hopefully I can prod the…

This is Philippe Lamensch from Belgium talking to me after winning an award for the editing in his first short film Légende de Jean L’inverse… It’s really great that Ecu provides ‘trailers’ for all their films online, it makes a blog so much more useful and compelling. Shame though that in most cases this is just the opening minute or so as that rarely gives the full flavour. Here though is the first minute or so of what was one…

Winner of the best Non-EU short film at Ecu, Cassandra Lee Hamilton is also much much smaller than me which does mean that this looks a bit like she’s talking to a giant. I think it’s the sleeve of my coat more than anything… Anyway, fee-fi-fo-fum, I smell a talented filmmaker who, shooting on 35 at 23, is clearly doing something right… And in case, like me, you’re interested in girl front US punk, here’s the band she drums in……

We had so much fun last time we’re partnering with Mofilm again! Shooter Henry Scholfield, who won the Grand Prize last month, made his ad over the course of a weekend; he’s now off to make an ad with Avatar producer Jon Landau. This time people entering through Shooting People are automatically put in the draw to win a MacBook. You only have until April 6th to create and upload your entry so get cracking (brands include Nokia, Best Buy…

Ok forgive the pun. Just accept that I will go to hell. Those of you who read this blog through Shooting People will be only too aware of the long running and often vitriolic debate that has been raging about the National Minimum Wage and its impact on independent film. For those of you reading this because you just find me interesting and enjoyable… well, I’m afraid you’re in for a bumpy ride. Recently Jess Search and Chris Jones took…

Here is an interview I did with Klaus Pas director of film “Last Supper For Malthus” at the opening night of ECU… …and here is the trailer for his film… All of which goes to show how disarmingly chirpy the Swiss can be when predicting the end of the world. The destruction of the world’s resources and the collapse of all civilisation has been on my mind ever since last week when I took a trip to Norwich. Though I…