ASK & DISCUSS

Hi all,


I know funding is a question that comes up a lot on here, everyone needs cash to make things!
I have searched quite a lot, as I am sure everyone has, but can't find any …

If you go to www.flicku.me You can start an Indiegogo campaign through that site and get partnership benefits. They will help promote the campaign as well

With the ease of making content now and the huge amount of films made every year, do people think its easier or harder to break into the industry? I've been to various talks recen…

I've been reading this discussion for a while and I've really liked hearing everyone's thoughts! I was really happy to see another "young" actor/ filmmaker having their say and so…

Hi, I'm trying to start a discussion about how to get into Filmmaking with virtually no money. Right now, I cannot even afford to go to all of the seminars, talks, presentations a…

Hi Matthew, if you have a good short and want to shoot give me a shout maybe we could collaborate, I'm working on a project now and always need help. I'm in south london too, get …

I've started crowdfunding a film, and two of my supporters have asked why I don't just use traditional finance methods. (Edit, thanks for all your views below. We've now had som…

I think distribution is where crowd funding is getting really interesting and will develop a lot over the next couple of years. Check out why in my blog about the future of crowd …

Based on my own experience producing 'The Fitzroy' campaign on Kickstarter, I've blogged about what I think are the top 5 most common crowd funding mistakes film makers do that ca…

Great blog, thanks, James!

Hi,
I would like to know if there is a correct or smart way to find and reach out to local Retired or Pro Screenwriters in your home town?

I'm hoping that I can ask them to be …

Beg!!

Hi all,

DSLR cameras offer a bright future for bold, experimental independent films. So why aren't we making them?

http://cuttingroomtales.wordpress.com/2013/01/20/anyone-for-re…

Thanks Connor, I think you have a point about the generational thing... up to a point. Godard and Truffaut were teenagers in Nazi occupied France, Polanski saw the holocaust at fi…

Hi,
How do I create the best CV for myself as an entry level Runner/Production Assistant? I know there are are various examples over the Internet, but what do UK Producers/Di…

I've written a book about writing a CV for TV, which goes through exactly how to write a CV and covering letter for the TV industry, as while Film and TV CVs follow similar format…

Hi All,

Been thinking recently of doing some stage-acting again. Last time I really did this was back in school :$, but was something I always got a lot of good feedback for, and…

If you're within travelling distance of Ealing then go to Questors - see Zak's link above. Very likely to be what you're looking for.

1. Lincoln - Politically Correct?
2. Zero Dark Thirty - Politically Incorrect?
3. Argo - Part 2: Iranians are coming! (http://tinyurl.com/d3l5uvc)
4. Silver Linings Playbook - Ser…

Anyone notices that "Silver Linings Playbook" is the least talkabout among filmmakers but is the most "hyped" film this year? It's an OK/average film but gets all this "attentions…

Do you have any horror stories about your experiences at any film festivals, if so we would like to hear from you

My short film, THE WRITER'S MUSE, won best short in the 2010 Pocono Mountains Film Festival and I had a great time over the 3-day fest, so I felt pretty comfortable submitting my …

Looking for some decent indie film podcasts out there as most of those flagged up in the past now have tumbleweeds rolling through their RSS feeds. Any suggestions?

I listened to loads. The most helpful for me was Film Method by Cindy Freeman. Informative and intelligent - from the business of starting a film all the way though to distributio…

Why isn't Skype used more often for auditions/castings? Why should actors be expected to spend perhaps two or three hours travelling to an audition, which could be done just as ea…

At the Nancy Bishop film acting workshop I went to in Prague, she said that a lot of actors she teaches now send in video reels with what the CD has asked for and often get cast t…

We at Dresden Pictures are trying a crowd created film called Mini-Fitz as part of our feature film 'The Fitzroy' (www.thefitzory.com). We've had a mixed response in terms of crow…

Hi James,

Good luck with the project, I perused your sites and you definitely got my interest :) Small note, the fitzroy URL is misspelt above (I copy-pasted and got an error), y…

I've just written this blog - https://shootingpeople.org/blog/?p=4504 - about reactions to the sale of the Picture House chain of cinemas to Cineworld. Many people I spoke to abou…

Having worked in both multiplex and 'art-house' cinemas, I'm inclined to agree with Simon Dymond. To give Cineworld their due, they are marginally better than their multiplex riv…

I've just written this blog - https://shootingpeople.org/blog/2012/11/the-grimm-tide/ - which outlines some of the Fairy Tales that are perhaps less likely to undergo the Disney m…

Sounds like Oliver Reed falling for Nichelle Nicholls (before she played Dorinda in TRUCK TURNER)...

Hi,

I was just wondering people's thoughts on what makes a good Horror. Not so much gore that isn't quite the mark.

Thanks

James

The old TWILIGHT ZONE TV series had some excellent episodes about just this kind of theme. Try A THING ABOUT MACHINES from Season 2, you can get the entire series on DVD and it's …

I recently tried to gain representation with an agency as an editor.
Despite having 5 years editing experience on successful docs, shorts and other commercial projects I wasn't ev…

I'm looking for individuals and organisations in the North West of England who either already work with schools or would like to. This is on behalf of Curious Minds which is th…

Dear shooters. Would be really interested in your thoughts on this.

I already have some management for my screenwriting in the states but have been doing a bit of window shopping…

MIght be worth checking them out on Writer Beware website. There are quite a few scams involving editng fees highlighted there.

A few weeks ago I was trying to make a post in the Filmmakers Bulletin. I’m a writer director producer (I normally say filmmaker, but I want to be clear here) and I was hoping to …

Has any debate been more muddled than the one current raging furiously on the Screenwriters' Network?

Today my blog provides a handy outline of most of the biggest confusions tha…

Anyone else heard about the latest Spielberg film about aliens and robots? It’s called Robocalypse (yes that really is the title) and it’s based on a book which is based on...well…

You know what actually matters?

A good story well told.

Nothing else.

How can someone claim to be a screenwriter and not like reading screenplays?

I'm sure the average budding novelist has read a thousand novels before attempting his or her first o…

Yeah, sorry, but this is nonsense. Watch any Tarantino movie, and count how
many he steals from (beautifully, by the way). Or if you can't learn something
from reading a William…

Chatting with a development executive friend recently she expressed her long held bewilderment that writers have such low status in the industry, especially compared to directors.…

Here in Los Angeles, that would never happen. Unions have negotiated with one another to arrange the single title card in specific positions. Having said that, the one credit that…

I blogged here http://ravingdaveherman.blogspot.nl/ about dodging the rewrite.

Curious to hear how other people motivate themselves to dive into a serious rewrite, when just get…

Rewrite phobia? Writing IS re-writing. The sooner one accepts that, the better off they'll be.

Often I've read scripts that didn't deserve a second draft, much less a 3rd or 14t…