I’m Peter D. Marshall and I created this film directing blog in 2007 as an online movie making resource center for Independent Filmmakers like yourself.

(As of February 12, 1589 film making posts have been published on this blog!)

For over 38 years I’ve worked (and survived) in the Film and TV industry as a Film Director, Television Producer, First Assistant Director and Creative Consultant. (See IMDb Credits.)

In 1999, I started my website, ActionCutPrint which has grown into one of the top film directing websites for Independent Filmmakers on the Internet today featuring online movie making courses, film directing articles, film and television books and filmmaking workshops.

In 2000, I started publishing my free monthly film making ezine, The Director’s Chair which is currently read by over 6000 filmmakers in 105 countries around the world. (You can read 125 back issues here.)

To fulfill my goal of mentoring and teaching, I developed several filmmaking workshops that I have presented over the past 18 years: from Canada to Singapore to Dubai. I am also a directing instructor at the Vancouver Film School.

So if you want to keep up to date on the latest Online film and television resources, please Bookmark this Page Now or Subscribe to this blog to read daily film making articles written by myself and other film makers from around the world.

The feature article in this month’s issue of “The Director’s Chair“ is called What a Director Looks for in the First Script Read-Through: “A director needs to understand every detail about the story you are telling. And in order to understand the script, a director needs to be able to operate in the sub-world of the characters.”

SUBSCRIBE to the current issue of “The Director’s Chair” and get two free bonuses: (1) Day One of my 220 page Online film directing audio course, “The Art and Craft of the Director Audio Seminar” and (2) the first 26 pages (plus mp3 audio) of my 155 page “Script Breakdown and Film Scheduling Online Course For Independent Filmmakers.”

If you have been following filmmaking trends you know the world of indie filmmaking is changing fast.

Inexpensive production technology coupled with the decline of traditional movie distribution has forever transformed the ways in which movies are marketed, seen and sold.

These days, filmmakers must not only make great movies, but in order to prosper, modern moviemakers must now master crowdfunding, internet marketing and social media.

To help you succeed as an independent filmmaker, I collaborated with nine other prominent filmmaker thought leaders to provide you with a complementary filmmaking Action Guide on how to survive and thrive in this ever changing industry.

It’s called “The Modern Moviemaking Movement” and it will provide you with 100  pages of useful, modern, no-fluff filmmaking information such as:

1. Uncover Successful, Modern Screenwriting Tips – Jurgen Wolff
2. Find Out How To Make the Most of Movie Money- Norman C. Berns
3. Discover Six Ways to Finance Your Feature Film – Gordon Firemark
4. The State of The (Indie Filmmaker) Union – Tom Malloy
5. Get The Inside Scoop On Crowdfunding – Carole Dean
6. Plan Your Production For Maximum Success – Peter D. Marshall
7. Modern Guerrilla Filmmaking – Gary King
8. Navigate Film Festivals and Do Them Right – Sheri Candler
9. Sell Your Movie Without the Middle-Man – Jason Brubaker
10. The Producer of Marketing & Distribution – Jon Reiss

Grab “The Modern MovieMaking Movement” instantly here: http://www.ModernMovieMaking.com. Also, if you like this 100 page indie filmmaking Action Guide, PLEASE GIVE IT AWAY to your closest filmmaking friends.

This article was written by Kai Nagata.

Are you working to push the envelope in Canadian media? Can you think of ways to make the CBC better? Do you have a stake in a refocused public broadcaster with a solid plan for the future?

Reimagine CBC” launched this week. The campaign is independent from the public broadcaster, and the message is a bit more subtle than your standard “save the CBC from cuts” (although big cuts now look inevitable).

Hatched by Internet freedom advocates Openmedia and youth democracy group Leadnow, “Reimagine CBC” is a big public brainstorm for anyone who’s ever caught themselves thinking out loud how the broadcaster could do better. It’s an online tool to gather ideas from real people, which organizers will then take straight to the CBC – and the CRTC.

Hundreds of submissions have poured in so far from across the country – and a lot of the suggestions have to do with improved online content. With the television market in turmoil, there’s a lot of enthusiasm for new ways of telling stories – new venues, more interactivity, more experimentation.

The CBC is a huge client for Canadian content – but right now the list of outside producers it works with is relatively short. Programming decisions come from the top, down. The Reimagine CBC team is trying to rock the boat a little, and they need help.

If your company or organization works in the Canadian arts & media scene – or is trying to shake things up – you might consider sponsoring one of the public events in Toronto or Vancouver.

(The Vancouver event has been confirmed for April 19th at the Vogue … no word on the Toronto schedule yet.)

These are big shows featuring lots of homegrown talent and a guest list full of innovators, taste-makers and content creators. You can email kai@genwhymedia.ca for more details.

 

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Vancouver Film School grads win prize from the “29 Second Film Festival” in South Korea

February 12, 2012

Eugene Kim, 26, a recent grad from Vancouver Film School was riding home in a bus one night when he stumbled with an amazing film opportunity. As he searched on his phone for free applications, he discovered an international film festival taking place in South Korea that was calling all filmmakers for a challenge: making [...]

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The Original DIY Filmmakers: The New York Punks of ‘Shoot It! Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film’

February 11, 2012

by David Spaner. There have been plenty of history books written about independent film, but few take the expansive, international view of journalist and critic David Spaner in his new book “,” released this month. “Shoot It!” is a revealing history of how Hollywood, with its eye on the bottom line, lost its ability to [...]

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Evanston filmmaker examines women’s rights in China

February 10, 2012

by Susan Du. Evanston resident May Tchao is a filmmaker whose current project, “Rise of the Phoenix,” casts the issue of  in the context of the country’s rapid progress in recent years. Born in China, Tchao immigrated to the U.S. as a student and had a career in the advertising industry until she gave it [...]

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India: Our films are braver now

February 9, 2012

by Bharati Dubey. The kind of films being made today are a reflection of the . Take the example of Shaitan. There is nothing left to your imagination, in terms of the treatment given by the director. A first-time director comes in today with a restricted budget; but he puts in everything in that film [...]

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Sundance film festival: how it got its edge back

February 8, 2012

by James Rocchi. At this year’s , which played out over 10 freezing days in Utah and came to a close last Sunday, the divide between American cinema and the news stories defining the nation’s mood seemed narrower than ever. From abuses of military power abroad to the financial meltdown at home, to the long, [...]

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U.S. shingle grows Rwanda film biz

February 7, 2012

by Christopher Vourlias. More than five years after American helmer Lee Isaac Chung arrived in Rwanda to lens his debut feature, the seeds he planted among local filmmakers have begun to sprout. Chung’s shingle, Almond Tree Films Rwanda, has produced a handful of highly regarded shorts that have traveled to international fests. Three of the [...]

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Dear Filmmakers: Subvert A Genre All You Want, But You Have To Respect It First

February 6, 2012

by Evan Dickson. A little while ago I tossed up an article about the sale of Black Rock at Sundance. In fact, it should be the piece right below this one. Right after doing so I saw that Devin Faraci, one of my favorite critics, had already filed his review of the film over at [...]

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Sundance, Women In Film promote female filmmakers

February 5, 2012

by Sandy Cohen. The Sundance Institute and  are working together to track female filmmakers who are showing their work at the 2012 Sundance Film Festival and plan to use the data to increase women’s presence in all areas of filmmaking. The aim of the joint effort, announced Monday, is to “initiate a real hard look [...]

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