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[digg=http://digg.com/movies/Cinequest_Film_Festival_Uploads_100_films_to_Jaman]California based film festival Cinequest opens its doors today in San Jose. The festival will present an impressive 250 films before its over on March 9th. Of those 250, 100 films have been chosen for online distribution through Jaman. The festival this year will be honoring the likes of Danny Glover (The Royal Tenenbaums), Bobby Moresco (Academy-Award® winning writer, Million Dollar Baby and Crash) and Michael Arndt (Academy-Award® winner Best Original Screenplay, Little Miss Sunshine). As well as showcasing those films that don’t fit the Hollywood mould.

Jaman, an online film rental site, is showcasing the trailers for 100 of the films on their website and are generously (or not so generously) giving away three films of your choice for free. While I applaud the film festival for embracing the internet as a new form of online distribution… three films… really? I can see the business model. Get film fans onto the site by offering the festival a platform etc. But three films? Come on Jaman you can do better than that! Also I wonder what percentage of the online rental price the filmmakers are getting, I suspected 0% which is an utter crime. I may be wrong and Jaman are offering the filmmakers a cut but I suspect, like so many others, Jaman are getting the full whack and the filmmaker is just grateful that his or her work is being seen… criminal. Anywho, check out the Cinequest website and Jaman’s festival selection pages for more information and to watch the trailers - there’s some gooduns!

That’s it from me,

K

[digg=http://digg.com/movies/Film_Festivals_just_ain_t_working_Find_out_why]I know bang on about this all the time - but just watch the video…

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PTehTbT7aho]

And click some links…

From Here to Awesome - A new way forward.

Submit a Film - And join the revolution.

Arin Crumley - Democratizing Indie Film Distribution.

YouTube - Watch more of the same.

K

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Beastie_Boy_forms_Indie_film_company]Goooooood morning Finger Lickers! So, word round the interweb campfire is that rap legend MCA (also known as Adam Yauch) of Beastie Boys frame has formed his own indie film distribution and international sales outfit. The company called Oscilloscope Pictures, operating out of downtown Manhattan offices, plans to distribute up to ten films in 2008. Yauch is joined by former ThinkFilm execs David Fenkel and Dan Berger and will be looking for a combination of drama and documentary content.

Adam Yauch is of course no stranger to the world of filmmaking himself having directed some seriously famous music videos in his time including my personal Intergalactic. So, I for one really wanna see what comes outta this new company. While I’m not really an advocate for the current systems of distribution. This kind of thing is a really positive move. Having read their blurb on their website I think the future for this company could look pretty interesting. I am always keen to check out a film by a new startup distribution company because they may be taking a few more chances and delivering something a little more tasty than your average jaded outfit.

K

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Zombie_2_0]Afternoon finger lickin’ fans. So I mentioned a while ago that horror legend George A. Romero was at Sundance discussing the democratization of filmmaking in a spout.com interview. However, I didn’t really get into the reason why he was at the festival. His latest installment in the “Dead” saga premiered at Sundance and, as any good film director should be, he was whoring the hell outta it. The flick is basically a Blair Witch shakey handy cam take on his other apocalyptic tales. I am a big horror fan but not especially into the living dead stuff I’m more of a slasher man, however this really took my fancy.

The trailer is ridiculous and there’s obviously some jolly good hammy acting going on, but of all the horror remake dirge out there it actually caught my attention. From what I’ve read Romero has always worked in a very independent fashion and his latest film is no different, he’s using web 2.0 marketing techniques with exclusive MySpace goodies as well as tapping into the wannabe-filmmaker You Tube revolution to inspire his craft. I for one wanna give it a chance!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2MdqNr0gN4Y]

[digg=http://digg.com/movies/Calling_all_Filmmakers]Evening all. So I’ve been banging on a lot about From Here to Awesome and the wonderful things they’re doing to encourage self distribution and discover new talent. So… Arin and his cronies have started releasing vids and here’s one of their first. Have you made a film and keep thinking what next? Looking for a festival that might actually see your work getting distribution? Check out this vid. Subscribe to their channel. Join the revolution!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lHUwTkbAvn4]

[digg=http://digg.com/movies/Mobile_film_distribution]Take 1 zillion movies with very few commercial outlets for distribution and 1 zillion mobile phone handsets with very little use for feature length films, due to the tiny screens, limited battery life and attention spans of the average user… and what do you get?

Yes… a problem solved.

Robert Redford may have his mugshot stamped all across the BBC news website today regarding the mobile phone industries position on film distribution, but the underlying theme is.. technology, features and how to utilise them effectively for the audience they serve.

Any enthusiastic/loyal/mesmerised/hypnotised/ADHD sufferer of YouTube knows the problem with videos that drag, on, way, too, long… and that edited shorts deliver a far bigger punch to the average mainstream user, than a  directorial 90mins+ of (albeit stunning) production. Lets face it, if we’re mobile and wanting to watch something, don’t shove Spider ‘fecking’ man 3 on my N95, how about a bunch of really cool thought provoking shorts that aren’t going to take longer than a train journey and drain my phone battery down to a dribble!
 
Maybe this is where the ’short’ could come into its own?
iTunes + selected shorts + mobiles = outlet.
Its hardly rocket science is it?

Read the inspiring story here:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/technology/7230906.stm

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Sundance_Distribution_Issues_George_A_Romero]With reference to my last post about the lack of distribution deals going around at Sundance, this seems to be a problem that even veteran filmmakers are noticing. George A. Romero, horror legend and creator of the infamous Dawn of the Dead (1978) is attending the festival for the first time to screen his latest film Diary of the Dead. Interviewed on video, Romero speaks to Spout.com about his work and the festival. Right at the end of his interview he touches on the issues I’ve been talking about. While greater accessibility to cheaper equipment is meaning lots more great independent films are being made, there still seems to be no solid distribution model for this type of work.

Check out their video interview at MySpace.

[digg=http://www.digg.com/movies/Sundance_Deals_and_Distribution]Spout.com blogger, Karina Longworth, who’s currently at Sundance 2008 has written an interesting piece about the lack of deals being made so far at this year’s festival. Karina, speculates about a number of reasons for the relatively low number of distribution deals. Firstly, she references the mainstream press who are apparently suggesting that the buyers haven’t found that magic they have in previous years. Which is of course suitably vague and journalist speak for “we haven’t got a damn clue”.

Next, she discusses a comment by Sony’s Tom Bernard where he states that, we, the bloggers are to blame for taking the mystique out of the film buying and distribution process. According to Bernard the immediacy of blogging means that the press coverage of a film is happening too quickly and therefore they lose control of the media machine.

Finally, Karina suggests that possible the solution could be as simple as the fiftieth anniversary of Sundance has a pretty weak offering of dramatic feature-length flicks. Whether this is the case, is not for me to judge, I haven’t seen any of the films in question. Maybe next year, with a shiny Finger Lickin’ press pass around my neck. But, what these sluggish sales do make me wonder about is the value of a festival like Sundance to the filmmaker. Sure, it gets you some first rate press and sure it gets a very select audience into a cinema for 120minutes to watch your film. But where’s the real benefit? Where’s that golden ticket, the distribution deal that everyone is looking for? Has the time come where festivals like Sundance aren’t delivering the goods? It’s all well and good being able to put “Official Selection Sundance Film Festival” at the opening of your trailer but if only those three hundred ticket holders attending the festival get to see the film… where’s the real benefit to you, the filmmaker?

Distribution is key. The more I learn about alternative, exciting and innovative methods of getting your film seen and turning those views into earnings the more I believe that while there’s a place for the festival route, you need to think bigger.

Read Karina’s blog post here.