Film Strategy

The FilmPortal.net announces the list of winners at this year's Cannes : The Jury of this 67 th  Festival de Cannes, presided over by Jane Campion, revealed  this evening the prizes winners during the Awards Ceremony. Lambert Wilson hosted Uma Thurman and Quentin Tarantino on the stage  of the Grand Théâtre Lumière to award the Palme d’or to  Nuri Bilge CEYLAN   for his film  WINTER SLEEP . Sergio Leone’s  Per un pugno di dollari  ( A Fistful of Dollars ) presented  by Quentin Tarantino, was screened at the end of the ceremony. Palme d'or WINTER SLEEP  by Nuri Bilge CEYLAN   Grand Prix LE MERAVIGLIE (The Wonders)  by Alice ROHRWACHER Best Director Award Bennett MILLER for  FOXCATCHER   Jury Prize ex-aequo MOMMY  by Xavier DOLAN ADIEU AU LANGAGE (Goodbye to language)  by Jean-Luc GODARD   Best Screenplay Award Andrey ZVYAGINTSEV and Oleg NEGIN for  LEVIATHAN Best Actress Award Julianne MOORE in  MAPS TO THE STARS  by David CRONENBERG Best Ac

My favorite thing about starting a new year is filling out my planner with all the deadlines and screening dates for all the major contests, grant applications, markets and festivals I want to enter or visit.   Doing this hones whatever filmmaking or networking goals I have set for myself and also allows me to plan out my goals for the year to see in an instant what I can realistically aim for and when.  No matter how successful the filmmaker, he or she is caught up in a cycle of developing, writing, producing and selling projects.  Moreso, the hungry filmmaker climbing up that ladder of success.  For the filmmaker at the bottom, knowing the top script contests, film grants, festivals and markets mark one of the key differences between becoming successful or not.   Knowing the top places to target means you are not wasting time chasing fruitless ventures.  So, if you are reading this, it's because you ARE serious about climbing up that ladder and getting to a poin

The recent crowdfunding campaigns for Veronica Mars , Zach Braff and James Franco brought one thing dramatically to light: it's good to be a celebrity when you're crowdfunding.   Celebrities tend to easily reach and even surpass their crowdfunding goals when they go online and ask for cash (James Franco is a rare exception - he only raised $328,329 out of the $500,000, still a sizeable number that a non-celebrity filmmaker would have a hard time getting).  Even though they are subject to criticism for not offering profit participation in their films, celebrities do offer a panoply of prizes and rewards for the contributions they receive.  I found that interesting since their prize lists are exhaustive.  Filmmakers should learn from these celebrity campaigns even if they can't always do all of the things celebrities can do with theirs while also being attentive to potential changes or improvements occurring with crowdfunding legislation. Hollywood is watching and lea

“People who want to make a million borrow a million first” ― Sophie Kinsella, Shopaholic Takes Manhattan   “Money often costs too much.” ― Ralph Waldo Emerson  Money is both the lifeblood and the bane of film; we need it to express our visions on celluloid (or digital) but getting it is a struggle.  And getting the money is not only hard to get but also hard to keep.  Now, although most directors and producers (and sentient earthlings) would prefer to have the problems associated with money than be broke, it is still important to remember that keeping the money can be even more problematic than getting it.  That point was made vividly clear to me by a case I read recently and a question I came across on a Facebook group page.  Essentially, they dealt with the strategy and consequences of handling money with a business partner and setting up a joint bank account for the purposes of a production. The case I read  dealt with the misappropriated funds o