Check out the GFS Thesis film DEAD ON written, driected, crewed, and edited by GFS Fellows.
Dead On from Derrick Cameron on Vimeo.
Ghetto Film School Presents: DEAD ON
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Tag Archives: Film
Into The Lion’s Gate
Not sure if any of you would care out there or would even take a few moments to review this Lions Gate Investor Report but it is DEFINITELY worth sharing if you want to take a crash course in Hollywood Film/TV/Content Studio Business.
Lions Gate Films is an interesting case study because they have NO PARENT CO. and are a legit film studio in an era where everyone is struggling to do it right.
So when you look at their 2010 Annual Report you see a clear cut financial analysis of entertainment assets in film and TV with a few back-end entertainment business elements such as investments in other entertainment properties as well as film library assets acquired from fallen studios in the past.
For me, it was an interesting look back into the rabbit hold of film biz 101 and really insightful.
What’s also fascinating about Lions Gate is that they prove if you have a low-risk high targeted model, then odds are you can come out on top, see this LA Times article written just last week.
Have to tip your hat to the LGF family for being consistent in one of the toughest businesses in the world.
Ghetto Film School Trailer – DEAD ON
Check out the 2011 Ghetto Film School Thesis Film.
DEAD ON
Shot in Belfast, Northern Ireland by the Next Generation of Great American Storytellers.
World Premiere February 28, 2011 in NYC
Creative Opportunities: FILM
The Hamptons International Film Festival’s Screenwriters’ Lab, going into its 11th year, is an intimate gathering that takes place each Spring in East Hampton, New York (April 15 – 17, 2011). The Lab develops emerging screenwriting talent by pairing established writers & creative producers with up-and-coming screenwriters (chosen by HIFF in collaboration with key industry contacts). The mentors advise in a one-on-one creative laboratory setting while additional events bring the participants together with board members, sponsors, the local artistic community, and other friends of the festival. With scripts from past writers produced year after year, the Lab continues to be a safe and inspiring place for artists to find and hone their creative vision.
Recent mentors at the lab include Michael Cunningham (The Hours, Evening); James Vanderbilt (Zodiac); Billy Frolick (Madagascar); J.D. Zeik (Ronin); J. Robin Baitz (People I Know, The Substance of Fire); Whit Stillman (Metropolitan, The Last Days of Disco); Ira Sachs (40 Shades of Blue, This Married Life); Jeff Sharp (Producer, You Can Count on Me, Evening); Maria Maggenti (The Incredibly True Adventures of Two Girls in Love); Sabrina Dhawan (Monsoon Wedding, Cosmopolitan); Gregory Widen (Highlander, Backdraft); Mark Christopher (54); Maggie Greenwald (Songcatcher, Ballad of Little Jo); Lawrence Lasker (Sneakers, War Games); Chap Taylor (Changing Lanes, National Treasure); and Dylan Kidd (Roger Dodger, P.S.).
Screenwriters’ Lab: Science & Technology Screenplays
We seek a broad selection of screenplays addressing a wide subject matter. Additionally, in collaboration with The Alfred P. Sloan Foundation’s initiative in furthering the public understanding of science, we encourage writers to submit screenplays that explore science, technology, mathematics, invention, and engineering in fresh and innovative ways.
Deadlines are:
Early Bird Deadline, Dec. 3rd
Regular Deadline, Dec. 22nd
Late Deadline, Jan 7th
WAB Extended Deadline, Jan 21st
For more information, please see
hamptonsfilmfest.org
or
https://www.withoutabox.com/login/5850
LES Film Festival
February 8th to February 27th
20 days of independent short and feature films made for under $30,000, all in pursuit of the prestigious LES Prix D’Or.
The LES Film Festival is committed to showcasing the creativity and inventiveness of low-budget filmmaking and to give filmmakers an opportunity to present their work. BYOB screenings will be followed by a Q&A with directors. Submissions will be viewed and selected by a panel of judges.
The LES Film Festival is about top notch storytelling, and top-notch storytelling doesn’t mean huge budgets.
Award Categories:
Best Dramatic Short, Best Dramatic Feature, Best Comedic Short, Best Comedic Feature, Best Animation, LES Prix D’Or
Submission Period: November 1, 2010 to January 8, 2011
TO SUBMIT A FILM CLICK HERE.
CHECK BACK SOON FOR MORE DETAILS. TICKETS COMING SOON.
Social Network: The Impact
Everyone’s talking about it. It was positioned by a producer of the film as this generation’s Wall Street. Sure enough, people are calling Zuckerberg’s character as the Bud Fox of today. The Social Network delivered.
This film is so poignant. It taps directly into the zeitgeist while at the same time tells a terrifically crafted story – revealing the layers of Facebook’s monumental impact while entertaining us at the same time and making one think.
First, let’s acknowledge the story and the way they chose to frame it. Many story elements seemed played-up or dramatized as well as Zuckerberg’s character always playing the bad ass genius card. While it didn’t go down this way, the story tellers were savvy enough to know that the vehicle needed this framing in order to tell what is otherwise, a really dry business 101 story with the roaring 2000s theme.
Outside of the film’s questionable accuracy – it’s amazing art direction. The lighting, pacing, scene set-ups, sequences, music and performances were all on point. Should we expect less from David Fincher, the man who was making all those awesome music vids in the 90s with Madonna and directed films such as Fight Club, Se7en, Zodiac, Curious Case of Benjamin Button and is attached to direct the U.S. adaptation of The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo? The man is not to be doubted! Bravo Mr. Fincher & Co. for an excellent project! The people have spoken.
Lastly, let’s talk about the film’s relevance on a cultural, technological/digital and business level.
Culturally, I’ll never forget living the experience of joining Facebook in college and watching it blow up in front of my eyes – during that period it was crazy – everyone in college was all about it and we couldn’t even tell each other why we were all so into it. Five some odd years later and it’s still relevant to our lives on an even bigger scale.
Tech/digitally, and it’s shown in different facets of film but not stressed – how Zuckerberg and friends stumbled upon a way to not just create a new social site but to literally – re-wire and re-network the inner workings of the internet and our lives simultaneously. It is now why Facebook and Google are the ones to watch in the internet evolution race for #1. Also, read how Facebook can become bigger in Five Years than Google is Today.
On a business level – this is just a classic business 101 story. Very much in vein of other innovator American stories ala Steve Jobs with Apple and Bill Gates with Microsoft. (Netflix Pirates of Silicon Valley if you have never seen.) Awesome innovative achievement is always super-cool but usually never without a few people getting hurt and/or felt done-wronged along the way. American business – it’s never pretty but someone has to do it.
If you are on the interwebs and want to be on top of what is culturally relevant then do yourself a favor. Go. See. This. Film.
TRAILER
Storytelling Innovation
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT
Ron Howard and Brian Glazer are shepherding a new unprecedented storytelling project. The uber producers will use Universal Pictures infrastructure to tell Stephen’s King’s trilogy, The Dark Tower as a combination of films, television and even comic books.
By alternating the story between film and television – the storytellers can use different methods to engage the audience. Imagine using the television series to work in the incredible character development and the film to create incredible visuals. They can change pace without being disjointed. The key is that the material can support such an audacious move. These incredible hefty literary properties will be the backbone of more innovative forms because of their depth and richness.
Of course, there are hurdles – the deal took months to complete and the actors are gonna be locked up for extended amounts of time but similar to Lord of the Rings – the overlaying production cycles will keep costs down and bring huge opportunity for financial success.
Adam Neuhaus
Graphic Designer Dominance
It took Radio thirty four years to reach an audience of fifty million, television did it in thirteen. The Internet had fifty million users in less than four years, and now there are over a billion websites online.
And then there were blogs. The vast majority of websites are written by amateurs, using programs written en mass that are no more complicated than a Myspace page. Thus the question arises, who is watching what, and how do you innovate when just getting by is seemingly good enough? Does it make any sense for Matt Drudge to invest time, energy or money in a flash site when he’s getting more hits than CNN and MSNBC combined?
Unlimited democracy, it seems, breeds mediocrity. Alex Cox said, that “film was the revolutionary medium of the twentieth century, and it can not be the same for the twenty first.” While we still exist in the infancy of this new century it is difficult to reconcile that our media saturation will soon capitulate to a growing necessity among individuals to separate themselves and their talents from the sheep at the slaughter.
The film makers of the next fifty years will be ground breaking graphic designers, who will manipulate the amorphous concepts that we now understand as “the web” in order to express new dimensions of technology.
EBIZ online magazine wrote up the top ten flash-sites of 2010, and although the list might be simple, if all you do is glance at the shiny graphics then you are just a pawn in the game. All ten of these sites, (and wonderwall, which they didn’t mention) are connected to brands/people who/which are changing their industries terrestrially, is matt drudge really doing that?
So next time you wanna find something other than porn online, peep the list, and think about how your gonna be buying your kids creativity via their Skype account.
http://www.ebizmba.com/articles/best-flash-sites
Ready, Set, Market!
A documentary leverages emerging digital tools and marketing techniques to get people’s butts into the seats
Ready, Set, Bag! is a new documentary that has leveraged social media to promote the film’s release in local theaters as well as take advantage of cause marketing. The digital savvy filmmakers partnered up with Groupon, a website that enables businesses to offer great deals to people in their communities. Through Groupon the filmmakers made pacts with local theaters, $1 of each ticket sold will go to food banks near the theater to help feed the community. So far 100% of theaters have agreed to carry the film. Furthermore, the filmmakers are playing the trailer on Blip.tv (see below) and all advertising revenue is going to support the charity of Feeding America.
This recent project highlights various trends happening in filmmaking and in business in general. Filmmakers are getting savvier when it comes to leveraging online to support their projects. For example, Kickstarter, an online site that enables you to raise funds for projects is turning into a go-to for filmmakers who need to raise money to fund their films.
Furthermore, filmmakers keep exploring new means of distribution, for example this year Sundance enabled filmmakers to distribute the film through VOD services and the internet.
Lastly, the trend of embedding the pay-it-forward element into you’re your business model is really hot right now. Expert calls this cause marketing and it looks to be a win-win for everyone involved.
In an era of change, new distribution models and business plans are emerging. Sure, Ready, Set, Bag! might not win an Academy Award but you have to tip your hat to the producers for leveraging all the tools available in order to, as they like to say in Hollywood, get people’s butts into the seats.
Scriptnomics
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT:
More and more studios are trying to mitigate the risk involved in greenlighting a script. No longer is ‘gut instinct’ the determining factor in the greenlighting process. Companies like OTX are capitalizing on this uncertainty by offering the equivilant of focus groups for screenplays….at $5,000 a pop. I am all for data driven decisions and new “Moneyball” thinking but I think part of the impetus for this new direction in film is the frightened nature of executives.
People are so afraid of losing their jobs that they use these types of reports and focus groups as a crutch as opposed one part of the decision making process. Its frequently used as the deciding factor and a convenient scapegoat when things go wrong. “But look at the numbers!?, Its not my fault!” There is something that eludes these reports – vision. The best executives are those who can see something beautiful and worthwhile out of a work in progress. Don’t forget it.
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118020136.html?categoryid=13&cs=1&ref=vertfilm
Marketing for Docs
WHY THIS IS IMPORTANT -
Docs are always fascinating because they can bring attention to an issue or story that has been unrecognized. It’s truly an art form that can create change. From INCONVENIENT TRUTH to THE COVE – docs that cross over into popular culture become massive hits and can cause policy change (TRUTH) or even fishing habits (COVE). Kudos to The Works – a doc distribution company that prides itself on finding those gems that might play to a four quadrant audience. There seems to be a pretty solid formula for making docs successful commercially. The goal is to eventize the docs – If it’s an issue doc then you need a built in network of support – that can come from a social networking support or celebrity support. As The Works preaches – “Distributors are not just buying a film, but buying a support structure.” I also like the idea of gathering an audience before the doc is released (the support system) and also treating theatrical not as the end all be all but rather as one part of a strategy to build an aggregate audience. So many interesting ideas in this article. Take a read.