How Not To Make A Short Film
How Not To Make A Short Film
TO MAKE
A
SHORT
FILM
SECRETS FROM
A SUNDANCE
PROGRAMMER
Acknowledgments v
Foreword viii
Introduction xiii
5 Crewing Up 85
6 Casting Talent 98
9 Distribution 147
iv CONTENTS
I have to first thank my mom and dad, Sharon and Robert Munroe.
Without their love, support, international money wire transfers,
and 2 a.m. emergency pep talks (long distance—charges re-
versed) I would still be writing sophomoric (semi-plagiarized
from Norman Mailer) drivel in a welfare hotel room in some
random Canadian city. You two are the best!
Big thanks to the rest of my biological and adopted family for
being such wonderful supporters of my work—Davie, Miguel,
Sergio, Billy, Nicola, Rykie, Serena, Blair, Cory Richard, Phil,
Roberta Marlene, and Wilma and Joe. Thank you to my hubby,
Basil Tsiokos, for convincing me to see the undeniable value of
my Americanization. And of course, to my second mom, J.S.,
who long, long ago, taught me the value of being able to tell a
good story.
Thank you to Romaine Clifton, my Platonic match made in
heaven, who for two years listened, advised, and was a loving
witness to the development of my creativity.
Kudos to my uber talented and very patient editor, Mr. Bren-
dan Duffy, and to his predecessor, Zareen Jaffrey, who from the
start supported this book wholeheartedly. Thanks to all the
staff at Hyperion Books who have made this process a great
one, especially their amazing editor in chief, Mr. Will Balliet.
Thank you, Meaghan Nanson, for transcribing a ridiculous
vi A C K N O W L E D G M E NTS
three people for whom the finishing (really, anyone can start
writing a book) of this book would not have been possible.
To my sister Diana I say simply, you are outstanding. With your
love and care I am guaranteed to be the person I always dreamed
of being. Thank you for being there every step of the way. It is
without hyperbole that I say I couldn’t have done it without you.
To my dear friend and fellow writer, Dennis H. T. Ruud.
Thank you for cross-country movie-making road trips, winter
nights in Alberta playing Scrabble, writing retreats in Kingman,
Arizona, and for being relentless in your support of this endeav-
our and your love for me.
And finally, a world of gratitude to my agent, Jason Anthony,
at Lippincott Massie McQuilkin—the only person who has read
this book as many times as I have. Thank you for gently (and not
so gently) pushing me through the proposal and revision pro-
cess. All CIM jokes aside, this book could not and would not have
happened without your constant support and expertise. Jason, it
is with all my heart I say thank you. For everything.
Foreword
1. A willingness to listen.
2. An attempt at practicality.
3. You’re not relying on chutzpah alone.
Tom Quinn
Magnolia Pictures
Introduction
same people also say that submissions are only watched by vol-
unteer or lowly paid screeners and if these purportedly moronic
peons don’t like it, your film won’t get passed on to a “real” pro-
grammer and therefore never see the light of day.
That’s nonsense. We watched everything—yep, even yours.
And every other film festival’s programmers are acting with the
same integrity. No one wants to miss that next great film just
because they’re exhausted. It’s a film programmer’s life’s mission
to find the best of the best. Seriously.
There are thousands of short films traveling the festival cir-
cuits, and it’s a programmer’s job to wade through them. Seems
like a lot of work? Well, it is. Let me put it into perspective for
you. When I first began putting together the short program at
Sundance we received around 2,200 short films and we watched
every one submitted.
That was 2001 and we selected about 90 shorts. By 2006 we
received 4,532—more than double the number in 2001—and
the selected number dropped to 85. As of 2008, the submitted
number of shorts was 5,400, and once again the number of se-
lected films dropped, to 84. That means less than 2% of the shorts
submitted were selected. Which is why your film needs to be
great. And, believe me, it can be.
Why would one make a short? The most popular reason is to cre-
ate a calling card to shop around to agents, managers, and dis-
tributors. Some filmmakers believe that if you can show your
talents in 15 minutes you can find someone (like an agent) to find
you feature film or television work.
But let’s look at the numbers.
At any given time, there are roughly 10,000 directors with a
short film under their arms shopping it around to the perhaps
INT R ODUC T ION xv
500 legit agents and managers. You need to know how to make
yours stand out from the masses.
Then there are the people for whom short format work is a
stand-alone artistic endeavor. Generally speaking, these film-
makers create visual art that is meant to appear with other cre-
ative work (e.g., spoken word). Confident that this work will
garner them a career, these artists hope to be courted by muse-
ums, art shows, and galleries. Curators seek out this work at film
festivals, self-designed installation art shows, as well as through
submissions. And then there is that rare breed of short film-
maker who has no desire to be a writer/director but instead
plans to produce. Their foray into the short filmmaking world is
solely for the experience.
Most filmmakers make a short film before they go on to lon-
ger-form projects. The first time they sit down to write, they may
write a feature-length script but, with few exceptions, filmmak-
ers first practice their craft in the short-format genre.
And of course there are the “No, I’m not a filmmaker, I just
like to make little movies on my computer for fun” types—like
my friend Dennis Ruud, a brilliant writer, who is always around
with his digital camera positioned on “video” at every family gath-
ering. There’s plenty of useful information in this book for you
too!
You probably first picked up this book because a five-year
Sundance shorts programmer wrote it. This book is my not-so-
humble opinion as well as those of over twenty truly gifted film-
makers and several seasoned industry folk maximized over 200
or so pages.
So many films are well-written, well-structured, with me-
dium-to-good performances and pretty good length, but ulti-
mately fail because of one reason—the director didn’t listen. She
didn’t listen to herself, to her producer who has already done
this ten times, to the actor who couldn’t get the words to tumble
x vi INTRODUCTION
What?
The stakes are never higher than with the script. Don’t
make the mistake that many novice filmmakers do, which is
2 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Over the years I have watched more films than I (and my col-
leagues) care to remember with the following story lines:
K EEP IT F R ES H 3
gatory forever. I’ve seen this film way too many times and it
rarely hits its mark. Stop yourself.
you want to do. You’ll become a director for hire, for people
who want a film to look like Wes Anderson. You’re going to
fall into a hole that you’re never going to be able to step out
of. You must start with your own voice.”
plore what and whom you have chosen to document and then—
most importantly—be able to show us, your audience, why you’ve
chosen them.
I spoke with Diane Weyermann, one of the few people in this
industry I consider a mentor. Diane has been a supporter of
documentary storytelling since her early work at Open Society
Institute and the Soros Foundation. She was also instrumental
in the development of the Sundance Documentary Fund. Over
the course of her career, Diane was involved with the produc-
tion of over three hundred documentaries around the world.
Her present position is Executive Vice President in charge of
Documentary Production at Participant Media (www.partici
pantmedia.com). Participant has executive produced or copro-
duced several extraordinary works, including An Inconvenient
Truth, Darfur Now, Film, Inc., and the narrative films Charlie
Wilson’s War and The Visitor. Diane took a few moments out of
her hectic schedule to talk with me, and she shares:
Experimental
Story and structure are equally as important in experimental
filmmaking as they are in live-action narratives and straightfor-
ward documentaries. The main difference between narrative
and experimental is that experimental films are often more po-
etic than dialogue driven, have certain aspects of filmmaking
that are outside the mainstream box (repetitive editing, non-lin-
ear storytelling, lengthy shots with minimal movement or ac-
tion), and most notably, an emphasis on sound design.
I learned a lot from Mike Plante (one of the programmers of
Sundance’s experimental section, the New Frontier) over our
four years together at Sundance programming shorts. You have
to check out Mike’s Web site, www.iblamesociety.com. During
this eye-opening time, experimental filmmaking became one of
my favorite genres. So much creativity (and time!) is put into
successful experimental works it’s awe-inspiring.
I also learned while following experimental filmmakers’ ca-
reers that most of them are working with the tiniest of budgets
that are self-financed, or financed through small grants, and that
you’re working with a minimal crew or oftentimes alone. It just
cannot be easy to go up to your family and say, “I want to make
a 15-minute short film of tugboats crossing the bay. Will you give
me $3,000?”
12 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
ANIMATION
“First off, and maybe I’ll be ostracized for this, but anima-
tors are way more down to earth than the majority of live-
action filmmakers I’ve met. Some of it is a confidence thing.
Animators, at least the indies, are working directly with their
art. They’re often alone. So, they’re confident about who
they are and what they’re doing. Their film, good or bad, is
their film. I wish that more animators who submit to Ottawa
actually went to the festival first (and if not Ottawa, then
they should go to some of the other respected animation
festivals). Seeing the work and meeting other artists of your
ilk—especially in such a marginalized art form as anima-
tion—is absolutely essential.
“Also, while it is changing to some degree, there seems
to be more of a satisfaction with making short works
[within the animation filmmaking community]. In live ac-
tion, the short film is generally just the stepping stone, the
farm team along the way to the big league of features. In
animation, short works are viewed as a legitimate art
form—like the short story.”
Some people will say otherwise, but I think you’re on the wrong
track if you don’t choose a story that you have some personal
connection to when you’re directing your first film. If you don’t,
it will be tremendously difficult. Give yourself a break on your
first kick at the can. There will be hundreds of things you need
to worry about both on and off set, and it’s important to have an
intuitive grasp of the story so these other tasks get your best
work. (And another reason to stick with what you know: A vet-
eran programmer or an average audience member can feel when
the filmmaker isn’t realizing his vision but instead one that he
thinks will garner the most attention. It’s a sixth sense that film
lovers and curators develop very quickly.)
Michaline Babich is a great filmmaker and television pro-
ducer (The Big O, Feature Doc Competition Los Angeles Film
Festival, 2001; Kiss and Tell, Short Doc Competition Sundance,
2003; Million Dollar Listing, on BRAVO; Gimme Sugar, on MTV’s
Logo 2008). In 2006, after several award-winning television
documentary series, she decided to make her first narrative
short. “Great,” I said, “what’s it about?” Gay. Male. Sex.
Now, the last time she’d had sex with a man (she has been a
lesbian since birth) was in the last century and, as far as I know,
she’s never had sex with a gay man. Suffice it to say, she was a
nervous wreck on set. She’d have all these great ideas, then was
filled with anxiety as she turned to her actors to find out if they
in fact would do whatever it was she was rewriting on the fly. It’s
only because she’s a seasoned television supervising and execu-
tive producer and is used to bluffing that she was able to pull it
off and not lose the confidence of her crew and actors.
16 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Ultimately the film did very well on the festival circuit and in
distribution, but when asked she says:
say, “The characters are transparent and unevolved and the story
is clichéd and stupid.” Same script with totally different reads.
You need to be able to process their feedback while not losing
what it is you want to accomplish in your writing.
And the same is true when seeking rough-cut feedback. Docu-
mentary filmmaker Tiffany Shlain (Life, Liberty, & The Pursuit of
Happiness, Sundance 2003; The Tribe, Sundance 2006; www.tif
fanyshlain.com) recalls the moment after showing her rough cut
to a group of filmmaker and non-filmmaker friends:
your aunt Betty. Hi, it’s called the Internet. In the Resource
Guide at the back of this book there are several online film-
maker communities listed. There is an extraordinary indepen-
dent filmmaking community out there. Log on and tap into it.
Once your short film is successful, many of you will turn your
attention to getting your feature made. Your understanding of
K EEP IT F R ES H 21
But I know (and strongly believe) that for some of you making
films, features are not the be-all and end-all of your career. Film-
maker Kevin Everson (http://people.virginia.edu/~ke5d/) notes:
RESEARCH IS KEY
What can be one of the first steps you take to research and write
a great script? Action. Throughout this book I am going to be
repeating ad nauseam that you need to do your homework. Re-
searching your story, your producer, your crew, your post, and
your film’s life once it’s done is paramount to your success as a
filmmaker.
Talmage Cooley is a great filmmaker who has had signifi-
cant success with his odd storylines. Pol Pot’s Birthday is a dark
comedy that manages to be well written, beautifully shot, per-
fectly cast with a solid run time and payoff. His second, also
WH Y 43- MI NUTE SH O RTS NEVER R EA LL Y WOR K 25
the plot points of your story to assembling the right cast and
crew to last-minute changes in locations, to edits in post-produc-
tion, it can often mean the difference between success and fail-
ure. Flexibility and adaptability relies heavily on knowing your
story inside out.
The bottom line with all of these films is that they are all eco-
nomical in their storytelling. There isn’t a scene that is clearly
the director’s favorite shot that he or she couldn’t let go of in the
edit suite. Every scene moves the story forward. Every single
28 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
“scene selects.” They’re not a whole film but a selected scene from
a longer movie that you haven’t shot yet. And since festivals are
in the business of showing films and not scene selects . . . well,
you get the picture.
Now what this doesn’t preclude you from is taking a section
of your feature script and re-creating a short story from it (as you
lie in bed at night dreaming of someone giving you money to
turn it into a feature. It could happen). Filmmakers successfully
do it all the time. Gowanus, Brooklyn, written and directed by
Ryan Fleck, went on to become Half Nelson (starring Ryan Gos-
ling, Jeff Lima, and the brilliant Shareeka Epps). Gowanus was a
self-contained story, with a great cast (Shareeka was also in the
short) and a satisfying ending. Do some research. Find out what
feature films began as short films and study the form and sto-
ryline of the short versus the feature.
CHARACTERS
vision. This isn’t just true in drama and documentaries. It’s dou-
bly true in comedy. Yes, we are all subjected to the formulaic
comedy storylines and they’re packed with familiar faces and big
budgets, but you wouldn’t be watching them if they didn’t have
one really special character that stands out. Someone created
that character. And here is where I will agree that if they can do
that, you can do that. A great book to check out is The Tools of
Screenwriting by David Howard and Edward Mabley.
Creating characters is simple. What do they want? Who or
where do they want it from? And how do they get it or do they
get it at all? Why do they want it and, if they do get it, at what
cost? Want, Where/Whom, Why.
You, as the screenwriter, need to know this more than any-
thing else. I always tell my clients to write up a paragraph biog-
raphy of each character. Have fun with it! Play around with
them. This is the most control you’re going to have making this
short—writing the characters. What kind of underwear do they
like to wear? What kind of ice cream is their favorite? Did they love
their mom more than their dad?
The most believable characters in a film have a solid back-
story that a capable actor allows to shine through with or with-
out matching dialogue. This still holds true in animated films.
When you’re making a documentary you already have the back-
story, and this can inform what kind of documentary you will
create. And even if you’re making a home movie, you must have
an idea of how you want your story to be revealed.
DIALOGUE
“Don’t fall into the trap of trying to prove how MUCH you
can do, rather than how WELL you can do it. Don’t write a
script filled with tons of characters, crazy locations, etc.,
thinking you need to make your short film feel ‘big.’ It will
be impossible to shoot and you’ll be spreading yourself
too thin for no reason. Spend more of your energy on re-
writing. Shooting a truly brilliant script will do a lot more
for your career than will the fancy production bells and
whistles you load onto your credit cards.”
Am I four minutes into your 10-minute short and still don’t know
what the film is about? Back to the drawing board, my friend.
WH Y 43- MI NUTE SH O RTS NEVER R EA LL Y WOR K 35
I know, I know. You spent four hours figuring out how to cre-
ate a cool menu in DVD Studio Pro. But remember, from mo-
ment one you want your film to tell your story. Do you really
want your story to begin with cliché filmmaker self-indulgence?
Filmmaker Danielle Lurie (In the Morning, Sundance 2005)
shares:
“The best thing you can do for your audience is to give them
something delicious right from the start. Something shock-
ing, something unnerving, or if you’re really good—some-
thing they’ve never seen before. Then they’re hooked, and
are in for the next five, ten, fifteen minutes. People watch
shorts because they are short—if your short lags in the be-
ginning, it’s not going to feel short and people who signed
up to watch something short will feel cheated; on the flip
side, if your film hits the ground running from second one,
your short will seem even shorter than it is and you’ll be
home free. Most filmmakers are under the impression that
for a short film to work, it needs to have an excellent twist at
the end—and I agree with that for the most part—but what’s
even more crucial is that there be something exciting to
hook them in the beginning—no matter how great a twist
is, if the audience has left the theater it won’t matter. In my
WH Y 43- MI NUTE SH O RTS NEVER R EA LL Y WOR K 37
Genius. She knew exactly what she wanted before she got on
set. She made a film about something she knew a lot about.
Learn from that—it’s one of the most important elements to being
continued
42 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
a great director. Know more about your story than anyone else
involved.
When I was prepping Dani and Alice, I acted out the entire
script with fellow filmmaker Trish Doolan (April’s Shower, Bug
in My Ear, What’s True), who is also a trained actor. We played all
the parts, moved furniture around in her living room creating
the entire set. By doing this work, I went back and made the
script even tighter once I realized what no longer needed to be
there. Remember our key word, “economical.” And more impor-
tantly, once on set, when camera moves had to be condensed
due to time restrictions, I knew what the essence of the scene was,
so it didn’t matter if they were sitting, standing, or in a station-
ary car.
And don’t think that only applies to professional filmmakers.
If the only person willing to speak on camera is Aunt Judy, then
you need to be prepared to steer her in the direction you want
this home movie to go and have fun with your editing by high-
lighting exactly how cool she really is.
One sign of talent that agents look for is the ability to recognize
what an appropriate subject for a short film is. It shows good
judgment. If you get incredible performances and it looks great
but the story is unsatisfying in a 15–20 minute format, does that
inspire faith in your ability to make the thousands of decisions
required for a two-hour feature? No, it doesn’t.
Oh, but you cry, “It’s a calling card film! I’m trying to get a
manager or agent to see that I can direct this kind of high con-
cept film.”
Yes, there are agents out there looking for up-and-coming
WH Y 43- MI NUTE SH O RTS NEVER R EA LL Y WOR K 43
“I can’t speak for all agents but when I’m watching shorts
I’m not only looking for those that are glossy, studio-friendly
productions or what we perceive as studio-friendly produc-
tions. Actually it’s usually not. I have to connect to the char-
acter, or the look, or the style. One of my clients, Dito
Montiel, made an experimental short which was shots of
the New York City skyline with recited poetry and if you see
his first feature A Guide to Recognizing Your Saints [starring
Dianne Wiest and Robert Downey, Jr.] that won two awards
at Sundance, you can see the threads of his short film style
in his feature. There’s an example of experimental shorts
translating well into a great independent feature, and now
he’s making his first studio feature. Another short I flipped
44 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
So now you have your story and the structure to your film. It’s
time to find a producer and crew up.
3
How to Avoid
Kicking Your Producer
in the Throat
Now, I’ve also met producers who did nothing but hinder a
project. They lied about their connections, they undermined the
director’s vision, they made it seem as though the project couldn’t
have happened without them, and finally, they were awful to
deal with at the festival (or with the crew, the vendors, the tal-
ent, and the post houses). They spend a lot of time talking and
very little doing. Do not be fooled.
The first thing I’ll tell you is there aren’t many (any?) producers
I know out there who help directors finance their shorts, and by
this I mean they are not going to find you cash money. However,
they should be able to get you donated stuff and a free or close-
to-free crew, but the actual cash you need to go into production
will be all on you.
Good places to start looking for a producer is by inquiring
with other filmmakers and checking out your local filmmaker
group (e.g., IFP in New York provides immeasurable support and
references for budding filmmakers, as does Filmmakers Alliance
in Los Angeles). Most cities, big and small, all over the world
have some sort of filmmaker networking organization.
Film festivals are another great place where you can meet pro-
ducers who have already accomplished what you are trying to: get
a film made that gets selected for a festival. Just make sure to talk
to the director they are there with. Maybe that film got made with
very little help from the person who was given a producer credit
and you’d want to know that before asking them to come onto
your project only to find yourself alone doing all of the work.
52 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Uh, no, no you can’t. And, besides, why would you want to if you’ve
got people willing to help? Believe me, when I watch a film where
54 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Heed the advice in this chapter and I can almost promise you
and your project will find the right producer.
4
Money, Money, Money
PART 1—BUDGETS
● $0–$1,000 range
● $1,000–$5,000 range
● $5,000–$20,000 range
● $20,000–$40,000 range
● $40,000–$75,000 range
● above $75,000
Crew gets paid $100 per day (keeping in mind that this is
peanuts)
$32,000 Budget (Your Grandma Died ’n’ Left You Some Money Budget)
Same as $18,000 Budget
3-Day Shoot
Generator (recommended)
Poor Man’s Process: Actor drives the car with the DP in-
side or the camera on a Hostess Tray or the DP is in the back
of your SUV with the back popped open and your producer
holds onto her belt, so he doesn’t fall out of the car.
Guns: $500 a day gets you a gun expert and for another
$500 maybe he’ll bring a couple guns. You have to get a
permit if you want to fire the weapons.
write the script you want to write but understand that you may
need to shoot a variation of that script in order to stay within bud-
get. I had a client who took out a second mortgage on her house to
finance the post on her $75,000 animation/live action 6-minute
short film. She quickly realized on the festival circuit that it was
time to get another job because while her film was beautiful and
accomplished it did not generate anything above praise in the
press, some meetings in LA, and encouragement to keep making
movies. Her huge investment may very well pay off for her eventu-
ally, but that mortgage has to get paid while she waits.
As everyone will tell you, for a short film it is the director’s job to
find the money. Producers and other crew will help with dona-
tions of products and services, but when a credit card needs to
get pulled out it’s always the director’s. Now, there are pros and
cons to credit card–financed filmmaking. The pros are obvious,
so I’m only going to discuss the cons.
You need to be clear about the kind of person you are. If
you’re like me, you take out $10,000 in credit only to repay al-
most twice that much due to the fact that (like me) you only pay
the minimum payment and the interest rates keep the balance
high. You cannot sleep at night (like me) because you just found
out the film is going to cost another $2,000 in post-production
and you’re already up to your eyeballs in debt and (like me) be-
gin to stockpile prescription sleeping pills.
72 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Do not be like me. Only take out credit you know you can and
will repay within a six-month period of time, and budget appro-
priately for post. Experimental filmmaker Bill Basquin (Frank,
The Odyssey, Martin, Range, The Last Day of November, The Ride)
talks about his strategy:
Should you ask everyone you know with skills to work for free?
Sure. My personal feelings about asking people to work for free
are these: You should always be working toward having a budget
where the crew are being paid at least a $100/day (keep in mind
a hundred bucks a day is working for free for most crew mem-
bers), with an increase in that number for your key people like
MO NEY , M ONEY , M ONEY 73
DP, 1st AD, and script supervisor. And don’t forget that the sound
person and your hair and makeup person have hard costs (bat-
teries, kit fees), so even if you can get them to donate their time
they will still need to be paid for their expendables, which can
run into hundreds of dollars.
Of course, you’ll probably get a few of your friends to work
for free, but from what many filmmakers and producers tell me,
this “free” labor isn’t ever really free. First off, when people
are working for free they tend to see themselves as replace-
able. Maybe they show up to help out in the grip and electric
department . . . maybe they don’t. So now you’re a crew mem-
ber or two short on your already pared-down crew, and it will
now take more time to set up shots . . . and what does that
cost? Money.
You’re thinking, Why would it cost money if I can just get a
few more of my friends to work for free? Well, my dear, you have
to feed people on your set. The more days you shoot, the more it
costs to feed people. And no, pizza is not an option. If I’ve ever
seen a crew walk way slower than they did before lunch it’s after
a director has bought them pizza and garlic bread for their main
meal of the day. Buy them respectable food to eat and you’ll get
respectable results. Mark my words.
You not only need to be creative, you also have to stand in the
Big Belief Place.
The Big Belief Place is simple. You’ve read about it in maga-
zines. You’ve heard filmmakers talk about it on television. Maybe
you’ve even watched The Secret a few times. If you look inside
you have to find the voice that says, “There is nothing I want
more than to make this movie. Nothing is going to stop me from
making this movie. I will make this movie regardless of how
74 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
many times I hear the word ‘No’ or ‘Never’ or the phrase, ‘You’ll
never be able to do this.’ ”
Leah Meyerhoff (www.leahmeyerhoff.com) is a graduate of
NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts, one of the best film schools in
the United States. She also teaches classes there, as well as at
the New York Film Academy, another really great school. She
self-distributed her short film Twitch to over 200 festivals, where
it garnered several jury and audience awards. This grand success
led to her raising several hundred thousand dollars to produce
her feature film Unicorns, which was in pre-production at the
time I was writing this book. She states:
It’s all about you. You are the driving force and your passion has
to shine like a klieg light if you want people to get on board by
investing cash into your career. If you don’t believe this then
move on and get a job because you are going to need this kind of
committed belief in yourself and your creative vision to work in
this industry. Period.
The hype we’ve been hearing for the past several years is that
the digital era is the democratization of filmmaking. Shoot digi-
tally and cut your budget in half! Save time and money! So I did.
And the hype is that you, the filmmaker, are your own produc-
tion house. The camera is portable, the stock light as air and
cheap as a pack of smokes, the software is user-friendly in post-
production, and you eliminate several positions that you would
have needed in post if you shot on film.
Not so. Not at all. Not without a significant investment of
your time learning the intricacies of the technology.
It was the summer of 2008 and I was standing in the kitchen
of filmmaker Joshua Leonard, moaning about making DVDs for
festival submissions, and he said, “Babe, all you need is an Eric
Escobar in your life and all things become clear.” And he’s right,
and I do have one very clever fount of information—Eric Esco-
bar—in my life. Whenever Final Cut Pro began blinking its er-
ror message, “Roberta you are a loser. If you try to ‘submit’ this one
more time we’re shutting you down. Call Eric.” (Yes, it did), I sent
an SOS text message to Mr. Escobar and magically, within
twenty minutes or so my problem was solved.
Filmmaker Eric Escobar (Night Light, Sundance 2003; One
Weekend a Month, Sundance 2005) shares his thoughts on why
you need to understand the process as you are budgeting and rais-
ing money for your movie. I talked to most people interviewed for
this book in person or on the phone, but there was no way I could
ask my transcriber to fully grasp on the page what Eric had to say,
so I asked him to write it down. Yes, you may have to read it twice
to truly understand what he’s exposing. I did.
“In a way, it’s a good thing that with 35mm, every foot of
film is precious. You don’t just start shooting and hope ev-
erything works out. You have to plan your days perfectly, so
you do the work required. Plus, at the end of the day, both
production and post-production is still costly with digital.
You still have to pay people on-set, you still have to pay an
editor, and now you’ve got hours more footage than you’d
have had with film, you still have to pay for a digital interme-
diate, you still have to output to something, and HD trans-
fers do not come cheap. And then you still have to deal with
sound design and mixing. And of course there is the issue of
having a professional-looking film. It’s possible with digital
but what I tend to see a lot is people acting like they’re six-
teen-year-old boys who just smoked a joint and shot each
other skateboarding in their backyard.”
the ridiculous cost of parking in New York City and the $115
parking ticket we got our first day), $500 on a hard drive pur-
chase (to download the HDVX P2 cards onto), $200 on rehears-
als, not to mention the $800 travel budget it cost me to go to
New York to shoot. Had I done more research and done the kind
of preparation I’ve been advising you to do, I could have saved at
least a day and a half of shooting time.
And post, as Geary warns, was still just as expensive and
time-consuming as when I shot on film. I had to have three edi-
tors because I had shot so much footage that I couldn’t decide in
a timely manner what shots to use in order to appropriately pace
the film and have a good run time (the first assembly cut was a
whopping 32 minutes. I wanted to kill myself for shooting so
much). So the first layer was the assembly cut edit, then a rough
cut edit, then a fine cut before I locked picture. Instead of the
month-long process I expected, it took me several months to
work it out.
Ridiculocity (my favorite made-up noun) coupled with high-
end procrastination left me a few thousand dollars poorer be-
cause of all that footage. Plus all that begging I had to do with
my famiglia to re-invest when I got to post-production since I’d
gone overbudget just shooting the film (and, of course, drinking
to forget my problems, in the East Village).
There are many filmmakers like Eric out there who cannot
wait to try out the latest and greatest in digital technology, but I
mostly found that directors and DPs say they’d rather shoot on
film while producers and line producers think it’s better for first-
time filmmakers to shoot digitally. Which makes sense really,
because film is sexy and luxurious, while digital, on the surface,
seems cheap and unemotional. Film is historically the only way
to create art in this medium—video is relegated to television,
commercials, and music videos. Though I’m starting to recon-
sider as my hero, Mr. Sidney Lumet (whose book I tell you to
read in Chapter 6) is eighty-three, a legendary director, has made
82 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
over fifty feature films, and several of his latest were shot digi-
tally.
But a really great reason to shoot digitally is that it can lessen
the amount of equipment and people on set and allow you to fo-
cus your energies on more important things—like, let’s say, per-
formances. Filmmaker Madeleine Olnek (Hold-Up, Make Room
for Phyllis, Countertransference), a firm believer in shooting digi-
tally, makes the great point about focusing on story versus on
high-budget technology:
“As a director, you have to decide what are the most impor-
tant things to you—literally, what are you going to place a
value on. Shooting format can partially determine that, espe-
cially in the limited fund-raising world of shorts. Equipment-
wise too, sometimes placing a value on one thing means
placing less of a value on something else. If you have a gigan-
tic crane shot and a cube truck that you are negotiating the
operation of, are you really going to have any space of your
brain left to pay attention to the nuances of your actors’ per-
formances? Personally, I think story and performances are
the most important thing, and I always try to shoot in a
cheap format (usually 24p), so that everyone’s attention is on
creating magic with the actors rather than on gigantic load-
ins, equipment operation, etc. I try to spend a lot of money
on really good food so that people feel appreciated and work
well. Hollywood blockbusters do the big-production value
thing the best; people are drawn to watching shorts because
of the very exciting and unusual stories that can be told in
the short film format. I think it makes the most sense, if you
are going to be making a short, to put your attention and re-
sources into the acting and the story.”
Should you organize a car wash? Yes. Should you call your ex-
boyfriends, ex-girlfriends, aunts, uncles, cousins, and grandpar-
ents to contribute $10–$1,000 to your production? Yes. Many
smart filmmakers I know, like the unstoppable Erin Greenwell
(Big Dreams in Little Hope, Commitment Ceremony, Overnight
Book) signed up at www.justgive.org. They offer a wonderful
service where people can donate to your project and receive a
tax deductible receipt, provided that you are a registered not-for-
profit, with 501(c)(3) status with the IRS. Go online and do some
research.
ing where there will be more than three people I call her, give
her each person’s stats, and she gives me an outline of how to
handle my stuff within the group. Monica is also a huge movie
fan who came on board not to just donate but also to staff our
craft service table during the Dani and Alice shoot. She was
happy to share her thoughts around the group dynamics on a
film set:
Post-Production Supervisor
Before I even shoot? A good post supervisor will be able to walk
you through the treacherous waters of post before you start shoot-
ing. My friend, I could fill an entire book on the post of Dani and
Alice because I didn’t have a post supervisor and had no idea how
intricate the details of post were. And they are intricate whether
you’re shooting on film or digitally. Find someone who has done
post many times on the format you’re shooting. Ask them to walk
you through the various possibilities of finishing your film. And
they are indeed various, my friend. Shoot on 16mm, blow up to
35mm or output to HD. Shoot digitally, have animated sections,
green screen shots, and want to output to film. Shoot on 35mm
and output to HD. Shooting on HD but editing with a 29.97
frame rate instead of 24. The variations are endless. But if you
listen carefully you will learn what options there are and how
much they cost and how long they will take to achieve.
Remember way back to Chapter 2, how you’re supposed to
know everything there is to know about your story? Now you
can have a professional post supervisor help you with the techni-
cal aspects so you can achieve your goals.
A good post supervisor will:
Editor
What? Another post person before I even start shooting my
movie? Look, you think you know exactly how this film will look
once you’re done with the script, but an editor can help you
(along with your DP) refine your shot list before you start pro-
duction. You will be sad when you get into the edit and he or she
says, “Sorry, you can’t do that, you don’t have that coverage” or
“Yeah, I tried to do that but the shots don’t match up.”
My editor on both my shorts, Paul Heiman, told me he always
gives filmmakers what he calls the Rough Cut Speech (more on
this later, in Chapter 8). It’s a gentle reminder that just in case
you may not have everything, he has come up with solutions to
help you tell your story. You want to work with someone like
Paul, a truly talented editor who wants to help you get the best
film possible, not just get you out the door because you’re not
paying him or her the union scale rate of $2,800 a week.
A good editor will:
● Give you options and not try to make you take the easi-
est road in order to make their job easier, regardless of
how much you’re paying them—they go the extra dis-
tance.
● Be creative when you don’t have the coverage truly help-
ing you tell your story with the footage you have.
● Be honest with you about how much time they have to
spend on your film (so you don’t freak out that it’s tak-
ing twice as long as you thought it would).
● Help you get to a difficult decision without making that
decision for you without your input.
book.) It is in the edit that most films are created for the second
time. And your responsibility as a director is to treat your editor
like a creative partner. This isn’t just about being nice and show-
ing up with dinner (though I’m sure they’d appreciate your ef-
forts) but it’s also about realizing that a really good editor has
worked on a number of films before yours. They have insights,
experience, and know-how that you do not at this stage in your
career and they are able to see things that work and don’t work
long before you are.
Director of Photography/Cinematographer
The DP is your best friend on your shoot. And he or she is the
person who can be a leader in making your shoot run beauti-
fully, or create such chaos that every new setup is like getting a
root canal.
As I said earlier, Geary McLeod was a dream to work with
because, well, because he’s a bloody genius. He and I had done
such great prep work (which he essentially taught me in pre-
production how to accomplish) that he understood exactly the
look I was going for, had great respect for the actors and their
contribution, and was instrumental in our having a top notch
Key Grip, Gaffer, and camera crew.
Geary made sure I was prepared. He insisted on a “look book”
(which is a book you, the director, create with colors, images, and
tones that you’d like your film to have. I used magazines, tearing
out photos that had elements of what I was looking for visually
and tonally). And he also insisted on a completely-thought-
through shot list, which was invaluable once we started having to
lose shots due to time constraints. I already knew which ones
were the ones that could get thrown out.
Now, I’ve been on shoots where the DP is crazy disorganized,
screams at the crew, has contempt for the actors, ignores your
requests for changes, and the worst—thinks they know better
than you how the film should be directed. This is a DP who re-
90 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
ally wants to be a director, and you want to stay as far away from
this person as possible.
Zachary Adler (Familiar Strangers, I’m Reed Fish, Something in
Between, Late) discusses a nightmare moment:
“I had two different 1st ADs. We shot six days then we shot
another two days. I really think if I’d had the second 1st AD
initially we would have been able to get it all shot in those
first six days. My advice to every filmmaker is make cuts
elsewhere in order to hire a top-notch 1st AD who you pay a
good rate to. A 1st AD is not there for any other reason than
for you to make your day of shooting. They’re not getting
shots for their reel or worried about banking credits.”
And director of photography Alison Kelly, who has been the cin-
ematographer on more than twenty short films and several fea-
tures, notes:
knows a place that will give you a few pieces of critical used gels
for free. You need to cover a bunch of windows on a location and
they know where to grab used (and free) duvatine. They have
built relationships with filmmaker resources centers like Film-
makers Alliance and IFP and companies like Color by Deluxe,
FotoKem, or Kodak that you will greatly benefit from.
Script Supervisor/Continuity
The Script Supervisor is the person who sits beside the direc-
tor documenting each and every take. They will also act as a
second pair of eyes for continuity in each take. They make notes
based on what the director says: “I like that one,” “She missed
her mark,” and so on. They might lean over and say, “Julie had
her hand on Yolonda’s thigh when she said her line in the last
take and on this take she didn’t.” They are there because you are
never going to remember which take you liked and which you
didn’t. They are there because you are never going to notice some-
thing as small as a hand on a thigh. On small shoots people tend
to forget about the Scripty. Why they’re important: If you get
into your edit and cannot remember which shot of the nine
takes you really liked and now you’re wasting valuable time with
your editor looking for it . . . you needed a Script Supervisor. If
you get into your edit and realize your actor says one line four
C R EWING UP 95
different ways, doing four different things with his body, looking
in four different directions . . . you needed a Script Supervisor.
If you shot on film and the picture and sound slates don’t
match . . . you needed a Script Supervisor. (And if you need fur-
ther evidence of how important they are, Wikipedia has a full
page dedicated to what a Script Supervisor is responsible for, on-
set and off.)
making that passionate love (noted above) looks like she’s ready
for a photo shoot—springy curls, glossy lipstick, and all—you
needed a Makeup and Hair person.
GENIUS SURROUND
It should be clear to you by now that how good your film will
be is based solely on how good of a team you’ve surrounded
yourself with. I call this “genius surround.” Of course things will
go wrong, but if you surround yourself with genius, things
will go a lot smoother.
All the DPs I spoke to for this book always said at some point
in the interview that when they first meet with the director they
also always evaluated the rest of the team with the same detail.
Sure the script is great, the director seems to have a clear vision,
but who is producing the film? Who will be their 1st AD? Their
editor? Script Supervisor? What kind of support does this direc-
tor have to realize her vision? Alison Kelly notes:
The best gift you can give somebody is to make that creative
space for them.”
You know your script is great because you did everything I told
you to do in Chapter 1 and now you’re ready to hire those amaz-
ing people who are going to bring your carefully crafted charac-
ters to life!
Adrienne Weiss is a great acting coach and film director in
her own right who facilitates workshops for directors (www
.directingactors.com). Her practical and craft-based approach of-
fers directors, screenwriters, and actors concrete tools to marry
their imagination and intuition with the archetypes of dramatic
storytelling. Adrienne has directed several features including
Love, Ludlow (Sundance 2005), and has coached several re-
nowned actors including Paul Giamatti, Joan Cusack, and Lili
Taylor. She shares her wisdom:
Why would you hire a casting director? It’s simple. Just like you
have a producer to be the person who deals with the crew and
the vendors, your casting director can act as a buffer between
you and the hiring of the actors. They’ve done this on a hundred
films—they simply know more than you do. So many directors I
know think, “Oh, no one is going to want to work with me. This
is my first short and I should be prepared to go it alone.” That’s
nonsense—you’d be surprised, with the right script and the right
attitude, exactly how many people you can get on board with
your project. Matthew (Matt) Lessall is a freelance casting di-
rector based in Los Angeles. He’s been nominated for three
Artios Awards and has cast many, many shorts that have ap-
peared at festivals all over the world as well as more than thirty
feature films including Mean Creak (Sundance 2004) and Rocket
Science (Sundance 2007) (www.lessallcasting.com). He concurs:
● Doesn’t tell you she can get Halle Berry for your short.
● Keeps her appointments with you.
● Provides you with as many options as possible.
● Is prepared for every audition.
● Never lets you settle.
Though Ms. Berry would have been lovely, I knew I was going
to use Yolonda Ross (Alice) and Guinevere Turner (Alice’s best
friend, Olivia), but I still needed my Dani and my Nick (Dani’s
best friend) and Matt was instrumental in finding Lisa Branch
and Linda Husser.
C A S T ING T A L ENT 103
THE AUDITION
actor you feel in your gut is the person who is going to create the
character you’ve been dreaming of but is nervous in the room
and gives a rather lackluster performance. Also keep your eyes
peeled for the actor who comes in to audition for one role but
you know would be perfect for another. Thank her and politely
ask her to read for the other character. Again, keep that creative
brain wide open. Remember, these are the people who are going
to inspire your written word with compelling action. If you do
not spend the pertinent amount of energy getting the best talent
your film is doomed.
I got very lucky in Dani and Alice. Lisa Branch (who played
Dani) nailed the audition and nailed the actual performance in
the film itself. And once on set we rarely had to do a retake be-
cause of her. The same for Yolonda Ross (who played Alice). And
on Happy Birthday, my second short that starred Julie Goldman,
Deak Evgenikos and I brought back, in very different roles, both
Yolonda and Lisa. I would often find myself turning to my pro-
ducer, Marina Guzman, to say, “Wow, Yolonda is such a great
actor! Man, Lisa was amazing in that take! Or Deak (Evgenikos)
is a one-take wonder!” Or, “Julie Goldman is a rock star!”
These are the kind of actors you want to suss out in auditions:
performers like Lisa, Yolonda, Deak, and Julie. Actors who not
only embody the characters you’ve written, but who are also
professionals, great listeners, and the kind of performers who
take nothing personally.
Some directors and casting directors will set up a video cam-
era to tape the auditions. I did this, but to be honest I don’t think
I ever looked at those tapes afterwards. I always went with my
gut. Abigail Severance explains her process:
DO YOUR RESEARCH
You will be sad if you don’t take the time not only to develop a
solid relationship between you and your actors but to allow them
to relate to each other as well. Adrienne Weiss comments:
“We’d just filmed a truly horrific rape scene, and I had never
felt so terrible. The scene was so graphic that I knew the ac-
tors really must have felt like they were actually in that real-
ity, and an enormous sense of guilt came over me that I had
put two people in such a compromising situation. I felt dirty
and disgusting for having made a woman get a very good
sense of what it must feel like to have been raped, and for
having made a man feel the evil of being a rapist. I remem-
ber I just sat in my chair by myself as the crew packed up in
the distance, feeling sick to my stomach at having just put
everyone through that horrid experience. I was in a somber
daze questioning whether this whole thing was worth it
when my two actors—the ones who had just done the rape
scene together—both came up to me with big smiles on
their faces.
“ ‘Thanks for having us do that,’ the actress, Anais, said.
“ ‘Yeah—that was one of the best acting experiences of
my life,’ came from Ludwig, the actor.
“ ‘Really?’ I said.
“Anais replied, ‘I mean, it was really hard, but I am really
glad to have done it.’ ”
reading is when I say the line from the script in the manner or tone
I want the actor to say it because they’re not saying it the way I
think it should be said. They hate that; I hate feeling so out of op-
tions that I have to do that; and, truly, it rarely brings the results
I’m seeking. I wrote the script, I mapped out the entire film, and
one of the things I also did was repeatedly, hundreds of times by
this point in the process, hear the words being said in a specific
way. I took the opportunity to ask acting/directing coach Adrienne
Weiss to fill us in on some techniques to help smooth the path:
“Usually, what the problem is, is that you want them to say it
in a certain tone. And they’re not saying it in that tone, so it
feels like, ‘The only way I can get them to say the line with
the tone is to say it,’ so they get it nonverbally almost. It’s
transmitted to them without you describing it in other
words. Say something like, ‘I can’t live without you’ instead
of ‘Don’t leave me.’ You can communicate the emotional
tone by paraphrasing the words. The problem with a line-
reading is, if they hear those words in the tone you want
them, they then don’t own those words personally. One of
the techniques I use I call the ‘bad friend director.’ For ex-
ample, when you’re having a conflict a good friend will help
you gain perspective on it, calm you down, not get you more
agitated. A bad friend goes, ‘Yeah, he is an asshole. You
should send an angry e-mail.’ They will encourage your agi-
tation, your anger, your foolish desires. In life, you want to
avoid that. But when you’re directing, it’s a very positive
thing to be a bad friend.”
DIRECTING ACTORS
short film there are expectations that it’s only going to screen
in film festivals. But by signing a SAG agreement, if it does
make money, you’re agreeing to pay the actors their rate.
The rules are there for a reason. Take care of your actors,
because you don’t want them to feel neglected. You never
know in ten years’ time where the agents or managers of
those actors are going to be. They could be heads of distribu-
tion companies or production companies, and they’re going
to need to say, ‘Yeah, I remember her, she was good. She
knows what she’s doing.’ It should just be part of the process,
so just deal with it like a professional.”
And when dealing with your actors it’s imperative that they
feel that you not only know what you’re doing but that you also
want to protect them. If an actor comes on board for free and
you turn around and make a profit on your film for thousands of
dollars (not likely, but it could happen), then you want to return
to those actors and pay them a fair rate.
Be very careful about what you say to actors in the casting ses-
sion and on-set. Even in a big city like Los Angeles (where there
are literally tens of thousands of people vying for acting work),
many actors know one another through classes or work and they
talk about the directors they’re working with. If you develop a
not-so-great reputation within the indie actor scene, word will
spread quickly—very quickly. Be respectful, be on time, and
know exactly what you want from your actors. Like I said early
on, your girlfriend is not an actress. Okay, maybe she is, but she
probably isn’t a good one . . . yet. You’ll know, in your gut, if
she’s up to the performance. And if she’s not, do not, and I mean
it, DO NOT ignore your instincts. If I had a nickel for every film
I’ve seen that had a great script, good camera, and good tone
C A S T ING T A L ENT 113
that was excruciating to get through because the lead was un-
watchable, I’d have enough money to pay Halle Berry her quote to
act in my next short.
And the opposite is also true. A standout performance can
change a cliché script into a watchable and programmable film.
Think about that in casting and on set. Stand and deliver for
your script because when people are tired, and have been sub-
jected to forty-seven camera moves, in the end it will only be you
who can encourage them to endure in order to get the shots you
need.
How a director treats her actors is paramount to the success
of their film. Aurora Guerrero is part of Los Angeles–based Wo-
myn Image Makers (WIM). WIM is comprised of four Xicana
independent filmmakers and artists, Maritza Alvarez, Dalila
Mendez, Claudia Mercado, and Ms. Guerrero. Since 1999, they
have created shorts such as Pura Lengua (2005 Sundance Film
Festival), Viernes Girl (HBO/NYILFF), and most recently Aquí
Estamos y No Nos Vamos (2006 Los Angeles Latino International
Film Festival). Because her films always have this depth of char-
acter, I approached Aurora to provide some insight on how she
works with actors, and she shared this valuable piece of informa-
tion:
* Many DPs hire a Camera Operator whom they tell where to move the camera.
Alison is noting that she doesn’t often do this.
C A S T ING T A L ENT 115
who begin to jump ship, it’s the whole crew. I’ve seen it hap-
pen and as soon as the grips and electrics lose confidence in
what’s happening with the director, it’s such an uphill battle
to get anything done. Generally people who work on shorts
are underpaid or not paid at all, and they don’t want to be
there if they feel like they’re wasting their time. Nobody
wants to be a part of something that’s just going to be a stu-
pid movie.”
Treat your actors as well as you can afford to. Always make
sure there is at least one PA assigned to the actors (more than
one if you have the resources), always make sure to have appro-
priate craft service and meals available to them. And if you can’t
116 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
have great food for them on-set, then let them know that up
front! That way they can prepare for themselves, taking care of
their bodies and minds so they can give you the best they’ve got
to offer.
And if you want to have them come back the next day of
shooting, know what you want from them, be on time, and don’t
waste their time on-set with crew squabbles, lack of preparation,
or lengthy lighting setups without the benefit of stand-ins (peo-
ple who are of the approximate height, weight, and skin tone of
the actor who will be lit).
Kelli Garner (Thumbsucker, The Youth in Us, Dreamland, Lars
and the Real Girl) shared what a really great director can do:
And, finally, do not treat your actors like they’re set props
providing a backdrop to your stellar camera work, crane shots,
several-thousand-dollar production design, and dreams of
Sundance. Chase Gilbertson, another one of Adrienne Weiss’s
students, encapsulates one major mistake many first-time film-
makers make:
works under pressure and they get to see how prepared you are.
People are usually fresh and ready to do whatever it takes. That
first day is your day to prove you’ve got the chops to make a great
film. Carter Smith shares an experience on Bugcrush:
With the films I’ve shot so far, the difference between Dani
and Alice and Happy Birthday was enormous. One was a drama
about domestic violence, the other a comedy about sex toys
and pregnancy. The place that I pulled my strength from on
both films was paramount to the success of their respective
shoots. It doesn’t matter if your narrative film is a drama, com-
edy, or something in between. Your attitude toward the con-
tent of your script and the preparation you do to accomplish
the storytelling will, to a large degree, determine the success
of your shoot.
Pick something simple. Usually the first thing you start looking
at is locations. It is locations themselves (along with produc-
tion design) that help to create the story you want to tell. There
isn’t a single filmmaker out there who doesn’t have a “location
story” to tell that usually starts really badly and ends with a
gift from the heavens. Allow me to share a couple of my own
P R ODUC T ION 121
ON-SET ETIQUETTE
And, again, be nice about it. You do not want the setups to slow
way down because you were a jerk to the gaffer or one of his col-
leagues. This isn’t the army, it’s a film set. People are working
hard (often at below their normal feature film day rate if it’s a
short) to realize your vision. Be mindful of that truth. Steak
House shares her wisdom:
And I’ve heard the same thing about the producer’s attitude
toward the rest of the crew. You choose a producer based on her
ability to get things done, but it cannot be at the cost of the in-
tegrity of the set, as Madeleine Olnek points out:
124 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
and the producer can sit and watch the monitor in video vil-
lage). I was not only impressed by his attitude, I was inspired
by it. Having Geary’s million-dollar smile made everyone on
the shoot feel respected and important, including the actors,
which is critical.
Same thing happened on the shoot of Happy Birthday. The
director of photography, Alexa Harris, never stopped joking and
laughing with the actors, her crew, and the PAs. She even made
sure to include the often-ignored hair and makeup department
(Angela Marinis, who came all the way to New York from Los
Angeles just to help out).
As I noted previously, this was such a low-budget shoot that
was understaffed from the top down, having Alexa there laugh-
ing even when things were going wrong really made a huge dif-
ference. In the moment, of course, I wanted to kill her! What
was there to laugh about? We were hours behind in the sched-
ule! People we were counting on hadn’t shown up! We’d lost a
key location! But let me say for the record, retrospectively, she
had the perfect attitude and personality to handle all these un-
foreseen challenges.
ON-SET ATTITUDE
Your attitude on-set is indicative of how the shoot will turn out.
I’ve been on plenty of sets where the director was either hiding
in video village (where the monitor and “director” chair is set
up) forcing the producer to deal with the crew, or they were
walking around set checking in on almost every crew member.
While I don’t think you want to be that director asking a million
questions that are essentially none of your business (Wow, how
many C-stands did we rent?), I do think it’s important for the crew
to get a sense of who you are. Hiding in video village isn’t the
way to make that happen.
I asked several producers how they dealt with directors who
126 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
were difficult to deal with (not you or me, of course, but they’re
out there). Allen Bain (Julia, Camp, Cry Funny Happy, Manito,
XX/XY), producer and owner of The 7th Floor in New York City,
shares his philosophy:
INSURANCE
PERMITS
Permit rules are different in every city. You will have to contact
your local film commission and find out what those rules are.
For example, in New York City, you can shoot without a permit
as long as you are not mounting the camera on a tripod. In Los
Angeles, the police don’t care how you’re shooting—they want to
see a permit issued by the city. Period.
I think you should always get permits to shoot on location. It’s
the professional thing to do, it’s the legally correct thing to do,
and it saves you headaches when you’re shooting on location—
P R ODUC T ION 129
you have a legal document from the city approving your shoot.
Producer Steak House comments:
“If you don’t have a permit just know you may get shut down
[by the police], so have a back-up plan or be a great smooth
talker. One time we were stealing shots outside a hospital
and my lead actor dropped his prop gun when he got out of
the car. Next thing you know I was talking to five cops. It
took me a minute but I convinced them to let us finish and
that the gun was fake, but it could have gone the other way.
We had a permit for the previous eighteen days that we
could show them and it was our last night. Every shoot day is
a miracle on an indie and every now and then the miracle
doesn’t come through, so be ready with plan B.”
salsa, fruit, and Red Vines licorice. (Note: If you don’t have Red
Vines at Craft Service bad things might happen to you.)
Every producer I talked to said that one of the biggest budget
lines on a short is food. And as the director you really want to
feed your crew well. Though if you know you can only pay for
one meal (usually lunch or dinner), be sure to have your 1st AD
note on the call sheet that people should come to the set already
having eaten. If the cast and crew know there will only be Craft
Service until the dinner break they’ll come prepared. And no,
you don’t have to have the catering be from an expensive restau-
rant, but fast food isn’t your answer either. Take notes from my
students at Inner-City Filmmakers, where many of them had
their moms cook for the cast and crew—hot-off-the-grill pupu-
sas can go a long way.
REMEMBER TO BREATHE
In the end, what really counts is that you made a movie. There
are hundreds of people out there talking about making a movie—
but you did it. Take a moment, sit back, and pat yourself on the
back! Filmmaker Kami Chisholm (Ftf: Female to Femme, The In-
somniacs) shares a shining moment in making her last short
film:
Post-production is what happens after you shoot your film. From ed-
iting to music, to sound editing and mixing, this is the one area
most up-and-coming filmmakers have little knowledge about. Ah,
but you already knew that, so you have since heeded my advice in
Chapter 5 and hired a Post-Production Supervisor . . . right? Right?
No? Okay my friend, let me further outline why you need to
approach post-production as earnestly as you approached your
film in pre-production.
In those early days of being a baby filmmaker on Dani and Alice, I
took my Dolby tape (from my sound mix at Soundelux/Todd A-O)
to Color by Deluxe film lab along with my opticals (those are the
credits—I’ll explain those later). Marc Fishman, my customer rep at
Deluxe, called to say, “Hey, Roberta, you left your sound tape here.”
I was speechless. Wasn’t it supposed to go with my film?? I immedi-
ately recovered—okay, I lied—and said, “Oh, wow, right, thanks, I’ll
be right over to pick it up.” I then called a friend who explained what
happens to your sound (when you shoot on film) once it’s mixed.
Don’t be me. Both do your homework AND hire a Post Super-
visor.
P OS T 133
idea of what is coming, but from what I hear, it’s all a ruse. No
one wastes their time doing any significant work until you send
them the final picture, because ten times out of ten you and your
editor make changes significant enough to make their prelimi-
nary work useless.
THE EDIT
true to the vision of the story. And when Effie saw it she took me
outside and said, “I’m going to find you another editor. Today.”
To that editor’s credit, he was working for free and admitted up
front that he didn’t really have enough “free” time to complete
the film. I more than understood his position because working
with first-time directors is not terribly easy on many levels, and
editing is one of the toughest stages a film goes through. We’re
overconfident with some scenes and suicidal with others.
Paul was able to explain my story back to me in words I could
understand and ultimately made me a better filmmaker. Paul
explains, in his Louisiana drawl, what a good editor tries to do:
“You’re never really sure where things are going to fall in the
edit, which I think makes filmmakers, especially first-time
ones, very nervous. I always start the process with what I
like to call my ‘Rough Cut Speech.’ Walking the filmmaker
through that first assembly/rough cut edit always makes my
job a whole lot easier. A good editor will explain in detail
how this [their shots/coverage] is going to cut together. How
to focus on brevity, pacing for emotional balance—I mean,
are you making a lackluster featurette or a powerful short?
A good editor can throw in some temp music so you can
figure out your musical cues before you meet with your
composer. And, I guess, finally a good editor is really there
to help you be honest with yourself out of the eye of the pro-
ducer on the film, or the actors you have to leave on the cut-
ting room floor, or the crew that worked fourteen hours on
a scene that just isn’t working anymore.”
what they’re looking at. And, of course, the right person always
comes along when you’re ready. Carter Smith knew he’d found
the right editor on Bugcrush:
“Holle Singer had read the script from day one. We’d worked
on commercials together and we clicked on the approach I
wanted to explore with Bugcrush. I’d seen her work and Holle
was as much a perfectionist as I was. She was amazing. I re-
ally think I found the editor that I want to work with for a
long time to come. She knew what the pacing needed to be
in order to be compatible. I’d leave for a week and let her
work on her own and come back and the stuff she’d worked
on was brilliant. One of the reasons the film is so long is be-
cause she kept me on point during the lengthy driving scene
that I was stumbling over. Then it was brought to my atten-
tion that the Sundance deadline was September 30th. I was
at home when I got [Roberta’s] e-mail. It was one of those
heart-dropping-to-the-pit-of-your-stomach e-mails. You were
so purposely ambiguous. We e-mailed back and forth and
when I finally realized that you liked the film I was very ex-
cited. Roberta Munroe likes my film. I’m going in the right
direction. But everybody said to me, ‘You cannot make a
37-minute film! No festival is going to take such a long short!’
It was Holle who told me I could not cut it down. We went
back and did ADR [Additional Dialogue Recording]* to ac-
company that scene. And it is this very scene that freaked
people out the most. That took the film up several notches.
You knew something bad was going to happen. Without
that scene I don’t think Bugcrush would have had the impact
it did.”
* ADR is when a director brings their actors back to record a voice over or re-re-
cord dialogue that wasn’t properly recorded during the actual shoot. It’s also re-
ferred to as “looping.”
138 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
When I was shooting Dani and Alice all I knew about editing was
what I knew worked and what didn’t, based on the time I spent
programming films. Which means I knew how great editing
could move a story along, but didn’t necessarily understand the
technical aspects of how one got there.
Not so with Happy Birthday. Because Paul and I worked in his
home studio I spent many many many hours sitting (often lying)
on his couch watching him create the magic. I would ask Paul,
“Well, can’t we just cut back to Julie [Goldman] saying blah blah
blah?” He would look at me with compassion and explain, “Yeah,
that would’ve been great, but you didn’t shoot a single [only Julie
in the frame] saying that.”
Rats.
But then Paul, because he’s a great editor, would continue
with, “But what we can do is . . .” And this is the person you want
to work with, the editor who is creative enough and has watched
all of your footage, so that they are able to offer you alternate
solutions to scenes that aren’t working. But remember, if you
didn’t shoot it in the first place . . .
I knew after shooting Happy Birthday that my next project
would be a feature. After Paul’s compassionate divulgence, I told
myself: I will completely understand how editing works by the
time this short is done. Both Paul and Eric Escobar, if asked,
would be able to recount with great clarity the many phone
calls I made asking questions (one doesn’t like to call them stupid
questions . . . however, I’ll let you make your own inferences
here) about the intricacies of Final Cut Pro.
I did indeed learn a lot, not only about why shot lists and sto-
ryboards are important but why, as a filmmaker, your knowl-
edge of how editing works is paramount to your success on-set.
When the sun is going down, and you’ve only got 40 minutes to
get a shot in, you’ll know which one really matters to the edit.
P OS T 139
MUSIC
“For me, the sound design has been one of the most impor-
tant elements of my films since, as you explained, most of-
ten sound and music replace dialogue. Of course this has
changed in my recent feature Women Without Men, where
we do have dialogue, yet the sound design remains essential
in conveying the emotional, rather spiritual aura of the nar-
rative and the characters. In the past two films, I have had
the honor to collaborate with Ryuichi Sakamoto, whose
compositions are quite minimal yet highly emotional. His
score went beyond conventional sound design; rather, it
helped me conceptually to define various spaces (whether
magic, real, or dreamlike), or the character (exploring per-
sonal and social dilemma). Ultimately, since my narratives
tend to have a political overtone, particularly related to my
country, Iran, the music tends to emphasize the universality
and timeless dimensions of the subject matters.”
placed by your earnest best friend, neither can the sound be re-
corded by the tallest person on set. Erin Greenwell, a filmmaker
(Big Dreams in Little Hope, aka Mom, Overnight Book, 21), and a
professional sound person, shares this:
Mixing sound once your film is done is one of those things that
is actually kind of fun for you, the director (or at least it was for
me). Here is where you can add layers of sound effects to en-
hance the story—and sometimes the performance. On Dani and
Alice, Lisa Branch was a little nervous in one scene. We tried it
several ways, but her voice kept going up octaves, which belied
the words she was saying. In the sound mix, Glenn T. Morgan,
Marc Fishman, Peter Staubli, and the awesome team from Soun-
delux were able to bring her voice down a few octaves, creating a
believable moment. If I knew this was one of those things you
can “fix in post,” I wouldn’t have taken so many takes!
Depending on your budget (or your ability to get favors for
free or on the cheap), you might be in a home studio or, as I was
on Dani and Alice, in a sound stage studio with more gadgets at
your disposal than you could have ever dreamed of. Regardless
of where you mix your sound, the sound editor you hire will be
invaluable to your final product. When I talked with Glenn T.
Morgan (Soundelux), he was clear about what you should be do-
ing as a director:
hear the story be told. A good sound job is a good sound job,
and it shouldn’t really be called sound design. And the [sound]
mix is a blend of all the words and the music and the sound
effects. There are times when the music will support you
and get to the story, so you want to let each of those disci-
plines support the story and guide you through the journey.
As hard as it may be to think about, you need to have a clear
point of view. The most disconcerting thing about working
for a first-time filmmaker is they’re going to have anxiety.
They’re going to be insecure and that is sometimes masked
by aggressiveness. But all can be forgiven if you’re clear about
what you want, and you’re consistent. The most maddening
thing is to not know, and keep changing your mind.”
iTunes you probably don’t want to have the word f*ck in every
other line of dialogue, or full frontal nudity).
In order to cover as much ground as possible I’ve interviewed
some veteran executives and self-distributing filmmakers. Be-
cause I firmly believe that you can indeed make some money
back, here are a few ways to do that.
First up is Orly Ravid. Orly is the Vice President of Acquisi-
tions and Distribution at Senator Entertainment’s USA division.
Formerly the Senior Vice President of Acquisitions and Senior
Representative for Foreign Sales, Business Affairs, Theatrical,
New Media, and Film Festival Distribution at Wolfe Video, it
was Orly who brokered my deal for Dani and Alice at Wolfe. She
and her business partner, Jeffrey Winter, are mavericks in niche
marketing through their company, New American Vision (www
.newamericanvision.com). I asked Orly when she thought film-
makers should begin thinking about their film’s distribution.
She replied:
I realize this may feel calculating for an artist. It’s not. It’s
simply a different take on what we discussed in Chapters 1 and
2. Research your story, tell a story that matters to you, and do
your homework. If you want anyone other than your mom to see
your film, then step back from your script and truly envision
who your audience is. And remember, as I mentioned earlier
when writing your script, that sure it might be a cool nod to
George Lucas to include a Star Wars poster in the background,
but not so cool if no distributor can buy your movie because it’s
in every other frame.
short films on iTunes, The Tribe. She echoes Orly’s advice as well
as outlines what she did for her award-winning film, The Tribe:
With the incredible leaps that network and cable television have
made in the downloadable content arena, it is more important
than ever to step outside of the feature filmmaking box. You
may be surprised to see that the short film you have already
made is your television pilot. Think about it—if you walk into a
pitch meeting with the pilot already done, the executives can
not only see your talent, they also have the blueprint for the
show you want to make. This would be especially helpful to your
career, since networks are less and less able to finance pilots and
are sussing out shorts in lieu of taking a risk on your talents by
forking out thousands of dollars. Expand your definition of what
distribution is, because if you can get your short made into a
profitable series, that is distribution!
There is definitely a difference between shooting a scene from
your feature script and shooting a longer short that you hope to
sell as a television series. A great example of this is the short film
The Ten Rules, written by Michelle Paradise (www.michellepara
dise.com) and directed by Lee Friedlander. It was “too long” by
most standards (over 20 minutes); however, it was a solid story
that created solid characters one could envision seeing on
television week after week, and had audiences laughing world-
wide. It took them a few years, but Paradise and Friedlander
DIS T R IB UT ION 153
“At the time, I didn’t think of The Ten Rules as having the
potential to be a television pilot simply because when I
wrote and shot it—and this is only back in 2000 and
2001—there was nothing out there in the world to suggest
that a lesbian television show was even possible, let alone
desirable. Logo and here! tv didn’t exist; The L Word didn’t
exist. Looking back at it now, though, I can absolutely see
why the short got Logo’s attention as a possible series. It
wasn’t a pitch they had to try and envision or a script they
had to read, it was a finished product that they could actu-
ally watch. They could see the story, the point of view, the
characters, and whether or not all of those elements had
the potential to expand into six episodes, or eight, or
eighty. That’s one of the keys, I’d say, if your goal is to do a
short that could be a pilot: Make sure all the elements of
your project have that potential to expand. If your story
isn’t about something universal, at its core; if there isn’t a
clear point of view; if the characters lack the depth to take
them through possibly as many as eighty episodes, then it
won’t work as a series. Keep in mind, too, that this is not an
easy journey—nor is it a fast one. So no matter what hap-
pens, no matter how long it takes, just keep working. And
never, ever wait for someone else to give you permission to
be creative. Exes & Ohs wouldn’t exist if I hadn’t sat down in
front of my computer in San Francisco and dared to stare at
a blank screen and just start typing. That typing became
The Ten Rules and The Ten Rules became Exes & Ohs. I am
now the executive producer, writer, and one of the stars of
my own television series. I am proof that it can happen. So
don’t wait. Don’t make excuses. Just do it.”
154 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
Because they showed the network that they could write and
direct and act (Michelle Paradise is the lead actor in both the
DIS T R IB UT ION 155
short and the show), Logo didn’t need to go on blind faith. Dave
Mace, Vice President, Head of Original Programming, notes:
As Tiffany Shlain has drilled into my head over and over these
past few years, you’ve got to create a robust and engaging (mean-
ing make people want to purchase your film off the site) Web
site! You can sell your film online without a distributor. You
might not get rich, but you might make a few dollars and create
some excellent marketing for yourself. I spoke to Marc Rosen-
berg, who created one of the top filmmaker marketing Web sites
in the U.S. (www.internetmarketingforfilmmakers.com) that
for a very small fee walks a filmmaker through Internet self-
distribution. Marc notes:
Marc continues with the point that you shouldn’t neglect the
festival circuit, and that you needn’t hold out for only the top-
tier fests—start submitting to that larger pool.
emy] short film nominee for the program. Every year, I don’t
know what’s going to happen. It’s not making anyone rich,
but this year [2008], these films went out and grossed over a
half million dollars. So that puts them in a really small
group. They’re performing at the top of their engagement.”
Let’s talk YouTube. Just when I’m thinking I’m a little old for
YouTube, an awesome short film link gets forwarded to me and
I’m hooked back in. There is something about YouTube that
makes me excited about what I might find there. Adrenaline is
pumping, I’m signed in, I’m searching for my friends’ names or
for more films from the director who got forwarded to me and
blammo! an hour and a half has gone by.
And for me, that’s what makes YouTube fun. You’re like your
own little studio mogul sitting in your living room finding some
of the best (and definitely some of the worst) new talent the
world has to offer. And, of course, every few months some rene-
gade digital goddess uploads Dani and Alice and I must admit it is
kinda cool to see that over ten thousand people have watched my
movie! (Before Wolfe Video’s legal department shuts them
down.)
Now, like you, I always thought “How do you make money on
YouTube when it’s free to watch your film?” So I reached out to
Sara Pollack, Film Manager for YouTube, and she helped clarify
why putting your film online for free can actually, in the long
run, make you money:
Over one million views? You would be crazy not to try to get a
piece of that pie, especially if you’ve already done the festival
circuit and haven’t yet been picked up by a distributor. Sara ex-
plains further:
ITUNES EXTRAVAGANZA
Now, a lone filmmaker cannot license directly to, let’s say, iTunes.
For the most part, even distributors have to go through what is
called an “aggregator” to license to a company such as iTunes.
An aggregator is a much larger distributor that already has the
negotiating deal with these types of platforms. iTunes and other
digital market companies do not have the resources or band-
162 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
BROADCAST LICENSING
One place where you may be able to sidestep this aggregator re-
ality is with television. Often networks that show shorts have
film acquisition departments that act like film festival program-
ming teams (like BET [Black Entertainment Network], IFC,
Sundance Channel, Logo). You don’t need a distributor because
they watch stuff like a programmer does and select your film for
broadcast the way a programmer selects your film for screening
at a festival. The downside, of course, is that, like film festivals,
many networks get more shorts submitted than they have space
to broadcast. But remember—this is filmmaking, people! We
are used to making the impossible possible.
makers who are looking at distribution options for the first time,
she shares this:
“What I’ve noticed over the years is that all filmmakers (short
and feature length) tend to rely too heavily on outside sources
when it comes to distribution. They need to be going into it
with a little business and industry savvy, and not just relying
on hiring a sales agent or producer’s rep. When the sales
agent comes to you with a plan for selling your short or a
distributor makes you an offer you will already know what
they’re talking about and can contribute to the overall plan
for your film’s sale. Empower yourself with information. The
next few years will show us a huge expansion of what is avail-
able for short film distribution and it will be the filmmakers
who educate themselves now who will really succeed.”
◆ How did you offline your film—if you shot on 35mm and
filmed out to 35mm did you also output to HD (Digibeta,
BetaSP)? Don’t be penny wise and pound foolish by limit-
ing yourself; spend the money to do onlining and output-
ting and delivery properly so you don’t lose opportunities in
the future. TV licensing sales blossom if you output to HD.
◆ Is your short the ideal and perfect running time for itself to
adequately tell your story? People often argue shorter is
better but that may not always be the case, though it is
important that a short not feel too long or too disposable
either.
◆ Did you separate out your music, special effects, and dia-
logue tracks in your sound mix [DME]? Because some
territories dub voices over your film (as opposed to subti-
tle) and will want to replace your dialogue track with
theirs. This is usually more of an issue for features, but as
the marketplace globalizes and companies such as Shorts
International license to various territories around the
world, it’s not a bad idea to consider this so you have
wider options.
◆ Do you have the complete script (the film you edited, not
your original script) in its original language for easy trans-
lation and subtitling? Check out these Web sites for ad-
ditional info: www.goasa.com or www.wgawregistry.org.
◆ Do you have a complete music cue sheet in order for
your composer to be paid by their publishers (e.g., BMI,
ASCAP)?
Your film is done. You read Orly’s Questionnaire and you’re ready
to send it out to distributors. What’s the first thing you should do?
Well, if you think (and come on, we all think this) your film has a
chance at being short-listed for an Oscar, then the first thing you
should do is go online and familiarize yourself with their rules
and regulations (www.oscars.org). And read on.
While the Academy regulations may seem daunting, they’re
actually quite simple. I had lunch with Jon Bloom, who heads up
the narrative and animation shorts section. We talked about
what constitutes a “qualifying event” in order for a short film-
maker to be in a position to submit their film for consideration.
A qualifying event to submit a live-action (narrative) or ani-
mated film for Academy consideration includes: a 3-day minimum
theater run, and your film must play twice a day (see Fourwall,
below); or your short wins a Best Short Film (or Best Animation
or Best Documentary) award from a qualifying film festival
(check out their Web site for the list). The theater run must be in
Los Angeles County. For documentary shorts please go to their
Web site (www.oscars.com), as the rules will be changing for
2009 and beyond.
Simply put: The Academy Awards are for films that have been
theatrically released (at minimum in Los Angeles County) or
have been honored as the “Best of” at a qualifying film festival
(which to me is, technically, a theatrical release of sorts). Of
course this makes sense. The Internet has The Webby Awards,
television and cable channels have their awards, and this helps
one understand that the Academy Awards are only for theatri-
cally released films. You freak out—oh my god I’ve done the fes-
tival circuit and haven’t won Best Short at any of the qualifying
ones! How will I be able to theatrically release my film? It’s actu-
ally easier than you think.
168 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
FOURWALL
And finally let me say this about the Academy Awards and you.
Go on Netflix, iTunes, or wherever else you can find them and
watch what has won in the last few years. If any of those films
had a budget of under $40,000 (or even $60,000), I’d be
shocked. Also, please consider these submission numbers:
30–40 documentary shorts, 40–60 animation, and 60–100 live
action (narrative), and between 3–7 films are nominated. Do
your research before you think of applying.
CONTRACTS
Honest people use contracts, but you may find some distributors
who are not honest. Don’t blindly trust anyone, but at the same
time, don’t waste oodles of dough on a fancy attorney who treats
the contract for your tiny short as if it were a mega blockbuster
studio picture and gives your distributor notes that are alienat-
ing and absurd.
Contrary to popular opinion or assumption, shorter contracts
are not better. They just leave more information out, can be
vague and unhelpful, and that may leave you having to sue over
the omitted information. Because, once you’ve delivered the
master, licenses, and key art, and signed the long form, your
film is in the distributor’s hands, and let’s face it—you’re not
likely to be able to sue over verbal understanding, so get every-
thing in writing. Do NOT assume anything.
One hallmark of integrity of distributors is that they don’t ask
for exclusive rights unless they have the means to exploit them
thoroughly. Orly shares:
DIS T R IB UT ION 171
a list of qualifying fests and to note any changes that may have hap-
pened since the time of this publication: www.oscars.org.
Of course, since it’s a recent innovation, digital distribution
can be tricky. While Sundance and its distributor, Mediastile,
have decided to part ways over a disagreement in royalties, you
shouldn’t let occasional setbacks like this deter you from utiliz-
ing this extraordinary platform to distribute your work. The
Sundance Institute will, as it always has, find a way to help film-
makers display their work to the widest possible audience, and
I’m certain this bump in the road will be just that, a bump that
they will overcome to continue providing short filmmakers with
alternative distribution platforms.
I always knew it was possible to get your short film out there
with a great chance to monetize it. I haven’t made back all the
money I spent on Dani and Alice or Happy Birthday, but I have
accomplished DVD, television, and online distribution deals.
And, my friend, you can too.
10
Sundance and the
Film Festival Circuit
Which leads me to . . .
I know. You’re thinking I’m crazy to tell you not to worry about
getting your film into what is considered the Holy Grail of film
festivals. Not at all. Even when I was programming at Sundance
I was always telling filmmakers this very salient fact: If less than
2% of all submissions are selected in the shorts department,
does that mean every one of the 98% that weren’t chosen was
bad? Of course not. Many filmmakers I talk to think that if they
176 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
don’t get into Sundance their career (the one they’re just start-
ing) is over. That’s ridiculous. There are hundreds of film festi-
vals all over the world where your short would receive exceptional
exposure (sometimes greater than at Sundance, where the press
and industry folk tend to be focused on features). [John] Cooper
shares:
“If you don’t get into Sundance, don’t give up. Treat yourself
with respect. Keep hold of that self-respect and see if you
can go to the mid-level, or the regional level festivals. People
who go to mid-level film festivals can still be discovered. You
don’t need everybody to adore you. You need one person to
believe in you who has money or power to take you to the
next step, and that’s all it takes.”
you guys, and you’ve been supportive, but forget about the
Hollywood hype bullshit at Sundance, because to me, it’s
just like being in the New York Underground. It’s the same
shit I see all year long. It starts at Sundance and it ends in
Texas [at Cinematexas Film Festival]. Just get your work out
there and it’ll all take care of itself.”
Think about it. If your film gets into a smaller festival, the local
press is very supportive of it and they want to talk to all the film-
makers. A festival where you can be a big fish in a small pond,
maybe even win an award or two along the way, have the time
and space to beef up your filmmaker network, and grab audi-
ence e-mails (remember what Tiffany said, “Your e-mail list is
your gold.”). While I was in New York City recently, I had the
pleasure to meet with Denise Kassell. Denise was the director of
the Hampton Film Festival for six years, and is a well respected
programmer and film festival consultant (www.filmfestconsult
ing.com). Denise was happy to share her wisdom:
“A lot of times I try not to look at the title or notice who has
made it, because I want to come at it with as clear and unbi-
ased a frame of mind that I could possibly be in. And I pop it
in, and I get a menu screen with all sorts of shit on there,
like special features, outtakes, director’s commentary—
you’re wasting my time. I have to figure out how to play your
movie, and now I’m mad. Anything that takes me out of my
path of watching somebody’s film is distracting. And there’s
SUNDANCE AND TH E FI LM F ES T IVA L C IR C UIT 181
The one thing I would suggest you do: Fill out your submission
form completely. If you want a programmer to know something
about your film’s career that you feel is pertinent—like it won
Best Short at the Nashville LGBT Film Festival—make sure to
include that in the Previous Screening field on your submission
form. Because while we may not have time to track down your
press kit, programmers do go into the submissions database from
time to time to see where the film has played previously.
One other thing you may want to look into when submitting
your film to a festival is uploading your film to an ftp site (File
Transfer Protocol). This year I started sending out my ftp site
for programmers to watch my film by streaming it from the site
itself without the need to download it onto their systems or
stream it off my site. If I can upload my film, anyone can. It
saves me (and the environment) postage, eliminates the possi-
bility of lost DVDs, and gives programmers instant access to my
work. Even Clermont-Ferrand is offering this service to film-
makers who have participated in the festival or in the market.
Once you’ve been selected at festivals like Sundance you are
given your own folder on their ftp site to upload photos and
press kits.
You may feel a little old-fashioned about this. You want your
film to be seen in the best possible way, but I can assure you
many programmers are watching your film on their laptop
anyway. Not all festivals have the infrastructure to download
your film from your ftp site but if they do, take advantage of it.
Do a Web search for ftp client sites, remembering this is the
Internet, so make sure your file sharing is done with a secure
site.
SUNDANCE AND TH E FI LM F ES T IVA L C IR C UIT 183
SUBMISSION FEES
By now, you’ve done your research and know which festivals you
want to submit to. You have a small budget (Right? You did put
in a budget line before you started making your film for market-
ing and festival submissions—right?). Where does a short film-
maker begin?
Here’s something to keep in mind: Many festivals outside
the United States (and a few within) do not charge a submission
fee. Do some research on which fests screen your type of work
and apply there first. Also keep in mind that once your film
screens at a prominent U.S. festival, many programmers will
solicit your film for submission, waiving the fee. What also
happens is that because a programmer (with the power to in-
vite your film on the spot) sees it at a festival and invites you
to screen at their festival you don’t even have to submit it except
to send them a DVD for their library or marketplace. It could
happen.
Every festival has some flexibility around submission fees.
However, understand that it is usually submission fees that help
pay for a significant chunk of submission department costs (par-
ticularly at smaller festivals with little or no corporate sponsor-
ship), so I encourage you to pay full price to submit to the smaller
fests. And then you can focus your begging and pleading ener-
gies on requesting waivers early from larger festivals, because
you may get lucky and get the fee waived before they’ve reached
their fee waiver quotas. There are definitely some festivals that
never waive fees, so make sure you have money left over in your
post budget for these expenses.
RENTAL FEES
There are a few festivals (most in the lesbian and gay, women’s,
and genre-specific fests) that will pay you a rental fee for your
184 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
film. For Dani and Alice the official rental fee was $350 per festi-
val. However, for the most part they usually pay somewhere be-
tween $100–$250. Some festivals will ask you to forgo the rental
fee and instead offer you a flight and/or accommodations. Take
them up on their offer! Better you have an opportunity to pro-
mote yourself and your film (and your next film) than a few
hundred dollars in your pocket. Unless of course you find your-
self homeless after post-production; then by all means insist on a
rental fee and go get yourself a meal.
● It’s good but not for this particular festival (you made a
live-action mockumentary and sent it to an animation
festival).
● It was a rough cut that was a little too rough.
● You didn’t pay the submission fee (yes, some fests won’t
even watch your film if you didn’t send a check).
spot for your film” call. And, for the record, I live in Los Angeles,
California. The city where everyone acts like your best friend so
it would appear as though I am friends with all the people I’ve
programmed—but it just ain’t so.
OH MY GOD ! I GOT IN !
Ah, the sweet smell of success! You finally got the letter that
begins, “We are pleased to inform you . . .” Sweet! Now what
do you do? Well, things are different for every festival, so talk
to the Hospitality Coordinator/Guest Services person in order
to prepare to attend your film’s screening. I reached out to Vir-
ginia Pearce, Director of Guest Services at Sundance. She’s been
helping filmmakers, producers, special guests, and industry
188 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
folk for ten years at one of the most stressful festivals in the
world. She offers some advice on how to get on the Good
Karma List:
I would add:
Film festivals are magical places. You get to watch your film
with an audience (!), hear their thoughts in Q & A sessions, meet
other filmmakers, and be one of them. Go to as many festivals as
you can afford to! Campbell Ex (www.blackmanvision.com), an
experimental and documentary filmmaker who works out of the
UK, shares that while he isn’t the most “schmoozy” person, he
does make the most of film festivals whenever possible:
And there are also many filmmakers I spoke with who found
festivals truly a place to rest—regardless of where their film was
placed, and in some instances, especially because of where their
film was placed. Deanna Bowen (www.deannabowen.ca) is a
Toronto-based media installation artist. Her work has been ex-
hibited in Canada (Ontario, British Columbia, Yukon Territo-
ries, Manitoba) and internationally (Germany, France,
Switzerland, Italy) in numerous film festivals and galleries. She
loves the way festivals have programmed her work and shares:
There are so many truly great film schools in the world, from
the Sam Spiegel Film & Television School in Israel to NYU Tisch
School of the Arts to the New York Film Academy to North
Carolina to UCLA and USC here in Los Angeles. I have seen
(and programmed) so many great films from film schools I’d be
hard pressed to advise you not to consider it.
But if school isn’t your thing and you want to just get out
there and make a film, I can tell you that from what I’ve seen on
the festival circuit and within the film industry in general, film
school is not a prerequisite to being successful. Take a look at the
SUNDANCE AND TH E FI LM F ES T IVA L C IR C UIT 193
I’ll also share that there were three words on a ratings sheet
in the shorts department at Sundance that were all I needed to
read: “bad film school.” It told me that the script was “safe” (boy
meets girl, all the characters are under the age of ten, senior
citizens find love, etc.), the camera was in the right place, but
wasn’t unique or interesting, the performances were stilted, the
lighting looked like you were still studying Lighting 101, and
worst of all it was 20 minutes long when 10 would have been
more than sufficient to tell the story. Oh, and out of nowhere,
there was a crane shot in it. And, I understand that at your
school, your film has to be 20 minutes long in order for you to
receive a passing grade, but is that the cut of the film you think
you should submit to Sundance?
No, not all film school work looks like this (some were the
best of what was submitted)—I’m only describing the bad ones.
194 H O W N O T T O M A KE A SH O RT FI LM
“One of the things I want to say about film school is that I’m
not anti–film school, and the schools that really separate
themselves from other schools are the ones stressing story.
They’re not just training their filmmakers to make studio
films or commercials, and that shows. If I can tell that
something is a student film, and the story is just different, I
might think, ‘I wonder if this is a Columbia short? Or a film
from North Carolina [School of the Arts]?’ [In 2008] at Sun-
dance there were easily twelve Columbia shorts that we
could have taken. It was because the stories were interesting
and original, and the acting was good, the direction was re-
ally strong. After you watch 5,000 or so shorts [laughs] you
really start to see pieces where the stories are repetitive. So
many people will take a very mainstream or film school ap-
proach. And there is a way you can tell that story differently,
whether it’s different visually, or going out on a limb and
taking a different path creatively. If you’re thinking about
attending film school do some research to see who is gradu-
ating truly talented filmmakers.”
have worked together ever since. From film school shorts (Cul-
ture) to those amazing Geico commercials (Caveman, Gekko) to
co-directing Blades of Glory (written by Jeff and Craig Cox) that
starred Will Ferrell and Jon Heder (of Napoleon Dynamite fame),
Will and Josh’s partnership is a testament to developing your
filmmaker community. Will discusses the value of both choos-
ing the film school route and diving directly into the industry:
you’re waiting for your career to take off, know that con-
sumers are not just watching movies. They are watching
‘how to’ videos, product demos, and other videos that have
been put together for the sole purpose of offering more
information to the consumer about a product or a service.
For example, I recently met with one of my small business
customers (a martial arts instructor) and he showed me
seven videos he had recently made of one of his students
breaking boards. He wanted advice from me about how he
could make them a ‘little fancier’ or ‘polished’ so he could
post them on his Web site and on YouTube. I teamed him
up with a filmmaker I knew and together they were able to
create videos that significantly increased his business.”
Faith.
25 FPS Festival
http:// www.25fps .hr/ 08 .php
Zagreb, Croatia—feature experimental shorts
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 215
FESPACO
http:// www.fespaco .bf
Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso—Africa.
Happens every two years—2009, 2011, etc.
Arizona State University Art Museum Short Film and Video Festival
http://asuartmuseum .asu .edu/ filmfest/ index .html
Tempe, Arizona
BijouFlix
http:// www.bijoucafe .com
Online
218 W H A T ? T H E R E ’ S M O RE ? FI LMMAKE R RE SO URC E GUIDE
Break
http:// www.break .com
Online
CrankCookieShortfilmdays
http:// www.crankcookiekurzfilmtage .de
Passau, Germany
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 219
FW: Fwd
http:// www.fwfwd .org
Online
LA Shorts Fest
http:// www.lashortsfest .com
Los Angeles, CA
New Filmmakers
http:// www.newfilmmakers .com
New York, NY
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 223
Short Cuts
http:// www.shortcuts .in
Hyderabad, India
Zinebi
http:// www.zinebi .com/eng/ universal/ home .html
Bilbao, Spain
Atom
http:// www.atom .com
For independent creators, Atom is a pipeline to the big time.
They license and develop content, pay real money, and distribute
to huge audiences on the Internet, television, and mobile phones.
Their partners include Comedy Central, Spike TV, Verizon, and
BellSouth. Atom is a service of MTV Networks. Located in San
Francisco.
BitTorrent
http:// www.bittorrent .com
BitTorrent is the global standard for delivering high-quality files
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 227
over the Internet. Their new site, BitTorrent .com, has been
launched to provide a better digital entertainment experience for
the community of over 150 million users who use their software.
With thousands of newly released movies, TV shows, music
tracks, and popular PC games available for download, you can
easily find what you want, when you want it. BitTorrent even
enables you to publish your own content. If you are a filmmaker,
musician, or even a comedian, it’s the perfect place to showcase
your work to a worldwide audience. Located in San Francisco.
B-Side
http:// www.bside .com
online; distribution; festival; viral
B-Side is an entertainment technology company that captures
audience opinions to discover great films and deliver them to
viewers around the world. B-Side discovers films through
audience feedback from its community of hundreds of film
festival Web sites representing the world’s largest film focus
group. B-Side delivers these films globally through bside .com and
partnerships with distributors including the Independent Film
Channel.
Breakthrough Distribution
http:// www.breakthroughdistribution .com
online; distribution; services
Breakthrough Distribution was formed in April 2006 to help
filmmakers and other content creators maximize their distribu-
tion possibilities via online, retail, theatrical, broadcast, and
other channels.
ClickPopMedia
http:// www.clickpopmedia .com
online; distribution; services
ClickPopMedia is a full-service marketing and advertising group
from Nazareth, Pennsylvania. They employ a staff of top-notch
designers, ace programmers, and tip-top marketing geniuses.
here! TV Networks
http:// www.heretv.com
Founded in 2002, here! airs on all major U.S. cable systems as a
24-hour subscription service. here! appears in 96 of the top 100
U.S. markets, including every top-ten market. here! also was the
first gay network originating in the U.S. to launch in Canada.
228 W H A T ? T H E R E ’ S M O RE ? FI LMMAKE R RE SO URC E GUIDE
IndieFlix
http:// www.indieflix .com
online; distribution; catalog
IndieFlix is the do-it-yourself marketplace for festival-screened
and internationally produced content (exceptions are made upon
approval) where independent filmmakers from around the world
are encouraged to be both artist and entrepreneur, create and
promote their work, and be the drivers of their own success.
iTunes
Contact Person: Go to Web site to submit podcasts.
http:// www.apple .com/ itunes
iTunes is a store, a player, and a way to get music and more
on your computer, iPod, iPhone, and Apple TV. Located in
Cupertino, CA.
Joost
http:// www.joost .com
Joost is packed with Internet tools such as instant messaging and
channel chat, allowing people to really share the TV experience.
It’s a completely secure platform for content owners that respects
their rights, while protecting and enhancing their brands. And
it’s an incredibly flexible way for advertisers to reach a truly
global audience, in ways that really work. Located in Leiden,
London, New York, and Luxembourg.
Mini Movie
http:// www.minimovie .com
Mini Movie Channel presents a high-quality interactive movie
experience to comedy fans. MiniMovie .com features hundreds of
professionally created short comedy films licensed from top
talent, as well as a host of eye-catching original productions.
Headquartered in Beverly Hills, with offices in Luxembourg,
Paris, and Moscow, MiniMovie discovers the best short film
comedies from around the globe and delivers them via an
easy-to-use interface.
Movieola
http:// www.movieola .ca
Movieola—The Short Film Channel presents the very best of
action, drama, and comedy films that can all be enjoyed in under
40 minutes. From celebrated Academy Award® and global film
festival winners to cult favorites, Movieola—The Short Film
Channel gives viewers an opportunity to experience the excite-
ment, energy, and emotion of cutting-edge entertainment
through the world of short films. Located in Toronto, Canada.
PlaceVine
http:// www.placevine .com
online; distribution; marketing
PlaceVine is a dynamic brand integration meeting place connect-
ing an expanding universe of filmed entertainment to relevant,
creative marketers. PlaceVine provides new opportunities for
content producers to receive logistical and financial support and
a new channel for marketers to pursue targeted product expo-
sure. When leveraged properly, we believe that brands can
significantly enhance visual context and character development.
PlaceVine’s mission is to facilitate structured collaboration
between the film and marketing communities, resulting in
targeted, organic marketing placements.
Shorts International
Contact Person: Linda Olszewski ([email protected]) or
Simon Young ([email protected])
http:// www.britshorts .com
Shorts International is a full-service short film entertainment
company representing over 3000 films to over 120 international
broadcasters across every platform and every medium. The
company’s catalog includes award-winning, celebrity-driven
230 W H A T ? T H E R E ’ S M O RE ? FI LMMAKE R RE SO URC E GUIDE
Spout
http:// www.spout .com
online; distribution; reviewing
Spout allows you to review films and promote your own film.
They make it easy for people to share movies they love with
others so that the big movie/little movie playing field will be
level and really meaningful stories will find their audience.
Strand
http:// www.strandreleasing.com
Strand Releasing was formed in 1989 and its goal has been to
fuse quality art films with commercial product. Strand Releasing
was honored with a ten-year retrospective at New York’s Museum
of Modern Art curated by Laurence Kardish. Subsequently, the
Laemmle Theatres in Los Angeles and the Philadelphia Interna-
tional Film Festival hosted similar programs. Partners Jon
Gerrans and Marcus Hu were honored with a lifetime achieve-
ment award for Strand Releasing’s accomplishments in 2002
from Outfest. Located in Culver City, CA.
TLA
http:// www.tlavideo .com
One of the largest video Web sites in the United States, TLA
features the online sale of American Independent, International,
Hollywood Hits, Gay & Lesbian, and Adult DVD and VHS. The
Web site also offers clothing and gifts, books and CDs.
TubeMogul
http:// www.tubemogul .com
online; distribution; services
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 231
Wolfe Video
Contact Person: Jeffrey Winter ( [email protected])
http:// www.wolfevideo .com
Wolfe is a premier distributor of gay and lesbian feature films.
“We take pride in the fact that, for retailers, producers and
consumers, the Wolfe logo on a film attests to its quality,
presentation and entertainment value. We value that trust, and
have built our business on that strong foundation since 1985.”
Located in San Jose and Los Angeles, CA.
BLOGS
Brian Chirls
http:// www.chirls .com
online; blog; distribution
Self-prolaimed “Indie Nerd Filmmaker (Director, Distributor,
Technologist)” develops and writes about ways for independent
artists to create and distribute their work.
CinemaTech
http://cinematech .blogspot .com
online; blog; technology
CinemaTech focuses on how new technologies are changing
cinema—the way movies get made, discovered, marketed,
distributed, shown, and seen. (With occasional forays into other
parts of the entertainment economy.)
232 W H A T ? T H E R E ’ S M O RE ? FI LMMAKE R RE SO URC E GUIDE
A Filmmaker’s Life
http:// filmmakerslife .blogspot .com
online; blog; craft
Award-winning filmmaker Jacques Thelemaque describes the
daily life of an independent filmmaker.
John August
http:// www.johnaugust .com
online; blog; screenwriting
Screenwriter John August answers reader-submitted questions
about craft.
Shortsville
http://shortsville .typolis .net
online; blog; distribution
A blog where short filmmakers sign up to post their stuff daily.
videos.antville.org
http:// videos .antville .org
online; blog; distribution
A blog where users sign up to post cool music videos daily.
COMMUNITY
DV Info Net
http:// www.dvinfo .net
online; community; resource
Online digital video discussion groups where you can post
questions and get answers and advice from real people.
Filmmakers Alliance
http:// www.filmmakersalliance .org
online; community; craft
Started in 1993 as a collective answer to the practical needs of
independent filmmakers, Filmmakers Alliance has evolved into a
multi-layered support organization with an emphasis on aesthetic
empowerment.
Film Independent
http:// www.filmindependent .org
Los Angeles, CA; community; craft
234 W H A T ? T H E R E ’ S M O RE ? FI LMMAKE R RE SO URC E GUIDE
IndieGoGo
http:// www.indiegogo .com
online; community; fundraising
IndieGoGo is an online social marketplace connecting filmmak-
ers and fans to make independent film happen. The platform
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 235
Inner-City Filmmakers
http:// www.innercityfilmmakers .com
Los Angeles, CA; community; craft
Inner-City Filmmakers is a non-profit organization dedicated to
opening doors for low-income high school seniors by providing
free year-round professional and business training, mentors, and
paid work opportunities in the motion picture and television
industries.
LoftCity
http:// www.loftcity.com
online; community; craft
LoftCity is the world’s first online film studio. Our vision is to
create a global community of professional filmmakers who can
come together to share ideas, collaborate and showcase new
work. We provide a platform for professional filmmakers from all
disciplines within the industry to produce high quality profes-
sional Web and mobile films.
La Lutta NMC
http:// www.lalutta .org
San Francisco, CA / New York, NY; community; craft
La Lutta New Media Collective (NMC), a non-profit, community-
based organization, is a diverse group of people united to
promote a greater level of social awareness through new media.
Meetup
http:// www.meetup .com
online; community; craft
Meetup is the world’s largest network of self-organized clubs and
community groups. Search for “film” in your city, and you’re
bound to find groups that share your interests.
MySpace Film
http:// www.myspace .com/ index .cfm ?fuseaction = film
online; community, distribution; viral
A division of the popular social networking Web site where
filmmakers can create profiles and upload their films.
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Raindance
http:// www.raindance .co .uk
London, UK; community, education, distribution; craft; festival
Since 1992 Raindance has been offering advice and support for
independent fimmakers. They started the Raindance Film
Festival in 1993, and the British Independent Film Awards in
1998. They also have a training program that has had remarkable
success. Presently there are nine people working out of their
office in Soho, London. “Although we are London-based we are
on the look-out for anyone who might like to work with us in
another city or country.”
Script Frenzy
http:// www.scriptfrenzy.org
online; community; screenwriting
Script Frenzy is an international writing event in which partici-
pants attempt the daring feat of writing 100 pages of scripted
material in the month of April.
Shooting People
http:// www.shootingpeople .org
online; community; craft; resource
Shooting People is a community of 37,000+ filmmakers who
share their resources, skills and experience. Members post to and
receive up to eight daily e-mail bulletins, which cover all aspects
of filmmaking; add their events and screenings to the Indie Film
calendars; and network with other members at parties, salons
and screenings in London, New York and beyond; create dy-
namic, online searchable profile cards; and upload their films
and reels to the site.
StudentFilmmakers.com
http:// www.studentfilmmakers .com
online;community; database; craft; resource
StudentFilmmakers.com and StudentFilmmakers Magazine’s
Social Networking Community is dedicated to aspiring film and
video makers of all ages and levels around the world.
TriggerStreet.com
http:// www.triggerstreet .com
online; community; screenwriting
TriggerStreet.com was founded by Kevin Spacey in January 2002
as the Web-based filmmaker and screenwriter’s community of
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 237
Videomaker
http:// www.videomaker.com
online; community; craft; resource
Videomaker empowers people to make video in a way that
inspires, encourages and equips for success; we do this by
building a community of readers, Web visitors, viewers, attend-
ees and marketers.
Action-Cut-Print!
http:// www.actioncutprint .com
online; database; resource
Action-Cut-Print! is Peter D. Marshall’s monthly newsletter and
online resource center for filmmakers. Peter is constantly adding
new film and TV resource links, creating new filmmaking
articles, presenting filmmaking workshops and keeping you
up-to-date on film festivals and movie reviews.
Celtx
http:// www.celtx .com
online; database; services
Celtx is the world’s first fully integrated solution for media
pre-production and collaboration. It replaces old-fashioned
“paper, pen & binder” media creation with a digital approach to
writing and organizing that’s more complete, simpler to work
with, and easy to share. This is the one my Inner-City Filmmaker
students use.
Cinema Sites
http:// www.cinema -sites .com
online; database; resource
Cinema Sites lists film and television resources available on the
Net. Often, the links are annotated, and the most important
pages of a specific site automatically come forward onto the
Cinema Sites main page.
Clipland
http:// www.clipland .com
online; database; resource
Clipland was founded in late 1998 to provide the most compre-
hensive database of music video details and rare background
information. To achieve this ambitious aim, Clipland was
designed as an open database where every interested user can
submit his own piece of information and share it with the world.
Now Clipland is also the movie-trailer database, commercial
database, and more.
craigslist
http:// www.craigslist .org
online; database; cast; crew
Online classifieds that you can use to find actors, crew members,
equipment. Located worldwide—check to see if your city is
listed.
Creative Handbook
http:// www.creativehandbook .com
Los Angeles, CA; database; resource
The ultimate LA production resource guide to help you sift
through the many production-related companies and services
available in Southern California.
EntertainmentCareers.net
http:// www.entertainmentcareers .net
online; database; crew
Entertainment jobs, internships, and career information in the
entertainment industry.
FameCast
http:// www.famecast .com
online; database; artist
FameCast is the premier artist discovery engine that collects,
ranks, and serves up the world’s best emerging artists for
entertainment fans and industry professionals in search of new
talent.
indieWIRE
http:// www.indiewire .com
online; database; news
Celebrating its tenth anniversary, indieWIRE is the leading news,
information, and social networking site for the international
independent film community, including comprehensive coverage
of indie, documentary, and foreign-language films, as well as
industry news, film festival reports, filmmaker interviews, and
movie reviews. I have their newsletter delivered to my inbox
every day.
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LA Casting
http:// www.lacasting.com
Los Angeles, CA; database; cast
LA Casting is a free online casting database for Los Angeles.
Media-Match
http:// www.media -match .com
online; database; crew
Media-Match is an online database of over 30,000 Film and TV
professionals’ resumes and availability, and an up-to-date jobs
board for new openings in the TV and Film production business
across the United States.
Now Casting
https:// www.nowcasting.com
Los Angeles, CA; database; cast
Now Casting is a free online actors database and electronic
submissions service based in LA.
Pixar Shorts
http:// www.pixar.com/shorts
online; database; craft
A collection of short films created by Pixar.
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 241
ProductionHUB
http:// www.productionhub .com
online; database; resource; cast; crew
ProductionHUB, Inc. is the leading online resource and
industry directory for film, television, video, and digital
media production. Developed as a tool for people to locate
production products, services, and professionals, ProductionHUB
has grown to become the number one production search
engine. Over 200,000 monthly users rely on ProductionHUB
to deliver up-to-date information related to the production
industry.
SF Casting Networks
http:// www.sfcasting.com
San Francisco, CA; database; cast
SF Casting is a free online casting database for the Bay Area.
Streaming Video
http:// www.streamingvideos .com
online; database; craft
Streaming Video contains a variety of articles about how best to
film and edit streaming videos for the Internet.
The StudioSystem
http:// www.studiosystem .com
online; database; film
The StudioSystem is an entertainment, film, and television
database, providing subscribers with detailed information on the
people, projects, and companies engaged in the development,
production, release, and performance of film and television
content.
Withoutabox
http:// www.withoutabox .com
online; database; festival
Allows filmmakers to search for film festivals worldwide and
submit their films electronically.
BeingCharlieKaufman.com
http:// www.beingcharliekaufman .com
online; database; screenwriting
A Charlie Kaufman fansite that features drafts of all his scripts.
Drew’s Script-O-Rama
http:// www.script-o -rama .com
online; database; screenwriting
My favorite script database—links to hundreds of shooting
scripts and transcripts for feature films
Screenwriting.info
http:// www.screenwriting.info
online; database; screenwriting
This overview will acquaint you with screenwriting format rules
and etiquette.
SimplyScripts
http:// www.simplyscripts .com
online; database; screenwriting
A screenwriter’s resource with links to hundreds of free down-
loadable movie scripts, screenplays, and transcripts of current
and classic films and TV shows.
Atom
http:// www.atom .com
online; distribution; viral
Atom is a daily source of original Web shows, animation, and
short films. They license and develop content, pay real money,
and distribute to huge audiences on the Internet, television, and
mobile phones. A loyal supporter of independent filmmakers and
animators, Atom has built a platform for its artists looking for
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Babelgum
http:// www.babelgum .com
online; distribution; viral
Babelgum is here to offer you a wide range of fascinating content,
with an emphasis on the original and the unconventional.
Bebo
http:// www.bebo .com
online; distribution; viral
Bebo is a social media network where friends share their lives
and explore great entertainment.
BitTorrent
http:// www.bittorrent .com
online; distribution; viral
BitTorrent.com launched to provide a better digital entertain-
ment experience for the community of over 150 million users
who use our software. BitTorrent even enables you to publish
your own content. If you are a filmmaker, musician, or even a
comedian, it’s the perfect place to showcase your work to a
worldwide audience.
blinkBox
http:// www.blinkbox .com
online; distribution; viral
At blinkBox you can watch, buy, and rent movies and TV shows.
blinkBox features fantastic stuff from big and small producers
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 245
alike, and blinks, the ability to clip your favorite part, personal-
ize it, and use it as you wish.
blip. tv
http:// www.blip .tv
online; distribution; viral
A great service for great shows. A new class of entertainment is
emerging that is being made by the people without the support of
billion-dollar multinationals. “Our mission is to support these
people by taking care of all the problems a budding videoblogger,
podcaster or Internet TV producer tends to run into. We’ll take
care of the servers, the software, the workflow, the advertising
and the distribution. We leave you free to focus on creativity.”
Brightcove
http:// www.brightcove .com
online; distribution; viral
Brightcove is an Internet TV platform dedicated to harnessing
the inherent power of the Internet to transform the distribution
and consumption of media.
Channel 4 Shorts
http:// www.channel4 .com/ film/shortsandclips/shorts .html
online; distribution; viral
This site features ten of UK Channel 4’s favorite short films.
Crackle
http:// www.crackle .com
online; distribution; viral
Crackle, Inc., a Sony Pictures Entertainment Company formerly
known as Grouper, is a multi-platform video entertainment
network and studio that distributes the hottest emerging talent
on the Web and beyond.
Current TV
http:// www.current .com
online; TV station; viral
Current pioneered the television industry’s leading model of
interactive viewer created content (VC2). Comprising roughly
one-third of Current’s on-air broadcast, this content is submitted
via short-form, non-fiction video “pods.” Viewer Created Ad
Messages (VCAMs) are also open to viewers participation. Offers
filmmaker training and resources as well.
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Filmaka
http:// www.filmaka .com
online; distribution; viral
Filmaka pledges to reward your creativity. Our monthly competi-
tions provide exciting challenges where you can win prizes,
showcase your work, develop your skills, and find an audience.
Funny or Die
http:// www.funnyordie .com
online; distribution; viral; humor
Funny or Die is a comedy video Web site that combines user-
generated content with original, exclusive content. Ridiculously
funny—I’ve spent many hours laughing at old SNL skits featuring
Will Ferrell.
Joost
http:// www.joost .com
online; distribution; viral
Joost combines the best things about television—great shows,
great picture quality, something that everyone knows how to
use—with the incredible power of the Internet to bring people
together and deliver entertainment on demand.
maniaTV
http:// www.maniatv.com
online; TV station; viral
The maniaTV Network launched in 2004 as the world’s first
Internet television network. The company produces, sells and
distributes made for Internet programming targeting the
18-to-34-year-old audience.
Mefeedia
http:// www.mefeedia .com
online; distribution; viral
Mefeedia allows users to search across 15,000 video sources.
MovieFlix
http:// www.movieflix .com
online; distribution; viral; catalog
Welcome to MovieFlix .com! We’ve got the largest selection of
movies on the Internet with thousands of titles to choose from!
MovieFlix has hundreds of shorts and other first-run content, as
well as movie merchandise, articles, box office figures, and
more. Contact MovieFlix about submissions. Requires Real
Player.
Movieola
http:// www.movieola .ca
online; distribution; viral
Movieola—The Short Film Channel gives viewers an opportunity
to experience the excitement, energy and emotion of cutting-
edge entertainment through the world of short films.
MySpace TV
http:// vids .myspace .com
online; distribution; viral
A division of the popular social networking Web site, MySpace
TV allows users to upload short content.
OurStage
http:// www.ourstage .com
online; distribution; viral
OurStage is where the world’s music fans come to discover, enjoy
and reward the best emerging artists—and where the world’s
artists come to find their fans, get amazing gigs, and launch
their careers.
Raindance TV
http:// www.raindance .tv
online; distribution; viral
Raindance TV delivers the best in independent filmmaking via
high-quality, streaming video direct to your PC or Mac, including
the best feature films, shorts and documentaries from the
Raindance Film Festival—Britain’s largest independent film
festival.
Revver
http:// www.revver.com
online; distribution; viral
Revver is a video-sharing platform built the way the Internet
really works. “We support the free and unlimited sharing of
media. Our unique technology tracks and monetizes videos as
they spread virally across the Web, so no matter where your
creativity travels, you benefit.”
Spike
http:// www.spike .com
online; distribution; viral
Spike gives guys what they want and a voice that is unapologeti-
cally male. A leading destination Web site, Spike .com serves
user-uploaded and professional content to over ten million
viewers monthly. “Our extensive library includes movie clips,
music videos, short films, TV, clips, video game trailers, action
sports, and a popular ‘viral videos’ collection.”
Studentfilms.com
http:// www.studentfilms .com
online; distribution; database; festival; resource
Studentfilms.com’s mission is to be the ultimate filmmaking
resource for film students. Showcase your student short film on
the site and receive valuable feedback from your peers. The site’s
discussion forums are perfect for advice on shooting that perfect
W H A T ? TH E RE ’ S MO RE ? FI LMMAKER R ES OUR C E GUIDE 249
Ustream TV
http:// www.ustream .tv
online; distribution; viral
In just minutes, you can broadcast and interact with a global
audience from one to thousands! All it takes is a camera and an
Internet connection.
Veoh
http:// www.veoh .com
online; distribution; viral
Veoh is a revolutionary Internet TV service that gives viewers the
power to easily discover, watch, and personalize their online
viewing experience.
Vuze
http:// www.vuze .com
online; distribution; viral
Vuze is the world’s most popular entertainment platform for
high-res digital content: video, music, and games.
Wonderland
http:// www.wonderlandstream .com
online; distribution; viral
Looking Glass: The guide where a filmmaker membership
features the best movies on the Web. “Filmmakers choosing
filmmakers.”
YouTube
http:// www.youtube .com
online; distribution; viral
Founded in February 2005, YouTube is the leader in online video,
and the premier destination to watch and share original videos
worldwide through a Web experience. YouTube allows people to
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Zango
http:// www.zango .com
online; distribution; viral
Zango, Inc. is an online media company providing consumers
free access to a large catalog of free, sought-after online videos,
games, music, tools, and utilities.
Index
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