It’s that time again: South By SouthWest PanelPicker voting is open, which means you get a say in the panels that appear at the Film, Music, and Interactive Conferences. Voting closes on Friday so get yourself over to the site and vote.
Regional Filmmaking: Revenge of the Flyover States – The best film festival in the U.S. is in Texas, so why should the best filmmakers in the country have to live in New York or Los Angeles? Working filmmakers from the so-called “flyover states” talk about the challenges and advantages of making movies outside of the cities traditionally associated with filmmaking. Also proposed by me and Jesse. Vote for it.
Sex it Up! – What’s the difference between art and porn? The old joke is that “one is in focus,” but it’s also an aesthetic distinction that is increasingly irrelevant. Just as more “mainstream” indie filmmakers are utilizing explicit themes and imagery in their works, a new school of directors working on the adult side of the industry are creating works that defy the porn clichés. Even if you’re not looking to bare all, here’s your chance to learn from each and tell stories that move past the bedroom door to embrace the full range of our experiences. Proposed by Lisa Vandever of Cinekink. Vote for it!
Jennifer Amman, Festival Production Manager for the Telluride Film Festival, leaves her position with this rather public message. I’ve never met Jennifer or been to Telluride, but the video provides a glimpse into the problems (and backstage tensions) that exist at many film festivals these days. Sponsors are harder to come by these days and money is tight all over. It’s tempting to side automatically with Jennifer, but as Sarasota Film Festival programming director Tom Hall rightfully points out:
. . . cutbacks to festival budgets are an absolute reality right now, and that one of the main issues facing any non-profit at this time is setting new, adjusted priorities and getting organizational buy-in for those changes. I don’t think there is anyone working at festival today, from a Board President to a volunteer, who has faced down a change to the landscape and hasn’t thought to themselves “This is the last straw.” I know I have, I know everyone has; it’s all part of being under-paid, over-worked and deeply passionate about the integrity of the event you’re putting on.
That said, finding savings in the morning meals of your volunteers (if true) makes you an easy target for ridicule.
I suppose it was only a matter of time before someone struck on the idea of a film fest at Burning Man. Luckily for potential attendees, the folks who organized this one have a ton of experience. They’re going to need it – the conditions they’ll face are unlike those at any other film festival.
I have a ton of notes on this and I’ll be writing a longer entry soon, but the festival’s call for entries ends tomorrow (Thursday, July 15th) so I wanted to get the word out today. If you have a short film that would be cool to show at Burning Man, now’s your chance. Here’s the link to submit. There’s also an official Facebook page for the festival.
I just got word that the festival will be screening their films on “The Engine,” a 1000-pound “light and steel sculpture” that is essentially a portable projection system. Sounds cool.
Tomorrow is the last day to get your film submission postmarked for consideration at the Austin Film Festival, one of the world’s largest and most prestigious events dedicated to the craft of cinematic storytelling. (And I don’t just say that because I used to work there!)
If the lure of a laid-back film festival in one of the world’s most dynamic cities isn’t enough, pile on the festival’s Screenwriting Conference, which features intimate conversations and workshops with working screenwriters like Michael Arndt (Little Miss Sunshine, Toy Story 3), John Lee Hancock (The Blind Side), and David Simon (The Wire). (Personally I’m looking forward to hearing from Jon Lucas, who wrote The Hangover.)
An insightful interview with one of my favorite festival directors.
I know that when I think of DIY filmmaking, one of the first filmmakers who comes to mind is Tony Comstock, whose wonderful film, ‘Damon and Hunter: Doing it Together,’ played at CineKink a few years back. He and his wife, Peggy, have been producing and distributing explicit documentaries for the past decade – and they regularly top Amazon sales lists for number of DVDs sold. Obviously, they’re doing something right – during a recent distribution/marketing panel I attended, Tony was tweeting me from a sailing excursion through the Caribbean, prodding me to ask the participants how many of them owned a yacht.
Overall, I think Comstock Films exemplifies how many filmmakers on the “porn/erotica” side have—largely through necessity—become proficient in getting their work out there and noticed once it’s been produced. Rather than waiting on the hope of some distributor picking them up, the need is there to reach out to an audience directly, bringing with it a front-running understanding of all the tools necessary to do so, especially staying on top of reaching out through the internet, including supreme mastery of SEO and finding ways to circumvent the many technical road-blocks that are intended to inhibit sexual content.
“At festival screenings in the Palais, folks are deadly serious, dressed to the nines and behave with a generally austere manner befitting the most respectful film-going audience in the world,” League said. “Just 100 meters away, appropriately through the back door of the same building, dozens of tiny rooms are outfitted with 6-foot screens, cheap video projectors and home-grade sound systems. This is the Marche du Film, where I spend the bulk of my time. Instead of tuxedos, folks are wearing sweat pants and T-shirts. Buyers are talking at full volume on cell phones during the screenings. At any given time,one-third of the audience will be either texting or snoring. If a film doesn’t deliver in the firstfive minutes, half of the room clears out and buyers move on to the next room. I start watching about eight movies a day; I usually finishthree of them. If you are a filmmaker with a movie in the [Market], do not attend your screenings. It might break your soul.”
The Vimeo Festival and Awards invites video creators throughout the world to submit their finest original online videos and then come celebrate as we award the best of the best. All the details on how to submit your videos, and/or buy tickets to the upcoming events, coming soon!
I’m not usually keen on online festivals but it looks as if Vimeo will be holding “real world” screenings as well for their awards in Fall 2010. Keep an eye on this one.
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It’s that time again: South By SouthWest PanelPicker voting is open, which means you get a say in the panels that appear at the Film, Music, and Interactive Conferences. Voting closes on Friday so get yourself over to the site and vote.
Tomorrow is the last day to get your film submission postmarked for consideration at the 
