Filmmaking // Current TV

Brand New London Film Studios Giving Away FREE Studio Time

Spectrecom & Waterloo Film Studios are running a competition on Twitter to win... more

Christiaan_Harden
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2 years ago
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Mathematical Nature? This video shows how maths describe nature [video]

In this beautiful video, "Nature by Numbers," filmmaker Cristobal Vila... more

GrrlScientist
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2 years ago
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Part 2 - Interview with Sharon Woodward about 'Thank You Skinhead Girl'

Sharon talks about the small amounts of money she had to make the film. Low/no budget

mischiefshazza
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Who Knew that Elements were so Personable? Chemical Party [video]

Directed by Roderick Fenske, Marie Curie is proud to present: "Chemicals having a... more

GrrlScientist
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An Opportunity to win $10,000 and a trip to a Hollywood premiere

Hi we announced a new contest where You could win up to $10,000 and a trip to a... more

rosekelin
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2 years ago
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Bill and Coo Take you on a Tour of Chirpendale [video]

I have never seen nor heard of Bill and Coo (1948), but it's a real treat. It... more

GrrlScientist
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2 years ago
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FilmWriting Project: British Underdog Movie about Cricket [video]

I am not sure which form of torture would be most likely to make me crack first: being... more

GrrlScientist
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A FIRST LOOK AT INDEPENDENT HORROR-COMEDY “THE NIGHT SHIFT”

A FIRST LOOK AT INDEPENDENT HORROR-COMEDY “THE NIGHT SHIFT”... more

Gukbe
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Intervention: Your footage sucks

Vanguard correspondent Christof Putzel had one foot out the door, on his way to shoot... more

Christof
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2 years ago
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8 comments

Cycles: Invasion of the Teddy Bears [video]

Here's a truly peculiar video for you to watch featuring infinite teddy bears... more

GrrlScientist
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Monkey Jam, Freeware Stop-Motion Animation Program

If you’re interested in animation Monkey Jam is a cool freeware program that... more

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2 years ago
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Turkmenistan’s first ever wildlife documentary

Bristol based ethical production company Back To The Planet will act as consultants in... more

Backtotheplanet
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If Movies Were Music

This is a subject that hits home with me. You know how classic music is so great and... more

JonRaymond
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2 years ago
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A Steadicam system for an iPhone

On Jan 7th 2010 The Tiffen Company announces a new Steadicam system built exclusively... more

phildavis
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2 years ago
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`Spider-Man 4' delayed; Maguire, Raimi out (AP)

Tobey Maguire's web-slinging days are behind him. The 34-year-old actor and... more

eva2
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2 years ago
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Eric Rohmer: 1920-2010

Eric Rohmer, the French critic and filmmaker who was one of the founding figures of... more

jlichman
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2 years ago
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Filmmaking on the Cheap with Paranormal Activity's Oren Peli

Oren Peli, writer/director of Paranormal Activity, kindly stopped by to give us 3... more

Brett_Erlich
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2 years ago
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The New Millennials take Hollywood

You've heard of the millennials haven't you? They are the new gen-x. The new breed that has been weened on computers, iPods, Twitter, iPhone apps, you name it. Well Arin Crumley is what I'd call a millennial poster boy. No offense Arin. But this is the guy that Faye Dunaway calls her digital guru, and with damed good reason.

I saw Arin last year at the Film Independent Directors' series forum, where he talked about his film, Four Eyed Monsters (already ancient history - it's been out since 2005). This is an awesome film, if for no other reason than the way in which it was made. Arin (with some wedding video experience) decided to document his online courtship with artist Susan Buice (an awesome individual in her own right). He arranged to meet her for the first time after an online encounter (this was before Facebook - the Middle Ages). But being the filmmaker maniac that he is, he stalked her with his video camera instead and eventually sent her the videos (I can related to that), which evolved into a non-speaking art media only communicative relationship - it gets fucking nuts at this point. You have to see the film.

Anyway, the film is about how he made the film, while it's also about their relationship, which - OK no spoilers - it's just too good. The thing is if you're a filmmaker you have to see this film. You have too.

It gets better. Arin and Susan collaborated to self distribute the film through the use of MySpace and YouTube where they posted clips of behind the scenes stuff, including their relationship, and all the in-fighting typical in beginner film crews. But the amazing thing is that they succeeded in distributing it, even to theaters, and even getting two nominations at the Independent Spirit Awards, all of this on their own using mainly the internet and social networking. Ergo, digital guru.

Cut to the chase, four years later, Arin has teamed up with web developer Kieran Masterton to create a full out web initiative to allow any filmmaker to basically do what Arin and Susan did with Four Eyed Monsters, and a lot more.

If you think of yourself as any kind of 21st century artist, you can not not check this shit out.You've heard of the millennials haven't you? They are the new gen-x. The... more

JonRaymond
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2 years ago
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Why Indie Directors Are Releasing Movies Online - For Free

When Finnish filmmaker Timo Vuorensola came up with the idea for his movie Star Wreck, a parody of Star Trek, he knew that looking for conventional distribution would be futile. An amateur, science-fiction comedy with a miniscule budget - and in Finnish, to boot - would hardly be attractive to mainstream studios. So Vuorensola took matters into his own hands: he used a Finnish social networking site to build up an online fan base who contributed to the storyline, made props and even offered their acting skills. In return for the help, Vuorensola released Star Wreck in 2005 online for free. Seven hundred thousand copies were downloaded in the first week alone; to date, the total has now reached 9 million.
"Releasing it for free is just good marketing," he says. "Whether it's through piracy or distribution your film is out there on the Internet, so we decided to harness this." And he has managed to make quite a bit of money out of it. Online sales of merchandise - including T-shirts and collector's editions of the DVD - have generated $430,000 on a film that only cost $21,500 to make, Vuorensola says. He and his team have also now secured a proper distribution deal with Revolver Entertainment in the U.S. and Britain.
In the age of YouTube and viral marketing campaigns, it was only a matter of time before independent filmmakers came to realize that cutting the middleman out of the process is sometimes the best way to guarantee large audiences see their works. This is especially true at a time when funding from studios has been seriously hit by the recession - just as it was on the way up. "The last 10 years has been a renaissance period for independent filmmaking and there has been more money coming into production for films than in any other decade in the history of film," says Jonathan Wolf, managing director of the American Film Market, an annual event where filmmakers and studio executives converge to sign production and distribution deals. But since the economic downturn, many indie movie distributors, including New Line Cinema, Miramax, the Weinstein Company and Paramount Vantage, have either left the market or slashed their funding.
Like Vuorensola, American animator Nina Paley ignored traditional distribution methods and released her film, Sita Sings the Blues, a comic adaptation of the Hindu epic, The Ramayana, directly online earlier this year. She first created a blog, www.ninapaley.com, to develop a community of supporters, and then posted the film on another site, www.sitasingstheblues.com, for free. It was an instant success. "I have my blog, but I essentially gave the film to the audience and they ran with it," Paley says. "It wasn't self-distribution, it was audience distribution."
Paley also sells merchandise on her site, including 35mm prints of the film stamped with a Creative Commons License, so the buyers know the money is going directly to the filmmaker. And she has a donation link through which she has received gifts ranging from $2 to $2,000. To date, Paley has made net profits of $55,000 - and she's secured theatrical distribution in France and the U.S. "What I have learned is that the more freely you show the film, the more audiences will buy the DVD and surrounding merchandise," she says. "With a normal theatrical release you have to spend so much money on advertising and promotion that most independent films lose money."
Even some mainstream filmmakers are starting to use online distribution to build buzz about their projects or simply to get their films to as many people as possible. Last year, Michael Moore released Slacker Uprising - a documentary about his attempts to have President George W. Bush removed from office in the run-up to the 2004 election - online for free...When Finnish filmmaker Timo Vuorensola came up with the idea for his movie Star Wreck,... more

Found_Avenue
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Filmaka and DRG Announced a New Pitch Contest

Digital Rights Group (DRG), a leading distributor of content in the UK, has signed a... more

rosekelin
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