7 Mistakes Rookie Screenwriters Make

I taught myself how to read and analyse screenplays when I started out running this film festival, Between 1992 and 2003 I read and wrote critiques on over 2,500 screenplays including Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels, and 51st State.

Only a handful of these 2,500 screenplays ever got made. Of the remaining scripts, they most likely will never get made, and not because they were a bad idea for a screenplay. I never once found a bad idea for a screenplay reading 2,500 scripts. did find poor execution of the ideas time and time again.

I'm no expert. All I have is a body of experience working with rookie writers. Here is a crib sheet of the basic mistakes debut screenwriters make.

Read 7 Mistakes Rookie Screenwriters Make

Film Publicity's 3 New Rules

Online distribution, VOD, day/date screening, transmedia and of course the threat of piracy are all part of the new film PR frontier.

The Raindance website is currently undergoing a revamp and I am revisiting our marketing and PR strategy. The author and marketeer Jeff Bullas highlighted several key factors in his excellent blog. A survey of nearly 2,000 companies rated the optimised press release as the most effective way to release news. Optimizing press releases for news search engines is now called "SEO-PR".

This is where it is all starting to happen. The new PR tools that relate to marketing in general pretty much all pertain to a successful film launch.

Read: The 3 New Tools Of Film PR

5 Cons Filmmakers Fall For

It's the 20th year of the Raindance Film Festival and we are open for submissions.

Like last year, and every year before, we start getting arm-twisting telephone calls from self appointed experts calling themselves festival 'consultants'.

I dont know about you, but we are sick to the death of consultants!

With Rotterdam's excellent IFFR underway, and with Berlinale starting on the 10th of Feb, you can bet your bottom dollar that there will be a whole new wave of newbie festival consultants infecting these two fine events.

But this is just one of the cons out there.

Do your research:

Read: 5 Cons Filmmakers Fall For

Bingham Ray

I was stunned to read of the untimely death of one of the great independent film champions. Bingham Ray.

I first met him at the very first Raindance Film Festival in 1993.

We met in the cinema lobby and swapped glasses - me his wire rims and he my shades - a tradition that continued for the next 5 years.

Bingham would always take me aside and offer advice and most importantly, encouragement. When he came to the first British Independent Awards, he told me knew it would be a winner. Funny how now such words mean so much.

To Nancy and his family: my condolences.

6 Lessons Porn Has For Independent Filmmakers

WOW!

It's really competitive out there in movie land. Getting an audience for your film is not going to get any easier.

Then, a flash of late night inspiration following a cruise through porn land. These guys 9and girls) might just be on to something!

Read: 6 Lessons Porn Has For Independent Filmmakers

The Raindance Film Festival Team
Submissions now open!
www.raindance.org

Censorship happens to indie filmmakers too

I got home last night and was tooling around on the internet when I stumbled onto an interesting article by British filmmaker Chris Jones. He, like me had DVD copies of his movies destroyed in the Sony warehouse fire during the summer riots.

I was shocked to read his blog about his deal offer from Love Film

Read the Chris Jones' post BANNED by legal action: What Is Your Film REALLY Worth To Love Film? bit.ly/u70dY0

How Film Directos Screw Editors

Our in-house post-production maestro, Christian Bell has been banging his head against the wall over the complete lack of film directors' understanding of how film editors work.

Read: 6 Ways Film Directors Screw Editors