| | | | Start Screening The Heck With Hollywood! Tonight!
The 10-day screening window for the No Budget Film Club's presentation of The Heck With Hollywood! begins tonight! If you're registered, you'll get the link sent to you at 6pm and will have until March 1st to view it, along with a pre-screening conversation I had with acclaimed director Doug Block.
On March 1st at 4pm PST, we'll have a LIVE, no-holds-barred conversation that you will be a part of, too. In that virtual discussion, we'll be joined by all the filmmakers that Doug followed back in 1987, along with two industry veterans, to discuss the film and the Independent Film Business--how it was then, how it's evolved over time, and critically, where it's going now in these unprecedented times. It will be quite frankly, a night full of teachable moments. Why you shouldn’t miss it: - you’ll discover the tricks and schemes independent filmmakers used to be discovered in the early days of the American Independent Filmmaking Movement and learn which ones are still working today
- you’ll laugh at the challenges they faced and thrill at how they overcame them
- their tenacity will inspire you
- their mistakes will make you smarter
And that's the point of No Budget Film Club. The twin organizational goals of these events are Inspiration and Education, both done in the most entertaining fashion possible. We're not only going to watch movies, we're going to understand how those movies were made, how they were launched into the world, and what impact they had on the filmmakers' careers.
Every one of these films was a minor miracle--just like all of yours will be. Learning what it took to turn dreams into miracles will inspire you to do the same. For our The Heck With Hollywood! event, we have four miracles to talk about--Doug's film, which was his first feature, and the three films his filmmaker subjects made. One of those subjects, Jennifer Fox, went on to filmmaking greatness, directing and producing several successful documentaries, writing an Academy Award-nominated script, and recently directing an award-winning narrative feature called The Tale, which you may have seen on HBO, (and 99% Fresh on Rotten Tomatoes).
And if you're wondering about the environment your films will be subjected to when you're finally able to make movies again, there's no better to discuss that than our two industry veterans. Sam Kitt has been around since the mid-seventies (when he co-wrote a porno parody of Shampoo called Blowdry). Sam created the first film festival devoted to American Independent Film (years before Sundance), ran the Independent Feature Film Market, was an acquisition executive at several studios, was the President of Production for Spike Lee's 40 Acres and a Mule, and is an independent producer. My colleague Peter Broderick is considered one of the world's leading distribution strategists. He was Terry Malick's assistant on Days Of Heaven and ran his production company afterwards. He wrote a series of seminal articles in the early 90's that inspired filmmakers like Kevin Smith to make their no-budget features. And he founded a successful finishing funds company that discovered filmmakers like Christopher Nolan, Joe Carnahan and Amir Bar-Lev. These guys will help us understand where the industry has been and where it's heading this year.
Register now and be sure to use your Promo Code SUBS to save $3, or click the big read button below (which includes your discount).
I'll see you in the (virtual) theater! |
| | | | OTHER CLASSES & WORKSHOPS |
| | Registration Now Open For Peter Broderick's New Distribution Course
I am working with the aforementioned Peter Broderick and his colleague Keith Ochwat on their brand new distribution course for documentary filmmakers, Recharge Your Distribution--a sequel to their wildly successful course last summer called Supercharge Your Distribution.
This new course will help you: - learn the very latest information on documentary distribution
- explore new opportunities and avoid those no longer working
- design a more compelling website
- secure funding and sponsors
- schedule your windows of distribution
- identify and reach core audiences
- harness virtual screenings
- maximize revenues and impact
This class is big--8 sessions/16 modules, plus two Tune-Up sessions. It starts Wednesday, March 17th and meets every Wednesday through May 5th. Each session runs from 11:30am - 1:30pm PST.
Check out the event page for more information, and if you're interested in registering, be sure to use the Promo Code NBFS and save $70 off the price of the regular ticket. This price is an early-bird price. I'm not sure how much longer it will last. This discount will eventually drop down to $50 off. The button includes the discount. |
| | | | | "before/during/after" NYWIFT Screening Event
Ok, I realize I plugged this film last time, but I was just asked to help promote a special virtual screening of the film that includes a live discussion with all the filmmakers, and I was given a promo code that will save you a few dollars.
If you haven't watched it yet, check out this New York Women In Film & TV event. You'll have the opportunity to watch the film between Feb 25th and March 1st, and the Q&A is on March 1st. Hey, isn't that the same day as my No Budget Film Club event? Yes, it is, but it's a couple of hours before mine. You'll have an hour break in between. Come on, you can handle it!
Register below and enter the code 5forFriends for $5 tickets to the screening + Q&A. |
| | | | | Dear Producer's Distributor Fact Sheet for 2021
As you may recall, I've got a new micro-budget feature that has been playing virtual festivals the past year, and we're getting ready to approach distributors. So this exhaustive article from the Dear Producer people (written by my friend Liz Manashil), couldn't have come at a better time. Liz tried to survey all the distributors she could think of for this report--79 companies--and heard back from 38 of them, making this the most comprehensive look at the 2021 distribution landscape available. It's telling, I suppose, or at least disappointing, the companies that didn't respond. Sadly, they include some of the more familiar players for a film like mine, companies like Gravitas, Random Media, Freestyle, etc.
Still, there are some very good companies included in this report, and it's incredibly helpful to compare them in this way. Give it a read and bookmark it...at least until Dear Producer publishes their next edition of this report. |
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