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Showing posts with the label film market

PRODUCTION TIPS: YOUR Calendar for the Top Film Festivals and Markets in 2015

As the new year begins, you find yourself feeling excited by what you have accomplished in the previous year and what you will accomplish in the new year. And as a filmmaker, one of your goals should be to screen at a festival or visit one. It goes without saying that screening at a film festival will boost your career but even if you don't screen at one you should visit as many festivals as possible. Doing so will expose you to films that you can't see anywhere else. Aside from supporting the art and the business of film, you will find yourself inspired, entertained, or educated (ideally, all of the above) if you go to the festivals. Of course your time is limited and so while I advocate going to your local fests as much as possible, I also recommend going international. Of course, having your film screened in practically any film festival is a blessing and something to be proud of.  But there are a select few festivals that everyone wants to get into because of t

PRODUCTION JOURNAL: What It's Like to Sell 3 Films in Sundance

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One of the best ways we learn is through the experience of others.  That is one reason why we read about people in the industry and the things they do.  Producer   Galt Niederhoffer 's account of bringing and selling her 3 films in Sundance is illustrative of what to expect and what to take heed of for aspiring indie filmmakers.   Read it in full  not only for the big and small lessons it contains but for a voyeuristic glimpse into what your life as a producer may be like , for better or worse .  My favorite take-aways were her thoughts on the current and future film market: The media is pushing the through­line that the muted sales and lower prices reported to date at this year's festival are because the films have been just "meh." In my opinion, the more mellow market is a function of several factors:   1. Distributors have learned to hang back and unite — not in a traditional collusive sense, but because they've been burned in the past and now know

PRODUCTION TIPS: YOUR Calendar for the Top Film Festivals and Markets in 2014

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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