- Pewter Productions -

Miracle Boy private screening DETAILS

2012-12-07T22:03:00.001-05:00

If you're reading this, than you fall into a very small crowd:

1 - you worked on our film MIRACLE BOY in Lewisburg, WV

2 - you supported MIRACLE BOY by making a donation through the WV Filmmakers Guild

3 - you know someone that fits into categories 1 or 2 and they sent you here.

All three are welcome at this point, while I tell you what is going on.

I will be hosting 2 Private Screenings of our film MIRACLE BOY for groups 1 and 2
in Lewisburg, WV at the Greenbrier Valley Theater (Dec. 18 @ 7 pm)
and Charleston, WV at DigiSo (Dec. 20 @ 7 pm).

While you might already know our film had its World Premiere at the Venice Film Festival in early September, we have not had our US Premiere yet. And film festivals can be very particular about getting a film's premiere. To accommodate that, we have only invited the people who are credited in the film by name (cast, crew, some supporters) - but that's not everyone who helped make this film a reality. We couldn't invite everyone for a couple reasons:

1 - Seating in both locations is limited: about 75 people in Lewisburg / about 35 in Charleston.

2 - We need your help to fill both of them.

Since we weren't invited to Sundance, we have to do more work to the film seen by more people. And that's going to take some more money. We are thankful to all the generous people who have donated so far; and even more thankful for the West Virginia Filmmakers Guild who allow us to make those donations tax deductible.*
Your donations deserve more than appreciation. So here's what we'll trade you for your money.

1) Thanks to wonderful people like Gina Taylor, Lisa Bragg, Laura Holliday and others, we have some nice photos of everyone pitching in to make this film a reality. I have gathered these up, along with some stills from the film and made a photo book of them. At this point there are 6 ordered - if you want one, we can order you one as well. Order by Monday Dec. 10, and I can probably have it for you at the screening. After that, we'll have to ship it to you. Please add $10 for shipping.

The Photo Book is $50. Order the Photo Book - you come to one of the screenings. If you're already coming to the screening - you can invite a friend. This 1 donation is worth 1 film festival entry to us (film festivals can be expensive). Thank you.

2) If you haven't already ordered a copy of Pinckney's wonderful collection of shorts MIRACLE BOY is based on -- do that! If you have read the book, you'll notice the differences between it and the movie. Here's a chance to see for sure -- get the screenplay! We have several copies of the script available (signed by both Jake and Pickney) for you.

The Screenplay is $25. Now that's a steal just for Pickney's signature! With Jake moving to New Zealand for a while, this might just appreciate in value. Needless to say, we appreciate your support. One screenplay will cover the cost of duplicating and mailing the film to film festivals. (Did I mention how expensive film festivals can be?) And again - get into one of the screenings (let me know which one - I'm keeping a head count).

If you can't be there, but order either the Photo Book or the Screenplay - we'll see if we can't get the film's stars to sign your copy before we ship it off to ya! Please add $10 for shipping.

3) Finally - if you don't want the photos and you don't want the script, but you want to share this night with us and watch the movie. Here's what we'll ask of ya - $10. We'll save you a seat at the screening (let us know which one - as they will start filling up), we'll thank you on Twitter, and we'll post your name on the webpage and Facebook.

Click this button below and type in how much you would like to donate. Then forward me (jason@miracleboy-movie.com) the confirmation and what you would like to put that toward - Film Festival Entry Fees (the book), DVDs and Postage (the screenplay) or every little bit of help (come to the screening).

Say, Jason - what if I want to help out and donate more money? PLEASE !!!!

Along with getting into festivals, some places need more than a DVD to screen the film. They need the new-fangled digital versions called a DCP - which is $1,000 a pop! Jake was able to get one that went to Italy, but the bigger festivals will require we get another one.

Okay - so, that's what you can do to help.

What if you want to see the film but aren't able to help out right now? More than anything else, my goal was to get this film screened across the state of West Virginia - but that kind of thing takes time. After we show at some festivals around the country, we hope to screen at the West Virginia International Film Festival in Charleston next summer and the West Virginia Filmmakers Festival in Sutton next Fall. If you know of other places across the state who would want to screen our film, please put them in touch with us!!

Again - thank you. If you worked on the film, if you have supported us in the past or if you know someone has and wanted to support us now. We thank you for helping get this special film made.

jason brown

Post Your Movie For Free

2012-06-22T17:11:00.002-04:00

You should think about why you make movies. If the answer is anything other than "I just like making movies", I want you to read something.

I've tried several times to re-post an article from Ted Hope's blog about "7 Reasons To Release Your Film For Free" and the link failed me.

Hopefully, the link works now - then you should read it. Not necessarily to agree with it, but to think about it.

As I read the article, I am reminded that the FREE DISTRIBUTION debate goes two ways:
- How can I make my money back/for the next movie?
- Why do I have to wait for other people to put out my movie?

And I thought to myself, maybe I know what I'm talking about. Because you see, those don't have to be competing ideas. Those should be intertwined thoughts.

In our ever growing world of interconnectedness between audiences and media makers, the idea of anyone coming between filmmakers and their audience is disturbing to the future of film.

Filmmakers should be delivering their work to their audience. Using their work and their audience to find ways to support this work and the next work and the next.

Why should you give your movie away? To grow your audience, to give them your work for their support, to give them reason to help you make the next movie.

As an audience, we have to remember how we support filmmakers. Buy a DVD to support the last film. Participate in a Kickstarter/IndieGoGo campaign for the next film. Tell your friends to continue the cycle.

Sure, I paid to see THE AVENGERS twice. I also bought a DVD of my friend Amy Sherber's film MY GRANDFATHER WAS A NAZI SCIENTIST. I have donated to friends Kickstarter campaigns - David Smith's LADYBEARD and Elaine McMillion's HOLLOW.

Think about how you're spending your dollars. Then Free can be worth it.

Thank WV Film Guild

2012-06-18T08:16:00.001-04:00

I wanted to thank everyone who attended the Spring meeting of the West Virginia Filmmakers Guild at DiGiSo in Charleston Saturday. A lot of new faces and plenty of regular contributors.

I hope people enjoyed my presentation as much as they said they did. Again, I'll be sending out a PDF of what I talked about to all paid members of the Guild. So, if you would like copy and didn't make it out Saturday, you can still become a member of the Guild by paying your dues at the link below.

Also, we mentioned the new Members page where we will list only current members and a website / Twitter handle. Please email wvfilmguild@gmail.com with what you would like to have with your listing.

I look forward to seeing you all at the Fall meeting in Sutton and hearing about what you're doing next.

JB

Free PDF for you and you*, oh WV Guild Members

2012-06-13T21:35:00.001-04:00

Hopefully by this point, you've noticed that this Saturday in Charleston, there will be the Spring WV Filmmakers Guild meeting at the DigiSo on the Kanawha Blvd toward South Charleston.

You are cordially invited. Bring your friends.

We'll be discussing exciting things like:
- how can guild members get grants (Apply)
- where can guild members screen their films (We're putting together a list)
- how can you help us support the WV Filmmakers Festival (We've got a volunteer list)
And much more.

After our entirely interesting discussion in Roberts Rules of Order, I'll get up and talk.

And I'm going to talk about producing. Specifically, producing MIRACLE BOY - which if you know me is the movie we made last summer in Lewisburg. Based on a book by WV writer Pinckney Benedict and directed by Jake Mahaffy, MIRACLE BOY is a great short film which will be whored out to the world's film festivals shortly.

I'm going to talk about how we did it. More importantly, some tips on how you can do it as well.

Hope you enjoy.

If you can make it - or if you can't - you can read all about it.

I'll be sending every Guild member who has paid their dues this year, a copy of what I'm going to say and have been saying in various places for the last year.

So PLEASE become a Guild member. Compared to all of the other organizations I'm a part of, $15 is nothing.

Worst case, say you paid $15 for my PDF and then I can tell my mother I'm a real bona fide author.

jb

LadyBeard emerges

2012-06-04T17:26:00.000-04:00

If you don't know my friend David Smith (@smith1046) and his lovely wife Alexis (@bqueenbandit), they have been working on a fun movie that will be finished soon.

It's called Ladybeard (@LadyBeardMovie) and they put up their Facebook page - http://www.facebook.com/ladybeardmovie

They'll be posting a YouTube trailer this week of the flick which looks fun.

Please check it out.

jb

Wanted/unwanted Film Festival Advice

2012-04-04T21:51:00.003-04:00

Wanted/unwanted Film Festival Advice

Recently, I served as a judge for a film festival I care a lot about. Afterward, I found myself talking to a fellow former festival director which lead to the (edited) email I sent below. After reading I realized two things: 1) sometimes people don't want to hear what I have to say & 2) there are some real truths in here that I wish other festival directors would read.

So, enough pretense....

-------------

I had a long conversation last night about my experience judging the films this year. I think you and I have talked about some of these things, but I wanted to take a minute and write them down for you to see.

You, are in the fraternity. Sure, we need to keep a better roster and maybe have a reunion sometime, but at this moment that fraternity includes a line of people who have served as director of this festival - some I know, some you know, some who knows. But it also, to some degree, includes the hundreds of volunteers who signed up to be a part of the festival -- watching films in the or tearing tickets. You're not by yourself, but you also have a lot of people who are watching. And in the words of Faith No More, we care a lot. So....

- NOW is the time when the next year's festival is made
Whatever you think of this year's festival, it's over. You have a few months to drum up support to receive films for next year. You might want to consider how to generate grants or other support for the festival. But all of those things lead back to what is the festival going to be. You have a small window NOW to decide what the festival will become and then you have to start making it happen --- because the clock is already ticking for submissions, judges, presenters, etc. People fill up their calendars far in advance. Some people are already booked. However some people who you wouldn't think would be available might be available if you give them enough notice. Like NOW. The festival fits into a window of other events that are happening. Think about where it will fit and how you want it to be. Don't over think it -- but be thoughtful of it. And then start taking action to manifest it.

- The Festival is the organization's BIG party of the year
If you like parties -- and I do like parties -- this is a great idea to build from. If you don't like parties -- how do you not like parties? -- think of it in the frame that this is the one event the organization can showcase who and what it is. But like most parties, even the biggest star needs to be coaxed and guided to show off for everyone and not just get drunk and fall off the table. And as much as everyone loves movies -- people prefer the party. So, you can kill two birds with one stone. Have a great party - which will make the movie people happy and might bring other people in to see the movies.

- What would you want if you were a filmmaker?
Oh, that's right -- you are! See how that works. If you've been to a festival, you might have some idea of what you liked and didn't like about how it was run and you were treated. Bring that back. You can't get shwag bags from Bloomingdales for High School filmmakers, but you can get people to donate things. You can get the students to make things. People like gifts - even ones they'll throw away. The BEST thing we did (in my mind) was putting a volunteer with a visiting filmmaker. The filmmaker liked the psuedo-attention, but the volunteer got to meet "real filmmakers" which has lead to some jobs, some collaborations, and to my knowledge only one near felony. The first time I went to a "real festival" - I went with a filmmaker whose film had the crappiest time slot possible. We still got free stuff. The festival took us around and got us drunk. We met cool people. And Sunday morning at 10 am, my buddy showed his highly depressing cause movie to 10 people that we met along the way. I don't think anyone wasn't hungover, but everyone was really nice. What do you want people - filmmakers, filmgoers, the public - to think when they leave the festival?

- Assume nothing
Where's the food coming from? How are people getting tickets? Where will people park? Who will submit their films? You have to know all of these things, because assuming will lead to disaster. When the shrimp goes bad or the beer gets warm, no one blames Aramark. They blame the person in front. I complained for three years about how people got their tickets. I tried to have passes with advanced tickets - I tried big signs pointing down the hall - we got our logo put on the tickets. And parking! My favorite move was we paid the parking people to put up the sandwich board placards around the area to direct people to the parking decks -- and it alerted other people that there was in fact a festival going on.

- Marketing Marketing Marketing
I hate to surprise you with this one, but your college degree will not get you a job by itself. People have to know who you are. You're going to conferences and sending out resumes and creating an online presence (right?). It's the same for the festival. And like trying to get a job, give it 10 minutes and whatever work you've done will be forgotten and you'll need to do it again. So that means, contacting papers and bloggers and filmmakers and people in the community and anyone that will listen Over and Over and Over again. My BIG complaint was that I - as someone who e-mailed the festival in the Fall, checked the website and the Facebook page and everything else - didn't know when submissions were. You should have an enormous mailing list to send people messages. You should have a relatively good sized Facebook profile to contact people from.

And if none of those things work --- who do you want to submit to the festival, write about the festival, care about the festival? Contact them.

And by the way -- I'm going to. I'm contacting everyone whose film we watched for the festival and say ... something. Because it's not marketing, it's relationship building. And I need all the relationships I can get, because some small ones turn into friends and some big ones disappear.

- Past is Present is Future
I know I told you this --- you're always living off of last year's festival. And the year before that and the year before that. You should contact anyone and everyone who has ever shown at the festival, entered the festival, walked by the festival - and find a way they can help you. You'll be surprised how many will. Ask them to enter. Ask them to forward your link to someone who will enter. Ask them to buy a virtual bag of popcorn to help bring a filmmaker to the festival (that's a really good idea I just thought of). You have to ask. And the best place to look is behind you.

I could go on and on and on about this - and probably would if I could justify putting off doing my taxes any longer.
I put the festival first. Beyond our creative work. Beyond our school work. Beyond our social lives. Sometimes beyond our own well being.
Don't do that.

But there's a happy medium of doing the work, following the path that was there before you, going through the MASSIVE notebook that was left for you, and making the festival VS driving yourself crazy on one side and watching the walls fall around you on the other.

And here's the other thing -- if you go begging to not have to do the festival next year because this crazy guy keeps hasseling you about it, keep this email. There's nothing here that you can't use yourself as a filmmaker or a teacher ... or anything else you want to do.

Good luck.

Jason
http://www.jbpewter.com/

"I want to grow to be @neiltyson - that's not true. I don't want to grow up."

2012-03-03T10:31:00.002-05:00

"I want to grow to be @neiltyson - that's not true. I don't want to grow up."

The media is a funny thing. First, it often only tells you what it can sell.

Second, the media you're watching/reading/listening to will only tell you what you already want to hear.

With that in mind, you may or may not have heard that Neil DeGrasse Tyson has a book out. His new book Space Chronicles: Facing the Ultimate Frontier is another fascinating book about our country, our priorities and the most awesome astrophysicist in the country.

The first time I heard about the book -- on THE DAILY SHOW with Jon Stewart this past Wednesday. I'm sorry I don't have a Google Alert for Neil DeGrasse Tyson. But I should. And so should a lot of people.

I've got alerts for the other cool people I'm interested in - John Sayles, Morgan Spurlock, Huggy Bear, and, of course, myself. So why don't I have an astrophysicist on the list? I think Space is cool. But we don't talk about Space in popular media anymore - so do young people think it's cool? I don't know.

I don't imagine there are a lot of middle school students listening to Neil DeGrasse Tyson on the NPR's Science Friday - but they should. It was cool. At least I thought it was cool. I however am not cool.

Depends on who you ask if @billmaher is cool - but he was on there last night. Maybe that's just the media tour now - Comedy Central to HBO via NPR. And if it is, when do young people find out that you too can be an astrophysicist - because it's cool.

Maybe I just don't want to grow up and have to find out it's not cool - because someone without much education says it's not cool. Apparently, the media doesn't take as much work. Or maybe that's just what we want to hear.

2011-09-01T11:58:00.002-04:00

For my students at Lander University, here are the books and items for class:

The Shut Up and Shoot Documentary Guide by Anthony Q. Artis
Required for Media 301
Recommended for Media 290 & 490

Final Cut Express 4: Visual QuickStart Guide by Lisa Brenneis
Required for Media 301
Recommended for Media 290 & 490

All Media students doing any editing in the Mac Lab need access to their own portable hard drive. Here are a few recommendations, but please use whatever resources you have to accomplish this including checking with the bookstore:

Iomega eGo Mac Edition 500 GB USB 2.0/FireWire 400/800 Portable External Hard Drive

Seagate FreeAgent Go 250 GB USB 2.0 Portable External Hard Drive

Toshiba Basics Portable Hard Drive 320 GB USB 2.0

INTEREST MEETING SUCCESS!!!

2011-08-03T21:18:00.004-04:00

INTEREST MEETING SUCCESS!!!

The Greenbrier Valley Theater hosted the Miracle Boy Interest Meeting tonight at 6 pm. We had a great turnout from people interested in being in the film, providing props and those just wanting to support us. Thank you so much.

We plan to start shooting Friday night in Williamsburg, WV -- and there are still things we could use and would appreciate your help in finding. Below is a list in no particular order their need, starting with:

- Woodworking tools
- Jacobs Ladder
- Lumberjack wood toy
- Football helmet w/ removable facemask
- Plain white sheets and pillow cases
- water cigarettes
- Telephone pole light

We could also use some food to feed our cast and crew the next week.

And if you still haven't found a way to show your support, just remember that you can go to the website and make a tax-deductible donation where you can nab everything from a shout-out, to a DVD, to an autographed script, to tickets to screenings with the filmmakers.

We appreciate whatever help you can bring.

jbrown

2011-06-30T16:01:00.002-04:00

MIRACLE BOY - Props & other help

As we're moving toward production on MIRACLE BOY, we have a plethora of items we need to bring this movie to life. I may be calling you in hope of finding some of these things, but in the mean time - here's the list of what we're looking for in case you know where we might find them:

Walking stick
Woodworking shed (w/ tools)
Agri-King tractor
Landline phone
Bull-roarer
Jaccob's Ladder toy
Variety of shoes
Poles and wires to duplicate
Car engine to "work" on

After the Fourth of July, we'll be contacting people regarding cast and crew. Please let us know if you're interested before then.

Please support this project in whatever way you can. Thanks.

jason

2011-06-28T12:49:00.003-04:00

Donation Perks

We're about a month away from production on MIRACLE BOY and can really use your help to make this special little story become a reality for the world to see. Please LIKE our Facebook page and share it with your friends. As more and more news comes about, we want to share it with you.

As I've mentioned, the WV FILMMAKERS GUILD has been kind enough to be our fiscal sponsor - meaning any financial donation can be tax deductible (check with your tax professional). Those donations can go directly through our website or now through INDIEGOGO.

IndieGoGo has become known for how their encourage filmmakers to thank their supporters with perks, prizes and gifts. We want everyone to be able to participate in this generosity; so, whether you give directly through the website or through IndieGoGo, you will receive the same perks. We hope you like what we have to offer.

If you've read the story MIRACLE BOY, you understand the importance of a pair of shoes. We've set up our small thank you's in order of shoes with that in mind. Whatever level you find yourself, take that previous gifts along with you.

BAREFOOTED - $10
All donations will receive a quick shout out through our Facebook page, our website and my Twitter account. Nothing fancy here, everyone deserves some appreciation.
FLIP-FLOPS - #25
Along with that bit of recognition, we'll also be sending these folks a copy of the DVD after the film has been screened on the festival circuit. We don't know where that might be yet, but while Pinckney and Jake both have experience taking their films to some pretty big festivals I am excited to also bring MIRACLE BOY to the great events in WV - from Huntington to Sutton to Charleston to Charlestown.
SANDALS - $50
With a little more support, we'll also include your name in the credits of the film. That recognition will go along on websites and any other listings we have of the film. Your support will continue to show with the film.
CANVAS SHOES - $125
Along with continued recognition of your support, these contributions will include an invitation and ticket to a screening in West Virginia (travel and accommodations not included). We don't know yet where we'll be screening the film, but the least we can do is invite you and get you in. We hope to have several West Virginia screenings; so, this will be for just one and we'll work out the details as those screenings arise. However, during production, each contributor at this level will also receive a personalized thank you from a member of the cast or crew.
SNEAKERS - $250
Like the shoes Lizard goes to retrieve, contributions at this level hold a special meaning to us. Along with all the other gifts so far, a special holiday DVD from the cast and crew will be going out to you in appreciation for your support along with an autographed copy of the script.
WORK BOOTS - $500
At this level, we feel like you are so much a part of the production - you will receive a thank you phone call and an invitation to a small party during production with cast and crew in Greenbrier County, WV (travel and accommodations not included).
YOUR SUNDAY BEST - $2000
Thank you for your contribution at this level. Thank you so much, we'll put your name down as one of the movie's Executive Producers and invite you to attend along with the filmmakers a festival screening.

We hope these items show you a bit of the appreciation we feel for your support of the film. As I mentioned, please LIKE us on Facebook.

Thank you so much,

Jason Brown

2011-06-14T01:42:00.004-04:00

Please support the MIRACLE BOY Movie

As I've begun to mention, I am working with West Virginia author PICKNEY BENEDICT and filmmaker JAKE MAHAFFY to produce a short film about Pickney's short story MIRACLE BOY. While this is a labor of love for all of us, there are quite a few things that are going to cost money.

Any help you can give us to make this film come true is appreciated. In fact, thanks to the fiscal sponsorship of the WV FILMMAKERS GUILD, all of your donations can be tax-deductible (confer with your tax professional).

Please click the donate button below and make a contribution.

2011-06-05T14:48:00.004-04:00

Notes from the WVFG Film Finance Panel

Once again the WV Filmmakers Guild held an informative and inspiring weekend in Sutton. It was great to meet Brad Kalinoski, along with so many other state filmmakers. After being on the film finance panel with Steve Gilliland, Joe Majestic, Jeff Tinnell and JT Arbogast, I wanted to follow-up with a few points and links mentioned:

- Know your audience/expectations at the beginning
In the words of Debbie Zimmerman of Women Make Movies, you make movies for one of three reasons - to get rich, get famous, or save the world. Don't make a horror comedy and think you're going to save the world, and don't make an expose of lesbian subculture in holocaust camps and think you're going to get rich. Know you what you're trying to accomplish and who would want to see it. From there...

- Find other people to validate what you're doing and then help bring it to fruition
Before you start, there are likely hundreds of people who will support what you're doing. Reach out to them right away. The people who agree with your goal will be the best people to help you find OTHER PEOPLE WHO WANT YOU TO ACHIEVE YOUR GOAL!! Let them help you. And you'll be surprised to find diverse groups without similar interests other than your project. Don't turn away supporters. They'll be the ones to guide you away from having telling Jean Paule Sartre jokes in your Horror Comedy or having a a walking, talking fish character in your follow-up to the greatest trilogy of all-time (I'm just saying, George. You should have talked to someone. No one thought Jar-Jar was a good idea).
Now that you know who want you want to do and who wants to see it...

- Create a plan for your project
If you're a filmmaker, you understand that you need to plan for certain lighting, gather certain shots for editing, and record the proper sound for mixing. Great - then you have to skills to plan your entire film. You can do your homework and find out about how much money can be made from a film like yours (a documentary on planets has a different box office outlook than a screwball comedy with Adam Sandler). If you can only make $XX then don't plan on spending more or even half that, but if the type of movie you want to make will require a big star, lots of special effects and collector cups from 7/11 - then you have to realize you need more than your cellphone and friends from your pick-up basketball league.
Don't stop there. Plan to get your movie seen AND get your money back. Work through the steps, just like you would shooting on location. You build your plan through information that you get from...

- Use websites like IMDBPro, Kickstarter and IndieGoGo to test the waters of interest and raise money for your project
The Internet has so much more than gossip and porn. Okay, maybe not as much as it should, but...
There are tools available to you - use them. If you want to be like Woody Allen, great - go to IMDBPro and find out how much his last film cost, how much did it make, who distributed it, etc. Get your information.
There are hundreds of people who have walked this line before, track their progress through the Internet - twitter, IndieWire, etc. No matter what you think of their films - Kevin Smith and Ed Burns are great examples of what can be done. Just make your film the kind of funny you like instead of dick jokes or neurotic New York cynicism. (BTW big fan of both of these guys - love me some dick jokes and neurotic New York cynicism)
Work your plan and see if there are enough other people to support your project. Set-up on Kickstarter for pre-production funds - and offer rewards to your supporters. Need to reach a more film centered crowd - set-up on IndieGoGo for finishing funds. Then spread the word. Link your projects through Facebook, run some Facebook ads.
So many filmmakers are becoming successful using this formula. Search it out and see how it can be adjusted for your specific project. Keep your initial expenses low until you see there is support and validation for your project. Then follow your plan.

- Have a clear end-game - what's success for your project?
If you know at the beginning what you're trying to do - get rich, get famous, save the world - then you should know what success looks like before you get there. Just in case the brass ring isn't there, make plans for alternative avenues to success.
The traditional pathway for a film tends to follow: make a movie, take it a film market/festival, sell it to a distributor, show up for press events, go make next movie.
That is becoming less and less viable. Now you need to do more of the work. So it looks more like: decide to make a movie, nurture an audience, make a movie, guide audience in ways to support movie, organize press coverage/stunts, find best way to get movie to audience, guide audience to share movie with bigger audience, ask audience to support you in making another movie.
If Paramount won't buy your movie, and Anchor Bay won't buy your DVD, and Brain Damage won't pay you for your movie, sell it yourself. You have now built an audience who knows you, use the tools to just get them the film. Go to DiscMakers and print up a bunch of DVDs, use Distribber and get on a Pay-Per-View TV channel or an online streaming site. Use Constant Contact to get your audience to rally over your issue at a local screening.

Success is only defined by you. The first trick is -- what are you doing and who are you doing it for? If this is just for you, stop. No one needs to help you and no one should. However, if you are doing this for a larger audience of any kind, there are plenty of ways you can benefit by benefiting your audience from the very first step.

Good luck. Be well.

JB

2011-05-31T19:28:00.009-04:00

Casting for the short film, MIRACLE BOY

Pewter Productions is helping produce a short film with award-winning filmmaker Jake Mahaffy based on the short story MIRACLE BOY from noted West Virgina writer, Pinckney Benedict. Tentatively, the shoot will be in Greenbrier County July 31 through August 14.

We are looking to cast the following:

- Four boys between 10 and 12 years-old, caucasian (one more heavy set)
- Two five-year-old caucasian boys, one heavy set
- One caucasian woman - mid thirties, motherly
- One caucasian man - mid-to-late thirties / early forties, fatherly

At this time, there is no pay for these roles and preference is given to non-professionals and those local to Greenbrier County, WV. We ask the actors be able to provide their own costumes as well. Please send a head shot and a way to be contacted to - miracleboy@themthatwork.com

We are also looking for crew to volunteer on the shoot. While consideration and compensation may change as the shoot approaches, there are no guarantees.

Jake Mahaffy - is a successful filmmaker and professor at Wheaton College in Massachussets. His work has shown around the globe and garnered awards at both the Sundance and South by Southwest film festivals.

Pinckney Benedict - grew up on his family's dairy farm among the mountains of Southern West Virginia. He has published two collections of stories and one novel, along with writings which have appeared in various magazines and anthologies. He currently is a professor in the English Department at Southern Illinois University.

Jason Brown - is a West Virginian, teacher and filmmaker who will be teaching Video Production at Lander University in South Carolina beginning this fall. His film THEM THAT WORK, about the impact of John Sayles' film MATEWAN garnered several grants and will be completed....

2010-07-18T13:21:00.002-04:00

Image via Wikipedia

MOVING ON....

After two interesting years in Southwest Louisiana at McNeese State University, I have officially accepted a position at Bowling Green State University. Along with teaching film instead of production, I will be working in a vibrant service learning community.

The opportunity to teach and learn in Northwest Ohio is exciting. I anticipate a lot happening this year - if only because I have a better appreciation now of what this whole university teaching career is suppose to be.

I continue to be very proud of the students who I have helped along the way. They are one of the big reasons I wanted to teach. While I will find myself in front of students in greater numbers at BGSU, I also am finding more and more resources to strengthen some of production and research goals. I look forward to seeing anyone that would like to come visit.

2010-06-05T11:50:00.005-04:00

New Teaser Trailer for AMIGO

Hello everybody,

If you haven't heard yet, John Sayles' new film is nearly finished. The European distributor, Rezo, has posted a teaser trailer for the film which I've re-linked here originated on his blog.

http://johnsaylesbaryo.blogspot.com/2010/06/amigo-teaser-trailer.html

For those keeping score at home, Sayles has finished two films while I have worked on this one. Thankfully though, it is almost finished as well. Thank you for signing up for this page. As the film gets out, please help spread the word.

jason

2010-06-04T09:49:00.000-04:00

Broken Bells' video

Not the biggest fan of Broken Bells, but I've been waiting for this since I heard they were getting Christina Hendricks to be in it. Well, it's here and it's more FIREFLY than MAD MEN. Some interesting stuff happening, not sure how I feel about the continuing sci fi trope of trading limbs and organs for currency.

2010-06-01T20:07:00.000-04:00

Hope points filmmakers to Web/Social Media

Ted Hope seems to have his hands on some great pictures. I guess he's within six degrees because he and Peggy Rajski, who sat do for THEM THAT WORK, produced TOWELHEAD together.

He posts on his website and his occasional videos. I wanted to share this because I thought they were hopeful and maybe a little helpful. I was talking with my good friend J Scott last night about attending Silver Docs this year. The pre-festival agenda includes some necessary web improvements which reminded me of Ted Hope's videos.

2010-05-18T21:00:00.006-04:00

2010-04-15T20:07:00.001-04:00

McSweeney's Makes It Happen for BARYO

If you haven't heard the good work, McSweeney's has picked up John Sayles' novel which he is currently shooting the film version in the Phillipines. In hindsight, how could anybody other than McSweeney's be the publisher for this book?

2010-04-15T18:17:00.000-04:00

Image by Kevin H. via Flickr

AFI's Top 10 Westerns

For all of you tired of the on-the-mark/off-the-mark lists that the American Film Institute puts out, maybe the brevity of this one will catch your attention: AFI's Top 10 Westerns.

In a list of such a clearly defined genre, it's interesting that AFI chooses to praise films that are emblematic of the genre (#9 Stagecoach) and those that beg to ruffle its feathers (#6 The Wild Bunch). The Top 4 seem pretty obvious with their order saying more about the person making the list.

Very interesting. I probably would have went with HIGH NOON, but that's just me.

2010-04-14T18:11:00.000-04:00

Re Blogged: iO9's MAKING A SCI-FI MOVIE ON A SHOESTRING: WHERE YOU CAN CUT CORNERS

If you haven't thought about this for a while, this nice little article from io9 is a great reminder of what to spend your money on to get your idea on screen.

2010-04-11T16:27:00.006-04:00

Helping a student with her reel

I spent the weekend helping a student of mine at McNeese State work on her reel. Here is the big package we put together, while we gathered her stand-ups and other packages from her time on INSIDE MCNEESE.

2010-01-01T20:26:00.003-05:00

I did not know that (Baryo) ....

In case you didn't know (because I just found out over the holidays) .... John Sayles is starting production on BARYO in the Phillipines as we speak. The story of this novel and now this film are fascinating. With the help of some incredibly generous folk, John and Maggie are keeping a production journal for the film. Please check it out and support one of the true iconoclasts of independent filmmaking.

http://johnsaylesbaryo.blogspot.com/

jason brown

2010-01-01T12:38:00.001-05:00

New Year / Old Business

About two years ago, I took a teaching position at a school in Louisiana. It's been a great experience, but the time commitment has far surpassed my expectations. While I was almost done with THEM THAT WORK when I started, this one step forward was followed by five steps back.

I've screened it to a few people who have made great comments which brought up some structural issues. I've continued to meet new people who have been incredibly valuable to include in the film.

I sat down with a good friend over the holidays to discuss future projects. Should we develop this film, how's so-and-so on that film, there's a chance this other film will come to town. He looked at me and said the obvious - Just finish your film.

So, not that I post here a lot, but you probably won't see or hear from me for a while. A lot of things are about to happen. As they do, you won't be able to shut me up. Until then, have a great a year and look for more to come.

jason