DIY DAYS a roving conference for those who create

Lance Weiler calls for our support: WE NEED YOUR HELP TO RAISE $3,000 BY APRIL 3rd
SO THAT WE CAN HOLD DIY DAYS NYC – please contribute on Indiegogo!

Your free copy of Fans, Friends & Followers

During the SXSW Scott Kirsner makes his ebook edition of Fans, Friends & Followers available to download for free – check it out!

YouTube Rentals Beta
A few days ago, YouTube introduced it’s beta of YouTube Rentals, a new pay-per-view model aiming to make feature films available on the platform.

“Video Meets Baby Boomers” filmmaking contest
According to a post on Peter D. Marshall’s blog,

The LFMP ‘Video meets Baby Boomers’ is looking for some talented filmmakers to document how people 50+ interact with technology.

The winner could walk away with $10,000 USD and a special screening and content feature. You’ll find more details on 247 real media.

The Filmmakers Channel
I came across the Filmmakers Channel last week and it seems to be a great opportunity for indie filmmakers to get their films out there, following the DIY approach. On the website it says the following:

Our Mission: to be the best at promoting the distribution and consumption of independent films and alternative media through the use of DVD or better, PPV enabled streaming video and web related technologies.

7 essentials for a press kit
Elliot Grove shared his knowledge about creating a press kit on Raindance.co.uk – essential tips for every filmmaker!

How to Get Motivated for Self Promotion
Alex Mathers teases his step-by step-approach on how to get motivated for self promotion on Red Lemon Club and then links out to 99%, where he finally presents his ideas. Worth following the links

CHILDREN OF INVENTION: Why They Turned Down 8 Distribution Offers

The makers of Children of Invention wrote a guest blog on Truly Free Film about their DIY/DIWO distribution journey and the reasons why they chose this approach.

Free Tools for Social SEO

Social Media Today should always be one of the first adresses when you’re looking for professional advice concerning Social Media. Here’s another example why: some free Social SEO tools.

The 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival

As we announced earlier in this blog, the 3rd Babelgum Online Film Festival is now open for submissions. Films with running times of up to 15 minutes are eligible to enter in one of the four categories.

Skillset case studies

Last year we organised a workshop on ‘Online Marketing for Filmmakers‘ in Brighton, supported by Skillset. Reading all the case studies it seems that this was indeed a great choice. Thanks again for supporting us!

FilmTiki newsflash: New development in 2010

As you know, we are always busy exploring new and innovative ways to get your films out there. We are therefore happy to announce that we have secured funding to further develop FilmTiki. Read more about it over here on FilmTiki.

The importance of having a blog (part 1)

I started a blog post-series on the importance of having a blog, starting with some general thoughts and figures. Coming soon: part 2, which will take a look at some filmmaker’s blogs.

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Some people think that blogs are dead due to the rise of community websites like facebook and twitter. Indeed, many filmmakers turn to use Social Networking platforms and Microblogging services to promote their projects, often used complementary. Nevertheless, running a blog (and/or a website) should always be the main anchor for all your online activities.

Why should I start a movie-blog?

You want to know why you should start blogging? Because people want know more about your work and identify with your project.

Brant J. Smith, producer of the underground indie film hit Quality of Life, explains the power of blogs in his article Top 7 fool-proof indie film marketing tactics:

The blog is a great way to capture the moment-to-moment bluster of filmmaking, while also providing an outlet for random related thoughts and links to related sites.

Another article, posted on Greenlight 360 mentions that LinkedIn, Twitter and Blogs are budget friendly ways to drive viewers to your online television, films or videos. The article also includes a statement of David Burch (TubeMogul) from July 2009, in which he says

“Blogs are the biggest referrer of video views.. 45% of video views come from specific searches for a video. Of the the 55% remaining, 81% are found through blogs.”

Of course, blogging can be a time-consuming job, but it is a key way of building your reputation and getting your stories out there. While most blogs don’t create the amount of focus generated by traditional media, the blogosphere represents a vast number of small, passionate and engaged audiences. Your blog offers you a chance to build up trust with potential fans and future audience members by providing an insight into your work. So, if you haven’t done so already, go get yourself a blog (using a blog CMS like wordpress, blogger or serendipity) as soon as possible and start blogging about your work.

How to start a movie-blog

Actually you can write about anything you’d like to write, just be a creator!

Use your blog as a production diary, post your thoughts about scriptwriting, financing your movie, write about the production itself, introduce your cast, your plans for distribution, maybe some problems you might be experiencing with funding, post ‘behind the scenes’ clips, upload set-pics, etc! You can even blog about how hard it is to keep on blogging during production. Anything will do, as long as it reflects your work and your attitudes. Be creative!

Another approach is to focus on the issues of your movie and give your potential audience insights in related topics, post links to similar projects, start conversations on your own blog and invite people to get in touch with you and other bloggers.

And of course you could follow the most artistic and fun approach and bring your characters or your story to the web, transfer it to your blog. People will get curious about your film and you can build tension that ends with a big bang on the screen.

My blog isn’t special and I have no readers – what can I do?

This question was once asked by Maggie Fox on Social Media Today and in fact it is the most asked when it comes to encourage filmmakers to start blogging. We recommend that you begin to engage with your potential fans by providing relevant and interesting comments on related blogs. Linking your comments back to your blog will grow your audience amongst people who are already interested in the topic, genre or issues dealt with in your film.

It’s really important to find key protagonists, opinion leaders or evangelists and try to get them commenting and  reblogging you or simply linking to your weblog. That’s what Maggie’s conclusion was: prioritise who you connect with!

Of course there’s Twitter and Facebook and other platforms. Our advice: use them! Once you posted a new blog, spread it all over your online outlets and link it back to your blog. Draw attention on Facebook, let people know what you are up to and gather them all on your blog (or website). And be sure you linked your blog up to your Social Network profiles and website too, because search engines love links and they love blogs too.

What’s next?

Once you’ve started to write about your daily challenge in filmmaking, you can go further and try to involve your fans more and more. Ask them to give you feedback on your project, discuss your problems with them, maybe even consider a crowdfunding campaign. Again, be creative and authentic!

The goal is to get a highly targeted readership that identifies with your project and your needs. To learn about your fans and followers you should definitly monitor your community. But that’s another blog post, coming up soon

If you still don’t want to start blogging, read about 6 other ways to spread the word on the Internet.

And if you want to dive deeper into what matters in the blogosphere, learn more about the ethics of blogging or various posting formats and educate yourself on blogs like Mashable and other web resources.

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The EUMAGINE #TWITTER-OSCARS for 2010
Indiefilm platform EUMAGINE celebrated the Twitter Oscars and awarded tweeple in categories like ‘the best and sympatic filmmaking duo’. By the way, congrats to Christoph Waltz!

March is DiY Filmmaking Month!
First I read about it on DIY Filmmaking and then switched over to PoetZero. Together with MAKE Magazine they declared: March is DIY Filmmaking Month! If you want to know more about DIY filmmaking, be sure to visit them regularly.

Funeral follows the Celebration
Danish director and DOGME 95-co-founder Thomas Vinterberg directs the sequel of his success-film Festen. The sequel is called The funeral and will not premiere in movie theaters, but on stage at the Burgtheater Vienna.

Tribeca Plans to Distribute Indie Movies by VOD, in Theaters
According to an article I found on Businessweek,

Tribeca Enterprises aims to acquire 10 movies a year and will make 7 of them available through VOD from a distribution platform Tribeca Film during the festival which opens April 21, the company said today in an e-mailed statement.

Do you follow to many people on Twitter?
If you ever asked yourself how many people you follow on Twitter follow you back or how many are inactive, then you should follow Techcrunchs advice and try Manage Twitter. It might be the right tool for you!

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THE MENTAL ECLECTIC INDIE FILMMAKING PANEL

The Mental Eclectic aka Craig Wilson, initiator of Twitter’s #IndieMM, is hosting The Mental Eclectic Indie Filmmaking Panel during this years San Diego Indie Fest. The brilliant selection of panellists include Saskia Wilson-Brown from Indiegogo.com, Kurt Braun from ArtAtaxUnit.com, William Ostroff founder of FirstGlanceFilms.com, Jenna Edwards, Producer of In The Darkness, Jenn Page from LuminaveFilms.com, Matt Jarbo from FlashYourShorts.com and David Brannin and Karen Worden from Filmcourage. On Friday 26th March and Saturday 27th March they will be discussing topics like ’DIY Filmmaking: From Crowd Funding to Distribution’ and ‘Marketing Your Film’. Apart from that, the Mental Eclectic also runs a film fundraising campaign for his movie Day after the Revolution. So if you’re around San Diego that day, visit the San Diego Indie Fest and help Craig get his movie funded!

Trying to decide whether or not you’ll like a movie?
I came across a platform called Nanocrowd last week. It uses a system called ‘Reaction Mapping’, which tries

to interpret the comments people write about movies.

This is the next big thing in movie recommendation, don’t you think?

Bad News for Film Fests: B-Side Shutting Down

According to Cinematical, indie film distributor and film festival connector B-Side Entertainment, is shutting down their service. Unfortunatly the funding ran out and B-Side

is now trying to find homes for the movies still in B-Side’s pipeline.

So if you have some ideas or even have enough money to secure their future, contact them!

The White Stripes want you to screen their movie

A new documentary about The White Stripes is being released this March, following the band on their 2007 tour across Canada. If you don’t want to watch the film in cinemas or if it’s not being screened in a theater near you, why don’t you watch it with your friends – at home? The band offers you a special screening kit, including popcorn and peppermint candy, apart from the official DVD to their movie Under great white northern lights of course. Unfortunatly, this only works in the United States

Spike Jonze’s “I’m Here” – Premiere Report

I really enjoyed reading Pete Thornton’s review at Front Row Reviews of Spike Jonze’s new movie I’m here. And I wish I could have been there, not only because of the movie itself, but also because of the venue. Here’s an extract from Pete’s review:

The screening took place in the basement of an NCP car park in central London… On entering the venue, it had an almost illegal rave feel to it. A stripped out car park, fog machine, blue lights around the walls and very cool looking props dotted around. The main floor area was dressed with cardboard boxes with plugs coming out of them.

Distribute your movies online

Flickrocket seems to be a great solution to sell your own movie on your website and follow the DIY approach, so have a look at it!

Pressing Issues: Film Distribution 2.0

This post deals with the 3 Key Issues of Distribution 2.0 – definitely worth reading!

Fuck you and your blog

FilmTiki’s Iris presented her latest “stationery gimmick” on her loudhail blog – check it out!

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Study: Ages of social network users
I found this really useful study about the ages of social network users on Pingdom. Especially the chart with the Social Networks is really interesting!

Workshop in Vienna: Social Media for Filmmakers
We’re hosting a workshop on Social Media for Filmmakers on 9 April 2010 in Vienna. We’d love to see you there. So if you are in Austria at that time and want to know how to best use the web to advance my film project, don’t hesitate to RSVP via Twitter or Facebook.

IMDb iPhone App
The world’s biggest movie database IMDb launched its iPhone app. Now you can search and find movie details easier anywhere and anytime!

COMING SOON: The 3rd edition of Babelgum Online Film Festival
Check out Babelgum’s Website constantly, because the 3rd Online Film Festival is coming up soon!

Twitter & Facebook: Great for Building a Filmmaking Network
Read some interesting thoughts on Filmmakers Notebook about how Twitter and Facebook can be used for building a Filmmaking Network.

Millions of film makers can be heard over the Internet but who is listening to them?
Filmmaking.net takes a closer look at the emerging online movie world and how filmmakers can benefit from it.

The 39 Social Media Tools I’ll Use Today
Awesome blog post on Social Media Today and very useful tips and tools. Check it out!

Social Media at the movies
Finally, if you haven’t read it yet, i blogged about movies dealing with Social Media phenomenoms earlier this week. Hope you enjoy it!

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Our friends at Hercules Filmnetwork interviewed Iris Lamprecht after our panel discussion ‘New Media – New User Behaviour’ (in collaboration with the Vienna Film Fund). Here’s what she told them (sorry guys, only German):

To read the full article and watch all the clips, please visit Hercules Filmnetwork (currently in beta).

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Online services such as Twitter, Facebook and YouTube are very popular these days and they are really huge even in traditional media because they influence many peoples everyday life. Normally we here at FilmTiki blog about how these services can help filmmakers to get their movies seen, but a more recent trend brings your favourite Social Media service to the movies now. So, more than ten years after You’ve got Mail, here are some more movies based on (recent) online services:

Do you remember Geocaching?

Geocaching is

a high-tech treasure hunting game played throughout the world by adventure seekers equipped with GPS devices.

Those treasures and their locations are being shared online, so that anyone could locate and find them.

A few weeks ago I came across the movie Splinterheads by director Brant Sersen. It’s the story of Justin, a twenty-something slacker and Galaxy, a con artist, who takes Justin on a geocaching adventure. Obviously a fun idea for a script and probably a fantastic movie too. Here’s the trailer:

Introducing the YouTube generation

Another great movie is called Butterflies. It follows the lives of six young people that are prominent ‘weblebrities’ on the video site YouTube. Here’s the trailer:

By the way, the whole movie can be watched for free now on – you guessed it – YouTube! Watch Butterflies on YouTube!

Facebook

Last but not least, there are two!!! movies coming up about Facebook:

Probably in the end of 2010 The Social Network, directed by David Fincher, will hit the US screens, telling the story of Facebook-founder Mark Zuckerberg. According to Mashable and other sources, Jesse Eisenberg will be playing the main character, and Justin Timberlake will also star in the Facebook movie.

Another film about the world’s leading Social Network is an Italian production called Faceboom (originally: Feisbum). I found a press kit at this year’s Berlinale EFM, it says:

Faceboom – an instant movie on the ‘Facebook’ generation. The adventures and misadventures of users of the social network: loves, cheats, disguises, chats, dreams and family relationships…

Unfortunatly there’s only an Italian version of the trailer, but you’ll get an idea of what the movie’s all about:

What’s next?

It seems that there are heaps of ideas out there, as there are loads of online services. There is already a short film called Top 8: The MySpace killer, so, what’s next? Anyone heard of ‘Twitter: the movie’ or ‘How I bookmarked myself on delicious’ or even ‘FilmTiki – a success story’?

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FilmTiki at the Berlinale

As Iris blogged the other day, we were in Berlin last weekend and we had a really great time. Especially because we had the chance to meet with some old friends and some new, who we  know from Twitter etc. So thank you guys (@cineast, @chappuzeau, @derAlekx, @CORKY242, @flimmit and @moviac) for these awesome Tweet-Ups with you.

Why You Need a Strategy for Social Media
If you still don’t know why, read this eMarketer article or ask us here at FilmTiki

A clear target audience means better box office results

The future of movies thinks about the importance of building a target audience.

Crowd Controls connects distributors to the grass roots level buzz
Some years ago, filmmaker and producer Brian Chirls developed a tool for Four Eyed Monsters, which he now opened to a wider public. Crowd Controls is the name of the online web service, which aims to answer the following question:

How much interest there is from the public to see this movie in theaters?

Finnish movie Iron Sky is one of the first projects that can be demanded by this new service!

Bitfilm Online Film Festival

Call for entries for the Bitfilm Festival are now open, the deadline is July 31, 2010! This years topic is Money & Me.

Solidarity, no charity
Next Wednesday I’m gonna present FilmTiki at an event in Vienna, called Solidarity, no charity. You’ll find the details on Facebook as well.

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We have been in Berlin since late Thursday night (lots of snow delayed all the flights coming in), and it has been a cold but awesome festival so far.

On Friday we held our workshop at HomeBase, which was really good. Everybody got lots out of it. Thanks again to the HomeBase team for the brilliant location.

Like every year, it is great to catch up with old friends and make new friends. Unfortunately we are only here for a very limited time this year, as both Wolfgang and I need to get back to Vienna (and me to Brighton) to get on with a mountain of work, which has grown siginificantly since our arrival Which is a bit of a bummer, as I won’t be able to see Taika Waititi’s Boy today, which I really would have loved to see. But if you’re around, try and get tickets – it will surely be a hoot and a half.

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Workshop in Berlin: Social Media for Filmmakers
This Friday, 12 February, we’re hosting a workshop: Social Media for Filmmakers in Berlin, as we’ll be around for the Berlinale Film Festival. We still have a few spots left, so we’d happy to see you there! To find out more, check out our last blog post.

Austrian Filmmakers on Facebook
A few weeks ago, Gloria G. opened a Facebook group called ‘Filmschaffende Österreich‘ for Austrian filmmakers. Seems to be a huge success, because by now it counts over 1,400 members. They’re also hosting a Film Talk in Vienna on Tuesday, giving all members the chance to meet in real life. Great idea!

Budgeting For Your Film In Today’s Marketplace
I read some interesting posts in the Independent Film Blog about Film Financing and Free Movies. Worth reading it!

Teens stop blogging, because of Facebook?
Matt Dentler quotes a recent study by PEW Internet Project, according to which teenagers don’t blog anymore because of Facebook:

” What we think is really going on here — why young people aren’t doing blogs anymore — is that there’s been a move from MySpace, which put blogging front and center, to Facebook, which doesn’t have that.”

Nevertheless, we’re still blogging – so stay tuned!

We did it!
Btw, we’ve reached the 2,000 followers mark on Twitter this week. Thanks to all our Followers!

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Why Indie Directors Give Movies Away For Free Online
Time published an article about the future of movie distribution , referring to filmmakers like Timo Vuorensola and Nina Paley, who pur their movies online for free. According to Time,

cutting the middleman out of the process is sometimes the best way to guarantee large audiences see their works.

If you don’t know anything about those projects and this new approach of film marketing and film distribution, you should definitly read some articles on FilmTiki or get in touch with us

Vision Pictures – Training Courses for the Filmindustry
Last week I came across Vision Pictures. Really great service, check it out! Vision Pictures is a London based international moving pictures development organisation supporting filmmakers globally.

The Public Domain Manifesto
Have you heard of the Public Domain Manifesto? This could be of some interest to all of you who plan to publish content (movies) under a public domain license. Sign now!

Social Technographics: Conversationalists get onto the ladder
A recent update of the Social Technographics ladder (found in Forresters Blog) introduces Conversationalists, who reflect two changes:

First, it includes not just Twitter members, but also people who update social network status to converse (since this activity in Facebook is actually more prevalent than tweeting). And second, we include only people who update at least weekly, since anything less than this isn’t much of a conversation.

New Media – New User Behaviour
Last Thursday we hosted the second part of the Filmfonds Expertenrunde, discussing New Media and New User Behaviour. You can find some pics on FilmTiki’s FlickR. We also recorded the whole panel discussion, which will be uploaded soon!

FilmTiki's CEO Iris Lamprecht, panel moderator

FilmTiki Workshops coming up!

FilmTiki will host a workshop for filmmakers during the upcoming Berlinale in midth of February.It’s based on a two-hour introduction followed by a workshop to be held in Berlin on 12 February 2010 and aims to provide filmmakers with the appropriate Social Media marketing tools.

And we also plan to host two workshops in Vienna in March and April, so stay tuned for more details!

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How to Fight Back when Distribution goes Wrong
James Burbidge writes about the limitations of some distribution contracts. His advice:

Make sure you know what you are looking for in a contract.

Facebook: Austrian Filmmakers
We found a great Facebook group for all Austrian Filmmakers. If you are in Austrian film business or you wanna get in touch with some of the protagonists, join the group Filmschaffende Österreich.

Hotel Cinematheque contest
Another Facebook tip: International VOD provider The Auteurs runs an awesome contest on Facebook. Here’s the facts:

Enter the Hotel Cinematheque contest by tagging one FILM still and one HOTEL photo in this photo album. Then in the album comments tell us about your pairing. More info here: http://www.facebook.com/theauteurs?v=app_10531514314

The Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries, 2nd Edition – 6 That Would’ve Made the List If Only They…
Very interesting post series about the Top 25 Film Festivals for Documentaries. Definitly worth a read!

Collaborative filmmaking with Hercules Filmnetwork
In December we talked to Roman Tolic and Thomas Nash from Hercules Filmnetwork, an online platform for collaborative filmmaking. Read our FilmTiki feature: everything they told us about the future of filmmaking and their exciting new platform.

Hulu Looking for Revenue Options, May Charge for Older Episodes from Popular Shows
According to Slashfilm, American online video service HULU is looking for new revenue options and may have found the answers in making people pay for older episodes of TV-series.

YouTube To Rent Movies
The Sundance Film Festival starts today and that’s the first chance to try YouTube’s new movie rental service, offering five independent films showing at the Sundance Film Festival for $3.99.

Invitation: New Media – New User Behaviour
The Vienna Film Fund, in collaboration with FilmTiki, would like to invite you to a panel discussion on “New Media – New User Behaviour. Digitalisation’s Impact on the TV and Film Industry”. The event will take place in Vienna on 28 January 2010 and features renowned industry experts. Read more about it on FilmTiki.

APLE – arrange_process_loop_edit: amoeba a/v showcase

But wait, there’s more! We are very happy to have Scottish a/v artist amoeba with us next week in Vienna. He will be giving a live showcase of his upcoming a/v DVD APLE: arrange_process_loop_edit. Same venue, from around 8.30 p.m. To get an idea of his work, check out his website for the APLE project, as well as his business website. Absolutely stunning stuff.

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You may have already seen the invite on our front page, but in case you missed it, here it goes again:

The Vienna Film Fund, in collaboration with FilmTiki, would like to invite you to a panel discussion on “New Media – New User Behaviour. Digitalisation’s Impact on the TV and Film Industry”. The event will take place in Vienna on 28 January 2010 and features renowned industry experts.

This event is aimed at anyone interested in the latest trend in user behaviour. Broadband, Video on Demand, mobile devices and social networks have changed user behaviour dramatically in these past few years. We are dealing with TV as a secondary medium, as well as time-shifted use of TV and films on devices outside the home.

Our experts will discuss how TV and Film producers can deal with these changing patterns of media use.

For more details, and how and where to register (the event is free, but there is very limited space), have a look at our invite. I’ll be there moderating the discussion, so if you are in Vienna, and want to meet me (or catch up with me), come along, say hello afterwards.

APLE – arrange_process_loop_edit: amoeba a/v showcase

But wait, there’s more! We don’t just want to leave you with your heads full of information, we want to give you something rare and special…

We are very happy to have Scottish a/v artist amoeba with us next week in Vienna. He will be giving a live showcase of his upcoming a/v DVD APLE: arrange_process_loop_edit. Same venue, from around 8.30 p.m. To get an idea of his work, check out his website for the APLE project, as well as his business website. Absolutely stunning stuff.

So come along to this much too rare opportunity to see amoeba’s a/v art delights in Austria. We promise you will be blown away.

See you Thursday!

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Here’s our weekly online review for January 11 – January 17 2010

Filmmakers Thank Movie Piracy for Popularity
Film Piracy via Torrents is not always bad, according to an article on JustPressPlay about the dark fantasy movie Ink.

What do Indie filmmakers hope for in 2010?
US indie filmmaker Heidi Van Lier made her own personal indie film wishlist for 2010.

Independent Filmmakers – How Do They Get in to Filmmaking?
Film School on Demand writes about how to get in filmmaking, because

These days, there are more opportunities to become an independent filmmaker than ever before.

Declaration of Indies: Just Sell It Yourself!
Check out The New York Times online and read editor’s Manohla Dargis piece on the revolution in indie film distribution.

Netflix Rental Patterns by Zip Code: Who Rents What, and Where?
Would you like to know which film was top or flop in which US areas? Netflix recently released maps of twelve American metro areas with the top rentals of 2009. Very insightful for all of us concerned with audiences (and marketing films…).

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Here’s our weekly online review for January 4 – January 10 2010

Check out Moby.com, a great resource for filmmakers to search and find music for their movies. Here’s what it says on the website:

This portion of moby.com, ‘film music’, is for independent and non-profit filmmakers, film students, and anyone in need of free music for their independent, non-profit film, video, or short.

Lost in the air: The Jason Reitman Press Tour Simulator

Director Jason Reitman documented his press tour for Up in the air and created a small video for his fans (read on Movie City indie). Great idea! By the way, his MySpace page says: I twitter now

OpenIndie: an interview with Kieran Masterton
Lance Weiler interviewed Kieran Masterton about the OpenIndie project he’s doing with Arin Crumley. Read about OpenIndie on Workbook Project.

Twitter Filmmakers
I found another Twitterlist with filmmakers on FirstGlance Films Blog. You can add yourself or other missing movie makers by commenting the post.

The 2010 Movie Blog Awards
Total Film’s annual Movie Blog Awards has opened a few days ago and amongst the nominees are some awesome resources for this year’s award, including Cinematical, Spout Blog and Slashfilm. Vote for your favorite blog!

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I know, I’m a bit late, but due to our well-deserved Christmas break it took some time to finish our last ‘online week in review’ post for 2009. But finally, here it is:

FilmTiki on Facebook

We reached the 300 fans mark on FACEBOOK a few days ago! Thank you all for your continued support!

If you are not a fan yet, click the box on the right to become FilmTiki’s fan on Facebook!

A question for 2010: Does the audience want you to make a film?
Scott Kirsner is thinking about audience desires in 2010 on CinemaTech, focussing on the following questions:

What kinds of visual content does the audience want to see, aside from full-length features? Who’s making it? And how is it being monetized?

The seven most influential filmmaking countries of the ’00s.

The Independent Eye published a list of the seven most influential filmmaking countries of the last decade. And we’re proud to announce that Austria is one of them

Survey: How do you use Social-Network-Sites during your Filmpromotion?
We received an eMail request to participate in a survey about the use of Social Networks during filmpromotion. We are really interested in the results and hope that many people will participate! So please help Juliane to get some answers by answering her questions.

They came from the Twitterfeed…

Excellent link-list by Catherine Grant to online open-access film studies resources. Check it out!

Twitter Tweets about Filmmaking as of December 31, 2009

At the end of the year I found another Twitterlist in a blog post on Screenwriting Basics. They run a Twitter digest, aggregating Tweets dealing with #filmmaking and #screenwriting. Definitly worth adding to your RSS feeds.

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How to turn a $300 video into a $30 Million movie deal
Social Media Today commented on the latest great ‘YouTube’ success: producer Fede Alvarez landed a $30 million movie deal after uploading his movie Panic Attack on YouTube, which was watched over 4 million times.

iPhone apps for movie makers
I didn’t think about it right away when I got my iPhone, but of course there are many apps for filmmakers. I found some in a recent edition of movieScope Magazine: Hitchcock for storyboarding, Manuscript for screenwriting and isee4k for productivity. Check them out!

Google Wave invitations
Haven’t tried Google Wave yet? We have some invitations left. Send us a DM on Twitter or comment to this blog post and you’ll get your invitation within the next few days. Don’t forget to put your E-Mail address into your comment or DM!

Filmmakers Are Doin’ It For Themselves
Sheri Chandler reflects about Using Social Networking to Market Your Film and refers to the online marketing efforts of Paranormal Activity and Butterflies.

The Smalls Cutty Sark Film Competition
Collaborating with whisky brand Cutty Sark, UK filmmakers network The Smalls seek talented filmmakers to interpret the whisky’s inspiring history and celebrate independence. The deadline for the short films is February 3rd, 2010. See for details on The Smalls Cutty Sark Film Competition website.

The top 250 best movies of all time Map
Found this movie map on the vodkaster blog. Quite impressive!

Why The Indie Film Industry Needs Producers
Truly free film takes a look at the state of indie film and why it needs producers.

Internet Evolving Film Making – 13 Benefits of The Web
On Screenwrtiting Basics I read the following:

The Hollywood industry has long been ignoring the independent film makers, but now this is how they are facing the challenge!

Read what they have in mind for filmmakers to be part of that change!

Open Film Club
Last week I came across the website of Open Film Club and I really find it worth mentioning here: Open Film Club is a filmmaking platform for homeless people and

was founded in 2005 in a church hall in the West End of London. OFC’s founder Christoph Warrack is a filmmaker, and had been volunteering at a soup kitchen for three years, when a request came from guests asking for some kind of entertainment.

Avatar

And lastly, you will of course have heard about Avatar; you might even have seen it already. Our CEO, Iris, was once upon a time one of the army of 3rd ADs on Avatar, and is very much looking forward to seeing it this week. Let us know what you think about it – and whether or not this 3D technology is going to redefine the cinema experience (as some say).

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FilmTiki at the UNERHÖRT Musicfilm Festival 2009
Read about the things I talked about at the Unerhört Music Film Festival in Hamburg a few days ago and  learn more about music film marketing.

Indie Filmmaking: 35 Tips From Experts
The Deadline Hollywood Team gathered 35 Tips on Indie Filmmaking given by producers during the “Produced By” Conference in LA. Really good tips, check them out!

Public Consultation on Opportunities and Challenges for European Cinema in the Digital Era
The European Union wants to know more about the challenges for European Cinema in the Digital Era:

The purpose of this consultation is to gather information and views from all stakeholders on digital cinema, in particular digital cinema distribution and the digital equipment of European cinemas.

What To Watch In 2010: Social TV
On Forbes, Steve Rubel writes about the big players in the global Internet game, changing audience behaviours and the blurring lines between TV, video and games.

Marketing vs. Publicity: What’s the Difference?
Sheri Candler explains the difference between Marketing and Publicity on her website. Worth reading for everyone who didn’t know before.

Watch Independent Movies Free
I found this really great service called indie movies online, but unfortunatly no movies are available in my territory:

Indie Movies Online is a new, fully licensed and legal video-on-demand site. Our aim is to support filmmakers and make independent films available to as many people as possible.

Help others, help yourself

Do you know TriggerstStreet? Check it out:

TriggerStreet.com was founded in 2002 by two time Academy Award winner Kevin Spacey and producer Dana Brunetti as an interactive mechanism to discover and showcase emerging filmmaking and writing talent.

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Last Friday, December 4th 2009, I took part in a panel discussion focussing on the question ‘What happens to the film industry in the age of 2.0?’ at the Unerhört Music Film Festival in Hamburg, Germany. Moderated by Ina Krauß, me and the other panelists - Wolfgang Junghans, founder and CEO of Eumagine TV; Andreas Weitkämpfer, A&R Director Frontline at Warner Music Group Central Europe and Joachim Kurz, chief editor http://www.kino-zeit.de - discussed recent trends in online movie marketing, film distribution, the future of film, cinema in general and music film.

Unfortunatly we had limited time, so we couldn’t explore the depth of the subject. But here’s a short summary of what I talked about on Friday, plus some more examples from the (music) film business I came across during my research for the festival:

Es muss was geben

First I was asked what my favourite music film at the moment was, so here it is: Es muss was geben – der Film. This Austrian documentary is based on a book with the same title by author Andreas Kump. It’s about the beginnings of alternative music in Linz, Austria. At the moment the project is in its development stage, but the directors Oliver Stangl and Christian Tod have already done some interviews, which they partly post on their Facebook Fanpage. They also use their Facebook account to ask their friends to participate in making this movie and find further material:

Bud Spencer – The Documentary

I also talked about another Austrian movie, the Bud Spencer project, by Karl-Martin Pold. If you want to know more about it, I already mentioned it on our blog before.

Star Wreck, Iron Sky, Wreck a movie and Hercules Filmnet

A goof example to illustrate the power of the audience or a community was given by Wolfgang Junghans referring to the Finnish cult-movie Star Wreck, which premiered in 2005 on the Internet for free and since then ranges under the most popular Finnish films of all time. The same team is about to produce Iron Sky, a movie about Nazis on the moon. Both films are part of a collaborative filmmaking platform called Wreck-a-movie.

In this context I also mentioned Hercules Filmnetwork, a collaborative filmmaking platform from Austria. It is a powerful tool, especially for emerging filmmakers and music video producers, because once you got an account you can organise your whole movie on this website, even when it comes to financing or distribution.

Mass Animation on Facebook

I didn’t mention this project, althought it’s really awesome. Here’s what it says on the Facebook Fanpage:

With over 50,000 participants from 101 countries from around the world, Mass Animation is the largest global animation collaboration ever.

The result will be an animated music video – check it out. Here’s the Trailer:

Music video competitions

Some bands run competitions to get their music videos made. A recent example following this trend was posted on video streaming service Dailymotion. The Prodigy invited filmmakers to create a music video for one of their tracks. Competition is till open, the winner wins £3,000.

U2 on YouTube

I didn’t have the time to speak about U2 on YouTube, but I think it’s pretty interesting for all bands and music film producers. They recently screened the whole concert at the Rose Bowl live and for free on YouTube. Some might say that they lose millions of Dollars, but exactly the opposite will be the result. Because U2 didn’t only brand their channel in their corporate band design, but also put some prominent links on top of their channel: BUY ALBUM NOW, U2 MAILING LIST and VISIT U2.COM. I guess they will sell more copies than ever!

Financing a movie and getting it seen!

Another part of our discussion focussed on alternative ways to finance a movie and bringing it to an audience. I mentioned Sita sings the Blues and its donation approach. But there are several other ways to raise money, e.g. by selling end credits, like the guys from buyacredit did. Recently this model was used by Paranormal Activity and other movie projects too.

By the way, Paranormal Activity was brought to a nationwide release by the power of the community! I’m sure you find all you need to know about it on Wikipedia Another example for screenings organised by a fan-community is The Age of Stupid, respectively the platform Indiescreenings, which was created to let the crowd organise screenings for a good cause.

A few weeks ago, Arin Crumley and Kieran Masterton tried to raise money for their project Open Indie by simply ask for a small donation. AND IT WORKED!

If you’re searching for a DVD-on-demand service try Filmbaby or CreateSpace. You only have to send your master copy to them and they print, pack and ship your DVD when demanded!

You want to bring E.T. back to the theater? Tell your friends about it and register on Moviac.

Anyway, I think that’s enough ramblings on audience distribution for now. If you want to know more about community power there’s a blog post called ‘Let the audience distribute your film’ on FilmTiki.

It might get loud

The movie about three guitar players of different generations will be the first music film on iTunes. According to Video Business

iTunes is promoting the film as a pre-order on its just-launched Music Movies area of its movie section, where it plans to offer weekly music exclusives and bolster its catalog offerings.

If you like rock music, follow Jack White, Jimmy Page and The Edge on Facebook.

Some more links

There’s so much unsaid, but here are some more unsorted links for all of you who are interested in music film and video…

• ScreenSessions – Your Music on the big Screen
• Taking Woodstock Schlammsession Contest
• Sound Unseen Festival 2009
• They shoot music – Viennese Music Videos
• Vinyl – Tales from the Vienna Underground

If I forgot something I mentioned during Friday’s session, feel free to contact us on Twitter.

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