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How I Made a Feature Film Right Out of Film School (Guest Post)
I’m Jaymes Camery and I just wrapped production on my first feature film, Guys and Girls Can’t Be Friends. I graduated from California Institute of the Arts with an MFA in Film Directing in May 2013. I grew up in Virginia and have always had a special affinity for stories that take place in the South. My filming partner and long-time friend, Ben Solenberger, and I have been working on this project off and on for 5 years. We’d done about 5 or 6 test shoots, tons of re-writes, and gotten feedback from all over. Our goals for this film include
A Little About Happiness In Slavery
Early in my career I avoided music videos like the plague, they just seemed like commercials for music. Fortunately – this led me to one of my favorite collaborations on Happiness in Slavery – since Trent Reznor was looking for filmmakers who had never done a music video before. He didn’t want anyone polluted by the process. (I understood this years later after I became polluted by the process and then quit doing music videos). He found me through Film Threat Magazine who had been fans of my shorts and my documentaries of Survival Research Laboratories. Trent wanted to do
BOMB IT 2 VOD Release on iTunes!
What a way to start off the day. Check us out on the front page of iTunes, right next to GI JOE! Help us stay there: https://itunes.apple.com/us/movie/bomb-it-2/id656273050
Theatrical is Dead – Long Live Theatrical: Events, Experiences, Scarcity & The Age of Abundance
Part 3 of How to Make Money in the Age of Abundance By Jon Reiss Theatrical is Dead Long Live Theatrical. The holy grail of a theatrical release still rings as a delusion for many. Fighting words still for untold thousands of filmmakers. Who doesn’t want their name in lights – long lines around the block – a packed theater of adoring fans. I believe this live engagement with fans is crucial for artists. But traditional theatrical is probably not the way you are going to do it. In the first post in this series, I indicated that filmmakers need
Ask Not What Your Audience Can Do For You – But What You Can Do For Your Audience
Part 2 of How to Make Money in the Age of Abundance When I wrote the first post in this series, I thought this would only be a two-parter, but I decided to expand this to a 4-part series because of a little voice in my head that said I needed to talk about audience engagement more. Yes, I said in Part 1 that I wasn’t going to address it in this series because I had addressed it before – sue me. The truth is, audience engagement is so central to this whole process that I needed to add my evolving thoughts
Monetizing in the Age of Abundance Part 1: The Age of Abundance
By Jon Reiss I have been giving a number of presentations on Artistic Entrepreneurship over the past year that I refined for the recentSFFS A2E Workshop and most recently presented a version of in this spring’s IFP Filmmaker Labs. In this presentation I have reformulated my approach to the challenges that filmmakers face in our current age of content abundance. I would share these thoughts to a much wider audience and get some feedback. While there were a number of factors that caused an upheaval of the distribution landscape in 2007 and while there have been many positive signs of improvement, filmmakers
BOMB IT 2 Featured Artist: Victor Ash (Interview)
BOMB IT 2 Artist Victor Ash just might embody artistic evolution. Bursting onto the graffiti scene in the early 1980s, he went by Ash2 and Saho, and ran with the popular Parisian crew, BBC. He has since expanded his style, focusing on large- scale murals involving themes of human nature and perception. We caught up with Ash amidst his busy schedule, where he briefed us on his latest projects, his artistic transition, and themes that inspire his work. If you like what you see, head over to our Bomb It 2 Kickstarter campaign to learn more about this project and ways you can
This Is Not a Game: An Interview With Lady Pink
By Nijla Mu’min ***In celebration of our upcoming release of BOMB IT 2, we’re featuring this exclusive interview with BOMB IT artist Lady Pink. The interview was conducted by our social media manager and emerging writer/filmmaker, Nijla Mu’min. *** ————————————————————————————————- Graffiti/ Fine Artist Lady Pink knows her stuff. With a career spanning over 30 years, hundreds of canvasses, and walls, her knowledge of the art form is expansive, but also grounded in its tough realities. I caught up with the New York -based artist over Skype where she candidly discussed the first women of graffiti, the dangers of public work,
One Time in Bangkok!
Hi Everyone, I’ve shot in a number of crazy situations throughout the world shooting Bomb It 1&2, Better Living Through Circuitry and Survival Research Labs – but this expedition in Bangkok for Bomb It 2 stands out in my mind because I can still feel those red ants biting my legs – and because my humorously clumsy ways of dealing with the situation was filmed by one of the writers I was with. It also led to an incredible view of Bangkok in this oddly beautiful plein air building. I hope you enjoy it! For more, visit our BOMB IT
Is It Crazy to Film NGOs in Africa and Run a Kickstarter at the Same Time?
By Jon Reiss I just arrived in South Africa on my way from filming in Tanzania to speak at the Durban Film Festival. I know it’s crazy to do this while running a Kickstarter for Bomb It 2 – and prepping the release of Bomb It 2 on August 6th – but I ultimately realized that if I waited for the right month where I wasn’t doing anything – I would never find the right time. I think it’s the case for most filmmakers who are trying to finish their films or approaching release and running Kickstarter – but perhaps
Bomb It 2 Hits Miami!
UPDATE — the U.S. premiere of BOMB IT 2 in Miami is sold out! It is finally time for the US premiere of BOMB IT 2! Thanks to our good friends at Bombingscience.com, Keepitclassic.com, and Tugg.com, you can catch BOMB IT 2 at the O Cinema in the Wynwood District on Wednesday, May 29th at 7:30 pm. But there is a catch. We still need to sell 33 more tickets in order to make the screening happen, so PLEASE help spread the word and reserve your tickets for the US premiere of BOMB IT 2 today. The screening will
Film Business Plans: Learn to Stop Worrying (and Love the Spreadsheet)
Today we have a guest post from the New York Film Academy about writing a business plan for your film. The one thing I would note is to be upfront with the investors with how long it takes to recoup money and the very good chance that they may not recoup at all (in fact stating this in your prospectus is required by law in the US). Remember – if your film is cause related – many of your investors may be more concerned about how you will change the world than actually recouping. by Zeke A. Iddon, New York Film
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