“The New Breed”

NEW BREED PARK CITY – AN OPEN DISCUSSION from Sabi Pictures on Vimeo.

I’ve decided to set up an “all-infinicine-related” twitter account for your bite-sized enjoyment. Please follow me @infinicine.

I’m not sure what this honour means exactly, but Infinicine was just listed as a top 100 film blog. Cool!

The Toronto International Film Festival is more about watching movie (and schmoozing at parties) than attending panels but there are a couple of things geared towards documentary filmmakers that would be worth checking out during all the glam.

The Doc Conference
Sunday, September 13, 2009
University of Toronto’s Victoria College (93 Charles Street West, behind the Isabel Bader Theatre), Room 323
An all-day meeting, with this panel a highlight for filmmakers interested in new directions in funding/sales:
1:30pm – Financing in Tough Times
Franny Armstrong, Director, The Age of Stupid
Dan Cogan, Impact Partners
Lois Vossen, ITVS

*Doc Conference is open to all Guest Relations, Sales & Industry and Press pass holders.

Doc Roundtables

“Now in its fourth year, Doc Roundtables create a rare chance for filmmakers to meet with industry leaders for an informal networking session. This year, industry participants include representatives from Sony Pictures Classics, HBO, Films Transit, Submarine Entertainment, SnagFilms, Zeitgeist Films, IFC Films, Emerging Pictures, Oscilloscope Laboratories, Lorber Media, and more.”

Date: Monday, September 14, 2009 through to Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Time: Twice daily sessions from 2:00pm to 3:00pm and 3:30pm to 4:30pm
Location: Match Club (5th Elementt Restaurant, 1033 Bay Street)

From the mailbag:
Emerging Technologies Workshop Summer ’09: High Performance, Cost-Efficient New Systems
Createasphere/CONNECT Event @ Abel Cine Tech
Thursday, August 27th, 2009 – 4:00 PM to 8:00 PM
(light refreshments will be served)
Session 1 4pm – 4:50pm JVC GY-HM700L17 ProHD Solid-State Camcorder
Session 2 5pm – 5:50pm AJA Ki-Pro Portable Digital File Recorder
Session 3 6pm – 6:50pm HDSLRs
Informal 7pm – 8pm Hands-On w/ Gear

Register here
Free for the first 100 registrants.
Abel Cine Tech NY
609 Greenwich Street
New York, New York 10014

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From the Power to the Pixel site:

We are looking for stories that can span film, TV, online, mobile and gaming to be presented to a select group of financiers, commissioners, tech companies, online portals and media companies in front of an audience of PttP participants.

The selected project teams will compete for the
BABELGUM PIXEL PITCH AWARD of £6,000.

Teams will benefit from significant international publicity and be introduced to new international business and partnership opportunities as well as one-to-one consultancies.

1. Projects must have a Producer attached and be submitted through a production company
2. Submissions must be made by the Producer
3. Producer(s) must own the rights to develop and produce the project in all required media
4. Applications from teams that include students will not be eligible
5. A maximum of 2 members per team will be allowed to pitch, one of whom must be the Producer or Director
6. Applications and supplementary materials must be delivered in English
7. Power to the Pixel will give preference to projects whose team members have a credit within the creative industries (eg. broadcast, online, gaming, theatrical, novel)
8. Projects can be in development or a work-in-progress
9. Application forms and all supplementary materials must be delivered online eg. stills, storyboards, moving imagery (10 mins max) by uploading files and providing urls to where materials have been uploaded

So, what are you waiting for?

I was talking to the lovely Astra Taylor yesterday and as we both have music ties we got to talking about the common comparison between the record biz and the film industry. We agreed that the new ways have benefit for some artists but not all- they’re great for musicians who are able to take advantage of the bigger live audiences, who might enjoy having their work exposed in an ad or other commercial setting and who have fans who will buy the merch.

I won’t get into the various problems of this model for film- that’s its own long post- but it does seem like it’s beginning to work for some people and venues. Rooftop Films is a great example. They show a film, make it an event, sell out frequently, and build an audience for a kind of filmmaking that would otherwise be fairly obscure. I’m not sure if this translates into revenue for the filmmaker, but as things head in this direction, it would probably be a good model.

Event screenings are kind of the indie film equivalent to an outdoor rock show. If you can get the filmmakers themselves in attendance, a party after, other related people in a discussion after, but most ideally something that makes it possible that by going to the event, the audience member could meet someone new (and cute, if possible). As with music, this may seem like a more labour-intensive route to getting your already hard-fought project out there, but that is why some little cottage industry should emerge- like service bookers who do much more. I’m just waiting for the first booker-cum-dating service, though I guess that’s probably the most unfortunate way I could ever have put it.

Have you done an event screening? Was it worth the effort?

At DIY Days in Philadelphia, Lance Weiler‘s traveling post-distribution networking conference, I may be drinking too much of the haterade*, but what seems to be emerging is kind of three-path future for film.

Path one is gigantic studio films that cost a lot and still rely on a certain level of lockdown on copyright and general control of dissemination.

Path two is the small filmmaker with an emerging set of tools to reach an audience, whose work must be made cheaply and flexibly, and who must include an element of interactivity and audience participation.

Path three responds to an audience demand for aesthetically pleasing, well-made films. Since there won’t be a revenue model to create these anymore, we’ll have more sophisticated delivery systems for the catalogues already out there.

I kind of think it’s a little bit apocalyptic, but the general consensus at the conference seemed to be in agreement. Now, the consensus would probably be different at Sundance or Cannes, where the DIY model has the kind of science fiction quality of the singularity, despite various panels promoting self- and digital-distribution.

Perhaps the most engaging event at the conference had less to do with mobile app development or website technology and more to do with storytelling and economics. Douglas Rushkoff, while not imparting information I always agreed with (or in certain cases, was entirely happy to hear), was fascinating to watch and dynamic and had the level of engagement and expertise that are worth getting up at some ungodly hour for. His thoughts about alternative systems of consumption are essential for anyone interested in producing in the DIY model. AND he played with PTV; you really can’t get more cred than that.

*term by Astra