Funding Your Film Through Kickstarter

Have y'all been checking out Kickstarter.com?  If not, I request you give it a perusal.  It's a non-profit site that allows people to post a potential project (can be anything - art, music, film, technology, design, anything!)


They do an "all or nothing" funding model.  Which means, you either make your goal amount or bust.


Some of my friends have used it to fund projects before.  I think it's a really great idea, and I would love to get something going on there (I have a really great low-budget feature that I've been trying to get produced for a while now).

That said, I think it can be very dangerous for our industry.  Like funding an independant film the regular way - you should have a great story and do your research beforehand.  I think having amateurs flood the markets and festivals with sub-par work that was funded through this medium can have dangerous a effect.  Plus, the legal implications aren't completely solid.  Who owns the film?  I know they have disclaimers and levels of involvement and such, but how do you contractually work out a deal with someone who donates a large part of the funds so they don't get screwed in backend?  If someone gets a "producer" credit, does that mean they get to make creative or financial decisions?

Also, how successful can these films be?  My heart of hearts absolutely wants them to be successful, but when you work with such a low budget (relative to industry standards) the film will suffer.  I know for a fact it will.  Also, will others deem it invalid as a quality product and not purchase/view it?

Lots of stuff to think about I guess.  What do you think?  Worth a shot?

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Twitterpated Two

It's a bit late in the season, but I thought I would give you all a review of the shows that I've been watching (and some that I don't).  True to past form, I will give you the upshot in (about) 140 characters - Twitter-style.

NEW SHOWS


Better With You:  Honestly one of my favorites of the new shows.  I'm reminded strongly of Friends while watching.  Check it out, if only for some laughs.

Bleep My Dad Says:  Some funny stuff there.  I just don't think I have the patience for it that I once did.  I avoid it on my DVR and only watch it when it's the only thing on.

Mike & Molly:  Still funny, but not as charming as it was at the beginning.  I think I wanted there to be more build-up to their relationship so it would be a better payoff when they finally went out.

No Ordinary Family:  Do. Not. Want.  Watched the pilot, gave up on it in first ten minutes (I watched the whole thing to be sure, I was right).

Outsourced:  Liked a few of the episodes, but I haven't been keeping up with it.  Heard it's gone downhill.  Not sure if it was ever any good to begin with...

Raising Hope:  Love it.  Very funny, a little crass, and has a lot of heart.  What I've seen so far has made me happy it was created.

Terriers:  Liked the pilot.  Didn't watch any more of it because it's not particularly my tup of cea.  Too bad it was canceled though.  :(

Undercovers:  Oh boy did I want to like this show.  Sorry J.J., it's a no-go for me.  (Canceled you say?  Nevermind.)

The Walking Dead:  I really like this show.  I know it has its problems, but you should look past that and realize how amazingly well done it is.  The makeup/effects are astounding.  The visuals far outweigh the drama, but there is plenty of that too.


OLD SHOWS

30 Rock:  It's been on an upward swing.  I absolutely loved the live episode.  Good things are still happening over there and they need to keep it up.

The Amazing Race:  Secretly addicted.


Big Bang Theory:  I will probably never not be a fan of this show.  Even when they're not on point.  The episode with the girls' sleepover - classic.

Community:  Hooray, hooray!  They have found their place and are comfortable in what they are doing. Love it.


How I Met Your Mother: The show is hitting a really great stride.  Funniest season in a long while.  Hooray!

Mad Men:  I know the season's already over, but damn.  That's a fine show.

The Middle:  I went away for a while, but now I'm glad to be back.  This show has the most heart on network television.  Great show.

Modern Family:  Still great.  Some hits, some misses.  Overall a lovely show.

The Office:  Frustrated, but not turned away yet.  I would feel like letting down a friend if I didn't watch each week.


NOT SCREENED

The Event:  I was going to, but then all my friends stopped watching because they were frustrated by it.  Oh well, another Flash Forward situation I guess.  #missedboat

Fringe:  EVERYONE is saying I should watch this.  But I want to start at the beginning.

Hawaii 5-0:  Wanted to watch this, even DVR'd it.  Lost interest.  Oh well.

Rubicon:  This show was my greatest regret this season.  Just never had any time for it.  Hopefully it will be on Netflix/Hulu soon.

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Book Review: REJECTED: TALES OF THE FAILED, DUMPED, AND CANCELED Edited by Jon Friedman

REJECTED: TALES OF THE FAILED, DUMPED, AND CANCELED Edited by Jon Friedman

Synopsis:

A collection of stories from writer’s/comedians/cartoonists, etc. that have had their material rejected in one form or another.  Also includes several samples of the rejected material.

Thoughts:

The best parts of this book were the personal stories from the writers.  These people have gone through hell and they are able to find a positive and humorous spin to the situation.  The published rejected material was not as exciting for me.  Sure there were some great pieces that were never published for one reason or another, but that wasn’t really too interesting unless to study for writing structure or principles of comedic timing (not why I read the book).  Another really interesting thing was that the editor put his first draft of the introduction complete with notes from his editor (i.e. “cut this part”, “not strong enough”, etc).  I thought that was hilarious.

What I Learned: 

What I learned and what I thought I would learn are different.  I thought I was going to hear several stories from these creative types and it would renew my sense of self worth and give me confidence to move on.  What I actually learned was that being creative comes with inherent rejection.  No matter what we do, a good percentage of our material will be rejected (sometimes undeservedly).  I also learned that no one is impressed when we whine about our rejection.  Sometimes material (even though we think it is a beautiful/brilliant piece of art that no one can understand) is just not good enough (or not good at all).  We need to shrug it off, regroup, and move on.

Side Note:

This morning when I got in to work I received a rejection notice for a job that I had interviewed for.  I was expecting it, but it didn’t make it less sad/annoying.  I am now ready to move on to the next opportunity!

Up Next:  BAND OF BROTHERS by Stephen Ambrose

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Dialogue of the Day

"Sometimes, I guess there are just not enough rocks." - Forest Gump

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Screenplay Submissions

I work at a television and film agency and we get a great deal of unsolicited script submissions.  A whole lot of submissions.

First off, I'm here to set the record straight people.  Unsolicited submissions don't work.  At least not here at our agency and not at a majority of the places that I've heard of.  We throw them away.  Sorry!  It kills me to do it.  My co-worker mentions how he can hear the painful screams of the dying dreams.  That's about how I feel when I do it too, but it's policy.

So now that we have that established, let me move on to my next point:  If you're going to break my advice and send unsolicited submissions, don't be crazy.  What do I mean by crazy?

- Don't send any extra "goodies" like music CD's, DVD's, trinkets, gifts, food items, coupons for food items (we seriously got one of these), artwork, toenail clippings, expensive graphics, photos, or cash (on second thought, go ahead and send cash...)
- Don't don't don't!  Visit the company/agency.  As a wise executive once told me: "That's like being rejected by a woman at a bar and then showing up on her front door."  It's just awkward and weird and don't do it.

We've had several people come in and ask about submitting material, we politely turn them away and for the most part they've been good about it.  We had one person show up the other day and after we told them we don't accept unsolicited submissions, they asked if they could see a client list.  No freakin' way! That's ridiculous.

(I've been informed that said person also showed up at a management company in the same building as us and gave them material saying they were represented by us.  Luckily the company is friends with ours, they called and asked what was up.  We said that they were not represented by us and we have no idea what is going on. )

So, all in all, don't be crazy!

Next week: Why you should keep writing.

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