Interesting in the middle of the Raindance Film Festival to meet so many filmmakers from around the world.
It reminded me of coming back from the Cannes Film Festival this spring where I ran into two veteran British film producers who between them had produced nigh onto 60 features, been nominated for or won several Oscars and who by any standard are considered to be highly successful.
They both were very negative about the future of the film industry and the prospects of making films like they had been over the past thirty years. ‘Independent Cinema’ is dead they argued.
I beg to differ.
So I just wrote the 7 Challenges Facing Independent Filmmakers
A good telephone will become your mobile office.
Get the best phone you can, one that can allow you to surf and accept and write emails, and take location pictures.
An invaluable tool that lets you stay connected even when you are on the fly.
A good website to find the best deals
Yahoo, Gmail and Hotmail might be free and easy to access, but getting your own domain name means you can have an individual and bespoke email address.
Register a domain at whois.com, and get a basic package that allows you to create your own email address, like elliot@raindance.co.uk, and join the professionals!
To build a website, use a programme like Apple's iWeb and DIY. Doesn't need to be fancy, include a section About You, Contact Details, Current Projects and your Showreel.
The 7 Steps to Building Your Own Website
Get a good service package from as little as £3.18 + VAT per month with Nativespace (the hosts of Raindance Film Festival)
And load it up with a useful editing programme like Final Cut Pro, an office admin programme, like Word, and something you can make good presentations with. It is also really useful to have a software package that will let you resize and optimise pictures for the web.
Here's the computer I use: Apple laptop
4. FLIP CameraAt £145, 720 HD, and an 8 gig hard drive, this little beauty is a must.
- See the review video from Computer Now
- See a camera test
- How one blogger got over $20,000 of free publicity using a FLIP
You can get your FLIP HD on Amazon for just £139.99 inc VAT
Perfect for getting those spur-of-the moment interviews to add to your DVD extras.
Order online here
One of the best ways to stay unmarketable is to do a lot of drugs and drink all day. Obvious, I know. On the other hand a great way to stay marketable is to network at a pub. Look for social groups that interest you and join them on a night out. Remember Wedding Crashers rule number 27: Don’t over drink the machinery must work in order to close. This works for women in the movie, but is also practical when talking to a future employer. Although, there was a situation when I was out with a friend with alumni from the newspaper. He ended up getting completely knackered (British word, right?) and still seemed to get every alumnus’s card.
Here is a good take on how much to drink while networking by Tami Reiss: HERE
Staying unmarketable is like being single in a foreign country. You’re not as desirable to the opposite sex/market and you talk funny/don’t know the company lingo. This may be a less appealing strategy unless you’re more of a maniacal individual. Why not date around until you find a woman with a Dad who is looking for a real go-getter (i.e. he doesn’t want his daughter dating a guy with no job). Besides you may also find true love. We all want that right, a job and true love. I smell a romantic-comedy starring Matthew McConaughey and Kate Hudson.
Depending on your market and preferred job another way to stay unmarketable is to have no additional skills. For instance not being able to use Adobe Photoshop or Excel Spreadsheet is a way to get a leg up in staying unmarketable. Most of these programs can be learned through how-to books or online videos. You don’t have to become a Final Cut Pro expert, but having some basics down may create an advantage over the competition.
Rest of the Article HERE
by Elliot Grove
Making a film is hard enough. In this day and age, you are also going to need a website. Starting a website can be tough work—getting the world to see it can be even more tedious. Whether you’re starting a website to promote your production company or an individual film, creating a website and an internet network can be the best way to spread the word. Don’t get lost on the information highway! These tips will show you how to begin:
It should be simple, relevant and easy to remember. If you’re promoting a film, usually the title and the word ‘movie’ make a good URL name. Whatever it is, don’t try to play tricks with the name like dropping letters or adding dashes. The name you choose should be available in organic form, so make sure to check its availability before marrying the idea of a URL name.
Google and eBay both have keyword tools to let you know what the top words and phrases are at the moment. Monitor these tools for a few weeks and see if you can incorporate a word or phrase into the title of your movie.
You’ll want this for all the following steps. You can either make one yourself simply in an application like Photoshop or InDesign, or get a crafty friend to help you. If you want more help, websites like CrowdSpring and 99Designs let you launch contests for designers to create your logo. For a small fee, you’ll have plenty of great looking options to choose from.
See the rest HERE
