As filmmakers you may not think that HTML5 has much to do with you but a quick perusal of Mozilla’s Web Made Movies may convince you otherwise. Web Made Movies is an open video lab, working to produce a new cinema that works like the web. To do this they have developed Popcorn, an HTML5 video framework that allows you to incorporate elements of the web (like Google Maps, Twitter, Wikipedia and Flickr for example) with your videos. Popcorn provides a simple API for synchronizing this interactive and immersive content through an open source JavaScript library that you can get here. If you’re thinking “what the hell is JavaScript?” then have no fear – you can use Butter, a graphical user interface for Popcorn that you can use without any knowledge of code whatsoever. Just be aware that this is all currently a work-in-progress and Butter is somewhat buggy and unintuitive (for now). It’s going to be game-changer soon though I think.

I attended Buttercamp a few weeks ago, a day long event that brought together developers and and filmmakers to work on Popcorn/Butter (geddit?!) stuff together. It was incredibly exciting to see what people could come up with in a single day and it reinforced my belief that filmmakers and developers (and designers) need to get in a room together more often and MAKE STUFF. It frees filmmakers up from the sometimes paralyzingly slow approach to creating and showing work and it helps developers and designers think about the story and impact of their code and design. New ideas and approaches emerge as a result.

If you’d like to read more about the projects at Buttercamp, Web Made Movies project lead Brett Gaylor has written a good recap of the event, as has Anna Sobiepanek.

Check out the full article here.

Open Video is more than just open codecs. It’s the growing movement for transparency, interoperability, and further decentralization in online video. These qualities provide more fertile ground for independent producers, bottom-up innovation, and greater protection for free speech online. The conference will showcase awesome cultural works, inspiring talks, and cool tech demos.

They have some great speakers like Clay Shirkey and Yochai Benkler and topics span a huge and fascinating spectrum: fair use, human rights and video, mobile journalism, art and technology and giving away films for free (Jamie King will be speaking about Steal This Film II, Brett Gaylor about Rip: A Remix Manifesto). I plan to be there and will report back. There will also be a live webcast.

Find out more about the Open Video Alliance and the ideas behind the Conference in the video below.

Excuse the cross-posting with the Festivals blog, but we didn’t wany any of you to miss out on this -

Mullighan recently presented a panel at the London Short Film Festival, entitled ‘Luck = Preparedness + Opportunity’. With him were the delightful filmmakers (and Shooters), Ben Slotover and Eva Weber.

If you weren’t lucky enough to make it down to the Curzon for the event, no fear! Ben has kindly made his notes from the panel available to you all here.

Ben, as it turns out, has actually made short instructional videos, very good tools for the newer indie filmmaker. You can watch his Zero Budget Filmmaking Compilation below, but he has uploaded more videos to his profile on Shooters which I thoroughly recommend you watch.

Meirelles comments: “When I was first approached by ABC Trust, I found a fundamental synergy between our thinking and theirs – one of empowerment. ‘City of God’ had a profound effect on those involved in it’s making, especially the young people. It developed their self belief, opened their minds and changed their lives. Beyond this we saw an opportunity to harness the power of film to inspire more young people from deprived communities to tell their stories, encouraging them to work on both sides of the camera.”

ABC Trust CEO Andrew Webb adds: “Cinema Nosso has been incredibly successful in its approach to tackling the problems of social exclusion, violence and poverty faced by many young Brazilians. We believe that working through the arts provides a uniquely powerful way of changing lives and many of the projects we support use film, dance, theatre and music. This kind of work opens new horizons and often provokes deep rooted and meaningful change within individuals’ lives as well as whole communities.”

Something to be aware of that many filmmakers don’t consciously think about when starting to get their work out is that it will take some time for your film to “hit” a place in the non-theatrical market – often up to a whole year.  You can’t count on this to be your only source of income because, while there are people who have made a year’s salary on one film, that is not the normal shape distribution takes – whether it be partnering with a distributor or a solo journey.

It is absolutely impossible to promise or estimate how much money you will gain.  I get this question a lot and I try never to give an answer because there simply isn’t one.  Some films do better because of controversy or timeliness of their content, others do better because the information they include is unique and nobody else has captured it yet.  There is no way of knowing how a film will fare until you start sending it out into the world.  There is a lot more to choose from than there used to be and sometimes it all comes down to a matter of timing.  The key point being, however, that you have to send out information repeatedly because nobody will know or remember that your film exists unless you tell them.

Educational distribution is a hefty time commitment.  It means researching organizations that might show your film at a conference.  It requires collecting quotes to use in emails and promotional sheets.  It involves taking the time to collect, or buy, email or mailing lists to send out information to parties that would be interested in using the material you have to offer.  It means having the nerve to ask people to be supportive and either provide advice on other people that would benefit from your film, or include a link to your website.

So if it is not easy, why do it?  The non-theatrical world is a wide, enthusiastic, supportive environment for consuming media.  Professors, social activists, non-profit organizations, journalists, etc, talk on listservs every day.  They give each other advice, they program fascinating conferences, webinars and discussions.  They also love media, and they will continue to be repeat customers when they have found reliable sources to obtain it from.  They know as much about a filmmaker’s work as the average film critic in New York City.  Yes, what I just said is true.  Every time I’ve exhibited at an educational marketplace, customers come into my room to specifically view the latest film from one of the independent filmmakers I represent.

Rachel Gordon is a filmmaker and freelance marketing/distribution consultant specializing in the niche and educational usage of documentary films.  Her short film, Loose Ends, is currently at festivals while she finishes writing the feature version of the story about feminine fear of commitment.  She is also in production on a documentary series about alternative medicines.  She can be reached through her website at www.energizedfilms.com

[F]ilmmakers with an easily defined niche and some marketing flair can still assemble a distribution plan. After doc “Beautiful Losers” debuted at SXSW in March, the filmmakers considered traditional offers from distribs but decided to release the doc on their own. Sidetrack Films partnered with Nike Sportswear to sponsor art workshops, and a shoe and apparel company helped pay for its Aug. 8 launch at New York’s IFC Center and subsequent rollout to four more markets.

Longtime fest film seller John Sloss‘ Cinetic Media also entered the fray this year with the Digital Rights Management group, led by former SXSW film fest director Matt Dentler, who is taking on some of the thousands of titles that are undervalued and haven’t sold after playing the fest circuit. Cinetic will take rights exclusively as a distributor does, and share all revenues 50/50, with no advance.

Filmmakers don’t have to give away the store with DVD deals anymore, but can pursue online distribution via Amazon and a host of rival online indie distribs, from iArthouse and iTunes to IndiePix, Jaman, Hulu, Vudu, Cinequest, Spout and GreenCine.

Laure Parsons at Infinicine points out that holding on to digital rights is not necessarily the path to riches when most people are still watching DVDs:

It may seem like a coup to retain digital rights if you do a DVD deal but you may be shooting yourself in the foot.  A good distributor will manage your digital rights in concert with the DVD to make sure you see the maximum revenue on the balance sheet.

The film business has always been a high-risk venture, but now at the onset of a deal, the willingness to give is at an all-time low. Filmmakers want to hold on to whatever they can, in hopes they can parcel off rights for some benefit in case one or another distribution partner fails.  Distributors want every right, so that they can consolidate their campaigns and also have different avenues to fall back on if one strategy fails.  The only protection you have as a filmmaker ultimately is to know who you’re getting in bed with and their track record- or to do it yourself, but armed with a lot of knowledge and some good consultants.

This document is a code of best practices that helps creators, online providers, copyright holders, and others interested in the making of online video interpret the copyright doctrine of fair use. Fair use is the right to use copyrighted material without permission or payment under some circumstances.

This is a guide to current acceptable practices, drawing on the actual activities of creators, as discussed among other places in the study Recut, Reframe, Recycle: Quoting Copyrighted Material in User-Generated Video and backed by the judgment of a national panel of experts. It also draws, by way of analogy, upon the professional judgment and experience of documentary filmmakers, whose own code of best practices has been recognized throughout the film and television businesses.

Check out Liz Gannes’ article on newteevee.com about the different options, their perks and their pitfalls.