In the New World, filmmakers maintain full control over their work from beginning to end: they hold on to their rights and, as important, find people who are interested in their projects and can become patrons, even mentors. The Old World has ticket buyers. The New World has ticket buyers who are also Facebook friends. The Old World has commercials, newspapers ads and the mass audience. The New World has social media, YouTube, iTunes and niche audiences. “Newspaper ads,” Mr. Broderick said, “are mostly a waste of money.”

We’ve seen local filmmakers accomplish this at some level, whether it’s Kenny Kalinowski building up a fan base of 858 for Twisted Steel (go add yourself to his list!) or Johnno Senovich establishing himself with a TV show locally and achieving local distribution in Blockbuster. The next level appears to be DIY

One of the buzzy ideas in D.I.Y. is transmedia, a word borrowed from academia, in which stories — think of the “Star Wars” and “Matrix” franchises — unfold across different platforms. “Star Wars” helped expand the very idea of a movie, because it involved a constellation of movie-related products, from videogames to action figures, all of which become part of the understanding and experience of the original, originating work. This isn’t just about slapping a movie logo on a lunchbox or a screensaver: it’s about creating an entertainment gestalt. As the theorist Henry Jenkins writes, “Reading across the media sustains a depth of experience that motivates more consumption.” In other words, you can sell one ticket to a moviegoer or enlist fans into media feedback loops that they in turn help create and sustain.

What model(s) are you working with?

They and their families lived month to month for a while, until they hit on a plan to make sponsored videos that don’t look sponsored. One of them was the Taco Bell drive-through song, which Taco Bell paid for (pictured above). The video has more than 1 million views on YouTube.

You can find more on their website.

The film is listed on IMDB and has received the following reviews so far:

Pulp Movies website – article title

Visually, this film is very striking and much attention has been paid both to the look of the zombies and the beings in the background as well as to the editing which implies a lot more than it shows. What really pulls this film together, however, is the sound design. James Sizemore’s score is incredibly atmospheric and really does work beautifully with the visual feel of the film to suck you in totally. So much so that I really was on the edge of my seat by the time the film ended.

The Sky Has Fallen is a thoughtful and downbeat take on the zombie genre and one with a satisfyingly fatalistic conclusion. Although the film could have probably done with an extra twenty minutes to develop the characters and themes a little more thoroughly, the style and originality on show make this a film well worth checking out.

Horror Society website – film review

Writer/director Doug Roos’ dialogue heavy, (almost) two character piece The Sky Has Fallen could probably fit just as well on a theatrical stage as a movie screen. Exploring the relationship between two survivors of a plague-like virus as they cat and mouse it with ‘the leader’ and his red n’ dead creatures, Roos creates both a sympathetic point of view and a world of oozing horror as well.

A synopsis, trailer and cast list can be found at this earlier posting or check out the films website.

Steven Soderbergh’s latest film, The Girlfriend Experience, opens in theaters starting May 22. But, it’s currently available on most cable systems, on-demand. That’s how I saw the film on Saturday, after missing it at Sundance and Tribeca. It’s a pretty great film to catch in your living room, with its intimate and static structure.

I caught this on Cinematech

Steven Soderbergh’s ‘The Girlfriend Experience’ appeared as a $9.99 online rental on Amazon this week, three weeks before its theatrical debut. Variety blogger Ben Fritz asks why Magnolia, the pic’s distributor, isn’t making more of a fuss. Ben writes:

If you’re going to break the rules, piss of a bunch of big theater chains, and try to reshape the way entertainment is distributed, why not make a stink about it? There’s nothing worse than rebelling in a way that people don’t notice, or even care.

Aimed at aspiring or challenged filmmakers, a Tribeca Film Festival panel discussion examined the emergence of innovative new strategies for marketing as well as digital distribution, and how there are now multiple ways for filmmakers to control what happens to their film. Six industry insiders gathered at the School of Visual Arts Theater in Manhattan to discuss alternative distribution and marketing 2.0 during the “Tribeca Talks: Tools of the Trade” session, moderated by The Hollywood Reporter‘s Steven Zeitchik.

They offered 10 specific tips. Check them all out here.

Directed, written, produced, designed and animated by Nina Paley
82 minutes. Animation, Color, stereo. Digital Cinema Package, HDCAM, DVD; soon on 35mm. 2008

The key to this story? Nina is giving away the movie, under a Creative Commons license. She is accepting money as well, working a well-traveled model that offers fans the opportunity to purchase the movie in a variety of formats and with related merchandise. Check out the Store!

Sita Sings the Blues by Nina Paley is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. Based on a work at www.sitasingstheblues.com. Permissions beyond the scope of this license may be available at http://www.sitasingstheblues.com/license.html.

What do you think of this model? Are you considering it? She also has a Community Screening model. Should we bring it to Springfield?

Photo by Mark Schoneveld

Now more than ever there is a unique tension between two distinct approaches to film distribution. Most distributors, from Sony Pictures Classics and Fox Searchlight to Zeitgeist, Miramax and many others, remain committed to the traditional roll-out of a movie with word of mouth that builds over time. Yet, others—namely IFC Films and Magnolia Pictures—have embraced more immediate releases that hope to generate instant blog buzz and national attention driven in large part by the Internet.

What approach are you considering?

The Marfa Film Fest in Texas runs April 29th to May 3rd. Deadline is today, February 25th. Entry fee is $35. .

The Provincetown International Film Festival in Maine runs June 17-21. Submissions deadline is February 28th, with a fee of $35. .

For a broader list of festivals, become a member of WithoutaBox.com which provides film festival info and allows you to electronically send your submissions to film festivals. No charge for filmmakers!

Film festivals began as art film’s primary exhibitor, and with the closure and hobbling of so many specialty distribs they have resurged as one of the few places audiences can see art film as it was intended—on the big screen and in the company of strangers.

Yet some fest directors looked at their event’s success—a success confined primarily to a locality and/or industry clientele—and felt frustrated. After screening countless DVDs and sweating over a program to be exhibited just once a year, where did they see their selections going but to other fests. Aside from an exciting screening and endless pints of Stella, most undistributed films aren’t seeing a dime from a successful “fest run.”

As the article points out, Film Festivals are a means but not the end. So what steps are you considering for your film?

There are at least three panels that I count focused on alternate distribtion strategies on the agenda of the upcoming Missouri Motion Media Association Film Summit in Columbia later this week. There is still time to join us on Thursday, or Friday, to share experiences with other filmmakers and continue building your plans.

MOMMA Film Summit and conference agenda

The Sky Has Fallen, a new feature-length horror movie, has completed production and is beginning the Film Festival submission process.

Synopsis: In a post-apocalyptic world, a new disease wipes out almost all of mankind within a couple hours. Trying to avoid infection, people flee to remote locations, but they start seeing mysterious, black figures carrying away the dead and experimenting on them. Now, Lance and Rachel, two survivors determined to fight back, must kill the leader of these creatures before the rest of humanity disappears.

Carey MacLaren ………………………… Lance
Laurel Kemper ………………………….. Rachel
Doug Steward …………………………… Bucanon
Grant Anstine ……………………………. Man’s Son
Caitlin Steward ………………………….. Man’s Daughter
Bill Roos ………………………………….. Girl’s Father
Cary Knisely …………………………….. Priest
Zach Harris ………………………………. Child
Cory Knisely …………………………….. The Leader
Shannon Gregory ………………………. Lead Creature
Brandon Whitchurch …………………… Creature 1
Ryan Shields ……………………………. Creature 2
Clayton Kreisel …………………………. Creature 3
Drew Anstine ……………………………. Creature 4
Michael Steward ………………………… Creature 5
Alice Pollack …………………………….. Creature 6
Trent Watson ……………………………. Creature 7
Patricia Duft ……………………………… Creature 8
Damian Gehris ………………………….. Creature 9
Dale J. Gehris …………………………… Creature 10
Michael McClure ………………………… Creature 11
Cory Knisely …………………………….. Creature 12
Shannon Gregory ………………………. Figure 1
Cory Knisely …………………………… Figure 2
Drew Anstine ……………………………. Figure 3
Brandon Whitchurch …………………… Figure 4
Aaron Phares …………………………… Figure 5
Leslie Wagoner ………………………… Figure 6
Patrick Williams ………………………… Figure 7
Carey MacLaren ………………………… Figure 8
Scott Seals ………………………………. Reporter 1
Justin Ricklefs …………………………… Reporter 2
Amy Ricklefs …………………………….. Reporter 3
Ashley Hutton ……………………………. Reporter 4
Brian Roos ……………………………….. Reporter 5
Amy Johnston ……………………………. Reporter 6
Jason Brasier ……………………………. Reporter 7

Written, produced, directed, and edited by Doug Roos
Music by James Sizemore

Check out the website for more information along with a high quality version of the trailer. There is also a MySpace page.

Doug is also the webmaster for MOfilmResource.com.