Distributing Your Short Film: A Symposium for Filmmakers
Distributing Your Short Film in the Global Marketplace
2-5pm Friday, Nov. 9 | The Bordy Theatre | 216 Tremont Street, Emerson College
Free of Charge to Emerson Students & Members of the Public!
So you’ve made your short film. Now what? With the agonies of fund-raising, shooting and postproduction behind you, how do you best get your film out into the world? The good news is that more avenues for distribution and exhibition exist today than ever before. The bad news is that the bewildering number of options that face the short filmmaker can often be paralyzing.
“Distributing Your Short Film in the Global Marketplace” is a three-hour symposium designed to demystify the processes of short film distribution and prove that talented and motivated student filmmakers can take their work beyond the classroom and reach audiences around the globe through film festivals, television and the Internet.
Moderator Sue Biely is the Director of Business Development & Social Responsibility and Co-Founder of The Nimble Company, a multi-platform media company creating and managing media brands for the post-tv generation, including the beta interactive community hip hop site RapSpace.tv. Sue will be joined by an expert panel of industry professionals, including:
Derry O’Brien, founder and director of Network Ireland TV, an Irish-based TV program and DVD distributor which has specialized in short film distribution internationally for the past 12 years
Shane Smith, Director of Programming for Movieola The Short Film Channel, an online provider of cutting edge short films
Megan O’Neill, Vice President of Acquisitions and Production for AtomFilms, a leading entertainment provider of short content via internet, broadband services, and mobile devices
Cara Longo, Manager of Acquisitions & Programming for the Sundance Channel, formerly Director of Scheduling for the Independent Film Channel
Acknowledging that shorts constitute a unique genre with specific modes of distribution and exhibition, Sue and her panel will discuss what makes a good short film good and how making the right decisions can maximize your film’s exposure and get you established. Discussions will approach distribution from a global perspective, addressing festivals, television, and online video streaming.
Distributing Your Short Film in the Global Marketplace will take place at the Bordy Theatre, 216 Tremont Street in Boston's Theatre District.
Members of the public are advised to arrive there at least 20 minutes ahead of the scheduled start time to ensure a seat.
Supported in part by the Ireland Funds. The Ireland Funds is the largest worldwide network of people of Irish ancestry and friends of Ireland dedicated to raising funds to support programs of peace and reconciliation, arts and culture, education and community development throughout the island of Ireland.
Supported in part by Network Ireland Television an Irish-based TV program and DVD distributor which has specialized in short film distribution internationally for the past 12 years.
Understanding Mobile Media: Untapped Opportunities and Hidden Challenges
One Hour - Thursday, October 18, 2007 – 9 a.m. (PT) / Noon (ET)
Driven by a society that wants instant gratification, 24-hour access and portability above all else, consumers have forever changed entertainment.
As the term mass media threatens to become obsolete, the time has come to engage and start a one-on-one dialog through the only medium that is always on, and never leaves consumer's side - the mobile phone. The audience for mobile exceeds broadcast TV, the web, and cable in sheer numbers and functionality. There are currently 2.3 billion mobile phones in the world, with which the average person spends 10-15 hours per day. On top of that the mobile channel offers the most personalized user experience yet, with rich media, personalization and interactive capabilities available anytime, anywhere.
But it's complicated - dozens of mobile operators and network configurations; hundreds of devices with a variety of media formats; and numerous channels of distribution with different business models. Overcoming these hurdles is tough.
In this hour, Nellymoser and INmobile.org will show you how to successfully overcome the hurdles of going mobile and staying there, by focusing on the following:
Getting the Lay of the Mobile Land - Where to start and what you need to know
Selecting your content and delivering it to your target market
Ensuring a compelling experience for the most handsets
Presented by:
John Puterbaugh
Founder and Chief Strategist
Adam Zawel
Chief Collaborating Officer
For Safari Users Only: To register, use another browser or call us and we’ll register you - 310.453.4440
Moreand more filmmakers are turning to social media tools and strategies like blogs, RSS, and others to spread the word about their films, increase distribution, and attract audiences who are very much engaged with the subject matter of their films. They are finding that these tools can create great opportunities to generate new connections - not only for their films, but also their careers. And, if you are trying to reach a younger audience, this yet another compelling reason to embrace social media.
Five Steps to Filmmaking 2.0
This workshop is a practical, hands-on session for filmmakers to begin using social media tools to market their work. The workshop will share simple and easy ways to get started. If you're excited about the potential that social media tools like blogs can offer, but not sure where to begin, this workshop is for you.
The workshop will introduce participants to five different tools, demonstrate how to set them up, and what to do first. The workshop will be very interactive and answer participant's questions. The five tools are:
Technorati.com - find people and listen and connect - blog search engine;
Beth Kanter is well known blogger who writes on the topic of how NGOs are using emerging technologies (social media and mobile tools) for social change. She is the author of the highly rated blog, Beth's Blog (http://beth.typepad.com) and Contributing Editor for NGOS and Social Change for BlogHer and writes a weekly column for Netsquared, a project of TechSoup that focuses on nonprofits and web2.0. She served as an editor for the KM4DEV peer journal, for a special issue on Web2.0 adoption for development organizations. She is a leading screencaster and mediamaker about the using new media for social change. She has written numerous articles on the use of social media tools by nonprofits for many online and print publications and she is a frequent conference speaker and workshop leader on this topic, most recently leading sessions at the national PBS Conference, Cambodian Bloggers Summit, and Nonprofit Technology Conference.
Andrew Keen was interviewed in today’s Metro Boston discussing who Web2.0 was ruining the Internet and culture in general. He states in his new book “The Cult of Amateur: How Today’s Internet is Killing Our Culture”: “millions of millions of exuberant monkeys … are creating an endless digital forest of mediocrity,”
Original link: http://www.shanghaidaily.com/sp/article/2007/200706/20070611/article_319089.htm
Keen rips apart user-generated content as a threat to existing cultural standards saying that anyone with a keyboard and a camera or a microphone can make their own news, movies or music and disseminate it on the web. The crux of his stand is that this is disintermediating Hollywood, news outlets, record labels, etc. He further states; “My fear is that if Web 2.0 continues it’s sort of idealistic rampage through mainstream media, we’re going to be left with nothing but this level playing field, and professional media is going to be undermined.” Wow!
What Keen is missing is that the cause behind the surge in user-generated media is the basic law of supply and demand. If the demand did not exist, the supply would dwindle. Why are there so few horse-drawn wagon repair shops? Because something better came along that people wanted: cars. The public constantly complains that today’s films and music, for the most part, suck. That’s not to say that there aren’t great movies and CDs being made. What is true is that many are jammed together, lowest-common-denominator targeted rehashing packaged for mass consumption. There wouldn’t be a half-dozen independent film channels if the public was happy with the available cinema. Certainly the latest Shrek or Fantastic Four has it’s audience (me for one), and a large one at that. But the public is fragmenting by choice. They are no longer willing to accept what they are force fed and are looking elsewhere for entertainment that touches them on a deeper level. I heard recently, so it may not be true, that most movies lose money. This is most likely due to the enormous operating costs of the studio, actors, special effects, directors, marketing, etc. Yet a little movie like the Blair Witch Project, made for $60,000, made over $29 million in it’s opening weekend. This was filmed with a small crew and limited cast, virtually no special effects, unless you count flashlights, and was marketed on the web by it’s writer and director. Blair Witch 2 was made for $15 million and made only $13 million it’s opening weekend. This one was made by a major production company. By the way, the original gets an 8 out of 10 stars rating while the major studio version got only 2 out of 10 stars.
There is a serious movement to abandon network news and news paper outlets in favor of consumer-generated news, blogs or the BBC. Many feel that due to their focus on the bottom line, network news agencies are focusing more on local drama or celebrity gossip than international news. As a musician, you don’t want me to get started on what record labels have been pushing. Keen says “I think record lables historically have found and polished marvelous talent.” Is he kidding?! Does he listen to the schlock on the radio? Are the Britney’s of the world really marvelous talent? Let’s not forget the Paris Hilton CD. This is typical of record company offerings. You don’t get very many White Stripes, Tools or Dave Mathews. Whether you like bands like this or not, they are quality musicians, writing quality music and releasing quality CDs. Not pre-packaged tarts with a crew of 50 year-old songwriters and mixing board gurus that represents a majority of record company releases. What he additionally fails to mention is the financial structire of record companies. Most bands don’t even make money from their CDs, the record companies keep it. Most must rely on ticket and t-shirt sales.
This is part one of a series of articles on web tools that media- and film-makers can use Web tools for promotion.
There's no doubt that if you build a base of supporters for your film, project, or organization, it's likelihood of success will be that much greater. What if you couldbuild the equivalent of a MySpace focused on your project? In other words, a place where others could feel a connection with your film or project, discuss it among themselves, offer ideas, send their friends to check it out, and so on. This effectively leads to more people finding out about your work, and if you do it well, a buzz that has people looking forward to experiencing more of it. You can send announcements, share videos/photos, and all the niceties we've come to associate with social networking sites.
Here we'll cover three web platforms that will allow you to create your own social network - with all the features that the big players have (such Myspace, Facebook, Bebo, LinkedIn) - and more, and do so for free. Using these sites, you can build a site for your whole army of film fans, and build that buzz for whichever purposes you'd like. You can brand them with your own images, logos, and that color theme that fits just right to your project.
Ning.com: The most basic, and oldest of the create your own social network sites. Read full review here....
Goingon.com: The enterprise edition of create-your-own social network. Aside from the usual social networking tools (profiles, groups, discussion forums, photos, videos, etc.) it includes a sophisticated content management system. You can have an army of authors who can write blogs, and the system manages smoothly where the content appears and how. You can build the equivalent of full news portal (think CNN) for your organization. If you wished to build something like this out of your own pocket you'd be down at least 10-20k... Read full review here...
Wamily.com: The most cutting edge look-wise and function-wise of the create-your-own social network tools. However, it lacks the content management tools of Goingon.com. Read full review here...
The winner?
If you want basic functions that have been well-tested, Ning. If you are running a business or non-profit, and have multiple authors and want advanced functionality, GoingOn. And if you want to have the techie edge (with some bugs), Wamily.
Next off... we'll cover sophisticated tools for creating your own homepage...
As you know, we're developing what hope to be the most comprehensive directory of online resources on film, video and new media. Below are just a few of the latest additions to help you both contribute, benefit
and enjoy the flares of has become the solar orb of online video and film resources....
This is the only way we know you like what we're doing. If people do not contribute, we'll have to guess people don't find this useful, and we'll stop developing this tool. We'd rather focus our energies on what our members are actually finding valuable.
PS: The image of the sun was btw obtained from one of the Creative Commons repositories in the directory...
As you know, we're developing what hope to be the most comprehensive directory of online resources on film, video and new media. Below are just a few of the latest additions to help you both contribute, benefit 
