Tuesday, March 31, 2009

ABC TV, Wife Swap, The Searchers, John Ford and more!

March 31, 2009

I am still on the road (6 weeks). The last few weeks have been great! A lot of new places on the tour (Thanks to Bill Dever, The Indy Film Co-op, The Strand Theater, and Nova Cinemas), a lot of new faces, and a lot of old friends. Moses and I have 3 more weeks before we head home. I just hope the weather holds for us.

You’re not going to believe this… I just got this in my email.

WIFE SWAP, ABC'S HIT PRIMETIME SHOW, SEEKS SUPERSTAR FAMILIES OF INDEPENDENT FILMMAKERS!

The premise of Wife Swap is that one parent from each household swaps places for a week to experience how another family lives. It is an incredible family experience and opportunity to both learn and teach different family values.

Wife Swap is a fascinating story of what happens when two couples see themselves and their partners in a whole new light. The New York Post says, "It should be called 'Life Swap' because it's not just the wives who learn something here. It's the families."

Potential families can live anywhere in the United States, but we ask that families applying for the show consist of two parents and have at least one child, age 7 or older, living at home. Specifically, I'm looking for families of independent film makers! If you, along with your family, are hustling in the independent film scene, then I want to talk to you!

I think I’ll pass on this. Isn’t the life of an independent filmmaker tough enough? I saw an episode of this show once and thought it was so horribly contrived I would be embarrassed to make something like this, let alone be on it.

I have a great idea; let’s do a show called Producer Swap. Let these rich, spoiled TV Producers switch places with a Real Independent Filmmaker and see how they fare in our world! We wouldn’t have to contrive anything. But you know what? I know what their lives are like, and I wouldn’t trade places with them for anything.

On to other things…

I just had a chance to see The Searchers (John Ford) on the big screen last week at the newly renovated Strand Theater in Shelbyville, IN. (Great job on the renovations guys!). I had forgotten how good that movie is. Bill (Dever) told me that as I was watching it I tuned everything else out. (Sorry about eating all the popcorn…)

Too many filmmakers and film students don’t take the time to watch movies made before 1980 and that is a shame. There is so much in The Searchers and so many of the classic films. Why aren’t people interested in past cinema? Too many filmmakers get in to the business to make money and be “successful”, not enough people get in to film to make films that actually mean something.

Bill and I were discussing westerns on the drive home, John Ford, Howard Hawks, Sergio Leone and many other directors who did westerns (but not just westerns). We talked about the changing image of the western from the 1950’s in to the 1960’s and 70’s. The rich traditions the early directors maintained in the beginning and how that changed later. Even John Ford’s westerns changed as he got older. John Wayne is psychotic in his obsession to find “Debbie” and once he finds her he wants to kill her because she is “no longer white”. It is an amazing performance by John Wayne as an outsider, a man who will never be allowed to come in to civilized society.

The westerns that were made in the 60’s and 70’s were truly revisionist. Check out films like, The Left Handed Gun, The Wild Bunch, The Searchers, Once Upon A Time In The West, McCabe and Mrs. Miller and others. These are amazing films, whether you like them or not.

Learn film history, learn the rules of filmmaking, then you can break them. Remember, many of the filmmakers who made the classic films didn’t sit around watching other people’s movies. They lived life and put their imprint on their work. It sure would be nice if the new generation of filmmakers would realize that there is a lot to learn from the classic films, and filmmaking is so much more than making money and being famous. I wish some of these people would get off their butts and live life. Then make movies. Give me a reason to go back in to a theater again. Show me something that has thought behind it. Take a chance and try to say something with your movie.

It’s all about the work!

I’ll get off my soapbox now.

On to other stuff.

If you want Moses and I to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

There is a rumor that my work books should be ready for downloading soon.

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.

If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at www.filmbaby.com

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.filmbaby.com

Friday, March 13, 2009

Tour news, Advertising & other stuff

March 13, 2009

Hey Everybody,

Check out this interview with me in the Des Moines Register.

http://www.desmoinesregister.com/arts

And this one in the Moline Dispatch.

http://www.qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=429597

I am going to be in Des Moines, Iowa, on Friday March 13th from 7-10 at the Nova 10 Cinemas, (4353 Merle Hay Road, Des Moines, Iowa 50310) and in Moline, IL on Sunday March 15th at the Nova 6 Cinemas from 1 – 4 pm (2018 36th Avenue Moline, Illinois).

I will be showing some of my films, films that I have worked on and I’ll be talking about Making the Extreme No Budget Film. I know this is short notice, but if you can pass this along to any of you friends or organizations you know of in the area I would really appreciate it. The workshop cost is a mere $10.

Making the Extreme No Budget Film - - In 2000 Kelley Baker and Bruce Lacey set out to make a full length feature film for the sum of $1000. They failed miserably. Their budget ballooned up to $4000, (they forgot they had to feed cast and crew), but when the dust finally settled they had completed THE GAS CAFE, a 90 minute DV feature. Along the way they set up a website, shot behind the scenes footage (for a documentary), and made the movie that they wanted to. What's wrong with these guys? In 2002 Kelley sent 100 letters to 100 Friends asking for $100 to fund Kicking Bird. He raised $5000 and shot for 18 days. Kelley is currently touring the country with Kicking Bird. In this workshop Kelley will walk participants through the entire process from scripting through post production. How to get the most for very limited resources, asking the right questions to get free stuff, and working in an atmosphere where people share your vision!

If anyone wants more information about me please direct them to my web site, www.angryfilmmaker.com.

I am hoping for a good turn out.

I just saw the film Waltz With Bashir, and if you haven’t seen it check it out. It is an animated documentary and I have to say it blew my mind! It is an amazing film and is still playing theatrically in some markets. I don’t want to give anything away, just go see it.

I have been approached about putting advertisements up on my website and I must say I am really torn. There are none at this point and I have turned down ads in the past. I have spent all these years moving away from the main stream and to put advertising up on the site just seems wrong. Although I could certainly use the money.

What do you all think? Let me know. angryfilminfo@aol.com

And now on to other stuff.

If you want Moses and I to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

There is a rumor that my work books should be ready for downloading soon, and there are going to be new Angry Filmmaker T-shirts available. These will piss off anyone, thanks to Jeff Pollard. I’ll let you know when they’re ready.

Please check out my internet specials, hopefully you’ll find something you like. (www.angryfilmmaker.com, as if you didn’t know)

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.

If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at www.filmbaby.com

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker

Sunday, March 01, 2009

MicroFilmmaker Magazine, Distribution and Road stuff

March 1, 2009

I have been interviewed in Micro Filmmaker Magazine and they put it in the new issue. Check out the interview online at, http://www.microfilmmaker.com/tipstrick/Issue40/IntKB_1.html. While you’re there check out some of the other articles. It’s a great magazine as far as I’m concerned.

Moses and I are on the road, we were just in St Louis at Webster University and I did a workshop at the MOMMA meeting in Columbia, MO and got to see some old friends and hang out at True/False, one of my favorite film festivals. No it’s off to Baylor University and then UT Arlington and SMU before heading back to the Kansas City area.

I have been talking a lot to filmmakers about self-distribution and I am amazed that so many filmmakers are unaware how to read a contract, or what questions to ask if a distributor is interested in your movie. I am going to reprint part of a blog I wrote last year detailing a conversation I had with an online distributor.

If you read this before, you should probably read it again to remind yourself that you might not necessarily sign with some distributors.

Here it is again…

I was talking recently with an on-line distributor; they were inquiring about my films and were they available. They wanted a non-exclusive contract (which is the only deal I will ever do), for internet distribution they would be marketing just DVDs and they promised me 70% of all sales. I downloaded a contract and asked them why my contract said I would get 33% of the gross and not 70%? They apologized and sent me the new contract which was for 70% of the net.

(If you don’t know the difference between gross and net, look it up, or have someone else handle your negotiations. With gross you might see some money, with net you probably won’t.)

We talked for awhile and when I asked for the email addresses of some of the other filmmakers who distribute through them (so I could see if they were happy); I was told that they don’t give out that information. In my experience most legitimate distributors are happy to give you names and contact info from their other filmmakers. It’s like asking for a reference, if other people speak well of you the odds are the prospective filmmaker will have a better feeling when it comes to signing the rights over.

Not only could I not get other filmmakers info, but when I asked about their use of sub-distributors for things like ipods, cell phones, web streaming, etc, and what kind of deals they cut with subs (because that will effect how much is left over to pay my 70% or 33% whichever I take), once again I was told that was information they don’t give out…

Are these people serious?

So I couldn’t get any information about how these guys do business, and how that would affect my take of any money my movie makes. So I finally asked the big question.

Why should I sign with you and put my films up on your site?

I was told about all of the traffic they get, I would have my own web page, the people who run the site go to places like Sundance and promote their films and look for others to add. I would have a much bigger reach as far as potential audience if I went with them. My page would be listed on all sorts of other web sites like Amazon, and others.

So I asked them about promotion. What kind of promotion do they do, and what places would they take my movie to?

I was told that the films and filmmakers, who do the best on their site, are the ones that go out and do a lot of self-promotion. The ones that really get their film out in to the marketplace. They submit it to all sorts of film festivals, send it to publications, and constantly get the word out about their movie. “That’s the filmmakers who do well on our site.”

So if filmmakers are going to promote the hell out of their films, and do most of the work themselves, why would they want to be on a site that does nothing but make a master of their DVD, splash their logo all over it, take a good sized percentage to put YOUR film up on their web site, and then sit back and wait while you do all of the hustling. Which part of this doesn’t sound good to filmmakers?

There are too many distributors out there that are doing this same thing. You are doing all of the work, they’re putting their name and logo on it, and then are waiting for you to sell it for them.

I think one of the reasons they wouldn’t let me talk to any of their filmmakers is probably because they had no success stories. They probably don’t have anyone who is making money.

There is nothing that these people are doing for you that you couldn’t be doing for yourself. And keeping a larger share of the money your films make. There are good distributors out there who will work with you, the key is finding them.

When you talk with a distributor you need to find out what they are going to do for you.

AF Note. Film Baby is one of my tour sponsors and what I like about them is that they don’t promise me anything. I do the promotion, they did build a page for me for a small fee, and they take a reasonable cut to fill orders. My exposure is greater on their website and they cut checks on a weekly basis when your films sell. Check them out.

And now on to other stuff.

If you want Moses and I to come to your college, university, media art center, high school, theater or even to your house for dinner send me a note, angryfilminfo@aol.com.

There is a rumor that my work books should be ready for downloading soon, and there are going to be new Angry Filmmaker T-shirts available. These will piss off anyone, thanks to Jeff Pollard. I’ll let you know when they’re ready.

Please check out my internet specials, hopefully you’ll find something you like. (www.angryfilmmaker.com, as if you didn’t know)

Don’t forget to check out my tour sponsors, Show Biz Software, (www.showbizsoftware.com), Film Baby (www.filmbaby.com), Pollard Design (www.pollarddesign.com), Zoom Studio (www.zoomstudio.com), The Indy Film Co-op (www.indyfilmco-op.org) and Cheezy Flicks (www.cheezyflicks.com). All great people, all great companies.

If you haven’t checked out their sites and their services, you better.

The first two Workshop DVDs are selling well. You can find them at, www.angryfilmmaker.com, and at www.filmbaby.com

As always, feel free to link to my site and you can subscribe to my blog. So what are you waiting for?

Talk later.

Kelley

www.angryfilmmaker.com
www.facebook.com
www.myspace.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.youtube.com/theangryfilmmaker
www.filmbaby.com