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