Is this Iraq? Nope. It's Dallas. We had a major dust storm a few days ago. Eerie, eerie shots...

-Blake

Interesting and funny interview with David Mamet about his new book (about the movie business) called "Bambi Vs. Godzilla".

Here's an excerpt...

Warner: You love movies but seem to hate the movie business.

Mamet: I don't hate the movie business. I'm fascinated by the movie business. It's the only absolutely essential intersection in the history of mankind between art and commerce. You could paint the picture and sell it or not. You can put on plays in your backyard. But you have to have a distribution process for movies.

Warner: You have a special contempt for producers. What makes them so despicable?

Mamet: Everybody is a producer in Hollywood, and there are a lot of people who produce nothing.

Warner: Screenwriters seem to be dispensable in Hollywood, or even interchangeable. Why is there so little regard for them?

Mamet: A lot of people in the business end loathe screenwriters because it looks like they aren't doing much of anything. And if they do it well, it looks like anybody can do it.

Definitely check it out. I'm planning on buying the book too.

-Blake

In relation to viral video success (from the Cinematech blog)...

"Anybody can become famous for 15 megabytes."

-Blake

Filmmaker Magazine has a good article in their "Industry Beat" section about the status of no-budget filmmaking...

Congrats to Matt Tompkins (the star of Killing Down) who just landed a co-starring role opposite Dolph Lundgren (pictured left) in the new Sony Pictures film Missionary Man.

I'd been looking forward to seeing the Al Gore documentary "An Inconvenient Truth". Heard good things about it. Rented it from Netflix about two weeks ago, and it had been sitting around unwatched until last night.

Kinda wished it had stayed that way.

Well, maybe not. I'm glad I saw it to see what folks have been talking about. Of course I don't understand the praise. And BTW, I'm not talking politics here at all. Purely filmmaking.

This movie was a SNOOZE FEST. As boring of a film as I can honestly recall. My wife actually wanted to turn it off - but I rarely will do that - if ever. Once I start a movie I finish it.

If you haven't seen the film it shows Al Gore giving his "slide show" (his words, not mine) in front of a live audience. Then, inner cut throughout segments are these little "transitional pieces" of Al walking through airports, driving his car, sitting at his desk, etc. - all with voice over from Al. Is this supposed to be interesting or even remotely entertaining?

The subject of global warming is undoubtedly interesting. But could they have presented it in a more boring way? Come on. This is a MOVIE. Please make it visually interesting and at least partially entertaining. To me the best documentaries do just that. While I do not agree with much of what Michael Moore has to say, I do find him a good storyteller and filmmaker. He's stuff is at the very least presented in an entertaining way. Or take Morgan Spurlock's "Supersize Me". Again, a very engaging and interesting documentary that also entertained. Of course my favorite documentary filmmaker is Errol Morris. ALL of his films are very well done on every level. They are MOVIES. Anyone ever thinking of making a documentary should go a rent one of Errol's films ("The Fog of War", "Mr. Death", "The Thin Blue Line", etc.).

"An Inconvenient Truth" was just dull. I mean any Discovery Channel doc is better. Imagine listening to your 8th grade science teacher give a lecture and that's what this movie feels like.

My only guess as to why this film is getting lots of attention are the following:

1. Al Gore
2. The subject matter
3. Politics

Let's take them one at a time:

1. Al Gore should be renamed Al Bore. How can a man who has been in politics his entire life be such a boring and uninspiring public speaker? Now I really know why he lost the presidential race in 2000. At least Bush has a personality whether you agree with his politics or not. But Hollywood and the American left can't let go of his loss. And they want to honor him in any way they can. This is ironic of course. Remember oh, 20 years ago or so? Tipper Gore? Remember the recording industry's vitriol towards her (for the "censorship" labels on CDs) and indirectly at Al? Funny how things turn around. While I do think his intentions for this project are VERY NOBLE, I again just think it was a very failed attempt as a film (the director's fault).

2. Global warming is real. I do not doubt this at all. It's a good topic for a doc. And, I think this is a great thing to discuss and get solved. But, this movie does not do that. Sure, it shows lots of stuff that has happened over time - and it projects things that might happen in the future. But what this film does not do is tell us WHAT WE CAN DO TO HELP. In the ending credits it lists a handful of elementary things we can do to stop or reduce global warming. This list could have been created by a kindergarten kid. This is a huge filmmaking flaw on the director's part. Tell us what's happened; what's possibly going to happen if we don't fix things; and then tell us HOW to fix the problems (or at least what they think we should do).

3. This is a political hot potato, and really I don't think it should be. But it is nonetheless. So my belief is Hollywood will reward this film (and has been cheer leading it along the way) at the Oscars. This film in NO WAY SHAPE OR FORM deserves to be an Oscar contender. But it's a film that has political clout - especially on the left. And as most folks know Hollywood is very left leaning. And BTW, I have no problem with this at all. For me take politics completely out of the picture - this is just not a good movie. And should not be up for Oscar contention.

The best thing about this movie is that is has reignited the debate on global warming and hopefully our government and others around the world (it's not just us remember) will take action. This summer Al Gore is putting on a global concert to raise awareness on the topic - supposedly U2 will head line. Sounds kinda like a "Live Aid" concert. I'm sure every band will want to lend their talents to the event. I think this is a good idea.

My only hope is they keep Al behind the curtain so the show can somewhat entertaining.

-Blake

There's a piece on Killing Down in the new issue of Indie Slate...

I've been helping consult on a indie film shooting in Dallas called Fissure. It's being directed by Russ Pond. They're first day of shooting they were visited by the local FOX affiliate for a story on Texas filmmaking and the lack of tax incentives (to help bring more productions here).

This article concerns my first job using P2 with me as producer/director/editor. I have worked on one other shoot as a shooter, but it wasn't my project - I was a hired gun - and all I did was shoot. I did not handle the P2 aspects involved.

If you don't know what P2 is then this info will likely not do much for you. But, if you're a filmmaker and been thinking about shooting P2 or been reading about it then my experience will be worth the read.

P2 of course is the new solid state recording format (fairly new anyway - been around just over a year or so) introduced by Panasonic. P2 is not tape. It is a memory card that replaces tape and allows instant access to recorded footage. The most common camera that shoots P2 is the HVX200, although there are several others now. The HVX is the $6000 "do anything" camera. It shoots virtually all flavors of video including 720p HD, 1080p HD, DVCPRO 50, and even Mini DV.

The biggest knock on P2 is that the largest capacity card is only 8GB. And they cost $1200 each. And they did cost $2000 when they first hit the market. Supposedly 16GB cards will come out at NAB this year (in April). This will be a good thing. Of course there are a few hard disk recorders available that offer plenty of room, but they do make the rig bulkier, etc.

8GB cards will give you 30 minutes of DV recording, 16 minutes of DVCPRO 50 recording (at 24p), and around the same for 720p HD (in the native 24p mode). There are obviously a lot of technical aspects that go into shooting with the HVX, and a lot of choices - but this article is reallly more about P2 - so that's where I am going to focus.

My two main concerns with P2 were and still are:

1. Shooting capacity
2. Archiving

The recent shoot I utilized P2 on was for a LASIK surgeon in Florida. My company was hired to produce two patient information videos and four 60 second TV spots. The patient info videos are mainly the doctor talking into the camera using teleprompter. Both these videos will be around 20 minutes long. Of course this means shooting probably two to three times that much footage (with flubs and redos, etc.).

For the patient videos we actually decided NOT to shoot on P2. The HVX will also record Mini DV to tape and due to the long running times we opted to go this route (and I'm very glad we did).

For the TV spots we shot on P2. These spots were made up of the doctor on camera and 12 different testimonials (that will pick soundbites from). We shot this stuff on P2 in 24p DVCPRO 50 (standard def). We decided to go SD instead of HD for post-production reasons.

As I mentioned earlier, you get 16 minutes of 24p DVCPRO 50 on a single card. So once that card is full you take it to the "download station" we created. This was made up of the Panasonic 60 gig P2 Store and a Mac G4 laptop with a 160GB external Lacie firewire drive.

We'd copy it to the Lacie drive first. This took just under one minute per gig - so about 7 minutes or so to copy. Then, we'd do a back-up copy to the P2 Store - this took about 10-12 minutes. So the total copy time was just shy of 20 minutes. We had two P2 cards. We really needed three. The overlap of copying and shooting caught up with us once or twice during the testimonial interviews. One person had to wait about 10 minutes while we copied the data.

But we had to do this. We had to make back-ups. This is vital and worth making someone wait. Remember, we're talking data here. If something goes wrong with the drive it is gone.

Other than those few instances the card swapping went well. The client very much enjoyed being able to play back a clip instantly. Then I enjoyed not having to worry about recording over something (if I forgot to cue the tape back up). No worries like that with P2.

In the end we shot around 70 gigs of footage. The shoot went well. I'd do it again. I've actually been considering a P2 camera or the Sony XDCAM HD setup. I like the idea of going tapeless, although it is a different way of thinking. So this was a good test (on someone else's dime too - can't beat that). :)

Now I'm starting my first post-production session with P2 using Avid Xpress Pro. Not sure the post side of things is going as well as the shoot. I'll report back soon with the results.

-Blake

I've mentioned here in the past a couple New Projects that I'm working on and one of them is coming together very well. The other one is moving forward, but there has been the usual hiccups along the way.

I don't want to give away too many details at this stage, mainly because if you're at all familiar with the film business you know everything can (and often does) fall apart.

I can say on New Project #1 (the one that is going very well) we have a first draft of the script done and we're now working on a 2nd pass. I'm very excited about the script (working with a good writer based in LA). All the content is there. This is the project that I optioned the Life Story Rights to a member of a famous Texas family. That's all I can say about that. So, again, the content is there... we're just trying to figure out the structure of the script. We do not want this to be a typical "boring" biopic: Hero is born, Hero lives and does something good/bad/crazy/exciting, then Hero dies, blah, blah, blah.

We want this to be interesting, emotional, engaging, and above all entertaining.

If all goes well I'd love to shoot this project in late summer or early fall. We'll see...

The second New Project is actually being financed by another production company. They are (potentially) hiring me to direct a script I've written. At one point about two months ago I almost had the greenlight. Then, things changed, and they wanted to produced a different project. One that fit thier "slate of films" better. So, that project (an action-comedy-heist script) got put on hold. But, they like another project of mine and we're now talking about doing it.

This one is an action-police-drama. I actually do not have a full script done - just a detailed treatment. So, I'm working on this script to submit to their production execs soon. They definitely are interested in producing it, but of course they'll need to approve the final screenplay.

This will be my first real "Hollywood" experience. Even though they are an indie production company, they run it like a studio. So, in other words, they call all the shots because they're paying the tab. Should be an interesting experience. It will definitely be nice to not worry about raising the funds to make a film. I'll actually be able to simply concentrate on directing. What a concept? :)

-Blake

Same content. Same writer. Different name.

For 2007 I've decided to at least be clever if nothing else. ;)

And for those "non-filmmakers" out there a Martini Shot is the last shot of the day on a film shoot. Of course often times it turns out not to be the last shot (someone will think of something else to shoot, usually after the lights, etc. have been struck) and then you do the "real" Martini Shot.

Happy reading. :)

-Blake

Been busy this week, so I'm just now having a chance to talk about the TXMPA event from last weekend...

The event went very well.

It was an all emcompassing look at what is going on with the organization, the State of Texas, and the film industry within the state.

I had the pleasure of speaking along side the president of TXMPA, the head of the Dallas Producer's Association, the director of the Texas Film Commission, the director of the Dallas Film Commission, and the producer of the FOX Network TV show Prison Break (Gary Brown). I was there representing the independent side of things.

The event was covered by a few media outlets and I was interviewed on camera. As soon as I find out if or when the video will be online I'll post it here.

Go to the TXMPA website to see more about what they/we are trying to accomplish. But in a nutshell, TXMPA is trying to get legislation passed to create Tax Incentives for production companies producing films in Texas - thus bringing more business to the state. It's a win-win for everyone involved, so hopefully something good will happen this session.

At the event I played the movie trailer for Killing Down (the movie was produced in Dallas) and then spoke of the film industry infrastructure that exist in Texas, and more specifically Dallas.

Many folks do not realize you can pretty much turn-key a feature film in Texas. We have just about every possible part of the equation covered:

- Acting Talent
- Production Talent (i.e. crew)
- Equipment Rental Houses (we have a Panavision office in town)
- Only Film Lab in Texas (Video Post & Transfer)
- Literally hundreds of post houses for editing
- Many Effects Houses for CGI, etc.
- Several great audio post houses covering all aspects
- High-end color correction on DaVinci 2K, etc.

Really the only thing we don't have at the moment is a facility doing high-end DI (Digital Intermediate). Video Post soon will be offering DI via DaVinci Resolve - but only for short form projects (i.e. TV spots).

So a production company could come to Texas and produce their project from start to finish. That was my message, and that's what I have been doing since 1997 (three feature films now completed).

Of course, big Hollywood productons could come here just to shoot and that is fine too. We just want to keep the Texas film industry clicking, and I'm doing my part to make sure this happens.

-Blake

I will be speaking on a panel this Saturday for the TXMPA (Texas Motion Picture Alliance) at the SMU campus. I will be "interviewed" along with Gary Brown the producer of the FOX Network show "Prison Break". I will be representing the independent filmmaking side of things. Please come to the event if you can!

The event is a fundraiser and networking opportunity for anyone and everyone involved in the TV and Film industry in Texas.

Who is TXMPA?

The TXMPA is an organization of organizations from all over the state of Texas dedicated to significantly bolstering and expanding the existing infrastructure of the film/video/interactive media and video game production industry in the State of Texas. Its purpose is to support the creation of financial incentives to producers of all such media both from within and outside of the state.

Their main goal right now is to raise funds (to pay a new lobbying firm recently hired) to push legislation though that will create new Tax Incentives for outside production companies (i.e. Hollywood) so they will produce more films here.

Because of production incentives offered by other states, including New Mexico and Louisiana, the Texas production industry has been devastated over the last several years as companies have closed, crew has relocated to other states, and invaluable production infrastructure has begun to erode.

In just three (3) short years of incentives, Louisiana increased motion picture production from $20 million per year to an astounding $350 million per year. Right now Texas’ film/TV and commercial production industry has dropped to $200 million per year.

Conservative estimates project that in the first year of a competitive incentive program, Texas would realize an increase in production revenue of $300 million! Money that WILL be spent by the entertainment industry somewhere one way or another. This would bring the total production related revenue to $1 BILLION over a two year period.

If you can't make the event it will be streamed live on the web. Go to the TXMPA home page 30 minutes prior to the show (noon CST) and select "Attend Event".

Thanks for the support!
-Blake

I finally got the online shopping section of my Loud Pictures website up and running (used to have it on my old site, but that was a while ago)...

So now you can support indie filmmaking at its purest by purchasing the Loud Shorts Volume 1 DVD for only $12.00 plus $3.95 for shipping. You get five kick-ass short films for under $16 bucks! And these are all high quality, award winning projects shot on film. Yes, you heard it. All these shorts were actually shot on film (16mm and 35mm). Not that I'm being a film snob or anything, but it is rare these days to see shorts shot on film.

FILMTHREAT.com reviewed the DVD and gave it "3 1/2 Stars"!

Here's the list of titles (and directors) on the DVD:

1. 6:30 - directed by Blake Calhoun (that's me)
2. A Day at the Office - directed by David Maddox
3. Burning the Grump - directed by David Ahearn
4. Hero - directed by Cliff Richhart
5. Summer Job - directed by Greg Biggerstaff

Go check it out. You know you want to. There's even a sample clip to view too!

Also, while I'm shamelessly plugging things here... Coming soon too is the DVD release of my previous feature film Hit. This DVD will be available to buy later this spring. It will be sold on my website and on Amazon.com (and possibly a few other outlets). Believe me, I'll let everyone know when it's available, so please stay tuned... :)

Thanks for your support!

-Blake

Check this out from Popular Mechanics...
http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/industry/4206967.html

While it is subjective, I don't disagree with many of their picks.

-Blake

Happy New Year to everyone...

2006 was a really good year for me in my personal life and my business life, and if things go as hoped 2007 should be even better.

Here's my list of Resolutions (on the business side) to make this happen:

1. Stop procrastinating on finishing the Hit DVD (my previous feature film) - I've had this in the works for over a year and a half. Part of the reason for the delay is I had two potential home video deals fall through and haven't been happy with anything else that's come along. So, I'm likely going to do DIY self-distribution through Amazon.com selling the DVD and a digital downloadable version through their new Unboxed program. All I'm really trying to do here is get the movie out so people can see it. Hit is a funny movie. It got really positive reviews and deserves to be seen.

2. Get at least one, but very likely two new feature projects in the can this year. It took me 2 years to do my first film. Three years to do my second. And just shy of two years to finish Killing Down. So yeah, getting two films done this year might seem like a stretch (and it kinda is). BUT, I'm doing things a bit differently now. First off, on one of the projects I've hired a writer to write the script. It's going well too. Hope to have a first draft in the next 4 to 6 weeks. This project I'd like to shoot in July. For the other project, I'm likely using a preexisting script (that I've written), AND, the biggest thing - someone else is financing the film (and paying me to direct it). This is huge and one of the main reasons I feel I can get two projects done this year. In a perfect world, we'd shoot the first project in late February to March and then roll into the next project shooting in July or maybe August (probably overlapping the post schedule from the first a tad). The second project I'm producing and raising the financing, so it's definitely tougher. Of course in this business everything can (and often does) fall apart. So we'll see what happens. But these are Resolutions, so I'm going to stay positive. :)

3. Keeping #2 in mind... I plan to migrate into narrative feature filmmaking full-time. Like a lot of folks, especially outside Hollywood - but inside too, I make a living as a producer, director and editor of ALL kinds of media. I've made three feature films, but my main revenue source comes from corporate video and TV commercials. Now don't get me wrong, I enjoy working with my corporate and ad agency clients (especially if you're reading this), but my goal is to make a living off my feature film work. That's not saying I won't still dabble in the other stuff - and I'll likely still service my various clients using freelancers, etc. - but full-time feature work is my plan (and with my recent sell of the foreign rights to Killing Down things are looking pretty good).

4. Keeping #2 and #3 in mind... I would like to get an agent or manager to rep me as a director-for-hire (or as a writer-director of my own work). This is not easy. A lot of my actor friends living in Dallas and LA had a hard time (and still do sometimes) finding a good agent or one at all. So finding an agent to rep an unknown director (that's me) is not going to be easy. My entertainment attorney Mark Litwak has said he will help refer me based on my previous feature work and mainly on Killing Down. It's ALL about WHO YOU KNOW to get your foot in the door, then talent and a lot of luck come into play.

5. Make a domestic distribution deal for Killing Down. We've sold our foreign rights, but our domestic (U.S. and Canada) are still available. We've got some interests, but no deal yet. I'm fairly confident something will happen in the next couple months. This sale could definitely help my prospect of finding an agent since having a film in Blockbuster is not a bad thing for the resume'.

There are of course other things I'm hoping/planning/thinking about doing to make 2007 a good year, but these are the primary ones.

We'll see if I can stick to them...

Bad thing is on my personal Resolutions I've already broken pretty much all of them and it's only January 4th. ;)

-Blake

First teaser trailer is out for "Grindhouse" the new Rodriquez/Tarantino films that will be released in April (as a double feature).

Pretty cool - very much a throwback look to the 70's. I'm sure Rodriguez's film was shot on HD. Not sure about Tarantino's though...

-Blake

Our last round of QC was successful. We got the "Approved" stamp on the QC Report and made all our necessary dubs. And today, we're sending off the last of the required paperwork, etc. including our E&O Insurance Certificate to our distributor.

What a relief.

Delivering a movie is quite a challenge. This is my second time to do it, but my first time at this level. The first time around was NOT NEAR as "picky", time consuming or expensive. This one was tough (but not out of the ordinary).

Check out the next issue of Indie Slate Magazine when it hits news stands in January (I think it'll be January). There will be a piece on "Killing Down" and the delivery process we just went through. Hopefully it will be interesting.

So, that's that. Now we await payment from the distributor. Should be here pretty soon, and if so, will definitely make for a very Merry Christmas! :)

-Blake

We've made the recommended fixes to "Kiling Down" via the QC Report from Modern VideoFilm in Burbank. We now await the final report and will then make the appropriate dubs for our distributor.

What are these dubs?

An NTSC DigiBeta 16x9 letterbox, an NTSC DigiBeta 4x3 full frame, and the same but in the PAL format (for European territories). These PAL dubs are ultra expensive - the way we're going to do them anyway. Tried just doing a strait conversion from 29.97 to 25 fps, but the dubs sucked. They were roughly $300 each. The better way (and they way we're proceeding) is to dub them through a Teranex box. The Teranex is an incredible device. I have used it on occasion to do up and down converts for HD... I've never used it to do PAL conversions though. The kicker is due to the running time of the movie these dubs are going to be about $750 a piece. That's a chunk of change - especially for an SD dub. I'm hoping to get a deal on them, but either way it's expensive!!!

Once these dubs are done we'll deliver to New Film International (our foreign distributor) and we should be off to the races. What do I mean by that? Well, we start getting paid finally. :)

ALSO, the movie will be available and seen throughout the world (excluding the U.S. and Canada). We're still working on a domestic deal and will hopefully be announcing some good news there after the first of the New Year.

Oh, and one last thing... in the very near future we'll be uploading the first 8-minutes of "Killing Down" to YouTube. We'll post here when the footage is live.

-Blake

I'm deep into the "QC" process of my deliverables for "Killing Down". That's Quality Control (I guess you call it that). And I must say it's tough, tough stuff.

I've been involved with the QC process before, but from afar. Not directly responsible for the technical issues nor for the expense. On this run I'm responsible for both. Everything. And it's really becoming costly in both time and money.

Not that there is much wrong with the film, it's just that the QC process is EXTREMELY picky, and often it's WRONG TOO. What do I mean by that?

Well, for instance...

I have a fair amount of subtitles for some Spanish parts in the film. However, there is some Spanish that is spoken and I purposely did NOT WANT SUBTITLES THERE. It's a creative choice. But on the report I got the dreaded "3", meaning it doesn't pass. Of course I'll work this out with the QC facility and ultimately the distributor, but it kinda sucks having to go through this...

Or, I have some sound effects that cut in and out (purposely) and on the report they failed. But again, it was a creative choice...

I also have several issues with my titles (and subtitles) not being in the Title Safe Area. This is quite bizarre and I'm waiting to see exactly how far off they are. We did our HD online on an Avid DS Nitris (one of the highest-end of highest-end editing system there is) and I can't imagine the titles being positioned wrong. I'm going to verify this later this week.

Anyway, long story short... this stuff is not fun. I can't wait to get back to MAKING another film and leaving this "business side" behind - I mean 14 hour days, no sleep, and little food actually sound pretty good right now. :)

-Blake

I finally saw "The Departed" this weekend. I've heard nothing but rave reviews about the new Scorsese film, and I will say it was very well done and entertaining.

But, I must also say that most folks who have been raving (critics and film fans alike) probably have not seen the original movie. That's right, if you didn't know, "The Departed" is a remake. It's a remake of a very, very good Hong Kong film called "Infernal Affairs" (it's English title).

"Infernal Affairs" was much more of an emotional film for me. "The Departed" was a tad too glossy and commercial in it's approach and I didn't feel for the characters as much as I did in the original (mainly the DiCaprio and Damon characters). Their Asian counterparts brought a much deeper emotional feel to the roles.

I'm sure part of the reason I didn't "love it" was that I was so familiar with the original. I knew what was coming in the twists and turns. The Scorsese film sticks to the original pretty closely. Although the ending is slightly different (and not as good).

The best thing about "The Departed" for me was Leo DiCaprio's performance and to a lesser extent Mark Wahlberg's. Mark wasn't in the film that much, but when he was it was good. Also, Alec Baldwin did a nice turn as a police commander. This could (finally) be the movie that Leo gets an Oscar. We'll see.

Scorsese is among my favorite filmmakers ("Goodfellas" is my all time favorite film). He's doing very innovative stuff here too - especially for being 65 years old. So, don't take my review here the wrong way. I would definitely recommend the movie. I just wasn't blown away by it like a lot of people.

Go check it out though if you haven't. And if you don't mind subtitles (or an English dubbed version) check out "Infernal Affairs" first - then compare the two and see if you agree with me.

-Blake

Actually sunny and 89 degrees today... where? I'm in LA on business talking to the new distributors about "Killing Down", and also meeting with some producers about a New Project - and meeting with the writer working on the Other New Project.

We're slowly but surely getting all the "Killing Down" deliverables prepared for our December 1st deadline, although it is becoming increasingly difficult to determine if we'll have everything ready. There's a lot to do, and with the Thanksgiving holiday upon us, it's slowing things down.

Did I mention it was almost 90 degrees here today? I mean, it's November 20th. Thanksgiving is this week. Happy Holidays from LA. Is the weather ever bad Out Here?

-Blake

Good article by Scott Kirshner at the Hollywood Reporter...
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/hr/search/article_display.jsp?vnu_content_id=1003381488

The pros and cons from different filmmakers about digital production through distribution.

-Blake

Everything about the film business is tough. Everything.

Writing a script is tough. Finding money to make a movie is tough. Making the movie is tough. Selling the movie (if it actually got made) is tough. And even once you do sell it... yep you guessed it, it's still tough.

Why is it tough even when you sell the film? One word: DELIVERABLES

You may not be familiar with this term if you haven't sold a film or been involved with the sale of a film. It's not an everyday word, but if you're a filmmaker and have a hope to sell your film please take note of this frustrating word.

Basically it means what it says... "You deliver the movie". But, what the actually "deliverables" are is where it gets tough and VERY expensive.

Here are the items I'm dealing with right now since we sold the foreign rights to "Killing Down"...

Final D5-HD master, only requires “access to”
Audio stems, only requires “access to”
Production Audio, only requires “access to”
DAT of film score and songs
HD footage of deletions, etc., only requires “access to”
HD title materials of all credits, only requires “access to”
NTSC DigiBeta 4x3 full frame with M&E
NTSC DigiBeta 16x9 letterbox with M&E
PAL DigiBeta 4x3 full frame with M&E
PAL DigiBeta 16x9 letterbox with M&E
NTSC DA88 of feature with M&E
PAL DA88 of feature with M&E
NTSC DA88 of 5.1 mix
PAL DA88 of 5.1 mix
“TV Version” of stereo mix
NTSC DigiBeta of TV Version
PAL DigiBeta of TV Version
TEXTLESS MATERIAL – attach to NTSC and PAL version of film, both theatrical and TV, one-minute after finish
QC report of NTSC DigiBeta Master
QC report of D5-HD Master
NTSC DigiBeta of original trailer
NTSC DA88 of trailer
(1) Dialogue/Action Continuity & Spotting List
All Production Notes/Papers from SAG, Camera Reports, etc.
100 Color Production Stills
Key Artwork
Presskit
Cast/Crew Interview footage and behind-the-scenes footage
(2) Copies of the Music Cue Sheet
(2) Copies of Composer Agreement
(10) Copies of Certificate of Origin
(10) Copies of Certificate of Authorship from each credited writer
(1) Copyright Certificate
Credit Obligations
Thomson Title Research Report
Thomson Copyright Search Report
(1) Copy of Screenplay
E&O Insurance Certificate
Characteristics of Picture
Chain of Title

As you can see this is A LOT of stuff, and as I said... A LOT OF EXPENDITURES to actually deliver the movie. I figure a rough estimate here is around $15K to get all this done. Maybe more. Not sure yet. And, we have to have all this delivered by December 1st. That's just over three weeks from now. Did I mention this is going to be tough?

For non-filmmakers reading this I'm sure many of the terms in the delivery list above do not ring a bell. A lot of it is film jargon and/or technical stuff. But, suffice it to say it is all very important and required to sell the movie and to GET PAID. That's right. We do not get paid untill we delivery all this. The next three weeks will be very, very busy for me.

So, filmmakers selling your movie... just be prepared for these costs when or if you get to this point. Like me, I'm sure most of you will be completely out of money and having to beg, borrow and steal to get the deliverables delivered.

I do find it quite ironic when you actually sell your film you still have to go into more debt. But nothing in life is easy... as a matter of fact it's all really pretty tough.

-Blake

Our foreign distribution deal is done. The film was bought by New Films International. Thank you to my attorney Mark Litwak for negotiating the deal.

It's kind of ironic really because New Films actually works with several other Texas filmmakers, and they are NOT a Texas company or have any ties to Texas. As a matter of fact, their owner is from Turkey!

New Films works with director Jon Keeyes (from Fort Worth) and has produced two films with him - Living & Dying and Fall Down Dead. They bought the rights to the film The Prodigy, which was shot in Denton and made by local filmmakers (including Lawrence Varnado who has a role in "Killing Down"). Another Texas connection for a film they rep is Dirty Work. This film was not made in Texas, but was shot by a well-known Dallas DP, David Blood (film was produced in Chicago). And now, New Films has bought my film Killing Down, which was completely produced in Dallas, Texas.

A lot of good independent filmmaking going on in Texas (specifically Dallas)!!!

So, if you happen to be attending AFM this year go by and check out New Films booth at the Loews Santa Monica. They're in rooms #632, #634 and #636.

And here's a direct link to their website, which now has some Killing Down marketing info on there: http://www.newfilmsint.com/

-Blake

Check out this really good article on Martin Scorsese and his process of making "The Departed".

While he's definitely an old school filmmaker, he is starting to embrace a lot of modern technology like HD dailies and Digital Intermediates. Very good read, although it is fairly technical, it's still very interesting and informative for most folks interested in making films - especially at this level.

There's also a link to a Podcast with him, so check that out too.

BTW, I have not seen "The Departed" yet (or really any new movies recently to be honest), but I plan to very soon.

-Blake

I'm back in town and back to work. Survived the Hawaiian Earthquake and now concentrating on finalizing the deal for foreign distribution of "Killing Down". Actually, my attorney is doing most of the finalizing, but I'm closely monitoring the negotiations.

As soon as everything is inked I'll disclose the details.

In the meantime, we're talking to a few companies about domestic distribution and I'm working on putting together my New Project (things are moving along nicely on that front too).

Oh, and I'm trying to get my previous movie "Hit" out on DVD by Christmas. Should be an interesting next several months...

-Blake

I don't normally post too much personal stuff on this blog. I try to stick to the film business, but today I have to say I AM IN HAWAII AND EARLIER TODAY I WAS IN MY FIRST EARTHQUAKE. A 6.5 magnitude... there hasn't been an earthquake this big in Hawaii since 1983! Crazy stuff.

After it happened my first concern was a tsunami. Very scary - especially after seeing what happened in Indonesia a couple years ago. But, thank goodness there were no tsunami warnings or any sign of one.

So what happened?

Christine (my wife) and I woke up early and she went on a snorkeling trip. I stayed at the hotel to watch football (yeah I know, I'm in Hawaii and I'm staying in to watch football? I'm a big Cowboys fan what can I say...). Anyway, she left and I just started watching the game around 7am local Hawaii time (5 hours behind Dallas) and next thing you know I hear this sound like - and I hate to say it because it sounds cliche' - A FREIGHT TRAIN. Just a very loud rumbling sound.

At first I thought it was a bell cart in the hallway. Then I noticed the bed shaking and the floor starting to wave. Next the table in the room started to violently shake. My computer shook and almost fell on the floor. My iPod did take a tumble to the ground (but it's okay, I know you were worried).

Keep in mind, I'm from Dallas, Texas. We don't have earthquakes there. We have tornados and I will take one of them anytime over this. At least with a tornado you have some advanced warning.

So back to the event. I'm running around the room like your dog or cat does when you turn on the vacuum. I honestly had NO IDEA WHAT TO DO. Being from Texas I had no training on what you should do. So, I looked for my shoes and ran out in the hallway. Bad thing is I'm on the 7th floor of the hotel. No real good place to go. As I got into the hallway many of the other guests were out there and they told me to stand in the doorway. I later learned that is what you should do - OR just get out of the building.

Oh yeah, back to Christine. I mentioned she was going snorkeling... and she did. She was driving to meet the chartered boat and didn't even feel the quake. I called her and she wondered why there were rocks all over the road. She ended up going on the trip, but in the end she wished she hadn't. Although there were no tsunami issues, the seas were very high and she got sea sick on the trip out to the reef. Just nasea luckily, but it was not good. She did end up enjoying the fish and coral, but the trips there and back were brutal.

Meanwhile, back at the hotel... I had no idea what was going on with her. The phones and electricity were out. My mobile phone would work here and there - but I only got her voicemail (I learned later she was okay minus being sea sick).

In the end we're okay, but I have to say it was one of the scariest-natural-disaster-type-events I've ever been in. It was over in a flash, but the unknowns were (and are) difficult to think about.

I'll be back in Texas later this week (looking forward to it too), and will be back to talking film. A lot of cool stuff going on with "Killing Down". :)

-Blake

Quick update...

SOLD FORIEGN RIGHTS to film. Deal just closed. Details to follow soon.

-Blake

Things have been pretty crazy this week. We've entertained several offers to buy the foreign rights to "Killing Down". This is GREAT news! Now we're in the midst of deciding which company to go with. Pretty sure we'll have a deal done by the end of today. Can't wait to get this done and then look forward to AFM in just over three weeks.

Of course, next we work on selling the domestic rights - oh, and we start working on the new project very, very soon. Like I said in the title to this entry... definitely "wheelin' & dealin'.

-Blake

The DVD screeners we're shipped out this week to potential distrubutors. Hopefully we'll start getting some responses early next week.

So far, I've had two meetings with companies regarding domestic DVD. Both are interested in the film. However, my domestic deal I'm not as concerned about right now. With AFM right around the corner we need a good foriegn sales agent first.

A lot of companies will try to buy "worldwide rights" that covers, well, everything. I'm not particularly interested in a deal like this unless it's a REALLY good deal. My best bet is we'll end up doing separate deals for domestic and foreign.

-Blake

We started sending out email query letters to distributors today regarding "Killing Down". So far we've had a positive response... of course they haven't seen the movie yet, just the new poster artwork and a synopsis - but, I think most will like the film.

Next week we'll send out DVD screeners to the interested folks and to various other distributors that Mark Litwak (our producer's rep) has a relationship with.

Things are definitely in motion.

-Blake

Here's the new poster without the orange/warm wash on it... we're playing with both looks for different uses.

-Blake

I've had very little time to blog lately. Between finishing the color correction (it's done), the sound mix (it's done), and working on NEW artwork (again) for the movie - I've been busy as all get out. Not to mention I was in Vegas on a corporate shoot early last week, and then back in Dallas later in the week directing a TV spot for an alarm company... it's been crazy!

But, things are looking good on the "Killing Down" front. As I've said many times, it's taken A LOT longer than planned, but it's almost done and will be worth the wait.

Here's a mock-up of the "new and improved" artwork:


This will be the front of the one-sheet that will help sell the movie to potential distributors. Hope to find a good foriegn sales agent in the next two weeks or less to rep the film at AFM.

Keep your fingers crossed.

Working with producer's rep and attorney Mark Litwak again. So, we'll see what offers come our way.

Stay tuned...

-Blake

I didn't realize the hard drive was 50 years old. Pretty wild if you think about it. I found an interesting article on Yahoo! about it, from the article...

"In 1956, the first hard drive was two refrigerators wide and stored the equivalent of one MP3 song."

"Today, on 2.5-inch platters we have 15,000 times the capacity of the original IBM RAMAC... the advancement is startling when compared to the pace of other industries: In the auto industry, to keep that same pace, they'd have gone from fitting five people in the car in 1956, to fitting 160,000 people in that car; or, from getting 25 miles per gallon to 62,500 miles per gallon."

So how do you ask does this matter to filmmaking or distribution? It's probably one of the single most important things there is (besides a good movie!).

- Right now movies are being shot on cameras that record to hard drives - NO film or tape
- Virtually every movie is edited on a computer using tons of hard drive space - even if it was shot on film - that film is scanned into computers
- One of the hottest sites on the Internet is YouTube - a place where video clips, short films, etc. are stored on hard drives for the masses to watch (a.k.a. distribution albeit for free)
- And of course the future of feature film distribution (Hollywood and indie alike) is directly linked to digital downloading of movies to computer hard drives

So you see? Hard drives and technology go hand-in-hand with filmmaking and distribution.

I've talked before about how being a filmmaker today it is really beneficial to be technically-minded as well as creative. The best folks in my opinion are both!

Click here to read the entire article.

-Blake

This is interesting to me (being from Dallas)... not sure if it's good or bad? I'd say probably good, but there are just SO MANY film festivals these days that they all get a bit watered down. Are any of them really that important?

I mean, stats show only one in ten "Sundance" films even get distribution...

(CBS 11 News) DALLAS CBS 11 News has learned the City of Dallas has landed a major international film festival. After a year of negotiations, the American Film Institute has signed on to help run the festival.

For years Dallas has been home to several small film festivals. The city however has lacked a major international event; the type to draw world-wide attention… starting in the spring of 2007 that may change.

Cities such as Park City, Utah, Toronto and Austin have greatly benefited from high-profile film festivals. Now the City of Dallas is hoping to join that elite group with a new international film festival.CBS 11 News has learned that the Dallas Film Society has signed a deal with the American Film Institute or AFI.

According to the three-year agreement obtained by CBS 11 News AFI will provide use of its name and will help run the festival. In return, AFI will be paid $836,000.

The event will be called the Dallas/AFI International Film Festival and is scheduled to run in the spring of each year, beginning in 2007.

Although organizers declined to comment, an office for the AFI festival is already up and running in the ‘W’ building. Sources say the W Hotel will be a major sponsor.

Films are likely to be screened at the Magnolia, the Angelika and the Inwood Theaters, to name a few.

The new agreement will likely have an affect on other Dallas film festivals. While the Deep Ellum Film Festival will likely to go away, organizers from there will help run the new festival. As for the USA Film Festival, the director tells CBS 11 News that event is, “here to stay."

Bart Weiss is director of the Dallas Video Festival. He fears the new festival will be one where style wins over substance.

“It's a big festival. We’re afraid it is going to do a poor job and go out of business... and because they go out of business, it will make it difficult for all of us ‘mom and pop’ shops to keep doing what we do well, because we'll have this black mark on us."

Sources say the goal is to make the Dallas-AFI event a top 20 festival by drawing thousands of film fans, ‘a-list’ movie stars, and millions of dollars to the city.

The proposed budget for the new festival is roughly 2.3 million dollars for a 10-day event, with the money likely coming from corporate sponsorship.

Again, I do think this is good news for Dallas and film in general, but I'm just hesitant on the idea of another film festival. I think they grow on trees.

-Blake

"Killing Down" is almost ready to be screened for potential buyers. We're working feverishly to ready it for the American Film Market (AFM) in November - actually we're working feverishly to ready it to screen for foriegn sales agents that will then rep it at AFM.

What that means though is we don't have much time.

Today is September 2nd and the market is only two months away. Most buyers want their films 30 days out from the event. So, that means we have roughly 30 days to finish the film, finalize our new artwork for the one-sheet, set up a screening and/or send out DVD screeners, and make a deal. That's a lot, but it can be done and I am confident we can make it happen.

If you are a buyer interested in the rights to the film please send an email to info@loudpictures.com and we can arrange a screener.

Otherwise please contact our Producer's Rep:

Mark Litwak
433 N. Camden Drive, Suite 1010
Beverly Hills, CA 90210
310-859-9595
Law2@marklitwak.com

We will be having an LA "industry" screening too - not sure of the date yet though. We're making arrangements for this and will post information soon.

-Blake

A lot going on at Netflix for the indie filmmaker and distribution...

Businessweek Article

Hollywood Reporter

Deepstructure Blog

From Deepstructure...

listen to ted sarandos, netflix's chief content officer in charge of all dvd purchases and overseer of an $100 million annual budget:

"eventually we'll be coming to sundance and saying, 'we can buy everything.' there's a deal for every film."

damn. that's quite a statement. but it gets better. netflix ceo, reed hastings wants to take things one step further:

...(hastings) also outlines a scenario that outstrips sarandos' lofty vision of acquiring every picture that plays at sundance. "about 3000 films are submitted; only 100 or so get in," hastings says. ultimately, netflix wants to be able to pick and choose from the 3000 submissions, he explains, and maybe even allow moviemakers to circumvent the festivals altogether.

I guess I'll have to at least enter Sundance then. :)

-Blake

First, we continue to make good progress on the finishing touches for "Killing Down".

This past weekend we got the sound mixed up to just over the 1 hour mark. Not bad. We've got roughly 45 minutes of the movie left to go. And, on the color correction side of things - we have set looks for just about every major scene. Now, we have to go in and cut and paste the looks throughout the film and then tweak the individual shots as needed. I'd say we're roughly half-way done with this.

So, if all goes well I hope to have everything done in about 3 weeks.

On to other things...

I was reading on the CinemaTech blog today several interesting stories about Hollywood: It's future with digital distribution, DVDs and the "star system" (some of the Tom Cruise/Paramount deal aftermath).

Here's a link to the digital distro and DVD story.

The digital distribution stuff is exciting for indies, but I don't think we're really close yet for it to be a viable (or successful) means of distributing content - except for only the most tech geek among us - and I'm talking feature films here by the way.

Why? Well, a lot of reasons. Mainly bandwidth, but also DRM (digital rights management or copyright issues), storage space, and cost. To download a DVD quality version of a movie is going to be around 4 gigs (or so) of data. Even with the fastest connections that going to be an overnight download. And then you have to have the space to store the files. Your averge joe consumer does not have a terabyte's worth of storge like I do. Then the costs are actually fairly expensive - especially when you consider if you bought (or rented) a DVD you'd get all the extras - and most digital downloads I've seen are just the movie. And the last thing for me is who really wants to spend two hours watching a movie on your computer? Unless you're traveling or commuting, this is not the best way.

So until you can download an HD quality (or even DVD quality) movie from the web and then play it on your expensive flat screen TV, digital downloads of feature films won't take off.

Am I saying I'm against digital downloading of movies? Heck no. I'm actually a huge proponent of it. But, I just don't think it will be a "normal" way of renting or buying a movie for several years to come - if not longer. I hope I'm wrong, but I don't think so.

Now on to the "star system" in Hollywood...

It's long been known (and assumed) that a star helps a movie out financially. I don't argue that point. As a matter of fact, I completely agree with it. In my own recent film I purposely sought several regonizable actors just for this reason (among others of course - like they were right for the part).

But there is a very interesting article in the NY Times contradicting the idea of the "star system" - and I must say a lot of it makes sense...

Hollywood, where the star system was invented, is not wholly dependent on celebrities: the list of biggest-grossing movies in history is dominated by movies like “Shrek 2,” “ET: The Extra-Terrestrial” and the “Star Wars” series, which were not star-driven. But the industry still places an enormous importance on superstar power based on a straightforward fact: On average, movies that have big names starring in them make more money at the box office than movies that do not.

“Movies with stars are successful not because of the star, but because the star chooses projects that people tend to like,” said Arthur S. De Vany, a professor emeritus of economics at the University of California, Irvine, who has written extensively about the economics of moviemaking. “It’s a movie that makes a star.”

In other words, while a person will go to a Bruce Springsteen concert because the artist is, indeed, Bruce Springsteen, the success of “The Matrix” had to do with many things other than its star, Keanu Reeves.

“Movie industry executives keep this perception that stardom is a formula for success, but they don’t measure it,” Mr. Eliashberg said. “They resist using analytical methods for all sorts of reasons, from being uncomfortable with numbers to the argument that this is a creative industry and not a business.”

Mr. De Vany and other economists point out that many factors contribute to the success of a movie — like a big budget, having a G or PG rating, opening on a large number of screens and whether it is a sequel, among others.

“Stars help to launch a film. They are meant as signals to create a big opening,” he said. “But they can’t make a film have legs.”

Mr. Ravid, the Rutgers professor, suggests that stars serve as insurance for executives who fear they could be fired for green-lighting a flop. “If they hire Julia Roberts and the film flops, they can say ‘Well, who knew?’ ” said Mr. Ravid.

I really like the line, “It’s a movie that makes a star.” I think that is right - but only for their first big hit. After that, they are the star. Especially if you're a Tom Cruise or George Clooney who basically plays themself in every movie.

In the end, I do honestly believe the story is the movie no matter who is in it. But, the thing is, how many times has someone ask you about a movie that you maybe hadn't heard of and the first thing you say is, "Who's in it?" That statement alone says more than I can about movie stars and their impact on the success of a movie.

Oh, last but not least, there's a nice little article in of all things Popular Mechanics about what Hollywood shoud fear most...

The entertainment industry's real threat isn't piracy, it's backyard Spielbergs armed with digital moviemaking gear.

Again, it's a descent article, but to me the main thing Hollywood should fear is the immense variety of (homemade) digital videos on the web from places like You Tube that are cheap entertainment sources and are distractions (and competition) to spending money and time at the movies.

I really don't necessarily think that Hollywood should be or is afraid of everyone who can buy a camcorder and some cheap editing gear. I mean, should Eric Clapton be afraid of everyone who buys a guitar?

-Blake

Just found a Yahoo News story about Warner Bros. starting a new division called Warner Premiere that will produce 15 or so movies a year that are Direct-to-DVD instead of for the theatrical market. Sounds interesting that a big player would do this. I mean, this is what everyone else ends up having to do in most cases - we don't necessarily set out to only be on DVD. Funny too, for some reason "Direct-to-DVD" sounds better than just "Direct-to-Video"? Kind of like saying "pre-owned" versus "used" for car sales...

Anyway, here's the scoop...

---------------------------------------------

LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Warner Bros. film studio on Monday unveiled a new division to make and distribute movies directly to DVD consumers - a first for the company - and it put a veteran marketing executive in charge of the group.

The new division, called Warner Premiere, annually will produce up to 15 original titles made by well-known filmmakers, starring recognized actors and, in some cases, based on earlier feature films that played in movie houses.

Warner Premiere's first title, for instance, will be "Dukes of Hazzard II," a sequel to last year's film "Dukes of Hazzard" that was a moderate success at box offices. It is expected to be released in Spring 2007, Warner Bros. said in a statement.

Diane Nelson, who previously served as executive vice president of global brand management, has been named president of Warner Premiere. Warner Bros. is a unit of Time Warner Inc.

Other Hollywood film studios, particularly The Walt Disney Co., have built strong businesses making original content for direct-to-video and DVD markets.

In the past, Warner Bros. home entertainment division had released original movies based on animated content such as its Looney Tunes cartoon characters.

The establishment of Warner Premiere marks the first time it has created a new division solely for original, direct-to-DVD production and distribution.

Warner Bros. said select titles from the new group may be distributed to movie theaters and possibly online.

--------------------------------------------

Here's a link to the original story if you'd like to read it there.

-Blake

As I'm finishing "Killing Down" I'm also beginning to develop my next project. I've made minor mentions of this in previous post, but now things are starting to move forward.

The project is a biopic on a famous Texas family (of which we've secured a Life Story option). Can't give away any details just yet, but we are starting the interview process this weekend and from that we will write the script. Tentative plan is to have script finished by the New Year (or shortly thereafter) and shoot in the late spring (2007). Things have a tendency to change though (note the time it's taken to finish "Killing Down") - but we are making good progess.

I actually have another script I'd like to direct too - and it's already written. We'll see what I end up doing first. And, I'm also producing a film for a director friend of mine, so there's a lot going on.

Of course finishing the current film is my top priority now and we're closing in on that...

-Blake

Barry Green from DVXuser.com has a really interesting rant about current and future distribution trends for Hollywood and indies alike...

So, indies dream of the day that theaters will be equipped with digital projectors, when satellites will be beaming content directly to the theaters, and when ticket buyers will be lined up around the block to see their latest opus. Ain't gonna happen. Can't happen. You wouldn't go to the theater now to see a film you haven't heard of, would you? I mean, maybe on a lark a small percentage of you would, but the public in general? No way.

Very, very true. Distribution as a whole is tough even with a movie star.

Click here to read entire article.

-Blake

Interesting article from the NY Times about problems in Hollywood - but it's more than that - it's problems in moviemaking and marketing period, including indies.

I've copied the entire article here for ease of reading...

--------------------------------------------------

Caught on Film: A Growing Unease in Hollywood

By LAURA M. HOLSON

LOS ANGELES, Aug. 18 — For many here, Stacey Snider was the Hollywood executive who had it all. As chairwoman of Universal Pictures, she hobnobbed with celebrities at the Academy Awards. She was feted at charity events as well as in the fashion pages of Vogue. But after General Electric acquired Universal Pictures in 2004, the bright lights lost their brilliance.

Films like the Peter Jackson “King Kong” were considered disappointments, despite bringing in $547 million at the worldwide box office. And like many of her industry peers facing similar oversight, she regarded the scrutiny of the studio’s quarterly returns as, at times, oppressive. So much so that Ms. Snider quit her job in February to become chief executive of DreamWorks, now a division of Paramount Pictures, to work with the director Steven Spielberg on far fewer projects.

“It’s not like I view this as a private, artistic enterprise,” Ms. Snider, 45, said in a recent telephone interview. Still, she said: “I certainly felt the pressure. I felt the uncertainty. It galvanized the angst. We went from making movies to making product and content. I didn’t want to make franchises. I wanted to make movies.”

Hers is a common refrain in Hollywood these days. Despite a domestic box-office surge after years of declining attendance, 2006 is shaping up to be a time of Hollywood discontent. Studio executives have waged war on actor salaries, as high-profile projects with stars like Jim Carrey have been put off. Movie production deals, like the one Tom Cruise has at Paramount, are being renegotiated. Studios are also making fewer big-budget movies.

But while Hollywood has undergone periodic shifts like this before, many people here agree that there is something different this time, a permanence to Hollywood’s new austerity plan. Executives are facing too many unknowns, among them, changing moviegoer habits, rising costs and the threat of piracy.

“In this Wall Street and corporate world, the discussion has become: What is the proven, unique selling property of this product?” said Warren Beatty, the actor, who is upbeat about the industry’s prospects.

But he, too, agreed the industry was in transition. “The problem is you can’t sell entertainment the way you sell cars or air-conditioners,’’ he said. “Entertainment is dependent, to some extent, on surprise.”

The concern so far seems largely psychological, although many here predict dark days ahead. Movie-making is no longer a growth business, and has lost its luster among investors. Even the most well-run large movie studios often return only 5 percent to 7 percent annually. And other forms of entertainment — the Internet, sports and video games — are fiercely competing for consumers’ attention.

“When you hear what people are afraid of, it’s that movies are not special anymore,” said Terry Press, who runs worldwide marketing at DreamWorks Animation. “It’s the single issue no one wants to think about or say out loud.”

The tipping point, many here agree, was Walt Disney’s announcement last month that it would eliminate 650 jobs in its movie division, fire its production chief and sharply reduce the number of films it makes to a dozen or so a year from as many as 20.

What’s more, the company said it would focus mostly on Disney-branded films like the popular “Pirates of the Caribbean” franchise, which it can exploit across all divisions.

“Where Disney may have sent ripples, it begged the question, Who knows what others will do?” said Leonard Goldberg, the movie producer and former business partner of Aaron Spelling who was known for television shows like “Charlie’s Angels” and “Fantasy Island.”

Slow-growing movie studios are wilting under Wall Street’s demands to deliver a box-office hit like the “X-Men” series or “Pirates” every time out. Executives say the decline in DVD sales, which began in early 2005, is taking a toll on budgets. And to complicate matters, studios have not figured out a money-making digital strategy to deflect piracy while, at the same time, appeasing fickle consumers who want movies online.

“Stress is a function of fear,” said Alan F. Horn, who has been in the movie business three decades and is president of Warner Brothers. While he says he is optimistic about the future, he conceded that running a studio “has never been tougher.”

Warner has had one of its worst summers in years, with disappointments like “Lady in the Water” by M. Night Shyamalan, the big-budget remake of “The Poseidon Adventure” and the animated “Ant Bully.” But even profitable Warner movies are cause for anxiety because Hollywood is quick to label anything a loser that does not meet prerelease expectations.

For example, “Superman Returns” by Warner cost $209 million to make and Mr. Horn predicted it would garner $400 million at the worldwide box office (a respectable sum), which he said ensured a profit after DVD and television sales. But many in Hollywood expected it to bring in at least $500 million given Superman’s popularity and the publicity around the movie’s release. Mr. Horn said, “People are asking, ‘Are you disappointed?’ I don’t know how to relate to that. I don’t know what to say.”

There are few economic indicators that reflect Hollywood’s apparent unease. Art dealers who cater to studio executives, actors and producers said buying had not slowed. Nor have sales of homes that cost $5 million to $10 million, several real estate agents said. And despite layoffs at all the major studios, the number of film and television production jobs has increased.

In the first six months of 2006, 130,000 people were employed in entertainment in Los Angeles, compared with 127,200 in 2005, according to the Los Angeles Economic Development Corporation. That growth is being fueled largely by an explosion in independent film production. Jack Kyser, the group’s chief economist, said 23 of the 30 films being made here in mid-August were from independent production companies.

But those statistics reflect only part of the story.

Robert Shaye, the founder of New Line Cinema, a division of Time Warner that will celebrate its 40th anniversary next year, said a fundamental driver of Hollywood’s unease was the high cost of making and marketing films. (The average in 2005 was $96 million.) Investment funds have poured money into movies, reducing the sting of studio cost-cutting. But investment funds are not immune to losses, either. A newcomer, Legendary Pictures, invested in “Lady in The Water” and “The Ant Bully,” Studios are also under attack from digital pirates who distribute illegal copies online. As a result of the piracy, studio executives can no longer depend on waves of re-releases for steady income. “Once it’s out there, it’s out there,” Mr. Shaye said.

With digital pirates and the pressure from Wall Street to produce predictable profits, the dialogue about what movies are made and marketed was bound to change.

If there is fear among some in Hollywood that brand managers are taking over, it is because two studios recently filled top creative jobs with executives whose expertise is movie marketing. At Disney, Nina Jacobson, the well-respected president of production, was fired and succeeded by Oren Aviv, the marketing chief. Ms. Snider, who joined DreamWorks, was succeeded in March by two executives, including Universal’s top movie marketer, Marc Shmuger.

Tom Staggs, Disney’s chief financial officer, argues that the concerns are unfounded. “The suits aren’t running the studio,” he said. “I think Hollywood has to constantly challenge itself to remain relevant.” Still, he added: “If we let it become a cookie-cutter, brand-flapping exercise, it is not going to work. We have to focus on the creative side.”

Some promising young executives are seeking to pursue creativity outside the studio. Last year, Mary Parent, 39, and Scott Stuber, 37, set in motion an option in their contract that allowed them to quit their jobs as presidents of production at Universal Pictures to become producers. Both said they did not leave the studio because they were unhappy; their producing deal is at Universal. Instead, they wanted the opportunity to flex their creative might before they got too old or started families.

“It reaches a point where it is hard to enjoy it,” said Ms. Parent, reflecting on being a studio executive. “Just the sheer volume of meetings between phone calls. You are trying to cut through the tide. It was grueling. You were at a test screening every night until midnight; you have scripts to read. You don’t want to be that person just scratching the surface.”

Of course, being a producer, particularly a new one, is no less demanding. In the last year, Ms. Parent has made five weeklong trips to New Zealand where she is a producer for the film “Halo.” Mr. Stuber has spent much of the summer in Arizona on the set of “The Kingdom,” where temperatures have spiked to as much as 110 degrees. “It’s not like it’s less busy,” Mr. Stuber said. “But you get to spend three hours in an editing room if you want to. You can’t lose sight of the fact that the job is to entertain.”

Whatever the challenges ahead, Mr. Goldberg, the producer, said Hollywood would adapt as it did when silent movies became talkies, and three decades ago, when the VCR was perceived as a threat.

He had no sympathy for those who do nothing but complain. “Let them get a real job,” he said. “They get paid a lot. They go to great parties. They fly around in jets, not only for business reasons, but for personal things, too. I think there are worse jobs to have.”

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I've said this before... why do I want to work in this business?

-Blake

It's Sunday night. I spent this weekend focused on finishing "Killing Down" (of course I've spent the last 8 months trying to do this too). :)

Saturday we did the final mix on the first 30 minutes of the movie. It sounds reallly, really good (thanks Roy!). We plan on hopefully mixing another night this week and then again next Saturday as well.

Today I worked on the color correction. We got about 6 hours worth of time in on the DaVinci 2K. We're having to work on weekends and off hours since our budget is a fraction of what they normally charge for an HD tape-to-tape gig like this. It's all good though. We're making great progess and the movie is looking excellent (thanks Peggy!). It's amazing what high-end color correction can do for a film. This is of course taken for granted on a Hollywood production or a larger scale indie - but I'd wager the vast majority of smaller indies simply "color correct" in the Avid or Final Cut Pro. Sure, you can even things out and shift some colors around - but you can not come close to what you can do in a true color correction suite. It just makes a film drip with production value, which is a very, very good thing.

I have to admit that I am kind of frustrated at the time everything has taken. Of course a lot of this has been out of my control - as they say, "beggars can't be choosers" and since I'm getting several deals on the work being done it's hard to demand things speed up...

I know I've said this before, but I really hope we can have this thing wrapped up by the first week in September. Believe me, I'm ready.

-Blake

A great actor Bruno Kirby died 3 days ago. Not sure how widely reported this was... but he was one of my favorite character actors with great roles as Billy Crystal's best friend in "When Harry Met Sally" and "City Slickers". He also played a gangster in "The Godfather II", had a very funny role in "This Is Spinal Tap", among many other great performances (including a recent stint on the current HBO hit "Entourage").

I highly suggest going back and watching "City Slickers" and "This Is Spinal Tap". These were both great roles and he created very interesting characters. You might be saying to yourself, "I don't really remember him in "Spinal Tap"? And if you do recall him, you're thinking he was only in the film for a few minutes? All I can say is watch the extras on the DVD. He plays the limo driver that picks up the group at the airport with a sign that says "Spinal Pap". But on the DVD extras his characeter goes up and parties with them in the hotel. It's some funny, funny stuff.

Anyway, it's sad news to report, but I'm glad he gave us many great performances to remember him by.

-Blake

Started the new-new final-final color correction today on "Killing Down". Things are going pretty smoothly so far... got a lot done today (and will continue this week).

Only issue was the color correction box is having a problem reading the EDL. For some reason it has offset things by 3 frames and is adding random edit points for dissolves, etc. This is not a major thing thank goodness, although we do want the EDL to work properly in the end.

We were able to set up various looks and save them, but many of the in and out points are off - of course they can be inserted by hand if need be, but that is a lot of work - especially on a film that has around 1500 edits! One of the engineers is supposed to take a look at the list tomorrow and hopefully get this matter resolved. If not, I may need to export a new EDL.

A side note... as I'm finishing this movie I'm working on my next projects as well. I have several things in development and I'm trying to decide what to do next. I'm likely going to embark on a biopic that I recently acquired the Life Story rights to - but there is no script yet for this, so it will be a little while. I do have a dark comedy heist film script ready to go and I'm considering shooting this first, but again, I'm just not sure. And, I actually have a short film I'd like to do - yep, a short film. I've had this idea for a while and have been considering pursuing it. Of course there's no real market for shorts (from a financial point of view), but I like to keep the creative juices flowing.

So a lot going on. But priority numero uno right now is FINISHING "KILLING DOWN". :)

-Blake

This Sunday we're starting up with our new Plan B color correction for "Killing Down" at Video Post & Transfer. I can't wait to get going on this... and get finished!

Time is ticking away and due to issues out of my control the final completed movie is taking a lot longer than hoped. In the end though we should have a really kick-ass looking movie. :)

I'll update the progress as it happens...

-Blake

A fellow Texas filmmaker Jon Keeyes is directing a new film in North Carolina (starring Dominique Swain) and he's doing a great job documenting his experience via his blog. I highly suggest reading it.

The new film is going back to the genre that got him started... horror. I think he has a really good grasp of that genre and I look forward to seeing the end result. I also look forward to seeing his last film "Living & Dying" (and action/thriller starring Michael Madsen and Edward Furlong) which is supposed to be released either late this year or early next here in the States.

It's great to see a good guy like Jon have success - and it's also great to see a TEXAS filmmaker have success. :) Anyway, definitely check out his blog.

-Blake

To be successful as an indie filmmaker I believe you need to be both a creative person and a technically-minded one.

Can you be successful without knowing the technical side of things? Sure. Are you limiting yourself to being very dependent on others if you don't understand this stuff? Absolutely.

This is one reason I really like Robert Rodriguez. He has honed both his creative abilities and his technical filmmaking craft to very high levels (like his films or not).

Now understand of course, I'm not saying you should not collaborate with others who have expertise in certain areas. I absolutely think you should. Ever heard "jack of all trades, but master of none"? What I am saying is you should have at minimum a good understanding of all the technical aspects of making a film.

What format do you want to shoot on? 35mm? HDCAM? DVCPRO HD? HDV? DV? Do you know the strengths and weaknesses of each? How are you going to edit? Avid? Final Cut Pro? Adobe Premiere? Do you have an understanding of how non-linear editing works? How are you planning to distribute your final movie? A film print? An HD master? DVD? HD-DVD? Blu-Ray? What is the best solution for you and ultimately your audience?

These are really pretty general questions. Again, I'm not saying every filmmaker needs to understand the engineering aspects of high-def tape stock or an Avid editing system. I'm just saying please, please, please do some research and get a good general understanding of the process and how it will affect your project.

I consider myself to be a very technically-minded person (and pretty creative too). But notwithstanding, I have had some recent technical problems with the final color correction on "Killing Down". So it can and will happen to everyone - just try and prepare yourself the best you can. I personally read just about every industry magazine out there like Post Magazine, Millimeter, DV Magazine, High Def, Filmmaker, Indie Slate, Videography, etc - and I constantly read industry blogs like HDforIndies, DV Guru and many, many others.

These days technology changes extremely fast and so it's a good idea to stay on top of it. Just today I read a great story from Mike Curtis at HDforIndies about the first footage he's seen (or really anyone has seen) from the new RED Camera. This camera - if it even comes close to its proposed specs - will likely revolutionize ALL filmmaking (from Hollywood to indies and everything in between). Of course this phrase has been said a lot in the last few years, but again, technology has changed a lot too (and actually filmmaking has been revolutionized many times).

As for the new "Plan B" color correction on "Killing Down"... we're doing a very high-end HD tape-to-tape grading on a DaVinci system. So yesterday I had to output the movie from the Avid DS Nitris to D5-HD tape. The post house did not have a D5 machine so we had to rent it and get it shipped from LA. Supposedly there are over 400 D5-HD machines in LA - but there is only one in Dallas and it's at Video Post (where I'm doing the color correction). This was very costly, and I'll have to do it again after the correction to put it back into the Avid DS for subtitling, effects and final credits, etc. I normally don't discuss costs in too much detail, but I feel it's good for other indies to know how expensive this stuff is. The Panasonic D5-HD deck rents for $1700/day. Luckily the post house I'm using gets a discount, so with shipping it was $1400 to rent. Yep, that's a lot of money. Not to mention that the D5 tape stock - the 124 minute length - cost $291 for each tape. I bought two. One to output from the DS and one to color correct to. Again, not cheap.

So why D5-HD? I could have easily scored an HDCAM deck (maybe even gotten it for free as a favor), but I wanted the higher quality format. Here's where some of that technical mumbo jumbo comes in handy...

D5-HD is an uncompressed 10bit format with a 4:2:2 color space. HDCAM is a compressed 8 bit format with a 3:1:1 color space. My online edit in the Avid DS was uncompressed 10 bit 4:2:2, so I did not want to output to HDCAM. D5 was the best choice to retain the quality throughout. And, Video Post has a D5 machine.

So yes, it did cost me more, but in the end I will have a better master format and my technical know how helped me arrive to this conclusion (with the help of several other's input).

Of course now the business-minded side of my brain is saying "what the hell did you just spend that money for?".

But I'm an indie filmmaker, so I don't have any business sense. ;)

-Blake

If you read my previous post you know we've had an issue with the color correction. We no longer are working with the company in Austin to complete the work. It's a long story, but suffice it to say it didn't work out.

So I have to THANK the great folks at Video Post & Transfer in Dallas, Texas (specifically Peggy) for coming through for me in the 11th hour here. I've used VP&T for all my past color correction work, but wanted to try a new method using a "desktop D.I." - which by the way is the wave of the future - but unfortunately we had issues with the process and the company we tried to use. VP&T is actually getting a Resolve D.I. suite later this year (the super high-end DaVinci version). But, we're going to do an HD tape-to-tape grading which is the best choice for us right now.

Besides this good news, we are days away from doing our final sound mix - and man does it sound great. I have to thank the guys at Dallas Audio Post for all their hard work and dedication to the project. They have gone above and beyond and it will definitely show in the final movie.

-Blake