It’s a Small World, Axel Roessler, 2009, 2min 02sec

Everyday Heroes, Fiona Brownlie, 2009, 3min 27 sec

Tatian (la casa en el árbol), Josue Jaramillo, 2010, 6min 46sec

Because the Origami, Ben Jacobson, 2011, 4min 23sec

Kuka Kehtaa?, Sanni Lahtinen, 2010, 3min 53 sec

Prayers for Peace, Dustin Grella, 2009, 7min 38sec

Milton Glaser Draws & Lectures, Chris Coy, 2009, 5min 12 sec

Jump, Lab Ky Mo, 2007, 1min

Denmark, Daniel Fickle, 2011, 5min 08sec

Spiral, Poppie Sköld, 2010, 3min 45sec

Howard, Julia Pott, 2010, 3min 54sec

Stretta, Franck Trebillac, 2010, 3min 44sec

Chiral, Robert Seidel, 2010, 3min 19sec

Zoo, Robin Bushell, 2008, 2min 39sec

PS Your Mystery Sender, Benjamin Wigley, 2010, 9min

Spin Spun Span, Anne Wilkins, 2010, 4min 31sec

12 Sketches on the Impossibility of Being Still, Magali Charrier, 2010, 8min

Skateistan, Orlando von Einsiedel for Diesel New Voices, 2010, 9min 15sec

Once More Once More, Katie Armstrong, 2010, 4min 04sec

Sign Language, Oscar Sharp, 2010, 4min 56sec

The Maestro, Adam Anthony, 2011, 5min 52sec

Diplo, Wing-Yee Wu, 2010, 10min

We’re very excited to be screening a program of great short films at the Big Screen Plaza (it’s very Bladerunner!) in New York City on Tuesday, July 12th from 5pm till 7pm. The event is free and you can join at any time – there’s a fancy food court and beer for purchase too. Thank you so much to all the Shooters who are allowing us to screen their wonderful short films – the full list is on our Facebook event page. Thanks also to our lovely screening partners – Telegraph21.

But really, describing it is pointless. Get tickets now and go see Punchdrunk’s exceptional Sleep No More.

If making a film is akin to having a baby, then making the DVD is like packing the growing teenager off to college and making him face the world on his own two feet.  My (business) partner Maya Hammarsal and I are wondering how our off-spring will fare.  We’re as proud as parents generally are.  We think he’s a well turned out and carefully nurtured individual.  However, the anxiety is still there.  Will he make an impression, be ignored, be ridiculed even or exploited or will he find his own path and make some friends along the way?

He’s not a sexy or hip individual, he’s not brash or edgy.  On the surface he isn’t the obvious candidate for success.  Our off-spring is a 40 minute arts documentary (BOSDET: The man behind the glass window), our first film of significant length, about a little known (undiscovered even) Jersey artist who, made his name on the international stage as a particularly gifted stained glass artist at the end of the 19^th century.   The film seeks to shed light on the man and also on that distinct Jersey culture that’s not quite English and not quite French.

This is our first DVD – I’ve overseen the whole process and as a result I’m feel particularly anxious – fearful that I’ve made some major mistake along the way.  Help hasn’t been difficult to find though, if you’re prepared to do the searching on-line and in the real world.  I attended the very good talk back in July (Making and Raising Money On-line) given by Peter Broderick and Sandi Du Bowski.  Peter finished with a stirring thought that ‘now is a golden age for being an independent  filmmaker’.  Even 5 years ago there weren’t the opportunities to self-distribute, build on-line communities, crowd-source and crowd fund he said.  As I wasn’t making films (certainly not with the intention of making money) 5 years ago I can’t tell if he was right, but it was inspirational stuff.  Then there was the podcast [26/08/2010] by Chris Jones (of Guerilla Filmmaker fame) where he interviewed James Collie about his film ‘Beyond Biba’. On the surface this film about a 60s fashion icon seemed as niche as ours and yet they had had extraordinary success with cinema releases, festivals that paid them to exhibit (how cool is that?), DVD sales and international TV deals.

We decided early on that our film wasn’t going to get a TV commission or wide festival coverage partly as we weren’t know to TV execs and partly because of our subject matter and length (not quite a short and not a feature).  We’re happy with the 2 festival screenings we got: the first in the US at the Jersey Shore Film Festival – (note the Jersey connection; we made sure we flagged that up with personal letters to the organizers) and the latest this weekend at the Branchage International Film Festival in Jersey, UK).  However, as we all know festival screenings don’t make you money.

Our approach to making back the cash we invested has been through specialist screenings, targeted mail-outs and carefully developed partnerships.  The film has already made us money at 2 screenings last October at the local Jersey history society, who generously gave a venue for free and allowed us to keep the box office takings.  We had over 200 at the events.  With hindsight we should have had the DVD ready to sell then, but a combination of lack of time and a fear this would prohibit any festival exposure at all stopped us.  We resorted to taking names and addresses, trying to build our first level of ‘fans’ and hoping that 12 months down the line these people would still be willing to buy a copy of the film, especially if it now offers extra shorts and interviews that provide greater textual context to the times, the unique language on Jersey and the more ‘technical’ aspects of Victorian stained glass window making.

A breakthrough was getting access to other people’s mailing lists.  The local history society has 2,500 names.  A direct approach through a flyer and ‘members only’ discount for a limited period is good for the society presenting the offer and good for us (we hope).  These people fit our ‘ideal viewer’ profile: people who are interested in Jersey, interested in history and interested in art.

We’ve also got another partnership with the local museum to show the film daily for the next year and where the film will be on sale in the Museum shop.  The world of retail is not kind to the small independent filmmaker.  Their mark up will give them a profit far greater than the one either of us will get.  It’s certainly not as lucrative as selling direct through our website (www.bosdetfilm.com) but it’s a shop front where the public would expect to find it and having a few sales up front (even if they are at a whole sale price) does bring in much needed money without the wait.

Finally, the education/specialist talk circuit beckons.  Church groups, schools and the W.I. might not be as sexy as the festival Q & A circuit, but you need to go where your audience is and if they pay you to screen and you can shift a few dozen DVDs then that’s success in my book.  At the end of the day I want this film to get seen and make money: not be a worthy artistic success but a financial failure.

So at the moment the future for this slightly un-trendy teenager doesn’t seem too bad.  We’ve accepted that we won’t be too prominent at festivals, on TV or in high street retail outlets.  But this doesn’t mean to say that we won’t be a success.  Accessing, developing and targeting ‘meaningful’ mailing lists, setting up ‘deals’ where both parties feel they are getting something beneficial (though not always monetary) and doing much of the DVD authoring ourselves has kept costs down, allowing us to feel confidant that this first foray into the big wide world of distribution and commerce won’t be the last.

‘BOSDET: The man behind the glass window’ by Maya Hammarsal & Mark X Jones screens at St. Helier Town Church, Jersey at 7pm on Saturday 25^th September as part of the Branchage International Film Festival 2010.  It’s also available later this month from www.bosdetfilm.com

Here’s the trailer:

Panel Schedule:

5:00-6:00pm

Message vs. Craft: The Art of Effective “Issue” Storytelling

When a filmmaker takes on a topic related to social justice or human rights it is often with the hope of influencing public opinion and inspiring action. To achieve that, a film must reach and engage the right audience, in the right numbers. It must also portray the human impact of the issue or problem persuasively. How does a “social issue” filmmaker balance the need to educate with the public’s desire to be entertained? How does he/she move past preaching to the choir and make a film that can become a catalyst for real change? This panel will provide advice on the above from documentary and fiction filmmakers including Justin Schein (No Impact Man), Fabio Wuytack (Persona Non Grata) and Paola Mendoza (Entre Nos), whose work successfully walks the issue/entertainment line. Leah Sapin of Arts Engine (which specializes in production and outreach for socially relevant films), and New York magazine film critic Bilge Ebiri will join the discussion, to be moderated by Lina Srivastava.

Panelists include: Lina Srivastava (consultant to non profit media companies working for social change) – moderator   Justin Schein (Co-director of No Impact Man) Fabio Wuytack (Director of Persona Non Grata) Bilge Ebiri  (film critic from New York magazine) Leah Sapin (Arts Engine) Paola Mendoza (Director of Entre Nos)

6:30-7:30pm

Filmmaking Strategy: Tips, Tools and Wisdom to Help You Make the Right Decisions For Your Film

Filmmakers have to be both artists and strategists to get their films made and seen and this is the case now more than ever as changes in funding and distribution force filmmakers to shoulder more of the crucial decisions on their own. This panel will help you learn how to be the best advocate for your film by asking all the tough questions that you will have to ask along the way. For example: How much work (and what work) do you need to achieve on your own before approaching a funder? And how can you tailor your pitch to communicate your vision to a foundation vs. an equity investor? What other funding options are there? How do you balance traditional outreach to festivals, sales agents, broadcasters, and distributors with the need to also create your own fan base? Which distribution deals do you accept? How do know when a deal is a good deal? How do you hope for the best but plan for the worst?

Panelists include: Adella Ladjevardi (Cinereach) Janet Brown (Cinetic) Liz Ogilvie (B-Side) Tia Lessin (Co-Director of Trouble the Water) Andy Bichlbaum (Co-Director of The Yes Men Fix The World) Simon Kilmurry (P.O.V.)

EVENT DETAILS:

Date: Saturday, June 13, 2009

Venue: On the roof of the Old American Can Factory Address: 232 3rd St. @ 3rd Ave. (Gowanus/ Park Slope, Brooklyn) Directions: F/G to Carroll St. or M/R to Union Ave.

Rain: In the event of rain the show will be held indoors at the same location

5:00PM: Panel discussion: “Message vs. Craft,” outside in courtyard

6:30PM: Panel discussion: “Filmmaking Strategy,” outside in courtyard

7:30PM – 9:00PM: Reception in courtyard including free sangria courtesy of Carlo Rossi

8:30PM: Live music presented by Sound Fix Records

9:00PM: Film

The film is the US premiere of Persona Non Grata, directed by Fabio Wuytack. Prosecuted as a rebel. Banned as a priest. Committed as an artist. Loved as a father. An inspiring documentary—co-funded by the Rooftop Filmmaker Fund—about the filmmaker’s father, Franz Wuytack, a radical left-wing Belgian missionary in the slums of Venezuela in the 1960s. With a new liberal movement sweeping Latin America, and people like Wuytack needing to continue the fight for social justice in the US and around the world, this film is crucially relevant today.

It’s going to be a wonderful night! Get tickets at www.rooftopfilms.com

I tell you there isn’t much I like more in life than watching films, eating cupcakes and making things!