Author Archives: Michael Korican

About Michael Korican

A long-time media artist, Michael’s filmmaking stretches back to 1978. Michael graduated from York University film school with Special Honours, winning the Famous Players Scholarship in his final year. The Rolling Stone Book of Rock Video called Michael's first feature 'Recorded: Live!' "the first film about rock video". Michael served on the board of L.I.F.T. when he lived in Toronto during the eighties and managed the Bloor Cinema for Tom and Jerry. He has been prolific over his past eight years in Victoria, having made over thirty-five shorts, won numerous awards, produced two works for BravoFACT! and received development funding for 'Begbie’s Ghost' through the CIFVF and BC Film.

$10K to show ‘Movies Matter’

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The CFC‘s Reel Challenge is back.

This year they want you to show how movies matter to Canada.

“In 2011, the film and television sector supported 262,700 full time equivalent jobs, while contributing over $5 billion to the Canadian economy through production and distribution alone. From special effects studios and soundstages that create jobs, to film festivals that bring in tourists and all of the jobs and people that are supported by the film industry, movies are more than just entertainment.”

The rules: keep it clean and under 60 seconds. There are no categories this time.

The prize: $10K to the winner, $5K to the runner up.

The deadline: Sunday, January 26 at 11:59 PM EST.

The details: here.

My take: Always fun! Nice that they’ve limited them to one minute. Enter if you’ve got the chops. Disclosure: I am not bitter for not winning with my animation: Right to Copy.

Sundance by the numbers: not pretty

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Cultural Weekly has released a sobering infographic asking ‘Are Indies the 8th Studio?’

Analyzing Sundance data from 2014, they conclude that the 4,000 plus feature films submitted had combined budgets of over $3 billion, making Independent Film the ‘Eighth Studio’.

“There are seven major movie studios: Warner Bros., Disney, Universal, Sony/Columbia, Lionsgate, 20th Century Fox, and Paramount. Can we now reasonably call independent filmmakers the Eighth Studio, because their aggregate production expenses clearly put them in the major studio league?”

The sobering news? Sadly, less than 2% of that money is ever recouped.

In other words, more than 98% of that money is, I won’t say ‘lost’ but rather, locked up in the produced films. I believe the goal of the new mediascape is to find a way to unlock this value.

Other insights: the odds are four times better on getting a feature into Sundance than a short. And the supply of new films continues to rise in spite of flat demand from Sundance.

Check out a hi-res version of the infographic.

My take: if you’re going to spend real money making a film, you need a serious business plan outlining how you’ll recoup it. Something radical that goes straight to your viewers, perhaps skipping festivals and traditional distribution channels. Or, don’t spend real money.

The new 10 commandments of low budget filmmaking

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Elliot Grove and the Raindance Film Festival have issued ten new commandments of low (no) budget filmmaking.

They are:

  1. Thou shalt have a fantastic screenplay.
  2. Thou shalt understand keywords and SEO tools.
  3. Thou shalt secure some development finance.
  4. Thou shalt spend proper time in pre-production.
  5. Thou shalt understand the shoot and exploit it to maximum advantage.
  6. Thou shalt not fix it in Post-Production.
  7. Thou shalt clear all music in your film.
  8. Thou shalt prepare professional publicity and marketing materials.
  9. Thou shalt use film festivals to launch your film.
  10. Thou shalt create a distribution strategy.

See the annotated version.

My take: I can get behind all of these except number nine. Seems to me that’s really part of number 10. Not having much, if any success, at film festivals, I’m not convinced. I guess what I really need is a paid-for-performance film festival agent. Any suggestions?

CineVic presents SOULstice

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If you’re in Victoria and looking for something to do on Saturday night, come on down to the Victoria Event Centre on Broad Street for CineVic’s SOULstice.

The first half of the evening is the Film Festivus: Silent Night screening.

“The challenge: Filmmakers make an under-6 minute film in 5 weeks in the spirit of the holidays. This year the screening will be called Film Festivus: Silent Night, and you guessed it—we’re challenging you to make a silent film. No dialogue, no sound effects, no foley. Just your winter story and an instrumental soundtrack. You can go for the classic black & white look or dazzle us with full-on technicolour. Title cards are permitted for traditionalists. The theme for the films is: ‘The Longest Night of the Year.'”

Music and dancing to the The Garden City Soul Club rounds out the evening.

My take: the films are usually top-notch. I made one a couple of years ago; see Sad Santa, Glad Santa.

Disclaimer: I sit on the board of CineVic.

Is crowdfunding for everyone?

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Does crowdfunding belong in your producing arsenal?

For sure.

Can you raise your whole budget?

Probably not. But maybe.

The Canada Media Fund has an excellent mini-site dedicated to crowdfunding in a Canadian context. From statistics and figures to best practices and an extensive directory, they’ve done the research for you.

My take: you owe it to yourself to spend some time here before you jump into your first crowdfunding venture.

Microsoft’s Xbox Entertainment Studios orders first unscripted series

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Microsoft is getting into Reality TV. Sort of.

The huge computer company has greenlit its first unscripted series for its Xbox platform, called Every Street Reunited, from Mandalay Sports Media, the US indie set up by Rain Man producer and La Dodgers owner Peter Guber, Smallville co-creator Mike Tollin and talent agency CAA.

“The show will focus on street soccer, with each half-hour episode shot in a different country — the U.S., Spain, Holland, France, Argentina, Brazil, Ghana, South Korea — featuring local, undiscovered soccer players across the globe.”

It is expected that the series will feature some type of global interactive component.

My take: the line between the TV and the console continues to blur as the boundary between passive content and live experience continues to shift.

Bite on Mondo looking for next web animation hit

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Blue Ant Media, owners of Bite TV, and Mondo Media have teamed with YouTube to announce Bite on Mondo – an animated comedy shorts pitch for content targeted at teens and young adults.

“Combining Mondo’s sizable audience on YouTube as well as Blue Ant Media’s television and digital reach in Canada, the program is designed to discover breakout animated content using a unique pipeline to source, finance, test, and grow properties that will resonate both on and off YouTube.”

Bite on Mondo has created a rich pitch site with 11 Scribd slides spelling out exactly what they’re looking for.

The deadline is January 15, 2014.

My take: if you have a concept for some edgy, adult-oriented animation, you should check this out!

Swedish cinemas to rate films on Bechdel Test

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Cinemas in Sweden have begun rating films on the Bechdel Test.

Those that pass get the ‘A rate’ stamp of approval.

The Bechdel Test was created in 1985 by Alison Bechdel. There are three, simple, rules:

  1. To pass, a film must contain two named female characters
  2. who talk to each other
  3. about something other than a man.

Not surprisingly, given the action-figure-orientation of Hollywood today, the majority of films fail.

My take: Thank you, Sweden, for, once again, leading the way and shining a light on the underrepresentation of women in film.