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.

CineCoup goes public and why you should care

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CineCoup just went live and you should care.

I blogged about CineCoup.com last November and last week it opened to the public with 90 projects, each vying for $1,000,000 and guaranteed screenings at Cineplex.

CineCoup is applying the tech accelerator model to film-making in Canada. Over the next three months, they’ll be challenging the teams to complete a number of ‘missions’ which the public will then rate.

That’s right — you’ll decide the fate of the filmmakers.

This is a fresh model for film financing in Canada. Other than direct crowd-funding, I don’t know of anything else here that shifts the power from industry insiders to the general public. After all, why not ask the audience directly what it wants to see, rather than leaving that decision to committee after committee?

My take: Sign up! Visit CineCoup often. Watch and rate the trailers. Add projects to your watch lists. Follow along for the next few months. Get involved.

Disclosure: I’m providing some production management services to Transmission by Tyler Moore and Clay Bartel.

A shining example of collaborative filmmaking

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Today is Pink Shirt Day. We wear pink to show we stand up to bullying.

“…on February 27, 2013 we encourage all of you to wear something pink to symbolize that we as a society will not tolerate bullying anywhere.”

Giant Ant Studios of Vancouver teamed up with spoken word poet Shane Koyczan and almost 90 animators to create something special.

“86 animators and motion artists donated their time and brought their unique styles to 20 second segments that we threaded into one fluid voice. This collaborative volunteer effort demonstrates what a community of caring individuals are capable of when they come together.”

Please watch on Vimeo or Youtube and share.

My take: This is a shining example of collaborative filmmaking.

How to get your short to Cannes

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Telefilm Canada is currently accepting submissions for Not Short on Talent.

Not Short on Talent will showcase Canadian short films in the Marché du Film at the Cannes Film Festival.

See the Eligibility, Submission Guidelines and Selection Process. The deadline is March 1, 2013.

“The selection of shorts will be done by Danny Lennon, a well-known programmer on the festival circuit and founder of Prends ça court!, who will look for quality and diversity, as well as an appropriate regional balance. Priority will be given to films that have never been presented in public (world premieres).”

My take: Go for it! Danny Lennon is extremely well regarded and Cannes is Cannes!

Short Circuit Deadline Extended to Friday, February 22, 2013

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CineVic has extended the deadline for submissions to the Second Annual Short Circuit Short Film Festival to Friday, February 22, 2013.

Short Circuit will unspool in Victoria, British Columbia in the beautiful VIC Theatre on Friday, April 19 and Saturday, April 20.

“Filmmakers from British Columbia, the Yukon, Alaska, Washington, and Oregon are invited to submit narrative, experimental, or documentary short films (under 20 minutes) that have been completed after January 1, 2011 to the second annual Short Circuit Festival. Submissions must be sent as DVD screeners or password protected online sites. If accepted, presentation copies must be sent to Short Circuit as HDCam, 16mm, 8mm, or a ProRes 422 file. Filmmakers may also pay their fees using Paypal sending $15 to director@cinevic.ca“

My take: What are you waiting for? If you’re a Pacific Northwest filmmaker, submit your work ASAP!

Disclaimer: I sit on the CineVic Board of Directors and the Short Circuit Jury.

Support Canadian Film? Wanna make $7,500?

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The Canadian Film Centre has announced the latest incarnation of The REEL Challenge Contest:  Celebrating the Movie and Television Industry at Work: Behind the Scenes.

Make a sixty second (or less) short or PSA, upload it and get a chance to win.

Up for grabs are two prizes of $7500 each, in the categories of the most innovative and dynamic animation or comedy.

The deadline is February 15, 2013.

My take: If you have a killer concept, go for it! I predict less than 100 entries in each category, so your odds are good! Remember, there will be less animations than comedies.

Seed&Spark: an innovative take on crowdfunding, audience building and dissemination

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Those New Yorkers continue to innovate!

Seed&Spark has put a couple of twists on crowd funding:

  1. Rather than pitching for a sum of money, they ask filmmakers to create a ‘gift registry’ of the things they need to make their movie; and then patrons can give cash OR lend the items.
  2. You get green lit at 80% of your goal.

This is a cool idea for towns that might be resource-rich but cash-poor. It also might get people more ‘invested’ in your project, helping to build your audience. They say:

“We started Seed&Spark because we want to make films but we wanted a healthier environment in which to make them. We believe that the art of storytelling is about expanding imagination, shining a light on the world inside and deepening empathy for the world outside. In the current political and economic climate where many consider the arts a luxury, we believe artists are responsible for teaching their audiences why they are essential. Films are not just art, they are business ventures. They require the seed of an idea and the sparks of human and capital investments to bring them to life.”

Seed&Spark is also an online film streaming site. Earn between 20 and 80 cents for each view of your short, three times that for features.

Between now and February 15, 2013, they’re selecting the next dozen projects to launch on the site.

See their video; read their guidelines.

My take: I love the concept and the curated aspect to this. It’s film specific which differentiates it from every other crowdfunding platform out there. The challenge will be to scale it up. The lending option seems to keep it local; can this work for projects in other cities or countries?

NYC Indies Adopt Tech Accelerator Model

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Hot on the heels of CineCoup in Vancouver, Dogfish Pictures in New York has announced the Dogfish Accelerator.

Both groups plan to use the successful tech business accelerator model to attract, mentor and launch indie film teams (and their projects). Whereas CineCoup will do this publicly using social media, the Dogfish Accelerator will stick to the tech model more closely.

Scheduled for this summer in Brooklyn, the Dogfish Accelerator will seed each company with $18,000, give them office space and mentor them for three months. They say:

“We will choose great producers who are proposing innovative opportunities and business ideas that support a highly creative and artistic idea. It’s about the team.”

C’mon, what’s the catch?

“For once, there is no catch. We want a healthier industry for indie film and this is our way to do it. Dogfish Accelerator and its mentors, service providers, and partners are all people who enjoy helping indie film. We recognize how important support is for one another and are willing to give our time and effort to you.”

My take: if you’re developing a film project and you’ve got a place to crash in New York for three months this summer, you should go for this!

Best Canadian Film is Now Worth $100K

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Congratulations to Sarah Polley for winning the Toronto Film Critics Association’s 2012 Rogers Best Canadian Film Award.

The award comes with $100,000, making it by my estimation Canada’s riches post-release prize.

The TFCA is a group of about 40 film writers. The award used to be $15,000 but Rogers Communications has recently upped the ante.

Polley won with Stories We Tell, a personal documentary, and also won in 2006 with her debut feature Away From Her.

My take: all the more reason to make excellent movies in Canada. $100K is not bad profit for any Canadian film. Second and third place get $5,000 as well.

More details here.

100 Million Dollars Crowdfunded to Indie Film

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In cased you missed it, Kickstarter has announced that over the last three years people have pledged over $100,000,000 to independent films on their platform.

60% of that in 2012!

I found the stats on the 8,600 successful film projects very interesting. 72% raised less than $10,000 and only 8% raised more than $100K.

Nevertheless, over 85% of film projects that raised more than 20% of their goal were successful.

See Kickstarter’s announcement.

My take: crowdfunding must be an integral component of most if not all independent films, whether to raise funds, build an audience or both.

Interactive media as ‘sidebars’ to linear stories

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I came across an interesting post today by Andrew DeVigal, who works at the New York Times, among other places.

He quotes an Indian saying about education:

“Tell me, and I will forget.
Show me, and I may remember.
Involve me, and I will understand.”

He goes on to illustrate how the Times uses photos, graphics, videos and other media to augment their linear stories.

I particularly liked the conclusion of his piece. He envisions engagement and social media, mobile, physical spaces and games augmenting narratives:

“These sidebars are less about the story form and presentation/design and more about the experience and narrative flow. Imagine a written story or a video script written specifically to engage the reader/viewer in an interactive sidebar, or a sidebar that encourages a user to take a quiz, engage with an interactive graphic or offer their thoughts on Twitter or Facebook… or giving a reader/viewer a chance to go to a physical space and experience the story through an augmented reality presentation.”

The picture tells the story.