The independent film world will face a great crisis from a simple, yet confounding, paradox of human life: you cannot sell a movie if you already have an audience.

The real problem with new media that no one seems to be detecting yet is the democratic process itself. For all the complaining some do about Hollywood spoon-feeding us crap, democracy as a business model is far worse. Leaving aside the nightmare of actually finding a decent independent movie in the sea of amateur waste floating on social networking sites, consider for a moment that you’re an independent filmmaker with some real chops. Let’s also imagine that you’re stuck, like so many others, and have no possible route to selling your film after studios and distributors stop buying unknowns at festivals.

According to the Youtube model, you throw your masterpiece up there to the gaping maw of the public. If buzz never catches on, if there’s no tipping point, you’re in trouble. But it’s far worse if you actually do get a million viewers in one week. Because, congratulations, your film isn’t marketable anymore. While creating a massive audience for a film, new media simultaneously reduces the sales potential of a movie

How many of those million will head to the theaters to see a movie on the big screen that they’ve already seen? How many who felt compelled to write “Gr8 job, dood!!” on your profile page will still feel compelled to spend money for the mega-plex release a year later?

Even if the film is good enough to drive some to see it again, a significant percentage of viewers will stay at home browsing for their next free entertainment fix. Thus, having the most popular film up on Youtube also ensures its death. Plus, if a payment structure isn’t created, no one will want to spend $20,000 on a movie that’s given away for free - effectively killing the chances of anything good cropping up anway. Also plus, entire genres like Thrillers, Mysteries and other single-viewing films will have no chance of breaking away from the computer monitor and onto the big screen. Clearly, letting the people decide what’s good is not good. At least for movie makers.

Source: FilmSchoolRejects

Paul Julian Smith is one of the greatest scholars of Pedro Almodovar in the UK with many academic publications and press about his films in various magazines and generalists. Smith ignited the fuse of controversy last tuesday with an article published in The Guardian entitled The Curse of Almodovar. In the article, PJS writes that “a super name” (like Almodovar) can capture the interest of the national film industry and “monopolize international interest.”

Source: El Pais

Mark Gill of The Film Department, ex-of Warner Independent and Miramax, is one of those film execs journalists like to call because he’s articulate, witty, observant, and actually has an overview of the business. He put all this to good use in his keynote speech, “Yes, the Sky Really is Falling,” Saturday for the LAFF film financing conference. It’s all here if you want to plow through it; he’s on the mark.

Unfortunately, most of the folks trying to make indie movies these days, as was revealed at my film financing panel Saturday (including producer Cathy Schulman, ICM’s Hal Sadoff and New Bridge Capital’s Danny Mandel), seem to be trying to make genre thrillers with someone on the list of not-too-costly actors between the age of 20 and 30 who foreign sales agents want to sell in territories around the world (where interest in American product seems to be drying up). Quality dramas are a no-go, said Schulman, although that’s what she’s trying to make at Mandalay Indie. And the surviving specialty distribs are strictly cherry-picking. You might get your movie made. But it might go straight-to-video. And it wouldn’t be worth as much as it might have been a few years ago.

source: Thompson on Hollywood (Variety)

Si uno piensa en la industria cinematográfica, uno sabe que cuando sale a rodar, no tiene mucho tiempo. Si quiere cortar el tráfico de una ciudad, ¿podría la industria estar sujeta a normas de soborno y corrupción que podría correr en algunas cuestiones? Apostemos pues…

El FBI corre detrás de Hollywood, cuando este, al parecer se entromete hasta en los festivales de cine, hasta casi un millón de dólares se han llegado a desembolsar para controlar la selección de un festival… En cuanto a los rodajes, si no fuera por esa desfachatez, ¿a quién se le ocurriría salir del país para ir a rodar en Kazakhstan, Nigeria, Angola, Indonesia, Rusia, Uzbekistan o Marruecos?… A nadie. El problema es que pocos entienden la necesidad de las Film Comissions locales. Al final, por muy rabiosas que parezcan estas instituciones (controladas por el Estado), todo sale mucho más barato. Os dejo con un artículo muy interesante recogido en Portfolio.com (en inglés).

Novart Media Films will produce the Barcelona Film Project, with Diogo Costa Amarante, Andres Duque and Raya Martin directing.

More information here

Todo el mundo habla de la RED ONE, del 4k y de Obama, dedico este post para hablar de algo original y novedoso:

La historia de la nueva CINEVIA profesional está fuertemente conectada con la historia de un hombre: Klose Gottfired de GK Film GmbH, Bielefeld, Alemania. Un hombre que dedica toda su energía y pensamiento para alcanzar su gran objetivo: añadir nuevas perspectivas para la cinematografía moderna en la producción de materiales de la mejor calidad posible. Todo comenzó en Waghäusel en el otoño de 2004, cuando nació la idea de mantener el formato de Super 8 vivo mediante la introducción de un segundo cartucho de Super 8 con la misma calidad que la Kodak 40 K en el mercado.

Después de probar todos los materiales de película, Klose decidió utilizar el Fuji - Velvia ASA DIN luz del día 50/18 reversible con proceso E6.
Durante las siguientes semanas y meses las conexiones, contactos y los nombramientos se hicieron. El material se procesó para la Super 8 de GK-Film con la ayuda de Frank Bruinsma’s Super 8 Reversal Laboratory en Rotterdam. Ellos cargaron cartuchos y de inmediato comenzaron los ensayos, los disparos y el desarrollo. Los resultados fueron sorprendentes en relación a los límites de grano fino, la nitidez y el color de la prestación. Una maravilla a explotar!

The Film Business School is a well-established workshop for feature film producers and executives at the early stages of their career who need just that advice, those contacts, and the correct information. The list of prospering film producers from Europe who have graduated from the FBS is testament to its calibre and includes Oscar winners and many other commercially successful players.