5 Reasons The Recession Is Good For Filmmakers

Sarah Romeo

I know, you are thinking, not another attempt by Elliot to get people all gee-ed up!

Instead, let me introduce you to the bubbly Sarah Romeo, an ex-Raindance intern whose bright disposition and energy left a permanent mark on Raindance.

I was scrolling through the vaults and I found this article which made me smile, and which cheered me up on a bitterly cold January evening.

Take 60 seconds and read Sarah's 5 Ways Filmmakers Benefit From A Recession

16 Things Film Festivals Hate About Filmmakers

We are only 14 weeks into our 8 month call for submissions and DVD's are flowing in.

A quick rummage through the shelves of 2013 submissions reminded me of the 16 Things Film Festivals Hate About Filmmakers.

Some of the items on this list are so basic you'd wonder how anyone could, for example, not include their contact details.

Erm... Read and enjoy here:

How Rookie Filmmakers Get Work Without Experience

It was really painful for me to write this post.

I still get people saying to me: Show me your resume. Can I see what you have done. And this after over 30 years working in the industry.

Fortunately I have a body of work that can speak for itself. But what of the old conundrum: To get work you need experience. To get experience, you need work? Correct?

Young filmmakers, directors, screenwriters and actors have always faced this dilemma. And in today’s shrinking markets, established professionals like myself also face this on a daily basis. Whether it is to be laid off, or to be replaced by someone cheaper or simply made redundant by one of the new digital production technologies, older and younger film workers everywhere are constantly battling to make themselves marketable in a changing landscape.

My good friend Simon Hunter was waiting at his agents office in LA at the end of last year, when in walked Frank Durabont asking if there were any commercials going. Imagine that! An Oscar winning director of feature films trying to earn a bit from a lowly commercial.

Whether you are starting out, or whether you are established and trying to strengthen your position in the job market, you can get around the Catch 22 of work and experience by using some creative action and energy.

Anyway, here is How I Got Film Work Without Experience

7 Key trends that independent Filmmakers and Screenwriters Embrace

What a crazy two decades since I started Raindance - way way back in the days of celluloid in 1992. Now, of course, celluloid isn't the only thing to go. Most of how we make, watch and consume entertainment has changed beyond recognition in the past rwo decades.

Here are 7 Key trends that independent Filmmakers and Screenwriters need to embrace in order to stay afloat in the next year:

3 Painful Lessons Of Independent Film

As the year end approaches with astonishing speed, I am reminded of all the mistakes I made. Mistakes made not just in 2012 - but since I launched Raindance on the unsuspecting public in 1992.

It's true I suppose that one learns from one's mistakes. More polite people would frephrase the word 'Mistakes' and say soemthing uber positive like: "I learned from trial and error".

That may make the pain a little more bearable, but after all these years I realise that it's taken me since 1992 to learn the 3 Painful Lessons Of Independent Film.

7 Ways To Create A Film Career Brand Strategy

The great thing about working in the creative industries is you get to create a brand around yourself and what you do.

Just like Sherlock Holmes wouldn’t have gotten too far without a strategy, so too your film career will hit a brick wall until you construct a plan of attack.

You might be able to hoodwink a spy or two, or finesse a lucrative job, but you could awake one morning wondering how you had gotten from A – Z when really all you wanted to do was to go from A – B.

The strategy for your own personal brand works almost the same as the strategy for a company brand.

Read: 7 Ways To Create A Film Career Brand Strategy

4 Habits Of Successful Filmmakers

I have had the great pleasure of meeting and working with some of the country's top independent filmmakers. Observing their development and their careers has taught me a great deal.

I have written an article called the 4 Habits Of Successful Filmmakers.

If only I was astute enough to learn from teh uscesses of others!