June 25th
I am tired! I have been spending the last week working my ass off trying to get something going. What's the deal here? I have written and directed 3 features, 7 award winning short films, and some documentaries. I have directed commercials and corporate videos that have won awards, and yet once again here I sit with out any work. I am circulating what I think is a pretty good demo? I have had some meetings, but for the most part I can't even get any of my fucking phone calls returned. What is up with this?
It must be because my beard is gray, and I know what I'm doing. Or maybe it's because I intimidate people? Or maybe because it's because I have done so much that people don't think I need to eat? Or pay my mortgage? This is one part of this business I'll never understand.
I did hear from a friend of mine that he was at some professional meeting where they had guest speakers and one was Gus Van Sant. In his talk apparently he mentioned me and I guess the reference was a very nice one. Thanks Gus. It's nice to know that you still think of me, and from what my buddy says, you think highly of me. That's nice.
So I want to send a message to all of you out there who are thinking about starting your own self distribution companies. IT'S A LOT OF FUCKING WORK!
I have been self distributing my stuff for a while and it doesn't seem to get easier. It's not like you put up a web site, post your stuff and the money starts rolling in. You have to promote your site every day! You have to make phone calls. You need to push and push and push. I'm glad I'm doing it for me, but to do it for others? I don't know if I could deal with that.
Yesterday I sent out 8 more packages of material not just for my upcoming tour, but also looking for work as well. Like most small businesses I'm under funded. I send stuff out and hope for the best. And when you make those follow up phone calls don't you wish the people would just return them? If you don't want my movies, that's fine. Tell me! But please don't just not return my calls. That means I have to keep checking in when I already know that you aren't interested. I just need you to tell me you're not.
And wouldn't it be nice if some of these people would offer to return your DVD's? These things cost us money. It you aren't going to buy the work couldn't you just put it in to an envelope and send it back to us? I know I would really appreciate it!
Anyway, for those of you who responded for my calls for help about my tour, Thank You! I got a lot of emails and new contacts, and some real interest out there. So I will keep updating you as far as the booking goes. And thanks again.
Also, I am looking for an Apple G4, or even a G5. It is for my educational arm, Baltic Educational Films, which is a non-profit 501(c)3. I do my educational videos and documentaries through it, you know, the movies that aren't intended to make money. Well if any of you out there have a G4 or G5 that you're not using and would like to donate it to BEF, we would really appreciate it. We have no cash, but can give you a tax deduction for it. We need it to run Photo Shop to design stuff for fundraising for our educational videos. So please pass this on if you know of someone who can help us out. Thanks.
I promised a rave for this edition didn't I? Well here's an older one that I never got around to posting...
Rave
I saw some terrific movies at the Desert Reel Film Festival, like Spin Cycle, a short, which I enjoyed tremendously. Dirt, a really funny feature about two very bizarre brothers in Texas, and Happy Hour, a New York feature. I liked Happy Hour but they had around 5 million dollars to spend and I think they have a distributor, so if it comes out go see it. I don't want to talk too much about it, although Aaron, the Line Producer was a gas and is trying to do his own independent documentary. Go Aaron!
Dirt is a really interesting film that reminded me of early Coen Brothers work, about two brothers who are so messed up you can't help but like them. Their hearts are in the right place, God only knows where there heads are... This film has been in distribution hell for the last three years! I was talking to the Co-Writer/Director who was saying that the first two distributors who were interested in it both went under after deals were made, but before they could release the movie. They were trying to put together a cable deal, that's now on hold as well. It was made for somewhere between three and four hundred thousand dollars, and you can see the blood sweat and tears on the screen. It's another good movie that deserves to be seen, and hopefully some day it will.
Spin Cycle is a fun short. It's only 9 minutes long, totally programmable at festivals, and it had a couple of nice twists.
Hey I almost forgot the Scrabble Movie! I think it's called Word Wars. It is a documentary about 4 guys who play Scrabble at the tournament level. Wow! Intense film, intense guys, and a really different movie. Well worth seeing.
Talk later.
It must be because my beard is gray, and I know what I'm doing. Or maybe it's because I intimidate people? Or maybe because it's because I have done so much that people don't think I need to eat? Or pay my mortgage? This is one part of this business I'll never understand.
I did hear from a friend of mine that he was at some professional meeting where they had guest speakers and one was Gus Van Sant. In his talk apparently he mentioned me and I guess the reference was a very nice one. Thanks Gus. It's nice to know that you still think of me, and from what my buddy says, you think highly of me. That's nice.
So I want to send a message to all of you out there who are thinking about starting your own self distribution companies. IT'S A LOT OF FUCKING WORK!
I have been self distributing my stuff for a while and it doesn't seem to get easier. It's not like you put up a web site, post your stuff and the money starts rolling in. You have to promote your site every day! You have to make phone calls. You need to push and push and push. I'm glad I'm doing it for me, but to do it for others? I don't know if I could deal with that.
Yesterday I sent out 8 more packages of material not just for my upcoming tour, but also looking for work as well. Like most small businesses I'm under funded. I send stuff out and hope for the best. And when you make those follow up phone calls don't you wish the people would just return them? If you don't want my movies, that's fine. Tell me! But please don't just not return my calls. That means I have to keep checking in when I already know that you aren't interested. I just need you to tell me you're not.
And wouldn't it be nice if some of these people would offer to return your DVD's? These things cost us money. It you aren't going to buy the work couldn't you just put it in to an envelope and send it back to us? I know I would really appreciate it!
Anyway, for those of you who responded for my calls for help about my tour, Thank You! I got a lot of emails and new contacts, and some real interest out there. So I will keep updating you as far as the booking goes. And thanks again.
Also, I am looking for an Apple G4, or even a G5. It is for my educational arm, Baltic Educational Films, which is a non-profit 501(c)3. I do my educational videos and documentaries through it, you know, the movies that aren't intended to make money. Well if any of you out there have a G4 or G5 that you're not using and would like to donate it to BEF, we would really appreciate it. We have no cash, but can give you a tax deduction for it. We need it to run Photo Shop to design stuff for fundraising for our educational videos. So please pass this on if you know of someone who can help us out. Thanks.
I promised a rave for this edition didn't I? Well here's an older one that I never got around to posting...
Rave
I saw some terrific movies at the Desert Reel Film Festival, like Spin Cycle, a short, which I enjoyed tremendously. Dirt, a really funny feature about two very bizarre brothers in Texas, and Happy Hour, a New York feature. I liked Happy Hour but they had around 5 million dollars to spend and I think they have a distributor, so if it comes out go see it. I don't want to talk too much about it, although Aaron, the Line Producer was a gas and is trying to do his own independent documentary. Go Aaron!
Dirt is a really interesting film that reminded me of early Coen Brothers work, about two brothers who are so messed up you can't help but like them. Their hearts are in the right place, God only knows where there heads are... This film has been in distribution hell for the last three years! I was talking to the Co-Writer/Director who was saying that the first two distributors who were interested in it both went under after deals were made, but before they could release the movie. They were trying to put together a cable deal, that's now on hold as well. It was made for somewhere between three and four hundred thousand dollars, and you can see the blood sweat and tears on the screen. It's another good movie that deserves to be seen, and hopefully some day it will.
Spin Cycle is a fun short. It's only 9 minutes long, totally programmable at festivals, and it had a couple of nice twists.
Hey I almost forgot the Scrabble Movie! I think it's called Word Wars. It is a documentary about 4 guys who play Scrabble at the tournament level. Wow! Intense film, intense guys, and a really different movie. Well worth seeing.
Talk later.
posted by The Angry Filmmaker at 8:59 AM
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