MICHAEL WIESE PRODUCTIONS
Published by Michael Wiese Produ Productions ctions mw @mwp.com | www.mwp.com ISBN: 9781615931170
© 2011 Michael Wiese Productions
CONTENTS
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An Invitation Foreword by Ken Lee
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Occupy Hollywood! Michael Wiese
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The Inspiring Providence Of Filmmaking Stanley D. Williams, Ph.D.
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Kathie Fong Yoneda
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Carole Lee Dean
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A Life In Film D.W. Brown
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Joshua Friedman
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Carole M. Kirschner
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Why Try To Be A Filmmaker? Howard Suber
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Write For Television Pamela Douglas
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Pen Densham
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It’s A Wonderful Life Michael Halperin
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Judith Weston
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Ellen Besen
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You Are Not Alone Linda Seger
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s Great To Be A Sitcom Writer Sheldon Bull
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Michele Wallerstein
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Why It’s Great To Be A Filmmaker Eric Edson
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Launch Your Film Marcie Begleiter
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Hester Schell
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Misconceptions Of A Teenage Filmmaker Christina Hamlett
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Top Ten Reasons Why You Should Make A Film… Now! Tony Levelle
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Gael Chandler
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Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Monika Skerbelis
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Gil Bettman
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Rona Edwards
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Ten Steps To Becoming An Independent Filmmaker David Worth
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Kim Hudson
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Jennifer Grisanti
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Discovering The You In YouTube Jay Miles
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Christopher Riley
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Aubry Mintz
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R.I.P. Barbie Jennifer Dornbush
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Dorothy Fadiman
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Pamela Jaye Smith
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Dynamic Uncertainty: Inquiry Into Screen Story Neill D. Hicks
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Helen Jacey
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Ken Rotcop
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What To Subtract From Your Filmmaking Carl King
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Todd Klick
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Morrie Warshawski
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Secrets On An Island Christopher Kenworthy
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker LD Thompson
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Troy DeVolld
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The “Don’t Have To” Of Your Dreams Dale Newton
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Voiceover Artist Terri Apple
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Maureen Ryan
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Can You Make A Difference? Catherine Ann Jones
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Paul Chitlik
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Ross Brown
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The No-Excuse, No-Kidding-Yourself, No-More-Bullshit Cure To Finishing Your Screenplay D.B. Gilles
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Top Ten Reasons Why It’s A Great Time To Be A Filmmaker Stuar t Voytilla
AN INVITATION FOREWORD BY KEN LEE I hold this young man’s lie in my hands. Well, perhaps, not his lie, but the stakes are pretty high. I meet John at a screenwriting conerence. His ather urges me on to tell his son why it is a good idea to attend flm school. Beore the economic meltdown in 2008, I probably would have told him that flm school is a wonderul opportunity to be creative, expressive. It would be a cool place to challenge himsel in collaboration with other like-minded people. But now, the game has changed and the uture is anyone’s guess. What jobs would be available to this young man ater he graduated? How would he and his parents pay or the student loans they would have to get him through flm school? So, instead o giving him a pat answer, I ask him “What do you want to study?” He tells me that he doesn’t know, but that he wants to take a lot o classes to see what he is drawn to. I tell him this is an excellent strategy and then I give him something to think about. I tell him to take some classes that are outside o his comort zone. “It’s important,” I say, “to push yoursel in your areas o weakness rather than relying on your strengths and what you know you can do. You’ll learn more about yoursel when you challenge yoursel.” John seemed relieved that I didn’t give him a defnitive “Yes” or “No” on flm school. And then I add, “You’re young. The world is your oyster.” His slow emerging smile showed me that it was the frst time he had heard that phrase, but that he understood it completely. And so, this compilation o essays, lists, and articles by the authors o the world’s best books on flmmaking and screenwriting is NOT a mandate or people, young or old, to BE A FILMMAKER. Rather, it’s an invitation to explore your own thoughts, eelings, and ideas. And dream a little too: allow yoursel to think about the possibility o what it would mean to you to be a storyteller/flmmaker and perhaps what stories you would tell. I encourage you to read these articles and let your eelings wash over you. Share your avorite articles with others. Print out your avorite ones and post them by your laptop. Good luck on your journey. I you have any questions, contact us at Michael Wiese Productions and we’ll be happy to share more. Ken Lee Vice President, Michael Wiese Productions
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
OCCUPY HOLLYWOOD! MICHAEL WIESE lmmaker and publisher As people all over the globe challenge the underpinnings and practices o banks, stock brokers, and politicians, those o us in media can do our part by challenging the destructive and morally vacant — almost invisible by its pervasiveness — vast meta-program that drives the Hollywood mindset and its output. It’s clear to those who look deeply that the very quality o human lie on the planet is dependent upon storytellers (that’s right — you and me) to step up and transorm the story mythos o our community. Mythos is defned as “the characteristic spirit o a culture, era, or community as seen in its belies and aspirations.” Hollywood media is one o the largest U.S. exports. Embedded in so-called entertainment are American materialist values that are sold worldwide. More and more people all under its spell so that now billions o people in India, China, and A rica have been taught to crave the consumerist liestyle they have enjoyed or decades in American television programs and flms. It’s hard to untangle the mass o alse belies embedded in our current culture which sadly results rom a misreading o the true nature o reality. Most o us accept what we are told rather than examine things through our own experience. We have been taught not to trust ourselves. • To an extraterrestrial observer, the purpose o human lie would appear to be to sell things to one another. Perpetual consumerism drives over consumption and over-production. Planned obsolescence creates massive landflls. (50,000 tons o old electronics are dumped in India each year.) I the goal is to sell us more o everything, then the result is burgeoning personal debt, obesity, and an insatiable need to acquire more than your neighbor, creating alienation and competition rather than cooperation. Michael Wiese is a lmmaker and publisher. His recent feature documentaries are “personal sacred journeys” and include The Sacred Sites of the Dalai Lamas (Tibet), The Shaman & Ayahuasca (Peru), and Talking with Spirits (Bali). His company publishes the world’s premiere line of books on lmmaking (www.mwp.com) and on spirit, art, and culture (www.divineartsmedia.com).
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• The over-exploitation o natural resources has decimated vast rainorests, polluted oceans, diminished air quality and brought about the extinction o countless plants, fsh, and animals. The frst step is to admit that the way we perceive reality (and thus the actions we take) is completely askew and has ailed us completely. • We live in a world where the dominant orce is male-driven. It’s aggressive, competitive, war-mongering, resource exploiting, and based on “may the toughest guy win,” “get it while you can,” “me frst” philosophies. It is really any wonder why things are as they are? What’s missing is the emale-oriented mythos based on nurturing, cooperation, preservation, and compassion. In the male-dominated media industry hierarchy, only 17% o its executives are emale. (I the natural world utilized only 17% o its eminine energies, all lie orms would be extinct by now.) It’s no surprise that most flms, television, news, and commercials are violent, and sexual, and marginalize women in an attempt to convince us to buy more things we don’t need. Our diet o television news generates ear. Video games teach children killing skills and disregard or lie. Commercials and magazines have subverted sexuality (which can be a path to ecstatic divine states) into a kind o bait-andswitch game to og their products. • Humans are kept dea, dumb, and blind by a staggering number o poisonous messages blasted rom all orms o media, rom flms and televisions, to mobile phone texts and social networking. Human beings are persuaded that we are small, powerless, and ineectual. The media (which is 90+% controlled by hal a dozen international corporations) and governments have kept us in ear and distracted as a way to control us. We have become slaves caught in habitual behaviours linked to our electronic machines. None o this is news to you or me. We are aware we are deep in the muck. We know it and we try to keep it at bay, hoping and praying that there will be a technological solution. Surely, someone will invent something. Maybe there will be a new Apple App that will fx it all. We shirk responsibility because we eel powerless to do anything. That’s where the change must come. What is needed is a new paradigm and a remembrance to older paradigms rom the wisdom cultures o the world. We need new stories to tell, new visions to put orth, and awakened flmmakers to co-create them. This is where you come in. The new vision would: • Celebrate our capacity to be magnifcent, compassionate, and generous. • Understand that we are not separate beings, but exist as one living entity interconnected with the planet and each other. • Understand that we depend on plants or our existence (what they breathe out, we breathe in, and vice versa). Respect and cherish orests, streams, oceans, and clouds, and not exploit this part o Ourselves.
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The new vision would: • Understand that our link to the uture is through our children and not let Hollywood corrupt innocent minds and natural knowingness with corruptive and destructive media products. • Create alternate ways o learning that lead us back to a relationship with nature and an understanding o our true place in the world. The new vision would: • Welcome women to ully participate in the top decision-making positions in media, government, and all proessions, to regain a balance in solving the great challenges beore us. The new vision would: • Convert “weaponry” to “livingry.” Convert national deence budgets to “plowshares” to eliminate hunger, poverty, and homelessness. (The $500+ billion that the U.S. spends annually on the deence budget would make quite a dent.) I one person is hungry, then we are all hungry. The standard o living could be raised worldwide or everyone. But this transormation cannot come about through the old world paradigm in which most o us live and breathe. At the moment, we can’t see what needs to be done because it’s all around us. Our own belies have to frst be examined and changed. The flmmaker needs to make a commitment to transorm and connect with other parts o his or her own mind in a proound way so that he or she will not just be making the same old stu. The flmmaker needs to look to “the man in the mirror” and make a change, and in doing so the new mythos will arise. How does one do this? By having an experience o one’s own divine nature. By realizing that we are ar greater and more magnifcent than we have ever believed. By knowing that we are capable o greatness. This can be achieved in many ways: through meditation, prayer, yoga, Tai-chi, or plant teachers. This path is personal and private and does not ollow dogma or pre-digested religious doctrine. Its goal is a direct connection with the Divine, the Creator, Great Spirit, Mother Gaia, Supreme Intelligence, or whatever you wish to call it. When the flmmaker is transormed, expression is transormed, and in turn, the audience is transormed. It is the Divine Intelligence reaching through the interconnectedness o the flmmaker to the audience. Anyone who has been to Bali will have been amazed by the astounding creativity o the Balinese in everything they touch. It appears that they can all dance, paint, make oerings, and play music. They live lie spontaneously, cooperatively and in great appreciation. Why? Because they have cultivated taksu, which I understand to be “divine inspiration” or “divine energy.” Through their spiritual practices they connect with their gods and ancestors who provide the artist with taksu which gives them the creative power to deeply aect their audiences. We might think o it as a kind o “spiritual X-actor.” This is the subject o my next flm.
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Once flmmakers establish a connection as co-creators with the Divine Intelligence, the pathway to create a new world is clear. Filmmakers can obtain their taksu, through whatever practices work or them, and then return to share their discoveries about how to make the world work. They will fnd themselves aligned with the true nature o reality, which is that we are all connected: plants, animals, humans. Filmmakers and writers can stimulate this transormation by telling resh stories that envision a world that works or everyone. Things are already headed in this direction, so you will have a tidal wave o energy behind you. Audiences will awaken rom their slumber, realizing their own magnifcence and power, their connectedness, their natural knowing, and the result can be a global transormation. In my own flm work, I’ve explored ancient wisdom cultures with lineages that go back thousands o years and are still practiced today. I experienced the incredible humanity o the Balinese and their deep connection to the divine. In Tibet, even ater the invasion by China and the destruction o 90% o their monasteries, I experienced a rejuvenation and spiritual vitality in their cultural commitment, whose goal is no less than enlightenment or everyone. In Amazonian Peru, I studied with a shaman and discovered his amazing work with “plant teachers” that bring healing and entry into other realms and dimensions (which quantum physics has begun to map). The answers and solutions to our current crisis already exists among us. So in Occupying Hollywood, let’s make a new kind o flm, one that envisions a world that works or everyone, where humans, animals, and plants can rejoice in our mutual dependency and interconnectedness. Remember, we live in heaven here on earth — let’s not blow it.
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THE INSPIRING PROVIDENCE OF FILMMAKING TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
STANLEY D. WILLIAMS, Ph.D. author, The Moral Premise: Harnessing Virtue and Vice for Box Ofce Success available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Even in times o recession, year-ater-year, decade-to-decade, the flm business soars. Do you know why? The answers all have to do with the critical importance o storytelling to a culture, and why flmmaking ulflls that purpose better than anything else. Here are the top ten reasons why no job in the history o the world tops flmmaking.
Stanley D. Williams is an internationally award-winning lmmaker, writer, and instructor. During the past 30 years, he has produced, written, directed, shot, or edited over 400 projects.
1. Films Elevate. The best flms inspire both flmmaker and audiences to be better. There are two aspects o this inspiration. The frst is anchored in what Aristotle wrote about what makes a successul story: A convincing impossibility is better than an unconvincing possibility. When storytellers come up with a good high-concept story hook, they’re conceiving an improbably juxtaposition o story plot and characters. They’re only allowed one per story — it’s the lie that tells the truth. But that “reaching” or the “impossible” and then revealing it in a reasonable and convincing way, is what inspires and kicks society orward. Arthur Clark, the physicists and science fction author that inspired Stanley Kubrick’s 2001: A Space Odyssey conceived the “impossibility” o satellites decades beore they changed the world. And remember this exchange rom Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland : “There is no use trying,” said Alice; “one can’t believe impossible things.” “I dare say you haven’t had much practice,” said the Queen. “When I was your age, I always did it or hal o an hour a day. Why, sometimes I’ve believed as many as six impossible things beore breakast.” Such elevation o the soul connects with audiences, and spurs them on to greatness — to say nothing o the achievement o creating a flm in the frst place.
2. Films Educate. Experience is the best teacher. But how can everyone experience everything they need to know in order to survive?
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Through stories that expose us, and simulate physically dangerous situations without every truly endangering us. Movies do this especially well through the darkened theater and ully occupying our primary senses. Filmmakers learn more than 20 dierent visual, emotional, and moral “identifcation” techniques that put the audience inside a character’s body, mind and spirit. This allows the audience to experience the physical and moral dilemmas that lead to psychological responses, physical actions and ultimate consequences. To the extent that the flmmaker portrays this cause and eect truthully, the movie will resonate viscerally with audiences.
3. Filmmaking Expands. Filmmaking involves every physical and mental discipline known in the history o humanity. What disciplines? Well, we may think o the principal moviemaking disciplines like writing, directing, art direction, acting, and that all important lawyering and fnancing. But the best flmmakers are also students o fne art, language, sociology, psychologically, history, theology, and science. And is there room in the flm business or carpenters, painters, plumbers, tutors, and truck drives? You get the point. I any o these other disciplines are important to society, then flmmaking is the sum o the important o all the others. Oh, I orgot bedtime storytellers. 4. Films allow us to explore the universe. Good stories and movies give us a sense o Providence’s infnite knowledge. The Perfect Storm taught us about the rigors o commercial fshing, The Green Mile enlightened us to the horror o death row, and Amadeus revealed the politics o culture in 18th century Vienna. While it is true that movies rarely get all the acts right, they still tell us more than we could know otherwise. Filmmakers are able to condense into two hours what one person could never absorb in a lietime. Someone had to do a lot o research and the flmmaker had to employ his or her art to the n’th degree. In a movie we are treated to a glimpse o infnite knowledge presented as a unifed whole in a manner we could never conceive on our own. In this way, movies give us a preview o our destiny to know as Providence knows 5. Films allow us to explore the heart. Good stories and movies reveal the truth hidden in the hearts o our audience. Die Hard is about a vacationing New York cop who battles a team o terrorist-thieves in an L.A. ofce building on Christmas Eve. But what the movie is really about is how true love o a man or his wie dies hard, regardless o the obstacles, trials, and terrors, and arrogance. In short, he learns humility. That’s a simple way to state Die Hard ’s moral premise. Research indicates that the greater the validity, or truth, o the moral premise, the greater the movie’s popularity. That is because what is truly right and wrong is written on our hearts; and when our hearts resonate with the truth on the big screen, word-o-mouth promotion draws large audiences. 6. Films allow us to explore the mind. Good stories and movies allow us to know what is in a person’s heart. In a novel the author oten writes with an omniscient voice telling us what is motivating a character to do good or evil. In a movie, this is replaced with images o characters in private moments or voice-overs o their thoughts. (Remember, I said there were 20 some identifcation techniques.) In What Women Want , the audience, along with womanizer Nick Marhsall (Mel Gibson), hears the brutally honest thoughts on the hearts o the women in his lie. Movies can, thereore, reveal the good and evil at the core o a person’s heart and we see them as nature does.
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7. Films allow us to explore time. In Joan of Arc (Duguay, 1999) the flmmakers cut between fve dierent storylines hundreds o miles apart. Skillully we are treated to the convergence o the mystical Joan, her peasant parents, the scheming king, a vengeul bishop, and landhungry dukes. We are like supernatural voyeurs watching displaced storylines being woven together into a tapestry o intrigue and destiny. We eel privileged — even superior — as we witness the desperate struggling, the naive decisions, and the malice aorethought. We see everything, everywhere, as it happens, just like God does. 8. Films allow us to explore eternity. In eternity God perceives time in multiple dimensions, just as we see pieces on a game board. As we can see length, height and depth, so eternity perceives the past, present and uture. Movies access the times and events o eternity with ashbacks and ash-orwards. In Amistad , during the courtroom scenes, ashbacks are used with staggering clarity to reveal the atrocities that were inicted upon the slaves months earlier. To people in the courtroom the scene was described with words in the past tense. But to us, in the theater, the scenes were shockingly real and very much part o the present. Thus, movies give us a sense o eternity’s reality. 9. Storytelling allows the lmmaker to leave their mark on the world. Filmmakers must learn to not know a little about everything, but must nearly master everything. It is the ultimate high. The best moviemakers learn to be storytellers, photographers, graphic artists, composers, psychologists, lawyers, coaches and jugglers — and merge those diverse disciplines into a work o art that will last beyond their lietime. Teachers always learn more than their students. And so, flmmakers must become near-experts about the subjects they tell stories about, and must learn what it means to live a ulflled and purposeul lie. 10. Films Entertain. For all the reasons above, stories and movies, then, are entertainment on a cosmic scale. We can sense what it is like to have all knowledge, our souls can resonate with moral truth, we can clearly understand a person’s heart, we can at once witness events in dierent places, and we can experience the past and the uture as i it was now. Just as contemplative mystics seek dark corners in which to encounter Providence’s presence, so moviegoers seek dark theaters in which to encounter eternity’s attributes and sample their divine destiny. That is why movies are so popular and flmmaking is a labor o love.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
KATHIE FONG YONEDA author, The Script-Selling Game: A Hollywood Insider’s Look At Getting Your Script Sold and Produced — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Some civilizations predicted 2012 as the end o the world. Fortunately, it looks like 2012 is the beginning o some great opportunities — take a look at the ollowing ten reasons why it’s better than ever to be a player in “The Script-Selling Game.”
Technological Advances Technology has advanced in the past decade and with these strides, there’s a larger marketplace as the entertainment-hungry public watches flms, plays games, and enjoys web content on screens as large as six eet across to as compact as their cell phones.
Kathie Fong Yoneda has worked in lm and television for more than 30 years. She has held execu tive positions at Disney,Touchstone, Disney TV Anima tion, Paramount Pictures Television, and Island Pictures, specializing in development and story analysis of both live-action and animation projects. Kathie is an internationally known seminar leader on screenwriting and development.
And while most consumers use their electronics to “communicate,” entertainment “apps” or cell phones, computers, and tablets are a huge business, which guarantees that along with a perect-sized gadget to keep you in touch, there is plenty o content to keep you entertained as well. So, i you have a creative and technical skill set, writing content applications or creating “mobisodes” is a creative option to consider.
Improved Software Another “plus” or writers is the advancement in screenwriting ormat sotware. The thought o hand setting margins and “tabbing” over or dialogue, parentheticals, etc. was a nightmare or would-be screenwriters. But today’s sotware is light years ahead o when it was frst introduced! Now you have templates or eature flms and television genres, the ability to easily move scenes around, an index card eature or keeping track o changes and now you can do spell check in a language other than English, making scriptwriting so much easier!
Improved Resources One o the challenges o good storytelling is doing research. Writers can thank their lucky stars or Google, as well as more classes in scriptwriting/flmmaking in most mid-sized colleges. And i you
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are a writer holding down a job, quality online classes and webinars are available, including MWP Online Film School, Gotham Writers Workshop, and Writers University. With a quick “search,” writers can also locate consultants, articles, and columns by experts in almost any area — medicine, law, criminal procedure, etc. — to help you with your research.
Internet Content Screenwriters may also want to look into Internet content. Blogging on various subjects with a unique point o view can serve as a launch pad or flm writing careers — the most amous example being Julie & Julia. Web series are one o the astest-growing ways to gain recognition as a screenwriter. Even best-selling author Stephen King wrote a web series and over a dozen web series have been turned into TV series which have led to web writers now working on sta or developing properties or both the Web and television. Ross Brown’s book Byte-Sized Television will give you the “skinny” in this expanding arena. And or those writers pursuing documentaries, low-budget indie icks, or short flms, you can use the Internet or undraising with sites like Kickstarter, IndieGoGo, and Crowdrise.
Animation Since animated flms fnally got their own Oscar category, animation has been a hot area or screenwriters. With improvements in computerized animation programs, the cost o this entertainment ormat is more aordable. Writing or animation requires a much more visual, stylistic approach to storytelling, but or those who have that vision, animation can defnitely be much more than just Saturday morning cartoons! Take a look at Ellen Besen’s book, Animation Unleashed .
Oscar-Worthy Television In the last ew years, there has been an upturn in high-caliber projects on the smaller screen, obliterating the ormer “stigma” between flm and TV. Premiere flmmakers like Martin Scorsese, Glenn Close, Oliver Stone, Gus Van Sant, Kate Winslet, Neil Jordan and Steven Speilberg are crossing over rom the big screen to produce, direct and occasionally star in some projects that are not only Emmy-winning, but also Oscar-worthy! This could mean a larger submission pool! Reality Shows The astest-growing segment o television is Reality Shows. And while some shows appeal to the baser aspects o human interest, ratings prove this is no “passing ancy.” Reality shows are a rare blend o live flming, judicious editing and creative writing. Yes, I said “writing.” While most shows don’t put scripted dialogue into the mouths o contestants (or “housewives”!), there are hosts who need to ask questions or voiceovers that need to be written to bridge the ongoing action and provide the necessary structure and continuity or the unolding story. I recommend reading Troy DeVolld’s book Reality TV .
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Game Development Another expanding arena or screenwriters/creators is game development. In addition to games or Wii, Nintendo and PlayStation, the arena o online and mobile gaming has shown tremendous expansion. With the rise in technology and the synergistic approach to developing projects across dierent ormats (aka Trans-media), more games are becoming the oundation or animation or flm projects and, in turn, many flms are developing games in tandem using the same characters and same worlds.
Social Media Beore there was “social media,” there were not many writers groups. Through the likes o Facebook and Twitter, there’s an increase in writing groups. While writers in rural areas were restricted by distance, social media has broken down that barrier. Some writing groups are specifc — only screenwriting or only romantic fction, etc. But once you fnd (or start) a group that ocuses on screenwriting, you’ll fnd that members are open to sharing work and giving constructive criticism and encouragement… and let’s ace it, writing can be a lonely journey, but having others who help one another to move upward and orward makes it a trip worth taking!
Global Network Not long ago, screenwriting meant writing more or a North American market. With the advancement o communication technology, the world has gotten smaller. And as a result, our entertainment audience has expanded. Having taught workshops worldwide, I am constantly amazed at how much people around the world have in common. With more direct contact (via email and Skype) we gain a closer understanding o the human condition and the universal bonds that hold us together. Until recently, there were very ew online classes. Now there are thousands o them. Through my international seminars and my global reach through online classes, I now have a worldwide network. In turn, my writers also have a global community — they share their writing, help one another with research, give advice, and in most cases, have become valued riends and colleagues to one another. With our shrinking world, the writer now has an opportunity or a larger outlook as well as a more intimate perspective on projects or the global marketplace.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
CAROLE LEE DEAN author, The Art of Film Funding: Alternative Financing Concepts — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com You were born under a lucky star. My top 10 reasons on why it’s great to be a flmmaker now is because we are currently living in the time o the third greatest revolution in the history o mankind, the digital revolution. You don’t have to rent expensive 35mm cameras, shoot on flm, pay developing costs and pray your cameraman flmed the bridge when it blew up. You can buy a digital camera and editing equipment or under $10,000 and shoot a eature or under $50,000. Plus you are now able to raise money online rom people you don’t even know and may never meet! 2nd edition available July 2012
Crowdunding is excellent or startup fnancing. However, there are a ew tricks that you should know to be successul.
Carole Lee Dean runs one of the largest independent lm grants in the U.S., where she reads hundreds of applica tions a year. Carole created an industry with lm short ends and was the world’s largest tape recycling supplier in NYC, LA, and Chicago. She is the entrepreneurial producer of over 100 programs.
Let’s start with Sir Isaac Newton’s basic law: Every Action has an Equal and Opposite Reaction. This is the third o Sir Isaac Newton’s laws o physics. Here’s how it works. I you push on anything, it pushes back on you. That’s why i you lean against the wall, you don’t all through it. The wall pushes back on you as hard as you push on it, and you and the wall stay in place. It’s also a basic law o successul crowdunding. People who crowdund by sending out scores o emails to riends, creating brilliantly written newsletters, tweeting and posting on Facebook sites with similar concepts are sending out energy. That energy comes back to them in money, which is another orm o energy. Those who use this concept — “every action has an equal and opposite reaction” — are successul, those who don’t are not. IndieGoGo gives you a platorm to raise money; you still do the work. You set a time limit and a dollar goal that you bet you can create. It’s up to you to push on the energies available to get the requested amount o energy (money) to return to you. Your list o names in your database is your ace in the hole. How good is it? I it’s 300 names o riends and amily, you should create a better list beore you launch. This is your source o energy
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to attract your money. The statistics say that by the 7th newsletter you collect your peak dollar amount. Advertising always pays o through repetition; each contact draws your list closer to the flm. I tell my fscally sponsored flmmakers to create 3 to 5 beore they launch so they can use their campaign time chatting on social media to drive people to the IndieGoGo platorm to donate. Your newsletters need to tell me about the flm, give me heart-touching stories on the need or the flm, and in-depth studies o your characters. The biggest mistake is to think that people watch the entire trailer. Online statistics confrm our ears that 90% don’t see the end. You must put your “ask” at the beginning o the trailer. People make decisions quickly based on your beginning inormation. In my book, The Art of Film Funding , I state that “people give money to people, not to flms.” How you present yoursel and your flm is paramount to the donation. In your online trailer, you need to tell us who you are, why you are making the flm and touch our hearts. You can be fscally sponsored and give your donors a write o, they like to have this extra beneft. Be heartelt in your “ask.” People communicate rom their heart chakra. I always say “touch my heart and I open my pocketbook.” That is my 3rd law.
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
A LIFE IN FILM D.W. BROWN author, You Can Act! available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Should you be a flmmaker? Matt Damon said when someone asks him i they should go into acting he says “no” in the belie that i his discouragement is enough to stop them, then they don’t have the necessary drive or it anyway. Likewise, when someone told Je Goldblum they were going to miss their acting class because o a social event, he responded by saying: “This is antastic! You could have wasted years dabbling at this thing, but now you know you don’t have the commitment it takes or a career in show business.” So, whether or not anybody encourages or discourages you rom making a lie in flmmaking, the only thing that really matters is i you yoursel own the fre in the belly.
D.W. Brown has trained, directed, and coached hundreds of actors and led seminars on acting with Sean Penn, Benicio Del Toro, Anthony Hopkins, Dustin Hoffman, Susan Saradon, and Sydney Pollack.
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It can certainly seem at times like an ugly olly: a maddening, enraging, “plastic tunnel” flled with cowards and predators. But, I’ll tell you one thing… having been put through hell in the making o my flm On The Inside , I was about to shoot a scene, under tremendous pressure, and the only place or me on the set was in a tight space, crouched atop a fle cabinet, and there in my contorted position I had the distinct thought: THERE IS NO PLACE I WOULD RATHER BE. Because, ater all, in the vast majority o cases, tough times in flmmaking are just uptown problems. At one point, already jammed six ways to Sunday on the movie, I had a painul decision to make about whether to sacrifce one thing or another, and both options seemed unbearable to live with, and then my wie put my personal drama into perspective by saying: “Well, you’re not deciding between chemo or radiation.” You can have the most amazing, ulflling experiences, born o teamwork and a sense you’re contributing something to your time. Maybe even making art. And, what are you risking? That you might get disappointed? That you could get embarrassed? It’s like the guy who said he’d want to be the kind o doctor that does autopsies because, ater all, what’s the worst that can happen?
John Patrick John Patrick Shanle Shanley y said: said: “You might as well well do wh what at you you lo lov ve and and pay pay the pric pricee.” You will be betrayed. You will wil l be compromised. compromi sed. The frst frs t happens in i n every business busi ness and the second in every marr m arriage iage.. Usually, Usually, both in both. It will be a struggle str uggle with many m any tort tortured ured roads that lead to dead end endss that leav leavee you with nothing or your troubles except the experience. You ou’l ’lll be lied to, stonewalled, condescended to, and crapped on. But, or those times when a little bit o a vision you had comes through on screen, or when something you never conceived o appears out o the ether because you created the opportunity or it, you might then be willing wil ling to sacrifce a lot… suer su er a lot. You might be will willing ing to call cal l yoursel a flmmaker f lmmaker no matter what anybody says.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMA FILMMAKER KER TOP TEN REASONS
JOSHUA FRIEDMAN author, Getting It Done available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com In times o economic hardship, the world turns to one group o people to escape the trials o the real world… Filmmakers. Toiling day in and day out to transport the public away rom their issues and into i nto a world o their own creation. Here are 10 10 Reasons why it’s it’s a great time to be a flmmaker:
Joshua Friedman is a working production assistant assist ant in i n New Ne w Yor ork k City. Over the past three years Mr. Mr. Friedman has worked on Law & Order:: Criminal Intent , Order Fringe,, Gossip Girl, Fringe Girl, Royal Pains, Pains, Kings Kings,, and 30 Rock , as well as many feature lms including Hancock , The Taking of Pelham Pelha m 123,, Salt , The Adjust123 ment Bureau, Bureau, and The Beaver .
1. Back in the day, day, camera equipment equipmen t was expensive, bulky bulky,, and available only to those who could aord it. Nowadays with the addition o digital technology, anyone can create a flm. Cameras are everywhere, in phones, in computers, even in pens! Lately small handi-cams that are on the market oer great alternatives to Large Panavision cameras. 2. Due to to the world world’’s hunger or creative creative entertain enter tainment, ment, there are more than 27 production productionss currently cur rently shooting in New York alone. That’s plenty o work to go around. 3. As a flmmak flmm aker er you hav havee access to some o the coolest places places in the world. I’ve sat in the UN meeting room, napped in a Riker’s jail cell, drive driven n a subwa subway y train, and and even even dropped dropped a penny penny rom the the torch o the Statue o Liberty… How awesome is that? 4. Certain locations come come with certain perks; i yo you u shoot shoot in a shop, usually they will oer a discount to the crew. Be it a rare bookstore, a high-end shoe store, or a hot club, you get VIP access when you’re with the crew. It’s a way o giving back. 5. At this point in flm history histor y, a lot o change is about to happen. With the digital age and new orms o media being created everyday, flmmakers have opportunities to interact with their audiences in more creative ways than ever. 6. Free ood! ood! As a flm flmmaker maker you you are on on set roughly 60-80 hours per week. It’s nice that someone is always there with a table ull o ood to satisy your belly! 7. With the new new Form Formss o Media such as social network sites, a ash sh players, and YouT ouTube, ube, someone someone in i n Uganda Uga nda can watch something someth ing created by an amateur flmmaker in Alaska with the click o a button.
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8. You have have no time to spend the money you you make! make! Being a flmm f lmmaker aker means that you will spend a bulk o yo your ur time on set or thinking think ing about being on set. I this is the case ca se,, you you will wil l be too busy to spend the money you earn on the job! Who said flms don’t save money? 9. When times time s are tough, it’s it’s always nice to have have a amily am ily to support suppor t you. Worki orking ng on a set is i s lik li ke seeing your amily ami ly every day day.. You eat, sleep, and breathe with these people or the period o your given project. They are one o the greatest perks to the job. 10. It’s un. Where else on earth can you go to work to legally blow something up or chase someone down the street? When is it OK to watch a fght without breaking it up? How oten do you get to see people doing childish things in a comedy frst hand? The experiences are always new, interesting, and incredibly un.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
CAROLE M. KIRSCHNER author, Hollywood Game Plan available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Reasons one through ten are really only one reason and it’s a simple one: Today, because o rapidly evolving technology you can give yoursel your own big “show business break.” I you’re a flmmaker today you don’t need to wait or anything. You don’t need to wait to start making a movie and you don’t need to wait to be discovered in order to get your work seen by millions o people. From the early days o moviemaking there have been two main barriers keeping unknowns on the outside o the business looking in, waiting or that once in a lie time opportunity o having an agent or studio boss fnd them and give them a chance to demonstrate their cinematic brilliance. Those two barriers were access to production and access to distribution.
available March 2012
As a successful senior-level Hollywood executive Carole M. Kirschner was involved in developing Murphy Brown, Designing Women, Steven Spielberg Presents Tiny Toon Adventures, Reboot , and the original La Femme Nikita series, and now develops and runs innovative entertainment industry training programs.
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In terms o production, actors, cameras, crews, lighting and sound equipment and stages were prohibitively expensive; way beyond the reach o typical aspiring flmmakers. Regular olks with a creative vision couldn’t get their hands on the millions o dollars it took to produce a movie, regardless o how worthy their creative vision was. Moviemaking was or a rarifed ew; or people who “knew people.” These power players held the purse strings and decided, oten arbitrarily, who they were going to loosen them or; which lucky soul they were going to give that all important break to. Today or the price o a prosumer * camera, microphone and lights you can produce a quality flm. Add your talented riends as actors and crew and you have the potential or a video that goes viral or a movie that takes the top prize at independent flm estivals. [*Prosumer is a word oten used about cameras (or other gear) that is targeted or sale to people on the borderline between being consumers and proessionals. You can fnd a prosumer camera starting at $1,000. You could also use a camera that costs under $100 to make a YouTube video that’s seen by millions o viewers.]
Distribution is the other old school barrier that’s been destroyed. It used to be i your flm wasn’t distributed by a studio and shown in a movie theater no one saw it. Well maybe your amily saw it i they had a private screening room… yeah right. Without a studio or major distributor you might as well not have made a flm. But today, even i you never talk to an agent or studio executive, you can put your video online and i the buzz is strong enough your audience could be in the millions. I your movie grabs top honors at a prestigious flm estival, studios and distributors will come knocking. And you didn’t even have to “take a meeting” to produce your flm. Even i you don’t know one person in Hollywood and your fnances are laughably small, i your talent is huge you can give yoursel your own big Hollywood break. What are you waiting or?
carole m. kirschner » 25
WHY TRY TO BE A FILMMAKER? TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
HOWARD SUBER author, The Power of Film and Letters To Young Filmmakers available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Dear Howard, My parents wanted me to choose a proession — any proession — and they would have been happy. I had the grades and the educational background, but oh, no; I didn’t listen to my olks. Mr. Genius here decided to write and direct flms instead. For about ten minutes, I considered law, medicine, and other competitive proessions, beore I opted or insanity. As it turns out, flmmaking is much more rigorous and competitive than law or medicine. I you pass the bar, you get to practice law, and continue doing so or the rest o your lie. Ditto or med school; you’re set or lie. We poor day laborers in the flm feld are never set, and the competition is cutthroat. Success is so rare in our feld, I’m beginning to wonder why anyone tries. Dear Benjamin, One o my avorite quotes comes rom Mahatma Gandhi: “I proceed with no expectation of success, and no fear of failure.”
available Feb. 2012
It’s an appropriate attitude or anyone who wants to change the world, discover something new, or create any kind o meaningul art.
For 46 years, Howard You’re right; the odds are against success. It’s possible to go to Las Suber has taught Vegas, put a dollar in a slot machine, and win $5,000,000 dollars. generations of screen- It’s possible to buy a $1 lottery ticket the next time you get gas and writers, directors, win $40,000,000. It’s possible to write your frst screenplay in three producers, and lm weeks and sell it to a studio or a million bucks and live on the proft scholars at UCLA’s participation payments or the rest o your lie. celebrated lm school, The operative word here is “possible.” I any o these miracles occurs, and his former you can be sure your good ortune will be instantly reported and the students are today entire country will become aware o it. creating lms and television programs and teaching lm studies throughout the world.
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What you will not fnd reported as news are stories about all the people who put their mortgage money on Vegas gambling tables and lost it all, or the people who spent every spare dollar they had on their state lottery and got maybe $40 back during twenty years o playing. Nor will you read about the countless number o people who waited on tables, held boring jobs, or did drudge work way below their capabilities while they wrote screenplays, directed short flms, or took endless development meetings with agents, managers, producers, junior executives and maybe had a number o “sure things” that never actually made it onto the big screen. The odds are always against the artist. But it is the same with people who train to become proessional athletes, start up their own business, engage in scientifc research, or participate in any other high-risk activity. I you want something that pays great rewards, you can be sure that many other people want it as well, and the greater the competition, the more the odds are against any individual. Some people engaged in high-risk pursuits do manage to succeed. I’m not just talking about success in the eyes o the world. I am also talking about that equally important idea o success in your own eyes. What keeps many creative people going is not just the positive eedback they receive rom others but the negative eedback rom within their own heads that tells them what they’ve done isn’t enough, that they are capable o doing better, that they haven’t yet ulflled their potential. Some people consider the pursuit o nearly impossible goals to be irresponsible. I consider it one o the most admirable traits o our species.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO WRITE FOR TELEVISION TOP TEN REASONS
PAMELA DOUGLAS author, Writing the TV Drama Series — 3rd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Opportunity is spelled TELEVISION because today’s TV series are:
1. T = Timely TV is ast. I you’re on top o your writing crat and can deliver a script quickly, you’ll be able to deal with what’s happening in the world and on your mind right now. Current subjects — our hopes, ears, and pressing issues — reach your viewers with immediacy. You’ll also have the satisaction o seeing your work on screen mere weeks ater writing “The End.”
Pamela Douglas is an award-winning screenwriter with numerous credits in television drama. She was honored with the Humanitas Prize and won nomina tions for Writers Guild Awards and Emmys. Twice her shows also won awards from American Women in Radio and Television.
2. E = Energized Excitement and a sense o exploration inuses much o TV. Long gone are the days when TV was limited to 3 networks with their predictable and imitative shows. O course they’re still around, as are some mind-numbing series and reality shows that are “cheap” in every sense o the word. But anyone entering TV today can fnd new outlets on cable and new media, and a hunger or resh material. Despite the dross that also flls the airwaves, a sense o growth abounds. 3. L = Long Never mind the hal hour or hour length o episodes. TV series oer the largest story-telling arena in history. Successul shows may have 100 hours o characterization and plot development and some shows have gone on or more than a decade. Compared to TV, ancient Greek plays that lasted or several days are what we’d call mini-series. 4. E = Entertaining The audience or television shows keeps growing despite doomsayers who thought new media would wipe it out. That’s because people want to be entertained in their homes by are they can relate to. At the end o a hard day or in hard times, people want to kick back and watch eective stories told with casts they care about. 5. V = Vigorous The amount o writing and production needed each television season is difcult to grasp i you include all the venues — basic cable, premium cable, Internet, mobile, web and other o-broadcast
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shows, as well as local and international projects. And behind what is visible on screens are armies supporting each venture including multiple sta writers and writers who are creating pilots or new series. People who work in television have to work hard to keep up, and that’s a sign o the potency o the medium.
6. I = Internet-savvy All current shows have applications online. These may include webisodes, mobisodes, interactive games, blogs, an-sites, graphic novels, a social networking presence and anything else you can imagine. Beyond the advantage o staying in touch with viewers and promoting their series, the expanding online presence creates potential jobs: someone has to write all that. As the line between TV and computer screens continues to dissolve, and both TV and Internet delivery systems cross-pollinate, both will continue to grow. 7. S = Salable The market or theatrical eature scripts has shrunk and many ormer fnancial sources have backed away rom independent flms. But excellent TV pilots that are proessionally crated are launching writing careers and occasionally being bought or new series. For those who approach flmmaking as a personal art orm, or who have the unds to make their own movies, a career writing TV series may not seem appealing. For everyone else, TV is the place to work. 8. I = Innovative Any genre that has ever existed in any time or place can be ound among a thousand TV channels. Beyond the plethora o choices, creative re-interpretation is challenging prototypes on HBO, Showtime, AMC and elsewhere. Franchises like western, medical, legal and amily dramas are new again in attitude, narrative style and characterization. Though the re-hashed action-hero tropes that are amiliar in big movies do still appear in places like the Syy channel and on some network shows, the general trend is towards extending and bending old ranchises. 9. O = Omnipresent In 2010, the debut o AMC’s series The Walking Dead was seen simultaneously in 120 countries in Europe, Latin America, Asia and the Middle East, carried in 35 languages. Meanwhile, Americans viewed the show across all platorms including on-air, online, on demand, and mobile. That doesn’t even count subsequent DVDs or web streaming. And that’s just one show, and only on basic cable. Around the globe, the most-watched show is House. Law & Order is being made in many languages throughout Europe. Currently, China is re-making Little House on the Prairie into Little Yurt on the Prairie . No kidding. So i you as a writer really want to reach people, TV (with its Internet apps) is the way. 10. N = Now For groundbreaking, insightul literature, the most innovative stories and characters, the largest reach, and the bravest content in shows like The Wire , this is the time to write or TV. More opportunities exist than ever beore because o the multiple outlets and the need or product. First, polish your crat. Then i you have contemporary stories to tell, the time to go or it is now.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
PEN DENSHAM author, Riding the Alligator available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com I once had the privilege o seeing Frank Capra ( It’s a Wonderful Life ) speak. What struck me was his giant enthusiasm or our “young medium” (as he put it). He said we were yet to see our Michelangelos and Leonardos grow rom this ar t orm. I have always loved embracing technology and am truly excited and amazed to see the cost o making theatrical-quality imagery reduced to almost nothing, thanks to being able to shoot on semi-pro stills cameras and being able to edit at home on proessional quality systems like Final Cut Pro.
Pen Densham is an accomplished writerdirector-producer. Pen created the story for the revisionist Robin Hood: Prince of Thieves and co-wrote and produced the screenplay with his Trilogy partner John Watson. He wrote and directed Moll Flanders for MGM, as well as writing and directing Houdini for TNT. Pen and Trilogy have produced 14 feature lms.
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We are now seeing movies going into the theaters that have cost literally just thousands o dollars to make — and grossing tens o millions. I you can imagine it, you can probably capture it with the new technologies. Nothing holds you back now, other than your creative energy and your ability to sell your vision. I have never been one to be bound by rules, and people who read my book, Riding The Alligator , know this. I believe each o us is a unique instrument and the best goal in lie is to fnd the tune that you’re destined to play, that makes you happy, and that we call a “voice.” With this incredible economic change in the cost o making quality flm, it is now possible to explore your flmic creativity, enabling you to experiment and discover the most emotionally powerul way to apply your talent. I frmly believe we are going to see those Leonardos and Michelangelos Capra spoke about, thanks to this change. While the studio system is building bigger and better dinosaurs, the truly creative ones are the mammals o the uture — those smaller creatures that will grow to fnd new ways o entertaining human beings, while the corporate machines get lost in their gigantism.
Moviemaking is ast coming to a place where individuals and small groups can use the Internet to sell their vision, and revolutionary sales systems are coming that will enable individuals to sell to a world market at almost no cost. I believe things like YouTube and Kickstarter are only the primordial soup. I what you create appeals to you, there’s a chance that you will be able to fnd a market o a like-minded audience somewhere out there. Joseph Campbell once said that we need new mythologies to interpret our spiritual understanding o ourselves. My mantra is: write rom the heart, create what scares you, fght to go beyond the rules that others lay, and you will grow, as a human being, as your creativity grows. You will also enjoy the passion that will help you overcome the obstacles to be able to share with others the discoveries you have made. There has truly never been a time like this in humankind’s history. This digital age is be yond what Gutenberg’s invention o The Book did or the reedom o ideas, by the power o thousands.
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE ARTICLE
IT’S A WONDERFUL LIFE MICHAEL HALPERIN author, Writing the Second Act and Writing the Killer Treatment available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Starvation increases endorphins, fres adrenalin through the blood stream, and ups the creative ante. I you believe that then thrust yoursel yo ursel into into the ente entertainment rtainment business/art/insan business/art/insanee asylum. asylum. Since the birth o the motion picture industry in the latter part o the 19th century, dreamers have yearned or that moment when their names ickered briey on the screen — screenplay by, written by.. Fantasies by Fantas ies o accolades ollowed only to be drowned dr owned out by reality realit y that asks, “So what have you done lately?” Lawyers lose cases and continue working. Doctors ail to cure patients and continue to have successul practices. Writers ail and they’re out o work. The entertainment industry is obsessed by the outward nature o personalities. I someone announces that they are the greatest g reatest writer or the greatest g reatest director director,, agents and producers who have doubts o their own may believe, and thus other flms, television tele vision programs, program s, novels, novels, drop o the end o the cli cli into a black abyss o orgotten stories. But the magic exerts magnetic power. Evoking passion, laughs, screams o horror, or a unique emotional vision represents an ageless need to explain human nature and the world.
Michael Halperin worked as an execu tive story consultant for 20th Century-Fox television and on staff with Universal Televis elevision. ion. He has ha s written and/or produced numerous television episodes.
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“There is in writing the constant joy of sudden discovery, of happy acciden ac cident t .” — H. L. Mencken
WHY IT’S A GREAT GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMA FILMMAKER KER TOP TEN REASONS
JUDITH WEST WESTON ON Director’ss Intuition author, Directing Actors and The Film Director’ available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1. The number one reason is the same now as it has always been and always will be — that you must. That you have a story to tell and you must tell it. 2. Because you are a curious person — or a person who understands pain — or a person with an inectious sense o humor. 3. Because you care enough to spend a ridiculous amount o time on the preparation o every detail, and you have the energy to commit you y ourr who whole le he heart art to to ev every proj project ect.. 4. You have a great grea t script. scr ipt. (Here I must take a little lit tle tangent t angent with my concern about people who decide to write a script because they want to have something to direct. The reason to write a script is because you y ou ha hav ve a sto story ry to te tell, ll, not not be becau cause se you you ne need ed a script script to dir direct ect..) 5. Because you love the technology o flmmaking. And because you lovee actors. I you don’ lov don’t love the technical side o flm flmmak making, ing, then do theater (theater is great too). I you don’t love actors, then I think you should go into some other line o work altogether. 6. Because flmmaking and every kind o storytelling are great ways to learn about the world and other people, and about yoursel.
Judith Weston has taught her Acting for Directors workshop for over fteen years throughout the U.S., Canada, and Europe. Her best-selling book, Directing Actors,, which is on Actors the required reading lists of major lm schools, is used ex tensively by working working directors around the world..
7. Because there is so much going on in the world. We need stories — to uplit, uplit, ree reect, ct, shin shinee a light — to see see, hear hear,, and ee eell alternati alternativ ve points o view. Movies can connect people, and help us understand someone else’s pain or struggle. 8. Audiences need drama on the screen, because ordinary day-today lie can be draining and tiring. And they need comedy, because people need to laugh. 9. The The current cur rent technology gives you more responsibili respon sibility ty or your own own work. Filmmaking is cheaper and easier than it ever has been. Distributi tr ibution on platorm plat ormss are more avai available lable to everyone ever yone.. You don’ don’t have to waste your time complaining that no one gave you an opportunity — you you can mak makee opp opportun ortunity ity you yoursel rsel.. 10. Because you can’ can’t do anything anything else. el se. I you can think think o anything else to do with your lie — do that. But i, at the end o the day, there is nothing else you can stand to do except make movies, movies, then make them.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMA FILMMAKER KER TOP TEN REASONS
ELLEN BESEN author, Animation Unleashed available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Reason 25: You ou’’re nev never er bor bored! ed! There’ There’s alw always ays another story to tell or idea to explore explo re.. And each one will wil l giv g ivee you new challenges chal lenges to solve — lik li ke snowakes, no two stories are exactly alike. Reason 24: It’ss more un It’ un than not being a flmmaker fl mmaker..
Ellen Besen is a former faculty member of Sheridan College’s School of Animation and has been working in the eld for over 35 years. Her career includes directing award-winning lms for the National Film Board of Canada, broadcast work on the topic of anima tion for CBC Radio, and lm curating.
Reason 23: The new technology makes flmmaking accessible and aordable to all, whether you want to pursue it proessionally or as a hobby. Reason 22: The flm estival system is a remarkably democratic gateway into the world o proessional flmmaking. I you can get a flm made (see Reason Reason 23) 23 ), you can get it out there with no need to convince a middle-man (or middle-woman) that it’s worth submitting. This doesn’t guarantee that your flm will be accepted, but you have as good a shot at it as anyone. Reason 21: Having a lie is way overrated. Reason 20: With a little imagination, there are no limits on what is possible to do in flm, especially i you take the time to learn animation and hybrid flmmaking techniques. Film’s ability to bring even the wildest ideas to ruition has never been stronger. Reason 19: Even i what you really aspire to is scriptwriting, learning to actually make a flm is a good idea. Gaining hands-on understanding o how flm is made will only make you a better writer or this medium. And you won’t have to wait around or someone else to pick up your script to see your work on the screen. Reason 18: You can wo work rk with a group and hav havee the immense i mmense pleasur pleasuree o a collaborative creative experience.
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Reason 17: Filmmaking gives you the opportunity to use a wide range o skills. Just as a prism takes all the color strands o light and ocuses them into one ully integrated white light, flm takes your various talents —acting, directing, painting, music, dance, photography, whatever — and pulls them together into one coherent whole. Reason 16: You get to be part o a passionate community o like-minded colleagues. Pretty good parties too. Reason 15: You can work solo and put your personal stamp on every rame. Reason 14: The Internet is an even more democratic gateway than the estivals or getting your work seen. You’ll need to master some skills to make the best o it, but with a little eort, opportunity and your potential audience await! Reason 13: Film is versatile — you can be an abstract or experimental flmmaker; a documentarian (animated documentary is an exciting, relatively new feld); a eature flmmaker, a producer o commercial shorts or……..? Reason 12: Film is versatile — you can make a flm which is 16 hours long or 10 seconds long or anything in between. Reason 11: Film is versatile — you can make a flm entirely o close ups or entirely o extreme wide shots. You can use very little action and lots o dialogue to tell your story or lots o action and almost no words at all. You can tell an intimate story or give us the broad sweep o a war o the worlds. Reason 10: Or anything in between. Reason 9: Like alchemy, like good magic, flm has the capacity to make the internal, external; the invisible, visible; the abstract, concrete — pretty cool, eh? Reason 8: Did I… Reason 7: Mention that… Reason 6: Having… Reason 5: A…
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Reason 4: Lie… Reason 3: Is… Reason 2: Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay… Reason 1: Overrated? (and that you never get bored…) It’s great having no lie, but on the other hand, you always have something to do. I you get the bug, you really are never bored — and even though yes you do have to give up some social lie to get your work done — there is huge satisaction in eeling like you are using everything you’ve got to make it happen. The new technology has made a lot o things possible that were hard or impossible beore, like making a flm — even a long one — single handed — talk about personal vision… On the other hand, a lot o flm work is collaborative and i you can get a good chemistry going, this can be the most un you’ll ever have. You have to learn how to check your ego at the door though, otherwise it can be tough. Computers do all the boring stu now (we wish). You can work with people rom anywhere in the world rom the comort o your home. People really do this and it’s great un. And then when you travel you can visit all your co-workers.
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
YOU ARE NOT ALONE LINDA SEGER author, And the Best Screenplay Goes To… and Writing Subtext available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Screenwriting, like any art orm, is both an art and a crat. Artists have a unique point o view, an original approach and slant toward their subject matter, a specifc perspective that defnes them. It’s the artistic voice, and it marks greatness. The crat side o screenwriting is the methods and techniques writers use to shape and express their art. A writer good at the crat o writing knows how to structure and ocus the story, how to use story and character and visuals to thread a theme, how to strengthen and dimensionalize the characters and make sure they have a reason to be in the story. Crat can be learned. Art can be developed. Thirty years ago, when I entered the flm industry, no one seemed to know much about the art or crat o screenwriting. True, there were great flms, but many o them came rom writers who had learned their crat through novel writing and playwriting. The general philosophy was, “just write and nobody knows anything anyway and there’s really nothing to know. You either have talent or you don’t!” There was one book published about screenwriting, Syd Field’s Screenplay. That was it!
Linda Seger is an internationally known story analyst with clients throughout the world. Her best-selling list of books include Making a Good Script Great, From Script to Screen, and Creating Unforgettable Characters.
The screenwriter has ar more help and support now. They aren’t working in a vacuum, re-inventing and having to fgure everything out rom scratch every time they start a new story. There’s a large community o writers in every city and town. Many o them are willing to support and nurture and help ellow writers. One statistic tells us that writers with support networks such as writers groups have more success. When I began in the flm industry in 1980, there were only a ew colleges and universities with screenwriting classes. Now there are more than 2,000. When I began, there were only a ew seminars. Now countries throughout the world bring in speakers to speak about the art and crat o screenwriting. There are now hundreds o books on the market that serve as resources or many dierent aspects o screenwriting. Here’s a very
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partial list o some o the resources writers can fnd — no matter whether they’re beginners or experienced writers: I you need to learn to ormat a script, you can buy books that will teach you the ins and outs o setting up the script page, writing the montage, writing description and dialogue. These include books by David Trottier, Haag and Cole, and Christopher Riley. Formatting no longer has to be a mystery. O course, you can also buy Final Drat or other ormatting programs that will do it correctly or you. Basic screenwriting books abound including books by Syd Field, Michael Hauge, John Truby, Robert McKee, Jennier Grisanti, Pilar Alessandra, Christina Kallas, Yves Lavandier and my book, Making a Good Script Great . I you want to create great characters, Dr. Rachel Ballon has written several books on the psychology o characters and the psychology o the writer. Dara Marks has written a book on the Transormational Arc, which is also discussed in my books. I you wonder whether there’s an underlying myth to your story that can help strengthen it, Pamela Jaye Smith, Christopher Vogler, and Sarah Beach have all written on this topic. You want to explore specifc genres? John Vorhaus and Ellen Sandler discuss comedy. Neil Hicks has a book on the Thriller and one on the Action-Adventure. John Truby has audiotapes on writing or a number o dierent genres. You can learn about writing or Reality TV rom Troy DeVolld, or about writing or television rom Madeline DiMaggio and Pam Douglas. I you’re struggling with dialogue, there are several books on the topic — Penny Penniston’s book on Talk the Talk and my book, Writing Subtext , were both published in the last year. You want to write a Short Film? Claudia Johnson and Devorah Cutler have books on the subject, which come out o their work on award-winning shorts. You’re interested in the spiritual dimension o screenwriting? Stan Williams and Derek Rydall both have books on the topic. My book, Making a Good Writer Great has a chapter on spirituality, as well as works edited by Barbara Nicolosi. I you’re a more experienced writer and are delving into non-traditional structures, you can read Linda Aronson’s books. Or you can get an introduction to non-traditional structure rom my book o Advanced Screenwriting . You’re ready to market your script? Kathie Fong Yoneda, Rona Edwards, Michele Wallerstein, Cynthia Whitcomb, and Monika Skerbelis can all help you. As a result o books, seminars, and just plain hard work, I’ve noticed that the quality o even frst scripts is signifcantly higher than it was years ago. Writers are recognizing the necessity o learning about screenwriting. As writers have learned how to shape relatively simple stories, they are writing stories about more unusual subject matter and with more unusual structures. The art orm o screenwriting is expanding. Screenwriting is a complex art orm — neither simple to learn nor simple to maintain as a career. But there’s been no better time or emerging or experienced writers to have the resources to support and encourage their work, so they can become a good, perhaps a great writer, with a good and maybe a great script.
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WHY IT’S GREAT TO BE A SITCOM WRITER TOP TEN REASONS
SHELDON BULL author, Elephant Bucks available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Elephant Bucks I titled my book Elephant Bucks because TV sitcom writers make huge money. Have you ever made huge money? Like thirty-thousand dollars a week? I you think making all o that money sounds great, well, you haven’t even started thinking yet. You y frst-class every time, not just on upgrades. You stay in swanky hotels that have spas and doormen. You own a house with a swimming pool and more rooms than you know what to do with. You can buy a Lotus. You can buy a girlriend. A pretty girlriend. A pretty girlriend who will have sex with you without you begging. Think about it. I you’re a successul emale sitcom writer, you can buy a pet husband, a mild-mannered Labrador retriever in cotton Dockers who will pick up your laundry and make dinner and give oot rubs, and only want sex when you want it. Think about that. Sheldon Bull has been earning Elephant Bucks as a professional television sitcom writer, producer, and director for 30 years. His career has included writing for M*A*S*H; developing, writing, and producing the hit CBS sitcom Newhart ; writing and producing the hit ABC sitcom Coach; and producing, writing, and directing the hit ABC sitcom Sabrina - The Teenage Witch.
Writers Rule Writers are the slumdogs o the movie world. They are hated, maligned, abused and misused. I you’re in Beverly Hills, and you see a gaunt, disheveled man walking alone, mumbling incoherently to himsel and looking suicidal, that person is undoubtedly a movie writer. In TV, however, the writer is king. I you see a short, bald, badly dressed man with no muscle tone waiting at the valet stand or his Maserati with a beautiul blonde on his arm, that man is probably a sitcom writer. Paid To Misbehave When you were in school, i you couldn’t sit still or stop mouthing o to your teachers or to larger kids, then you were born to write comedy or TV. You can mouth o all you want in a sitcom writers’ room and nobody sends you to detention or beats you up. Well, actors beat you up sometimes, but they do it verbally, which is painul, but not nearly as painul as getting hit in the jaw. The rest o the time you get to be a smart-ass all day long and studios pay you giant sums o money or it.
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Life As Do-Over James L. Brooks, the writer and director, once said that the great thing about working in TV is that every Monday you get to start over. There are ew do-overs in lie. Marry the wrong person, buy a time-share, or shag the nanny and you’ll likely be paying or your mistake or years. In sitcom, everything starts over on Monday. Last week’s terrible episode is orgotten and the week ahead oers the chance o total redemption. A clean slate every week is a much more humane way to live. A Class That Is All Clowns There are no serious, sober, grown-up people in a sitcom writer’s room. Sitcom writers can be smart, witty, irreverent, and unpredictable. But they are not responsible adults, and that makes them more un to hang out with than any other group o humans you will ever meet. Ever spend ten minutes with a lawyer? Then you know what I’m talking about. Lackeys Admit it, you’ve always dreamed o having a lackey — someone who did your bidding happily and instantly without you having to do a lot o explaining or even polite asking? Sitcom writers have lackeys. These lackeys are called Production Assistants, which is a nicesounding term that means slave. They get you lunch. They pick up your dry cleaning. They get your car washed. All they ask in return is that you read their terrible spec script. A small price to pay or slavery. Chinese Food I you live in New York City you can have Chinese ood delivered to your apartment whenever you want it, but i you live in Los Angeles, or almost anywhere else in the world outside o China, getting good Chinese ood delivered can be a hassle. Maybe there isn’t a good Chinese restaurant in your neighborhood. Delivery o anything in Los Angeles takes at least orty-fve minutes. But i you’re a sitcom writer, then hot, delicious Chinese ood is brought to the Writers’ Room nearly every day. You might not think that having Chinese ood available whenever you want it is important. But it is. Crashing The “In” Crowd TV sitcom writers get invited to Hollywood parties, restaurant openings, and movie screenings. We get house tickets to shows and great seats at ball games. Maybe the beautiul people who eel entitled to these perks don’t really want us there, but many o them are working or us so they have to invite us. We show up in the wrong clothes, we eat and drink too much, we mouth o and ruin the good times o the elite and privileged. I love that about us. A Really Long Vacation The TV production season ends in February and doesn’t start again until June. That’s three months o vacation. You can go to Hawaii or two months and drink Mai Tais all day every day. You can go to New York and drink everything. You can go to Italy, i you care about places like that. You can go to Vegas, where the opportunities or mischie are endless. Ater
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you’ve been to all o those places, you still have two months o vacation let to just watch TV. The only down side to these three months o is i you’re dating an actress. For her, it’s pilot season, and she’ll be nervous. What do you do? You leave her to her auditions and go to Arizona or Spring Training.
Show Time Doing a show in ront o a studio audience is un. You’re the hip guy or girl on the oor who is in charge o everything. Some jerk or pretty girl rom your high school may show up in your audience someday, see you talking to the star, and eel really stupid or how badly they treated you.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
MICHELE WALLERSTEIN author, Mind Your Business: A Hollywood Literary Agent’s Guide To Your Writing Career available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Being a flmmaker is not only a great job, but it is an important career choice. So many great flms have been able to uplit the spirits o their audiences as well as enlighten them. Here are some more reasons that it is a wonderul and signifcant time to be a flmmaker now:
Michele Wallerstein was a literary agent for 25 years and currently works as a screenplay, novel, and career consultant. She helps writers make their work marketable to the Hollywood community and/ or the publishing world. She is a guest speaker at seminars, pitch festivals, lm festivals, and writers’ groups all across the United States.
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1.
You will be able to unleash the creative genie in your soul.
2.
You will be able to inuence a tremendous amount o people.
3.
You will be able to entertain people whose lives are difcult.
4.
You will be able to share your thoughts and eelings.
5.
You will be able to share important inormation.
6.
You will be able to fnd out just how capable you are.
7.
You will be able to continue to grow and learn.
8.
You will be able to meet and enjoy many creative people.
9.
You will be able to work with many intelligent and quickwitted people.
10. You will have the time o your lie. Filmmakers and creative people o all arenas are blessed to be able to live a lie flled with meaning. They can ollow their calling instead o fnding a job. It’s a great way to live.
WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
ERIC EDSON author, The Story Solution: 23 Actions All Great Heroes Must Take available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Let’s just say it ain’t or the aint o heart. Filmmakers work endless days, grab a couple hours down time, then they’re back at it. Writing. Rewriting. Shooting. Cutting. Shooting again. Filmmakers are eternally either making movies or thinking about making movies. Stufng lie in as ast as they can. It’s a two-fsted job. Filmmakers are driven rom within, driven to learn. And each time we open a book on flmmaking or walk in the door o a screenwriting class eager to expand our storytelling skills, it’s always because somewhere deep inside there’s another movie idea about to burst orth. available Jan. 2012
Eric Edson has written seventeen feature screenplays on assignment for such companies as Sony, Warner Brothers, Disney, 20th Century-Fox, ABC Motion Pictures, Lifetime, Showtime, NBC, ABC, TNT, Skouras Pictures, Gaylord Productions, Geffen Pictures, and Saban Entertainment. He has also written for episodic television.
A new tale demanding to be told. What a splendid eeling, this passion or flmmaking. More than a vocation. A true way o lie. But since all artists are condemned at birth to be honest with themselves, we also know that the most important lessons about this passion will never be ound in any book or class. The most critical truths about screenwriting and moviemaking can only be discovered on a personal journey to the center o the universe. That lonely journey to the center o sel. Because only there will we ask the really tough questions. Who am I? Why do I want to make flms? What is it exactly that I burn so deeply to share with an audience? Am I willing to alter my daily lie and that o my amily in order to support the many challenging years required to pursue this dream?
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Am I tough enough to stand naked beore the world asking to be judged? Filmmakers swim in a sea o questions. Most o them can never be ully answered, o course, but asking them does keep us sharp. We watch. We observe. We notice details about people and about everyday lie that many others miss. And we shoot ootage on the sly, with our eyes, then store it away in the flmmaker’s best and most sacred vault, memory. Oten a bit guarded, many o us take comort in solitude and tend toward quiet obsessions. But flmmakers, like all artists, are also those souls most in touch with their own humanity. We puzzle over the good and bad in our species — why we are here on Earth at all and, each in our own small way, what we might help humanity to become. Moviemakers are sage explorers o complex inner worlds. And we are time travelers, every one. I always recommend to new screenwriters and flmmakers that they do some acting. Doesn’t matter i you’re good at it or not, although you’ll never know until you try. In a workshop or community playhouse go learn what it takes to deliver a line o dialogue in a believable way, fnd out how hard it is to lit words rom a page and make them come alive. Discover what it eels like to lose yoursel inside a character while an audience watches your every move. Experience frst hand the ultimate end use o your own dramatic writing. Then as you work toward your next project, cherish the memory o Franz and Vincent. Both labored long and hard, completely unrecognized throughout their lives. Both died broke and undiscovered. Yet Franz Kaka and Vincent Van Gogh were two o the greatest creative minds ever to walk the planet. Did the lack o income rom writing make Franz any less a writer? Vincent any less a painter? Always remember that the art and crat o flm creation isn’t just about making money. Selling a flm or a script is great, and an important goal. Selling brings its own kind o validation and allows you to continue your journey. But you earn the right to call yoursel a screenwriter, or director, or cinematographer, or producer or all o the above - the very frst day that you set out to do the work. I’ve never known a successul flmmaker who did it just or the money. Oh, some in a cynical mood might say so, but keep ater them and they’ll eventually coness it isn’t true. I it’s really only the money you fnd attractive there are other ways to make more bucks more quickly. Get an M.B.A. You still want to make flms? Then write scripts about what matters to you, what moves you, what gets your blood up. I you really care about what you’re saying with your work you can’t help but make your audience care, too. And here’s the kicker. Here’s the most important question to ask.
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When an epoch passes, what is it that civilizations leave behind revealing to uture generations who they really were? What did the Greeks leave, or the Chinese dynasties, or Paleolithic cave people, that today imparts their true hearts and souls to us? Not wealth. Not monuments to political power, or economic theories, or moon rocks. They let behind — to be pondered orever — the wise and insightul work o their artists. Only through art do they truly live orever. Yes. It’s great to be a flmmaker.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO LAUNCH YOUR FILM TOP TEN REASONS
MARCIE BEGLEITER author, From Word to Image: Storyboarding and the Filmmaking Process — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Beore you have the joy (and occasional heartache) o shooting your project, most flmmakers will need to engage in some sort o undraising. As a visual artist and designer, I rarely have been engaged in this aspect o production, but in recent years that has begun to change. But frst a bit o background: since the mid 1980s my flm activities have covered storyboarding, set decoration, art direction, prop design, graphics and even gassing up cars… basically, when a producer or director called, my attitude was ‘You need it, I’ll do it’ (within reason, o course). Marcie Begleiter is an author, educator, and designer specializing in visualization and interdisciplinary design solutions. She founded Filmboards, a visualization agency whose client list includes Paramount, Tristar, New Line, and ABC.
And o these tasks, the pre-viz work was usually developed once the fnancing secured, the heads o the production team chosen and then we raced against a production schedule to complete the prep work beore the cameras rolled. But lately a particular request has arrived on my desktop that’s a bit dierent in character. Visual Pitching’s time has come. With production fnancing a challenge in the best o times, many a director and producer are looking to walk into meetings with more than a practiced verbal pitch. Bringing in visual research that ocuses on characters and settings, presenting key rames and ipping though storyboards or even showing animatics in pitch meetings have oten been a key to selling Action and SciFi projects. But don’t write o this approach i your projects are outside these genres. The materials can also bring inspiration and an expanded avenue o communication to pitches or all manner o projects including character driven stories, romantic comedies, or indie dramas. What comprises a visual pitch?
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1. At the simplest level, a visual pitch helps to convey the look and eel o the story and how it will be told in images. There can be reerences to lighting, to other classic flms, to character appearance and even how the flm will be shot. 2. Key rames, what I sometimes think o as ‘storyboards on steroids,’ are sometimes used to give a snapshot o particular moments o high action or emotion. 3. These boards are oten rendered in color with plenty o detail — quite a bit more developed than the typical editorial board, but not as tricked out as a ull-blown production illustration. 4. Balance is crucial. You will want to show enough to entice, but not so much that you seem to be providing the coverage o entire sequences 5. Some directors wish to avoid creating a presentation which conveys a sense that all the critical decisions have been made. Some producers want the opportunity to give creative input and being presented with an over-blown visual presentation can backfre. 6. Include a short scene with traditional storyboards . Especially with writers who want to direct their own material, an editorial storyboard unctions as a ‘dry run’ or showing mastery o visual storytelling as well as, more specifcally, editing, shot selection and pacing (i you present it as an animatic). And or the illustrators and designers… 7. Spreading the word about visual pitches can be a service that designers and artists provide to ‘above the line’ flmmakers who might not be as amiliar with the practice. 8. It can also provide additional opportunities or you to work on flms beore the flms are ully fnanced. And i your key rames and storyboards help to ‘seal the deal’ it’s a good bet that the flmmakers will be back or more once the production clock has begun to tick! 9. Choose appropriate music to accompany the images. In particular, i you are helping to construct an animatic with the images, music can help to give a sense o time and place, particularly with period pieces. For Everyone… 10. Remember, the visual pitch is a starting point or a conversation about your project, not an ending point or your presentation. Be prepared with open-ended questions to ollow up the imagery. Enjoy the journey and I hope some o these ideas will enhance your experience.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
HESTER SCHELL author, Casting Revealed: A Guide for Film Directors available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 10. We are a global community o the smartest people on the planet: Visionary leaders using the moving image to shit consciousness.
Hester Schell is a master acting teacher, writer, producer, stage and lm director, actor, mentor and coach. Her latest lm acting role is Alice in Disclosure. She is a Professor of Theatre Arts: De Anza College in California, where she pioneered the lm acting and stand-up comedy programs.
9.
Equipment has never been more aordable.
8.
We all have amazing stories to share and flmmaking is the communication/art orm o our times.
7.
“The times they are a changing.” Bob Dylan
6.
There is no limit to what we can do: Mobile devices, compact micro and waterproo cameras take us anywhere and everywhere.
5.
The Digital Revolution: Postproduction has never been easier or more aordable, thanks to innovative computer hardware and sotware editing, motion graphics, and special eects programs.
4.
Eliminating obstacles: While going to flm estivals is a blast, global online distribution platorms can get your content in ront o audiences.
3.
Technology serves us: Online casting services make better actors easier to fnd. Better actors means better movies.
2.
It Takes a Village: Filmmakers “work well with others.” Making movies is flled with adventure and rewarding collaboration with wonderul people o varying skill sets.
And the number one reason why it is great to be a flmmaker is… 1.
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Michael Wiese Productions gives you all the resources you need right here. (Except maybe your lunch caterer.) So what are you waiting or? Get in here and get busy!
TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
MISCONCEPTIONS OF A TEENAGE FILMMAKER CHRISTINA HAMLETT author, Screenwriting for Teens available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com You don’t need to have an agent Or a Hollywood address. You don’t need a 4-year college (or those resumes and stress). I movies are your passion (or perhaps a TV show), No better time than now exists To show ‘em what you know. Christina Hamlett is an award-winning author, instructor, and professional script coverage consultant whose credits to date include 24 books, 120 plays and musicals, 4 optioned feature lms, and ar ticles/ interviews that appear in trade publications throughout the world.
Why strive to be an intern Or a go-er on some crew When indie opportunities Are tailor-made or you?! Be the boss you think you are And build a team rom scratch. Find a script you want to make And watch excitement hatch! Entitlement is all you need To strike a star-struck claim. No waiting tables, punching clocks — Just simply go or ame. Your riends will all be envious When told about your plan. Who wouldn’t love a lie in flm With everyone a an?! The lions o this industry Are turning old and grey. What better time or youth and looks To rise and seize the day?!
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Sequels, prequels, remakes, too, Have made this game a cinch. Digital has paved the way To every penny pinch. In flm, there is no dress code Or rules about your hair. A glut o nity how-to’s serve To guide you “here” to “there.” Mentors, workshops, estivals On every corner lurk With scores o movie experts Who all yak about their work. A studio is so passé — Why buy when you can rent? Do shoots inside an old garage Or outside in a tent. Maxing out your credit cards Can back your vision quest. Running low? No problem, bro! Ask Dad to und the rest. Cameras, tripods, glitzy lights, A CGI (or six) — Sotware makes it quite a snap To pull o special tricks. Recruit your riends as actors — Repay them with some grub. Digital is ast and cheap To minimize each ub. Distributors? Why bother When there’s YouTube in the mix. Viral’s all the rage these days In streaming stu or kicks. An overnight sensation, Your name on billboard signs, Minions in abundance And sold-out ticket lines.
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Twitter keeps you visible To talk about your show; LinkedIn fnds associates To keep you in the know. Letterman is calling, Oprah’s your best mate. Better choose your wardrobe now ‘Cause Oscar wants a date. Facebook helps you toot your horn (How did we live without?) Was there a better century To let it all hang out?! Old rules are meant or breaking; Just listen to your muse. Film’s an endless playground To exercise your views. Be they rants or wishul hopes, Or even something gory, Movies make it possible To liberate your story. Who knew flm was so easy? (a weekend, maybe two) Cecil B’s got naught on you, Nor Lucas, Spielberg, too. Imitation rules the day, What’s old is new once more — Be it cults, ET’s or sharks, Less risk is always sure. Anyone can make a flm (Don’t let ‘em tell you “no.”) Even i its highest gig Is straight to video.
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WHY YOU SHOULD MAKE A FILM… NOW! TOP TEN REASONS
TONY LEVELLE author, Digital Video Secrets; co-author, Producing With Passion available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Ever wonder i you should make a flm? Maybe you have an idea or a documentary or you want to make a eature flm. Should you risk it? Now? In this economy!?! I say yes. And here’s why…
1. Filmmaking can give your life meaning and direction. You can become a flmmaker — and make good flms — without diplomas, contacts, or even much money. These days you can acquire everything you need as you go. With perseverance, you can build a new lie as a flmmaker. Here’s how to do it, in three simple steps: • • •
Declare yoursel a flmmaker. Start work on a project today. Continue with confdence while learning rom your mistakes.
2. Cheap, powerful tools. Filmmaking tools are cheaper, smaller and more powerul than ever beore.
Tony Levelle has over 30 years experience as a writer in the elds of technology and lmmaking. He launched the lake. org student lm festival, and is working on a lm about hot-air ballooning.
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•
Small, high-perormance camcorders like the Sony NEXVG20 have eatures that only a ew years ago cost hundreds o thousands o dollars.
•
Inexpensive audio recorders like the Zoom H4N record highquality sound reliably and easily.
•
Powerul editing sotware like Apple’s iMovie is inexpensive and easy to use.
•
Low-cost programs like Movie Magic Budgeting simpliy preproduction.
3. Hybrid distribution. Distribution has always been the most difcult part o flmmaking. Until recently, flmmakers were at the mercy o a ruthless and antiquated distribution system built to serve the needs o large studios. Independent flmmaking guru Peter Broderick recently developed a unique distribution method that he calls ‘hybrid distribution.’ With
this method, flmmakers maintain control over distribution by using a combination o new and traditional distribution methods. Hybrid distribution enables flmmakers to retain the right to sell DVDs, streams, and downloads rom their websites while working with partners who acilitate their theatrical, television, retail, and digital distribution. In my opinion, Broderick’s process is a flmmaker’s best chance to get a flm out into the world and recover expenses.
4. Low initial cost. Earning back the expenses o a flm is doable. I you can’t earn back expenses you may get discouraged and quit making flms, and need to take up non-flmmaking work part or ull time. Filmmaker and publisher Michael Wiese’s recent flm Sacred Sites of the Dalai Lamas shows how a flmmaker can earn back expenses on a micro budget flm. Wiese did it by keeping his initial costs very low and using hybrid distribution techniques. Wiese told me he spent $13,000 to complete the flm, including travel expenses. By late 2010 he had sold around 1,000 DVDs, netting $8 each and earned another $3,000 screening the flm or Tibetan groups, thus earning $11,000.
5. Education is easily available. You don’t need an expensive flm school to get an education. The teachers, social support, contacts and discipline you get in flm school are great, but i you can’t aord them there are other ways to learn your crat. Here are three: •
•
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Making flms: The best way to learn how to make flm is to make flms. Today’s inexpensive and powerul tools empower you to make as many flms as you want. Listening to TED talks by flmmakers: Shekhar Kapur: We are the stories we tell ourselves Jehane Noujaim wishes or a global day o flm Deborah Scranton on her “War Tapes” Jeff Skoll makes movies that matter Morgan Spurlock: The greatest TED Talk ever sold Reading how-to flm books: Film books by MWP — my publisher — are written by passionate flm proessionals and successul flmmaking teachers. (My own book, Digital Video Secrets, distills the essential techniques o digital video flmmaking into one short guide.)
6.You can talk to lmmakers and experts. It is easy to talk to flmmakers, and experts in online orums. Forums are a great place to get advice on flmmaking problems. The orums I use most are DVino, Absolute Write and Indie Talk. 7. Crowdfunding. Filmmakers are using crowdunding sites like Kickstarter to und their flms and build a ollowing at the same time.
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Three successul Kickstarter flms: Blue Like Jazz by Steve Taylor Pledged: $345,992 with 4,495 backers Minecraft: The Story of Mojang by 2 Player Productions Pledged: $210,297 with 3,631 backers Urbanized: A Documentary Film by Gary Hustwit Pledged: $118,505, with 1,814 backers
8. YouTube. As a flmmaker, you have the potential to reach millions o people around the world with YouTube. Consider YouTube creator Charlieissocoollike, a “twenty something Englishman.” Charlie has 1,136,714 subscribers. As o October 8, 2011 his YouTube channel had 162,813,347 views. Filmmakers can earn money making YouTube videos, too. In 2007 YouTube started a partners program. YouTube pays partners or high-viewership videos. YouTube says it “…pays out millions o dollars a year to its partners. Hundreds are making six fgures a year...”
9. A need for true stories. Most o what we watch hear and read every day is produced by a ew media giants. These giants care about one thing — the bottom line. They have no economic reason to promote ree speech, or publish divergent and critical views. Increasingly, the best storytelling, journalism, reporting and analysis is coming rom individual flmmakers like Robert Greenwald, Dorothy Fadiman, Jon Jost, Charles Ferguson and Michael Moore. As a flmmaker, you have the power to tell stories that the media giants will not touch.
10. You can talk to your audience. The biggest reason that now is a great time to be a flmmaker is that or the frst time in history it is possible to have an ongoing conversation with your audience. Using tools like personal websites, blogs, email, twitter, YouTube, Facebook and Google+ you can fnd, engage, and talk to people who care about you and your flms. They can help und, research, and even collaborate on your flms. They can give you eedback on early versions o your flms. The best books I ound on the subject o talking to your audience are Enchantment by Guy Kawasaki and The Dragony Effect by Jennier Aaker and Andy Smith. Enchantment tells you how to win hearts, launch products, and change minds. The Dragony Effect shows how to use social media to promote good causes. And what better cause is there than your flm? All that’s let to say is.... Onward!
54 « tony levelle
WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
GAEL CHANDLER author, Cut by Cut — 2nd Edition and Film Editing available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com With our decades in and around the industry — working rom projectionist to grip to electrician to crat services to editor to digital systems trainer and college editing instructor to author o three books on editing — I guess I can be lumped into the category “Old Salt.” So when sharing my hard earned grains o wisdom with those desiring — daring — to enter the proession, I want to be enthusiastic and supportive yet realistic. A scene rom The Wizard of Oz jumps into my head — the one where the wicked witch urges the monkeys to “Fly, y, y!” It makes me want to be responsible or where I’m sending edglings o to. How many will make it intact and be glad or the journey?
2nd edition available June 2012
Gael Chandler has been nominated twice for a Cable Emmy for comedy editing; has edited every type of genre on every medium – lm, tape, and digital; and has trained hundreds of professionals and students to put their best cut forward.
So here’s my list o ten reasons. Take it with your own shaker o salt and develop your own ight plan.
1. Band of brothers and sisters. When you pursue a career in flm, especially Hollywood, you’re joining a special group o non-conormists. This group scos at the question, “What’s the use o a liberal arts education?” You may have majored in art, philosophy, physics, flm, or digital communications, but you have a passion to work with flmed words and images that communicate with an audience. Respect yoursel and pursue your choice with everything you’ve got. 2. Chance to make a difference — leave an imprint. This reason is not a ight o ancy. Your work inuences viewers, be they students watching a training flm, an art audience changed by your documentary, a amily kicking back to your comedy, or a dorm ull o students hooked on your web series. Not every project will be something you want to show Mom or keep on your resume, but it will inuence others and increase your skills and contacts. 3. Meet a variety of people. You will interact with all sorts o sane and crazy people in the flm biz. They will drive you nuts, enrage you, enrich your lie, help you, and allow you to help others. Value them and know when to say “Thanks” and “Farewell.”
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4. Encounter a variety of subjects. Whether you work on scripted shows (e.g. dramas and comedies) or non-scripted shows (e.g. documentaries, reality shows, instructional videos) you’ll learn a range o subjects you’ve never imagined. You may drop these topics or ollow them once the show wraps, but they will widen your horizon either way. 5. Travel. Being a flmmaker will land you in places you’ve never dreamed — that you couldn’t possibly have put on your ight plan. One day you’ll be in the doldrums, contemplating a career change, the next you’ll be ying across the country on that series you just landed: Turbulence and unexpected ports are part o the proession. 6. Hold the heart of the lm in your hands. I you become an editor, as you view shots and decide which rames go in out and out, you will hold the flm’s heart (characters and) and heartbeat (rhythm and pace) in your hands. You will play a vital role in shaping the show’s story and message and the director or client’s vision. It will be your joy, honor, and responsibility to sculpt the best show possible rom the ootage, no matter how big or small the project is. 7. Work with cutting-edge tools. We’re in the midst o a digital revolution in which the technological territory morphs annually. This is converging work and changing relationships between preproduction, production, and postproduction. As a flmmaker, you will be a part o this change and get to use these incredible tools — editing systems, state-o-the-art plug-ins, third-party sotware, etc. While they’re a lot to keep up with, the gratifcation rom creating on them — and keeping employed — are worth it. 8. Work a little, work a lot. Your career will not always be in your control — you may work mondo hours and be desperate or time o, then fnd yoursel with too much time o and be desperate or work. During your downtimes, lunch with colleagues and new olks, go to industry events, and polish your skills along with your resume. Time o is part o flm lie and brings its own set o challenges and rewards, just like the work itsel. During the 90-hour weeks with no days o, remember to breathe, sleep, de-stress, kiss your beloved, and that you’re on a (hopeully) worthwhile project. 9. Special moments that no other industry brings. Filmmaking is both magical and mundane: One moment you’re picking up the producer’s tuxedo, the next you’re at the Academy Awards. You’ll experience times o predictable boredom and the opposite on the job. True story: One day a producer lucky at the horse races handed $100 bills to everyone in the cutting room. The week beore, on the same show, director and producers alike worked an unexpected all-nighter to re-cut the show rom Frame One because the editor — not me — turned in a subpar cut. 10. You’re your own agent — even if you have an agent You will always be your own pilot: orever networking, re-inventing, honing your skills, sel promoting, and sussing out the next job. There is no one path to success in the flm industry. That wedding video you edited may lead to your frst eature, that eature may go nowhere and send you on unemployment, but you have to pursue every lead, ollow every highway and byway, and make your own way.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
MONIKA SKERBELIS co-author, The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide To Film Festivals:Your All Access Pass To Launching Your Film On The Festival Circuit available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Most flmmakers have an independent spirit and look at lie through a lens. They develop stories out o situations and events using their imagination and flmmaking skills to ultimately bring short flms, eature flms or documentaries to the big screen. Whether it is a one-minute flm or two-hour flm, it is made with passion and creativity by flmmakers.
available April 2012
Monika Skerbelis started her industry career as an assistant in the Story Depar tment for Paramount Pictures, then moved over to 20th Century-Fox as an assistant story editor, later promoted to story editor. At the same time Universal Pictures offered her the opportunity to run their story department where she worked for ten years and was promoted from an executive story editor to a vice president.
Today’s flmmaker has more resources and opportunities or gaining knowledge just by picking up a camera, assembling a cast, crew, and bringing their individual stories to lie. Independent flmmakers on a tight budget are embracing the DIY (Do-it-Yoursel) model by utilizing their network o riends and contacts to help get their flms made. There is no better way to acquire flmmaking knowledge than to get out there and shoot flms. The latest technology makes it easy or flmmakers to rent or buy aordable equipment and editing sotware. Today’s independent flmmakers don’t need to wait or a studio to make a movie. By using one o the many sel promoting sites like Kickstarter or IndieGoGo or undraising, they can raise money to cover production costs to help move their flms into production or collect unds to help pay marketing expenses ater the flm is shot. With blogs and social media like Facebook and Twitter, flmmakers can get the word out to promote their flms instantly, create a buzz and develop a ollowing. Today’s flmmakers are more savvy about creating trailers or social media campaigns in order to promote their flms. You don’t need to hire a PR person necessarily i you have knowledge and the wherewithal to create your own electronic press kits (EPKs) to send to media outlets.
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One o the strongest ways or a flmmaker to gain exposure is to enter their flms in estivals. Diverse audiences rom around the world can watch their flms and experience their vision. Studios are using flm estivals as a way to premiere flms, and the estival platorm as a way to generate audience awareness beore the flm’s release. Festivals play an important role in a flmmaker’s career both personally and proessionally with the networking opportunities available. Maneuvering the 4,000+ flm estivals in today’s marketplace can be a daunting task, so with resources available like our upcoming book, The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide to Film Festivals, flmmakers will have a guidepost as to how to launch their flms on the estival circuit and make targeting the right estivals a much easier task. Watching a flm in a darkened theatre with an audience and hearing their reaction when they laugh at the right moment or shed a tear during a poignant scene is gratiying or the flmmaker and let’s them know they succeeded with their vision. Film enthusiasts and audiences seek out flm estivals as a way to meet flmmakers and watch appealing flms, transporting them to dierent cultures and ways o lie that are normally not available at their local theatre. This is due to the myriad o flmmakers who are driven to create their passionate ideas into accessible stories or everyone to experience.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
GIL BETTMAN author of First Time Director available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1. The Canon 5D camera. And all other DSLR (Digital Single Lens Reex) cameras which take prime lenses and can be purchased or about $2,999, yet are capable o producing an image as good as any mainstream eature flm. These cameras completely level the playing feld. With one o these little DSLRs and a DP who is an expert at exposure, all you need is a great script and great perormances and you can make a breakout theatrical eature.
Gil Bettman has directed three feature lms, dozens of primetime TV shows, and many top music videos. He is an associate professor in the school of Film and Television at Chapman University in Los Angeles.
2. Paul Greengrass. Greengrass shoots almost everything handheld. The success o the Bourne Identity flms which he directed have made the slightly shaky handheld look completely acceptable. Audiences are now sufciently amiliar with this new piece o flm language so it does not call attention to itsel and detract rom the story. This means you do not need the big budget or dollies, cranes, and the huge crews needed to operate them. For zero dollars you can do as Fernando Meirelles did in City of God and shoot your entire flm (with a Canon 7D) handheld and give it the high-energy Paul Greengrass/ Ridley Scott/Tony Scott look which contemporary audiences crave. 3. The Close-Up. The most powerul image a flmmaker can put on screen is a close up on an actor whom the audience cares about. Now (and orever) this is the least expensive shot you can make. With a Canon 7D or similar, low-cost digital camera you can generate a close-up that looks abulous on a 40-oot-high screen. I the audience knows what the character wants and wants him to get it, and the character is having a hell o a time getting it, all you have to do is shoot that character in a close up and you have the most powerul flm moment possible. More powerul, in act, than any multimillion dollar CGI shot rom any 200 million dollar studio tentpole movie. This is why Bob Zemeckis told me, “You can smash 1,000 cars together and flm it rom 100 cameras, but that’s not a movie. That’s a spectacle. But you put Thelma and Louise in one car and drive it o a cli and
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shoot it with one camera and that’s a movie.” I you don’t believe this is true, watch Drive and count the number o close ups on Ryan Gosling in the opening action sequence. The flm is tight on his eyes or at least 30% o the time.
4. Facebook/Twitter. Social media marketing is ree. Hal o launching a career is sel-promotion. Now you can promote yoursel to the world or nothing. You just have to generate what I call the “je ne sais quo” — that special something which you alone possess, and then put it out there via Facebook or Twitter. Kevin Smith has thousands o Twitter ollowers. Using Twitter he managed to get a tidal wave o media buzz going about his flm Red State beore it premiered and ell at at Sundance. Thanks to Twitter, Smith had the promotional part o the equation nailed. All he lacked was a good flm. 5. YouTube. With YouTube you can ulfll the flm side o the equation or success which Kevin Smith lacked. Using social media marketing you can generate the buzz and build up a ollowing. Using YouTube you can deliver the payo and show the world you are as good as say you are. And it’s ree. 6. Internships. Every ofce in Hollywood now has a sta o unpaid interns. Film and television, agencies and managerial companies, production and distribution, big and small. They all hire unpaid interns. So go to charm school, get a job as an intern and you are halway to breaking into the business. As always, it’s not what you know, but who you know. Twenty years ago it was the mail room. This is how Billy Friedkin, Jack Nicholson, John Badham, Randall Klieser and many others got their start. Now the way to get some ace time with a major player who can hire you and launch your career is by starting as an intern. This is how my ormer student Olantunde Osunsamni met Smokin’ Aces writer/director Joe Carnahan. Next thing you know, Tunde is hired to write Smokin’ Aces 2 and then writes and directs his breakout eature, The Fourth Kind . 7. Music Videos. This is how I segued rom an episodic TV director to a eature flm director back in the Dark Ages. Today, music videos are still a great venue to showcase your talent as a director. Unknown bands still want to make music videos and will put up the money or the production, i you throw in your services as director or ree. Lady GaGa, Coldplay, U2 — all great recording artists started as mere unknowns with a great song. The song is the script o a rock video. So i the song is great you can make a world-class music video, provided you have talent and the band does not get in the way. The list o top directors who broke in via MTV starts with David Fincher, Spike Jonze and Zack Snyder and goes on orever rom there.
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8. iTunes. It used to be that no matter how great your little sel-fnanced eature flm was, it would die on the vine, and your directorial career along with it, unless you could get a distribution deal. No longer true. I it’s eature length, encoded and comes up to the other iTunes specs, they will put it up or sale, download or streaming on the iTunes store. You only make pennies per download, but it could catch on, and i it does, you have launched your career. 9. PSAs. Commercial directors make as much as eature directors or a raction o the work. I you can come up with a clever way to promote a great cause and put it across visually using your directorial genius and your Canon 7D, it could lead to a pot o gold and contract with a major branding and commercial production company such as Anonymous Content, MJZ, Smuggler, or The Institute. 10. The New York Film Academy. This is how you pay the rent while you engineer your break. The New York Film Academy makes money because they pay flm school graduates survival wages to teach their courses. It ain’t Hollywood, but it beats waiting tables.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
RONA EDWARDS co-author, The Complete Filmmaker’s Guide To Film Festivals: Your All Access Pass To Launching Your Film On The Festival Circuit available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com The Top Ten Reasons why it’s a great time to be a flmmaker? Are there only ten? It’s hard to limit it to just ten. I could list the obvious timeless reasons: Fame , Fortune , Satisfying your Creative Soul . The big brass ring. It’s elusive yet seductive. Like a beautiul woman or virile man enticing you to enter a private club. It satisfes something deep inside which words cannot properly elucidate. It eeds your ego; it eeds your soul.
available April 2012
Before entering the world of independent producing, Rona Edwards was Vice President of Creative Affairs for multiple Emmywinner John Larroquette (Night Court ), Academy-award winner Michael Phillips Productions (The Sting, Close Encounters of the Third Kind , Taxi Driver ), and Emmywinning and Oscarnominated producer Fern Field ( Monk , Heartsounds).
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As a producer, author, lecturer, consultant and proessor in the feld o flmmaking, it would be very easy to take an esoteric approach to the question. But sometimes, it’s best to be straight orward. To answer with the utmost simplicity, stating the obvious and highlighting the obscure. I could say because it’s something you really love, and how many things can you say that about? It makes you eel passion. You have to be passionate about the flms you want to make because you’ll be in bed with them or a long time. Like a lover or a marriage, you’ll have to know how to weather the storms and still eel the love you had at the beginning o your courtship. How do you get over those bumps in the road and make it to the other side, eeling a comortable yet still passionate romance with it? Filmmaking makes you eel things. And, it’s cheaper than a psychiatrist! Maybe one o the ten things that make flmmaking so great is, you are never bored! It’s not a nine-to-fve job in a cubicle entering data into computers, where every day is pretty much the same old-same old, and you never have to take risks or cover new ground. Filmmaking is never the same. The schedules always change depending on the project. With each new flm, come new problems, new territory to cover and new people to work with. It’s always challenging and it keeps you on your toes. It’s good training or your brain, too, because you never know what to expect.
I could say it’s about the journey. With each project, you grow up. You become a better person possibly. Or maybe you take a step backwards sometimes, just like in the Hero’s Journey when the protagonist has a reversal o ortune, but ultimately you, the flmmaker, will pull yoursel up by the bootstraps and tackle the hardest material yet, or stand up against the harshest criticism or bask in the sunlight o praise. Filmmaking can help build your character (no pun intended). I it doesn’t kill you, it will make you stronger. Sometimes, the very thing that’s bad or you is good or you, and visa versa; like chocolate or example. Chocolate tastes good, satisfes most everyone who eats it and is supposedly great or your sex lie. It goes well with champagne, too. There’s an art to making good chocolate. You need skills to cultivate just the right taste; the right consistency. Sometimes it takes years to create the best mixture or your conection. When you eat it, it makes you eel euphoric. But… there’s a catch. It’s attening. Filmmaking is exactly the same. It, too, can be very satisying when you work on the right project with the right combination o people. The end result can be exhilarating. But i it’s not, it’s hard work, tedious and the hours are not or the aint o heart. It can take away years rom your lie and disappoint you. Like chocolate, flmmaking is addictive — so you have to be careul. You have to know your limitations and yet go beyond as well. It’s a fne line between mediocre and brilliant. Chocolate and flmmaking are both paradoxes. You can’t live without it because you are addicted to its endorphins and it’s not always easy to fnd just the right combination. So ater expounding on the reasons why I love flmmaking and why it’s great to be a flmmaker today especially (as well as making me want to buy a ten-pound box o Valhrona or Teuscher), here’s my Top Ten reasons: 10. Anyone who has a burning desire to tell a story can make a flm with limited resources. Let’s ace it, or 5 grand you can have a camera, editing sotware and a computer — your own mini-studio. 9.
The technology is always changing and is thereore always exciting. There’s always something new to learn (which is good exercise or your brain and keeps you young).
8.
There is nothing routine about it. I couldn’t stand to be in a job that never changes.
7.
It’s unpredictable and consequently challenging.
6.
You get to work with interesting and creative people all coming together or a common goal.
5.
There’s nothing like sitting in a darkened theatre and hearing strangers laugh and cry at just the right moments while watching your flm. It sucks however i they laugh at the wrong moments and cry at the jokes!
4.
You’re interested in what makes people tick and get to express that through the unique characters you create.
3.
You can quote every amous flm line prior to Star Wars, making you look even cooler (or possibly ancient) to your peers, because you love everything about movies — and live, eat and breathe flm. And to others…you are just a movie geek!
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2.
Spending time at Film Festivals, screening your flms or supporting other flmmakers and making lie-long riends because o it; traveling all over the world and opening yoursel up to even more possibilities and opportunities.
And the number one reason why it’s great to be a flmmaker….[[[drum roll]]] 1.
You are a storyteller. That hasn’t changed since the beginning o flmmaking. You get to tell stories, enlighten and entertain audiences everywhere and anywhere. What a power! What a way to make a living? You control what your characters do, where they go, and how they react. And you get to share that with the world. You can have maximum impact and even inuence society. It’s much better than politics and almost as good as chocolate!
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TO BECOMING AN INDEPENDENT FILMMAKER TEN STEPS
DAVID WORTH author, The Citizen Kane Crash Course in Cinematography available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Let me preace these 10 easy-to-ollow steps by frst stating that the young flmmakers o today owe a huge debt o gratitude and the total democratization o the flmmaking process, to the visionary flmmakers o the last century who paved the way to all o our advances by thinking very ar outside the box.
David Worth is a professional Director of Photography and Director who has garnered a resume of over thirty feature lms while working with talents like Clint Eastwood, Shelley Winters, Jean-Claude Van Damme, Dennis Hopper, and Bruce Campbell.
Everything in today’s independent flms can be traced back to the late 1940s and the Italian Neo-Realists who started it all with flms like Vittorio De Sica’s The Bicycle Thief . Ater WWII, aced with the devastation o their country and their studios, many Italian flmmakers got into the streets and inadvertently began the “Independent Film Movement” by utilizing: Natural Locations, Available Light, Non-Actors, Mini Budgets, Small Crews, Inexpensive Equipment, and Reality Based Episodic Stories. Both the flmmakers o the French “New Wave” o the late 1950s, spearheaded by Jean-Luc Godard’s Breathless, and American independent flm, led by John Cassavetes’ Shadows, had used what they had learned rom the Italian Neo-Realists to make what became templates or independent flms. These flms led to the “Blaxsplotation” flms o the 1970s, championed by Melvin Van Peebles’ Sweet Sweetback’s Baadasss Song and eventually the independent masterpieces in the 1980s like John Sayles’ Return Of The Secaucus Seven, Spike Lee’s She’s Gotta Have It , and Steven Soderberg’s Sex, Lies, and Videotape . By the 1990s the oodgates had opened with Robert Rodriguez’s El Mariachi , Kevin Smith’s Clerks, Neil LaBute’s In The Company Of Men, The Dogme Movement and Thomas Vinterberg’s The Celebration (Festen), and by 1999, the beginning o an entirely New Paradigm with the astonishing Daniel Myrick and Eduardo Sanchez flm The Blair Witch Project . Exactly 10 years later, in 2009, Oren Peli, with limited experience and resources, was able to make Paranormal Activity on a $15,000 budget entirely inside his home in San Diego, Caliornia, with actors
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that he ound on Craigslist in less than 10 days. Oh, by the way — because it happened to be “the right flm in the right place at the right time” it went on to gross more than $200,000,000 worldwide. Now, are you ready to take the 10 steps and possibly make the next independent masterpiece…
Step 1: Order my book: The Citizen Kane Crash Course in Cinematography. In it you will fnd my “Wildly Fictional” account o how the world-renown Cinematographer Gregg Toland may have related all o the basics o Cinematography, Directing and Filmmaking to Orson Welles during one very wild weekend way back in the day. David Ward, the writer o The Sting and the director o Major League , said ater reading this book: “I it didn’t happen this way, it should have.” Step 2: At the same time, join Netix. Step 3: Browse the Netix DVDs and pick your avorite genre, group o flms or director(s), then order the DVDs and study the flms. Watch the behind the scenes, listen to the commentary, watch your avorite flms and scenes over and over and over. Break them down and analyze them. All o the flms great and small are there waiting or your attention. Especially screen the classic low-budget independent flms previously mentioned. Step 4: Invest in a small HD or a DSLR camera and a non-linear editing system like Final Cut Pro. Both items together should cost under $5,000. Today you can even be really low budget and simply invest in the next generation o iPhone or iPad, which will actually allow you to shoot, edit and deliver in HD! Step 5: Learn how to use your equipment and tell a story by going online and utilizing the MWP Online Film School or any number o other inexpensive venues and by writing, shooting and editing several small short productions that you can do on your own or with your riends, in and around your home, or on nearby locations. Step 6: When you eel confdent in your ability to tell a story, use the camera, the editing system and organizing a small production. Utilize what you have and make what today is called a “Rodriguez List”! Which is a list o all o the Equipment, Actors, Props and Locations that are available or you to use or FREE. Then, write a simple, do-able script utilizing all o those elements, that you can cast and shoot with your riends in and around your home, your hometown or on nearby locations.
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Step 7: Take your time. Nobody is looking over your shoulder. Because you are a “low to no budget” flm you have nobody to answer to as long as you pay your credit card bills on time. Which really means: Don’t Quit Your Day Job. But now you are ready to: PREP… SHOOT... & FINISH YOUR FILM!
Step 8: As you are editing, screen the flm or everyone and i anything needs work you have 3 choices: Cut it out, Fix it, or Reshoot it! Then, when you have it completed: Enter It Into Local, Genre or International Film Festivals. Step 9: I someone wants to distribute your flm, you will need to put together a Press Kit and some Delivery Items but you can cross that bridge i and when you come to it… What you can do is try to fnd an audience or your flm by Starting a Website… TAA DAA! Now you have become an Independent Filmmaker... Step 10: Use your flm as a calling card or making your next flm! Most Importantly: Remember to learn rom your mistakes and make a better flm next time!
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
KIM HUDSON author, The Virgin’s Promise available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com What do these 10 movies have in common? Moneyball , The King’s Speech, An Education, The Help, The Fighter , Brokeback Mountain, Fight Club, the frst hal o Avatar , and I Am Love . They are not hero stories. We live in a time when it is okay to branch away rom the hero structure. Actually, it is applauded. These movies all have a protagonist who needs to be true to his or her sel as opposed to save the world. They are driven to know the joy o bringing their personal git, their true sel, to lie. It’s not about winning the day; it’s about coming closer to living authentically.
Kim Hudson’s personal journey and scholarly inquiry combined to develop this theory of the Virgin’s archetypal structure. Over the past four years Kim has given workshops and classes in the Vancouver area on the Virgin’s Promise.
It is a great time to be a storyteller because society is ready to move beyond the sel-sacrifcing hero who learns he can expand the boundaries o mortality by being strong, rugged, and brave. Now audiences want to see stories o sel-ulfllment. There is a palpable need to go on the journey to attach to our true selves. These stories are the roots o innovation, creativity, and a world that values unconditional love and personal reedom. Or we can tell cautionary tales like Black Swan and Virgin Suicides where the journey to be accepted or who you are ails and we are let longing or a brighter world. Either way it is about being true to yoursel. The key is to recognize that the rules o storytelling or the journey to sel-ulfllment are not the same as they are or sel-sacrifce. How could they be? They are opposite drives. One is pushing away rom ear and the other is pulling towards what you love. Filmmakers have the opportunity to branch into this new style o storytelling as long as they are willing to leave the old rules behind. In Moneyball the big message is money isn’t everything. Personal happiness matters more. Forget comort and security and go with love and joy. Find out all you are capable o being by ollowing the direction o your passion, and use that as your measure o success.
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In this journey you start small and eel your way. Literally. You learn to ollow your eelings rom hot spot to hot spot rather than orging a path to a clearly defned goal. In Avatar , Jake explores the Na’vi culture with a sense o wonder, not expecting to fnd a culture he will eventually call his own. Emma ollows her heart in I Am Love , not knowing where it will take her. The protagonist may start with a goal and end up somewhere completely unexpected. This kind o protagonist needs to fnd a place where he or she eels sae and loved in order to grow into her best sel. It is a place where she/he can stop caring what other people think. Billy Beene fnds Peter in Moneyball and creates an inner circle o decision-making. In The King’s Speech, Bertie develops his voice in a secret world under the care o his therapist. He grows in this environment while, in the past, the series o escalating conicts and humiliations caused his stuttering and anxiety to grow. In The Help, the women create a supportive circle where they can share their stories and write them down. This kind o creativity does not occur in an atmosphere o rising conict. Neuro-scientifc research shows us that the ear centers o the brain shut down or a person to be creative. This aspect o the human condition needs to be reected in scripts or they eel instinctively alse. It is a great time to be a flmmaker because new rontiers o storytelling are being explored. We can tell a story driven to control ear (the Hero) or we can tell a story driven by passion (the Virgin). Together they orm the two halves o knowing yoursel as an individual: your internal as well as your external boundaries. This is a great time to be a flmmaker because we can create a body o stories that leave people eeling whole.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
JENNIFER GRISANTI author, Story Line: Finding Gold in Your Life Story available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com There is so much beauty in the expression and interpretation o our lie experience. I you are a flmmaker, you get a chance to tell your story in a way that connects your audience to your lie experience and to your interpretation o the world at large. It is a spiritual and lie-afrming journey to be able to tell your story, deliver your message, and leave your imprint in the minds and hearts o your audience. On that note, here are the top 10 reasons why I believe it’s a great time to be a flmmaker:
Jennifer Grisanti is a story consul tant, independent producer, and the writing instructor for NBC’s Writers on the Verge. She was a television execu tive for 12 years at top studios. She started her career in television and rose through the ranks of Current Programs at Spelling Television Inc. where Aaron Spelling was her mentor for 12 years.
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1. Your artistic expression is vital to you. As a flmmaker, you get to make a statement through your story. With flmmaking, you as the creator get to crat your art in a way that leaves a lasting impression on your audience. By utilizing the platorm and its tools at your disposal (i.e., visuals, tone, setting, etc.) you have the reedom to go anywhere you want to go — to the advantage o your story. 2.You accept your role as the messenger. Filmmaking is about telling a story. When you move through lie and experience it in-depth, you oten receive the calling to take on the role o the messenger. I believe that we are all messengers because we all experience story on a daily basis. In accepting your role as the messenger, your git as the flmmaker is that you get to pass your story orward. 3. You get to engage your audience. When you engage your audience and allow them to see your vision, you create intimacy and connection with your audience. You allow them to see you through your story and, i done well, you allow them to see themselves in your story. 4. You have the power to stop isolation. Isolation is what millions o people eel when they go through traumatic situations. With flmmaking, you get to share your lie moments in a way that can empower the viewer to understand what they need to do in order to move past their own obstacles. As a flmmaker, you have the opportunity to deliver a strong message o hope, aecting your audience in a way that makes them eel less isolated.
5. You have the freedom to process emotion. When you absorb lie and go through depth, complexity and a myriad o emotions, processing these emotions and understanding how to bring them to the page can give you, the flmmaker, greater exposure to your own lie and the lives o your viewers. By doing the emotional work on the page and on the screen, you are able to work through your story and see it in a new way. We may all have dierent stories but our emotions are the same. They just come through dierent channels. 6. You have a need to connect with Self. When you take steps to evolve and understand things on a more spiritual level, you connect with sel and you open up the possibility to connect with the world through your story and your message. The more work you do on the inside, the stronger your voice on the outside will become and you will be able to pass your truth orward. 7. You want to leave an imprint. This is a very universal motivation to being a flmmaker. We all want to know that our lie has meaning. We want to know that while we were here, what we did mattered. By making flms and being able to elevate consciousness while revealing a message, you leave an imprint that will live on, aect people, and bring about change in the uture. 8. You want to raise consciousness. Knowing that you have the opportunity to elevate public consciousness through the stories you tell is an enticing reason to be a flmmaker. It also puts a greater weight on you as the flmmaker to be responsible or the message that you are delivering. What do you want your story to say about you? How does your message inuence your audience in a universal way? 9. You have the ability to interpret life in a Universal Way. Extracting the universal lie moments in your story is a git that you as the flmmaker pass orward to your audience. We are all observers o the story that unolds in our lie. Through processing our interpretation in a way that brings others into the emotion, we help people to eel our story. By utilizing our emotional truth we connect people on a deeper level. Think about this idea: “What’s in it or my audience?” It will allow you to aect people on an emotional level as they watch your story unold. 10. You have a need to tell your story. As a flmmaker, you get to experience lie, move through the light and dark moments, get to the other side o it and use your reection in a way that can entertain, inuence, change, enlighten and inspire others. These are the top ten reasons why now is a greater time than ever to be a flmmaker and bring your vision to greater audiences. I you do it right, your voice will live on or generations to come and you will bring about change in a positive way, perhaps more than you ever imagined.
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DISCOVERING THE YOU IN YOUTUBE TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
JAY MILES author, Conquering YouTube available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com
Jay Miles has worked in TV, video, lm, and commercial produc tion for nearly 20 years, including shows for NBC, ABC, FOX, the Discovery Channel, HGTV,Versus, and DirecTV. He has completed produc tions for businesses (The House of Blues, Cisco/Linksys), bands (Two Man Advantage, The Afro-Semitic Experience) and blogs (On Frozen Blog , The Washington Post ). He has taught media at the college and high school levels for the past four years.
At the beginning o my senior year o high school, I was nominated by my drama teacher to join the cast o a new television show, written entirely by and or students in Fairax County, Virginia. The show, called “Student’s Corner,” would air our episodes via cable access during that school year, and it gave me my frst true taste o showbiz reality. I quickly learned that producing television content was ar rom glamorous. It was hard work, took countless hours and required the participation o numerous people. The six other cast members and I were totally dependent on the crew o the cable access station, both or their expertise and or the use o the expensive equipment. Our stories and scripts were subject to the review o our aculty advisor. And our patient parents were our only lieline to the acilities, shuttling us back and orth or the production meetings and tapings o the show. All in all, it was an exhaustive, challenging and difcult business or all o us. How we managed to air those our shows without the aid o cell phones, texting or the Internet is a total mystery. Just think about it: in the dark ages o the last century, it took a huge amount o eort, time, utilities, paper, telephone calls (on a land line — gasp!) and gasoline to allow a total o seven students rom one o the most densely populated counties in the country to produce a total o our hal-hour TV shows, airing randomly over the course o several months, or a cable access only audience limited to that county. An audience, by the way, that may or may not have actually watched the episodes. Remember, this was television in the VCR-only days: no DVR, no TiVo and i you didn’t program the VCR timer correctly (which was likely) or it didn’t work (which was also airly common) or i your sister taped over your recording, well, you were outta luck. Flash orward to today, and it’s almost unreal to think that the technology, resources and equipment needed to produce our show now literally fts in the palm o your hand. Video and audio editing sotware that dwarves what we had to work with now saunters around casually with you on your laptop, hoping rom coee shop to coee
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shop, chasing inspiration. Cell phones eature lenses that generate stunning images at superior resolution. Yeah — that’s right: the PHONES. I you would have told me back when I was tromping the halls o Fall Church High School that in my lietime I would carry around a wireless device that took videos that would humble the segments we were making or “Student’s Corner,” I would have told you to stop watching so much Star Trek. I mean, we were taping in an honest to goodness TV studio! How could a relatively cheap, wireless, handheld device possibly capture actual video? “What, and I suppose you can talk on it and send magic messages through the air, too, eh?” How little did I know. So what do we make o all this blissul technology? With these virtual TV studios that sit on our desks, and ree video distribution platorms that instantly send our clips out to the entire planet? With audio samples galore, antastic onts and graphics, phones with lenses that amaze and aordable camcorders that shoot ull HD images? What to do now that all those other barriers have come down and our every thought and orgettable gesture can basically be teleported (ok, I admit it: I love Star Trek) to a waiting world? The most important skill I learned during the production o “Student’s Corner” was the art o rewriting. Working the scripts until all the kinks and warbles had been ironed out was crucial. At that time, we taped each show in one aternoon, and beore we were allowed in ront o the cameras, everyone literally had to be on the same page. Videotape was cheap, but not inexpensive, and we couldn’t aord to waste it (or our limited time) on material that wasn’t well crated. Too much o the video out there today suers rom poor preparation. But that’s a little unair, and perhaps a bit naïve. Ater all, the YouTube aesthetic is driven by unprepared, unrehearsed moments. We’ve become a “Candid Camera” nation, entertained by so many grooms passing out at their own weddings or snowboarding squirrels. Producing video is now relatively easy, takes little time and can be completed by a single person. But perhaps there’s a deeper purpose, a more signifcant meaning behind all the 1’s and 0’s humming away on YouTube’s server arms. Maybe there is a reason that we’ve been blessed to see all o this gleaming technology, a reason why we’ve been reed rom the expense and burden o cumbersome equipment and dark studios, a reason why we’ve been given the opportunity to connect with more ellow human beings that at any other time in our history. Maybe there is a message that’s just about to be released, one that could change a country, right a wrong or elevate our consciousness. Maybe there’s a video clip, on one o those laptops in one o those coee shops, that’s just an edit away rom changing an opinion, an unair practice, or a lie. And maybe that message comes rom someone who saw “Student’s Corner” all those years ago. Or one o my ellow cast members or a ormer instructor rom good ol’ Falls Church High. Maybe it comes rom one o the students in the video classes that I now teach. Hey, maybe it’s rom me! But what ascinates me, what keeps me watching new YouTube channels day ater day, what drives my curiosity and truly gives me hope and joy and wonder, is that maybe, just maybe, that message will come rom you.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
CHRISTOPHER RILEY author, The Hollywood Standard — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1.The means of production have fallen into the hands of the masses. No longer does a flmmaker need permission rom a studio boss or investment banker to make a flm. An honest, resh story well told now matters more than money. Brilliant. 2. Distribution channels have opened to the masses. No longer can a handul o gatekeepers separate a flm rom its audience. Film estivals, YouTube, Walmart, cable television, web-based series, exploding oreign markets — all oer avenues or screen storytelling to reach its audience. Getting noticed amidst the clamor o your ellow flmmakers, however, does pose a substantial challenge.
Christopher Riley is a professional screenwriter working in Hollywood with his wife and writing partner, Kathleen Riley. Together they wrote the 1999 theatrical feature After the Truth, a multipleaward-winning German language courtroom thriller. Since then, the husband-wife team has written scripts ranging from legal and political thrillers to action-romances.
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3. Collaboration has never been easier. No longer must collaborators live in the same neighborhood or work in the same ofce to create a flm together. Drats o scripts, audition tapes, and cuts o flms can be shared between continents. Good news or electrons, less good or Exxon. 4.The secrets are out. Inormation empowers and, in the movie biz, insider know-how empowers best o all. This writer remembers a time when books by entertainment industry experts numbered in the zeroes. Not so today. Secret word: MWP.com. Enough said. 5. Humans in the audience have never been hungrier to know one another. Witness the planet-wide blizzard o social networking activity. We can’t bear to live and die alone. Great cinema provides encounters with characters on a level more intimate and revealing and real — even when those characters are fctions — than almost anything coming at us rom Facebook and Twitter. Great flmmakers tell us the secrets o our human race, they prove to us we’re not alone, especially in our yearnings and our umblings, and they inspire us to hope or meaningul encounters beyond the shadows playing across our screens.
6. Audiences have never been more sophisticated in their appreciation of great stories. Once upon a time, in a tiny Nordic kingdom in the dark dead o winter, a perectly mediocre minstrel told a derivative, poorly structured tale with a weak second act. Even so, his listeners didn’t click over to Hulu or spin a DVD. No, they sat tight and they listened because he was the only game in town. Today, our audiences can access instant downloads o thousands upon thousands o the best stories ever told. Today, audiences know better. And so today, the need or well-told stories rom flmmakers with keen insight and resh, courageous voices is great, pushing us to do great work, and relieving us o the soul-killing option o working with only hal our hearts. 7. Audiences have never been bigger. Cinema allows us to tell stories to people we will never meet in places we will never visit, sharing our wisdom, our emotion, and our experience in a world teeming with more people than have ever beore populated this planet, at a time when stories told on the screen reach a greater raction o that population than ever beore. What a time or gited flmmakers to share their gits. 8. Today precedes tomorrow. Our flms endure beyond us in time, allowing us to give our stories as gits to the uture. Today represents a breathtaking opportunity. Since we’ve arrived beore the uture, we can get busy making the flms that will be here to welcome it to a world richer, more compassionate, honest, generous and hopeul that it would otherwise fnd. 9. Tomorrow will follow today quite soon . We won’t have to wait long or the arrival o the uture. It’s chugging right down the tracks. So we flmmakers had best get our cameras rolling soon — but not too soon. Because today is also our opportunity to earn through study and diligent practice the art and the skill that make possible great flmmaking tomorrow. 10. Today is all we’ve got. Spec scripts might have been selling like apjacks in the ‘80s. Competition or studio jobs might have been less intense in 1952. The great twist at the end o The Sixth Sense was still unclaimed and yours or the taking in 1994. Neveryoumind. Those times are not our times. They’re closed to us. Today is our time. This is the year the next great flm will be released. And this is the year the next great flm ater that one will be conceived and birthed onto the screen by a band o gited, hard-working dreamers who long to connect through the power o cinema with audiences waiting eagerly in Wichita, Berlin, and Phnom Penh or a story that will tell them what it means to be human and one that will uel their dreams o Something or Someone more than they yet imagine.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
AUBRY MINTZ author, The Whole Cloth: Integrated Storytelling upcoming from www.mwp.com
Aubry Mintz has worked as a director, animator, and storyboard artist at several animation houses in Canada and the United States. He has also worked as a feature animator at Industrial Light and Magic (The Mummy ) and Square USA (Final Fantasy: The Spirits Within) and as a freelance animation director for television and the Internet working on projects for clients such as Smirnoff, McDonalds, and General Mills.
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Today is a great time to be an animation/flmmaker or many reasons. With so much technology at my disposal I am able to produce animation rom start to fnish on a laptop. With a smart phone, I can video reerences that may someday appear on my sketchpad. Yet, interestingly the skills I have acquired over fteen years are rooted in principles developed in the early 1900s. It is the combination o old and new technologies that give animators a plethora o choices that bring their creations to lie. My particular passion as an animator is pay close attention to all orms o lie. When I watch people, my ocus is to note how they move as everyone has an innate method o locomotion. The mystery is that I never know when one could become a character in a uture flm. Animators are unique among artists o other disciplines. Their entire artistic ocus is aimed at understanding lie through movement, pixels and rames, characters and storyline. In order or an animator to be successul, their ability or intense concentration is paramount. This proession requires a thorough understanding o movement, just as doctors have to understand the entire human body. I am constantly studying people, animals or objects at 24 rames per second, as i they were potential characters in a flm. Throughout the years, I have built a mental library using shapes and symbols to attach to anything that moves. Similar to how painters mentally catalog colors or shapes, I have access to these tools to shape a world that makes sense to me. In my current flm, I am animating movements o a six-year-old boy. To accurately depict the movements o a child o this age, I videotaped a riend’s son acting out certain scenes in my flm and also observing him when he wasn’t acting. My camera recorded how he moved and expressed himsel as he played with his toys. I then transerred the fles to my computer and analyzed the ootage rame by rame almost as i I was viewing his physical movements and personality under a microscope. By studying his every movement, I was able to gain inormation vital to the making o my flm.
My training in animation was traditional, which means I can look at the live action video and study the movements using principles o animation. In this particular scene in my flm, the character’s sleep is interrupted by a car horn. When I study the flm clips, the frst thing I notice is the attitude o the boy in the main poses (or key rames), such as his demeanor as he slept soundly contrasted with bolting up right as he is jolted awake. I notice things only a boy this age might do, or example, how his knee and ankles turn in as he struggles to a sitting position. Or the way he careully places his doll on the pillow next to him, as i not wanting to awaken his living, breathing riend. Studying this motion rame by rame, I take note o the timing and spacing and also the in-betweens o this action. By studying these actions, I hope to fnd the key to the mechanics o my character (or object) so that I can draw them accurately. Facing a blank canvas or an empty pad, the possibilities or the artist are simultaneously endless and, at the same time, terriying. As I sit at my animation table, my thumbnail drawings comort me as they are the blueprints or the action o these characters as I begin to animate my scene. Since this is animation, I exaggerate movements to bring more lie and character than the live action reerence. I draw quick abstract lines and shapes that will rip across the screen. The characters begin to move so slightly that the movement is almost unintelligible on a single rame. It is the combination o the ramed images viewed quickly one ater another that makes the character comes to lie. There is discipline and patience required to do the many drawings necessary or animation, but with practice the sheer number o drawings alls away. Miraculously, my fngers breathe lie into characters or objects that almost seem to cry out to me to move them. The years o technical training become second nature as my character starts to climb out o the page and into the lap o the audience.
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
R.I.P. BARBIE JENNIFER DORNBUSH author, Forensic Speak: How to Write Realistic Crime Dramas upcoming from www.mwp.com It all started when I told my writing partners about a very unusual Barbie doll accessory we used to play with as kids. They had never heard o it beore. Never owned one. Never seen one. I could tell they wanted proo. Not being able to recall where it last ended up, I emailed my amily to ask who was in current ownership o… the Barbie body bag.
Jennifer Dornbush is a lm & TV writer, crime scribe, forensic science maven, college professor, and children’s book author. She is currently penning a forensic science guide for writers, with Michael Wiese Productions, tena tively titled, Forensic Speak.
The next day, I received a very distressing photo and an email rom the Newaygo County Medical Examiner’s ofce (aka: my Mom and Dad). What started as a simple quest to fnd the bag turned into an unorthodox correspondence. I mean, seriously, who “plays coroner” with their Barbies? Okay, frst, a ew things you need to know about my amily beore you step into email chain. #1. My ather was a medical examiner and my mother served as his ofce manager. #2. They ran the M.E. ofce rom their home. I and my two sisters helped out. #3. No, Mattel does not manuacture Barbie body bags. Ours was a sample rom a medical supply vendor. Here’s the message that came with the photo: Subject line: Miss Barbie ound dead according to Newaygo County Medical Examiner. Message: We are sorry to inform you that little Miss Barbie was found lying in her case without any obvious signs of what caused her death. Therefore the medical examiner was notied. He came to examine the scene and then packaged her up in this adorable “Barbie body bag” to be taken off to the morgue for examination and autopsy. If and when we get a nal answer to the cause and time of death, you will be notied. If this ofce can be of any further help in your investigation, please do not hesitate to contact us. Within a matter o minutes emails about Miss Barbie’s demise were bouncing around between us.
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First came denial…. From: Reporter Dornbush (me): From the photo you sent, that looks like Skipper, not Barbie. Please conrm her identity. From: The M.E.’s Ofce: This email is to correct a grave error on our part about the name and person of the deceased in the white body bag in the pictures that were recently sent to you. It has come to our attention that we were mistaken in the identity of the person in the body bag. Records now indicate that she was “Skipper,” Barbie’s little sister. We do apologize for the mistaken identity and our ofce will do better in the future to make sure we have the correct identity of the person/s that our ofce is required to investigate. Then came suspicion and blame…. From: Detective DeVries (my middle sister): Reports from witnesses state that Skipper was cat walking down the runway when her arch enemy dropped the disco ball on her. She was rushed to the hospital where her arch enemy switched her IV to pain meds. Causing Skipper to hallucinate and stumble out into the hallway in front of the candy striper’s cart causing a fatal hematoma. From: Sherlock Holmes Graeser (my youngest sister): I disagree with your evaluation of the crime, Detective. During a recent interview, Skipper’s best friend conded that Skipper had an acrimonious relationship with Ken’s new wife, Malibu Barbie. She has reason to believe Malibu poisoned Skipper at their Dreamhouse. From: Reporter Dornbush (me): My sources familiar with the matter said Ken had a hand in her demise. He was overheard complaining to his spray-tanned friend, Steven, “I’m tired of driving Skipper everywhere in the convertible. Doesn’t she know how much gas costs these days?!” Soon, we were given answers…. From: The M.E.’s Ofce: The ofcial autopsy report is in and the M.E. has found that after being shut up in that case for several years Skipper died from an acute case of loneliness. She had no one to play with; no one to pay any attention to her; no one to take her places. She languished away from lack of attention until she just gave up the ghost. [I wonder though i this was mom’s way o telling us to get our old toys out o her house.] Finally, we arrived at acceptance…. From: Detective DeVries: Please pass along our condolences to the remaining family of Miss Skipper. We will consider this case closed. From: Sherlock Holmes Graeser (my youngest sister): I am sorry to hear of Skipper’s death, but am delighted to see how well the white body bag goes with her ‘70s style, owered halter top dress. She was well-preserved and stylish to the very end.
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From: Reporter Dornbush: I accept your ofcial document on this matter, but will continue into the investigation as journalism integrity compels me to do. In the mean time, I will run a attering obituary in this Sunday’s paper. Such are the antics o a coroner’s amily. The world o orensic science is a amiliar home to me because it was, literally, in my home. And now, it has become the odder or much o my storytelling. It also prompted me to launch my MWP book on orensics or TV & flm writers. But it wasn’t always so; because not everyone appreciates quirky, gallows humor. Beore I started to fctionalize the skeleton in my closet, I spent years trying to keep it there. [And yes, we had a amily skeleton. His name was Sam. But that’s or another story.] Now, I’ve embraced my uncanny childhood and it’s warped inuence on me. A plaque hanging on the wall to the entrance o my ofce reminds me: Home is where your story begins. It’s a simple artist’s mantra. Write rom that placed you call home. Especially, i sometimes, it makes you cringe.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
DOROTHY FADIMAN co-author, Producing With Passion available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Modern technology empowers documentary flmmakers as never beore. All you need is a video camera, a laptop, and a strong wireless signal. With these resources, you can weave the powerul moments o lie into vibrant, engaging stories.
1. Documentary Filmmaking is Affordable Documentary flmmaking is more aordable now than ever beore. In 1977, I produced my frst flm, Radiance , on 400-oot rolls o 16mm flm. Each roll gave us ten minutes o flming time. I we were shooting 16mm flm today, an hour’s worth o 16mm flm, plus processing, would cost $1,560. A one-hour digital tape costs $4 — and you don’t have to process anything!
Dorothy Fadiman is an Oscar-nominated, Emmy-winning documentary lmmaker who has been making lms since 1976. Her lms have been shown on PBS and at venues throughout the world. In addi tion to producing documentary lms, Dorothy teaches, leads workshops, and trains interns in lmmaking.
I love being able to aord to shoot that second hour in a long interview. Some o the most intimate material happens ater the original questions you brought to the interview are answered. While making the flm When Abortion Was Illegal we had put the camera away when Rosalie Sorrels began to share a heart-rending story. I asked my cameraman Daniel to turn the camera on again. The story that Rosalie told in that second hour was riveting. It was probably what led to the flm’s Oscar nomination.
2. Distribution Is Easy The Internet provides an ease o distribution that was unheard o 35 years ago. I used to carry 16 mm flms on metal reels in metal cans (about ten pounds) rom conerence to conerence to show my flms in order to promote them. Now, all it takes to upload a flm to the Internet is a ew key strokes. My sister has emphysema. I made a flm about her using oxygen in an unusually bold way. She takes a whole tank with her wherever she goes. She teaches, goes to exercise class, and shops in the supermarket with her oxygen tank. Many people with COPD don’t go out at all.
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This flm was a personal love letter that I never promoted. My editor uploaded the flm to several site sitess incl i ncludin uding g YouT ouTube. ube. Breathe Easy has now had more than 22,000 viewings on one o those sites.
3. DVDs are a Filmmaker’s Dream Come True The lowly DVD is a simple, compact and inexpensive way to package your flm or sale. Filmmakers can screen their flms or a group, give a talk aterward, and sell DVDs o the flm in the back o the room. The flm Stealing America: Vote by Vote tells how electronic voting machines can be programmed gram med to produce a raudulent election result. When I’ve shown it to large groups, I sell hundreds o DVDs. People say “I have got to show this to so and so…” We have sold thousands o DVDs this way to people who want to share the flm with others.
4. Research at a Keystroke Good research is the heart o a documentary. Research that used to take days, weeks, and months is now at your fngertips! I remember researching progressive education or Why or Why Do These Kids Love School?. I wanted learn as much as I could about John Dewey’s philosophy o education. I spent months in the librar y reading dozens o articles, ar ticles, dog-eared dog-eared books and old magazines magazi nes.. I careully checked each reerence, and Xeroxed the pages one by one. A ew minutes ago, I asked Google to tell me about John Dewey, and got more than two million leads.
5. A Hunger for Meaningful Media People are hungry or meaningul, well-researched, engaging media. With a ew notable exceptio ex ceptions, ns, the mainstream main stream media is simply not providing it. A vivid example is the flm Moment by Moment . Ater a spinal cord injury sustained in a car wreck, a woman was told she would never move again rom the shoulders down. She and her husband share intimate details detail s o her rehabilitation, including including their sex lie. She is makma king medical history as she learns to walk again. Seeing this flm is upliting; it gives people hope about their own own ability abilit y to surmount sur mount obstacles. obstacles.
6. The Proliferation Prolifer ation of Media Medi a Devices The geometric geometric increase in the number o media devices like smart phon phones, es, iPads iPads and lightweight computers, means that people can watch your flms whenever and wherever they want. Seeds of Hope is Hope is a fve flm series about AIDS in Arica. It runs a total o 2½ hours. Friends and colleagues tell me they’ve taken the whole series along to watch during long plane trips.
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7. Tell elling ing The Trut ruth h More and more, people eel that the corporate media is lying to them. They sense that what they see is being cleverly manipulated and spun. People want the real story. One o the most disen disenranchised ranchised populations in the United States are Nativ Nativee Americans. The The flm Reclaiming their Voice enter Voice enterss the Pueblos and meets with people in their homes. Vi View ewers ers can watch them speak rankly about the inequality o their voting experiences.
8. The Rise of Conscious Media Since the 1960s, growth groups, personal development workshops, and the acceptance o psychotherapy have prepared people or flms that reveal a person’s inner journey. The flm Shattering the Myth of Aging begins Aging begins with the story o a man in his sixties who decides to become stronger. By the time he reaches seventy, he has become a gold medalist in the Senior Olympics.
9. Finding and Creating a Community Internet orums — like the digital video orum DVinfo — give flmmakers access to hundreds o proessional flmmakers and passionate amateurs. People share ideas, solve problems, and comort and inspire each other other.. In addition to orums, there is the whole world o social media and blogs where flmmakers use Facebook, Twitter, and hundreds o other services to create community.
10. Online Education You can get a wo world-cl rld-class ass educ educatio ation n online, online, and learn rom the fnest minds in flm. The only price o admission is a wireless signal and a laptop. The new MWP Online Film School is an outstanding example o this. I have decided to teach classes there. I hope to see you in class one day!
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WHY IT’S A GREAT GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMA FILMMAKER KER TOP TEN REASONS
PAMELA JAYE SMITH Dr ives, The Power of the t he Dark Side, and author, Inner Drives, Symbols . Images . Codes available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1. You get to play god. You create create entirely new wo worlds, rlds, peo people ple,, and and situations situations and manipulate them any way you wish. I you don’t like the way something is going, just hit “delete” and start over. Better yet, save those scenes to recycle them. Sometimes “Lie Imitates Art.” Don’t just write what you know, write what you want to see and experience. experience. It quite oten comes true tr ue..
2. You can travel the world at other people’s expense. I’ve worked in the Arctic, the Andes, and SE Asia, straddled the equator in Ecuador and received a dead-bird necklace rom a (hopeully) ormer cannibal tribe, slept in a grass hut at the oot o a volcano, volcano, driven an Army tank as well as a s the largest deep-water rig r ig in the Gul o Mexico, met a Chinese Cultural Attaché who went on to a very high position in that country, own frst class around the Orient courtesy o Pan Am. 3. Time Travel. Going backward or orward in time and place can be enchanting as well as difcult. Coming up with the appropriate location, sets, props, and wardrobe or an historical piece or an other-dimension sci-f requires both imagination and good research. Writing the stories can be almost like being there as your imagination runs wild. Being on the sets is better than virtual reality because you truly are there in your ull physical sel. Pamela Jaye Smith is a writer, international consultant and speaker speaker,, and award-winning producer/director, and founder of Mythworks. Mythworks.
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4. Instant Gratication. Though it takes a good while to write a good script the actual production o a movie, series episode, commercial, or documentary is ast compared to the rest o regular lie. Some people spend months and years on a corporate or civic project project without seeing solid results. resul ts.
Filmmakers see results the frst day the cameras roll and see end results relatively quickly. Part o the magic o movies is that speedy journey rom concept to creation. You end each day knowing something substantial has been accomplished.
5. Intellectual challenges and problem-solving. To quote rom Apocalypse Now , “Charlie’s always out there” — a military variant o Murphy’s Law. Something unexpected is always going to happen. The intellectual, physical, and emotional challenges called upon to save the day happen all across crew, sta, and cast. You have to think on the y, act decisively, be prepared to deal with consequences, and keep everything running smoothly, like building a plane while you’re ying it. Some challenges I’ve seen: a ooded ood-prep kitchen on a ast-ood commercial, the location owner’s dog slain by our stunt dog, and a atal plane crash during a gasoline commercial. 6. Increased knowledge about wide-ranging topics. What was the Cuban underground like in 1948? What kind o ries would rebels in the Brazilian rain orests have used in 1907? What’s the dierence between a psychopath, a sociopath, and a psychotic? How can you create I-beams out o oam core, Styrooam balls, glue, and paint? How long to excavate and pave a sunken race track in the desert? Is it more efcient to build an electrical turntable or a car or just get the grips to move the stage like Egyptians building pyramids? How long do camera batteries last in eighty-below weather? (Seven minutes.) Whether writing or in production, research leads you to ascinating inormation in oten quite exotic places. 7. Good money. Depending on what aspect o the industry you’re working in you can make rather good money doing what you enjoy. Today’s technology oers many low-budget ways to create media. Though web series and blogs get a lot o attention and some actually get “picked up” by a sponsor or studio, the real proessionalism is still higher up the ood chain. So is the money. Typically commercials pay the most but don’t get a lot o respect; TV series oer solid good employment but are oten sneered at or banality; cable series are new content darlings but the pay scale is oten lower; eatures are still the Mount Olympus o the media industry, even though they may not pay as well as commercials or some TV series. Regardless, how cool is it to get paid to do what you love to do and get ree ood on the sets all day long?
8. Intense and lasting relationships. Similar to how warriors bond in combat, people on productions tend to orm intense and lasting relationships. The pressure o working at your best or long hours, ocused on a single creative vision, collaborating with people you know, or sometimes total strangers, has an emotional aect that people who haven’t done it simply cannot understand. That sense o specialness, o a unique language, and o having gone “through production wars” together makes or very tight riendships and quite oten, romantic relationships.
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9. Develop your people skills. Choosing the correct writing partner is vitally important to turning out a good script and to keeping your sanity. When it works well it’s an amazing alchemy. Just as in the military, there’s a chain o command on a flm set that makes everything run efciently. Certainly there can be collaboration but it’s best to have just one “decider.” The smooth running o that system is exhilarating to be part o, especially i you move around on the ood chain and learn what it’s like to work in dierent departments. Sometimes you’ll have to work with decidedly o-putting people, but rest assured they’re probably quite talented and smart. As the saying goes, “On a flm set you can be an asshole, but you can’t be an idiot.” Learning to deal with them gives you lie skills to apply anywhere else.
10. Glamour and Magic. There’s something magical about creativity, art, and perormance be it on the page, on stage, or on a set. Toss in some movie stars, über-talented creatives, clever and competent crews and you have the recipe or very rewarding experiences bringing imagination to lie and inspiring the imaginations o your audiences.
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
DYNAMIC UNCERTAINTY: INQUIRY INTO SCREEN STORY NEILL D. HICKS author, Screenwriting 101,Writing the Thriller Film, and Writing the Action Adventure Film available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Not so long ago, I arrived in Hollywood with advanced degrees in flm, solid experience in documentary production and network broadcasting, countless research hours in the literature and history o cinema — and no clue about how to write a eature flm. At the time, Syd Field hadn’t sparked the explosion o how-to books. There were none o the now ubiquitous screenwriting classes, and getting your hands on a genuine studio screenplay was practically a criminal oense. But it was this lack o knowledge that made me dive headlong into the unknown. I you’ve ever put pen to paper you know that writing is one o the most rightening proessions you can undertake. Oh, sure, rescuing a kitten rom a burning building, or topping o a skyscraper, or plunking down a ew mil on the latest IPO may cause you to catch your breath once or twice, but writing is really terriying. At least with the kitten, the skyscraper, and the IPO, you’ll know or sure when you’ve achieved straightorward success or ailure. But the act o writing never quite lives up to that precious vision in your imagination. Putting words on the page demands the compromise o creative give-and-take decisions. Writing is always a go-or-broke gamble on uncertainty. The breathtaking conrontation with the unknown is what makes writing a wizard’s brew o intuition, technique, and raw anxiety. Nevertheless, the more comortable you become with not knowing, the more likely you are to make big discoveries. So I became a kind o detective, working out o a second oor walk-up ofce at the sleazy end o Hollywood Blvd. where Philip Marlowe would have been right at home. Instead o crimes, I investigated movies in search o what makes a story resonate with the Neill D. Hicks is an L.A. based professional screenwriter whose credits include two of the biggest action-adventure lms of all time, Rumble in the Bronx and First Strike.
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audience. The more I ollowed up on the clues, the more I began to understand a undamental truth about stories. Humans need the predictable reassurance that solid narrative creates. Stories are the devices that the mind uses to make sense o the world. They provide satisaction. That isn’t to say that a given story is predictable, but that within the context o a story we can allow ourselves to experience a range o intense emotions precisely because, unlike real lie, we trust that the story will resolve in a satisying way. Even more important, audiences have an inbred recognition or a story that is out o whack. They know when something doesn’t eel right. This Danger, Will Robinson! signal is a human evolutionary adaptation. The i-this-happens, that-will-happen mind-template allows us to predict behavior, and alerts us to unamiliar hazards. In act, neuroscience and social psychology are discovering increasing evidence that humans use these internal narratives not only to interpret the world, but to justiy to themselves how they operate in that world. But writers are not social scientists or brain researchers. We’re creative flmmakers who just want to tell good stories that engage an audience. Exactly, and all the bards, troubadours, shamans, raconteurs, and dramatists throughout the ages have had to sign onto the same bargain between storyteller and audience. We are the ip side o that human desire or wholeness. We are the creators o something out o nothing that must be shaped to ft the patterns embedded in the human psyche. Ours is an earned instinct born o the dynamic uncertainty that makes us take the risk o telling lies to reveal truth. Within a year o poking through the nooks and crannies, I saw my frst screenplay produced — and the experience sent me scuttling back into dynamic uncertainty to fgure out why it didn’t happen the way I wanted it to. Over time, the investigation o the uncertain became a mode o working, so that in addition to my own writing, I set out to teach others. O course, the attempt to objectiy a process that is essentially mysterious produced even more uncertainty. Eventually, my discoveries overowed into three books published by the dynamically certain Michael Wiese Productions. Naturally, those books have generated even more questions or me as a story sleuth.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
HELEN JACEY author, The Woman in the Story available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1. Feeling the Fear You’re going to do it anyway. And you’ll love yoursel or no more ‘i only...’ 2. Third Draft Thighs Yes, thighs not highs. By the time you’re on your third drat, your thighs can be showing the strain o sitting or hours. Gaining the physique o Shrek or Fiona means you’re really making progress. 3. Test of Love Who else would chain you to a chair, bring you coee to alleviate your mental torture, and listen to your mid-point dilemmas? Your loving partner, that’s who. A keeper.
Helen Jacey is a professional screenwriter with over ten years experience in the UK lm industry. She has sold or had optioned all her spec screenplays and has been commissioned to write numerous screenplays for UK and European Film Production Companies..
4. Anthropological Delights You don’t have to watch Terra Nova or Jurassic Park to see Darwin’s theory o ‘survival o the fttest’ in practice — just become a flmmaker. 5. Creative Freedom You can tell any story you want, your way. But i you want an audience you need to… 6. …Get a thick skin A tough hide keeps all manner o unwanted ills out. Your inner artist will be protected, and you can keep smiling and get ahead. 7. Experts To-Go Doctors and dentists don’t bump into people who have great ideas or surgery or the latest design o implants. Being a flmmaker means you’ll run into experts on the street, at the bus top, at the store — all who can tell your story even better than you! And giving pro bono consultancy! 8. Make ‘em Laugh A job where you are paid to entertain? Dream come true. 9. Self-respect Filmmakers have to give it their best, every time. Draining, yes? Do you have a choice? No. Do you mind you don’t have a choice? Not at all. 10. Making A Difference Your work will change someone’s lie.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
KEN ROTCOP author, The Perfect Pitch — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Now that there are so many avenues open to new flmmakers, what with iPods, YouTubes, and Hulu-dot-coms... anybody with a camera can write, star, direct, and produce his own epic! Here are the top ten reasons to become a nouveau auteur : 10. It’s better than getting a “real job.”
Ken Rotcop produces Pitchmart™, Hollywood’s biggest screenplay pitch event. His screenwriting workshop was the subject of a feature-length documentary, Talk Fast , which has won various lm festival awards. Most recently STARZ network produced a two-part series on Ken Rotcop, Pitching Guru.
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9.
Girls gravitate to guys who call themselves “flmmakers.”
8.
Guys gravitate to girls who call themselves “flmmakers.”
7.
You get to make a poster o your movie to hang on your bedroom wall!
6.
You can always run your flm on YouTube... they don’t turn down ANYBODY!
5.
Even shy guys can pick up girls with “wanna be in my movie?!”
4.
There are so many actors out o work they will PAY YOU to be in your flm!
3.
You drive hot cars, date hot starlets, walk the red carpet at premieres, and give dozens o interviews... NOT!
2.
Down to your last 20 dollars... you can take your flm to Sundance and rub elbows with other flmmakers down to their last 20 dollars!
AND THE NUMBER ONE REASON why you should make a flm... 1.
You get to write a book or Michael Wiese Publishers that goes on your desk next to all the overdue bills you can’t pay rom making your movie!
WHAT TO SUBTRACT FROM YOUR FILMMAKING TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
CARL KING author, So,You’re a Creative Genius… Now What?, available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com We tend to think o flmmaking as an additive process. We type words onto a page, hire actors, buy equipment, fll our hard drives with ootage — starting with nothing, and end with something. I we’re at all honest (and taking chances as a flmmaker) we know the truth: we might ail. We might suck. It’s the emptiness at the beginning o a project that terrifes us. We know we have to prove ourselves. Again, today, right now. So we add, add, add. Fill the hole. Fill the void. But, in honor o Seth Godin (and his evil twin, The Sphinx rom Mystery Men) we can ip it around and realize that the process is also… Subtractive.
Carl King is a director, producer, animator, and writer. Under the names Sir Millard Mulch and Dr. Zoltan, he has recorded or performed with Creative Genius musicians such as Devin Townsend, Marco Minnemann, and Virgil Donati.
So here are three things you can always subtract rom your flmmaking:
1. Unwanted Sound When recording sound, you should be aware o something called The Cocktail Party Eect. Magical organic devices in your skull automatically flter out static background sounds like air conditioners, toilet tanks, the rumble o trafc — stu in your environment that’s uninteresting or unimportant, so that you notice only the things that change or move. It’s really an evolutionary / survival mechanism. You also automatically ignore reections rom hard suraces — so that when someone speaks, you don’t hear the reverb and echo in the room — just their clear voice. It’s a good kind o auditory illusion, an ability to omit perceptual inormation serves you well in everyday lie. But when you play a recording back, all o that noise and ambience will be brought to the oreground, seemingly amplifed. Things you didn’t notice while recording will be obnoxiously loud. And those edits between shots will be atrocious, marching up and down the stairs o hiss and static: KHHH!
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Kssshhhhh… KHHHHH! Kssshhhh. You have to train yoursel to be aware o all sounds in your environment to avoid this. And remember that when people watch your movie at home (or on a phone / laptop during a plane ight), they’ll have their own Cocktail Party Eect to deal with, potentially distracting them rom your flm. Don’t make it worse. Use an external mic and get it as close as you can to the actors / action. Unless you’re trying to be intentionally artsy (in other words, lazy).
2. Unwanted Visuals Learn to rame your shots by trimming (or including!) background inormation. Decide what your subject is. Is it Mr. Bionic, and does it not matter where he is? Then get in close and pick a background that’s neutral and vague. Is the subject Mr. Bionic and the Cage Full o Green Monkeys From Venus? Then get back and include the whole Cage Full o Green Monkeys From Venus. But your subject probably isn’t Mr. Bionic Stands Against A Big, Boring Wall. In post, edit out the extra junk beore and ater The Action. No one wants to see Mr. Bionic licking his lips, scratching his nose, and looking around nervously as you adjust your shaky camera. Don’t break the illusion o Mr. Bionic, even or a ew rames. Fade/cut while Mr. Bionic is still 100% in character. 3. Unwanted People I you’re going to judge the actors, writers, directors, assistants you work with (we have judgment or a reason), here’s one way to do it. Notice the types o problems they choose to have in their lives. Running out o gas on the reeway (just because they didn’t bother to fll up), or example. That’s a person who would risk compound problems later rather than solving simple problems now. Someone who just doesn’t prepare or lie, on a basic adult level. And i you work with them, you’ll be throwing a large percentage o your time and energy into their black hole o incompetence. Psychologically, they do it because they get a rush and ego boost by narrowly escaping disasters. It makes them eel special, as i they were truly meant to succeed in spite o all their careree, bad choices. All it really does is sabotage their work — and yours. People who say, “I eed o the chaos,” are making excuses or their bad habits. Get rid o that nonsense. Be judgmental. Subtract these three things and you will make remarkable improvements in the quality o any flmmaking project.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
TODD KLICK author, Something Startling Happens available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com I thought she was gonna all to her death.
Screenwriter, producer, and author Todd Klick is VP and Director of Story Development for White Oak Films. Outside of his work with White Oak, Todd (whose screenplays have earned him recognition with the prestigious Nicholl Fellowship and the PAGE International screenplay competi tions) currently has three options for his latest feature-length screenplays.
There we were, straddling the railing o the 6th Street Bridge near downtown Los Angeles. Far below us was the wide, cement channel that straddles each side o the thin L.A. River. Along those hard high banks is where Paramount flmed the amous car race or the movie Grease back in the late ‘70s. We were shooting a short flm at that same location, directed by my 4-time Emmy-nominated riend, Matt Ogens (Confessions of a Superhero). A Hollywood stunt coordinator we hired or the day rigged a teenage actress so she could “saely” toe the edge o that scary railing, making it appear she was contemplating a suicide jump. Though I knew the stunt coordinator was top-notch, and the girl was, on paper, sae, I was still concerned or her well-being. That’s when the cinematographer, Morgan Pierre Susser, who shot Joseph Gordon-Levitt’s flm, Hesher , pulled out the camera he was going to use or the scene, and or the entire shoot — a camera that was hal the size o an iPhone. Seeing that tiny camera reminded me o ten years earlier when I led a crew o twelve out into the Pennsylvania woods to flm a short I had written called The Rut. We lugged a heavy 16-millimeter camera up and down rocky terrain or our weekends o grueling 15-hour days. What stood out in my mind rom that month, however, was the horriying moments when the expensive flm returned rom the lab and we discovered we had to reshoot entire scenes because o overexposed flm. What a time-consuming, expensive nightmare it was. We eventually fnished the flm, on schedule, and made it into estivals, but I still carry the wounds rom that experience. Now here we were, a decade later, using this itsy-bitsy camera that didn’t require a lab and a week’s wait. We could instantly see what we shot, know i it was quality or not, and help that actress down rom the railing much more quickly. As a result, the actress didn’t die that day, nor did the director’s bank account. We were able to fnish the flm in reasonable time or little
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money, and get amazing ootage without reshoots. The experience made me appreciate what special times we live in as flmmakers: We have the world in our palms, literally. There are no more excuses. So my top 10 reasons why it’s great to be a flmmaker (especially today) are: 1.
We save damsels in distress.
2.
We have easy access to high-quality equipment.
3.
Free social media promotes our work.
4.
Tons o flm estivals to choose rom.
5.
The world is our audience (through the Internet).
6.
Fun new gadgets to experiment with.
7.
Doesn’t matter how old we are.
8.
There’s great books that show us how.
9.
Instant email or cell phone access to crew.
10. We can tell any story we want wherever we are.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
MORRIE WARSHAWSKI author, Shaking the Money Tree — 3rd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 10. Makes you popular at weddings and bar mitzvahs.
Morrie Warshawski is a consultant, facilitator, and writer who specializes in helping nonprot organizations on issues of strategic planning. His work is characterized by a commitment to the core values of creativity, tolerance, thoughtfulness, and transparency.
9.
You’re YouTube ready.
8.
Kickstarter and IndieGoGo.
7.
Everyone who is not a flmmaker thinks they want to trade places with you.
6.
Cost o entry has gone way down.
5.
It’s a visual world.
4.
Opens doors to new worlds and interesting opportunities.
3.
No dress code.
2.
Great conversation starter at parties.
1.
It’s sexy!
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TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
SECRETS ON AN ISLAND CHRISTOPHER KENWORTHY author, Master Shots Vol 1 and Master Shots Vol 2 available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com At the age o nine I stumbled across an island used in the flm Swallows and Amazons, which I’d seen a couple o weeks beore. It was a thrill to stand in the place where such a joyous flm had been made, but I was instantly aware that flmmakers had powers that were almost magical. Wild Cat Island, in the English Lake District, although beautiul, was tiny. In the flm it seemed enormous and spacious. How had they achieved this illusion? 2nd edition available April 2012
Christopher Kenwor thy has worked as a writer, director, and producer for the past ten years. He directed the feature lm The Sculptor, which played to sold-out screenings in Australia and received strong reviews. Current projects include screenwriting, directing several assignments, and the development of additional Master Shots applications.
At the time I had no idea how it was done, but I wanted to learn, so I got hold o an 8mm camera and started experimenting. I they could turn a simple island into a place o magical adventure, could I do the same with my own camera? I ound that I could, once I knew the secret. Going to other movie locations over the next twenty years or so helped me to unlock the secret code that flmmakers use. I love going to places where movies were made, and seeing how the flmmakers captured them. One thing I’ve noticed, though, is that the general public are oten disappointed, even devastated, when they discovered that a movie location looks duller, atter and ar less impressive than it did in the flm. This is why being a flmmaker is magical; you take a real place (or a set) and make it as impressive as a dream. You make it hyper-real, to tell a story. The secret is that you don’t just point your camera, capture the scene and hope or the best. Filmmakers transorm the world through clever lens choice, careul positioning o camera and actors, and camera moves that enhance the meaning and emotion o a scene. This is what I’ve tried to show in the Master Shots books. When you imagine a scene clearly, it takes a ew simple choices and techniques to create the exact eect you want. In one case, the search or a location took me over 25 years. There’s a scene in Nineteen Eighty-Four , which eatures John Hurt and Suzanna Hamilton. They walk to the edge o a woodland and look out over a
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strange hill. I wanted to fnd the location because it is a stunning scene and because Suzanna Hamilton was also in Swallows and Amazons, the flm that got me started. My search was ruitless or decades. Although I ound hills and valleys that were good candidates, none o them had orests or woods in the right place. Eventually I saw what should have been obvious rom the beginning. There never was a woodland there. The scene in the woods was shot somewhere else, and when they walk out onto the hill, the crew have positioned a ew branches around them to create the illusion o trees. What’s more, they aren’t walking out on the hill itsel but are standing on a raised platorm, which gives a slightly better angle on the view behind them. This discovery was just as exciting as the one I’d made as a child. It made me see that when a flmmaker has an extremely clear vision, only small adjustments are needed to make an image perect. A lesser flmmaker might never have thought to raise the actors a ew eet o the gourd. It’s a simple trick that you can do on any budget, with a ew apple crates i that’s the only option. But it works, and it’s worth the eort. The ordinary was changed into the extraordinary by looking at it rom a slightly dierent angle. This is why I love flmmaking. To tell a story with any degree o truth, we exaggerate images and emotions. Without this exaggeration the world is diminished and attened by the time it reaches the screen. The joy o flm-making is that you start with a script, and then whether you build a set, modiy a location, or just raise your actors o the ground a ew eet, you reveal the world in a way that it has never been seen beore. And that, by anybody’s standards, is magic.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
LD THOMPSON author, The Message: A Guide to Being Human available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Ater the Proposition 8 debacle in Caliornia when voters were allowed to legislate against the rights o same sex couples to marry, there was a screening in Hollywood o for my wife…., the documentary on marriage equality that I produced in 2010. The organizer o the screening was a beautiul young woman who introduced the mayor o Los Angeles that evening. In her introduction she related how, ater the Prop 8 vote, she had gone to visit her parents and knowing their political predilections had asked them how they had voted on Prop 8. There was an uncomortable silence. She then said to them, ‘would it have made any dierence to your vote i you knew someone who was gay?’ Ater another silence her mother said ‘are you trying to tell us something?’ And she said, ‘Yes, mom, I’m gay.’ Both o her parents then said, ‘O course it would have made a dierence.’ In his twenties, a profoundly mystical experience initiated LD Thompson’s spiritual journey. As a result, he dedicated his life to deepening the transformation that he experienced, and to integrating the knowledge and wisdom he received. LD travels the world working with individuals, groups, and corporations in the U.S., Australia, Japan, Germany, and England, as a teacher, advisor, and counselor.
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That little domestic scene sums up or me one o the most compelling reasons to be a flmmaker — being a part o the cultural dialogue in a unique and aecting way. The flm was a call to action that this woman took into a most personal act — coming out to her parents. It also illustrates handily one o the other great reasons to be a flmmaker. As flmmakers we have an opportunity to unction as ‘consciousness scouts. There is oten, in a flmmaker, a tendency to scout about on the edge o the known culture or new trends and the great stories that illustrate how we, as a species, are evolving. Then, we are privileged enough to come back and report, through the medium o flm, what we discovered out there on that edge. A flm that I began working on in 2006 (and am still working on!), Veils: Islam Through Women’s Eyes, reveals many o the reasons why being a flmmaker is compelling to me. We traveled to Aghanistan to shoot several o the stories that we are telling in the flm. The trip challenged my mind and my body and demanded o me that I remain open and curious, tolerant and exible. The amount o learning that took place in that journey could not be duplicated in any classroom. I have always elt a participant in a global community — another beneft o being a flmmaker — but ater that trip my global awareness grew by light years.
One o the most noticeable things about the flmmakers is that they continually have to reinvent themselves. When one project is ‘in the can’ the process begins all over again and diving into a new project requires entering a unique and oten dream-like world. The process o taking on a new project and exploring the nuances o human consciousness in that new project oten reects the philosophy that ‘lie is but a dream’ and reveals the illusion o lie at the same moment as it lays bare the basic truths o human nature. So you dream and awaken and take into your own lie the things you’ve learned rom that project, dream and awaken again and through it all, the illusionary nature o lie becomes more apparent. Let’s not orget as well, that flmmakers are involved in an art that has a highly technical component and the speed at which the technology evolves increases every day. As soon as an innovation has been implemented in the industry, scores o people adopt it and begin to innovate rom it. The result is a dizzying speed o evolution that requires that the brain be nimble and capable o adapting. Naturally, the exercise pays dividends by building new pathways in the brain making it healthier. Which brings me to the last, but not the least, great thing about being a flmmaker. Filmmakers have a stellar opportunity to teach… to lead the consciousness o the culture in a very visceral way. It is a proound privilege and it is an enormous responsibility. Frankly, I believe that even in horror flms or gross-out comedy there are ‘teaching moments’ but most certainly each one o us can reect back on signifcant flms that have changed our lives and changed our minds, by prompting proound new awareness. This, I eel, is the highest and best use o the medium. We live in a culture in which, flms are at the very core o our cultural dialogue. To contribute to that dialogue in a meaningul way, to grow and change in the process, to connect with others and, hopeully, help make the world a better place... or me, it doesn’t get better than this. So, here they are: MY TOP TEN REASONS WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER… 1. You enter the cultural dialogue in a very unique and active way. 2. You explore consciousness in a way that is very palpable, tangible whether you’re working with actors or subjects (as in documentaries). 3. You learn. 4. You become more tolerant. 5. You have to remain curious. 6. You become a part o a global community. 7. You have to continually reinvent yoursel. Once a flm is done, you have to pick yoursel up and move onto the next. 8. Films mimic dreams in many ways and so you become more aware o the illusion o lie. 9. You challenge your brain to keep up with all the innovations in technology and storytelling techniques. 10. You teach … you share your fndings rom out on the edge o cultural consciousness with your audience.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
TROY DEVOLLD author, Reality TV: An Insider’s Guide to TV’s Hottest Market available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com I know, I know. What does the Reality TV guy have to say about flmmaking? In addition to the hundreds o hours o reality content I’ve helped along over the years, I’ve also pitched in with riends and ellow flmmakers on their pet projects and my own microbudget eorts just or un, and I’ve always come away rom the experience with something. Here’s a quick rundown o my top ten reasons it’s great to be flmmaker, with an eye toward the new olks:
Troy DeVolld has been working full time in the reality television arena for more than a decade. He shared an “Outstanding Special Class Series” Daytime Emmy nomination for his work on Style Network’s Split Ends and counts among his credits turns on The Osbournes, The Surreal Life, and Flipping Out , as well as multiple seasons with MTV’s Fear , ABC’s Dancing With The Stars, and VH1’s Basketball Wives.
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10. It’s a crapshoot, but it’s your crapshoot. I you’re making something on your own dime, hoping you’ll get into some estivals and get noticed, you and your team o riends (who are also most likely your ellow investors) are only responsible to each other when it comes to the fnal product. 9.The light bulb moment when you understand the value of collaboration. There is a magical thing that happens to you when you go rom thinking that i you could just do everything the way you wanted to, you’d be hailed as a genius to realizing that wow, there are some amazing people out there who can help you translate your vision more articulately and to a more nuanced end. 8. The realization that there is no failure, only learning. Okay, okay. The frst day o shooting sucked. But this is the age o digital, so what are you out? Twenty, fty, or a hundred bucks and some time? Did you learn anything? O course you did. Totally worth it. 7. The knowledge that your boorish detractor has been neutralized. You know the guy who overhears you talking about movies with your riends and gives you the never-ending razz about how all you do is talk about making something? That guy’s a putz, and he’s not making anything either. All you have to do is make one thing.
6. It beats working in a bank. Unless you work in a really un bank, that is. 5. Finally knowing what people really think of your work. Is your writing too precious? Does anyone else share your sense o humor, react to what scares you, or cry at the things that move you? Do you simply have an addiction to Dutch angles or which you should seek proessional help? Most importantly: fnally knowing that you keep a viewer engaged is tremendously empowering. Work toward that. 4. Experiencing, for the rst time, the value of preproduction. You really get to know your riends around the twelth hour o a poorly planned frst day o shooting. By the eighteenth hour, you’re practically war buddies. A little planning ahead o time goes a long way toward keeping everyone happy, alert, and creative. 3. Understanding yourself. You know what I learned about mysel during the time I helped riends with their flms? I’m a great producer, a solid writer, a so-so director, and a lousy frst assistant director. Also, there’s a shot o me rom the back in LolliLove that frst revealed to me that I had a majorly unky bald spot. 2. Did I mention that it beats working in a bank? Seriously, you guys. It would have to be a bank with, like, a water slide in it to be worth it. 1. Experiencing a sense of community among other lmmakers. You’re part o a creative universe that contains everyone rom Diablo Cody to David Lynch to Mona May to Mo Henry. And i you ever run into them or any o the other thousands o people who make flms, television programs, games, or interactive media, you now have something to talk about.
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THE “DON’T HAVE TO” OF YOUR DREAMS TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
DALE NEWTON co-author, Digital Filmmaking 101 — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com The independent flmmakers whom I’ve met and spoken with didn’t start making movies to earn big money, to hobnob with glamorous people, or to garner a star on the sidewalk. While they may have thought about these possible ringe benefts, what really motivated them was a dream, a dream to tell a story the way they wanted to tell it… even i it meant working on a beg-and-borrow budget. They willingly endured the hardships because their dream was worth it. That’s my own story as well, and there are plenty o great things that have come my way as a result. Unexpectedly, some o the best things are what I don’t have to do. Allow me to share a list o the best things you don’t have to do i you’re an indie flmmaker. You don’t have to: When it comes to producing successful movies on a shoestring, Dale Newton and John Gaspard know of what they speak. Together they created the awardwinning digital feature, Grown Men, as well as Resident Alien and Be yond Bob, two critically acclaimed ultra-lowbudget feature lms.
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make small talk at parties. Mention your movie, and the conversation launches rom there.
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fll your Christmas letters with cute stories about your child or your cat. You can tell tales o avoiding military police while shooting without permits, squeezing six people in a Cooper Mini to get a traveling dialogue scene, and putting out a aming cabana ater a special eect goes wrong.
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bother arguing with your spouse about the household budget because you’ll never win that argument again once you’ve spent money making a movie.
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tell co-workers at your day job that you played video games all weekend. Instead, you’ve spent it taking the next step toward fnishing your movie… or selling your movie… or promoting your movie.
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spend time planning your weekends. (For the reason, see previous entry.)
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go out or drinks with your day-job co-workers. (“I’ll be working on my movie.”)
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go to the cabin/beach/hunting lodge/Hamptons with your neighbors. (“I’ll be working on my movie.”)
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list boring work experience on your resume. I was oered my current video-production job in part because I literally wrote the book on low-budget flmmaking. The book and my movies were in my portolio, and no other candidate had anything close to them or credentials.
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be ordinary when you meet new people. Even with the arrival o simpler digital production tools, ew people have actually completed a movie, especially not a eature-length movie. I you’ve paid the hety membership ee to join this exclusive club, enjoy being unique.
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explain why you’ve missed amily gatherings. You’ve dragged hal the clan along with you to be caterers, prop handlers, set builders, location providers, and anything else you could convince them to do. The cousins and aunts who show up or Thanksgiving will be brainstorming how they can help, too.
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contend with a girlriend who thinks you’re cheating on her. She knows that all you ever think about anymore is your movie. (Maybe you should pick up some owers or her on the way home, tonight.)
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worry about your weight because you have spent your ood money on equipment rentals and ood or the cast.
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struggle with insomnia. You are so sleep deprived you can all asleep walking the dog.
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miss seeing your avorite TV show because you haven’t had time to watch TV since it went digital.
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call your riends. They call you to fnd out when they can see their appearance as extras in your movie.
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read up on the latest video technology. You’re already locked into your choice o ormat, and besides, you can’t aord anything new anyway. You’re making a movie.
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clean your apartment since you never leave the edit room long enough to get it dirty.
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have a boyriend. Indie flmmaking is a comprehensive lie experience.
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reach old age regretting you didn’t take a shot at your dream.
Enjoy chasing your dream.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A VOICEOVER ARTIST TOP TEN REASONS
TERRI APPLE author, Voiceovers available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com So you want to do voiceovers? Everyone tells you, “You have a great Voice?” so, you start to do some research, read a ew books on the subject, ask around, scout the Internet, Google some names, check out YouTube and you come away thinking, “How do I break in?” and “It seems so competitive” or even “It looks easy, I can do that.” I’ll bet most o you are thinking the latter and it’s true; to a certain degree.
Terri Apple, actress and writer, is one of the top voiceover actresses in the country, with thousands of voiceovers recorded over her 30-year career. She is the author of the #1 book in its eld, Making Money in Voiceovers.
It’s easy to get ripped o, easy to be led down a ‘wrong’ path o the ‘right’ way to do this business. It’s also ‘easy’ once you’re working in the business and start to develop relationships and it’s also ‘hard’ to establish those same relationships, although like everything else in lie, the harder you work (In the right way) and the more you work on your ‘tool’ (Learning the crat o the business) the closer you can be to achieving your goal; Assuming you know what that goal is and work with a reputable coach that can guide you down the right path to a successul career in voiceovers! The voiceover business has changed dramatically over the last 30 years! I remember when I started and heard those voices on television. I wondered to mysel, “Who does those?” And most importantly, “How do I break into that!” Okay, okay, I know that I was only 15 years old and living in Kansas City. I didn’t know at the time that there was only one agent in town and he, himsel, had no idea what or how I’d pursue voiceovers, sarcastically telling me, “You ought to become a secretary!” I walked straight out that door and right into a local production company and asked around, “How do I get into voiceovers?” Back then, it was easier to break in ‘locally’ because there were way less actors wanting or knowing about that aspect o the voiceover business. Back then actors could make a homemade demo (With the help o a local sound engineer and provided they have an objective idea o how to ‘sell’ and creating ‘mood’ to create dierent vocal qualities while still being ‘themselves’). The voiceover business has not only been extremely lucrative, but, at the same time, competitive. Today’s market has changed vastly rom previous years and times within the voiceover world. In the ‘old days’ (Ahem, when I was in my 20s) the voiceover business was strictly
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UNION and that meant that unless you (The voiceover artist) are in the union (Member o Atra or SAG) you could not work in the voiceover business. The only alternative to that was doing a PSA (Public Service Announcement) which unions allow. When I frst started voiceovers in 1979, there wasn’t a union in Kansas City. I did several non-union voiceover jobs and that eventually led to union voiceover jobs. When I moved to Los Angeles in 1987, although I had several years o experience under my belt, I did not get an agent right away. Today the business works a bit dierently. Because there are so many people across the country wanting to be a part o this exciting business, one needs a proessional demo produced, just like an actor needs a proessional headshot. Because the business has expanded so dramatically, the need or a range o voiceover actors across the country has also expanded. Once an actor learns the proper tools and ways to break into this business; Coaching, learning to cold reading, understanding all the genres o voiceovers, which area to pursue, marketing, casting directors, agents, etc. and has a demo produced, they’re ready to pursue the business. Once an actors’ gone down the proper road, the world o voiceover is endless! I’ve helped many people turn an idea or core o ‘How do I do this?’ to ‘Wow, I can’t believe I’m doing this!’ Like every other business or hobby a person starts, there are ways to go about them to best achieve the goal. Below are the top 10 reasons why now is a great time to break into the voiceover business. (Actually, a ew more than 10, but whose counting! Bring ‘em on!)
1. You can work where you live. Really? How can I turn my voice into proft? Today’s economy creates quite a bit o tension and exasperation. People are wondering, how can I make money in a dierent sort o way, without the structured 9 to 5 dog-eat-dog job market, where I only make a certain amount o money and barely get by? I understand the rustration o being ‘stuck’ in a job or career that you may not love and yet always had this desire to pursue the voiceover business, or any other business or that matter. The good news is, you can. Now that the Internet is so vast, a voiceover actor can live anywhere in the country and go ater LOCAL jobs (Without ever working in any other market) LOCAL market means local businesses. A lot o companies like to hire LOCALLY and that means that you will be hired simply because you’re THERE and available. This may be a small account or a large campaign that runs throughout the country, even though you’ve booked it living in Cincinnati, Ohio. Remember this; where there are ADVERTISING AGENCIES, there are jobs or voiceover actors. 2. You can choose your genre. This means that you can decide, based on what type o voice you have and where you live throughout the county, what kind o voiceovers would be best suited or you. This will be based on your voice, your sell and what the market has to oer where you are. This means i you live in a small town outside o New Orleans and there’s no agent or animation and no production or video game companies in New Orleans, but all you do are character voices, unless you work with a coach or class to learn how to do commercial (TV and RADIO) reads, you’re best o not spending the money (Or letting someone take the money rom you and talk you into it) or an animation demo i there’s no place to pursue the work. This does not mean that there wouldn’t be a local agency in or around New Orleans (And surrounding states) that would represent animation actors. This means you’re voiceover animation
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demo would be added to their voice bank site (More on that later) and you would be able to audition or be considered or animation jobs that were sent to that particular agent. I you don’t have an agent and you do live in a smaller market, but still want to pursue animation, you would need to do the proper research to make sure it’s worth you’re while and there are at least a ew production/video game houses to send your voiceover demo to, otherwise you should pursue the commercial, audio book or promo/afliate market. Work with someone who knows the business (BEFORE YOU START) so that you know what you’re getting into, cost o classes and demos involved and how to pursue business where you live and across the country. Save time and money to learn your crat in the right way!
3. Voicebank is here to stay. Voice bank is an online website that all aspects o voiceover is used or. It was harder or ‘newbies’ to break into the business when you had to have your agent request that you audition or something, or were ‘in’ with the casting houses. Today, auditions are sent directly rom the advertising agencies and clients, directly to agencies or actors to audition or. That means, i you live in Oregon and you are with an agent, you can still audition or something that came rom New York, i the ad agency has sent it to your agent and your agent gives it to you. Ad agencies and casting directors used to only submit fve to ten people on any given job, at any given agency; Today, they see a lot more actors or any given job, but there are a lot more jobs across the country and a lot more access in receiving them than waiting around or an agent to put you on something. Voicebank is a wonderul tool to not only look or agents across the country, and where you live, it’s also a terrifc resource guide that means you can access the site without having an agent. This means that you can access agents, managers, casting directors, production companies, union and non-union managers/agents wherever you live and even where you don’t live. There’s voice123 and voices.com, as well as several other ‘paying’ sites (And some non-paying) which, once you have your voiceover demo proessionally produced, you can sign up on any one (Or all) o these sites and receive auditions. This allows you the ability to book some jobs and get in with companies across the country. Voicebank (Although you cannot be on the site without agency representation) is a great tool to use so that you can email, drop o, mp3 or communicate to send your demo out. Even without an agent, a casting director can call you in or send you scripts to read, no matter where you live. Voicebank resources allow you the ability to pull the legitimate so that you know the proper places to send your demo. Dave and Dave and voiceover resource guide (Online) are also and excellent place to fnd agents, casting directors, coaches and so on. Today, you don’t have to ‘know someone’ to get into a great agency and you don’t necessarily have to have things ‘running’ on air to get hired or a job. As long as you have a proper demo, the right marketing tools, you can go ater any job that you want
4. AFTRA and SAG are great to use for guides for payment scale. Although, you may never work in the UNION industry, you can have a very successul and lucrative career working non-union. The trick is to know what ‘scale’ or any union job-pays. When you know what that job-Union would normally pay, you can use that as a
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guide to know what you should be getting paid as a buy-out and residual scale. Although it is common to be paid less when you work non-union, it is not air that you work or close to nothing or way under scale simply because you’re happy to have any work at all. Know what union rules are. Even i you work non-union, you can negotiate (Or your non union agent or manager) something that is air or all parties. You want to grow in the business while maintaining it like a business. That means work smart! You can fnd all union scale rules on any given job at AFTRA.COM or SAG.COM or in my book Voiceovers!
5. The Non-Union market means more jobs across the country. The markets changed drastically. Today 68% percent o jobs in the voiceover business are non-union. This means that you can pursue the business without ever getting into the union. Even union actors that want to do non-union work can go ‘f-core’ which allows them to pursue jobs outside o the union rules. The only negative is that they cannot vote in the union, but other than that, non-union work (Although can pay less than union work) is quickly taking over the market, which opens the doors or the non-union actor (Or newbie). Today, A non-union actor can work their entire career and never join the union. I a non union actor books a union job (Yes, you can still read or union jobs i your agent or a casting director thinks you’re right or something) 6. You can do this part-time. The business used to be limited to 9 to 5 only to send in and be available to audition. Because there are so many ‘on-line’ auditions, this means you have your own ree time to turn something around and send it in. You also can do voiceover jobs at the comort o a local studio and sometimes-even send them in rom home, depending on the job. Afliate work is a wonderul job to chase-You can go ater the jobs online (Without an agent) secure the job, negotiate pay scale, book the job and turn it around in your own home, via mp3. Several local companies love hiring local talent, so going ater your own local voiceover pool is the best place to start. Local companies are oten okay with you sending in ‘dry’ reads, they will then add sound eects and music bed and cut directly to air. 7. You can make a career. Wanting to change careers can be daunting. Trying something rom home is a great way to see i you can do this or a living. I coach on-line and on the phone. It makes it easy. As a voiceover actor, you have to know how to nail a read regardless o where you are and you must learn the tricks o the trade BEFORE you enter into the booth. Knowing what you are doing BEFORE you decide to make it a hobby or a career adds sel-confdence and esteem as well as a complete understanding o what working voiceover actors go through in their everyday lie. Understand what you are doing, study with the right person, take the right classes, make sure you’re demo is proessionally produced in the genre you want to pursue (The right coach and producer will guide you in the right way) and you will be well on your way to understanding how to create a career instead o jumping right in. Moving in the right direction, understand what it takes and having a complete understanding o the business (Marketing, agents, unions or non-union, other actors, casting directors, ad agencies) makes you turning this idea into a career-a lot smarter and easier.
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8. You can make a living. Once you have a demo and have started to actually pursue the business, you’ll start to make connections. You’ll start to be called in by casting directors (Even i you don’t have an agent). You’ll lock into on-line companies, get amiliar with local and other ad agencies, get your demo out, get acquainted. Working with the right coach that knows everyone and the business, should be able to guide you in the right way. Once you’re auditioning, you should hopeully start to book jobs. Work in the right way and you can turn one job into two, two into ten, ten into a campaign or regular voiceover jobs and you’ll have a career beore you know it. 9. You can create your own hours. Afliate work is something you do once a day, spend a ew hours recording and send it in. Audio books are jobs you go ater, rent studio space (Or use your own space) record and send in. Industrials and in-house videos oten hire talent and work weekends, nights and on your own schedule. On-hold messaging is quick and easy non-union work. In-house voiceover ads are created locally (Most o the time) and can have you come in when convenient or you to an inhouse studio or send in clean reads. Auditions that are sent to you directly can be sent back within a certain time as long as you return by due date.
10. You can decide which are to go after — and go after it! Once you’ve decided which genre to go into (Commercial, Animation, Audio Books, Trailers, Promo’s, Afliate, Narration, E learning, On-Hold messaging, Retail (Car, in house, donuts), there are several tools and tips you can use to go ater the work and get it! Once again, working with a great coach that is there to help you, will beneft you greatly on your road to success. Voicebank.net and Voiceover resource guide (Online) are great tools to fnd ad agencies and companies that hire talent. Sending the proper genre o demo to the proper company is mandatory or helping you achieve success. Send to the places that hire the talent. It’s that simple! You can get work even without a voiceover agent; so get going with that demo as soon as you learn how to read!
11. You can set goals and attain them. Set six-month goals and stick with them. The biggest mistake is voiceover actors sitting on their demos and doing nothing with them. The second mistake is making a demo too soon and having it be lousy or not representing their vocal range and sell. You must have dierent moods (Vocal quality =sell) on your demo to showcase range to the casting directors and agents. Today’s market is great because you no longer have to be ‘in’ with the hottest agent. Once you have a demo, you can get in with several agents that may have the same
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scripts and you can work independently within the non-union market. There are tons o casting directors and ad agencies across the country that preers to work with non-union talent. Being good at your crat and working in the business is not defned by union status.
12. You can have more than one agent across the country. Today’s market allows you to work with as many agents who will take you. This means more potential jobs. Why? More scripts! The more auditions you receive, the better chance you have o booking jobs! Good luck and move orward in the RIGHT direction! Learn how to read scripts, understand the art o cold reading in every genre you wish to pursue, make a demo, market and meet all the people in the business that can help you land a job and go or your new lie in voiceovers!
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
MAUREEN RYAN author, Producer To Producer available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Now is the best time to be an independent flmmaker because your access to equipment AND inormation today is the cheapest and easiest it has ever been! Websites, blogs, books, videos, magazines, flm estivals are all dedicated to giving you more opportunities to learn and exhibit your work than ever beore. Having been a flmmaker and teacher or the last two decades, I eel there are a ew things that matter most when making your frst eature flm.
Maureen Ryan has been a lm producer for over 20 years with experience in narrative lm, documentary, short lm, commercials, music videos, and industrials. Other lms she produced have won a BAFTA Award, a Peabody Award, and an Emmy nomina tion. She has taught lm producing at Columbia University’s School of the Arts Graduate Film Program since 1999 and also teaches producing at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
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1. Don’t shoot before you have the best script possible. You’re dying to shoot your frst eature but don’t start prepping until your script is READY to be shot. It doesn’t matter i you mom loves it (she loves that fnger painting you did in 1st grade too.) Or an actor that your want to star in it thinks it’s the best thing you have ever written (he just wants to star in a flm, any flm). You need to get good, detailed notes rom proessionals that know what makes a good script. Do script readings and invite professionals to give feedback so you can rewrite it to make it the best it can be. 2. Don’t rush into preproduction without creating a thorough script breakdown. Once you have a great script that is close to what the flm will be — locations, production and costume design and characters will not change — you need to do a detailed script breakdown. It’s the only way you will know what you’ll need to plan and budget or. It will be the blueprint (along with the budget) to guide you through the rest o your plans to make the flm a reality. Remember to use a good scheduling sotware to do the breakdown. 3. Don’t fail to create a realistic budget. Don’t try to make your flm based on how much money you think you can raise or the maximum limit on your credit cards. Take the script breakdown and create an overall schedule. Then go line by line through a budget and estimate how much it will REALLY cost . And don’t assume you will get a ree camera and everyone will work or ree. Put in money to pay or everything frst and get to a number. I you
end up getting ree equipment later, you can always lower the budget. Lastly, i you are using SAG actors, remember to budget or the actor salaries based on the SAGIndie contract you qualiy or.
4. Raise enough money to get the lm shot AND nished. Too many flmmakers ail to raise the ull amount to fnish the flm all the way through postproduction and fnal master. They think they will shoot the flm with all the money they have and then worry about the rest while they are editing. Bad idea. You need to fnish the flm completely to a fnal master beore you can get it to flm estivals or send it out to distributors or a possible sale. I you don’t have enough money or music, audio mix and color correct, you’ll be in “limbo” — so close and yet so ar away rom your world premiere. Don’t shoot until you have the full budget or reduce your budget for production so you have enough to nish the lm entirely. 5. Lock the script far enough in advance. Once you have raised ALL the money or your budget and you begin ofcial preproduction (casting, location scouting and hiring o crew) you need to be working o a script that is LOCKED. Everything needs to be as it will be in the fnal shooting script except or dialogue changes. I you have a script that is still changing those elements you are working with a moving target. You will be wasting time and money because the department heads don’t know what to be prepping. Don’t start preproduction until you can get the director to lock the script. 6. Don’t run out of time and give up looking for the right actor for each role. Don’t settle or an actor or actress who is not perect or the role. I you cast the wrong person you will have to live with that perormance on set, in the edit room and in the fnished flm or the rest o your lie. Keep casting and searching until you nd the right talent. Then it’s time to start fnal preproduction. 7. Request and contact two references on every crew/cast member that you plan to hire. It’s imperative that you check out two reerences or every person you plan to hire or the flm. “One bad apple spoils the whole bunch” and on an indie flm it’s imperative that each person is excellent at what they do and has the right attitude to make the production a good experience or everyone. The corollary to this is i you do make a hiring mistake and you end up in production with the wrong person, make sure you replace them beore they “inect” the rest o the crew. They don’t get better as time goes by, only worse. Do the research for each hire so you know you have a talented and dedicated crew. 8. Do a “walk-through” before AND after lming in each location. Those who ail to take “beore and ater” pictures o every location they shoot in open themselves up to lawsuits, security deposit losses and insurance claims. Make sure you go around the location with the owner before the cast/crew arrives and make a note and take a picture of all prior damage . Have the two o you sign a sheet that agrees to those notes and then do it again at the end o the day. That way you protect yoursel and the production.
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9. Set up a legal entity and get insurance to make the lm. Hire a lawyer and do your research about what legal entity you need to produce your flm. Creating an LLC or corporation that will protect you from certain liability factors. You don’t want a lawsuit rom an indie flm to jeopardize your personal assets like a car or a house. It is very easy and relatively inexpensive to create a corporate entity online. Also remember to purchase production insurance (general liability, equipment, auto and worker’s compensation) to protect you and the lm from the liability factors that come with producing a lm. 10 A. Get signed releases, deal memos and legal paperwork for the lm’s deliverables You’ve completed your flm, premiered at a great flm estival and now a distributor wants to release your flm. Congratulations! But beore you get the check or the minimum guarantee and start paying back your investors you need to send the distributor copies o all your signed legal paperwork (release orms, SAG contracts, music licensing agreements, written transcripts, copyright, crew deal memos, E&O insurance, etc.). I you don’t have it, you won’t be able to take the distribution deal. Make sure you have all this paperwork before you start preproduction and get it signed before you begin production and throughout the process of nishing the lm. Keep backup copies and have it all ready or when you get the big oer! 10 B. Don’t collaborate with people for the wrong reasons. There’s a DP that has his own camera and will work or ree so you pick him to shoot your flm. But it turns out he isn’t a good collaborator and terrorizes the rest o the crew. Or you pick a producer because she went to a top flm school but she doesn’t treat people with respect and gets into a fght with one o the location owners while you are shooting. Make sure you pick collaborators based on the same values and ethics that you believe in. When things get tough, you’ll be glad you did. 10 C. Don’t forget that it’s just a movie and you are not curing cancer. It may eel like the most important thing you have ever done and that may be the case or you. But keep a good perspective and a healthy sense of balance throughout the process of producing your lm. Your amily, riends, cast and crew will thank you — and want to work with you again!
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CAN YOU MAKE A DIFFERENCE? TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
CATHERINE ANN JONES author, The Way of Story available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com Ater writing ten produced plays in New York City, I was wooed by Hollywood and began to write eature flms, television movies (when they had them!), and television series. I wrote or a popular television series called Touched by an Angel. Among the an mail one day, we heard rom one viewer. This man had decided to kill himsel. It was a Sunday night and he happened to have the television on CBS where he watched an episode o Touched by an Angel . Moved by the story, he wept, and then decided to give lie another chance. He wrote to us and thanked us or making a dierence in his lie.
Catherine Ann Jones is an awardwinning playwright and screenwriter whose lms include The Christmas Wife (Jason Robards) which garnered Emmy nominations for Best Picture, Best Writer, Best Actor, Best Actress, and the popular television series, Touched by an Angel.
Ater earning a living rom acting in NY, I grew disenchanted with the roles o women in new plays, so decided to write my own. In 1989, I was wooed by Hollywood ater writing an awardwinning play, optioned by MGM. I began also to be oered writing assignments- both eatures and television movies. You might say I was the avor o the month writer in Hollywood. Driving on the Hollywood reeway, I heard a Bill Moyer’s interview with David Putnam on NPR radio. David Putnam was or a year head o Columbia Pictures, and producer o Chariots of Fire and The Mission. Putnam said something which stayed with me. He said, “I movies could be what they might be, there’d be no need to go to church.” As you know, many seem to want more rom today’s flms and television. I this is so, then why are we getting the flms we are? Because, as a rule, the creative people rarely have the power in Hollywood. It’s a little easier in television as writers more oten move on to producing. For instance, I was assoc. producer or The Christmas Wife , a movie I wrote or HBO, turning down a more lucrative contract with the networks, I opted or less money and more creative control. I cast the flm mysel, with Jason Robards and Julie Harris, earning a co-producer credit. We received 4 Emmy nominations including best flm and best writing. Though I have been ortunate and sold nine scripts, or those o us committed to socially-responsible media, sometimes we lose.
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However, “times they are a changing.” There’s been a shit, and though it’s only the beginning, there is a new pulse in Hollywood, an opening or consciousness-raising flms. Last week I was guest speaker or ISLEE, a group o flmmakers in L.A. committed to such flms. Parallel with writing flms and television, I was invited to teach graduate screenwriting at USC Graduate Film School, the #1 flm school in America. As a teacher and writing consultant, I believe it is important to support your vision, not mine. However, more and more, the students would be writing derivative spin-os o the latest blockbuster thrillers. I pondered, “I you’re not going to write original stories in your twenties and thirties, then when?” So ater seven years, I quit teaching graduate school and later launched “The Way o Story: the crat & soul o writing” workshops frst at the Esalen Institute in Big Sur, then elsewhere in the U.S., Europe and Asia. The idea is to teach an integrative approach to writing, where you bring all o yoursel to the table — not just the let brain. Ater a ew years, I wrote The Way of Story book — which ironically is now required at several schools, including New York University. I guess the moral is “Follow your own star.” The Way of Story is or all orms o narrative writing with a special ocus on dramatic writing. Crat alone is vital but not enough. It is the integration o solid storytelling technique with experiential inner discovery that delivers a great story. The book is also a memoir where I make use o my personal and proessional journey to illustrate story. Now more than ever beore, it is time to reach deep into the creative psyche and oer something o true value to our world. I we could inuse flmmaking with even a portion o the vision and value we possess, then movies would indeed rise to what they might be. Story has been the oundation o rituals that empower both individual and collective values since society began. Story provides both identity and standards to live by and is thus essential to our well-being. It serves as a mirror reecting who we are and what we believe in. What story would you choose to live by? The answer oers a clue to your soul, your deepest sel. I’m sure you’ll agree that it is soul which gives meaning to both lie and art. I not now then when? “Become the change you want to happen.” — Mahatma Gandhi
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
PAUL CHITLIK author, Rewrite: a Step-by-Step Guide to Strengthen Structure, Characters, and Drama in Your Screenplay available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com There really are only two reasons why it’s great to be a flmmaker today: access to the production process and access to the distribution o flms.
Paul Chitlik has written screenplays for Rysher Enter tainment, Promark, Mainline, Dick Clark productions, and NuImage, as well as teleplays for all the major networks. His MOW, Alien Abduction, was UPN’s rst movie for television. He also wrote Bike Squad and The Kids Who Saved Summer , MOWs for Showtime, as well as episodes for Who’s the Boss? , Amen, Perfect Strangers, Brothers, Small Wonder , and Los Beltran for Telemundo.
But why call them flms? No flm need be used to make a movie. With HD video cameras available or under $1,000, and the cards they record on less than you spend on lattes in a week, anyone with a ew riends and a less money than they’d spend on a new couch is able to produce a movie. Yes, it may be crude — and you can upgrade the camera, the lights (you can start with construction lights rom Home Depot i you need to), the sound (and this you should upgrade frst), and the set — but it doesn’t have to be projected on a giant screen, so resolution quality doesn’t have to be perect. Good enough is really good enough. Think o how much you orgive in production value on a unny or touching YouTube video. Once you’ve got your movie together — and editing on a Mac or even a PC is now within reach o everyone with ree editing programs now available on the web — distribution is the only barrier to your career as a flmmaker. Distribution used to be controlled very careully by the major studios. The cost o setting up a distribution network was enormous, and the cost o advertising and promotion even greater. But now anyone with a website and a Facebook account, supplemented by a Twitter account, a LinkedIn account, a Plaxo account, a Haro account, and whatever social networking site is hot right now, can create a demand or their product, which can go viral in an amazingly short time. No, not everyone can succeed in that. It depends on how well you can use the media and how good your story is. You don’t need stars. You don’t even need great actors or directing (though it does help). You don’t need Oscar-quality cinematography or sound (doesn’t hurt, either, but it does need to be in ocus and easy to listen to). All you need is a great story.
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O course, that’s the hard part. But i you have a great story to start with, you’re a lot closer to making a movie that people will want to watch. It does no good to be a social media maven i you send people to a movie that’s not interesting, does not engage the emotions, and does not pay them o. It’s still all about the story. I you’ve got the story and at least air to middling production values, you’ve got something that people are looking or. I you help them fnd it, you’ll soon understand why this is a great time to be a flmmaker.
116 « paul chitlik
WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
ROSS BROWN author, Byte-Sized Television: Create Your Own TV Series for the Internet available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com I’ve worked in the flm industry or nearly orty years, since I was a teenager. I’ve worked on commercials, sitcoms, low-budget movies, big studio movies, been a PA, an assistant director, a writer and a producer. I’ve seen a lot. But my “Top Ten” list is less about reasons why it’s great to be a flmmaker, than my “Top Ten” memories rom my career:
Ross Brown has written and produced some of the most successful TV series of all time including The Cosby Show , Who’s the Boss? and Step By Step. He has created prime time series for ABC, CBS, and the WB.
10. Standing in or a dog in a dog ood commercial. That’s right, one o my frst jobs was down on my hands and knees, ace hovering above a bowl o tasty kibble with the cameraman saying, “Could you move your snout a bit closer to the bowl?” Why me? Well, they didn’t want to wear out the “star” dog beore the actual shoot, and hiring me was cheaper than hiring a second dog, which would have required hiring a second union animal handler. Gotta start somewhere, right? 9. My frst day on a big movie set. I’m 23 and had moved up rom dog ood commercials to a PA gig on a real movie. The picture, long since orgotten, was called Movie Movie and starred George C. Scott. I show up at 6 a.m., run around helping the ADs any way I can, then hear over my walkie-talkie, “Okay, ready or frst team, bring in George.” I bounce up to his trailer, knock on the door and chirp “We’re ready or you, Mr. Scott!” — to which the unmistakable voice o General Patton thunders back, “Go uck yoursel!” Welcome to showbiz, kid. 8. A ew years later I was the 2nd AD on the frst National Lampoon’s Vacation movie — kind o great all by itsel, working on a comedy classic. Even greater, Chevy Chase heard I was an aspiring writer and oered to read one o my scripts. I gave him my spec Police Squad! , the TV predecessor to the Naked Gun movies. Chevy read it, and graded it. Gave me a B+, with a ull page o comments… then signed it “Mel Brooks.” But ater kidding around about how I might someday be an unemployed comedy writer, he said, “Seriously, you’ve got talent. Keep writing.” I can’t tell you what that meant to me.
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7. I kept writing spec sitcoms and eventually got an agent. A ew months later the agent called: “NBC is doing this new comedy with Bill Cosby, they read your material and want to hire you as a sta writer.” OMG!!!!!! But the agent added, “One catch… the job’s in New York.” I’d just fnished an AD gig where I was out o town or 4 months while my wie was home pregnant and taking care o our 8-year-old. My wie gently let me know that i I kept leaving town…well, not good or the marriage. So I turned down the job. My wie’s uncle, a CBS exec, said, “You’re better o. The show’s in a terrible time slot up against Magnum, P.I. and probably won’t last more than 13 weeks.” The Cosby Show premiered 2 weeks later and was the hit o the century. Oops. But – 6. Six months later my wie said, “You know, we’ve had some more time together, and the baby’s not so little, maybe you should see i they still want you on Cosby.” I scoed… like they’d still have openings now that the show was a huge hit. But they did. And I got hired. I was still happily married and got to start my writing career on a huge hit show starring one o my childhood comedy heroes. Kharmic payback or having to stand in or the dog, no doubt about it. 5. The frst time they used one o my jokes in a Cosby episode. It wasn’t the unniest joke in the world, but it was worthy enough to make it into the #1 show on TV. I elt like Leonardo DiCaprio in Titanic , “I’m the king o the world!” 4. Not one memory, but a string o them — all the people I admired, even idolized, who I’ve gotten the chance to work with over the years. Chevy Chase, Mel Brooks, Bill Cosby, Goldie Hawn, Ava Gardner, Sheldon Leonard, Halle Berry… I’ve even seen Kate Hudson naked. Okay, it was on the movie where I worked with Goldie Hawn, and Kate was an inant and Goldie was changing Kate’s diaper, but still… 3. Recently, I wrote a largely autobiographical play called Hindsight . My frst stage play. The Pasadena Playhouse put up a couple o staged readings, with the hugely talented Jane Kaczmarek playing the pivotal role o my mother. The cast, director and I gather or a rehearsal read-through or the frst time. Jane is not only spectacular, but she’s so committed to the part that she actually sobs (as her character) at the climax. We fnish the reading, she dabs her tears, nods and says, “This is a really good play… kind o like Who’s Afraid of Virginia Woolf meets Our Town.” Having my work compared to those timeless classics… does it get any better or a writer? I don’t think so. 2. Having my book Byte-Sized Television: Create Your Own TV Series for the Internet published. Sure, I’d had my name on movie and TV screens or decades. But this was a book! 1. So now I teach. The other day when I told my TV writing students I began my writing career on The Cosby Show they asked with wide-eyed wonder, “Did you ever meet Bill Cosby?” To a proessional, it was an absurd question. O course I met him. The writers worked with him every day, just part o the job. But it reminded me o what it was like or me all those many years ago, to dream o getting to write or movies or TV someday but have no idea o how to accomplish that. And it reminded me o how blessed I’ve been to be able to live that dream, and how lucky I am now to be able to help the next generation reach or their own dreams.
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THE NO-EXCUSE, NO-KIDDINGYOURSELF, NO-MOREBULLSHIT CURE TO FINISHING YOUR SCREENPLAY TOP TEN REASONS | ARTICLE
D.B. GILLES author, You’re Funny! and The Screenwriter Within — 2nd Edition available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com It stares back at you like a petulant monster. It knows that you’re in love with it. Or you once were. It knows that you spend most o your time thinking about it. And the thoughts that run through your mind are nasty, bad — bordering on evil. You want to kill it. Or at least delete it. You sometimes wonder why you ever got involved with it in the frst place. Like all relationships, it started out so promising. Somewhere, somehow an idea popped into your head. A clear premise. Maybe it was even high concept. Beore you wrote one word the structure ell into place. It was as i the structure ound itsel. You knew who your protagonist was. You know what he wanted, you knew why she wanted it, you knew the obstacles he would ace in his attempt to get and you knew the consequences i she didn’t get it. You even knew how it was going to end. You banged out a short outline, breaking down the Acts and you were ready to start the script. D.B. Gilles has taught comedy writing and screenwriting in the Undergraduate Film & Television Department at New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts for near ly 20 years. D.B. is also a script consultant and writing coach. He writes the popular blog Screenwriters Rehab: For Screenwriters Who Can’t Get Their Acts Together . His new play Sparkling Object opened last year in New York.
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This was going to be the most satisying screenwriting experience you’ve ever had. And it was... or awhile. You sailed through the frst Act. Maybe it ran a ew pages short or a little long, but it was there and you knew you could fx it in the rewrite. Despite your solid outline, as you got into Act 2 a couple o plot points no longer elt right. But you pressed on. By page 45 you know knew or sure that those plot points defnitely had to go. You spent a rustrating week fguring out how to fx the problem and you were back on track. Then came Page 55. What you thought was going to be the big middle o Act 2 event no longer seemed big enough. And to make things even worse the person you thought was your protagonist wasn’t nearly as interesting as the person you thought was her best riend. So you made some adjustments and kept going, which deep in your heart you knew was a mistake. But you were getting scared. You were starting to be overcome by that eeling you’ve had beore when you started to suspect that this wonderul relationship you had with your new screenplay was starting to crumbled. Like your frst marriage or your last relationship. Or all your relationships. But you still kept rowing the boat that you knew had sprung about seven leaks. You were nearing the end o Act 2 and you knew rom past experience that i you could get to the end o the second Act it was a moral victory. You could regroup and move headlong into Act 3. Only the thing is, what you thought was your antastic end o Act 2 event, no longer worked because you fnally realized you have the wrong protagonist. So you do what most screenwriters do, no matter where you are in your career, you stop working on it. Then you go into a unk and creative downturn that can last a long time until you either fgure out a solution to the problems o the script or you fnd a new idea to all in love with. And, just as in lie, alling in love with that new girl or new guy will be all kinds o un at the beginning, but then... well, you know how it can go. Ultimately, to succeed as a screenwriter you must fnish your script, get it to a point where you’re happy with it and ready to get it out into the marketplace. But i you’re held back by the inability to complete a frst drat (or a even a rough drat with scenes and lines missing), you won’t get anywhere. Except possibly more depressed. There’s no secret ormula to fnishing that frst drat other than to bounce whatever pages you have o o a riend or two and get some eedback. Or to look closely at what you’ve written with objectivity and resh eyes. You’d be surprised at how productive it can be to put what you’ve written away or a month or longer and then go back to it.
120 « d.b. gilles
I you’ve written 18 pages or even a frst Act, maybe it’s worth walking away rom the script. But i you’re well into Act 2 and certainly i you’re in Act 3, to abandon it is a major strategic error. Not completing a frst drat is the biggest mistake you can make. “But i it’s driving me crazy, why should I fnish it?” you might be saying. The reasons you must complete that frst drat are as basic as can be. To fnd out how good it is or how bad it is. I it’s pretty bad or really bad or simply that it doesn’t work, then you can decide whether or not to go orward with it. I you decide not to do so you’ll at least know why: that great story you had that sounded so good or that lead character who was going to be so ascinating or that incredibly unny concept turned out not to be all that unny or whatever the reason. Like that real-lie relationship you tried so hard to make work, but despite everything, it fzzled out. Some screenplays fzzle out, but you’ll never know i you’re only halway or two thirds o the way through. Finish it, then decide i it’s time to walk away. On the other hand, i when you complete it, you realize that it’s good. Or very good. Or kick ass. That’s your reward. And you can go into the rewrite with confdence and clarity o what needs to be fxed and improved plus the knowledge that you accomplished the most difcult part o the screenwriting process. Finishing that frst drat.
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WHY IT’S A GREAT TIME TO BE A FILMMAKER TOP TEN REASONS
STUART VOYTILLA author, Myth and the Movies available at www.amazon.com and www.mwp.com 1. To chose whether to turn our camera onto the crowd or ocus that camera into the mirror. 2. To capture a character’s tear and allow the audience to vicariously experience the sorrow… or laughter. 3. To accidentally capture the unstaged or painstakingly create the illusory that can be experienced a thousand times over, shared by millions. 4. To borrow and steal rom other arts, and become the poet, the sculptor, the composer, and the painter o shadows and light and sound. 5. To use reality and antasy to reveal truth, and that is our choice. Stuart Voytilla is a screenwriter, literary consultant, teacher, and author.
6. To dip into the pool o darkest desires and empathize with our demons – and reach or our most anciul dreams and take ight amongst angels. 7. Because our flm art is personal, but flm art cannot be realized until it is shared and experienced by others. 8. To use flm to reveal and express what we need to say, and to fnd a way through inspiration, collaboration, perspiration, determination and invention to say it. 9. To entertain, thrill, shock, disturb, compel, move, excite, delight, terriy, agitate, seduce, inspire… 10. To transorm our characters, our audience, and ourselves.
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{
THE MYTH OF MWP
}
In a dark time, a light bringer came along, leading the curious and the frustrated to clarity and empowerment. It took the well-guarded secrets out of the hands of the few and made them available to all. It spread a spirit of openness and creative freedom, and built a storehouse of knowledge dedicated to the betterment of the arts. The essence of the Michael Wiese Productions (MWP) is empowering people who have the burning desire to express themselves creatively. We help them realize their dreams by putting the tools in their hands. We demystify the sometimes secretive worlds of screenwriting, directing, acting, producing, lm nancing, and other media crafts. By doing so, we hope to bring forth a realization of ‘conscious media’ which we dene as being positively charged, emphasizing hope and afrming positive values like trust, cooperation, self-empowerment, freedom, and love. Grounded in the deep roots of myth, it aims to be healing both for those who make the art and those who encounter it. It hopes to be transformative for people, opening doors to new possibilities and pulling back veils to reveal hidden worlds. MWP has built a storehouse of knowledge unequaled in the world, for no other publisher has so many titles on the media arts. Please visit www.mwp.com where you will nd many free resources and a 25% discount on our books. Sign up and become part of the wider creative community! Onward and upward, Michael Wiese Publisher/Filmmaker