Bell Media creates bravoFACTUAL

Posted on October 9, 2013 by Michael Korican

Bell Media has created bravoFACTUAL, becoming a major source of funding for short documentaries in Canada.

The semi-annual competition promises up to $50,000 for 15-minute “micro-docs,” which must be completed within six months.

“Budgets must reflect the story’s complexity, specific production elements, any special production techniques, required archival footage and/or, music rights, E&O insurance and any other requirements which result from the creative materials.”

New filmmakers, take note:

“…preference will be given to emerging filmmakers with limited experience who are trying to enhance their skills and credentials”

The first deadline is Thursday, October 31, 2013.

My take: kudos to bravoFACT for stepping up to the plate and funding short docs in Canada. When the Harper Government spiked the Canadian Independent Film and Video Fund, they created a funding void. Now this program promises to replace the CIFVF.

Digital conversion threatens indie theatres

Posted on September 11, 2013 by Michael Korican

On the heels of my shares on exhibition formats and DIY DCP, comes a Rolling Stone article discussing the collateral damage of digital conversion.

“The National Association of Theater Owners, the trade organization that represents exhibitors, has estimated that as many as 10,000 screens – one in every five screens in North America – could go dark because they can’t afford to convert. Among those venues most in danger are independent theaters.”

Gary Susman hints that this might actually be a Hollywood plot to lessen competition.

“Hollywood studios don’t much care about the possible demise of the independent theater. (It’s not showing their movies anyway.) Besides, the potential loss of thousands of screens will only hasten the day when Hollywood doesn’t have to deal with those pesky exhibitors anymore and can go directly toward home distribution on disc or video-on-demand, where most of a film’s money is made.”

My take: if progress is gradual and change is sudden, the demise of ‘film’ exhibition is change that we may not be able to fight. If you’ve ever had to lug two heavy ‘cans’ of 35mm film up to the projection booth at the very back of the balcony, you may not care. But I’m not in favour of this if it means a restricted number of movies.

Kickstarter comes to Canada!

Posted on August 14, 2013 by Michael Korican

Leading crowd-funding platform Kickstarter is coming to Canada.

They say new projects will go live on September 9, 2013.

It’s taken three years but it looks like Canadian filmmakers and other creative folk have no more excuses. It used to be that you needed a bank account and address in the States to list on Kickstarter. Now Canada joins the US and the UK.

Need help with your campaign? See Kickstarter and crowd-funding advice from someone who work(s/ed) for one of their competitors.

My take: sure you can raise funds on Kickstarter but more valuable is the audience you’re building. In a sense, you’re pre-selling your film to hundreds, maybe thousands, of viewers. Just remember to budget enough time!

Exhibition Formats 2013

Posted on July 31, 2013 by Michael Korican

You’ve written a killer script.

You’ve cast an excellent cast.

You’re shooting with an HD camera.

But have you planned out your full workflow? For instance, how are you going to show your film to your audience?

If your answer is, “On the Internet,” then carry on and use whatever compression format Youtube or Vimeo recommends.

However, if your answer is, “In theatres and at film festivals,” carry on reading.

Keep your digital intermediate (your DI) at a sufficiently high quality so that you don’t sacrifice anything as you edit.

When it’s time to deliver for exhibition, things can get tricky fast. Do you need a DCP? Can you get by with one Blu-ray disk?

Luckily, The Independent’s Guide to Film Exhibition & Delivery 2013 has is all figured out.

Their conclusion:

“Given the volatility of the current delivery landscape, it may be actually best to NOT commit to any particular exhibition format, and instead finish your film in a digital (hard-drive) format that you can keep as a master at a trusted lab for future needs down the road. It is advisable to have your film in the most flexible format possible, until you are forced by circumstance to deliver a specific format for a specific purpose. The most flexible and useful format to initiate most exhibition/delivery formats at the moment is the Apple ProRes 422 digital file.”

My take: Well worth the read, if only for the assertion that, “DCPs were invented to put independents out of business.”

Infographic: The History of Film

Posted on July 17, 2013 by Michael Korican

From HistoryShots comes this fantastic infographic of 2,000 films from the last 100 years categorized into 20 genres.

“Films are organized by genre represented by streams that grow and shrink over time. The starting point is the early 1900s when the first feature-length films were released in the drama genre. The number and sizes of streams quickly grow as filmmakers expand their creativity by moving into such genres as action/adventure, westerns, war and comedy.”

How did they choose 2,000 films from approximately 60,000? These were the criteria:

Critical acclaim
Was it a key film
Awards
Box office success

Click on the infographic to zoom in.

My take: this is a fascinating visualization of the history of feature films and their genres over the last century.

Google Glass: everyone is a cinematographer now

Posted on July 10, 2013 by Michael Korican

According to VentureBeat, the first arrest has been witnessed by Google Glass.

Documentary filmmaker Chris Barrett glassed it in Atlantic City on July 4.

“I picked up my Google Glass explorer edition last week. I wanted to test Glass out, so I filmed some fireworks, getting a very cool first-person perspective. About 10 minutes after the fireworks, we were walking back to our car, and I just decided to try it out on the boardwalk.”

Watch the footage.

My take: welcome to the voyeur world, where everyone is a cinematographer. Right now, the public is unaware and continues to “act natural”. But will behaviour change? Has it changed with CCTV and cellphone video? Very soon, documentaries will look very different when everyone has their own Glass. Editing may be replaced with web-based crowd-sourced Glass-fueled media streams, like Switchcam.

Lucas and Spielberg predict the future is on the Internet

Posted on June 19, 2013 by Michael Korican

At a recent panel at the University of Southern California’s Interactive Media Department, George Lucas (Star Wars) and Steven Spielberg (Indiana Jones) said they believe “Internet-based services may become the dominant medium when movie-going as we know it crashes and burns.”

They cite two main reasons: viewers’s lack of time and the vast number of entertainment choices they face.

Lucas sees opportunity in today’s market: “All you need is a million people, which in the aggregate of the world is not very many people. And you can actually make a living at this. Where before you couldn’t.”

Spielberg believes the multiplex will change: “There’s going to be a price variance. You’re going to have to pay $25 to see the next Iron Man. And you’re probably only going to have to pay $7 to see Lincoln.”

Lucas thinks the mediascape is changing:

“Now is the best time we can possibly have. It’s a mess. It’s total chaos. But out of that chaos will come some really amazing things. And right now there are amazing opportunities for young people coming into the industry to say, ‘Hey, I think I’m going to do this and there’s nobody to stop me.’ It’s because all the gatekeepers have been killed!”

See more coverage on The Verge.

My take: I realized awhile ago that movie theatres were destined to become the ‘Opera’ of our era. As an alternative to your devices and your home theatre, going out to the movies might even be seen as an ‘elitist’ activity one day.

Hope for a sustainable filmmaking future

Posted on May 22, 2013 by Michael Korican

Ted Hope has 16 Recommendations For Filmmakers To Discover Best Practices For A Sustainable Creative Life.

I highly recommend a close reading. In the meantime, here are the bullets:

Focus on developing Entrepreneurial Skills as well as the creative.

The great challenge is no longer how to get your film made or funded, but how to get people to watch it.

Aggregate audience.

Start figuring out how your audience uses your work.

Transition your passive audience to an active engaged participatory community.

Platforms are for the many.

Be more prolific and ubiquitous.

You need others to be authentically incentivized to share and promote your work.

Shift our focus from a single product business to one of an ongoing relationship.

The film biz lacks a way for the passionate fan to demonstrate their appreciation of a work.

[With] the end of feature film dominance… we can create an infinite variety of storyworld extensions, discovery nodes, and engagement forums.

Learn to strategize, schedule, budget, and predict revenues for the entire life cycle of your film.

Embrace rapid prototyping with multiple iterations.

Fail twice as much. Experiment.

Gather & share data. Embrace transparency and an “Open Source” attitude to all you do.

The work you create moves us closer to the world you aspire to.

This is deep stuff and makes the filmmaker’s job so much harder. Making a movie is hard enough with pre-production, production and post-production but now consider all the other aspects Ted mentions. Choose your projects wisely, as they now demand much more from you!

My take: I can’t help but think of Franchises and how well they do on Ted’s paradigm. See what I mean at The Numbers.

Ted Hope on Independent Film and Culture

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Michael Korican

Ted Hope keeps the provocative ideas coming!

First he lists 17 Things About The Film Biz That Should Significantly Influence Your Behavior; his insider view of the state of show business.

Then he follows that up with 19 Things Regarding Our Current Culture That Should Completely Alter Your Creative & Entrepreneurial Practice; his insight into the zeitgeist.

Stay tuned for his conclusion next week!

My take: ever since 2004, when video first became widely available on the Internet, I’ve held that we’re witnessing the walls tumbling down, one brick at a time. The old economic model is crumbling and it remains to be seen if a new one will replace it.

How to Classify Movies

Posted on April 10, 2013 by Michael Korican

Flavorwire has proposed new classifications for independent film.

“If ‘independent film’ is just a label to begin with, then why not expand it, and get a little more specific? Every film isn’t either indie or studio — let’s break it down, so we know exactly what we’re getting when we go to the cinema.”

Their categories are:

Underground
Indie-ground
Malick-wood
Indie
Indie-wood
Foreign-wood
Holly-pendent
Studio
Studio-plus
Explosion-ganza!

Read the full article here.

My take: I also want to know if the film is less than two hours long and if the ending is upbeat.

Michael Korican Thinks

Thoughts on Independent Filmmaking and the Emerging Economic System

Category Archives: The Mediascape