Make room for another video sharing site, eefoof.com. This site is different from market leader YouTube because it compensates the content creators that share media on their site. Every month, the company calculates the total page views for each submission. The user receives a certain percentage of ad revenue based on the total page views for the entire site. Once you've made at least $25 the company sends you a PayPal payment. Sounds like a good idea which is what eefoof.com hopes will steer people toward its site instead of more than 150 other options currently out there. This should prove interesting if it works but many video sharing sites are still trying to turn a profit. Just another outlet for the budding filmmaker to share his or her work, only this time the effort will hopefully pay dividends.
The best compliment you can pay to a developer, besides making a good software, is that he/she listens well. Listening in a way that goes to the root of the problem instead of a knee-jerk reaction to user's complaints. Like they have done before and especially with the 0.9.7 release, Celtx developers listened a lot and quite well.
A little while back they teased me with a "three little buttons" post. It has lived up to the hype. This is easily the best new set of features since I don't know when in Celtx development. The three little buttons are 1) add item 2) add folder and 3) delete item. It seems simple enough but this little configuration opens up a whole range of possibilities. The add item list can add a script, a text document, scene or character details, schedule and even a file. And you can configure them however you'd like by placing them in a folder system of your choice. So your Celtx document is not just a script file but a project file. Very cool! Everything is in one place.
FastCompany.com has a solid little article about the many goings-on in the current age of digital video. Writer Adam L. Penenberg constructs a neat and expanisve portrait of the medium, detailing the exploits of emerging names such as Arin Crumley and Susan Buice (creators of Four Eyed Monsters), the changing definition of film, the shift (or lack of) to digital in movie theaters, and the nature and significance of digital video itself. All in all, it's a nice article that's worth a read.
TV shows like "Lost" or "24" require seven-figure budgets--each episode--to produce. But the storylines found in your typical American sitcom--"Everybody Loves Raymond" or "Will & Grace," for example--don't typically require the number of locations and effects that make the action shows so expensive. With TV's revenue model rapidly undergoing change--shows on iTunes, ad-supported streaming at ABC.com, full seasons for sale on DVD--there's no reason a low-budget sitcom couldn't air on the internet--and be profitable.
Enter "The Burg." Set in New York City's oh-so-hip Williamsburg 'hood, the show is set to premiere at theburg.tv today. There have been preview clips running on YouTube for weeks (see below)--watching them, you immediately understand that a show by and for hipsters wouldn't be successful on network TV anyway. After all, cool kids don't watch TV. I don't, or at least, that's my official line. It remains to be seen how good the show will be, but check out the clip below, and if you like it, head on over to The Burg.
Caleb John Clark has a very thorough guide to be a proper production assistant on a film set. This is pretty cool! Even if you don't plan to be production assistant any time soon, it is always nice to look back. It is a tough job that most filmmakers usually start off with. If you want a job such as this and want to get called back, you got to follow the rules. And this is the first handbook, I have seen, for being a good Production Assistant. It is free, it can comes in a PDF file which you can print, fold in half and carry it around. Some of the areas covered are: Set Etiquette, Radio Etiquette, Lock Downs, Running Talent, Driving and, the all important, Getting a Job.
I received a newsletter from Withoutabox.com, which I have previously mentioned my fondness for, and I was going to trash it. Thought it was some sales pitch or the other. But it wasn't, it was information that filmmakers could use. One in particular really stood out. I can't tell who wrote it but it deals with the Indie myth that you have to have a star for your film to succeed, which I still think is true most of the time but it is seriously overrated.
Scott Kirsner writing for The Hollywood Reporter talks about how Hollywood is warming up to Digital Video. Many upcoming films including Superman, Click and Miami Vice were shot on digital video. Many Cinematographers that were holding out are joining the fold. But the more interesting part of the article, at least for me, was how Digital video has a bigger effect on Indie productions saving as much as 25% by avoiding shooting on film. For big budget films, the cost of shooting film is neglible especially when costs get in the hundreds of millions.
One of the big worries for many digital video detractors is how digital video files will be archived. This is a very important issue. Something that I feel that many people aren't thinking of. And if it doesn't worry you, then I suggest you read Mark Pilgrim's recent explaination of his switch to Linux and open-source.
Panasonic is set to role out two new flash memory based camcorders the SDR-S200 and SDR-S150. The cameras will feature a similar compact design found in their predecessor the SDR-S100. Notable upgrades include support for the new Secure Digital High Capacity (SDHC) card format as well as enhanced optics. The cameras will ship with 2GB SD cards which will hold just over one and a half hours of MPEG-2 footage. Look for the SDR-S200 to hit store shelves in Japan by July 8th, though no word on availability or pricing for both cameras here in the US.
Josh Oakhurst pinged me with a really good article that many ultra-indie films can take a lot from. Very much like Mike Curtis at HD for Indies, Josh reports on some consulting gigs that he has had recently. Like many independent productions, the workflow depends on how much it costs and how it will work towards the final output. It is a tricky question and Josh does a wonderful job tackling it.
Got this link from a friend. Kinooga "lets you raise finance for your film project at any stage of its conception." You raise money by preselling downloads. Has anyone participated in this site? Of what I can gather, people buy downloads based on their interest in a particular project, when the budget for the film is met, it goes into production. For something like this to work, it needs a lot of word of mouth. So here is me doing my part...
I am kinda surprised that I am pointing to Metafilter for the second time in a row for Forum watch because it isn't really a film or media oriented forum. But the answers to a question on the process of submitting a tv script were so good, I thought I break tradition. The answers are plentiful, long, varied, useful and even somewhat cynical. Here is a sample of what someone with 10 years of sitcom experience had to say: "4) once you've registered your script, don't write "WGA registered" on its cover; doing so sends a subtle "first timer" message. Besides, production companies know that its cheaper to buy your script than to steal it, and anyone who's gonna steal it is gonna steal it."
Jette Kernion from one our sister sites, Cinematical, posted a lengthy open letter to indie filmmakers on her personal blog about how you should promote your films online. And as a writer for Cinematical she should know, because bloggers/journalists tend to write stories that are easier to collect information on. Have a website for your project, even if it is a short. And have it up for a while, so search sites like Google and Yahoo have time to index it and hopefully move it up on the listings.
John August has the answers to a question that many Hollywood outsiders have: How do you break into Hollywood? August has the answers, check his post out. But doesn't it seem that the goal of breaking into Hollywood is not as important as it was just a couple years ago. People are making it work outside of the system. Though filmmakers still flock to LA or NYC, there are still many more who remain where they are because they are finding enough work there. Every other day, I hear another film being made in North Carolina. Would not have guessed that when I lived in NYC. It is a great feeling.
So, you're a videoblogger with a great idea and absolutely no dinero to fund your online project, what do you do? Do you stuff the idea in that dusty drawer of yours? You can, but there's another option.
We all talk about how it doesn't have to cost anything to videoblog - and it doesn't. But more recently vloggers are becoming more ambitious with the stories they feel need to be told. Stories that will take time to develop - and we as filmmakers know how that goes. Pre-production costs, time to edit, shoot, tape stock, equipment, and the occasional sandwhich. For all of those reasons Have Money Will Vlog (HMWV) was created.
Google has released pay-per-click video ads. So the way it works is that there is a static screenshot in a small television-screen like box. If the consumer is interested in the ads, they click which plays the embedded movie. I like the fact that it is up to the user to play the ad. Like Adsense text add, each click earns the site owners money.
This is exciting news to me for one reason: there will be a lot more paid work for filmmakers. Smaller companies that had no interest in a multi-media ad will now look to filmmakers to create an ad to differentiate themselves from their competitors.
Make room for another video sharing site, eefoof.com. This site is different from market leader YouTube because it compensates the content creators that share media on their site. Every month, the company calculates the total page views for each submission. The user receives a certain percentage of ad revenue based on the total page views for the entire site. Once you've made at least $25 the company sends you a PayPal payment. Sounds like a good idea which is what eefoof.com hopes will steer people toward its site instead of more than 150 other options currently out there. This should prove interesting if it works but many video sharing sites are still trying to turn a profit. Just another outlet for the budding filmmaker to share his or her work, only this time the effort will hopefully pay dividends.
The best compliment you can pay to a developer, besides making a good software, is that he/she listens well. Listening in a way that goes to the root of the problem instead of a knee-jerk reaction to user's complaints. Like they have done before and especially with the 0.9.7 release, 
FastCompany.com has 
Caleb John Clark has a very thorough guide to be a proper production assistant on a film set. This is pretty cool! Even if you don't plan to be production assistant any time soon, it is always nice to look back. It is a tough job that most filmmakers usually start off with. If you want a job such as this and want to get called back, you got to follow the rules. And this is the first handbook, I have seen, for being a good Production Assistant. It is free, it can comes in a 
I received a newsletter from 
Scott Kirsner writing for The Hollywood Reporter talks about how 
Panasonic is set to role out two new flash memory based camcorders the 
Josh Oakhurst pinged me with a really good article that many ultra-indie films can take a lot from. Very much like Mike Curtis at HD for Indies, Josh reports on some consulting gigs that he has had recently. Like many independent productions, the workflow depends on how much it costs and how it will work towards the final output. It is a tricky question and Josh does a wonderful job tackling it.
Got this link from a friend. Kinooga "lets you raise finance for your film project at any stage of its conception." You raise money by preselling downloads. Has anyone participated in this site? Of what I can gather, people buy downloads based on their interest in a particular project, when the budget for the film is met, it goes into production. For something like this to work, it needs a lot of word of mouth. So here is me doing my part...
I am kinda surprised that I am pointing to Metafilter for the second time in a row for Forum watch because it isn't really a film or media oriented forum. But the answers to a question on the process of submitting a tv script were so good, I thought I break tradition. The answers are plentiful, long, varied, useful and even somewhat cynical. Here is a sample of what someone with 10 years of sitcom experience had to say: "4) once you've registered your script, don't write "WGA registered" on its cover; doing so sends a subtle "first timer" message. Besides, production companies know that its cheaper to buy your script than to steal it, and anyone who's gonna steal it is gonna steal it."
Jette Kernion from one our sister sites, 
John August has the answers to a question that many Hollywood outsiders have: How do you break into Hollywood? August has the answers, check his post out. But doesn't it seem that the goal of breaking into Hollywood is not as important as it was just a couple years ago. People are making it work outside of the system. Though filmmakers still flock to LA or NYC, there are still many more who remain where they are because they are finding enough work there. Every other day, I hear another film being made in North Carolina. Would not have guessed that when I lived in NYC. It is a great feeling.
Google has released pay-per-click video ads. So the way it works is that there is a static screenshot in a small television-screen like box. If the consumer is interested in the ads, they click which plays the embedded movie. I like the fact that it is up to the user to play the ad. Like Adsense text add, each click earns the site owners money. 
