IndieGoGo Adds The Film Panel Notetaker As a Resource

I'm happy to announce that IndieGoGo has added The Film Panel Notetaker to its Resources page. Check it out here.

Fundraising for AMPeter's "Hacker Ethic" now live on IndieGoGo.com

Here's an update from my post last week about the films Inspiration and Hacker Ethic, both currently fundraising on the awesome online social marketplace known as IndieGoGo.com, whose innovative mantra is Do It With Others (DIWO).

First off, Inspiration met it's $5,000 goal. Now, Hacker Ethic has begun it's first round of fundraising. Its goal is currently $2,500.

The first round of funds for Hacker Ethic will go toward camera, lighting & sound equipment rental. Hacker Ethic has 45 days to reach its goal from the day of the first contribution, so it depends on supporters like you to help make that happen. (FYI, AMPeters, director of Hacker Ethic, is also a contributing notetaker here at The Film Panel Notetaker, and I am also one of the producers of Hacker Ethic.)

The more one contributes, the more perks one receives. And once Hacker Ethic has met it's first goal, the team can move onto its next round of fundraising.

For more information on Hacker Ethic and to make a contribution, please go to the following link. Once there, be sure to click on the "Contribute Now" icon:

http://www.indiegogo.com/project/view/646

Where Internet and Film Collide - "Learn" - June 8, 2008

IndieGoGo along with IFP co-presented Where Internet and Film Collide, a program held in conjunction with Internet Week NY. The first part of the presentation, “watch,” was held last Thursday at IFC Center with a screening of short films made for the Internet and mobile devices. Part deux, “learn,” came in the form of a panel discussion that identified online media's future trends and actions to take now at Apple Store Soho on Sunday. All of the panelists were open to the opportunities the Internet has in store for the film world, though some were mostly positive and one had a bleaker outlook.

Where Internet and Film Collide
Internet Week NY
June 8, 2008

Panelists:
(AJ) Alex Johnson – Freelance Digital Strategist (formerly of Deep Focus)
(SWB) Saskia Wilson Brown – Current TV
(BC) Brendan Choisnet – Director, Cult of Sincerity (first film to have its world premiere on YouTube)
(TH) Ted Hope – Producer, This Is That Productions

Moderator:
(JB) Janet Brown – Cinetic Media

JB: How does the Internet affect the process and stages of filmmaking and the final product?

SWB: The Internet is changing the format because films are more accessible. A lot of content is adjusting to be quicker and faster paced.

JB: What are you seeing with the collaboration of advertisers and producers?

AJ: Product placement in the movies is matching a film personality with a brand. My interest is in the webisode world. There’s a lot of talk of people only watching short content online, but that’s not always the case. There’s been crossover from Myspace to television. For example, the series Quarterlife, which didn’t work well on TV. The filmmakers were quite frank about it. The models are changing. At Blip TV, they have an advertising model where you can opt into a 50/50 revenue share.

JB: What was the process of getting Cult of Sincerity onto YouTube?

BC: It was a little bit of luck. We entered a contest for the movie Juno. We had to follow certain criteria and had only six weeks to make a movie. Our film placed in the top 20. YouTube expanded their short format to allow the entire feature to be played. The prize was to meet with Fox Searchlight executives. YouTube was very frank that they couldn’t pay us, but they were open to allowing us to explore alternative distribution opportunities.

JB: How do you view the ability of the Internet to reach audiences?

TH: I am astounded by how slow change has come. The promise has been there for a long time. I had a conversation with our marketing staff about how we could use the Internet to build audiences. For Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, we put up some hoax sites to expand the universe of what the film is offering unique, exclusive content. My son says a movie is just a DVD, but what about all this other stuff? We don’t even know how to describe all that yet. To me, that’s what a movie should be. It’s so slow. That’s why independent film is going through changes and an incredible paradigm mind shift.

AJ: Building an expanded universe around a film is incredibly important, and we’re not doing nearly enough. It’s about people spending time with a brand. Television is doing a good job with that. FOX did a promotion on Myspace where they updated character blogs every few days. DIY filmmaker Lance Weiler worked with Hammer Films on Beyond the Rave to create subliminal messages for an alternate reality game creating a social experience.

JB: How can you make money on the Web?

SWB: Current acquires content. It’s rare in the online filmmaker landscape, though YouTube is on our heels. We work mostly with documentary filmmakers. We tend to find them easily, but to keep them, we have to provide them with some asset like money. There are other new models coming forward, like sponsorships.

BC: We’re working with a partner site called AmieStreet.com, an online community for people who like music. You can sign up on their site and get $2 of free music and for $3, you get a download of our movie. They pay us for every person who engages with what they ask them to do.

JB: You have experience dealing with traditional film distribution models. The Internet is disrupting this flow. Is there an opportunity for filmmakers to take greater control of their work now?

TH: It’s evident that this business has been in complete chaos for a couple of years now. The whole model of investing in films seems to be over. Some of this parallels how the Internet has been slow to deliver. The promise to get niche films on computers or TVs has been slow. Traditional ways have completely withered. The problem with films on the Internet is people have short attention spans. As a producer now, you not only have to find a good cast, crew, and money, but you also have to build an audience.

SWB: We have total control of our audience, but it relies on doing a lot of work. We can go online and aggregate our audience.

BC: We emailed all our friends and made a list of bloggers to promote our films. It’s difficult. FOX Business was the one place we got any major media recognition.

AJ: We’re in this in between stage. In the music industry, there’s always been trusted word of mouth that’s not happening inside the film world. From Here to Awesome is an online film festival where filmmakers are a part of the distribution process.

SWB: The problem with film festival is there is a huge amount of content. From Here to Awesome creates a new model of distribution. At Current, the big thing is the concept of curration. That’s what From Here to Awesome is also doing.

AJ: We’ve got to the stage where filmmakers just have to be good marketers. There are so many tools out there for them to use such as TubeMogul.

TH: I was inspired by Four Eyed Monsters. They were able to organize screenings based on people who requested them on their website.

BC: The Internet has also made the filmmakers themselves more accessible.

JB: What are some of the changes on the Internet in the future that you look forward to happening?

SWB: Current is excited that television and the Internet are merging. We’re doing live judging of pods (short-format). I don’t know how this will work for long formats.

AJ: Ad sharing revenue models will be interesting.

TH: There’s going to be a complete and total revolution. Big media corporations will win and put an end to net neutrality. People will get pissed. I don’t think anyone is doing enough to stop this from happening.

BC: At the end of the day, there’s still story. I’m excited to continue to have new opportunities to tell stories.

Where Internet and Film Collide - "Watch" - June 5, 2008

IndieGoGo along with IFP and Filmmaker Magazine co-presented Where Internet and Film Collide, a program held in conjunction with Internet Week NY. The modus operandi of this presentation was “watch” and “learn.” The “watch” portion came in the form of a series of short films created for viewing on the Internet or mobile devices, at IFC Center on Thursday evening. And coming this Sunday will be the “learn” part when a panel discussion at Apple Store SoHo will explore online media's future trends and actions to take now.

(L to R: "The West Side" directors Ryan Bilsborrow-Koo & Zachary Leiberman, Filmmaker Magazine's Scott Macauley, "Drawn by Pain" director Jesse Cowal and IndieGoGo's Slava Rubin)

Slava Rubin, IndieGoGo founder, introduced Scott Macauley, Filmmaker Magazine editor-in-chief, who moderated the discussions with the filmmakers after each film, which started with Green Porno, a series of shorts that can be seen on SundanceChannel.com about the sexual behavior of insects directed by and starring Isabella Rossellini. The episodes shown were “Snail” and “Praying Mantis.” Sundance Channel’s Christopher Barry said Green Porno was conceived about a year ago when Sundance Channel was doing a series of 10 shorts called “The Art of Seduction.” He approached Rossellini about making a series of shorts for small devices with thee conditions—1) Keep them short; 2) Keep them green; 3) Make them stand out. Did they conceptualize these shorts to guarantee huge traffic because of the word “porno,” Macauley asked. Barry said Rossellini has always been a maverick and she wasn’t thinking of search engines. For her, sex was a natural element to explore, but she didn’t want it to be ridiculous, just funny. Within the first two weeks, there were approximately two million page views. Were there any unexpected avenues for distribution that came up, Macauley asked. Barry said the whole process has been an experiment, but their main strategy was to start on SundanceChannel.com, then syndicate out to other sites like YouTube. They even got a call from the Mobile World Congress to present the films to mobile operators in Barcelona. The challenge has been figuring out how to monetize and aggregate the films and attract dollars to make your next projects.

Next on the agenda was Ryan Bilsborrow-Koo’s and Zachary Leiberman’s Webby Award-winning The West Side, as an online episodic urban western. They saw an opportunity to make something on the Internet without spending a lot of money. Lieberman said they are big believers in keeping the serial on their own website and drawing traffic to it. They’ve seen a spike in viewership because of the Webby award, but they didn’t do any PR. It’s all been word of mouth. Bilsborrow-Koo said if you make something of quality, people will watch it.

A trailer for Jesse Cowal’s Drawn By Pain, another Webby winner, followed. Drawn By Pain is described as “a dramatic action packed 12-part series in a sea of comedic web content…(that) engages its audience by leading them through an episodic spiral into one woman’s search for salvation as her animated madness fights for her sanity in the real world.” Cowal said that for his first web series in 2003, YouTube didn’t exist, but since then technology has caught up. His goal is to make Drawn By Pain a branded entity on multiple viewing platforms. “You have to whore yourself out,” he said. “It’s a brutal universe, but what’s wonderful about it is that it’s very honest.” What are some steps or tactics to building audiences online, Rubin asked. Cowal offered this advice, “Just keep telling people till you’re blue in the face. Be passionate, be nice and establish partnerships.” By partnering with other websites, there’s a greater opportunity to be seen by their viewership.

The next filmmakers showcased were Jamie Stuart with NYFF45: Part Two (featuring Nicole Kidman from the Margot at the Wedding press conference) and 12.5 Second Later (shot in my neighborhood of Astoria, Queens), and Ari Kuschnir and Scott Thrift of M ss ng P eces (yes, that’s right, but in case you’re wondering, it sounds like “missing pieces”) who presented TED, and eight-minute short about TED, an “idea” conference in Monterey, Calif., and Reset, a series of shorts in development with Sundance Channel. Macauley asked Stuart what his creative process was for NYFF45: Part Two. Stuart said there really isn’t any preproduction done on his film festival videos. They are a combination of improvisation and editing. How did M ss ng P eces come about, Macauley asked Kuschnir and Thrift, who said they got together in film school in 1999. Around 2005, they found that traditional filmmaking didn’t make much sense anymore. They’ve since then made about 200 short films. Rubin pointed out that the three fellas’ films seemed to be grounded in reality and asked them if that was a conscious decision on their parts. Stuart said he has no interest in reality. His goal is to pervert reality in one way or another. Surrealism has been on his head a lot lately, but no intentionally. He never trusts people who tell him he’s developing a film language; it’s the form he’s messing with. Thrift noted that TED encompasses everything he and Kuschnir want to say in a film. The idea is to get that kind of commentary and weave a story from it.

Finally, Lance Weiler, director of the DIY cult phenomena The Last Broadcast and Head Trauma, presented an episode of Beyond the Rave, an online series from Britain’s well-loved Hammer Films, for which Weiler developed a an extensive game world. How was this developed for Myspace, Macauley asked. Weiler said the shorts were released episodically on Myspace by Hammer, and after they had seen his “Hope is Missing” alternate reality game (based on Head Trauma), brought him in to develop something similar for Beyond the Rave. He created a game world around the films. Each episode is layered with subliminal frames that contain clues to the game. Viewers, often in teams, play and pause the films to find the clues. The game created very high levels of engagement where people would spend anywhere from six to 20 hours a week playing. How do you know if your film is right for an engaged viewing experience, Rubin asked. Weiler replied that some of the best things that are happening right now come from the independent game world such as World Without Oil funded by ITVS. It all depends on the kind of conversation you want to have. Viewers want the ability to touch something and be a part of it. The film is one thing and all the stuff around it something to drive in revenue.

The conversation continues on Sunday at Apple Store SoHo, followed by a party later in the evening at Chinatown Brasserie.

"The Lililput" Raises $10,000 On IndieGoGo.com

As previously noted at last week's Alternative Models of Distribution panel at the Canadian Consulate, the film The Lilliput has raised approximately $10,000 through IndieGoGo.com.

Here's the official IndieGoGo.com announcement:

Berkeley, California, March 5, 2008—IndieGoGo, the online social marketplace that connects filmmakers and fans to make more independent film happen announced today that Minna Packer (BACK TO GOMBIN) raised $10,000 to shoot a “sneak peek” of her new narrative film THE LILLIPUT. This is the first project to successfully reach its fundraising goals on IndieGoGo. The film chronicles the true story of Umchzek Kerber, a Jewish dwarf and friend of the Packer family, who survived the Holocaust by hiding in garbage cans in a Warsaw railway station.

In IndieGoGo’s first six weeks, it has already become home for 120 projects and $16,000 in fan contributions. Founded on the principles of opportunity, transparency, choice, and action, IndieGoGo addresses fundraising challenges by providing filmmakers an open platform to pitch their projects to the world while giving fans a vehicle to experience and influence the once inaccessible world of filmmaking.

“Lilliput’s success is a perfect example of our motto, DIWO, “Do It With Others”, said Slava Rubin, IndieGoGo Founder and Chief of Strategy and Marketing. “Minna did everything right: She posted her project, built her audience with our promotional tools, created unique contributor VIP perks and got the word out. There is clearly an audience that’s wants to see THE LILLIPUT get made and we are very excited Minna was able to make that connection so quickly.”

THE LILLIPUT will be filmed in Poland in collaboration with the National Film School in Lodz and the University of Lodz. Packer, who is the child of Holocaust survivors herself, was inspired to tell Umchzek Kerber’s story to ensure the strength of her family friend is never forgotten.

“IndieGoGo made the shoot for our sneak peek a reality. Many people would not have heard of our film and now we have new fans we never thought we would reach,” said Minna Packer, Director, THE LILLIPUT. “Our project is being shot in Poland, the production team is in the US, our actors and fans are from around the world. Now everyone has one home on IndieGoGo.”

IndieGoGo has continued to add resources for its filmmakers through its partnership network. A recent partnership includes TubeMogul. The organizations will collaborate to provide IndieGoGo filmmakers a universal upload whereby TubeMogul deploys videos to as many of the top video sharing sites the producer chooses. This is replete with integrated analytics and single source metrics on “where, when, and how often” the videos are viewed. Other partners include IFP, From Here to Awesome, and the Workbook Project. Each partnership is designed to provide filmmakers with the widest array of tools and resources needed to support their DIWO filmmaking.