By Alex Johnson – ‘What’s in a name? That which we call a rose / By any other name would smell as sweet.’ wrote the Bard in perhaps one of the earliest statements about branding. But would it? The answer is yes. And no.
‘Here Juliet tells Romeo that a name is an artificial and meaningless convention, and that she loves the person who is called “Montague”, not the Montague …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix- Lance Hammer took the industry by surprise earlier this year when he walked away from a traditional distribution deal with IFC. His film, Ballast had all the makings of a Cinderella story – dramatic competition slot at Sundance, critical acclaim, audience favorite, awards for Best Direction for a Dramatic film and another for Excellence in Cinematography. But changes in the …

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:: SITES
WHAT: Where music goes film follows. The music industry has been ahead of the film industry for years – in terms of technology, failed business models, and musicians going direct to audiences. In recent years, discovery has become a major focus (LastFM, Pandora). The Sixty One takes discovery a step further by combining gaming and community to create an addictive social discovery mechanism for music.
WHY: With so much content …

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DIY DAYS Boston opened with a conversation with Todd Dagres. Thanks to Scott Kirsner over at CinemaTech for recording and posting the conversation. We’ll be posting the video soon.

Todd has produced several independent films (including the Sundance entry ‘TransSiberian’ this year), but he is best known as a venture capitalist who funds start-up companies like Veoh, EQAL, Twitter, and Next New Networks. Our conversation focused on how TV is changing… …

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WHAT: A two day conference that brings together speakers from various industries for a discussion and debate around the future of cinema, games, and storytelling.
WHERE: Takes place 10.17 and 10.18 at the Pacific Film Archive Theater in Berkley.
For more info visit www.theconversationspot.com
From the site:
Our hunch is that we’re at an important moment in the history of technology and visual storytelling — a broad term that encompasses filmmaking, TV, online video, …

Basically, a week after returning from a 3-month jaunt to Southeast Asia, David Austin asked me to write a screenplay that we could shoot in his house. He was preparing to sell an old mansion that he had been living in that was once the home of Samuel Goldwyn. All week I had been attempting to see a revival screening of Luis Bunuel’s Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix – Today we are joined by IFP executive director Michelle Byrd and Producer & Managing Director of Programming Amy Dotson. The IFP is kicking off a new series called “First Weekend” which acts as a promotional and audience building resource for films that are self-distributing. Lance Hammer’s BALLAST is kicking off the series today at Film Forum.

IFP’s “First Weekend” …

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HELP SUPPORT OPEN SOURCE FILMMAKING – 3 DVD Set of DIY DAYS LA & SF available NOW
We’re happy to announce that we now have a 3 DVD set, over 10 hours of keynotes, panels and case studies that were shot this summer in LA and SF. Since DIY DAYS is part of a larger open source project focused on creating quality resources for the filmmaking community, the DVDs are available …

Today (Alex Johnson, Micki Krimmel, myself) did a panel at the FIND Filmmaker Forum.
FIND program description
NEW TOOLS FOR AUDIENCE BUILDING
New rules need new tools, right? Join filmmakers and new media pioneers as they show you where to start and what you need in order to build an audience—from tools to tips & tricks. Once you have an audience how do you keep them engaged? How can you turn an audience …

By David Beard – There are interesting parallels between the aspirations which drive innovation in the Transmedia space and those of developers of the Semantic Web.
The Semantic Web is a set of theories and implementations dealing w/ the representation and relations of web resources. It addresses ways that these resources can be structured and described to facilitate their organization, analysis and composition by software algorithms.
For instance, a character in a …

By Lisa SalemThis is the second of four posts covering the film BLACK GOLD – a social-issue driven documentary co-produced/directed by brothers Marc and Nick Francis. The film joins the dots between coffee consumption in the west and coffee production in developing countries.
As I said last week, BLACK GOLD is remarkable because of the tangible social impact it has had on the issues it covers and because audiences rallied around …

“What is a blog? Why do we blog? We blog to…exist.” stated protagonist Dylan in the opening of Quarterlife. While many would –if uncomfortably- embrace this statement (Technorati indexes 112 million blogs, with 120 thousand new ones appearing each day) just as many would, and do, feel confused by it. Issues of online identity are far and wide, and becoming more pressing.
From SNL skits on MySpace …

Comrades,
My name is Todd and I made a film last year called Box Elder. I actually made it twice technically (we re-shot the entire thing after getting 80% of it in the can), but that’s a story for another blog. We’re here today to talk about this distribution tour we’re about to embark on, and first, a little bit more on the film that started it last spring.

Box Elder …

Tom Quinn reports – Last week, I had the honor of being the first American filmmaker to take part in the Toronto International Film Festival Talent Lab. I arrived in Toronto two days before the festival to meet 23 other young filmmakers from Canada and the UK, as well as lab producers Sandra Cunningham and Brad Fox of Strada Films.
The lab is intended as a workshop where beginning …

Pollinate is a new addition to the Workbook Project network. Its focus is on all things related to audience. In an extensive four part series Lisa Salem looks at how Mark Francis’ feature doc BLACK GOLD reached global audiences.
By Lisa Salem – The irony is that these multiple posts have come about as a result of what was originally intended to be a short phone conversation with filmmaker Marc Francis …

We covered Tiffany Shlain earlier this year when her short THE TRIBE became the number one download on iTunes. In this case study from DIY DAYS SF, Tiffany details the unique approach that helped her to turn THE TRIBE into a successful and profitable project. For more on Tiffany and the Tribe visit www.moxieinstitute.org or www.tribethefilm.com.

For more info on DIY DAYS visit www.diydays.com

In a matter of days we’ll be welcoming a new blog to the WBP network. The NEW BREED centers on projects in various parts of the creation process. From the script phase to screen and everything in between NEW BREED will focus on all things DIY. Told from the trenches by filmmakers who in the throws of it.
Stay tuned…

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix – Hunter Weeks left a cubical job to embark on a filmmaking career and within a three years has completed two documentaries and is in post on a third. One of the core elements of his strategy is to mix a DIY production and distribution approach with a variety of promotional partners. Hunter and Josh Caldwell his producing partner, have …

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Lisa Salem reports – When David Hastings’ play ONE SMALL STEP was taken up to the Assembly Rooms at the Edinburgh Festival this month – the festival’s most respected venue – the outlook was quite pragmatic: take the show up there, expect a financial loss but gather thy reviews and hope they harvest into eyeballs and cash in the form of a UK tour of the play over the …

We just wrapped DIY DAYS SF but the content is still filtering in from the LA edition. Big thanks to all the volunteers who come out with their gear to help us document the events. In this keynote from the LA event, Marshall Herskovitz details his experience working within the system and his most recent explorations into serialized content for the web. For more info visit www.quarterlife.com

Mindshare is a select group of experienced, interesting people with niche abilities. They are people that do, and are there to help you do the same. It is a service through which you can access audience building, social media, branding and distribution specialists in an immediate, direct and transparent way through a personal system, available anytime.
Whether you are a independent filmmaker or musician, a non-profit, a boutique agency or a …

Channel 4 in the UK is running a project called ‘Osama Loves’ as part of its Islam Season. The project is currently in blog form and will be made into an hour-long film aired on the channel sometime in September.
Farrah and Masood are in the last week of their journey across the world – attempting to find 500 ‘Osamas’ in 50 days to ask each one of them, “What do …

This coming weekend the Workbook Project will stage two free events in San Francisco.
FHTA invades San Francisco – Screenings and DIY DAYS
Friday August 15th at 8pm – Mint Plaza and the Mezzanine 444 Jessie St.
Cinegogo, myspace, and the Workbook Project present:
From Here to Awesome – You’re the Festival Programmer
For more info and to secure your free ticket visit www.cinegogo.com
Sunday August 17th 10:30am to 8pm – 111 Minna Gallery
Current TV, From …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix – Brian Clark joins us for a discussion about filmmaking, audiences, breaking the rules and the value of going DIY. Founder of GMD studios and co-founder of indieWire, Brian has been at the forefront of the independent film scene for well over a decade. GMD studios has created digital experiments, campaigns and games that flow seamlessly between the …

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There are so many exciting things happening in the independent gaming scene. It calls to mind what indie film was like in the mid to late 90’s, when technology became accessible and anyone with a camera and a story could make a film. Something that I find of particular interest is how gaming allows audiences the abitily to role-play and shape the storyworld as it evolves in real-time. This creates …

Till now, as independent filmmakers (especially of non-fiction), there have always been gatekeepers between us and our audience. In the UK, they’ve been the primary broadcasting channels. For anything we made to have stood a chance of getting any decent kind of viewership – in essence, to have had any voice at all – a handful of commissioning editors and the whims of their tastes (or the format du jour …

For DIY DAYS we reached out to a number of folks to create presentations. Christy Dena is a cross-media specialist who is also a contributor to the Workbook Project. The following is a presentation that she compiled which provides an excellent overview of the who, what, when, where, why and how of cross-media.

Christy Dena is a Universe Creator and Transmodiologist. She is an industry strategist, mentor, transmedia writer and designer …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix – Elan Lee has been behind some of the most renowned ARGs to be produced over the last eight years. The Beast, I Love Bees, Year Zero and the Dark Knight to name a few. In our conversation Elan explains the driving force behind the design of his games and his desire to make the players feel empowered.

For …

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Over the next few days we’ll be posting various videos from the DIY DAYS LA event. The day consisted of a number of keynotes (Robert Greenwald, Marshall Herskovitz), panels (Tommy Pallotta, Femke Wolting, Alex Johnson, Micki Krimmel, Mark Stolaroff, Ondi Timoner, Hunter Weeks, Saskia Wilson-Brown), case studies (M dot Strange, Arin Crumley, Lance Weiler), a series of special video presentations (Matt Hanson, Brett Gaylor, Brian Chirls, Christy Dena, Timo Vuorensola) …

Lisa Salem covers all things audience for the workbook and in this week’s post she shares some audience insight from Bob Dylan. “How to Build Your Audience and Keep It” is the first of a number new additions to the Workbook network. The site features an extensive “how-to” on building an audience in addition to an ongoing blog that features interviews, insight and examples.
I’m reading Bob Dylan’s autobiography ‘Chronicles’ – …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Inventing the Movies is a new book by Scott Kirsner that details Hollywood’s epic battle between innovation and the status quo. Scott joins us for a discussion about cinema’s past, present and future. Of particular note for filmmakers is a discussion around the pull economy / attention economy and how building and maintaining audiences is going …

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This week is an exciting week for us. The project is growing by leaps and bounds. As we head towards our 2 year anniversary later this fall, many of the things that we’ve placed on our road map have been met, others are still in the works. But today is a special day for a number of reasons. Our first large extension of the Workbook Project – From Here to …

Since DIY DAYS and FHTA are experiments and extensions of the Workbook Project, we’ll be documenting their progress so we can share all the results.

How do we sustain ourselves as filmmakers and storytellers in this day of shifting film distribution systems? How do we monetize our film and get the word out? Presented by From Here to Awesome, the Workbook Project and Current TV – DIY DAYS aims to answer …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Jeff Gomez turned his childhood passion for role playing into a successful transmedia venture. His company Starlight Runner Entertainment has expanded the intellectual property of brands (Hot Wheels, Magic: The Gathering , Pirates of the Caribbean) by developing cross-platform storyworlds that engage audiences in new and interesting ways. The design and builds of these worlds have …

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Here at the workbook project we are big fans of A Swarm of Angels and anxiously await Matt’s newest open content resource ViewShareRemix. ASOA is a groundbreaking open source film project and Matt has been at the forefront of all things digital for years, in fact Matt is up for top 100 innovators award.

WB: Can you explain A Swarm of Angels and how the community plays a role in …

In addition to discovery and distribution, From Here to Awesome has a special FREE educational section entitled DIY DAYS that is an extension of the Workbook Project. The DIY DAYS events are a joint effort between FHTA and Current TV and will consist of workshops, case studies, panel discussions, and screenings. LA and SF are locked and we’re working on events for Boston and NYC. All the activities will be …

Timo Vuorensola is a filmmaker who has fully embraced the concept of crowdsourcing. After the success of his last feature film Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning which has been downloaded over 8 million times, Timo and his team created a platform to help others crowdsource their movies.

WB: Can you explain Space Wreck and how the audience played a role in the film?
TV: Star Wreck: In the Pirkinning was a huge …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Skot Leach and his brother Ryan are on a mission to warn the world about a secret zombie outbreak. Their Lost Zombies project is a crowdsourced zombie flick that has user-gen sightings coming in from all over the world. Community members submit video, audio, photos, and articles as they document zombie outbreaks. In our discussion Skot …

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The IFP has announced the projects for the 2008 Narrative lab and for the first time one of the films will win a $50,000 finishing grant. For more on info visit the IFP.org or the lab blog.
The selected projects for the 2008 Narrative Lab and Lab Fellows include:
At The Foot Of The Tree – Alfie, a freckle faced eleven year old boy, seeks heartfelt and poetic revenge for the beating …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Casey Walker has turned to the internet to raise the funds for his debut feature film, FREE FOR ALL…BUT YOU!. By putting a different spin on a model that helped a college student raise a million dollars for school, Casey has found a legal way to gather funds for the film. To date he’s raised over …

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We often discuss the importance of embracing other models and schools of thought when it comes to filmmaking. Much can be learned from the music, gaming and software industries. Filmmakers are after all entrepreneurs and the following presentation at The Next Web Conference 2008 by Adeo Ressi, The Founding Member of TheFunded.com, holds some interesting insight into the venture funding world. Now most filmmakers won’t go searching for venture funding …

::PROJECT Wreck a Movie – As the internet continues to connect people, filmmakers are looking for new ways to improve the funding, production and distribution process. The folks behind the internet phenomenon Star Wreck have established a social community around the creation of a number of film projects. The site describes the community as something that – “…helps get films done faster and at a considerably lower cost through …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Our guest today is Ondi Timoner writer / director of the critically acclaimed doc DiG. Ondi’s most recent film, Join US is an intimate look at cults and mind control. Over the course of the discussion Ondi was very candid about the distribution of both her films and how the landscape for Docs has changed in …

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I’ve just return from Hot Docs where I participated in a panel of judges for the newly formed Convergence Lab. Created by DocAgora, the lab focuses on a number of projects. The lab brings together producers, filmmakers and interactive designers in an effort to develop cross-media strategies for their projects.
Cross-media (the telling of stories across multiple mediums, devices and platforms) is a topic that we discuss often – an exciting …

First off, if you haven’t checked out Brett Gaylor’s open source cinema project you should. It is an exciting doc project that pulls from collaborators around the world. Brett is currently looking for some materials to finish the film. Here’s a request that he sent out to his Open Source Cinema members. If you’d like to join this ground breaking project visit http://opensourcecinema.org
Hello dear members of Open Source Cinema! This …

We’re pleased to welcome another contributor to the project – Mike Ambs. I had the pleasure of meeting Mike at SXSW last month and he along with Amanda Walker have created an interesting new project called Pedal. In his first post Mike shares some insight into the post production process and how various web 2.0 techniques can be applied with interesting results.
By Mike Ambs:: I should be upfront in saying …

by Marc Lougee
:: Mini Cameras: Small, like Diamonds There’s much talk on and offline concerning the advent of mini camera’s used in stop motion animation, specifically when used in tandem with DSLR’s. Some folks love’em, some hate’em, but either way, they keep proving themselves useful, relatively inexpensive and hard to boot when faced with the alternative of shooting all day only to find yourself facing a re-shoot for …

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This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Karin Chien is an independent film producer based in New York City. She’s produced a number of independent films such as Robot Stories, The Motel, and Undoing. For films such as Robot Stories and Undoing, Karin and her team applied a hybrid DIY approach to the theatrical release of each that created additional value in other …

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The following was originally published in Filmmaker Magazine. I thought it was appropriate to re-post since the FHTA submission period is coming to a close not to mention numerous filmmakers have been asking for info on ways to spread the word about their work. This article was one of a four part series entitled “Lessons in DIY.” Make sure to read the article it covers three other interesting projects that …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Dan Goldman is a critical acclaimed comic book artist and illustrator. His most recent project “Shooting War” went from being a free online comic to sparking a bidding war. Various major publishing and production interests battled it out for the publishing and film rights. Goldman is a strong believer in the concept of crowdsourcing and …

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:: PROJECT -Nerdcore Rising is a fun glimpse into the world of the nerd hi-hop movement. Negin Farsad’s doc follows the trials and tribulations of MC Frontalot as he embarks on his first national tour; complete with strange opening acts, missing gear, and a single groupie that follows them from the Florida panhandle to New Orleans.
WHY: An entertaining look at a subculture that has legions of dedicated fans. What’s …

IFP Independent Filmmaker Labs – Deadline April 11 (Narrative Rough Cut Lab)
Given the pivotal role that festivals play in launching emerging filmmakers, IFP’s Rough Cut Labs are designed to assist in tackling the creative and technical challenges of completing projects before they are submitted to festivals. Led by seasoned independent producers, the Labs help independent filmmakers achieve the full potential of their material prior to industry exposure by providing four …

This edition of TCIBR is brought to you by IndieFlix and Breakthrough Distribution – Today we are joined by writer and director Steve Balderson. Often working from his home state of Kansas, Steve is a strong proponent of DIY filmmaking and the fact that movies can be made anywhere. He has written and directed narrative features (Pep Squad, Firecracker) and docs (Wamego: Making Movies Anywhere, Phone Sex). In our discussion, …

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In this special video podcast Christy Dena interviews workbook project founder Lance Weiler. Dena, a cross-media entertainment strategist, mentor, designer, writer and PhD researcher conducted the interview for her universe creation podcast. Here’s what Dena had to say about the interview.
Filmmaker Lance Weiler is the special guest on this first video podcast at UC101. Weiler talks about the unique ways he has experimented with extending the storyworld of his …