Filmmaking Stuff Filmmaking Stuff provides resources for independent filmmakers. The website includes articles on how to take a story idea from script to screen, including articles on scriptwriting, producing, finance, shooting, editing, directing, marketing, distribution and how to build an audience. Filmmaking Stuff also has articles detailing how to make money making movies – including interviews with Hollywood Producers, Directors, writers and other filmmaking professionals.

If you want to make a movie, you can’t do it alone. Networking – Creating and cultivating relationships within the filmmaking community is essential for your success. Today’s guest article comes from Jonny Morgan, owner of the new online community called the Film Lobby.

Networking With The Film Lobby

Listening to any podcasts, reading any articles or taking advice from others there is one thing that raises it’s head time and time again. The importance of networking. The old adage “you only get one chance to make a first impression” is as important when networking through online social media as it is when attending face to face networking events.

The image you present of yourself should be professional, succinct, consistent, thoroughly up to date and showcasing the best of every talent you possess. Yes there are a myriad choices of social platforms out there, some that can be used personally, some professionally. My advice is to keep the two separate. You don’t wear a suit going to he gym!

My friend Melissa Cantatore is an actress working and living in LA and she strives relentlessly in the pursuit of securing continuous work. Melissa promotes herself as much as possible through her management, agent and by searching out and responding to casting calls herself. Together we designed a website for her, printed up business cards and created a profile on www.thefilmlobby.com.

Remarkably soon after that, two time Oscar winner Ron Judkins saw her online, auditioned her via Skype and she landed a roll in his new film which he wrote and directed, “Neighbours”. With online social networking combined with persistence and professionalism you, like Melissa, can succeed.

So what are your choices? What are your skilled areas and what is the best platform for you? Some may think “well IMDB is great if you’ve made it, MySpace is best for music, Facebook is good for friends and fan pages, Twitter lets me follow my heroes but what is best for me as an establishing OR established professional artist?”

The Film Lobby is an intuitive, free, easy to use platform on which you can showcase your image, photographs, music, reel, shorts, podcast, blog, audio all in the same arena. A platform where you can learn and contribute through forums, search through castings in your area, post castings to help forward your project and mingle with like minded professionals. Join free at www.thefilmlobby.com, professional networking for film makers. The very best if luck to you.

Posted under FILMMAKING

If you are looking for film distribution,  CreateSpace offers a great way to access the Amazon marketplace.

But if you have gone through the process, you probably also know that finding the CreateSpace Phone number and reaching someone in the customer service department can be frustrating…

Not anymore. CreateSpace has established a Member Support to help you with you film distribution needs. They offer phone and e-mail support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

You can call CreateSpace directly at (843) 760-8199. Keep in mind that charges may apply.

Additionally, if you are in the US or Canada – you can simply log into your member area and click “Contact Support.” From there, choose “Call Me!” to speak to a representative.

For those of you outside the US, you can send a Support Request with your international phone number. From there, CreateSpace will phone you.

Nice work CreateSpace! This was necessary and useful to the filmmaking community!

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

Jason Brubaker is writing a filmmaking book for Amazon. Cover via Amazon

Quick update for the filmmaking stuff community: I am working like crazy to release 3 awesome products within the next 3 months.

Awesome Filmmaking Product #1
(Timeline 1.5 months from now, or earlier.)

One of the products will be an eBook that I plan on giving my subscribers for free.You don’t want to miss this. While I don’t want to spoil the surprise, I can tell you that some very awesome filmmakers have collaborated with me. And we are going to release this book simultaneously across the filmmaking  community. In the eBook, you’re going to get a lot of perspective on how to run your modern moviemaking business. (Not yet subscribed? click here.)

Awesome Filmmaking Product #2
(timeline 2 months from now, or earlier)

I have been working on a piece of software that will revolutionize the ways in which filmmakers get their movies seen and selling. This is one of those things I’ve been planning for a long, long time. I can’t tell you how many software devlopers flaked out on me. But after a little persistence, I was finally able to gain some traction. So again, make sure you subscribe.

Awesome Filmmaking Product #3
(timeline 3 months from now, or earlier)

And for those of you who enjoy my MovieMaker Action Guides and blog, I am finally going to release my first physical book. For a long time, I stuck to eProducts because I frankly hate inventory. I hate the old model of publishing a book. And I also hate going to the post office. But after speaking at UCLA film school, film workshops and a few other places, I realize that a book would be a lot more powerful than a business card. I am almost done with the first draft – I’ll just need to edit it. Afterwards, I hope to make the book available at Amazon – and for those of you who can’t stand physical books, don’t worry. I’ll also publish to kindle.

- – -

So make sure you make note in your filmmaking calendars. This summer is going to be an awesome opportunity for us to share and get to know each other better. I wish you ongoing successes in life and filmmaking!

Rock On Filmmakers!

Posted under Filmmaking News

Earlier this week, Sheri Candler was spreading word of mouth about a test screening of Gary King’s indie film musical:  How Do You Write A Joe Schermann Song. So I did something I haven’t done for awhile – I got out from behind my computer screen to meet and mingle with some new filmmakers face-to-face.

As the lights dimmed and Gary’s movie flickered across the screen, I was reminded of the year I lived in New York City. This was a time when I couch surfed between a sofa and an inflatable air mattress, all the while dreaming that I would someday make movies. Admittedly, maybe these memories were flooding back as a result of Gary’s movie. I mean, the story is based in Manhattan.

During the screening, and afterwards, I realized I have been missing something I haven’t felt for years.

I have forgotten the joy that comes from participating in activities with other folks from the indie filmmaking community. And I also realized that my world of indie filmmaking (once defined and limited by the following filmmaking mantra): save up all summer and buy an Arri BL, scrape together enough money to pay for film and processing, make the movie and PRAY for a distribution deal that makes sense – I’m pleased to say that era of filmmaking is over.

As a result of lower priced production equipment, coupled with new, non-discriminatory distribution, YOU can make, market and sell your movie this year and you don’t need to ask permission. Filmmakers like Gary King epitomize this movement – asking questions like “How do you write a Joe Schermann Song“ starring awesome actress Christina Rose (nice work Christina!)

Past that, there is something else. While the studios are excited about UltraViolet and a new attempt to control their piece of the world wide web, our thriving indie community could care less. Instead of worrying about traditional distribution, modern movie makers are more concerned with their YouTube following – and the size of their growing audience.

As a filmmaker, you are part of movie making history. And you probably don’t know it. But like all artistic and social movements that have come before, you are riding this wave. The question is, will you take advantage of this opportunity – or will you find yet another reason why you can’t make your movie this year?

ALSO:

At the screening, I met close to a dozen people who claimed to have heard of me or knew me from this website. Please give me some time to adjust socially – It’s not every day that people approach me and quote my ideas back to me… But I want you to know I am honored and grateful for your readership.

This is usually the part in the article where I ask you to sign up for my newsletter.

Posted under FILMMAKING

As a filmmaker, I don’t need to tell you that things are changing. It seems like every day, the filmmaking community shares news of some new way to make, market and sell movies.

I believe video on demand distribution represents freedom for filmmakers. While there are many great sales agents and distributors, I am totally bothered by the sales agents and middle-men who have taken a bottom-feeding approach to VOD. These jerks make a living  trying to sucker unsuspecting filmmakers into long term video on demand deals that suck.

I put together the following video to express my disgust and also provide a new hope. As a modern moviemaker, there has never been a better time to make, market and sell your movies without the middle-man.

Check out this video. If you like it, please click here to TWEET it. Thanks!

Once you enter your name and email address, check your email for a confirmation. Once confirmed, you’ll get your modern moviemaker tool kit, FREE. All of these tools will be available for instant download.

Again – if you like what I’m saying, please click here to TWEET it. Thanks!

Posted under FILMMAKING

Dear Filmmaker,

Thank you for taking time to visit filmmaking stuff. This website is for filmmakers. We think asking permission to make movies is outdated. Take action and make your movie now!

Here are three filmmaking resources you can utilize right now:

1. No-Fluff Filmmaking ideas for the awesome, ambitious, and smart: www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com

2. Follow Filmmaking Stuff on Twitter to get super mini-movie-making ideas to expand your movie making business: www.twitter.com/filmmakingstuff

3. Connect with me on FaceBook so you can tap into my 2000+ connections: www.facebook.com/FilmmakingStuff

If you have a filmmaking friend that would benefit from becoming part of our filmmaking community, TELL YOUR FRIENDS.

Posted under STUFF

There is a saying in business that your network is your net-worth. For a filmmaker, I would venture to say that your friendships with other filmmakers dictate the scope and scale of your movies. And while not everyone you meet in the movie industry is going to become your best friend, it’s always great to know who to call, to help you make things happen.

In this regard, I wanted to invite you to become part of our facebook filmmaking community. Once you “like” us on facebook, you’ll be able to connect and share ideas with over 1000 serious independent filmmakers.

Posted under STUFF

Image via Wikipedia

Hi Filmmakers,

If this is your first time visiting Filmmaking Stuff, welcome! For those of you who have been a member of the Filmmaking Stuff community for some time, hello again! I’m writing you from my home in Laural Canyon. For those of you who don’t know this part of Los Angeles, I’m in the canyon between the Hollywood Hills, and within walking distance to Jim Morrison’s former house (which is for sale if any of you have an extra 1.6 Million).

I wanted to write YOU because our filmmaking community is growing like crazy. It seems many of you have told your friends about www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com – and your friends have told their friends, and their friends have told their friends… So THANK YOU for spreading the word! The goal is to grow our community of modern moviemakers to at least 10,000 by December 2011.

Because our filmmaking community is growing so rapidly, you can tell I’m already planning my filmmaking stuff goals for 2011. I am looking for ways in which we can help each other increase our moviemaking business. Obviously our facebook and twitter pages provide at least one way to connect, but I think there is more we can do. Over the next few months, I will share some solutions. (And you’ll be the first to know.)

Filmmaking Stuff News Updates – In Prep For 2011

1. Film Festivals:

I’m in the process of scheduling workshops and panel discussions at various film festivals around the world. My focus is showing filmmakers how to market and sell their movies, utilizing new methods in VOD distribution (and also how to leverage these sales channels to raise money from prospective investors.)

Why is this important to you? Because, before VOD, filmmakers had to find some sort of  middle man to market and sell their movies. But this has changed for the better. These days, you can finally make a movie and distribute your movie without asking permission – which means, you can finally pitch your movie project as a REAL business to investors. (Please stop putting stuff in your business plan about how you hope to get into Sundance and garner a dream distribution deal. 1995 is over. Investors don’t want to play the lottery. They want a business!)

So, if you know of a local film festival that would benefit from the “Maximize Your Movie Profits Without The Middle Man” workshop – feel free to tell them them about Jason Brubaker and Filmmaking Stuff. If I book a gig as a result of your efforts, you will get a copy of the entire Movie Maker Action Pack.

2. New Filmmaking Product:

Speaking of the Action Pack, two weeks ago I totally updated and silently released my latest product. I call it the Independent Produer’s Guide to Digital Self Distribution. It is a step-by-step action guide with some fill-in-the-blank type stuff.  Not surprisingly, this action guide is complementary to my workshop.

In truth, there are a lot of people out there that tell you that twitter and facebook is a great way to promote your movies. And while I agree that FB and Twitter are powerful tools, the other material never fully addresses (or solves) the real question: How do we make filmmaking a viable business? Hmmm?

If you have the same question, then you’re in luck. With the Indie Guide to Digital Self Distribution, I’ll show you how to market and sell your movie through video on demand and direct DVD sales – And I will also share how I lost over $100,000.00 with my first feature and how you can avoid my mistakes. Here is the link>>>

3. Modern Moviemaking Podcasts:

I started a FREE filmmaking podcast. Next time you open iTunes, search for Filmmaking Stuff. You’ll be able to subscribe to the Filmmaking Stuff, Filmmaking Podcast. In the coming months, I hope to interview a whole bunch of industry folks. I am going to focus on finding professionals willing to give away their secret sauce… I’ll keep you posted.

4. Modern Moviemaking Community, online:

Since publishing the modern moviemaking manifesto, some of you have written, requesting an online community where you can share ideas with other filmmakers involved in our movement. So I have taken the initial steps to creating the modern moviemaking community. If you want to be among the first to know about it (because it’s exclusive), make sure you get on the list.

5. Happy 2011. OK… I know I’m early.

For those of you who have gotten to know me, you already understand that I’m passionate and excited for the future of moviemaking. I have so many little projects lined up for 2011, I figure – Why wait? I’m eager to get moving and you should be too. Why? Because I believe the movie industry is changing fast! And it is vitally important that you stay on top of all the changes.

My suggestion? Read everything you can about finance, marketing, filmmaking and video on demand distribution. We are entering a new era.  This is the filmmaking equivalent of the automobile replacing the horse-drawn wagon. We are in the middle of a movement!

CLICK HERE TO COMMENT>>>

Posted under FILMMAKING

Image via Wikipedia

Last week I published a new filmmaking podcast called the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto. I published these ideas in response to all my veteran independent filmmaking friends who are currently having difficulty raising movie financing, and later, getting a return on that money.

Since posting, I have gotten a lot of feedback. Most of it has been positive. But there have been some questions. The most glaring involves how to create a production team for the long term. And the other feedback has something to do with my pragmatic approach to the movie business. I’m told that the modern movie making model, relying heavily on VOD distribution, is not as sexy as what most filmmakers expect (because I don’t talk about Hollywood fame and fortune and going to cool parties, et al.) One woman screamed at me, telling me that she doesn’t care about business and just wants to make movies. Other folks have simply told me my modern moviemaker ideas suck. And others have quit our filmmaking community.

This was to be expected. Not everybody is willing to explore or embrace new filmmaking ideas. And when I listen to my own recording, I can see how my enthusiasm for the modern moviemaking model could potentially sound pompous. This was not my intention. So I promise to get back to Toastmasters and refine my speech. But all of this aside, I believe the demise of traditional movie distribution creates a serious problem as filmmakers – and also a great opportunity. As a result, we have two options as filmmakers. We can choose to ignore this, or we can choose to be part of the modern moviemaking solution.

If you read Ted Hope’s blog – Truly Free Film, you may have seen my conversational responses to Sheri Candler’s well written guest post: How To Make Money With The New Independent Film Distributors’ Business Model. If not, it’s worth a read. And I have added one of my responses, on how to make Independent Filmmaking a viable business, here.

Just like you, I’m looking for a way that us fillmmakers can actually make a living making movies in this brave new world of VOD distribution. So in terms of empirical data, so far in my own business, I can tell you that at least one of our titles generates a nice stream of passive income without the middle-man, and without much marketing. As a result, many of the acquisition folks who formerally rejected our title have circled back with offers. While the new deals are OK (cash advances for foreign territories, complete with performance bumps), after crunching some numbers, the headache of locking up rights prompted us to respond in way familiar to most gate keepers: “Unfortunately we have to pass at this time.”

In this new era of filmmaking, our growing ability to make our movies, find our audience and make money without the middle-man has forever changed my life. And as a result, I firmly believe this process can be repeated for all subsequent titles. I mean, sure, we can still entertain traditional theatrical and retail DVD distribution both in North America and abroad (while these channels still exist, and if we are so fortunate) – but from now on, it is my intention to base my business plans on projected returns from our direct DVD rights as well as our VOD rights – because these are the two sales channels that filmmakers can access and control without asking some middle-man for permission.

For those of you who are adding your own thoughts to the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto, what I’m proposing is easier said than done. It is easy for me to talk about the success of our first feature. It is much more difficult to admit that our second feature bombed miserably. With that project, we did the complete opposite of everything that made our first title successful. The movie was a character driven drama, without any name talent. And while the production value was great, and the acting was good, we had no definable hook. Nothing about the movie separated it from the sea of other, similar character driven movies. Had it been 1995, we may have had a chance.

So my team and I learned some valuable lessons. Most modern moviemakers agree that it behooves us independents to create movies with a strong marketing hook, peppered with a bit of controversy, aimed at a very specific target audience. But when you crunch the numbers, to make this work, our niche audience must have mass enough to justify our movie budget.

While I have spent considerable effort to jam-pack these ideas into the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto, anybody who has studied Rodger Corman and read his book, “How I Made A Hundred Movies In Hollywood And Never Lost A Dime” will quickly realize that the Modern Moviemaking Manifesto is not so “modern.” Corman has been utilizing it for years. Known for his type of down and dirty movie making, complete with fans who got to know him and know his work, Corman created a model where movies were made fast, cheaply, and each movie had a controversial hook.  The result of which allowed Roger Corman to create multiple streams of movie income.

But the one thing Roger did not have was a non-discriminatory sales channel. And thanks to VOD and companies like Adam Chapnick’s distribber, we really have nothing holding us back from creating a similar empire. This is why I’m so full of enthusiasm for modern moviemaking. Nothing is holding us back from raising money, making movies and reaching our audience. And instead of simply blowing investor money on up-front compensation, we just have to adjust the model ever-so-slightly.

The Modern Moviemaking Manifesto is about creating movies fast, cheap and repeating the process, while at the same time creating awesome profit sharing deals on the back end. Over time, you will add more and more titles to your library. And this will create diversification, with the thought that dividends from dozens of titles can really add up.

Posted under DISTRIBUTION

As a filmmaker, making a feature takes time. You need a great team, which includes a great production crew. And you also need money. And you also need a little luck!

When I moved to Los Angeles, I had planned on making at least one movie per year. And despite the US economy and some other challenges, I am very happy about the features I have helped to produce. But as a producer, no matter how many movies you make, you always wonder when the next feature will take shape. And that can make anyone a little movie-stir-crazy!

Then one day, the pieces start to come together…

The first plan for my next movie is an idea. So over the weekend, I met with some key members of my film production crew, including my writer friend. Collectively, we have started working a rough idea into a fine-tuned movie, complete with a marketable hook and an established, niche target audience. If you’re just tuning into filmmaking stuff, you’ll quickly learn that starting with a defined target market in one core strategy I employ to gear us towards an eventual return on investment. (More on this in the distribution and finance articles found at Filmmaking Stuff.)

Anyway, we are getting close to finding our hook. Once we have it, we will then work on characters. Once we have the characters – and their individual objectives, we will then expand the hook into a 3 acts. We will then populate this plot with our characters. And scene by scene, we will work out ways to add something interesting into the action.

I know the system I describe may seem a bit regimented for most writer/filmmaker types. And while I agree that nobody knows nothing, by building our indie films from the marketing hook first, and the the story later (and not the other way around)  we at least have the confidence that a niche market for our movie exists. (Remember, a movie marketed to everybody is nobody! So it’s niche’s that make you riches.)

I’ve received emails from a few of you asking if I would share more stuff from the trenches. So in the days, weeks and months to come, I will continually provide insight on how we are gonna take this concept from script to screen.

If this type of front line filmmaking stuff would be valuable to you, and if you’re not already on our mailing list, you can join our filmmaking community by going here: www.FreeFilmmakingBook.com

Posted under FILMMAKING