The Independent Filmmaker Conference takes place during Independent Film Week in NYC September 14-19. The Conference covers lots of great areas: Making Your First Feature, Filmmaking 2.0, The Global Marketplace, Alternative Distribution, The Truth about Non-Fiction, Film and Philanthropy. Click here for full schedule.

You can also hear conversations with Kevin Smith, Robert Greenwald (Brave New Films) and Rick Allen (SnagFilms).

HD EXPO is coming to NYC (September 22-25) after seven successful years establishing itself as the premier trade show, education, and community event for the content creation industry. Registration for the EXPO is FREE in advance and includes all panels, exhibit hall and Intensive Workshops which sounds like a very good deal to us indeed! Workshops include Sony, Panasonic and Adobe equipment and software and there will be panels on subjects like The Art of Editing in the 21st Century: Creativity and Technology - plus lots of exhibitors to check out.

You can stream panels and workshops from past expos on their website too.

Moviestorm has launched some free software that allows you to make simple animated films, quickly and easily. This is obviously great for first-timers but perhaps it could also be useful for more experienced filmmakers who want to test out ideas quickly? The basic package is totally free so give it a try and see what you think. Thanks to SXSW News Reel for the info!

Paul Harrill over on Self-Reliant Film has compiled a great list of resources about the Red One digital camera - from forums and wikis to training videos and software.

Great quote from Steven Soderbergh on the Red website: For me, this is Year Zero; I feel I should call up Film on the phone and say, “I’ve met someone.”

My tip of the week: if you haven’t already, you should definitely get a copy of Shooting People patron Mike Figgis’ fantastically useful book on Digital Film Making - aptly titled, ‘Digital Film Making’.

And you can even try before you buy, as The Guardian ran an extract earlier this year…

Mike is a pioneer in digital filmmaking and has been at the leading edge of experimentations with the technology. A few years ago I saw him present and mix a live screening of his film, Timecode which had been filmed simultaneously on four cameras - opening up the possibility of multiple versions of the film and effectively placing the meaning directly with the audience.

I haven’t seen it on DVD, but I’d be very intrigued to know how the interactive features work and whether you are able to get complete freedom in remixing the footage. It’s an exciting example of how technologies can be deployed in filmmaking beyond mere gimmick.

Tamsin

SP

Fernanda Rossi, The Documentary Doctor, analyzes a documentary problem every month on Documentary Educational Resources. This month’s issue discusses what to do if you have used different format cameras to make your film. She calls this “irregular camera syndrome.”

Check out mobygratis.com

Here’s what the man himself says about it:

hi,
i’ll keep this brief.
this portion of moby.com, ‘film music’, is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short.
to use the site you log in(or on?) and are then given a password.
you can then listen to the available music and download whatever you want to use in your film or video or short.
the music is free as long as it’s being used in a non-commercial or non-profit film, video, or short.
if you want to use it in a commercial film or short then you can apply for an easy license, with any money that’s generated being given to the humane society.
i hope that you find what you’re looking for,
moby