https://independent-magazine.org/2003/11/01/money-matters/
Obsessed with Independent Film Since 1976
Obsessed with Independent Film Since 1976
Ed Pressman and I started ContentFilm two years ago, and we have produced eight films in that time with more on the way. My last job was co-president of October Films, where we acquired or produced over sixty films before the sale to USA Films, and before that I was the CFO of Miramax from… Read more »
Digital non-linear video editing has crept into the life of nearly every filmmaker. From independents on shoestring budgets to high school students making video reports, editing with computers is the norm. Much of the credit for the popularity of non-linear editing goes to Apple’s Final Cut Pro (FCP). Apple’s savvy marketing and pricing of FCP… Read more »
The documentary, What I Want My Words to Do to You, tracks a writing group led by playwright/activist Eve Ensler, creator of The Vagina Monologues. The film examines the lives of fifteen women through a series of exercises that are part self-help, part creativity enhancers. Write about a scar on your body. Write about something… Read more »
The press kit is the most important tool for any filmmaker seeking media coverage, but many independent film press kits are either overstuffed with irrelevant information or seriously lacking vital data. The killer press kit does not have to be elaborate, nor does it require fancy packaging and gimmicks. All it needs is basic, clear… Read more »
One of the great truths of media is that there is no such thing as bad press, but how to get even bad press can be a mysterious process for filmmakers without giant, studio publicity machines behind them. There are filmmakers who seem to produce very little work, but are constantly finding their way into… Read more »
The past few years have seen significant advances in the tools for creating visual effects with desktop computers. Yet these tools cost at least a few hundred dollars and can quickly move into the thousands with the addition of plug-ins and ancillary tools. For the independent filmmaker interested in creating the illusions of visual effects… Read more »
From American Splendor’s first shots, you know you are watching something unusual: It’s Halloween, 1950, and the neighborhood runts are trick-or-treating, all done up as their favorite superheroes—except for one rebellious runt, who has stubbornly donned his street clothes. “I’m Harvey Pekar,” he tells a curious neighbor. “I ain’t no superhero, lady. I’m just a… Read more »
While cleaning out my attic in 1998 I had an idea for a short film. I found a box of notes I had passed back and forth with my high school friends. Aside from bringing back a flood of memories, I found many to be extremely intimate, present-day windows into the lives of adolescent girls,… Read more »
The notion of the starving artist is a romantic one. Sepia-toned images float through our collective minds of creative geniuses scraping together enough pennies to drink a pastis in a Boulevard Saint Germain cafe, tummies growling while masterpieces bubble up in their brains. But the reality of life in the twenty-first century requires serious cash—and… Read more »
Independent producers in Los Angeles are finding more ways of getting their work produced, critiqued, and distributed. Still, there is a need for a local group that can address the concerns shared by all independents. The active members of the LA Salon represent as diverse a cross section of the media community as one could… Read more »