We did it!

Film Ninja Clan managed to write, shoot, edit and score a short film in 48 hours. Not only that, but it turned out pretty damn good for only having 2 days if I do say so myself.

A HUGE thank you goes out to the Film Ninja Clan. If you are crewing up for a project and need some talent check the credits. I don’t hesitate to recommend ANYONE on my team.

Details and video after the jump…

Here’s the details:

• Genre: Film de Femme
• Character: Kristy or Kyle Brown – Illustrator
• Prop: A tie
• Dialog: “Wrong. Guess again.”

The result!

Click here to view the embedded video.

I am proud to announce that I have assembled a kick-ass team to take part in the 48hr Film Project in Seattle. Dubbed the Film Ninja Clan, our team is made up of some of Seattle’s most talented filmmakers, which is good ’cause we’re gonna need ‘em.

For the uninitiated, the 48hr Film Project is exactly what it sounds like. We will have 48 hour, and not a second more, to write, shoot, edit and score a 4 – 7 minute short film. The catch is that the genre of the film will be chosen at random on the night of the kickoff. Additionally, we will be required to utilize a specific character and a specific piece of dialog within the film. Complete details are available on the 48hr Film Project website.

Here’s the schedule:

• Friday, June 19th 6:00pm – Kickoff party. Receive our genre, character and line.
• Friday, June 19th 7:00pm – Contest officially starts. Ready, set. GO!
• Friday, June 19th 7:00pm til the wee hours of the morning – write and storyboard a killer script
• Saturday, June 20th 8:00am -to 6:00pm – Shoot said killer script.
• Saturday, June 20th 7:00pm to the wee hours of the morning – Return to FilmNinja central and begin editing and scoring the film.
• Sunday, June 21st morning – after a little sleep and a lot of coffee continue editing and scoring.
• Sunday, June 21st 5:00pm – Render that puppy!
• Sunday, June 21st 7:00pm – Turn in what is sure to be the coolest film ever produced in a 48hr period of time.
• Thursday, June 25th 9:00pm – Our film, along with 11 others, will screen at the Harvard Exit. (807 East Roy at Harvard, Seattle 98102)
• Friday, June 26th 6:00pm – We will be announced as the worlds greatest filmmaking team, whisked away to Hollywood, given mansions, Ferraris and an 8 figure, 3 picture deal with Paramount. Or we’ll just go have a beer and talk about how much fun we had.

There will be some prizes awarded to the winner of each city and even bigger grand prize awarded to the international winner. Winners will be decided by audience voting so we will be doing everything we can to stack the audience in our favor. Speaking of which, now would be a great time to get your tickets! =D

Aurora Auto Wrecking!

It turns out that not all stories have fairytale endings. Despite being the one and only BMWoW!, the Bothell police chose to interpret the fact that it didn’t run, had expired tags, a flat tire and a broken window as signs of an abandoned vehicle. As such, it was marked for tow. If it would have been towed by the police it would have effectively quadrupled the production budget for the commercial and sent my bank account in the wrong direction in general. With options running out, I called AAA, had it brought to AAW and after several intense rounds of negotiation settled on a price of $300.

The news isn’t all bad though. As a result of the BMWoW! commercial I will be talking with a friend of a friend about doing some video production work for their company. We’ll see what happens. In the mean time, here are a couple parting shots:

R.I.P. old friend.

Rectify has been slowly spreading like a big pool of blood. You can now see it on Babelgum!

Rectify has been making its way across the interwebz and is now officially available on Hulu and Amazon. Woo hoo!

1. A real live person has to approve every video. That way you only get good indie films with some semblance of production value. No pissing monkeys and no ‘leave Britney alone’ vids. Bonus.
2. They support full 720p HD resolution. In fact, they have a MINIMUM resolution of 640×360.
3. The site looks and works great.

Head over to openfilm.com to see for yourself or just watch Rectify below.

*Jimmy Shaker Day is one of my online idents. Bonus points to anyone who knows where I got it from.

So I’m back from L.A. and the entire experience was awesome. DIY Days was a complete success. Here is the breakdown of the day:

OPENING KEYNOTE
Robert Greenwald (Outfoxed, Wallmart the High Cost of Low Price, Iraq for Sale)

10:45 AM – NOON
Panel #1: THE REALITIES OF DIY

Discussion Leader: Mark Stolaroff (producer and founder of the No Budget Film School)
- Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters)
- Ondi Timoner (DiG, Join Us, We Live in Public)
- M dot Strange (We Are the Strange)
- Hunter Weeks (10 MPH and 10 YARDS)

NOON to 1PM – LUNCH

1PM to 1:45PM:
Arin Crumley – FOUR EYED MONSTERS case study

1:45PM – 2:30PM:
Lance Weiler – EXTENDING THE STORYWORLD case study

2:30PM – 3:15PM
KEYNOTE
Marshall Herskovitz (Blood Diamond, Quarterlife)

3:15PM – 4:30PM
Panel #2: MOVING BEYOND THE SCREEN

Discussion Leader: Lance Weiler (Head Trauma, The Last Broadcast)
- Marshall Herskovitz (Blood Diamond, Quarterlife)
- Tommy Pallotta (A Scanner Darkly, Waking Life)
- Femke Wolting (filmmaker, cross-media producer and designer)
- Mark Pellington (Henry Poole is Here, Arlington Road and Mothman Prophecies)

4:30PM – 4:45PM
Break

4:45PM – 5:30PM
M Dot Strange – WE ARE THE STRANGE case study

5:30PM – 6:45PM
Panel #3: WHEN THE AUDIENCE TAKES CONTROL

Discussion Leader: Saskia Wilson-Brown (Current TV)
- Arin Crumley (Four Eyed Monsters)
- M Dot Strange (We Are the Strange)
- Miki Krimmel (expert in social media and online community)
- Alex Johnson (digital media strategist / filmmaker)
- Lance Weiler (The Last Broadcast, Head Trauma)
- YOU

6:45PM
Closing Remarks

7PM – 8PM
Social Hour @ Mountain Bar

The amount of information was intense. Thankfully the whole thing was recorded and will be made avialable on the DIY Days and Workbook Project websites shortly.

I want to extend a huge thanks to Lance Weiler, Arin Crumley, M dot Strange and everyone else involved in making it happen. It’s great to see some of the pioneers of the current media revolution turning around and sharing their experience with other artists.

In other news: my first real experience of L.A. felt very inviting. I see a possible change of zip code in my future.

In this, the first FilmNinja podcast, I had the honor of interviewing independent filmmaker and radio pirate Jeff Pearson. Sharp witted and well spoken, Jeff tells us about where the idea for the film came from and what it took to get it made.

Pirate Radio USA

www.pirateradiousa.com

Pirate Radio USA is a feature length digital documentary about the underground world of illegal radio in America, where people play what they want and say what they want–unless the FCC catches them…

DJ’s Him and Her, from their live Pirate Radio USA Studio, take you on a rock -n-roll journey inside rogue radio stations across the country to see why Americans defy Federal Law to free the radio airwaves.

Free music from Moby

www.mobygratis.com

Mary Jones (producer, music director), Jeff Pearson (writer, director) and yours truly

Last March I posted a blog entry on the Rectify site about entering Rectify in the From Here To Awesome discovery and distribution festival. I am pleased to announce that Rectify has been chosen from over 120 entries to be in the FHTA showcase. For those who don’t know what’s up with the festival here is the official blurb:

About FROM HERE TO AWESOME :: DISCOVERY AND DISTRIBUTION FEST
The first edition of FROM HERE TO AWESOME, an open-source discovery and distribution film festival is coming to a theater, living room, computer, and / or mobile device near you. The festival kicks off July 26th in Los Angeles and roll outs out over a six-month period with stops in New York, San Francisco, Boston and London. Filmmakers retain all the rights, see direct revenue from each of the outlets and enjoy global audiences. The goal is to create a direct connection between audience and filmmaker.

From Here to Awesome is an extension of the Workbook Project a social open-source experiment for filmmakers.

What does it all mean?

The showcase consists of 10 feature length films and 10 shorts. The shorts will be packaged together as one unit. These will then be made available through various different outlets including Amazon.com, Vudu, Heretic Films, IndieFlix, Hulu, Joost, and many more. Unlike most distribution deals in which the distribution company consumes most of the revenue from a film through various “fees” and “marketing expenditures”, the majority of any revenue generated by someone’s film in the FHTA showcase will go back to the filmmaker.

What does it REALLY mean?

As exiting as that is, I don’t feel that is what makes this festival so special. As I mentioned in my previous post, we are experiencing a tidal wave of change in how media is created, distributed, and consumed. When was the last time you bought a cassette tape or even a CD? Do you still use a Walkman® style CD player? Probably not. Do you watch any movies, TV, or videos online yet? If not, you will. Digital media is giving us more options as to what, when, and how we enjoy our entertainment.

I believe that by embracing the changes we can learn to surf the wave of change while others, who are stuck in the old way of doing things, fight to keep their heads above water. The FHTA festival is at the forefront of trying to get up and ride this thing. As with any period of great change it pays to get an early start. When the new media landscape begins to become clear a few people will be in a position to benefit greatly, while most of the others will be playing catchup.

New opportunities are rapidly emerging for artists to create their art, share it with a wide audience, and connect to that audience like never before. At its core, art is communication and the ways in which we communicate are evolving.

Not to sound overly dramatic, but we are truly living in a significant point in history. The question is, how do you want to leave your mark?