Independent Film Blog

What’s the bottom line with all the hoopla going around in the indie film world about the sky is falling? The bottom line this this…. Read the rest of this entry »

I’ve been getting lots of questions this week about submitting completed films to sales agents in time for AFM consideration, so I thought I’d answer them here on the blog, and address everyone’s concerns at once…. Read the rest of this entry »

Over the last couple of weeks in my newsletters I’ve been talking about Docs, and planting seeds on how to start prepping for MIPCOM in October. But this week I want to shift gears and talk about the OTHER market that is coming up which is AFM…

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I’m back from Home Media Expo and the dust has settled a bit….
it ended up being a great trip. Best part is I got to hang out,
meet with, and dine with some old distributor friends in a
low-key, relaxed setting (this ain’t no MIPCOM!) As a result,
I got to spend time asking lots of QUESTIONS and getting a
real feel for what’s going on out there in the DVD world.

So what are some of my main observations?

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Over here at Film Specific we’ve had a big response to the
upcoming Advanced Audio Seminar on Docs & Factual Programming:
From Inception to Distribution. I always knew there were a lot
of Documentarians out there, but I had no idea how many! That’s
great… because as many of you know one of my areas of expertise
is in producing Docs and Factual programs, raising pre-sales
for them and doing co-production deals. fell into that world after many years on the feature film
side of things, and one of my most immediate impressions of this
‘new world’ was how refreshing it was. Why? Mostly because once
I jumped into Docs and Factual, I realized there were actually
real opportunities for pre-sales and co-pro’s, and getting
projects in the can and sold just became a heck of a lot easier.
Anyone who’s been to MIPCOM can attest to that.

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I was thinking over the weekend how we’ve just surpassed the
halfway point for 2008. Can you believe it? We set out 2008
talking about goal-setting  - so tell me, have you, or are you
on the way to achieving your distribution goals for 2008?

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There was an interesting development in the
DVD world this week. Sony, who has been creating original
content for the web for some time now, has decided to fully
exploit that content in all the normal windows it pushes its
other content (ie: international broadcast + DVD). It seems
the public is hungry for good, original content….so who
cares if it’s a theatrical film or a series of webisodes?

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A couple of weeks ago I was interviewed for an article in the Christian Science Monitor called SCREEN DREAMS. The gist of the article is this - given the current circumstances happening in Hollywood right now, with studio closures and cut-backs, strikes and everything else - is it easier or more difficult for a newbie to break into the industry right now?It’s an interesting question because while in many ways it
seems harder than ever to break in despite all the negative
circumstances, it is also, given the technologies available
to us, never been easier. Read the rest of this entry »

I get so many emails week after week from filmmakers who want to make a $2-$3 million movie and have absolutely nothing to justify that budget. In fact, when I really look at their package, what they have is a $500K film dressed in a $2 million budget. (a wolf in sheep’s clothing?)

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I was so shocked yesterday to read that Warner Independent
and Picturehouse closed their doors for good. Is this the
beginning of the end of the end for the mini-majors?

Certainly not for Fox Searchlight and Focus Features which are both

immensely profitable for their respective studios (Fox and Universal).
But it made me think about what’s been happening since the
Studios opened their indie divisions several years ago.

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