Shooting People: Tools

Engage 101: Audience Building Masterclass with Brian Newman

Ingrid — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 17:53:03 +0000

Join us at DCTV on Monday 22nd and learn how to build an audience for your film and your career!

Filmmakers today must think about audience engagement from day one.

What are the best strategies for building an audience both online and off? What’s a fair offer, and what are some of the myths around distribution? What are possibilities for self-distribution? What’s all this talk about transmedia and participatory audiences?

Brian Newman will help you think about a range of plans for your film and workshop distribution plans for some films in the audience – as a group, because the audience is also the expert.

Regardless of your approach to distribution, knowing your audience and the best strategies to engage them is crucial. After all, you aren’t just building an audience for your film, you’re building a fan base for your future.

Brian Newman is the founder of sub-genre consulting, helping filmmakers and organizations to distribute content and connect with audiences through innovative uses of new technology. Brian was most recently CEO of the Tribeca Film Institute, and has been the executive director of Renew Media and IMAGE Film & Video Center. He speaks regularly on new media, audience development and the future of the industry, and contributes to a blog on these subjects at Springboardmedia.

Presented by Shooting People & DCTV

Mon, 02/22/2010 – 7:30pm

DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, NYC

$8 DCTV & Shooting People Members

Get tickets in advance as the masterclasses tend to sell out.

New Breed in Park City

Ingrid — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 04:10:13 +0000

Some useful ideas explored here from New Breed - these are part of an on-going series from Filmmaker Magazine and The WorkBook Project to document the Filmmaker Summit held last Saturday at Slamdance (more about this to follow soon).

Filmmakers Zak Forsman and Kevin K. Shah of Sabi Pictures arrive at Park City with an intent to define the questions most relevant to independent distribution options. Insights from Brian Newman, Dan Mirvish, Jon Reiss and Ira Deutchman open a path toward discovering some real solutions.

SABI filmmakers Zak Forsman and Kevin K. Shah move away from identifying the questions toward some possible answers that may, in fact, lead to the solutions we seek. Insights from Linas Phillips (Bass Ackwards), Habib Azar (Armless), Dan Mirvish, and Brian Newman are fleshed out with more thoughts from the pre-Filmmaker Summit roundtable.

SABI filmmakers Zak Forsman and Kevin K. Shah move away from identifying the questions toward some possible answers that may, in fact, lead to the solutions we seek. Insights from Linas Phillips (Bass Ackwards), Jon Reiss and Brian Newman are fleshed out with more thoughts from the pre-Filmmaker Summit roundtable.

Mofilm Competition: Win a Canon 5D!

Ingrid — Fri, 29 Jan 2010 03:45:41 +0000

Ok we know film competitions are a dime a dozen but we’ve gotten behind this one from Mofilm because the prizes are awesome (and there are lots of them) and if you enter through Shooting People you also stand the chance of winning a bonus prize: the Canon 5D. Plus you’ll get flown to Barcelona which ain’t half bad.

Your task, if you choose to accept it, is to make an ad of less than 90 seconds for any one of five brands.

You up for it?

Act fast – you only have 3 days left!

Filmmaker Summit at Slamdance

Ingrid — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:13:37 +0000

Any of y’all going to Park City are spoiled for choice for cool workshops to attend this year! The Filmmaker Summit is brought to you by the very wonderful people at Slamdance, Workbook Project and Open Video Alliance. We’re fans of all three so if you can’t make it to the Summit be sure to participate online and remember that it will be streaming live on Jan 23rd too.

Here’s a statement from the producers of the event:

The mission of the Slamdance, WorkBook Project and Open Video Alliance Filmmaker Summit is to jointly craft a new charter for filmmaking, storytelling and content distribution, with and by the global filmmaking community.Our collaboration is born out of reaction to an independent film industry currently in a state of change and how, as a global filmmaking community, we can better understand and find greater success afforded by new technology and the democratization of new tools and processes.

We believe sustainable independent filmmaking is no longer about the production itself. Instead, it’s about how filmmakers must now expand their role and take charge of reaching and engaging worldwide audiences across all viewing platforms. In this direct approach, the viewer is now collaborative, less passive and more connected then every before. New business models will emerge as a direct result of experimentation and transparency around process, the Filmmaker Summit is an attempt to chart a course towards sustainability one that is by filmmakers for filmmakers while at the same time being inclusive of the audiences that support them.

Digital Dive at Sundance – A Workshop on New Media

Ingrid — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 19:00:07 +0000

Digital Dive is a free, one-day immersion program to help you improve your digital media literacy. Experts will present case studies, product demos, and practical information about how to get your feet wet with website, mobile phone, social media, and cross-platform production. A collaboration between Sundance Film Festival and Jigsaw Global, the workshop will be held at New Frontier on Main, and it is perfect for filmmakers and film industry professionals with minimal, hands-on digital media production experience.

OPEN CALL FOR ALL FILM INDUSTRY PROFESSIONALS. APPLY FOR A FREE RESERVED SEAT, OR JUST SHOW UP ON JAN 22ND AND 23RD AND GRAB A GENERAL ADMISSION SEAT.

Are you going to be at Sundance/Slamdance? Consult with Jon Reiss

Ingrid — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 16:05:09 +0000

We’re big fans of Jon Reiss’ book, Think Outside the Box Office. Jon is offering filmmakers a really great consultation opportunity so if you’re headed to Park City you’ll want to read this:

As some of you might know, one of the reasons that I wrote Think Outside the Box Office was after those first Filmmaker articles I wrote in Fall ‘08 about my experiences distributing my graffiti doc Bomb It, many filmmakers contacted me to help them with their films. However they were all broke, as most filmmakers are. The book started as a brain dump so that I could share my experiences with others. I figured people could at least afford $20-$25. (After many requests the book is now available as a PDF from my site for $14.95)

But filmmakers still need individual advice; how to apply the new distribution and marketing models and landscape to their specific films. And unfortunately since filmmakers in general are not saving money for distribution and marketing, they are still broke.

So I wanted to do some kind of community consulting “event” at Park City this year. I thought about sitting in a coffee shop for 2 hours a day and having online sign ups for 20 minute sessions (I still might do this if enough people request it).

However, Lance Weiler asked me to do a live consulting session at the Slamdance Filmmaker Summit (Saturday January 23rd) with two filmmaking teams one narrative/one doc. Anyone in Park City can attend and it can also be live streamed (along with the rest of the Summit that I recommend you all check out).

I’ve decided to expand this to 10 more feature filmmakers from either Sundance or Slamdance. I will provide 45 minutes of consultation by phone or Skype before the festival begins and 45 minutes during the festival. This can be used in any way the filmmakers want, from helping to devise a complete DIY scenario, to getting my opinion on any deals being offered.

For selection any interested film should email me by Thursday January 14th by noon at reiss.jon@gmail.com. Send me what you have eg synopsis, trailer, website, plans you have in mind etc.

I will pick the films and announce them by Friday January 15th.

For any other Sundance/Slamdance filmmaker not chosen I will be reducing my consulting rate before and during the festival from $75 an hour to $50 an hour. This rate will apply even for the chosen films if they want to go beyond the first hour and a half.

You can follow Jon’s blog here.

Masterclass with Matt Dentler on Digital Distribution

Ingrid — Tue, 05 Jan 2010 22:41:51 +0000

Shooting People and DCTV bring you a great new event to kick off 2010. You don’t want to miss this!

Are you confused about all the different digital options when it comes to distribution for your film? You are not alone! The web has given us many more opportunities for getting our films in front of audiences but it can be a minefield for filmmakers trying to navigate the new terrain.

Join us for a masterclass with Matt Dentler, head of programming and marketing for Cinetic Rights Management (CRM). Dentler will explain the latest in digital distribution and what he looks for when seeking films to distribute. He’ll also gaze into his crystal ball and tell us what to expect in the future. If you are currently making or distributing a film you can’t afford to miss this. It’s the perfect start to a new year of savvy filmmaking!

About Matt Dentler & Cinetic Rights Management:

Matt Dentler is the head of programming and marketing for Cinetic Rights Management, a New York-based company that releases independent films into the digital marketplace on broadband and cable VOD worldwide. Prior to that, he spent five years producing the SXSW Film Conference & Festival in Austin.

Through its label “FilmBuff,” CRM brings audiences the latest, greatest and classic festival favorites from around the globe. FilmBuff delivers the festival and arthouse experience to audiences via portals such as iTunes, Hulu, Netflix, Amazon, SnagFilms, Time Warner Cable, Comcast, and more.

Monday, January 11th, 7:30pm
DCTV, 87 Lafayette Street, NYC

Tickets available via Brown Paper Tickets – just $8 for Shooting People members!

Jon Reiss Shows You How to Think Outside the Box Office

Ingrid — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 12:09:31 +0000

If you haven’t picked up a copy of Jon Reiss’ Think Outside the Box Office do yourself a favor and grab one now. Whatever kind of distribution and marketing strategy you are pursuing for your film (and if you haven’t got a strategy yet this book will help you develop one!), there are loads of good tips and ideas in here for you. This is a time when we all need to be sharing as many resources as possible to make the long, hard road of getting a film made and seen feel just a little bit less like venturing forth into complete Terra Incognita. There are lots of great folk out there helping to clear a path through the wilderness, like Ted Hope with Truly Free Film for example, but we all need to share what we are learning as we re-invent the future. So read this book and pass it on!

Power to the Pixel’s Think Tank Report

Ingrid — Fri, 18 Dec 2009 11:07:59 +0000

The Think Tank was the culmination of 2009’s Cross-Media Film Forum, “bringing together Power to the Pixel’s participating experts for a day of discussion and debate with a view to defining practical steps in developing cross-media film practices in the film industry.”

Download it free here.

Digital Bootcamp Wiki – Help It Grow!

Ingrid — Wed, 02 Dec 2009 20:33:21 +0000

We’re really proud of the growing Digital Bootcamp Wiki. It started off as a companion to the workshops we have been conducting but it has now become a standalone resource on funding, distribution, marketing and so much more in the digital age. Wiki comes from the Hawaiian word for “fast” – and if you all collaborate to this wiki by adding to it we can help it grow even faster!