How Little I Know

A big part of me writing this blog has been because I’m searching for answers. I thought if I examined enough indie filmmakers, transmedia storytellers, and content creators who are doing innovative things, it would soon become obvious what does and doesn’t work, and the path forward would become clear.

I have a young daughter who, when faced with a new situation - be it a party, a new game, or a group of kids she doesn’t know - won’t join in at first. It doesn’t matter how exciting it looks, how much fun everyone else is having - she stands on the side, reluctant to join, watching, waiting, trying to decipher how it works and the unspoken rules of the game or social situation.  She only steps in once she understands it fully, and sees an opening for herself. I know where she gets it from.

Waiting For "Superman" | Pledge Now

The film Waiting For "Superman", by the same filmmaker who made The Inconvenient Truth, is a great example of an indie documentary that has well targeted itself towards an audience outside of the 'film vertical'.

The topic of the film is the decline in the American public education system, and Waiting For Superman has made these smart steps:

1. Partnered with organisations
They partnered with organisations that support the topic, e.g. Get Schooled and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to name a few. This means the film gets free PR and promotion via each of these organisations, who will inform their members/customers about the film (who, as indicated by their affiliation with these cause related organisations, are in fact the core target audience), as well as pump out the association via media release and social media to the larger public.

Be Inspired...by Alternate Reality Games

I'm constantly coming across articles, links, videos, and presentations that inspire me... so I decided I'd group some of them that belong together to share with you.* Today I'll begin with Alternate Reality Games (ARG).

If you've never heard this term before, don't feel too bad. It's more often used by academics and professionals in the field than the person on the street, and it lacks a simple handle, like 'movie', 'game', 'book', that would make it catch on.

Wellywood Woman

On a side note, filmmaker Marian Evans asked me to comment on an Inside Film article where Martha Coleman expressed concern that not enough emerging female filmmakers are putting up their hand for funding under Screen Australia's Springboard initiative. Marian has posted my response on her blog Wellywood Woman, if you're interested in reading it.

Marian has written a PhD about how to narrow the gap in the New Zealand film industry between the number of male and female filmmakers. On her blog she discusses the gender gap in film from an international perspective, with some illuminating statistics and insights.

Also of interest - Marian is raising money for her film, Development, using a fiscal sponsorship concept inspired by Women Make Movies and From The Heart - where donors receive tax benefits. Donors targeted are those with an interest in female equality, and the sell is that all primary cast and crew are women, and the topic of the movie is female filmmakers working together to get their movie made. All cast and crew are paid the same day rate ($150 per day), bringing the film budget to $100,000. The film will be available to download free - initially only for donors, then to all.

The Tunnel Case Study - Part 2

Continuing on from Monday's post about the crowdfunded film The Tunnel - with it's plans for release via torrent - today I'm talking specifically about their marketing, social media, and community management. Or lack thereof. It's an area in which they've made some achievements, though still have plenty of space for improvement.

While the key producers Enzo and Julian appear passionate about creating a community of fans around the project, they have left the marketing and social media plan to Executive Producer Ahmed Salama at DLSHS, so unfortunately when I met with Enzo and Julian a couple weeks prior to the shoot they seemed hazy about what is planned in this area.

Crowdfunding The Tunnel One Dollar at a Time

The Tunnel is a low budget Australian project in the midst of pre-selling film frames to raise the $135,000 cash budget, with plans to release the film for free online via file sharing later this year. It’s exciting to see this happening on my home turf, and interesting to hear in person the reasoning behind their strategy.

Now, if you’re thinking that ‘selling frames’ sounds familiar, you might remember the case study I did on the UK filmmaker Casey Walker’s My One Million Dollar Movie,  who is selling frames for $10 a pop. The similarity between strategies is merely coincidence, as the filmmakers behind The Tunnel, Enzo Tedeschi and Julian Harvey, were unaware of Casey Walker’s earlier efforts when they decided to do this. And, apart from the ‘frame’ sale, their strategies are significantly different.

Enzo and Julian consider The Tunnel to be the first of several under “The $135K Project.” This is a strategy to crowdfund low budget films by preselling the frames. A ninety minute movie = 135,000 frames x $1 per frame = $135,000 budget.