from Encore Magazine.

A first time feature documentary maker has struck a deal with Woolworths to distribute his film. Woolworths will stock DVDs of Australian Joe Cross’s healthy living documentary, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead in the produce section of its supermarket.

Cross’s story is the opposite to Morgan Spurlock’s Supersize Me. As an overweight broker, Cross sold his company and used a roadtrip across America with a cameraman, sound guy and a juicer as a way to get slim. While eating and drinking only fruit and vegetables Cross aimed to discover why people didn’t eat better.

Cross told Encore: “I did the deal directly. Woolworths are supporting the film as their view is this is a film that inspires people to eat more fresh food and they’re the fresh food people.”

Read the rest of this article from Encore Magazine.

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This article was written for Knowledge@Wharton.

Aspiring filmmaker James Kerwin had an image in his mind — a 1940s-era Lauren Bacall wearing Humphrey Bogart’s trench coat and walking through city streets at night. That image was the genesis of his first feature film, Yesterday Was a Lie, a black-and-white noir-style science fiction mystery starring Kipleigh Brown, Chase Masterson (who also served as producer) and John Newton. The independently produced film draws on myriad arcane influences ranging from Jungian psychology to quantum physics.

To fund the film, Kerwin used an approach that is uncommon in motion picture production: He established a tax exempt non-profit organization to raise the roughly $200,000 he needed. He was also fortunate enough to be awarded a grant from Panavision, which supplied most of his equipment.

Read the rest of this article from Knowledge@Wharton.

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This article was written by Katherine Monk.

“He’s probably one of the busiest directors in Canada, but for Carl Bessai making movies isn’t just work. It’s more like an addiction.

Bessai’s production averages at least one film per year since he made his dramatic debut with the intimate character study Johnny in 1999. Since then, several other portraits followed with Emile, Lola, Cole and Mothers & Daughters.

This year, Bessai has birthed two new films to join the celluloid brood: Fathers & Sons, which opens the Canadian Images program at the Vancouver International Film Festival today, and Repeaters, which screens on Oct. 9.

“It’s great having two films in the festival,” says Bessai. “For the actors, it’s especially important. The festival is really the prize.”

Read the rest of this article from the Vancouver Sun.

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This article was written by Destrybaldauf.

“Indie films, also known as an independent filmmaker, is much more creative than Hollywood productions and short films. The majority of indie film-making projects to bring in social issues and documentary-style projects that are less fictional or at least reality-based fiction of a kind.

An independent film can be anything you want it, and you need an inventory of your personal creative goals to meet in order to succeed in the film production. Low-budget filmsneed not be bad films. In fact, several of the best movies ever made be made with a small budget. You only need to know how to make an impression and you market yourself and your film.”

Read the rest of this article from Data Recovery New Jersey.

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This article was written by Brian Brooks.

“In an anticipated annual announcement, Filmmaker Magazine unveiled its “25 New Faces of Independent Film” today. The 12th annual list spotlights, in the words of the publication, “up-and-comers poised to shape the next generation of independent film.” The complete roster appears in the new issue of IndieWire and is available below.”

Read the rest of this article from IndieWire.

This article was written for Lifestyle, Entertainment and Movies.

“Independent filmmaking often takes place outside of Hollywood, or other major studio systems. An independent film (or indie film) is a film initially produced without financing or distribution from a major movie studio. Creative, business, and technological reasons have all contributed to the growth of the indie film scene in the late 20th and early 21st century.”

Read the rest of this article from jjdmthemovie.com

This article was written by Kevin A Terrell.

“Welcome to the world of independent filmmaking. You probably  are eager to get started. Whether it be for online or a local film festival, with these quick tips, you will  have a little better understanding on how to get ahead of the game. The following tips are going to show you just the basics on getting started. With time and experience, you will be a professional at it. Okay let go!”

This article was written by Mahogany J. Slide.

“Five hour night shoot. One primary service light. One handcam. No external audio. No camera operator. Total time of footage actually used after editing: 2 minutes and 20 seconds.

Just me and my BFF Katie Payne and for the sake of not having better words or enough sleep to think of any, We banged it Baby, totally banged it!

It was 10:30 PM yesterday when my long time friend/aspiring film actress KP and I plunged headlong into a dark and slightly nippy night shoot for the opening scene of one my feature films, Serial 65. I finally got to put into practice and try out some of the new techniques I’ve learned over the past couple months of hitting the film books hard and watching every tutorial and vlog about filmmaking posted on twitter and the like.”

Read the rest of this article from Junto Ink Films.

This article was written by Ben Hicks.

Filmmakers can no longer JUST think about the film. We have to think about our fans more than ever before and we really have take this seriously because…OUR FANS ARE THE NEW STUDIOS!

“I want to assure everyone that this is not a joke. I understand ‘revolutionize’ is an enormous word and should not be taken lightly so I want to make sure we are all clear on the definition of what the word revolutionize means. Merriam-Webster defines the word revolutionize as follows:

revolutionize
transitive verb
1 : to overthrow the established government of
2 : to imbue with revolutionary doctrines
3 : to change fundamentally or completely ex: revolutionize an industry

This idea could revolutionize the entire independent film industry, and the only reason I say “could” instead of “will” is because to make this a reality, film fans and a majority of the filmmakers out there must work together, believe in and fight for this idea.

This idea, if realized, would not only make it possible for an indie filmmakers to sustain but to also to make hundreds of thousands of dollars overnight.

Believe me, I understand how preposterous this all might sound. When my team and I were fishing around for ideas on a ways for filmmakers to sustain, our goal was to catch a fish, but for some magical reason, we caught a whale. This idea was so big that at first we didn’t even know what we were looking at, but once we stepped back far enough we realized that this idea could change EVERYTHING.

But before I talk about this idea I have to reinstate that for this to work we need filmmakers and film fans from all over the world to support this idea, this movement, this revolution. So if you are a filmmaker who wants to make a living as a filmmaker without being dependent on studios, distributors or advertising; or a film fan who wants to see an explosion of uncompromised Independent film: please blog, tweet, tell and spread this to all of your filmmaker and film loving friends. Then tell them to spread it to their filmmaker friends and tell them to translate this into another language and to spread it some more.

Now to make a clear decision one must clearly understand all the options. I know there are lots of filmmakers out there that know the current state of Indie film isn’t so good right now but for many filmmakers I’m assuming you’re too busy watching films and working on your own stuff to bother with the concerns of the film industry. Let me assure you, that you that you won’t really know how dark the present is until you contrast it with the light of tomorrow. Please read this post and question me if you think I am wrong in any way.”

Read the rest of this article from New Breed.

This article was written by David Basulto.

“You may have enjoyed famous independent films such as “The Blair Witch Project” or “Juno” and, while you may or may not have realized these films were not produced by major film production studios, perhaps you dreamed of making a great film yourself some day.  These days, there are more opportunities to become an independent filmmaker than ever before.

In the early 1900s, the major studios dominated filmmaking, as making movies was a relatively new idea using new technology and naturally, it took a lot of money to produce films.  Studios such as 20th Century Fox, Paramount and Warner Bros. are the three major film studios with the longest history from the Golden Age of filmmaking to today’s environment full of smaller studios to compete with the big boys.  Also, independent films are popping up all the time made by studio’s nobody in the industry even knew existed.”

Read this article from Film School on Demand.

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