09-05-05 notes on Palm Springs Short Festival

core / life master / 2005 / 09/05 + supplemental / notes from fest organized (09/05/05)
notes from palm beach short fest
distributors
– http://www.kqed.org/imagemakers/
— scott

— imagemakers buys shorts – narrative and docs
– bigfilm.com
– http://www.apollocinema.com/
– http://www.movieola.ca/
– http://tvchannelzero.com
— roman@TVchannelzero.com
– http://www.ifilm.com
— short film on-line (non exclusive) watch for free, free to submit
– http://www.shortfilmchannel.com/
– http://www.qtelevision.com/main/
moving forward
– peter greenaway says fabio
– have 4 or 5 ideas and one feature script
– interested in your talent, but also stuff in the bank, in the pipeline what else do you have that I can get out of you RIGHT NOW!
– start a nest (as opposed to a morgue) where ideas can hatch and grow. revisit the interactive oven concept, open it up, reawaken my idea generating power. reawaken everything.
– shorts are the proof of concept, any concept can be distilled into a short
– whats the role of experimentation and innovation – according to panavision guy, if two scripts are equally good and the personality behind them equally strong, the idea that innovates will win
– horror
– register with writers guild (treatments)
production
– size of sensor increases depth of field
– how about a team, find a great producer. what is a producer, exactly?
– sag indie contracts 2nd thursday of every month in NYC
– monthly sag workshops about the process 2nd thursday of every month
– casting directors are looking for new talent, finding them in short films
equipment
– panavision grants
— will this project be interesting, successful
— are the individuals going to be successful
— napoleon dynamite got a panavision grant
— panavision -> kodak -> resources -> they want to develop the next generation of film makers
— i am a coworker with all the bigguys
– get our hands on a bolex or arriflex – what runs super 16?
promotion
– greatest filmmaker AND marketer in the world, but don’t wait for it to be perfect…
– in ny, what am I doing? what’s my plan? how can I spark an event?
– premier – rent out a theater or get it for free
— send them out to agents and managers and their *assistants*
— invite the assistants!
— hcdonline.com – phonebook of the entertainment industry
— screeners copy
– solid promotion is as important as solid production, (production is hard, the next step (promotion) is harder)
– programmers for festivals – it’s not about you (and your friendship with the pregrammer), it’s about your film
– do something everyday to further your career
– don’t take it personally, let things roll of, be like water, be persistant
– dean of loyola marymount film school – follow your dream, don’t follow the market. ulitmately, if you follow the market, you are going to come up short. the best movies, even those that successful commercially, reflect the directors singular vision.
– once we have our ideas, write the pitch and then practice the delivery, practice practice practice. one never knows who one might meet
– logline – the idea in two lines, broadstrokes
– log lines for all of my ideas
– test drive your log line
– gotta be a great presenter of your story
– buzz – identify your audience and how to talk about your film.
– festival strategy what is my objective, wake up and get clarity about what we want, then make a plan.
– where’s the perfect home for your film, where do you want to see your film go? figure out who’s distributing films like mine. what festivals show films like mine? come to the festival having identified my best matches
– pitching the film
— business plan for a start-up venture
— they buy management and talent
— 15 seconds grab thier attention
– don’t forget to leverage the assistant – don’t get frustrated, make their day
– screening in burbank – who do you want there? make sure to schedule the time so that the folks you want will got there
– categorize them immediately its an intelligent comedy, hitchcockian thriller
deals
– donedeal.com
– inktip.com
festivals
– without a box forums identify which festivals suck and which rock
— a little packaging no stickers, legible! professional presentation, “looks like a real film”
— shorter film, don’t count the credits? cut the credits down quick
– postcard
— make it mailable, split them so you can stickerize them for each festival
– festival circuit, why?
— audience!
— validation – you rock!
— further your career by meeting people
– rome georgia
– sydney international
– no submission fees in europe
– seattle international film festival
– hamptons film festival
– japan short shorts
– clermont-ferrand in france great for marketplace
– toronto world wide short film festival (shorts) may june
– tribeca film festival ~ not so great but sounds sexy
– edinburough film festival
– cinema jove (spain)
– san paolo film festival
– academy awards – why not? have to win a festival or screen your own screening in los angeles three paid screenings
short films
– from dan extremely short films.
– why did i make my film
— to do it right
— as a step to a feature
— story and actors
— something to say – awareness
– questionaire for la pala at the arts party
legal and deliverables
– clear your music rights
– pacing
– deliverables
– titles too long website instead
– license
– sync license – singer and writer
– music cue sheet – list of songs music cue TC in and out, name of artist, publishing company, they pay residuals, if your composer aint with an organization, then the TV stations save money.
– rolling stone song 1 million
– all rights worldwide
– music clearance person less well known artists (find my own)

– dialogue list time code in and out for subtitles, foreign language and closed caption

– permission for likeness
– releases for people and location too.
– release for everyone recognizable

– errors and omissions insurance
– 3500 for 2 years in the us for an 8 minute
– all the paperwork is a “bible”
– no recognizable products
– do you have a distributor
– production stills encapsulates the film high res
– VOD
– put all the deliverables on a website for easy access
– video master – digi-beta dub of the master, foriegn pal digi-beta, maybe DV-CAM for canada
– check for quality of DVD, pro reproduction (screener) make sure title is there, with name and contact info on the outside and in the content
– don’t use sharpies unless you’ve great penmanship

– does it get devalued if it’s available on a website?
– q would mind, a lot of buyers would mind
– clip and trailers are fine

– first frame of picture starts at hour 1:00:00;00
– know your SAG agreements
– get it done beforehand
– experimental agreement is no more, now short form

– HD first, then widescreen

– artistic considerations
– depth of field, 24 P
– over 10 minutes
– 2 minutes – 29 minutes
– 22 minutes – 30 minutes

– visuals, visuals put the brakes on the channel surfers
– tell the story in an original way
– filler, highly entertaining stuff

– odd material q tv
– sound

– story
— 4 elements – love laughs thrills and tears – the rollercoaster
— 120 1 minute episodes (comedy)
— redford – too many filmmakers, so what are we converting to?

– aspen film festival
– clermont ferand! roger bonin submission coming soon

– distributors pick up about 10 films a year

– watch out for whacked agreements
– fill out the submission forms on the web

– watching on a small screen, a fantastic story that shines through

– non-exclusive vs exclusive

– for the reps – exclusive so they can make the most money selling to buyers

– when you are meeting a buyer have the pitch down to one minute or less, practice practice practice
– what’s your genre?
– most films make $2500-$5000 in distribution (2-3 years). (oof!) it’s not a living, it’s a beginning

– entertainment attorney

– don’t try to change the distributors contract
secrets of the circuit
— press kits – keep them on-line but have them ready for immediate submission offer them on CD or DVD, everything’s ready to go for them.

– 4000 films subnitted to clairmont ferand

– early submission is best cause the reviewers are fresh and excited

– “i wake up screening”

– hamptons, short short, sundance, slamdance, telluride… if you’ve played many, your chances of additional acceptance goes down, festivals like new stuff

– call and make an inquiry about format and genre – early…

– titles, audio mix and color correction can be unfinished when submitted (mock ups are ok) fine cut without titles, best possible product.

– short is better, tighten, clean up the credits

– be careful on-line, passwords

– interstitial – between longer form programs on the independent film channel or sundance channel

– “logo”? new cable for short format “here”?

– looking for press – market while we were working on it

– submissions continue to build your rep, even if you don’t get in