The new film incentives have passed and are now in play...
http://governor.state.tx.us/film/incentives/miiip/
Coolest thing is the minimum qualifications for features is now only $250k... that's going to bring a lot of indie projects into the mix!
-Blake
Interesting story from of all places the BBC...
Hollywood is being snubbed by its own creative talent. There is something of a stampede by the entertainment industry to get out of town.
Long before the global economic downturn kicked in, film-makers were upping sticks and leaving Los Angeles for more cost-effective locations to shoot their movies.
Canada was one of the first countries to benefit from Hollywood's so-called runaway productions, but now the competition is closer to home.
More than 40 US states are offering film-makers tantalising financial incentives, such as rebates and tax-free loans, to make the next blockbuster in their backyard.
This year, only five major movies, defined as having a budget of $75m (£51m) or more, are being produced in Los Angeles. The figure compares with 21 films last year and 71 in 1996.
Read full story
Being based in Texas I find this to be good news for us since we have some incentive programs, although they are not near as good as New Mexico, Louisiana, or Michigan. But, we're headed in the right direction.
-Blake
PINK is an Official Honoree at the 13th Annual Webby Awards!
Check it out
Speaking for the cast & crew we're well, honored, to be honored out of so many entries (thousands I'm told). Be sure to check out the other Honorees and Nominees too.
Thanks!
Blake
DIY distribution was the big buzz several years ago, and while it's still a good topic to discuss (or try as an indie filmmaker) it hasn't been talked up much recently. So when I found this article I was reminded of the many alternative ways to distribute indie content...
http://www.studiodaily.com/main/work/10321.html
It's one of the better reads on the subject that I've seen. Mainly because it has real world filmmakers' stories and then really good resources to offer to other indie producers.
Two of the better resources are:
1. Film Specific (http://www.filmspecific.com/)
2. Brave New Theaters (http://www.bravenewtheaters.com/)
Check it out!
-Blake
I don't typically post too many of my corporate or commercial projects, but this one is different. Did a job for True Value Hardware and Habitat for Humanity down in the 9th Ward of New Orleans...
(video image is cropped within this blog page, but if you're on FB you can see it in it's correct widescreen form)
What a great cause!
-Blake
Have you watched my other web series? No not "Pink", but the completely improvised web comedy "88 Hits" starring current and former members of the improv comedy troupe Four Day Weekend. A NEW episode is out today!
-Blake
After I won the Streamy Award they grabbed me backstage to do a 12 second interview for www.12seconds.tv. It's kind of like Twitter for video. You only have 12 seconds. So anyway, here's my moment in the limelight and I went over my 12 second limit as you'll see. :)
http://12seconds.tv/find/blake+calhoun
And here's a link to ALL the winners and their 12 seconds (including Natalie Raitano):
http://12seconds.tv/channel/streamyawards
-Blake
PINK star Natalie Raitano gets a tattoo in this episode of "California Kickin":
Click here to watch video in proper aspect ratio
-Blake
I was very fortunate and honored to win the Streamy Award last night for Best Direction in a Dramatic Web Series for PINK!
A good friend to the show (and Nataile) posted a video on YouTube that was recorded off his computer from the live stream...
For more info visit www.streamys.org.
Thank you to all the fans who watch and support the show!!!
-Blake
I was interviewed for a cool new podcast called the "Texas Film Scene" from Curtis Wayne. You can subscribe on iTunes or just download the individual episode (#6)
iTunes Link
Check it out!
Blake
The numbers are in, and the winner is...
YouTube, of course.
But, Hulu is now #2 and making great strides - and actually has a good chance of becoming more financially successful in the long run (YouTube doesn't make money...yet).
YouTube had 5.1 billion streams in February (yes, billion with a "b"), and Hulu had 308.8 million.
Advertisers seem to be much more inclined to work with Hulu because of their content, not their numbers. Professionally produced TV shows and movies, along with short form series (like "Pink") are what set them apart.
Read entire Cable/FAX story here.
-Blake
Check out this teaser for the upcoming film "Midgets vs. Mascots" starring none other than Gary Coleman. I know the producers of the film (from Dallas). Although I'll withhold their names to protect the guilty... :)
Teaser is surprisingly funny. It's like "Borat" meets "Jackass".
-Blake
Descent "first look" at the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II camera that shoots both stills and 1080p HD video...
http://www.dv.com/article/80232
I'm very interested in this move towards DSLR cameras and HD video (the way we shot "Pink" and "Exposed" was with a 35mm adapter and SLR lenses on an HD camera, so this would be similar, but better). I will likely not buy this one though since right now it doesn't shoot 24p (only 30p). However, it will definitely have this option soon, maybe as a firmware update or in the next model.
It's really an amazing thing to be able shoot this high-end of a look for around $3000.
-Blake
Good piece on Angel of Death (see previous post to watch series)...
http://www.flamesrising.com/angel-of-death-web-series/
-Blake
Okay, okay, I'll join! You can now follow me (Loud Pictures) on Twitter...
http://twitter.com/loudpics
If you aren't on Twitter yet, just sign up. It's easy and pretty cool actually. I'll update the progress of all the various projects I'm involved with from web series to feature films. So check it out!
-Blake
"Pink" has been honored at the 1st Annual Streamy Awards by being nominated twice for two awards. First one is Best Directing in a Dramatic Web Series and the second one Best Cinematography in a Web Series.
This new event is being pushed as "The Oscars for the Internet". So, it's prett cool. Nominations came from the newly created International Academy of Web Television from over 100,000 submissions.
The ceremony will be held at the WGA Theater in Beverly Hills on March 28th. It will also be streamed live online (I'll let folks know where soon).
In the cinematography category we're up against JOSS WHEDON'S "DR. HORRIBLE"... that is some tough competition. Who knows how we'll do, but as they saying goes, it's just an honor to be nominated. :)
Here's a direct link to all the nominees:
http://www.streamys.org/nominees.shtml
-Blake
Just watch this:
From Crackle:
The days of "indie" web series are quickly coming to an end. This is really good stuff, but it's going to be very hard for lower-budget (and lower profile) web series producers to compete. This is a good and bad thing IMHO.
-Blake
Interesting site to check out for Movie Tax Incentives and Credits:
http://www.movietaxcredits.com/
Not only has recent news, but also list each state and what they offer. Nice resource.
-Blake
Good interview with my friend Jon Keeyes. He's a fellow Texas filmmaker. I'm actually mentioned a few times along with "Pink" and the upcoming show "Exposed" (which Jon worked on too).
Check out the podcast here with Curtis Wayne.
-Blake
Really GREAT Joss Whedon interview talking about monetizing content, new media (and TV & Film) and his experience with "Dr. Horrible"... A MUST READ.
Click here for article
-Blake
Careful with this one at work or around the kiddos. It's Rated R, but definitely check it out. Funny stuff!
-Blake
So far, I've produced all my projects in Texas (and some in Oklahoma). I'd really like to see our state step-up with the incentives to compete with neighboring states like Louisiana and New Mexico. We're losing lost of project to those folks...
-----------------------------------
AUSTIN, Texas - Texas lawmakers who pressed for state film incentives two years ago said they have filed new legislation intended to further entice movie, television and video game producers to bring their cast and crews to the state.
Their proposal would give Texas more flexibility to compete with other states than the current incentive program allows, said Rep. Dawnna Dukes, an Austin Democrat pushing the measure with Republican Sen. Bob Deuell of Greenville.
"Bring it back home, bring it back to Texas," Dukes said Tuesday, summing up the legislation after telling her House colleagues about it. She also introduced video game industry executives who were visiting the House chamber and offered a resolution declaring Tuesday "Entertainment Software Day."
Click here to read entire story at MSNBC.
-Blake
Generate is the company that produces and distributes my show "Pink", and they also manage Mike Maden and myself (as individuals and through our production company Alternative Fuel)...
They just inked a deal to develop and produce new scripted fare for 20th Century Fox Television. This is great news!
Read Variety article here and note a mention to a certain web series. :)
-Blake
Descent piece in the NY Times about TheWB.com and their approach to web video ("Exposed" is not mentioned in article though, but that's okay). Show's premiere date is still TBA...
Read article
-Blake
PINK is featured in the new February issue of Texas Monthly magazine. Article can be viewed online or on news stands (in Texas). Registration is required to read online, but it's quick and painless (and FREE).
However, if you'd prefer to just read the text I've copied it into this post (no photos, etc. here)...
------------------------------------------------------
February 2009
Bottoms Up
How Texans in Hollywood are overturning the traditional top-down content model.
by Christopher Kelly
Meet Natalie “Nate” Cross (Natalie Raitano), a tomboy by breeding (her father taught her to hunt animals when she would have much rather been playing with dolls) who’s now all grown up, with bee-stung lips, a yoga-rific body, a glow-in-the-dark-tattoo-covered back, and a reputation as one of the finest assassins around. In the Internet series Pink, co-created by the Dallas-based team of Blake Calhoun and Mike Maden, an incarcerated Nate strikes a Faustian bargain with the warden (Sheree J. Wilson): If she kills ten people on the warden’s mysterious hit list, freedom is hers. But that’s merely the beginning of a madly convoluted saga that leaps backward and forward in time to chronicle Nate’s tough-love childhood, her hopeful adolescence in foster care, her seemingly carefree college days, and her current plight, as a ruthless killing machine who would prefer to settle down and start a family of her own. The real marvel of Pink, however, is that such a surprisingly deft example of old-fashioned serial storytelling—a show whose multiple story lines and shifts from reality to fantasy could easily give Lost a run for its money—unfolds in three- and four-minute segments, to the sped-up, attention-deficient rhythms of the digital age, on the screen of your laptop or iPhone.
Welcome to the decidedly topsy-turvy entertainment industry circa 2009, in which film, TV, and media companies continue to wrestle with the same daunting questions: How do you adapt creative content to the Internet, with its community of users insistent upon controlling how that content is consumed and distributed? How will new talent be developed, when ad dollars and seed money are quickly migrating elsewhere? And, perhaps most essential, how do you make money on the Web, where just about everything is given away for free? For at least a handful of ambitious Texans, though, the answers to these questions aren’t necessarily dire. “The ultimate value resides in content,” says Jordan Levin, a University of Texas graduate and former CEO of the WB network who is the co-founder of Generate, a company that provided funding for the second and third seasons of Pink and has its hand in a number of similar Web serials (see “Spinning a Web”). “A lot of people were ascribing value to the technology. But at the end of the day, the technology is realized by content.”
Put it this way: We might very well have seen the last of big-budget, old-school Hollywood spectacles like Australia. If NBC’s recent decision to place Jay Leno on prime-time TV five evenings a week is any measure, hour-long dramas are probably also headed the way of the dinosaur. But efforts like Pink, or another Levin-produced project, Republicrats, suggest that classic storytelling isn’t dead just yet and that—more to the point—serious-minded artists will find a way to carry on, even as their tools continue to break down and reconstitute.
In the case of Calhoun, who has a second Web project, Exposed, premiering on WB.com this month, the filmmaker took a route that, certainly to those of us who spend our days evaluating the entertainment industry’s more conventionally developed product, sounds positively revolutionary. After writing and directing a number of low-budget features, he teamed up with Maden and conceived Pink. The script was written in May 2007; the first ten episodes were shot in July, in the Dallas—Fort Worth area, on high-definition digital video; the project was edited in August; and the first episode premiered on YouTube that September. (The show kicked off its third season in late January; in addition to WB.com, it can be viewed at hulu.com/pink-the-series and myspace
.com/pinktheseries).
But this breakneck process didn’t result in something that feels slapdash and incoherent. Quite the opposite, Pink displays a freewheeling pop urgency that’s informed by but not burdened by the traditions of graphic novels, comic books, and music videos. (Imagine Kill Bill with all the boring stretches siphoned out.) And whereas its frequent time shifts would probably come across on television as jarring and confusing, on the Internet, broken up into easily digested, cliffhanger-reliant segments, Pink proves marvelously supple.
Part of me thinks, of course, that online is no place to consume entertainment, even of the most lighthearted sort: Because my home DSL connection is unpredictable, I ended up viewing the first two seasons of Pink on my desktop computer at the office. Mostly, though, the possibilities here seem elastic. I watched a rough cut of Exposed on DVD in my living room, where the relatively linear story, about a young man (Chase Ryan Jeffrey) trying to keep a very dark secret from his girlfriend, played just fine. With minimal tweaks, the eighty minutes or so of material could easily be transformed into a feature film. Calhoun says he’s also busy developing “meta-verse” for Exposed: Facebook pages for his characters, say, or “behind-the-scenes” video footage that one of the characters in the show is frequently seen recording. The idea is that viewers might encounter the program via many different platforms and that fans can immerse themselves in Exposed’s fictional universe and help to expand the mythology of that world.
As for the (literal) million-dollar question—how can work that is viewed for free online ever be financially viable?—well, according to both Levin and Calhoun, it’s all about keeping production budgets low (the average episode of Pink costs a few thousand dollars, compared with a few million for an episode of a network show), drumming up advertiser and sponsor revenue and thinking across multiple platforms. A show like Pink, theoretically, could be packaged as a DVD or adapted into a graphic novel or spun off into a video game or—if the gods of entertainment truly decide to smile down upon Calhoun—remade into a large-scale Hollywood action movie. The ride will be bumpy, and the risks will be considerable (Calhoun says he still hasn’t earned back the money he spent on the first season of Pink, much less been able to turn a profit). And it’s only going to get harder and harder for Web-based artists to get noticed amid so much clutter (when Pink first started, there were only a handful of high-production-value Web shows; a year and a half later, there are dozens, and they just keep multiplying). But with the likes of Calhoun, Maden, and Levin in the mix, one can’t help but be hopeful that entertainment will still remain widely accessible, even to the technophobes, and that a little bit of humanity will remain as we throttle headlong into a brave new world.
Spinning a Web: What Jordan Levin is generating.
“In order to create a voice in the marketplace that has any resonance, it’s going to be difficult to do it in only one medium,” says Jordan Levin. In 2006 Levin co-founded Generate, a production, distribution, and talent management company that means to make inroads into TV, film, book publishing, and the Internet. Its most intriguing output thus far: Republicrats, a serial comedy that ran last fall on MSN.com about a former Fresno weatherman who decides to compete as a third-party candidate against Barack Obama and John McCain, and Chocolate News, a Comedy Central series that plays like a mash-up of The Daily Show and In Living Color, starring David Alan Grier. Both projects have their flaws (the creators seem to be amusing one another a lot more often than they amuse us), but they are also models of offbeat efforts aimed at niche audiences that—with a little bit of massaging and a whole lot of word of mouth—have the potential to go viral.
Christopher Kelly is the film critic for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Copyright © 1973-2009 Emmis Publishing LP dba Texas Monthly. All rights reserved.
---------------------------------------------
-Blake
You can also rent KILLING DOWN at any one of the Red Box DVD Rental installations outside Walgreens, Walmarts and other retailers...
RED BOX DVD RENTAL
Only $1/day. Nice to see in these tough economic times that everyone can afford to rent my movie. :)
-Blake
PINK 21: Speed Dating Kills 2
Click here to watch in HD!
Also, nice mention of premiere on Tubefilter. Check it out!
-Blake
I couldn't resist! I rented my movie last night at the Blockbuster near my house. And so I took a picture of the DVD box on the shelf. There's two slots right near some Big Time Movies like "Iron Man" and "Juno". Okay, yeah, so this is my first movie to get wider distribution and I'm kinda geeking out on it. C'mon, you would too, trust me. :)
My last feature film KILLING DOWN is now available in the U.S. and Canada on DVD.
You can buy or rent it starting Tuesday 1.06.09 at these places, and others:
Amazon
Blockbuster
Netflix
Best Buy
Walmart
I haven't even seen the final DVD with all the menus, commentary, extras, etc. so I'm really looking forward to checking it out - and I hope you are too! :)
-Blake
Watch this short video, then go to the PINK Website and enter for a chance to win a new HD camcorder...
Sweepstakes ends 1.11.09. Winner announced 1.13.09 (the day of the new Season 3 premiere). Tell your friends too!
Good luck!
Blake
Please watch this video and see previous post about voting:
If you go directly to YouTube to watch this you can actually now see it in HD:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L1gZMd8es88&feature=channel_page
Very cool.
-Blake
Let your voice be heard by helping us create a "Greatest Hits" show! Just watch the episodes below and then vote in the poll on the PINK blog. The Top 3 "hits" will be used to create the new "Greatest Hits" episode as voted on by you.
And check back soon to find out how to enter and win a cool prize during our upcoming "Fan Appreciation" Giveaway.
PINK 1: MUFN Hit
PINK 5: Wedding Hit
PINK 7: Bob Hit
PINK 10: Marko Hit
PINK 14: Dating Hit
Voting ends 12/18/08. Please go vote today! Thank you!
-Blake
If you visit YouTube often you might have noticed something new recently, the most popular video sharing site on the planet has (finally) gone widescreen 16x9 aspect ratio.
As all HD cameras shoot 16x9 this only makes sense. Also, most of the newer sites Out There such as Hulu.com or TheWB.com, etc are widescreen too. And even some of the ones that have been around a while like Blip.TV and Vimeo are widescreen (and this made them more popular with filmmakers and film fans).
YouTube still accepts 4x3 video - it just letterboxes it with side bars. This is what it's doing with all the legacy video on the site as well, including the entire first season of "Pink". Although we shot "Pink" Season 1 the exact same way as Season 2, we uploaded to YouTube and other places in a 4x3 letterboxed file (per their instructions at that time). So all those earlier episodes play back fine, but not full widescreen like the new content.
Here's a link to the most recent episode of "Pink" in widescreen:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdlpeCKmRbk&feature=channel
And here's the embed:
Notice the embeded video is still 4x3 letterboxed. It doesn't appear they allow widescreen embeds yet - or maybe they're using it to drive traffic to their site? A good idea if so.
Another cool thing is you can select the "Watch in High Quality" link on the bottom right below the video box (on YouTube only, not embedded video). It takes a tad bit longer to download, but the resolution looks twice as good. BTW, it is NOT HD though. It is downconverted to an SD resolution, but it still looks very good.
(To see "Pink" in HD the only current way is on Vuze.com. And we are also putting some sample HD episodes on Vimeo as well.)
In a small, weird way this is similar to re-watching your favorite movies in Blu-Ray. I just re-watched "Pink" Season 2 in widescreen (and in High Quality mode) on YouTube and it was a much better viewing experience (one note too: you can also click the "full screen" button and watch that way and it looks pretty darn good).
Sooner than later most online video will be 720p HD, but for now at least YouTube and other sites are taking steps to make the current viewing experience the best it can be.
UPDATE: Since I posted this you can now actually embed the widescreen videos. Here's the same episode above, but in widescreen (although this blog layout is narrow and slightly crops the right side off):
UPDATE #2: It now appears (12/11/08) that you CAN WATCH HD VIDEO on YouTube. Very interesting... this could really be BIG.
-Blake
I spoke on a panel at the Lonestar International Film Festival last weekend, and so did my friend Julio Cedillo - and he was kind enough to share a few pictures...
That's him on the far right, along with Lauren Vélez from "Dexter" and I'm not sure who the guy is - at the bottom is Kim Matula, star of "PINK" Season 2 and my upcoming show "Exposed".
Filmmakers out there likely know about Vimeo.com, but others may not. It's a really cool video sharing site that allows HD uploads - one of the only ones I know of with this feature (you can also embed the video files on other sites). The viewership on Vimeo seems to mainly be other like-minded filmmakers and artists, etc. - not necessarily "regular video joes", but they have around 1 million registered users I've been told (a fraction compared to YouTube). But nonetheless it is a great place to see creative works and get feeback on your own stuff.
I've held off putting PINK on there since we've been releasing our HD content through Vuze.com. But I've decided to go ahead and put a few episodes on Vimeo as "samples" of the series - and to showcase what can be done with the great filmmaking tools we're using (ie. Canon XH-A1 camera, Canon HV20 camera, Letus Extreme 35mm adapter, etc.).
You can check it out here:
http://vimeo.com/2271692?pg=transcoded_embed&sec=2271692
Or the show is also on the Vimeo HV20 page (thanks Eugenia):
http://vimeo.com/HV20
Again, it is in an HD Flash player, which is very cool. You can play it fullscreen or even embed it on your website, blog, etc. like this:
PINK 2: Daddy's Little Girl from Blake Calhoun on Vimeo.
-Blake
Check out the latest episode (and the mysterious person from Nate's past who appears this week)...
I've been asked to speak on a few panels at this year's event (I did it last year too and it was a good time). Also, they asked me to be a juror for their Short Film Competition, which I accepted. Here's a press release about the upcoming festival...
LSIFF ‘08 HAS ARRIVED!!!
Opening Night is just 5 days away!
ON SALE NOW: Tickets and Passes for ALL screenings!
TO PURCHASE CLICK HERE
Opening Night Screening
The Second Annual Lone Star International Film Festival will open on Wednesday, November 12 at 7:30pm with a red carpet screening of:
"Sunshine Cleaning"
Directed by Kristine Jeffs
Starring Amy Adams
(All principal cast)
Directed by Christine Jeffs, SUNSHINE CLEANING revolves around a single mom and her slacker sister as they find an unexpected way to turn their lives around. Rose Lorkowski (Amy Adams), a former high school cheerleading captain, finds herself, at thirty-something, a single mother working as a maid. Desperate to get her son into a better school, Rose persuades her sister Norah to go into the lucrative crime scene clean-up business with her. In no time, the girls are up to their elbows in murders, suicides and other…situations. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Sunshine Cleaning is a glittering tale of loss in which Adam’s gleaming lead performance and Christine Jeff’s astute attention to detail create a genuine world in which Megan Holley’s sincere and carefully paced story plays out.
Centerpiece Screenings
"Shades of Ray"
Directed by Jaffar Mahmood
Starring Zachary Levi, Kathy Baker, and Bonnie Somerville
Thursday, November 13 at 8:00pm
AMC Palace 2
American-born Ray Rehman comes home one night to find his Pakistani father on his L.A. doorstep; his Caucasian mother in NJ threw him out. Ray just proposed to his girlfriend—whose promised him an answer in a week and his traditionalist father insists that he meet a Sana, a Pakistani girl - just to consider – or he won’t begin talks to work things out with Ray’s mother. Sana turns out to be of mixed descent, like him, and marriage on his mind, questions about his identity and love come into question. Mahmood’s first feature is a charming mix of comedy and pathos, with a fantastic performance by lead Zachary Levi (TV’s Chuck).
"12"
Directed by Nikita Mikhalkov
Starring Sergei Makovetsky, Nikita Mikhalkov, Sergei Garmash, Alexei Petrenko
November 14 at 7:30pm
AMC Palace 2
In the war-torn republic of Chechnya , a room full of jurors divided by racism and prejudice must decide the fate of a Chechen teenager accused of murdering his Russian stepfather. Oscar-winning director Nikita Mikhalkov’s 12, a loose remake of Sidney Lumet’s 1957 film 12 Angry Men, corrals a racist taxi-driver, a suspicious doctor, a vacillating TV producer, a Holocaust survivor, a flamboyant musician, a cemetery manager, and other characters representative of modern day Russia’s fragmented society. Amidst volatile struggles, the group must render a unanimous verdict as the battle between Chechens and Russians flares outside and a stray bird, symbolizing tolerance, flies above the jurors' heads. 12, the 2008 Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Language film from Russia was nominated for the Golden Lion at the 2007 Venice Film Festival where Mikhalkov was awarded a special Golden Lion for his overall body of work. The film also took home the Audience Award at the 2008 Karlovy Vary film festival in the Czech Republic as well as a Golden Amvrosi at the Milano film festival. Mikhalkov received the 1994 Oscar for Best Foreign Film for his film, "Burnt by the Sun," about the repression of the Stalin-era.
Closing Night Screening
"Last Chance Harvey"
Directed by Joel Hopkins
Starring Dustin Hoffman and Emma Thompson
Saturday, November 15 at 7:30pm
AMC Palace 2
New Yorker Harvey Shine (Dustin Hoffman), a struggling jingle writer given one last chance to deliver by his boss, leaves for his daughter’s wedding in London on threat of getting fired if he’s not back for a Monday morning meeting. He arrives to learn that he she wants her stepfather (James Brolin), not him, to walk her down the aisle. Crestfallen, he leaves before the reception to make his flight but somehow misses it. He calls his boss to explain and is fired on the spot. Next stop…airport bar, where Harvey meets Kate (Emma Thompson), a British government worker subject to endless phone calls from her mother and occasional dreadful blind dates. Kate, whose life is limited to work, the occasional blind date and endless phone calls from her smothering mother (Eileen Atkins). Touched by Harvey , who finds himself energized by her intelligence and compassion.The growing connection between the pair inspires both as they unexpectedly transform one another’s lives. Nominated for the Grand Jury Prize at the 2008 Sundance Film Festival, Sunshine Cleaning is a glittering tale of loss in which Adam’s gleaming lead performance and Christine Jeff’s astute attention to detail create a genuine world in which Megan Holley’s sincere and carefully paced story plays out.
To browse all films and purchase individual screening tickets and festival passes
CLICK HERE
From now throughout the festival, keep an eye out for daily updates featuring different parts of our film program and other special events.
Starting November 10, come visit us at our temporary Sundance Square office at Norris Conference Center:
304 Houston Street
Fort Worth, TX 76102
For more information, visit http://www.lsiff.com/.
This is more of a techie related item, but good for Regular Joes to know too. :)
HDMI cables are becoming the standard for HDTV's and consumer/prosumer cameras. Shoot some video and play it back in HD via an HDMI cable. Or, hook up a Blu-Ray player or gaming system via HDMI.
Problem with the cables though is they just "slip in" the connector. They do not lock in place even like an RCA cable does, or especially like a BNC cable (HD/SDI).
I have personally experienced this being a problem. My DirecTV box occasionally goes in and out due to the cable coming loose (mainly from our cat getting behind the components and crawling around). We routinely have to move the gear and push the cable back into place.
But not anymore. Finally there's a "locking" HDMI cable available.
Click here to check it out
May seem trivial, but really this is a great product for consumers as well as video professionals. It will likely become the standard in the future.
-Blake
Very cool music video for Low Vs. Diamond and the song "Heart Attack"...
http://www.studiodaily.com/filmandvideo/currentissue/10092.html
It's mainly a "single shot" of two people kissing and then rapidly aging. Seamless visual effect work.
There's a link on the page to watch video, then you can read article about how they did it.
-Blake
2008 Audi R8 Camera Car...
http://blogs.edmunds.com/roadtests/2008/10/2008-audi-r8-camera-car.html
-Blake
Wow, technology does change fast. The Nikon D90 was getting a lot of buzz (and still is), but now the new Canon EOS 5D Mark II is REALLY creating buzz.
It too is an SLR camera that shoots video - but at 1920x1080 instead of 720p of the Nikon. Only "bad" thing is it currently doesn't shoot 24p - but I believe it will soon.
Check out this really great video shot on the camera.
Now I know what I want for Christmas. :)
-Blake
Check out HD video from the Nikon D90 SLR still camera.
Yeah, an SLR still camera. Amazing. This will shake things up for sure, especially in the indie film world.
And read full review from NY Times here.
-Blake
My friends in Big Fantastic produce the show Prom Queen (and also Sorority Forever that's on TheWB.com now) and they just released the series on DVD. 
You can buy it at Amazon for $17.99.
Please support New Media shows! We're going to release PINK on DVD in the near future too.
Thanks,
Blake
While I hope you watch PINK when you have a chance (see post below), I'd also like you to check out my side project "88 Hits". New episode also online today...
Okay, a minor victory, but finally got "Pink" listed on IMDb.com - the de facto site for film and TV listings (and cast & crew). Been trying since July 2007. They wouldn't accept it since it's a "web series". But now, they changed their tune I'm happy to report (however, it wasn't me that got it listed - I have no idea how, but just glad it's there... I have a sneaking suspicion it has something to do with show now being on TheWB.com).
Here's the listing:
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1302137/
If you're a cast or crew member please add your name. If you're a fan please go to the site and rate the show, and/or start some chatter on the forum. That can definitely help build the audience.
-Blake
Beware...
October 9, 2008 - SAN FRANCISCO - Savvy Internet users know that downloading unsolicited computer programs is one of the most dangerous things you can do online. It puts you at great risk for a virus or another time bomb from a hacker.
But even some sophisticated surfers could get taken in by a sneaky new attack in which criminals create fake YouTube pages - dead-on replicas of the real site - to push their malicious software and make it look like it's safe stuff coming from a trusted source.
A program circulating online helps hackers build those fake pages. Users who follow an e-mail pointing them to one of the pages would see an error message that claims the video they want won't play without installing new software first. That error message includes a link the hacker has provided to a malicious program, which delivers a virus.
Even worse: once the computer is infected, it's simple for the hacker to silently redirect the victims to a real YouTube page to see videos they were hoping to see - and hide the crime.
"It's spot-on accurate, and that is scary," said Jamz Yaneza, threat research manager for security software company Trend Micro Inc. "If I were watching YouTube videos all day I would probably click on this one."
The tactic itself isn't new: There's a constant push by criminals to build more convincing spoofs of legitimate sites to trick people into downloading harmful software. And the latest attacks don't target any vulnerability in the YouTube site.
But it highlights the fact that criminals are getting better at creating bogus sites and developing so-called "social engineering" methods to fool people.
Fortunately, truly alert Internet users can still see the telltale warning signs with the fake YouTube pages. For one, the Web browser won't show the real YouTube's Internet address. And to even see the malicious page, you have to first follow a link that's sent to you, which is often a tip-off that you should independently verify whether the site is legitimate.
-Blake
Interesting video here from TV Week about web shows and advertisers (specifically mentions "Pink" and our deal with Vuze.com)...
Web shows and Web sites are starting to go steady. Michael Eisner’s latest Web series Back on Topps runs exclusively on Foxsports.com before other sites get it. The same goes for the popular show Pink, which plays on Vuze.com before it releases to other sites. For more details on why Web producers are going steady, check out this week’s episode of the New Media Minute.
You’ll also learn what new media executive Jordan Levin, the former CEO of the WB, thinks about the advertising investment in online video.
Direct link to story.
-Blake
KERA Art & Seek Blog:
http://www.kera.org/blogs/culture/2008/10/02/exposed-and-rolling-in-dallas/
Kind of an odd story considering the blogger didn't interview me (the producer and director) or Mike Maden (the writer). But hey, I'm glad they covered the shoot. :)
-Blake
We wrapped "Exposed" this weekend. Shoot went great. I'll post details here soon, but right now I need to get some rest... :)
-Blake
Our PR company got PINK on the Reuters digital billboard in Times Square! It was up for about 12 hours on the premiere date 9/16...
Mike Maden and I are profiled in "Ad Age" under their "Web Video Report":
http://adage.com/webvideoreport/article?article_id=131238
They asked us mainly about PINK, but also about the new show EXPOSED and kinda got the two mixed up. Read the article and you'll see what I'm talking about. :)
Nice piece either way though, and hey, they even spelled our names right!
-Blake
The good folks at YouTube have featured the new Season 2 of "Pink" and we just want to say THANK YOU!
You can check out the new episode here.
You wanna watch "Friends", "The O.C.", "Roswell", "PINK"?!?
Very cool news... PINK is now on TheWB.com!
http://www.thewb.com/shows/pink/
Check it out when you can. They even cut a cool promo for the show! It is weird, but great, to see PINK along side these big network shows.
-Blake
PINK Season 2 premieres TODAY on Vuze.com and tomorrow everywhere else (including YouTube, Myspace, Revver, Blip, Metacafe, etc.). We have a cool agreement with Vuze where they get a 24 hour exclusive window - and there you can see the episodes in HD.
So please check out the first new episode!
Thanks!
Blake
Okay, so I was going to try and blog daily during production, but that was waaaay too ambitious a thought. What I'm now going to try and do is a weekly blog about production and post.
WEEK ONE went pretty smooth. We have a really great cast & crew. Most I've worked with before, but we do have several shiny new faces onboard too, and they have worked out well so far.
Only major issue is we somehow broke my Letus Extreme 35mm adaptor on the third day of the shoot. Didn't drop it. Didn't hit it. Not sure what happened. But the inside mirror cracked. Luckily, my filmmaker friend Russ Pond owns a Letus as well and so we're now using his until mine gets repaired (which is hopefully very soon).
This week was a six-day week, so today we're all resting (well, I'm actually working on "Pink" and a few other things), but this coming week is a five-day week. We're doing the typical 12 hour days and for the most part hitting that petty well.
One of the coolest things about this shoot is we're actually editing along the way. Cliff Richhart is on-set editor. This is the first time I've done this and I must say it is greatness. Having a rough cut of the scenes you shot in the morning THAT AFTERNOON is a huge help.
Until next week...
-Blake
So we start principle photography tomorrow on the new WB web series "Exposed". I'm going to try and post some blog entries along the way. But if you've ever worked on any film project you know that time is always short, so I'll do the best I can.
Today we're doing our last minute stuff after three weeks of pre-pro. I'm about to go home and watch the Cowboy game to clear my mind. But afterwards I have to work on my shot list and storyboards for tomorrow. So, no adult beverages during the game. We'll maybe one or two.
Anyway, we've got a great cast and crew onboard for this show so I am confident will have something really good for world to see in about three weeks. Now whether the world watches is another story! :)
-Blake
Interesting article on "web video" studios...
http://adage.com/webvideoreport/article?article_id=130448
From the piece:
Hollywood is gearing up to create what would be the first big Web hit. However, when an online show finally does break out into mainstream popularity, it may not come from traditional entertainment companies.
Rather, the most successful Internet television programs could emerge from a handful of online TV networks that already are producing high-quality episodic content for the Web, day in and day out.
IMHO, there have already been several "web hits" such as "Prom Queen", "Ask A Ninja", "Lonely Girl 15", etc... (and "Pink" hasn't done half bad either). :)
-Blake
Gearing up to shoot our new WB web series "Exposed" on 9/8/08. Here are two teasers promoting the new site...
Check it out TheWB.com.
-Blake
If you're an actor please do the following:
1. PUT A DEMO REEL ONLINE FOR PRODUCERS TO SEE
2. BE ABLE TO VIDEOTAPE YOURSELF FOR AN AUDITION
We live in the "Internet Age", yet I'm constantly surprised that actors do not have an online reel, or that they can't shoot video of themselves. I understand if you don't have footage for a reel - okay. But you should AT LEAST have a MySpace page with pictures, resume, etc. Yeah sure, if you have an agent they'll have this stuff too. But market YOURSELF.
And today with productions happening all over the map it is IMPERATIVE that you have a way to tape an audition. I use the word "tape", but today there are tons of "tapeless" options out there such as the Flip Mino. It is about the size of a phone and shoots excellent video - especially for online. Tons of YouTube folks use this camera. It's only $180. A small investment to be able to easily tape and upload or send auditions. If you don't have a Myspace page or a personal web site, then just upload audition to YouTube. You can easily pull it down afterwards.
If you're serious about acting, then you should be serious about getting acting jobs. And these two small things can greatly help.
-Blake
Nice mention of our new show "Exposed" in Variety today...
http://www.variety.com/article/VR1117990615.html
Check it out when you have a moment.
-Blake
Check out the latest teaser video from "88 Hits" right now on YouTube. Show premieres 09.09.08.
-Blake
Got this notice today from Revver...
We're featuring your video "88 Hits" on Wednesday, 8/13 on RevverLive, our new live web show produced in collaboration with LiveVideo.com. The hour-long show airs live daily at 1pm PST and features the best and most conversation-sparking Revver videos, with rotating hosts using LiveVideo's robust social video platform to interact with viewers in real-time via video and text chat.
The immediacy with which fans can participate in conversations about your videos makes this a unique opportunity for audiences to engage with your work and with each other, and is a great way to help you promote your work. Feel free to join in on the coversation or watch from the sidelines to see what viewers think by checking out the show here (if it's not live, check out the archived episodes):
http://www.livevideo.com/liveshow/Revverlive
Tell all your friends to log in and watch live and comment! ALSO, since the show is produced daily in Hollywood, we'd love to have any of you LA-based creators come in to the studio on the day of the show to introduce your video and talk about it a bit with the show's host and viewers.
If you're able to tune in, we recommend creating a LiveVideo account with the same username as your Revver account and then joining the chat so that host and viewer alike can interact with you.
Let us know if you have any questions about this, or want to get involved in the show!
So that's pretty cool. I hadn't heard of this kind of thing before, online anyway. I'll be tuning in, and if you can check it out or visit their show archive to listen later.
-Blake
Hulu is owned by FOX and NBC. So we're very happy to have "Pink" on the site. Later in September it will all be in HD too (and will eventually include our new Season 2 episodes).
Check it out:
http://www.hulu.com/pink-the-series
Thanks!
Blake
So this is not filmmaking per se, but it does deal with visual effects...
Some of the fireworks during the Olypics opening ceremony were evidently fake! Hmmm. I realize it's entertainment, but it's also a "news" event. So that is really close to crossing the line IMHO.
Read entire story here.
-Blake
UPDATE 8/12/08: So, another fake out by the Chinese! Now they're saying the little girl who sang during the opening ceremoney didn't really sing! They pulled a Milli-Vanilli on the entire world... read it here.
If you haven't checked out Vimeo yet, you should. It's another one of many web video sharing sites - but this one is different. Mainly because it is one of the first to allow users to upload HD video. And it also plays it back for viewers in a streaming flash player that looks really good.
I have a new page on the site:
www.vimeo.com/blakecalhoun
I currently have the first "DIY's Guys" episode up and the "88 Hits" teaser (this was shot in SD though).
Anyway, definitely check out the site when you have a moment. Oh, and also be sure to click the "full screen" option on the lower right hand side of the HD player, that way you'll get the full HD experience. :)
-Blake
First few days of casting have gone well for "Exposed". We're continuing to cast this next week too. So if you are an interested actor, or know of an actor who fits one of the roles. Please contact me at loudpics[@]yahoo.com.
See previous post down this page for character descriptions.
The main roles we need more folks to audition for are ALICIA, HENRY and CARLOS.
Thanks,
Blake
I found this story to be interesting and pretty funny too...
August 6, 2008 - MEXICO CITY -- This weekend, thousands of Mexicans will line up at theaters to see "The Knight of the Night," "Super Agent 86" and "The End of Time." Never heard of them?
Those are the literal translations of the Spanish titles given to "The Dark Knight," "Get Smart" and "The Happening," examples of the marketing tactics that can leave cinephiles baffled as Hollywood reaches out to increasingly important foreign audiences.
Depending on the nation, moviegoers are watching Steve Carell of "Get Smart" in "Max the Menace" (France), "Agent Smart: Casino Totale" (Italy), "Is the Spy Capable or Not?" (Taiwan), or "Confused Spy" (China).
Titles often are tweaked to suit local tastes. Last year's comedy hit "Knocked Up" was given the gentler title "Slightly Pregnant" in Roman Catholic Peru and the gloriously blunt "One Night, Big Belly" in China.
Hollywood has taken a more active role in translating its titles in recent years, says David Weitzner, a former chief of worldwide promotion for 20th Century Fox and Universal. Some films make half of their money overseas, and studios are increasingly doing "global launches" to generate buzz.
"We have to pay much more attention to the foreign market than we used to," Weitzner says.
The translations used to be left to foreign film distributors, with dubious results. Some titles gave away key plot points, such as when "Rain Man" became "When Brothers Meet" in Latin America.
U.S. film titles for foreign movies often are odd, too. "Open Your Eyes," a Spanish film about a man in suspended animation, became "Vanilla Sky" when it was remade with Tom Cruise.
-Blake
Good article called "They're Spinning Their Own Web" in the LA Times about web series productions. I know several of the filmmakers, distributors, agents, etc. mentioned... good group of folks.
THE SCREEN ACTORS GUILD and television and film producers see eye to eye about hardly anything these days, yet on one thing they can agree: The Web is the battleground.
Talks between SAG and the Alliance of Motion Picture and Television Producers have ground to a halt, and a possible work stoppage looms. But as the parties caucus with their lawyers and negotiators over next steps, production on the very thing that divides them -- entertainment created for new media platforms -- continues at a fever clip across town.
Click here to read entire article
-Blake
We had a Street Team (aka Hot Chicks) at Comic-Con handing out and applying temporary PINK tattoos. They supposedly handed out around 4000 and applied 1000. I didn't get to go to the event, but it looks like it was a good time...
We're now casting for "Exposed" - the new web series for TheWB.com.
Primarily looking for these roles:
1. Henry - Caucasion/20-25/Athletic
2. Alicia - Hispanic/18-22
3. Chase - Caucasion/20-25
4. Gail - Caucasion/18-22
5. Carlos - Hispanic/40-50
6. Dimitri - Caucasion (Russian)/17-21
7. Ulanyov - Caucasion (Russian)/45-55
8. Priest - Caucasion/40-60
We also have a lot of day player roles we'll be announcing soon too.
If you are interested please send an email to loudpics[@]yahoo.com with your headshot and a link to your demo reel, if available.
Thanks!
Blake
Pretty cool...I'll have to give this a try!
Video Cam Super Trick! - video powered by Metacafe
-Blake
Okay, so Netflix is, well, Netflix. They are not and were not a huge player in Independent film financing and distribution, but they tried to be. And now they're closing Red Envelope's doors.
I'm sure they'll still look at indie films for Netflix distribution, but it sounds like not near as much as they once did. The article below says they are shutting down the operation because they "didn't want to compete" with Hollywood studios (their customers). While I'm sure there is a slighty bit of truth to that statement, that is not the real reason. Let's be honest here. They weren't making their money back. That's it. And that's the problem with almost all independent film today. It's a great artistic outlet - I love watching indie film (and making them). But if you want to eat you can't survive making independent films. And not that Netflix wasn't surviving - they just weren't making money. That's my take anyway, and as usual I could be wrong. Decide for yourself...
------------------------
July 24, 2008 - By ANICK JESDANUN -- NEW YORK -- The movie-rental service Netflix Inc. is closing a small unit that finances independent movies, partly to avoid competing with Hollywood studios with which it partners for DVD and Internet distribution. The financial impact on the company will be small, and only four out of about 400 employees are losing their jobs.
But the move could make it more difficult for smaller producers to find homes for their movies. Netflix' Red Envelope Entertainment had focused on bringing less-commercial projects to a broader audience. The unit acquired or helped finance independent films, distributing them in movie theaters as well as in the regular Netflix channels -- DVD by mail and online streaming.
Netflix spokesman Steve Swasey said the company began the unit as an experiment about two years ago, but ultimately decided that financing movies was not its forte. He said filmmakers still have plenty of outlets for financing and distributing movies, "and we don't need to do that to get great titles on Netflix."
Swasey said the company weighed the fact that it was often in the same room with studio partners at film festivals, and "we didn't want to compete" with them.
Movies distributed through Red Envelope -- named for the red envelopes used to ship Netflix DVDs -- include "Sherrybaby," "No End in Sight," and "4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2Days." Red Envelope typically partnered with a larger company for theatrical release.
-------------------------
-Blake
I always like to see film production and film financing out of Texas and I hope this one succeeds. But I've known several groups trying this over the years and none have worked out (yet). This one might have the right ingredients though based on the below article. You have true money managers running the investment fund (with an existing client base), and then "movie" people running the production side. It could work...
So you wanna be in (independent) pictures? Now you can, for $50,000
Fort Worth money manager launches fund with hopes of hitting upon the next 'Juno’
By JIM FUQUAYjfuquay@star-telegram.com
By some estimates, 7,000 to 8,000 independently produced films are completed each year. Most never see the light of a projector bulb.
But some do, and a few, most recently Juno, go on to pull in millions of dollars at the box office, video store and syndication. Now a Fort Worth money manager wants to give well-heeled investors a shot at participating in a winner without taking too much of a bath on the inevitable losers.
Riley Hutto Wealth Management said it has created Independent Film Capital Llc., in partnership with Los Angeles-based IndieVest, a 2-year-old firm that will review scripts and oversee film production and distribution. Riley Hutto’s job is find people with at least $50,000 to invest in independent films.
Bill Riley and Greg Hutto started their firm in January after working together in the investments industry for a decade. They are the first in what IndieVest founder Wade Bradley hopes will be a stable of investment advisers who will offer his company’s films to accredited investors, generally described as individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 million.
Investing in movies
Riley said the path to Independent Film Capital started when he was looking for alternative investments — instruments other than stocks and bonds — to offer his clients.
Big foundations and endowments put sizable portions of their assets in real estate, commodities and private equities, he thought, so why not offer something similar to affluent investors?
Movies got into the picture when he met Bradley, a venture capitalist who was looking for financial support for his company. Bradley’s concept is to take some of the risk out of film investing by forming a kind of "one-stop shop" that connects investors with film projects that he has screened and — perhaps most importantly — can assure distribution in theaters.
Do indies make money?
How many independent films actually make money?
Hard numbers are difficult to come by, because although box-office receipts can be had, movie budgets and distribution expenses are rarely public. Likewise, ticket sales are only a part of a film’s earnings. Video rentals and sales, plus TV licensing, can far outearn the original box office.
In 2007, 751 newly released films played in theaters at some time during the year, according to The Numbers, an industry news service. Right in the middle of those films, as ranked by box-office receipts, was Broken English, a romance distributed by Magnolia Pictures, the company owned by Dallas entrepreneur Mark Cuban and partner Todd Wagner.
Broken English played in 41 theaters at its peak and grossed just under $1 million during the year, according to The Numbers.
Cuban, in an e-mailed response to the Star-Telegram, said that as challenging as it is merely for an independent film to get produced and distributed, "doing any box office at all . . . is even more difficult."
Distribution in the nation’s more than 5,000 theaters is a huge hurdle. About 600 films a year are rated by the Motion Picture Association of America for U.S. distribution. Big studios produce 200 to 250 of those. Independents vie for the rest of the spots.
IndieVest, as part of its pitch, guarantees distribution. Bradley said his strategy is to first place a film in 25-50 theaters the first week. That keeps down his distribution costs, the biggest being production of prints and advertising, collectively termed P&A.
"At the end of the day, we decide whether it’s gaining traction," he said of a film’s early screenings. If it is, he ups distribution to perhaps 200 theaters, then 500, up to as many as 1,500 theaters.
Starring Steve Buscemi
IndieVest principals include Mark Burton, who was executive producer for Water, nominated for an Oscar last year in the foreign-language-film category.
Its advisory board includes actors Don Cheadle (Hotel Rwanda, Crash, Boogie Nights) and Liev Schreiber (The Painted Veil, TV’s CSI: Crime Scene Investigation).
Bradley said the company is about to start filming its first project, titled Saint John of Las Vegas, featuring Steve Buscemi, the hapless and horny kidnapper-turned-murderer in Fargo.
The film has a $10 million budget. That’s considered relatively low in the business these days, but enough to provide a shot at bankable personnel and a competent script.
A "moderate" scenario detailed in investor materials envisions the film bringing in $21.6 million in net revenue and returning about $6.5 million to investors. Under a "low" scenario, it brings in just $3.4 million and returns nothing.
Cuban said in his email that he tries to improve an independent film’s economics by distributing it via his own Landmark Theaters, Magnolia Video and HDNet, the high-definition television channel he launched in 2001. He just started a new strategy of releasing films first on HDNet’s video-on-demand service, hoping to build some buzz before the film’s theatrical premiere.
"Leveraging the promotion of the VOD on cable and satellite allows us to be more precise in our P&A spending, which in turn leads to profitability on not all, but more of our releases," Cuban wrote.
Harold Vogel, principal of Vogel Capital Management in New York and author of Entertainment Industry Economics, said investing in movies is not for the faint-of-heart.
But he thinks IndieVest is going about it the right way.
"I admire the innova- tiveness of their structure," Vogel said, because it provides the equivalent of a reality check on a filmmaker’s hopes.
Riley Hutto added its own wrinkle to risk management by packaging investments in units that include five different films. Averaging out the returns of several movies, Riley said, should lessen the chance of suffering a total loss while boosting the chance of landing a hit.
Vogel also liked that idea.
"That’s the correct approach," he said. "Never invest in just one film. The smart way is to get a portfolio of projects that spreads the risk.
Riley said his Independent Film Capital project has been well received by clients.
"They know it’s risk capital, and it’s fun," he said. "If you’re an investor, your name is on the credits as one of the producers."
Click here to see actual article at Fort Worth Star-Telegram site.
-Blake
Been meaning to post this for a while...
The new show I'm producing/directing is called "Exposed" and will premiere online at www.theWB.com. The site needs Beta Testers right now to help build the new community. It's a very cool website (yeah, I joined).
You can already watch hit shows like "Buffy The Vampire Slayer", "One Tree Hill", "Friends", "The O.C.", "Gilmore Girls", etc. and soon you'll be able to see their new "Original Content" for the web - and one of the shows is "Exposed". There are five others premiering too.
So definitely go and register and help spread the word.
-Blake
A few years back I directed a feature film called "HIT". It did pretty well at film festivals, with critics, etc., but I never landed a full-fledged distribution deal. Yeah, I had some offers here and there but they really were not very good. In fact, I've been planning to do a self-distribution release of the film for a while now.
Well, since I've had some recent success with "PINK" online I've decided to release a web series version of "HIT" called "88 HITS". We're also talking to some folks about pitching it as a traditional TV show down the line too. But for now, we will premiere the first webisode in September on YouTube, Revver, and several other places along with the main website www.mobumentary.com.
Right now you can check out the promo for the upcoming release here and here.
You can also watch it right here:
The web series is being created from the current footage and storyline of the feature film. It will be an abbreviated version - in a way a promo for the actual film, which by the way will be available on DVD this fall too (probably late fall). I hope the web series will get enough attention to get folks to check out the full feature - and even better to get the opportunity to make either new episodes for the web - or again create a new pilot for traditional television.
One last thing, we're also premiering a completely new spin-off show called "The DIY's Guys" starring the same characters from "HIT". It's a Do-It-Yourself Home Improvement series with a twist. A mob twist, and a punch, maybe a kick, etc. You get the idea. :) This show will start on 08.05.08. Click here to see the YouTube Channel page for it.
Definitely check this stuff out when you have a moment. Thanks!
-Blake
This is a link to a blog posting of Mike Curtis. Great rant on indie film...
From the piece:
“Of the 5,000 films submitted to Sundance each year—generally with budgets under $10 million—maybe 100 of them got a U.S. theatrical release three years ago. And it used to be that 20 of those would make money. Now maybe five do. That’s one-tenth of 1%. Put another way, if you decide to make a movie budgeted under $10 million on your own tomorrow, you have a 99.9% chance of failure.”
Check out entire article here. Definitely worth a read.
-Blake
New film from David Fincher (who I really like) shot digitally on The Viper camera. But beyond the great visuals I think the story is very interesting. Stars Brad Pitt.
Watch it here
-Blake
