Category Archives: Coming Soon

Netflix at Cannes

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As reported in Variety, Netflix Chief Content Officer Ted Sarandos recently outlined their strategy to break into the film business at the Cannes Film Festival, again.

Recall that Netflix upended the TV industry when it began producing its own series like “Lilyhammer,” “House of Cards” and “Orange Is the New Black.”

“Sarnados said that when Netflix launched in 1997, 90% of the content viewed on the service was movies. Now it’s only 33%, with TV series making up two-thirds of what people watch on Netflix.”

Sarandos mentioned Netflix has five or six feature projects in the works, some picked up at film festivals, some produced in-house.

Budgets range from $10 to $50 million.

Some will go straight to Neflix (like Adam Sandler’s “Ridiculous 8”) and some will be released theatrically first. He would like to see more day and date releases.

Not everyone will recall that Netflix previously operated a film acquisition and production company called Red Envelope Entertainment which it closed in 2008, in part to avoid competition with its studio partners.

My take: Netflix has the market leader’s competitive advantage. What other subscription video on demand (SVOD) platforms do people like, and actually use? Anyone got Shomi or Crave?

The Netflix Quantum Theory explained

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If you subscribe to Netflix, you’ve likely seen some strange categories suggested for your entertainment:

  • Cult Mockumentaries With a Strong Female Lead
  • Chilling Workplace Mysteries From the 1980s
  • Cerebral Mind-Bending Courtroom Fantasy Movies

While those might not be real categories, Alexis Madrigal and Ian Bogost looked into Netflix’s taxonomy and concluded they have over 75,000 different ones.

They’ve even posted a spreadsheet listing 10 sub-genre columns. The longest one, Adjectives, has almost 150 rows, everything from Absurd to Zombie.

The fascinating tale of their data hunt is detailed in The Atlantic’s How Netflix Reverse Engineered Hollywood.

‘Todd Yellin is Netflix’s VP of Product and the man responsible for the creation of Netflix’s system. Tagging all the movies was his idea…. A fascinating thing I learned from Yellin is that the underlying tagging data isn’t just used to create genres, but also to increase the level of personalization in all the movies a user is shown. So, if Netflix knows you love Action Adventure movies with high romantic ratings (on their 1-5 scale), it might show you that kind of movie, without ever saying, “Romantic Action Adventure Movies.” “We’re gonna tag how much romance is in a movie. We’re not gonna tell you how much romance is in it, but we’re gonna recommend it,” Yellin said. “You’re gonna get an action row and it may have more or less romance in it based on what we know about you.”‘

My take: I love The Atlantic’s Netflix-Genre Generator. There are three flavours: Netflix, Hollywood and Gonzo. Good for lots of chuckles — and maybe some bright ideas too!

New Crowd-Funding Records in the Works!

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Not one, but two film/video/web projects on Indie Go Go are breaking crowd-funding records.

Con Man, by Alan Tudyk and Nathan Fillion, closes this week and has raised over $2.8 Million from over 41,000 supporters.

“Wray Nerely (Alan Tudyk) was a co-star on Spectrum, a sci-fi series which was canceled yet became a cult classic. Wray’s good friend, Jack Moore (Nathan Fillion) starred in the series and has gone on to become a major movie star. While Jack enjoys the life of an A-lister, Wray tours the sci-fi circuit as a guest of conventions, comic book stores, and lots of pop culture events. The show will feature all the weird and crazy things that happen to Wray along the way to these events.”

For $25 funders get to watch the 12 episodes on Vimeo On Demand.

Super Troopers 2, by Broken Lizard, closes in a couple of weeks and so far has raised over $3.4 Million from over 36,000 supporters.

“Howdy. We’re Broken Lizard. Several moons ago, we made a little indie movie called Super Troopers, which we debuted at Sundance in 2001. We’re proud of how it turned out and apparently it struck a chord with many of you out there because almost daily we get asked “Who wants a mustache ride?” (“Who doesn’t?”) or “Did you chug real maple syrup?” (“Yes, and we will never, ever, ever do it again.”) or “How is the view from sugar heaven?” (“Sweet.”) But more than anything else, we get asked:When are you gonna get off your assess and make Super Trooper 2?”

For $30, funders get a digital download of the feature. For $35, funders get a Fandango movie ticket to the (as yet unmade) film plus other perks.

Both projects have surpassed the current record of $2.48 Million set only last July by Lazer Team.

Kickstarter still has a bigger record: $5.7 Million for the Veronica Mars Movie Project.

My take: I think it’s interesting that both of these projects are based on earlier enterprises, if not outright sequels. That’s one way to bring a lot of fans to the bazaar.

Tips for your Indie Film Release

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The recent SXSW panel Hacking Technology For Your Indie Film Release asked the question:

“As new technologies and distribution approaches continue to disrupt conventional release windows, funding cycles, and acquisition deals, how do indie filmmakers navigate this shifting landscape while balancing audience engagement and revenue?”

The Sundance Institute‘s #ArtistServices presented and has since released 23 Hacks for your Indie Film Release — “what it takes to get your film seen in an overcrowded marketplace by using technology as your secret weapon.”

Here they are:

  1. Schedule pre-order windows
  2. Avoid December and February releases
  3. Purchase a specific E&O policy that fits your film release plans
  4. Don’t limit your theatrical screenings to only Art House Theatres
  5. Upload final DCP-formatted trailers on Dropbox or G Drive
  6. Do NOT purchase KDMs
  7. $250 vs 35% — what you charge exhibitors
  8. Beware the “Virtual Print Fee”
  9. All screenings are “theatrical”
  10. Be frugal when printing one-sheets
  11. Small Size Matters Too: consider the thumbnail
  12. Don’t worry about print ads
  13. Harness internet trends
  14. Email subject lines matter
  15. Tweet at people who just tweeted
  16. Email lists are still the gold
  17. Upload content natively to each social platform
  18. Better Bundle for Bigger Bucks
  19. Private Vimeo Screeners
  20. Growth hack your backer rewards
  21. Carve out rights to do traditional digital and direct-to-fan deals on your own
  22. Ask distributors about their digital economics
  23. Pay for a quality closed caption file

Read the article for full details.

My take: as you fashion your digital distribution strategy, keep these ideas in mind.

Avoid these six indie film mistakes

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Filmmaker Dianne ‘shit has got to change’ Bell recently posted her thoughts on why some indie films ‘aren’t very good at all’ in ‘Six Mistakes that Will Sink Your Film’.

The six mistakes are:

  1. The script isn’t very good
  2. The budget/schedule are over-ambitious
  3. The director decides to take on every job
  4. The casting is cynical
  5. You don’t tech scout
  6. Great camera package, but no budget for production design

Here’s what she says about production design:

“It doesn’t matter what fancy camera you use, if what you put in front the camera is ugly, it will look ugly. Get a cheaper camera and spend money on the interiors that you are going to shoot in, and I swear your film will benefit from it. Take time to really think about the color palette of your film. Too often low budget indies are shot in friends’ homes with little thought or care about the palettes of the interiors and they suffer for it.”

Talking about colour palettes, see the excellent Movies in Color and Roxy Radulescu‘s thoughts on the power of colour.

My take: I agree with Dianne. Personally, I like films with a point (otherwise they’re pointless) and upbeat endings (don’t waste my time with a depressing ending.) And anything that highlights film’s plasticity — temporally or spatially, etc.

CineCoup offers $1M plus theatrical release

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CineCoup is back!

The film accelerator that brought us Wolf Cop last year has another ‘$1 Million Dollars’ in production funds and a Cineplex Odeon theatrical release up for grabs. Get ready to pitch and work your butts off:

“This time we’re challenging filmmakers to go high concept and create projects that can connect with larger audiences. We’re looking for genre films with franchise potential like action, horror, thriller, sci-fi, and comedy (or documentaries that deal with pop culture tropes such as King of Kong, Indie Game: The Movie, Trekkies, etc.) and we know Canada’s got the good stuff so bring it on!”

Launch your three-person team on Monday, February 9, 2015. After 12 weeks of team challenges beginning in mid-March, at least one project will be greenlit at the Banff World Media Festival in June.

My take: if you have a franchise-ready action, horror, thriller, sci-fi or comedy feature ready to roll AND you have three months free to complete weekly challenges AND you have a large online following AND you like working in public AND you truly believe your concept is the best in the country, then go for it! What do you have to lose?

BravoFACT gets into pitch contests

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BravoFACT will be sponsoring two pitch contests at upcoming film events at opposite ends of the country, with two prizes of up to $35,000.

First up is the Victoria Film Festival with a deadline for applications of Friday, January 16 at 5 ET (that’s 2 p.m. in Victoria.) Five finalists will be contacted on Friday, January 30, so they can prepare to give a 10-minute pitch on Friday, February 6.

Next is the WITF-Atlantic’s Women Making Waves Conference with a deadline of Friday, February 5 at 5 ET. Five finalists will be contacted on Friday, February 20, so they can prepare to give a pitch on Saturday, February 28. Note: female applicants only, please.

Send your applications for both Narrative shorts and Documentary shorts to Rachel.feldbloomwood@bellmedia.ca Note: demo reels are not required for these applications.

My take: if you have a script for a narrative film less than 7.5 minutes long or a treatment for a documentary shorter than 15 minutes ready to go and you live anywhere near Victoria or Halifax, you MUST apply. BravoFACT is one of the few sources in Canada for truly independent film production funds. Disclosue: I’ve received two BravoFACT awards; one for my short i luv spam and another for Scott Amos’s Scratch.

Indie films to grace screens across Canada

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Something exciting is percolating: Media Events International (MEI Group) and A71 Entertainment Launch New Canadian Indie Film Series.

The plan is to bring independent Canadian film to 17 screens across the country as “Canadian Indie Night” the first Wednesday of every month beginning in March 2015.

Chad Maker, President of A71 Entertainment, says:

“The goal of the series is to provide audiences and film fans with wider access to the growing number of internationally recognized indie films that are being produced in this country. There’s a new breed of extremely talented storytellers emerging in Canada and this series has the ability to celebrate and promote them to audiences across the country.”

My take: this is a bold venture! There’s nothing better than seeing your movie on the big screen — even if it’s a one day run. Reminds me of my series Toronto Film Now at the Bloor Cinema back in the day. The trick will be to get “bums in seats” as they say in the biz. I’ll be watching this one!

Happy New Year!

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As 2014 draws to a close, I wish all my fellow filmmakers a fruitful 2015!

This year I feel I accomplished, among other things:

  • Created a short film called Largo with Barb, Terry, Mark, Matt and Shane
  • Helped Perry with his music video Home along with Jonny, Sabre, Paul and Giuseppe
  • Posted here weekly
  • Made a few cartoons, and
  • Continued to develop new ideas for projects

I resolve to continue exploring the frontiers of the emerging mediascape, experimenting as I go.

Cheers!

My take: I think that means a new website soon — and more projects!

My gift to you

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I recently read a post by Samantha Simmonds-Ronceros titled Don’t Worry that your Film might be Rubbish.

In it she relates being asked:

“Why do you make these small films that no one sees when there is so much to watch on TV or Cable or online? What is the point when everything else is so much better?”

She counters with these reasons:

  • It’s fun!
  • It’s never been cheaper to make moves, so now is the time to experiment and ‘fail and fail again.’
  • You will learn from your mistakes which allows you to make better films next time.
  • It’s all about the journey and not the end result.

“Film, especially when you don’t have money or movie stars or permits or even a car, is art, and you should expect to create bad art for a little while at least, before you can create great art. And even then, sometimes the reason something is made is more important than how technically brilliant it is.”

She concludes with this:

“As very independent filmmakers, with no one to challenge us, we have the opportunity to achieve something that means something, if only for us and those we choose to work with.”

My take: this view really speaks to me. Not because my films are rubbish, but because I believe meaning can be existential. Too often society, influenced by the media, equates value with budget. However, no-budget films can have more to say and impart more meaning than many million dollar movies. My hope is that we figure out more ways to reward artists for sharing their visions with us. And this is my gift to you: an entreaty to carry on filmmaking — because I believe what you do is important and has meaning.