FREE CINEMA NOW

Figuring out how to transform the free online content that we produce (almost on a daily basis) into currency that can someday pay the bills isn't just a growing concern--it's an indie industry-felt dilemma. Yet, for the longest time, I've been insisting that my peers continue to make work (mostly digital shorts, blog entries, images, RSS Feeds, etc.) and just put that content out there--for free. I still feel this is a vital behavioral-business model. Other indie digital filmmakers have actually asked me, "Yes, but how do I make money with my short film?" My answer usually is, "Well, that's a tough question. First of all: Who are you? Do you have a following? Is your work actually good ("good" meaning it's content that is engaging, interesting or of some niche value)?" I think those questions need to be answered first before any artist makes the leap from 'independent creator' to 'financially successful cre

I need you. And you need me. It's that simple. Our rising new media industry--you know that always changing frontier for independent filmmakers--is going to live or die by our willingness to cross-promote, engage, inspire and sustain work for each other. I'm beginning to sense that something remarkable will happen soon among the independents. What is it? An aggressive, hard-to-ignore community of innovative DIY digital filmmakers will take to the frontlines. It HAS to happen. In his latest Hope For Film post , producer Ted Hope expressed: " I’ve written a lot about the increasing responsibilities of filmmakers and the absolute need to focus on audience/community building.  How to we get our work seen in an entertainment economy that has shifted from being based on scarcity and control, to one of super-abundance and ever-increasing access?  The tools get better daily, and slowly we start to map out a series of best practices." It's a very re

At a recent film industry event I attended, I found myself picking up my jaw from the ground a lot. I ran into a number of individuals--all indie producers and content creators--who were hellbent on landing that "theatrical run" for their micro or modest projects. The relentless DIY-digital filmmaker inside me kept erupting with "Are you fucking nuts?" expletives. You see, I have a deep concern for my peers not seeing the big picture. Like any other independent artist, I would love to have all of my work tour the nation on big multiplex screens but we know that the current exhibition infrastructure is not built to program all of our work (whether their current programmed content is any good is an entirely different discussion), so why bother with waiting around and hoping to be "discovered"? We know the major film festival route is becoming a slimmer opportunity every year; since when do films that star Tinseltown marquee names earn the label of being