NSI Lifestyle Series Producer Deadline: October 5, 2012

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Are you employed by a production company?

If so, they have until October 5 to nominate you for the NSI’s Lifestyle Series Producer course.

From the website: “This is an advanced training course which focuses on the specific skills required to produce a lifestyle series. The course includes a week-long training session followed by an eight-week practical apprenticeship on an existing lifestyle series which has been green-lit by one of our Program Partners: Shaw Media, Bell Media and Corus.

This course will empower the candidate to confidently take on the challenges and responsibilities of producing a lifestyle series.

Candidates will connect with top lifestyle series producers, network executives, production executives and other industry leaders to round out their knowledge base and industry contacts.”

Oh, and by the way, the cost is $25,000.

Rotterdam Lab 2013 Deadline: October 26, 2012

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Telefilm Canada is sending three Canadian new or emerging producers to the Rotterdam Lab, January 27-30, 2013.

The three producers will receive accreditation to CineMart and the International Film Festival Rotterdam, as well as five night’s accommodation. You are responsible for your travel arrangements and all other costs.

Eligibility

  1. The Rotterdam Lab is a programme for new and emerging producers. Writers and/or directors cannot take part in the Lab;
  2. You must have produced more than one short film and not more than two (narrative) features in your career;
  3. You must have a feature-length project (narrative) in development suitable for co-production;
  4. You are a Canadian citizen or have landed immigrant status.

See the Call for Entries for more information.

Monetize Vimeo with ‘Tip this video’ Button

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Vimeo has lunch a new Tip Jar feature.

When activated, it adds a ‘Tip this video‘ button below the video. Viewers so inclined can give between $1 and $500 via credit cards or PayPal.

To use this you must:

  1. Have a verified PayPal account
  2. Have a paid Vimeo account

There are some other restrictions so check out the FAQ. And recognize that Vimeo will deduct 15% off the top.

I would like Vimeo to allow users to customize the button. To me, ‘Tip this video’ sounds a little cheap. How about ‘I support this artist’, ‘Thank You $$$’ or ‘Become a Patron’?

 

Argo: Ben Affleck and Hollywood Diplomacy

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The trailer for ‘Argo’ piqued my interest because I remember the drama of the 1979 Iran Hostage Crisis and the later revelation of the Canadian ambassador’s actions to smuggle out six Americans.

Kudos to Ben Affleck for stepping up and rewriting the closing postscript after complaints by Ken Taylor, as reported in Macleans. What do they say about history being written by the victors? Here’s a case of history being rewritten by Hollywood (and then corrected by the real actors).

Co-inventor of IMAX dies

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The National Film Board of Canada reports that Roman Kroitor has died: Death of Roman Kroitor: Canada and the Film World Lose a Pioneer.

One of Mr. Kroitor’s many achievements was co-invenitng IMAX over 40 years ago. Something approaching a monopoly, IMAX pretty well cornered the large-format production and exhibition space, owning cameras, films and theatres. Its business model has diversified somewhat lately, expanding into 3D TV and laser lamps.

My favourite IMAX film is Van Gogh: Brush with Genius. I saw this in Victoria one early evening and, leaving the theatre, was rewarded with the magical orange light of the soon-to-set sun bathing the harbour. For the next half hour, it was as if I was continuing to see the world through Van Gogh’s eyes. Wonderful!

Thank you, Roman.

ACE MUNDUS Application Deadline: October 15, 2012

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In 2009, the Ateliers du Cinéma Européen opened its doors to non-EU independent producers by launching a new training session that this year will take place from April 1-8, 2013 in Paris, France and in Finland.

Telefilm Canada will facilitate the participation of one English market and one French market producer, covering these costs: tuition, travel from Paris to Finland and back, accommodation and subsistence expenses in Europe. Your Canada/Paris round-trip airfare will be covered by ACE.

To qualify, you must be an experienced independent producer with a fiction feature film currently in development and must have produced, as the main producer, either:

  1. A co-production (international or provincial) theatrically released fiction feature film, OR
  2. Two Canadian fiction feature films that were theatrically released.

The deadline to communicate your interest in applying to ACE MUNDUS is October 15, 2012.

See the Call for Candidates for more information.

Crowdfunding 101

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This past week I had the pleasure of attending Ian MacKenzie’s Crowdfunding 101 seminar at the Victoria Event Centre.

I particularly liked how Ian positioned crowdfunding as part of a shift from the traditional economy to the ‘gift’ economy.

Scarcity -> Interdependence
Copyright -> Creative Commons
Closed -> Open

Ian believes we have to stop asking ourselves, “How can I make money?” and instead ask, “In a time of transition — how can I be of service?”

Pre-Launch

Get ready and build your fan base:

  1. Open a PayPal account.
  2. Create a website with a newsletter signup using MailChimp.
  3. Open a Twitter account.
  4. Create a Facebook page for the project.

Determine your goal, realizing 30% will come from your direct network.

Choose five to ten rewards; be creative and personal.

  1. $10 – minimum – thanks
  2. $25 – most popular – digital download
  3. $50 – DVD or other physical merchandise
  4. $75 – minimum for T-shirts
  5. Have some big ticket rewards for folks that fall in love with your project.

Create your Pitch Video.

  1. Be direct and state what you need.
  2. Explain the context, describe the impact the project will have and explain how it will unfold.
  3. Be authentic and interesting; humour with heart works well.
  4. Don’t be longer than four minutes, too vague or not appear in the video.

Launch

Spread the word!

  1. Send a newsletter announcing the campaign.
  2. Tweet as much as you want.
  3. Update your Facebook page daily.
  4. Tap into aligned networks.
  5. Tap mainstream media.

Add weekly update videos to the campaign.

Get excited as the deadline approaches.

Post-Campaign

Do what you said you would.

Fulfill the rewards.

Continue to post updates.

See Ian’s list of three dozen crowdfunding platforms at www.ianmack.com/crowdfunding-web/crowdfunding-platforms/

Funding for Docs in Canada

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The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Funds have announced a submission window for Canadian documentaries:

  • The Fall 2012 round for applications will open on Wednesday, September 19, 2012
  • Final deadline for applications: Wednesday, October 17, 2012 at 5:00 pm

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund

$3,000,000 available: The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Completion Fund is a grant program that will provide financial support of up to $100,000 (limited to a maximum of 20% of a project’s budget) for production companies to complete specific projects.

Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund

$1,000,000 available: The Shaw Media-Hot Docs Development Fund is a loan program designed to help producers get specific projects developed, researched, written and/or packaged and ready for market.

The Fall and Rise of the Mediascape

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Ever since 2004, I’ve pictured the mediascape as a brick wall.

A brick wall falling apart.

In slow motion.

Brick by brick.

Movies and TV first began appearing on the Internet in 2004. No one quite knew how to make money with media on the web but no one could deny that people were spending more and more time there. And less and less time on traditional media.

Since then, this trend has accelerated. More channels and fragmented audiences have meant smaller budgets and increased competition. How is the independent filmmaker to finance their work?

The bricks continue to fall.

As the dust begins to settle,
is that a glimmer of blue sky I see?