Another new post is up on TOOLS, this time about The Conversation “a two-day conversation — definitely not a conference — about the future of cinema, video, games, and telling stories with new media” coming up in Berkeley, CA later this year and bought to you by Ken Goldberg, Scott Kirsner, Tiffany Shlain and Lance Weiler.

I definitely plan to attend this because I know many of the people involved and I’m sure it will be a really useful and inspirational couple of days. Plus I’m determined to be looking forward, not back, as we figure out how to live digitally as artists (who need to eat and pay rent!)

Lance Weiler is bringing his film Head Trauma to the Museum of the Moving Image in New York this Saturday in a multimedia performance that I’m sure will be worth checking out. I’ll be back in London this weekend to start preparations for BRITDOC so I’ll miss it unfortunately. Here’s the blurb:

In this innovative and playfully unsettling interactive multimedia event, the story of a drifter who returns to his grandmother’s abandoned house is brought to life in a collision of movies, music, gaming, and theatrics. Characters emerge from the audience, the DJ provides a live soundtrack, and your mobile phone becomes a cinematic gaming device. Followed by a discussion with the filmmaker.

Matt Dentler recently pointed out that you can also listen to Weiler and others talking about “Building an Online Fan Base” at SXSW earlier this year.

I mentioned Lance Weiler’s Workbook Project in an earlier post but I forgot to put a link to this article from the Winter 2007 edition of Filmmaker Magazine. It has lots of tips from Weiler on setting up websites, syndicating content, increasing your Google rating and links to some useful sites you may not already know about. It’s an inspiring article because as Weiler says: “In the end, there is no one right way to distribute or market your film. But if making Head Trauma has taught me one thing, it’s not to lose the sense of empowerment experienced during the production of a film when you get to the distribution phase. With the new tools of the Web you do not have to be powerless once you finish.”

If you haven’t checked out Lance Weiler’s Workbook Project yet then go there now because it is fast becoming an invaluable toolbox for indie filmmakers. The Workbook Project describes itself as “a social open source experiment for content creators” and Wired Magazine have called Weiler “One of twenty-five people helping to re-invent entertainment and change the face of Hollywood.”

Here’s more about it from the site:

Our goal is to create a free resource for content creators that will become a user contributed repository of information. The concept is part of a “social open source experiment” called the workbook project. It’s a simple concept, the workbook is meant to be spread and edited. Meaning that content creators can add their own info, war stories, advice etc. We’re hoping that the workbook can grow as a resource. We’re building it with an open source “client side” wiki called tiddlywiki that can be saved to the desktop, edited and then uploaded again.

The goal is to have it grow organically as people add what they feel is important. Then over time, the various “additions” can be collected or at least interlinked so that the information can be shared. The first edition of the workbook will include extensive info about:

* Raising capital
* High Production Values with no money
* Putting together a 17 city theatrical release
* Building a fan base and creating buzz
* Clearance and Delivery issues
* A look at actual contracts
* Getting your work into retail and rental outlets
* Making a TV deal
* How to deal with world sales
* Emerging Markets

If you are making or distributing a film and want to learn more about how to use the tools of Web 2.0 to help you then The Workbook Project is a good place to start.

www.workbookproject.com