Cynematik • Cyndi Greening

This weekend, we’ll be talking with Festival Programmer Israel Ehrisman about how he decides what films to screen. Israel has programmed several festivals including Full Frame Documentary Film Festival. Although he was NOT a programmer for Full Frame this year, we’re talking to him this week because Full Frame opens on April 7 with a Barbara Kopple film. You may recall that I’m a long-time Kopple fan.

Full Frame will screen the World Premiere of BEARING WITNESS. The film is the story of five female journalists who brave the world’s war zones, including Iraq, in an attempt to bear witness to the weight of history. These women provide a unique view of life on the frontlines that doesn’t often make it to our televisions. Filmmakers and journalists will answer questions following the film.

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It was over TWO years ago that director Angela Robinson brought D.E.B.S. to Sundance as a short film. Financed in part by Power Up, the film went on to find financing as a feature with members of the “fast and furious” cast.

At Sundance 2003, Robinson and crew distributed promotional D.E.B.S. Trading Cards with the Sundance screening schedule on back. I had collected all but one card which Alec was able to secure from Robinson (in a very “celebratory” state) on a late night shuttle bus. He was only 14 at the time! Anyway, you can see them with the original cast members in this downloadable PDF.

While D.E.B.S. can certainly be called a gay-themed film, that doesn’t seem to be a problem for Disney. They’ve tapped Robinson to direct the Lindsey Lohan vehicle Herbie Fully Loaded which comes out this summer. It will be interesting to see how Robinson handles this more traditional story line.

You might notice that the short film starred Melissa Etheridge’s partner, Tammy Lynn Michaels (seen numerous times in the music video for This Moment). The tune can be found on Etheridge’s great new CD LUCKY which comes in both LIVE and studio-produced versions.

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Added: 2 April 2005

I’ve found a a couple of interesting articles on how important the trading card campaign was for the marketing of the movie D.E.B.S. and director Angela Robinson.

According to MovieMaker Magazine, the marketing plan for D.E.B.S. began with the short film at Sundance 2003. “Andrea Sperling, producer of D.E.B.S. and director Angela Robinson used the short version of D.E.B.S that was initially screened at Sundance as the carrot to drive the donkey that drove the cart. Prior to the film’s premiere at the festival, Sperling sent the feature script and short to potential financiers with the hopes of announcing a deal at Sundance. In the interim, Screen Gems bit on the script and short, and combined with a poster and trading cards created by Sperling and Robinson for the main characters, gave the production company an idea of what the marketing could look like.”

There’s that word: marketing. “Everything looked so good; we really hit a home run with them with the marketing ideas. Even before our film was accepted at Sundance, we came up with a ‘total concept’ strategy to drive our goals.” While at the festival, the D.E.B.S. people passed out the trading cards on the streets of Sundance, adding to the film’s “buzz.” The gamble paid off. The story of four female spies out to thwart evildoers will be released in March by Screen Gems.

Park City Conniseur … Trading Card Frenzy

The latest buzz from Park City … D.E.B.S Trading Card Frenzy @ Sundance. Surveying the style and taste of Sundance and some thoughts on opening night including the marketing campaign for D.E.B.S.

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Stephen Chow’s KUNG FU HUSTLE (which screened at Sundance this year) was named best film at the 24th Hong Kong Film Awards ceremony Sunday, but art-house director Wong Kar-wai’s romance 2046 swept the top acting honors. While many critics said Wong Kar-wai would finish 2046 in that same year, he surprised everyone by turning in a finely-crafted story that was satisfying to the critics and audiences alike.

Former Cannes winner Tony Leung and CROUCHING TIGER, HIDDEN DRAGON star Zhang Ziyi won the lead acting awards for their roles in Wong’s IN THE MOOD FOR LOVE the story of the affair between a married woman and man played by Leung. Leung reprises his role in 2046 — the number of the room where Leung’s character and his former lover met. Zhang plays Leung’s new lover. (Leung and Zhang also won top acting honors at the Hong Kong Film Critics Society Awards announced earlier.)

Director Ang Lee presented a professional spirit award to Jackie Chan during the course of the evening. Chan said he appreciated the prize because it honored his professionalism and conduct, not just his artistic achievements. The ceremony marked 100 years of Chinese film making. Organizers showed clips from different eras of Chinese film in between awards.

You can see the full winners list on the fansite I Love Hong Kong Film! I would have been happy if they had honored Zhang Yimou and Li Gong as well! Maybe next year!

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It’s hard to take the idea of desperation seriously when we live in the richest country in the world. I go to bed every night and rest on a comfortable, soft mattress. I have plenty of good food, kind neighbors and inspiring colleagues. As I look at the photos of Iraq, Afghanistan and Bandeh Aceh, I think Thurber and Kierkegaard minimize it best.
“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
    Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
    U.S. Author in “Walden”, 1854

“Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.”
    James Thurber (1894 - 1961)
    U.S. Author
“Nowadays not even a suicide kills himself in desperation. Before taking the step he deliberates so long and so carefully that he literally chokes with thought. It is even questionable whether he ought to be called a suicide, since it is really thought which takes his life. He does not die with deliberation but FROM deliberation.”
    Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)
    Danish philosopher

“A dog in desperation will leap over a wall.”
    Chinese proverb

“There is nothing so desperately monotonous as the sea, and I no longer wonder at the cruelty of pirates.”
    James Russell Lowell (1819 - 1891)
    U.S. poet, editor

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Podcast on Easter Sunday, March 27th, 2005
Posted from Phoenix, Arizona, Recorded in Marin County, California

Show Details

I’ve been down and out for the week but the weekly podcast has been saved by Karen Copeland, host of The Voice of Experience! She graciously interviewed actor Lucas Alifano about audition strategies. MFA student at the National Conservatory, Alifano has a perfect 100% record for being cast in the roles for which he auditions. He shares his thoughts on why he is (knock on wood) generally successful!

Next week, I hope to be back on the mend. I was scheduled to interview festival programmer Israel Ehrisman this week (but just couldn’t get up enough steam to do it). I’ve also got another interview regarding Sundance from the teen perspective that’s almost ready. The biggest challenge to getting the podcasts ready and keeping the blog updated (besides just getting healthy again) is that the annual MCC Student Art Show goes up this week. It’s an incredible amount of work but it’s tremendously valuable for the students, so we keep putting it on. We’ll have to see what next weekend brings.

Regardless, my sincere thanks to Karen and Lucas for generating some great audio material for this week!

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Thoughts on Desperation …

It’s hard to take the idea of desperation seriously when we live in the richest country in the world. I go to bed every night and rest on a comfortable, soft mattress. I have plenty of good food, kind neighbors and inspiring colleagues. As I look at the photos of Iraq, Afghanistan and Bandeh Aceh, I think Thurber and Kierkegaard minimize it best.

“The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation.”
    Henry David Thoreau (1817 - 1862)
    U.S. Author in “Walden”, 1854

“Nowadays men lead lives of noisy desperation.”
    James Thurber (1894 - 1961)
    U.S. Author

“Nowadays not even a suicide kills himself in desperation. Before taking the step he deliberates so long and so carefully that he literally chokes with thought. It is even questionable whether he ought to be called a suicide, since it is really thought which takes his life. He does not die with deliberation but FROM deliberation.”
    Soren Kierkegaard (1813 - 1855)
    Danish philosopher

“A dog in desperation will leap over a wall.”
    Chinese proverb

“There is nothing so desperately monotonous as the sea, and I no longer wonder at the cruelty of pirates.”
    James Russell Lowell (1819 - 1891)
    U.S. poet, editor

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I have been an avid devotee of Terry Gilliam since the film 12 MONKEYS. The film came to my attention because the Associate Producer of the film was the sister of one of my Photoshop students. Rhonda raved about the film. She gave me a fabulous “teaser” poster that was little more than the 12 MONKEYS logo art. She also gave me a copy of the script. I saw the film and loved it (biased, no doubt). Since then, I’ve purchased the film on VHS and DVD many times over.

Influenced by Chris Marker’s 1962 short film LA JETEE, 12 MONKEYS featured a not-quite-famous-yet Brad Pitt in the role of institutionalized nutcase, Jeffrey Goines. My cohort in the Art Department at MCC, photographer Bob Galloway bought La Jetee to my attention a couple of years ago. The website is terrific!

One of my favorite things on the 12 MONKEYS DVD is the documentary film, THE HAMSTER FACTOR! I found out about Keith Fulton and Louis Pepe’s documentary at the Telluride Film Festival at the screening of another of their documentary films about a catastrophic Terry Gilliam film — LOST IN LA MANCHA.

Fulton and Pepe told the story of how their first Gilliam documentary could only be seen as part of the 12 MONKEYS DVD because of litigation challenges. THE HAMSTER FACTOR is primarily concerned with a scene where Cole is drawing blood from himself and the shadow of a hamster in a hamster wheel can be seen on the wall. This scene took a whole day because the hamster would not move and Gilliam is such a perfectionist that he wouldn’t move on until they had the shot. They referred to Gilliam’s perfectionism “the Hamster Factor.” The documentary is GREAT because they talk about how Gilliam becomes so identified with the main character that they knew he would be as confused and crazy as Cole (Bruce Willis’ character) at some point during the filmmaking. It is quite apparent in the documentary! You should rent 12 MONKEYS just to watch THE HAMSTER FACTOR!

Getting back to LOST IN LA MANCHA (yes, that is Johnny Depp on a donkey), Fulton and Pepe’s documentary is the story of a film that was NEVER made. It is, in fact, the story of the UNMAKING of a FILM. They capture the flash floods that destroy sets and damage camera equipment; the lead actor who falls seriously ill; and on the sixth day the complete collapse of the production. Which brings us to the REAL POINT of this post for today. Terry Gilliam’s THE BROTHERS GRIMM is nearing completion and I can hardly wait! You can read more about Gilliam on this fairly extensive fan site.

(Thanks to DWHudson’s Weekend Shorts at GreenCine Daily for the production update!)

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Life has been kicking the stuffing out of me the last week. I’ve had a wicked cold and I’m just beat, beat, beat. (If you’re a regular reader of this blog, you’ve probably figured it out already because of the minimal posting for the week. Blechh.)

So, for fun and excitement, here’s a link for Easter weekend — Marshmallow Peeps. I love Peeps. People seem to either love them or hate them; there isn’t much middle ground with Peeps. (Thanks to Gina for the image and Karen for the link.) Now, I’m going back to bed.

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Podcast on March 20th 2005
From Phoenix, Arizona

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Karen Copeland & Cyndi Greening discuss strategies for improving the chances of getting your film programmed into a festival.

Why try to get your film into a festival? Festivals bring distributors who see how an audience reacts to your film. They can gauge marketability and artistic merit.

What will improve your chances?

1. Have an Original Story with Original Characters engaged in a compelling conflict with a satisfying resolution.
   Don’t make SNATCH-Lite or PULP FICTION-Lite or LOST IN TRANSLATION-Lite. Make your own, original film. Read Robert McKee or get JOHN TRUBY’s Story Structure course. I have found Truby to be the most effective screenwriting program!! After Truby, everything I wrote was either optioned, purchased or permanently borrowed (stolen).
2. Without A Box Shows 1,553 Festival Options!
   Everyone wants to get into the "A" festivals. The "B", "C" and "D"s can be as good for a filmmaker. Steve Friedlander (Exec. VP at Warner Brothers) told the story at Sundance 2005 of KISSING JESSICA STEIN being purchased at festival attended by about 300 people.
3. Make sure your film is a Good Fit!
   Don’t waste your time and money applying for festivals that are inappropriate. For example, Full Frame is a documentary film festival. Even if your dramatic narrative film is the BEST one in the universe, it probably won’t make it into Full Frame. Three books to help you learn about the festivals:
• Chris Gore - The Ultimate Film Festival Survival Guide
• Adam Langer - The Film Festival Guide
• Shael Stolberg - International Film Festival Guide
4. High Quality Dupes & Follow All the Rules!
   Read all of the requirements and follow them exactly. Watch deadline! "Mail by" not the same as "Received by." Does the Press Kit have to be included? Any other ancillary materials needed? Send the film in the accepted FORMAT. Some festivals only take VHS, some only DVD. Send what is required.
5. Learn Programmers’ Tastes!
   Study websites, old catalogs, old interviews, or whatever you can find to help you determine they type of film that is most likely to be successful as the festival. Create a personal connection, if possible, with "best" programmer for film. Best programmer is most receptive audience for your film.
6. The Tracking Sheet!
   Many festival programmers have a tracking sheet of potential films. That tracking list is culled from a variety of sources including trade publications — Variety and Hollywood Reporter. Submit your film for inclusion in the Production Charts (pre-production, production and post) so key industry personnel and festival programmers can track your film. A valuable tip learned at Dov Siemens Film Workshop.
7. Prepare Your Press Kit / Electronic Press Kit!
   Electronic and traditional press kit containing logline, short and long synopsis, biographies of key talent and production personnel, production stills and headshots are vital for generating coverage whenever someone is interested in your film. Sony Pictures Classics has links to Press Kits and Slideshows for upcoming releases that you can view online.
8. Assemble Promotional Team!
   If you’re chosen for a festival, assemble your promotional team (if you haven’t already). You will want to hire a public relations firm known for work with independent filmmakers, perhaps a producer’s rep, an entertainment attorney to negotiate your contract, and an event manager to plan your Festival Party.

Copyright 2005 Cynthia Greening

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NAPOLEON DYNAMITE Producer and Editor Jeremy Coon is coming to Mesa Community College to talk about the making of the tremendously popular and successful comedy he made with his college friends from BYU. Another of their classmates, Kohl Glass (a former MCC student who teaches a Cinematography and Lighting course at the college) wrote, directed and produced the award-winning short film, THE PROMETHEAN. Glass, Coon and former Miramax producer Jim Doyle are part of an on-going “Expert Series” of presenters at MCC. The link above is for the Apple Pro Website that features detailed descriptions of Apple-related success story in professional film and video.

Another film festival favorite featured on Apple’s site is Michael Tucker’s GUNNER PALACE. Tucker’s powerful documentary opened in U.S. theaters on March 4 following a critically acclaimed debut at the Telluride and Toronto film festivals. It captures the day-to-day experiences of the 2-3 Field Artillery Battalion (also known as the Gunners), who were stationed in one of the most outrageous places in Baghdad — Uday Hussein’s former palace in Adhamiya, Iraq.

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The San Francisco International Asian American Film Festival opened March 10 with the Toronto and Sundance festival feature SAVING FACE by Alice Wu. As you may recall, SAVING FACE was my favorite film from Sundance 2005. Mike Montesa also ranked it as one of his favorites. The SFIAAFF is the largest Asian film event, which will screen more than 130 features, shorts and videos from 23 countries in three Bay Area cities. The festival runs through March 20.

The website doesn’t have much yet but there is a Saving Face Gallery and a link to the Saving Face Presskit. I’ve been searching for PDFs of press kits for the last few months. The SAVING FACE kit is pretty good. If you’re getting a film ready for the festival circuit, distribution route or internet avenues, you might want to check it out. I’m planning a future PODCAST on PressKits for Independent Filmmakers.

Speaking of PODCASTS, I’m already looking forward to this weekend’s edition of THE INSIDE SCOOP. This week I’ll be talking about the ten things you can do to significantly improve your chances of getting your film into a festival (not just Sundance). I wish I had more time, I’d love to do a daily Podcast like Adam Curry but I barely have time to blog the few things I do now. I’m aching for a Daily Show (not The Daily Show) but will have to be content with a weekly one for awhile. Thanks to everyone for listening.

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Some of the BEST coverage of the SXSW Film Festival continues to be blogged by Mike Curtis at HD for Indies. He has panel summaries, film reviews and more technical tidbits. As we found at Sundance this year, the documentary films were much stronger than dramatic narrative this year! (I’m still trying to get over the modicum of jealousy I have that he was on so many panel discussions at SXSW — I’d be happy to be on just one! Not to mention the jealousy I have that simply because he’s at a film festival and I’m at work!)

Following what Mike has been doing on HD for Indies, you can see the plus of being on the “bleeding edge” of digital filmmaking — there are lots of folks who want to find out what you know WITHOUT having to suffer through the same things you did! There’s that old saying about doing what you love and the money will follow — if not money, perhaps fame.

I really appreciate the Panel Summaries on Mike’s site. I know from personal experience that it takes a LONG time to type all that data up — and Mike is doing it after a full day of festival activities.

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Stephen Olmstead of Vigilant Studios sends links for more gear for Guerrilla Filmmakers (is there any other kind?) including a Camera Stabilizer and Guide Book for Guerrilla Filmmakers.

Ron Dexter has a great site with tons of advice and plans. It looks like DV Moves is now the reseller for Dexter’s equipment designs. DV Moves also sells proprietary equipment. Cinekinetic also has budget dollies, mounts, jibs and accessories. They’re a bit pricey but worth it.

Why do I keep writing about budget equipment? Because I get so sick of “TALKING HEADS” Independent Film. Do your audience a favor, move the camera!

Finally, today I enjoyed listening to Adam Curry’s Daily Source Code. It was all about Podcasting for Fun and Profit (In reality, says Curry, Most everyone is doing it for fun because there isn’t enough of a market share to profit from it. Depressing since Curry has one of the most downloaded and popular casts.) He’s launched a new site, Podshow.Com to serve this burgeoning market.

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As a college professor, I am most comfortable sharing what I know verbally (writing just takes so darn long)! So, I’ve decided to try PODCASTING to see if people find it useful and interesting. (I’m working on a Photoshop video tutorial textbook that is KILLING me because it all has to written out first, then recorded in bits and chunked together. I’d so much rather just record what I do. I’m hoping this podcast adventure is easier and more satisfying!)

Regardless, the first podcast is about 25 minutes long. Austin, the Editor of Cinema Minima will be setting the podcast RSS/XML link on the CM homepage. Until then, you can download the MP3 file and see what you think of this new format. (Since it’s an audio file, it’s very large (6MB) so you’ll have to be patient. To download it to your computer and listen to it later, right click and “SAVE TARGET AS” … otherwise, it will stream and play in the browser immediately.)

Here is the podcast audio file link for Sundance: The Inside Scoop. The PROGRAM NOTES are as follows:

TIS_CM-2005-03-13
The Inside Scoop for Cinema Minima

Podcast on March 13th 2005
From Phoenix, Arizona

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Interviewer Karen Copeland discusses attending the Sundance Film Festival with Sundance veteran Cyndi Greening. Greening has been a Sundance attendee since 1996.

Why go to Sundance? Breadth of films, cream of crop, movers & shakers

How can you go to Sundance?
Visit website (festival.sundance.org) in October to determine dates, purchases passes, read about events, find out what is new and different.

Passes versus Wait Listing
Wait listing is less expensive and you get to meet filmmakers, actors and soon-to-be-discovered people in line; wait listing is riskier, passes guarantee films; passes range from $200 to $2500; hospitality center and some events for passholders only; other events (like Music Cafe) open to everyone.

Festival Programmers very important. Stay tuned for upcoming podcast on Festival Programmers.

Nuts & Bolts
Park City is small mountain town 20 minutes from Salt Lake City; 28,000 people come in for the festival; free shuttle runs in town; choose larger venues like Eccles for better chance at desired films; restaurants can have long lines at traditional meal times.

Getting to Parties is a matter of finding someone who knows about the party and invites you.

Memorize Faces of filmmakers for spontaneous networking opportunities.

Read the Catalog! What to see, who is going to be there, first screening in Park City is most important because likely to have chance to network with filmmakers.

Question & Answer Sessions incredibly valuable; leave room between films.

Avoid autograph hunting, groupie and/or wannabe behavior.

Copyright 2005 Cynthia Greening

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I am so jealous. Mike Curtis (HD for Indies) is at the SXSW Film Festival in Austin, Texas. He was asked to participate on TWO PANEL DISCUSSIONS. One panel was on The Future of Film Blogs and the other was on The New Technologies in Film. I had hoped that there would be a recording of the panels and that we’d be able to post a clip or two but, alas, SXSW restricts recording and distribution of panel discussions. Mike did, however, graciously type up his raw notes from the sessions! The links are:

• New Film Technologies Panel Notes

• Future of Film Blogs Panel Notes

It was interesting to note that one of the panelists had trouble getting press credentials for SXSW as a blogger yet Sundance accorded me press credentials for Cinema Minima. Perhaps, given the recent White House problem with Jeff Gannon (an infamous Texas blogger), SXSW is a tad more cautious. Regardless, take a look at the summaries. Made me ache to be there. I’d like to spend my whole life going from festival to festival! (Speaking of which, be sure to catch my first Podcast for Cinema Minima entitled: Sundance: The Inside Scoop!

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On the Sundance website, there is a link to The SOURCE. You can use the link to find the films, filmmakers and industry professionals that attended Sundance Film Festival 2005. The SOURCE is provided by the Sundance Industry Office. (S.I.O.) Login as “Guest” with the Password “8857″. You can locate Acquisitions staff, Producers, Casting Directors and more. Follow the links to address, email addresses, phone numbers, photos, summaries and more!! There’s a remarkable amount of information for independent filmmakers. (Alec Hart @ CinemaMinima)

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