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) …

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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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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M dot Strange reports – This was part of a presentation called “Adventures in self distribution” I describe the journey I took with my animated feature film “We are the Strange” From my bedroom to Sundance and beyond and back to my little studio again after turning down Hollywood deals and deciding to self distribute and make my films my way.
M dot Strange: Berlin Talent Campus 08 from M dot …

For those of you who don’t know FROM HERE TO AWESOME is an extension of the workbook project. In the spirit of bringing an open source philosophy to various parts of the filmmaking process, FHTA is focused on education, discovery and distribution. Over the next few months leading up to the festival’s kick off in Paris on June 3rd, FHTA is constructing a series of vids that detail the current …

I’d like to take a moment to introduce a new contributor to the Workbook Project. Zachary Mortensen is an accomplished producer and co-founder of production company Ghost Robot. He’s produced numerous feature films, shorts and music videos. Recently, Zachary opened a new web shop called Space Unicorn which is helping independent filmmakers to build an online presence for their films. In his first article Zachary breaks down the importance of …

by Marc Lougee – In April 2007, I dropped a little article here on the workbookproject.com laying out a very basic DSLR/ shooting system that I had assembled for production of the stop motion animated short film, Ray Harryhausen Presents: The Pit and the Pendulum. Using Digital Single Lens Reflex Camera’s in place of traditional film camera’s we’d found a high quality, cost effective digital alternative to 35mm film.
So, in …

We hear this all the time. It’s about who you know. Most professions in life seem to benefit from networking, but in filmmaking it is about as important as it gets. And getting out to network can become very difficult when you are spending weeks and months in the edit room and have devoted your entire income – plus whatever you can muster up on your credit cards – on …

M dot Strange reports – So I was lucky enough to be summoned to make an animated music video for one of my favorite bands “Mindless Self Indulgence” I used Cinema 4d 9.1 w/Cactus Dans tools, and After Effects 6.5.
I thought I would out together a little thang documenting my work on the Mindless Self Indulgence music video “Animal” There’s a ton of music video making-of’s out there but since …

One of the goals of the Workbook, is to create a “social open source” project that encourages content creators to share information with one another. Yesterday we held the first in a series of discussions around the current state of the industry. A group of filmmakers came together at the IFP’s NYC offices for some food and conversation.
Participants included: Josh Zeman, Zachary Mortensen, Esther Robinson, Doug Block, Ry Russo …

This edition of “TCIBR” is brought to you by IndieFlix – Tiffany Shlain is a writer, director, and producer of innovative short form work. Her most recent project THE TRIBE, is an unorthodox, unauthorized short film about Jewish people and the Barbie doll. Tiffany and her team have been able to reach their audience in an interesting and unique way that is returning a profit and engaging audiences around the …

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In a special multi-part series along with live updates from the IFP Film Market, filmmaker Tom Quinn (The New Year Parade) will document his journey as part of the IFP’s narrative rough cut lab. Selected out of hundreds of submissions Tom’s film joins 10 other projects as the IFP helps to pull back the curtain on post, festivals and distribution.
This past June, I was fortunate enough to attend the IFP …

By Rene Antunes
- You’re a filmmaker. You’ve finished an amazing film which has both a russian roulette scene and a beautiful Tunisian woman saying “Because he doesn’t know how to love.”. It’s brilliant; you want everyone to see it, and it’s time to put it out into the world. Before you do that though, you’ll need to make your film presentable and identifiable to audiences and distributors alike. You then …

IFP Documentary Rough Cut Lab – November 6 – 9, 2007, NYC
The IFP Documentary Rough Cut Lab is a national program connecting mentors
and projects before they are submitted to festivals. The Lab aims to
identify 10 high quality independently produced documentaries each year
that can benefit from the support and expertise of experienced film
professionals. The key creative teams of these projects receive feedback
from a range of professionals in editing, scoring, post delivery,
outreach, …

Shooting The Pit and the Pendulum with a Mac Mini computer & a Nikon D70s DSLR camera
By Marc Lougee
We shot the short stop motion animated film, The Pit and the Pendulum using Nikon D70s DSLR’s Apple mac Mini computers, and a low cost frame capture software program called Frame Thief (available for Mac). The basic system consisted of the Mac Mini computers, 15” flat screen monitors, Canopus analog / …

INDEPENDENT FEATURE LABS
Narrative Rough Cut Labs
June 12-15 , 2007
New York City
Submission Deadline: April 27
Apply: www.ifp.org/labs
Given the pivotal role that festivals play in launching emerging filmmakers, IFP designed its Rough Cut Labs to assist in tackling the creative and technical challenges of completing projects before they are submitted to festivals.
Led by seasoned independent producers Scott Macaulay, (Producer, Raising Victor Vargas and editor, Filmmaker Magazine) and Gretchen McGowan, (Producer and/Executive in Charge …