Jon Reiss

Live Events September-December

October 3^rd Raindance NYC “Real World Survival Skills for Filmmakers”   6pm-8pm New York City
Venue: Cap 21

Interview With Cassidy At SXSW

This was published today on Living Proof Magazine.

SXSW INTERVIEW | FILMMAKER JON REISS
By CASSIDY

Jon Reiss has spent the last 30 years making badass documentary films about punk rock, the rave scene, and graffiti. You have almost certainly seen his film Bomb It, a feature length documentary about global graffiti culture. The film has basically become the seminal graffiti film of our generation.

Usually when a filmmaker has that kind of O.G. status you can expect an old-school hollywood mentality, and a shitty attitude. Jon has neither of those. He is chill and down to earth. And when it comes to filmmaking, Jon is on the cutting edge. His book, Think Outside The Box Office, is a bible for D.I.Y. film distribution and marketing. Jon became somewhat of a guru of this (surprisingly) new field after he self-distributed Bomb It.

These days Jon is a tough cat to get a hold of. He splits his time between traveling to film festivals and conferences to educate filmmakers about how they can self-distribute their films, and filming for his new project: Bomb It 2. Keeping with Jon’s focus on the future of filmmaking, Bomb It 2 is a web-series that will be released through Babbelgum.com.

The End of the World Entertainment crew tracked Jon down in a freight yard in Austin, TX where he was filming a piece for Bomb It 2. Jon spoke on his career, the future of filmmaking, and why making movies is still fun. The interview is embedded, and the trailer for Bomb It is below. You can follow Jon’s adventures on his site and on twitter.

Note: check out Jon’s gear setup. Yes, one of the most important graffiti films of all time was made with about $3,000 worth of equipment. Dope.

More Oscar Nominations for Best Picture, More Indie Films in the Mix?

I know, I know, there are many of us who have moved on from following the Academy Awards as they have let us down one too many times by overlooking great films and filmmakers. But many indie folks, along with The Wrap.com are happy to have learned that there will now be 10 nominations for year in the “Best Picture” category. The hope is that less-marketed indie films will now have a chance to contend. I guess only time will tell if they’re right…

Indie World Thrilled About Oscar
Movies that face campaign problems due to small marketing budgets will have more opportunities.
By Michael Speier & Carolyn Giardina
The Wrap
June 24th, 2009

The indie world is licking its chops at the notion of more contenders for best picture.

In recent years, indies have made it to the top five, including this year’s winner “Slumdog Millionaire” and 2008 winner “No Country for Old Men” and audience pleaser “Juno” in 2008. But other acclaimed titles such as last year’s “The Wrestler” and “The Visitor” came up short.

With 10 slots instead of five, the movies that usually face more campaign problems due to small marketing budgets and overall muscle will have more opportunities to grab a dangling golden carrot.

“The indie film community needed a shot in the arm, and this is it,” said Cassian Elwes, who ran the independent film unit at the William Morris Agency until three weeks ago. “For movies struggling to find proper distribution, the notion that good films may get a best picture nomination will help on every level,” Elwes told TheWrap. Continue reading →