by Michael Varrati.

This very weekend in the Springsteen-lauded town of Asbury Park, New Jersey, a convergence of freaks, geeks, and celebrities will occur to celebrate all things cinema.

The unifying event is known as Tromadance, and even amongst the film making community, it is relatively unique. Unlike large institutions such as Sundance or Cannes, Tromadance requires no submission fees from artists looking to have their work screened. Furthermore, there’s no admission cost for attendees, and no velvet ropes. It is a festival where celebrities and film-goers are equal, and encouraged to mingle openly.

Sponsored by the world’s longest running independent film studio, Troma Entertainment, the perks of Tromadance certainly must seem like a sweet deal to the casual onlooker. However, for those of us who are well aware of Troma’s history, it’s just another in a long line of contributions the studio has made to the championing of independent art.

The man most directly responsible for Troma’s long history is Lloyd Kaufman. A filmmaker and cinematic impresario, Kaufman has been on the front lines of the battle for artistic rights for nearly four decades.

Read the rest of this article from Huffington Post.

by Gina Hall.

The recent passage of the JOBS act may be the shot in the arm the indie film business needs to reignite the lackluster funding in recent years. What’s exciting is that it’s opening up the crowdfunding market past your typical cadre of friends and family who are making a donation to Kickstarter or Indiegogo without any expectation of return.

Maria Bozzi, Director of Education at Film Independent, noted “The JOBS Act could help filmmakers get the interest of other individuals, unrelated to the subject matter or filmmaker, who might want to dip their toes in the waters of filmmaking by investing in projects that promise them a piece of the pie in the form of equity.”

So what can the aspiring indie filmmaker do in anticipation of attracting these new investors? The online crowdfunding world is a big, noisy place and it’s not always easy to make a splash. It requires something that Hollywood’s traditional development process doesn’t — followers. Fortunately you get to keep your fan base from project to project, kind of like rolling over your own digital 401k of people who like you. And like your 401K, it’s never too early to start building it.

Read the rest of this article from Moviefone.

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by Lynnette Porter.

“Question me an answer, if you please. I will answer with a question, clear and bright!” This lyric by Burt Bacharach and Hal David for 1973’s Lost Horizon echoes game show host Alex Trebek’s perhaps more familiar Jeopardy! instruction, “Answer in the form of a question.” Asking questions, providing answers, and then formulating more questions based on those answers is more than basic communication—it’s an effective marketing strategy for independent films.

When audiences and filmmakers can ask questions of each other and discuss a film, everyone wins. Distributors and indie filmmakers have learned this lesson well, as evidenced by a growing number of Q&A sessions held during film festivals or, ever more frequently, after screenings at neighborhood theaters.

The competition for moviegoers’ dollars is fiercer than ever in a tight global economy, and the gap between “big” and “small” films’ promotional budgets continues to widen. Studio-backed blockbusters have the money for promotion across all media and the clout to get onto multiple screens at cineplexes almost anywhere in the world. “Big” films generate lots of publicity during preproduction and filming, as well as in release.

The public knows months in advance which films they likely will see; recent Super Bowl commercials for The Avengers, for example, ensured that a high percentage of the game’s television audience—not only millions in the US but worldwide via satellite or Internet—received an impressive first glimpse of the Marvel characters coming to theaters this summer.

Read the rest of this article from Pop Matters.

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by Crimefile.

As I prepare to both act and crew in an independent film things are quickly changing in terms of power.

The current system is awash in criminal racketeering, restraint of trade and anti-trust activities. There are about five talent agencies that currently determine what films will be made and who will act in them.

Actors hire agents to represent them and get them work. However, the agents have somehow reversed this to them hiring the actors. The talent agencies tell the studios what films they can make and just who will act, direct, shoot or write.

Massive amounts of money are gathered in what’s considered risky investments to make films. The talent agencies seem to control the cash flow. More importantly they control the movie theater owners and just what films will hit the big screen. The Agencies had the ability to intimidate, bully and control the screen owners and exactly what films will see the light of day.

However this system is changing at the talent agents can’t do anything about it. The large flat screen TVs are here with fabulous sound systems. They are in homes with the best snacks, and that important pause button for bathroom runs.

Read the rest of this article from Crime File News.

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by Cassandra Szklarski.

Indie director Edward Burns says he’s become increasingly reliant on video-on-demand services to promote his filmmaking ventures.

The “Saving Private Ryan” actor says fickle audiences have made it harder to make money with a theatrical movie release.

That’s why his newest film, a relationship comedy called “Newlyweds,” is skipping the theatres altogether to be part of Rogers’ on-demand pay per view service.

The film is part of a new deal in which Rogers will carry indie material from Robert De Niro’s distribution company Tribeca Film.

The cable TV and Internet provider says the partnership adds more titles to its Rogers On Demand and Rogers Anyplace TV services.

Other additions include the South African-set “Black Butterflies,” the romantic comedy “Conception” and the crime thriller “Neon Flesh.”

During a stop in Toronto on Tuesday, Burns said changing technology, the demise of art house theatres and fewer specialized movie distribution companies have changed the industry dramatically.

Read the rest of this article from News 1130.

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from IBN Live.

DearCinema brings to you a few voices that define the Indie scene in India today, ruminating over what independent cinema means to them. Straight from the horse’s mouth. Following Q, Shonali Bose, Onir and Shivajee Chandrabhushan, in the fifth in the series, filmmaker Nila Madhab Panda whose debut feature film ‘I Am Kalam’ won a national award and much critical acclaim speaks his mind on indie filmmaking:

Recently, I was at a round table discussion on ‘Managing and Protecting Creativity’ at IIM Bangalore. Alongside me were several legendary filmmakers and dancers. When their turn came, each of them said they were not great speaking in front of an audience. But I feel if our generation does not speak out, we will keep on having such seminars and talks, on Indie cinema, and on creating and protecting creativity, without any result ever.

So, I believe in speaking my mind, as I did at the round table. Because I strongly feel that if we have to take forward our cinema and our arts, we have to be proactive, to the extent that we look at even the otherwise routine-sounding seminars and conferences as a platform to take forward the movement and the struggle to create art work in consonance with the sensibilities of the modern times.

Read the rest of this article from IBN live.

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by Lam Thuy Vo.

I’ve recently started looking into the world of independent documentary filmmakingin an effort to understand how so many filmmakers figured out a way to make a living with long-form storytelling. One thing is for sure: Most successful filmmakers I spoke to also are savvy business/sales people.

It was very interesting to get a glimpse into this world, mostly through the FilmShop and the Brooklyn Filmmakers Collective, two collectives I am part of. As a journalist, the divide between the ad sales department and the editorial side was as holy as anything could be. Here, filmmakers were writing proposals for grants, setting rates for their film screenings and speaker appearances, and working out ways to get funding from advocacy groups and corporations.

Here are a few things I think we could learn from our filmmaking colleagues.

Read the rest of this article from Journalists.org.

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by Kevin Griffin.

Gus Van Sant is a rarity. Not only has he directed major Hollywood films such as Good Will Hunting and Milk, he’s also brought his unique approach to independent-style films such as Gerry and Elephant.

But even someone successful at negotiating the jungle of U.S. filmmaking recognizes that commercial considerations influence every step of the creative process.

In a surprisingly candid interview, he told author David Spaner that he’s looking to go digital to make no-budget films outside of Hollywood. He’s come to realize that the dumbing down occurs everywhere in the industry in the U.S., even with smaller film companies because everyone has learned their craft with the big studios.

“There was an expected style in making a movie, like a template, and to deviate from it was highly suspect,” Van Sant said. “You always made these a-little-more-safe decisions because money was riding on it. I got tired of it.”

Van Sant is one of numerous directors and filmmakers Spaner interviews for his new book Shoot It!: Hollywood Inc. and the Rising of Independent Film, published by Arsenal Pulp Press ($22.95).

Read the rest of this article from Vancouver Sun.

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by Michelle Kung.

The word ‘collective’ may evoke 1970s hippie counterculture, but in the independent-film community, it’s helping to get movies made.

A new generation of filmmakers in their 20s and 30s are forming affiliated groups—with names like Court 13, Blue-Tongue Films and Borderline Films—to produce modestly

Instead of focusing on their own projects exclusively, filmmakers join together and pitch in to help their colleagues. At least four collective-produced films were bought out of the Sundance Film Festival last month, including the award-winning “Beasts of the Southern Wild.”

Filmmakers have long worked collaboratively. In 1919, Charlie Chaplin, Mary Pickford and others formed United Artists so they could produce and distribute their own films. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, social causes drove the Amber Film and Berwick Street Film Collectives. A focus on bare-bones, special-effects-free storytelling was at the core of the Dogme 95 group, with director Lars von Trier, in the late 1990s and 2000s. But today’s film collective are spawned by economic pressures.

Read the rest of this article from WSJ.

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by Tony Myers.

The decisive moment for smartphones overtaking point-and-shoot cameras occurred last summer when the iPhone 4 became the most popular device for picture uploads to the image-sharing site Flickr. At the 2012 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, camera makers were scrambling to adapt to this new order, adding internet connections and more powerful zoom lenses to even basic models.

But it is not only photographers who have been quick to realise the potential of the camera in devices such as the iPhone 4 and 4S, and Nokia N8; film-makers have also been working with smartphones to produce not only quality shorts, but in some cases full-length feature films – shot completely on a mobile phone.

Read the rest of this article from The Guardian.

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