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Filmmaking resources for indie filmmakers, including, screenwriting, financing, producing and film distribution

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Rae Dawn Chong and The Celebrant

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Rae Dawn Chong is an actor, writer and producer. As the eldest daughter of comedian Tommy Chong, she started acting at age 12 appearing in Disney’s “Whiz Kids of Riverton.” Years later she is still making movies appearing in the Duplass brothers film “Jeff who lives at home” which also starred Susan Sarandon and Jason Segal.

She is currently awaiting an edit on a teaser for a pilot she wrote called”The Celebrant” which she is crowd funding on Indiegogo.

She stopped by Filmmaking Stuff to share some of the filmmaking tips she is learning with her current project, The Celebrant.

Jason Brubaker
Who are you?

Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong last I checked.

Jason Brubaker
How did you get started in filmmaking?

Rae Dawn Chong
I directed and wrote a film in 2000 called “Cursed pt 3” it wasn’t very good but I was hooked. a year later I directed a short film soon after called “Mary’s stigmata “which won a contest for crazy 8’s. I have been writing since 1993.my first script that was produced was called “Boulevard” it was a love story. I just wrote it and suffered the fate of all writers we are as a rule treated so badly it was like a polish joke. Meanwhile I have kept at writing and finally have quite a nice collection of good pilot scripts so the first to be produced is “The Celebrant” I will star in this…the other will not have me in them but I will be all over them in other ways…

Jason Brubaker
You’ve done some acting in the past…

Rae Dawn Chong
I started acting at 11 background in a Robert Downey sr film and then my first speaking role the role where I was made to be in SAG was a Disney film for TV. From there it has been a glorious journey. behind the camera officially started in 93. The motivation was to help my then boyfriend become a bonafide DP and we were successful. Funnily enough the DP and Director benefited more doing my first film than I did. I am getting a little bit better about that.

Jason Brubaker
What did you do before making The Celebrant?

Rae Dawn Chong
I sat and waited for a call to auditions far and few between and sad…really sad.

Jason Brubaker
What inspired you to make The Celebrant?

Rae Dawn Chong
I wanted to work on a series that was deep and complicated and fresh…different real yet not reality tv.

Jason Brubaker
What is your story about?

Rae Dawn Chong
A woman who is escaping a bad marriage who settles in the Seacoast. Xila is her name it is a fish out of water story showing the human condition Xila (Sheelah) whose job in New England is as a Celebrant in essence as a witness. Someone who helps people create ceremony and maybe together get closer to the Divine.

Jason Brubaker
Why did you choose crowdfunding to raise the money?

Rae Dawn Chong
I wanted to shoot the pilot it was my only alternative.

Jason Brubaker
What have you learned about crowdfunding?

Rae Dawn Chong
A lot…it is onerous and complex and satisfying and wonderful and you do lose sleep during the campaign and I have met great new friends. Also I have fulfilled some of my perks already and that was a hoot. I am very very happy with this opportunity and am looking forward to launching more. I also think weirdly it makes me want to work very hard to make a fabulous pilot. Money is energy and people have given me their love and energy and I feel touched by that in a way that is new and motivating. Crowdfunding is a lot harder than it looks.

Jason Brubaker
What are your next steps after your crowdfunding campaign?

Rae Dawn Chong
Crewing up and deciding our production schedule…in some ways the hardest part is making sure we get the very best for no money up front. But my intention is to defer payment and make a staggeringly successful show so that I can cycle back and pay my peeps all of them their rate or at least close to their rate. I will have transparency because i want to keep making shows and will need the love and support and LOYALTY of my cast and crew.;

Jason Brubaker
Outside of money, what is your biggest challenge?

Rae Dawn Chong
Crewing up both below and above the line…attracting the very best. So far we have been blessed but it is delicate the politics and I am now in the midst ask me when I have made my first distribution deal for the show to go on a network. I am certain if by some miracle I get that far I will have a longer list of what is hard. Oh and finally I wish I were cuter! LOL sometimes it is hard to look at myself…tough.

Jason Brubaker
What advice do you have for filmmakers who want to do what you’re doing?

Rae Dawn Chong
Get a great script surround yourself with smart people who are motivated and talented and who may be difficult but they have the goods and never give up…Yes it sucks but everything sucks until it doesn’t…just head down, sleeves rolled up and get to work!

– – – –
Rae Dawn Chong is excited about the prospect of filming and living in her adopted home state of New Hampshire. She has lived in the granite state for 7 years and calls it home. She is currently on the board of the New Hampshire Film Festival which begins Oct. 16 thru 20th The film festival is held in downtown Portsmouth. She has acted in numerous feature films and starred in two television series “Mysterious Ways” on NBC/PAX and Wild Card on Lifetime television. She has also guest starred in numerous TV shows.

She hopes to continue her success with writing and producing she has 4 more pilot scripts waiting in the wings to produce and she is excited to see how successful her crowdfunding will be…the future looks bright!

Screenwriting MAD Event

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If you’re currently working on your next movie script, this might be of interest to you. My screenwriting friend Jurgen Wolff is hosting another MAD (Massive Action Day) on April 9. It’s all online and it’s free.

According to Jurgen, here’s how it works:

You commit to working on some writing (or other) project that is important to you for up to 8 hours, with short breaks every hour. You plan it so you know what you’ll be doing (for instance, nobody will actually write for 8 hours, but it could be a combination: some research, some writing, some getting organized, etc.) You don’t have to participate for the full 8 hours–even four or six hours of focused effort will give you a big boost.

Everybody checks in online very briefly every hour (during the breaks) to say what they achieved in the past hour and what their goal is for the next one. These messages will be posted in our chat window and we can support each other.

Every hour Jurgen will create a five-minute live video feed to give you a little tip or motivational quote to help keep everybody motivated. During your time together, Jurgen will also randomly award some prizes, like a book or another useful item.

The MAD event starts at 9am London time on Saturday, perfect for the UK and Europe, and he will stay on the air until 2am Sunday morning so people in the US and Canada can get their full eight hours in as well. In the last event, Jurgen had participants from Russia, Bali, India and New Zealand as well!

Here are some more comments from our first MAD:

“This feels good—have been wanting to get this story sorted out for ages”…
“Amazing how much work we all do together!” …
“This is such a great way to work!” …
“I am so focused it’s as if my mind has had a kick up the backside.”

Join Jurgen and other writers from all over the globe and give your project a great shot of energy and momentum.

To reserve your spot, go here: www.writingbreakthroughstrategy.com/MAD

Let me know how it goes!

Movie Sales Funnel | Sell Your Movie PT 4

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Layers of a typical sales funnel.
Image via Wikipedia

Filmmaking is changing. Like it or not, if you want to make a living making movies, you need to learn about the business side of independent movie making. And if this is your first time on filmmaking stuff, you are reading step 4 of a 7 part series on How To Sell Your Movie On iTunes, Amazon and Netflix For Maximum Profit.

So picking up where we left off, once you have sharpened your hook and targeted your target audience, and set up shop in the popular VOD marketplaces, your next step is to create a movie sales funnel.

Step 4 of 7 – Create Your Movie Sales Funnel

To set up an internet movie sales funnel, you will have to modify your website to funnel all traffic towards a sale. This can be achieved easily by removing all the potentially distracting content from your site including production photos, press kits and actor bios. Once removed, further emphasis should be placed on your trailer, your about page, and most importantly, your “buy now” buttons.

Most of your visitors will exit your website and never return. So to increase your odds of converting these visitors into paying customers, you will want to create ways to capture visitor contact information. One easy way is by creating a Facebook page for your movie and then placing a Facebook link on your site. This way, once your visitor joins your movie’s Facebook community, the added social proof of like-minded fans touting the joys of your movie may increase your sales. This goes for Twitter and other social networking communities too.

But because many social networking sites run the risk of going out of vogue, you will want to migrate your fans off the social networks and get them into your own mailing list. For this, I recommend using a third-party email marketing service such as Aweber.  Aweber provides ease of service. As soon as you sign up for one of their inexpensive accounts, you can easily create a way for your fans to connect with you. For example, if you would like over $47 dollars in FREE filmmaking tools simply enter your info into my Awber opt in box below.


If you just signed up, you will get an email. You will need to first, confirm your subscription. After you confirmed, you probably noticed how you were redirected to a “Thank You Page.” And on that page you were able to download all sorts of premium filmmaking tools, for free.

This is called permission based marketing. Because I have built some trust with you, you decided to give me permission to send you useful filmmaking information. While I am obviously utilizing list-building to create a more meaningful relationship with filmmakers (and YOU), this model can be (and should be) applied to your own movie business. But instead of giving away filmmaking books and audio courses, you might consider allowing your prospective movie audience to download a free movie soundtrack.

The reason why I stress Audience List Building so much in my Filmmaking model is because no matter what happens in distribution, the size of your targeted audience list  (a community of people who know you and your work) – this will determine your rate of success over your long-term career. Don’t let anyone tell you differently.

Three Tips for building your Audience List:

  1. From now on, as soon as you have a website, start buiding your list.
  2. Put your website on your business card.
  3. Collect names and email addresses at film festivals.

Companies like Aweber allow you to manage your email communication with thousands of fans. And since reputable email companies have good relationships with internet service providers, the odds of your movie newsletter ending up in spam folders is decreased.

[box style=”notice”] For more information on how to market and sell your movie, visit www.HowToSellYourMovie.com[/box]