I’m excited that amid the general fun and mayhem of DIY Days this Saturday (Brian Newman has promised to make jaws drop!) I’ll be leading a short breakout session on the topic of Focus (not the car).

In a world where you make your film, and now your game, and your website and your twitter account and your facebook and you go to networking events and you apply for festivals and maybe book screenings and see other people’s films and try to make some money and maybe go for a drink or something… How do you stay focused and how do you stay motivated? And can these tools help you to get other people to stay engaged with your work?

Hope to see you there.

Had fun moderating and ‘advising’ at The Conversation on Saturday. Lots of thoughts always arise when you get many interesting and innovative thinkers together, but I think one thing has been on my mind and only became more intensely so after a day of discussing various kinds of viability for media creation.

There are some basic realities in an economic context that are altering the fundamental possibilities for filmmakers now. When I was focused on the distribution end, I saw this as largely troubling. I do think there will be things I currently love that may not survive the kind of changes we are seeing now. But there are also potential upsides that can be embraced.

Hollywood-style cinema seems to be moving more and more into over-the-top, event-based cinema that can’t be replicated in a home environment. The movies that tend to do well at the box office are the ones with astronomical budgets. The box office prices are going up to reflect that. If a big 3-D movie is $19.50 now, then exhibitors may be reluctant to play small movies that have smaller audiences at a reduced admission.

On the other hand, independent filmmakers can increasingly make high-quality films for very low amounts of money. They may not be able to access the old distribution channels, and they also may choose whether a traditional distribution model makes sense, compared to the various alternatives that are emerging. Since very few films ever make back their budget through domestic distribution and the majority of films made don’t even have the option of accessing traditional distribution, it’s no surprise that new ways of reaching an audience and potentially getting revenue are emerging.

What I’m waiting to see, and to figure out myself as a filmmaker, is what elements of financing or reaching an audience from the “old ways” can work with a model in which the work I make is not only a product I then license to other people in hopes of some return for the work I’ve done. Instead I’d like it to be viable in a financial way (and also good, by the standards I have) and also a part of some larger body of communication that remix and reproductive culture demands. I think we may not be there yet but the tools are developing.

See you at DIY Days!

Shooting People is sponsoring a contest that leads to an intriguing thought. Create a commercial of less than 90 seconds and you could win various prizes, including a MacBook. But maybe more excitingly, this may be one of those interesting opportunities for product placement- of your own stuff. My advice is to make a >90 second commercial that seems like an ad for Chex Mix or Kodak but REALLY (and subtly) is an ad for your stuff! If they actually use your amazing ad, that is some exposure it’s pretty hard for an indie to buy.

OK, I don’t know if Copy Night will exactly be the equivalent of a dance party, but it will be an opportunity for anyone with an interest in the current and future state of copyright law to kick back and discuss the relevant issues in an informal and relaxed setting. We’ll be meeting at Swift Pub at 34 E 4th St between Lafayette and Bowery at 7PM on Tuesday, March 23rd, in what will ideally be the resurrection of this monthly event. Please join us.

A video made for THE MAIN EVENT: Finding YOUR Audience, a panel I moderated at SXSW. Thom Powers, founder of the fantastic NYC doc series Stranger Than Fiction and doc programmer for TIFF, shares a few tips with filmmakers hoping to capture some of STF’s success for their own releases.

Thom Powers on making a doc screening a success from Laure X on Vimeo.

Here is the slideshow from the panel we did at SXSW. More to come!

On my way to South By Southwest today, where there are a host of interesting film and interactive panels to cover. I’ll probably do most of my commentary/info sharing on Twitter but will also be posting video and more from the panel I’m moderating, THE MAIN EVENT: Finding an Audience for Your Film which drops on Sunday at 12:30…