“A big producer once said to me I would never be a director because I’m too nice”

Greetings from London UK where the Rain is currently dancing on our heads. Hahaha

Katy Van is a new writer/wordsmith I much admire and she came to the Raindance Film festival this year (in secret I might ad) to research the roles (or lack of roles) of women in film director roles. Refreshingly she found that the Raindance average of female directors is double that of Sundance or Tribecca with 14% of our films directed by women. That's still an appallingly low number.

Here's a great blog post she wrote: “A big producer once said to me I would never be a director because I’m too nice”


And what do you feel about this?

The Psychology of Social Media Engagement

This is the first time I have posted here since March - so I hope I am not bending any rules.

I am totally untrained, although I have managed to produce now, 3 features and over 150 short films, and I have also run Raindance Film Festival since 1992. I have realised, in hindsight, that there are some basic things I do - all of which I have begged borrowed or stolen from some fantastic people I have worked with. So I thought I would share them - and you can read them in it's entirety (it's a 5 minute read) here:

Things I Wish I Knew Before I Started Raindance

Isn't hindsight a wonderful thing?

I have taken a couple days off - midweek no less - to try and recharge after a demanding schedule. I haven't ever done this before and it's been a priceless chance to recharge my batteries.

While relaxing and ignoring the emails and SMS messages I realised that there are many things I wish I knew before I started Raindance.

Enjoy.

13 Web Marketing Myths Filmmakers Should Stop Believing

Raindance is launching our video on demand service on Monday - and you can have a sneak preview here: www.raindancereleasing.com

The reason this new service is so important to us is that distribution of independent films is the big bottleneck and the major barrier to new filmmaking talent breaking out.

What I have learned over time at Raindance is the importance of social media and the marketing opportunities the web offers. Sadly many filmmakers are either blissfully unaware of this new opportunity, or are 'too busy' to understand and embrace this important new element in film making and distribution.

As I travel around to the various international Raindance offices I her the same old excuses repeated time and time again.

This is where I come in. Let me explain the 13 Web Marketing Myths Filmmakers Should Stop Believing.