Shooting People: Tools

OpenIndie – bringing audiences to 100 films

Ingrid — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 17:47:05 +0000

Check out Arin Crumley’s latest project to bring audiences to films and films to audiences, OpenIndie. Using the site users will be able to request screenings in their area – much like Arin and co. did with the famous Four Eyed Monsters heart map – and organize their own screenings. He still needs to raise more money for the project on Kickstarter so if you think this is a good idea lay some money down to help him on his way!

Esther Robinson on Building a Creative Foundation

Ingrid — Wed, 02 Sep 2009 20:41:15 +0000

Esther Robinson is da bomb! Seriously. She’s a brilliant filmmaker (A Walk Into The Sea: Danny Williams and the Warhol Factory) and a tireless supporter of artists and creativity. She used to work at Creative Capital and in that spirit of professional development and sustainability has recently founded ArtHome to “help artists build assets and equity through financial literacy, homeownership, self-sufficiency and the responsible use of credit.” Hear, hear I need help with all of that! You can read her excellent Filmmaker article on using credit cards wisely here but you should also watch her inspiring presentation from DIY Days in Philly below – the notion of building a strong body of work over a lifetime, a creative path that can be sustained (as opposed to hobbling from under-resourced project to under-resourced project), definitely appeals to me.

Brian Newman’s DIY Days Presentation on FREE

Ingrid — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:15:30 +0000

This is from DIY Days in Philly.

SXSW Panel Picker

Ingrid — Tue, 01 Sep 2009 15:06:37 +0000

This year SXSW have opened up their panel picker voting system to the Film Conference (it used to be just Interactive). You have till Friday, Sept 4th to cast your vote for the panels you like best.

Social Media Revolution

Ingrid — Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:34:55 +0000

Some interesting data to make you think more about how and why you use social media.

Nina Paley on her distribution strategy for Sita Sings the Blues (with real figures!)

Ingrid — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 16:58:52 +0000

Nina Paley gave a great and very transparent talk at DIY Days in Philadelphia about her distribution strategy for Sita Sings the Blues and why she believes that giving away things for free can make good business sense. On the film’s website Paley says: “I hereby give Sita Sings the Blues to you. Like all culture, it belongs to you already, but I am making it explicit with a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike License. Please distribute, copy, share, archive, and show Sita Sings the Blues. From the shared culture it came, and back into the shared culture it goes.”

Watch her talk here:

Guide to Digital Distribution Platforms

Ingrid — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:13:24 +0000

New American Vision have created a guide to various digital distribution platforms. It looks like they have some good resources, definitely worth perusing to make sure you’re aware of all of your options. Any they’ve missed?

Check out their top 10 digital distribution tips too.

Prenups for Filmmakers and Funders

Ingrid — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 18:47:03 +0000

Getting funding for your film is wonderful but there are also lots of potential pitfalls and complications. The good folk at Active Voice have created a website to help both filmmakers and funders steer a course through these turbulent waters. Check out The Prenups and download a copy for youself.

Digital Bootcamp Wiki

Ingrid — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:57:33 +0000

I created a wiki – digitalbootcamp.wikispaces.com – for the Shooting People Digital Bootcamp workshop conducted on July 4th 2009 at the Frontline Club – taught by James Mullighan, Harriet Fleuriot and myself. Like the workshop itself, most of these resources are aimed at documentary filmmakers but narrative filmmakers can find lots of good ideas here too. Please add to the wiki if you have additional links, tips and tricks to share – we want plenty of collaboration in the spirit of the wiki!

Chris Anderson’s Free available for, um, free!

Ingrid — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 16:32:44 +0000

You can read a free version of Anderson’s Free: The Future of a Radical Price on this very blog! You can also download an audio version on his Long Tail blog. For a critical view read Malcolm Gladwell’s New Yorker review of the book. Gladwell concludes: “The only iron law here is the one too obvious to write a book about, which is that the digital age has so transformed the ways in which things are made and sold that there are no iron laws.” What do people think?

Here’s the book. Magic!

FREE (full book) by Chris Anderson