Writersandfilmmakers.com uses the crowd to produce films

Posted on by
1

Toronto-based Writersandfilmmakers.com has a different approach to short and feature film funding.

I call it a mashup of merit and crowd sourcing.

They’re running two competitions, one for shorts and one for features. Up to 1,000 writers or filmmakers sign up to judge each other’s work. The top filmmaker then gets to select one of the ten top scripts, pays the writer and makes her film.

I asked Jonathan Krimer, via email, why he started this venture:

“As a writer, I recognized that the number one barrier to making a film was funding. Sitting down and writing isn’t too expensive. But making a film is. No matter how much gear you or your friends have, you still need funding. I thought if people could come together and assess each other’s work we would be able to decide which projects to move forward on as a community. Let’s create a community where the participants want the best of the other group. Its a Win-Win-WIN. The last win is the funding.”

The funding comes from the entry fees. When each competition reaches 900-1,000 entrants, fees of $50 for the short film competition and $100 for the feature film competition become payable. The winning short film-maker gets $10,000 to pay the writer of the script they select, $15,000 for principal photography and $10,000 for completion. The winning feature film-maker gets $20,000 to pay the writer of the script they select, $30,000 for principal photography and $20,000 for completion. Writersandfilmmakers.com keeps the remaining fees to cover their overhead.

When each competition begins, each entrant must complete assignments. Filmmakers read and judge scripts. Writers watch and rate films. Writersandfilmmakers.com crunches the numbers to determine the winning filmmaker and the top ten scrips.

Which competition will happen first, short or feature? Any idea when?

“I am predicting the short film competition will occur first because the funding is absolutely insane! 10K for a short script and 25K for a short film?! THAT’S AMAZING! In addition, we have a two to one ratio of short film entries versus feature film entries. As for when, that’s a difficult one to predict. Our current rate of entries is seeing incredible spikes here and there. One day we have 20 entries, the next day we have one. What’s interesting about this competition is the more the word spreads, and the more the community helps spread the word, the faster we can start assessing each others work and funding a film.”

My take: I applaud this venture because it relies purely on writers and filmmakers, and not on funding bodies. Using the crowd to create a meritocracy is laudable. I like that it totally sidesteps issues of commercialization and focusses wholly on scripts and indie filmmaking. The writer prizes are very rich! Given the low entry fees (which are not payable until the competitions reach critical mass) I say go ahead and enter! I only wish there was a way to create communities of writers and directors through this who could collaborate on future projects, perhaps by location, as this is garnering entrants from cities around the world.

Telefilm Micro-Budget Partners

Posted on by
Reply

Telefilm will accept one letter of recommendation from each of its 29 partners for the Micro-Budget Production Program.

If you are an emerging filmmaker in Canada, I believe this is your best shot at fully funding your first feature.

Check out the media co-ops in these cities:

My take: worth exploring!

Funding for female filmmakers

Posted on by
Reply

As reported at On Screen Manitoba, BravoFACT and BravoFACTUAL will now ensure that 50% of their awards will go to female filmmakers:

“The change is meant to help foster up-and-coming female filmmakers in Canada. In order to qualify as female-lead, a submission must have a director or producer attached who is a woman. In addition, every BravoFACT and BravoFACTUAL jury in 2015 will include a female filmmaker as a guest juror.”

The next deadlines are April 1, 2015 for BravoFACTUAL and June 12, 2015 for BravoFACT.

My take: this is long overdue. Go grab a piece of the pie, sisters! We need to hear your stories more than ever.

7 Steps to financing your first feature for free in Canada

Posted on by
Reply

Telefilm recently announced the third version of its excellent two-stage micro-budget feature production contest. I applaud Telefilm for financing 22 features this way and sticking with this program.

Having watched the development of the program over the last three years, here’s my take on how to finance your first feature for free in Canada:

  1. Become a Canadian citizen or landed immigrant.
  2. Join one of the film co-operatives on the Designated Partners list. Consider moving to a cheaper city with less competition.
  3. At the co-op meet a writer member with a feature script you really, really like and want to direct. Convince a producer member to join you two. (By the way, if you can organize a great party AND you can balance your cheque book, consider becoming a Producer — they are in short supply.)
  4. As a trio, make a short film (5-10 minutes) of excerpt scenes from the feature script.
  5. Read this year’s guidelines and get your submission together: second-draft script, budget, marketing plans, pitch video, etc. Telefilm usually announces the Micro-Budget program in October but delayed it until January this year (perhaps due to system changes.)
  6. Submit to your co-op and cross your fingers.
  7. When you’re successful, add the Recommender Letter to your package and submit to Telefilm.

If you’re successful, congratulations! You’ll have $100,000 to $120,000 to make your movie in 12 months and a further three to distribute it digitally.

If you’re not successful, develop a new project and start over. Telefilm will not consider the same project again.

Plus, if you’re not successful at the co-op or Telefilm stages, MAKE THE FILM ANYWAY.

You’re probably asking at least two questions right now:

  1. How can I make the movie when I don’t have the $100K?
  2. How can I ever reapply to the Telefilm Micro-Budget program once I make my first feature?

The answers, as I see it?

  1. The truth is, once you start paying your cast and crew and spending money on renting cameras and equipment, $100K is not enough anyway. If you can entice your co-op buddies and local, non-union actors to collaborate with you on your venture and you use your own or the co-op’s equipment, you’ll actually need much less cash. Maybe $10,000 to $25,000. Find investors or crowd-fund this. You have all the materials you need already!
  2. Telefilm (and CAVCO) calls anything over 74 minutes a feature. If your film looks like a winner, commit to it as your first feature and make it the best possible. If it’s not as great as you wished for your first feature, cut it down to something between 61 and 74 minutes, including credits. That way it will still qualify as a feature at those festivals that use 60 minutes or greater to define features, but it will not be regarded as a feature at Telefilm. This is a case of having your cake and eating it too. You will learn so much by making the film that your next feature pitch will be immeasurably better.

My take: another strategy is to stop waiting to be ‘picked’ and just get on with doing it. As Seth Godin says, the only thing holding you back is your lizard brain.

CineCoup offers $1M plus theatrical release

Posted on by
Reply

CineCoup is back!

The film accelerator that brought us Wolf Cop last year has another ‘$1 Million Dollars’ in production funds and a Cineplex Odeon theatrical release up for grabs. Get ready to pitch and work your butts off:

“This time we’re challenging filmmakers to go high concept and create projects that can connect with larger audiences. We’re looking for genre films with franchise potential like action, horror, thriller, sci-fi, and comedy (or documentaries that deal with pop culture tropes such as King of Kong, Indie Game: The Movie, Trekkies, etc.) and we know Canada’s got the good stuff so bring it on!”

Launch your three-person team on Monday, February 9, 2015. After 12 weeks of team challenges beginning in mid-March, at least one project will be greenlit at the Banff World Media Festival in June.

My take: if you have a franchise-ready action, horror, thriller, sci-fi or comedy feature ready to roll AND you have three months free to complete weekly challenges AND you have a large online following AND you like working in public AND you truly believe your concept is the best in the country, then go for it! What do you have to lose?

BravoFACT gets into pitch contests

Posted on by
Reply

BravoFACT will be sponsoring two pitch contests at upcoming film events at opposite ends of the country, with two prizes of up to $35,000.

First up is the Victoria Film Festival with a deadline for applications of Friday, January 16 at 5 ET (that’s 2 p.m. in Victoria.) Five finalists will be contacted on Friday, January 30, so they can prepare to give a 10-minute pitch on Friday, February 6.

Next is the WITF-Atlantic’s Women Making Waves Conference with a deadline of Friday, February 5 at 5 ET. Five finalists will be contacted on Friday, February 20, so they can prepare to give a pitch on Saturday, February 28. Note: female applicants only, please.

Send your applications for both Narrative shorts and Documentary shorts to Rachel.feldbloomwood@bellmedia.ca Note: demo reels are not required for these applications.

My take: if you have a script for a narrative film less than 7.5 minutes long or a treatment for a documentary shorter than 15 minutes ready to go and you live anywhere near Victoria or Halifax, you MUST apply. BravoFACT is one of the few sources in Canada for truly independent film production funds. Disclosue: I’ve received two BravoFACT awards; one for my short i luv spam and another for Scott Amos’s Scratch.

Indie films to grace screens across Canada

Posted on by
Reply

Something exciting is percolating: Media Events International (MEI Group) and A71 Entertainment Launch New Canadian Indie Film Series.

The plan is to bring independent Canadian film to 17 screens across the country as “Canadian Indie Night” the first Wednesday of every month beginning in March 2015.

Chad Maker, President of A71 Entertainment, says:

“The goal of the series is to provide audiences and film fans with wider access to the growing number of internationally recognized indie films that are being produced in this country. There’s a new breed of extremely talented storytellers emerging in Canada and this series has the ability to celebrate and promote them to audiences across the country.”

My take: this is a bold venture! There’s nothing better than seeing your movie on the big screen — even if it’s a one day run. Reminds me of my series Toronto Film Now at the Bloor Cinema back in the day. The trick will be to get “bums in seats” as they say in the biz. I’ll be watching this one!

Happy New Year!

Posted on by
Reply

As 2014 draws to a close, I wish all my fellow filmmakers a fruitful 2015!

This year I feel I accomplished, among other things:

  • Created a short film called Largo with Barb, Terry, Mark, Matt and Shane
  • Helped Perry with his music video Home along with Jonny, Sabre, Paul and Giuseppe
  • Posted here weekly
  • Made a few cartoons, and
  • Continued to develop new ideas for projects

I resolve to continue exploring the frontiers of the emerging mediascape, experimenting as I go.

Cheers!

My take: I think that means a new website soon — and more projects!

My gift to you

Posted on by
Reply

I recently read a post by Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros titled Don’t Worry that your Film might be Rubbish.

In it she relates being asked:

“Why do you make these small films that no one sees when there is so much to watch on TV or Cable or online? What is the point when everything else is so much better?”

She counters with these reasons:

  • It’s fun!
  • It’s never been cheaper to make moves, so now is the time to experiment and ‘fail and fail again.’
  • You will learn from your mistakes which allows you to make better films next time.
  • It’s all about the journey and not the end result.

“Film, especially when you don’t have money or movie stars or permits or even a car, is art, and you should expect to create bad art for a little while at least, before you can create great art. And even then, sometimes the reason something is made is more important than how technically brilliant it is.”

She concludes with this:

“As very independent filmmakers, with no one to challenge us, we have the opportunity to achieve something that means something, if only for us and those we choose to work with.”

My take: this view really speaks to me. Not because my films are rubbish, but because I believe meaning can be existential. Too often society, influenced by the media, equates value with budget. However, no-budget films can have more to say and impart more meaning than many million dollar movies. My hope is that we figure out more ways to reward artists for sharing their visions with us. And this is my gift to you: an entreaty to carry on filmmaking — because I believe what you do is important and has meaning.

Niche SVOD platform: NativeFlix

Posted on by
1

Taking a different road to subscription video-on-demand is Amerind Media Group which has launched NativeFlix.

NativeFlix aims to be “the netflix for Indigenous peoples content.”

From the About Us page:

“NativeFlix is designed to be an effective vehicle for social change, helping to expand consciousness about Indigenous People, their stories, cultures and histories, environmental concerns, spirituality, and much more. More importantly, our primary goal is to provide the most compelling and entertaining content available. NativeFlix is a unique streaming media service offered by Amerind Media Group, a media content aggregator owned and operated by Indigenous filmmakers based in Hollywood, CA. Our library includes critically acclaimed feature films, television series, and documentaries about Indigenous people from around the World.”

The monthly fee is $5.99 per month and services both Canada and the U.S.

My take: While I applaud the intention, I wonder how NativeFlix will draw attention to its venture. The rules of supply and demand will dictate whether it succeeds economically. Artistically and politically, it’s already a winner in my eyes.