Just Because...

It's damn cool. Excellent use of negative space, color and composition.

Look Down...

At the bottom of the blog here and you'll see a nice little "Pulp Newsstand" from the folks over at Issuu.
I will be updating it from time to time allowing you to peruse (for free!) some of the mags on the Bastard's shelf.

As the holidays slow things to a crawl here in Hollywood, I will be sprucing up the joint a bit (adding some new functions, getting rid of the crap and so forth) so I can organize you pulpsters into the massive legion of creatives I know you to be.

In other news, I am pulling notes and resources for the forthcoming Pulp Legion Electrogram on how you can (and should) harness new media for your projects. This one's a big one - worthy of its own book - so bear with me.

I will be having coffee today with another new media creator and pundit - Jill Golick - who is visiting La La land from Canada. I am certain it will be a brain-busting good time.

So until next time, hang out at the newsstand below, flip through the rags and maybe buy some candy from vendor.

I have nefarious work to do...

When Flying Was Fab

courtesy Invisible Agent.

Brilliant!

Courtesy Stefan Blitz and The Forces of Geek:

Black Widow: By way of Barbarella

Jon Reis: New Media Order Manifesto

From Indiewire news:

John Reiss, filmmaker turned author of the new book THINK OUTSIDE THE BOX OFFICE recently gave a speech at the CPH:DOX forum in Copenhagen. In that speech he outlines a manifesto of sorts derived from the work he researched for his book and his own experience:

"But just as a way of introducing myself – I will give you a brief introduction to my own horror story.

In 2007, I was at the Tribeca film festival where I was trying to sell my documentary “Bomb It.” We did everything by the old school book, kept the screeners a secret, we spent $20,000 launching the film at the festival, with the result of packed houses and hundreds of people turned away. After all the excitement, what we had were a few $10,000 all rights deals that we rejected. A week after Tribeca, our film was available for sale on Canal Street — as a bootleg.

A number of lucky films each year will still get overall deals that make some kind of financial sense for them. However these deals are not available to the vast majority of filmmakers at this time. We are in the midst of a new world order or crisis."

I have taken portions of Jon's manifesto and reposted them here. I urge you to go and read the more detailed aspects in the original post on IndieWire.

1. KNOW YOUR FILM/KNOW YOURSELF. EVERY FILM IS DIFFERENT AND SHOULD BE TREATED AS SUCH

The studio model of distribution was created because it made sense for large mass market films, and for a time it worked for some independent films as well.

However each film is different, and many independent films did not fair well within the studio machine – because they were not marketed to their unique audience.

2. CHANGE YOUR ATTITUDE TOWARD MARKETING

As an iconoclastic, ex punk rock anarchist neo Marxist who most recently made a documentary about graffiti and the battle over visual public space, I feel that I have come about as far as anyone could come in this embrace of marketing.

I would argue that the biggest problem facing independent film is not one of distribution – it is one of marketing. It is one thing to put your film out into the world, it is another to get people to know about it, and want to watch it.

It is not a matter of changing your work to meet a supposed market. But to consider what kinds of audiences might be interested in your work and seek to cultivate them.

The artificial divide between art and commerce must be eliminated.

3. DETERMINE YOUR AUDIENCES AND HOW TO REACH THEM FROM INCEPTION

Many independent filmmakers for many years have made films without thinking about who the audiences for their films might be. Or their ideas about audiences are much too general. Alternatively the studios have erred on the other side and catered to a mass audience and left any form of specialty taste behind.

START THE PROCESS AT INCEPTION
It can take a long time to engage your audience. As important as developing individual audience members are connections you can make with organizations that will help you expand your reach.

This audience engagement (aka marketing) will be much more organic if you integrate it into the whole life cycle of a film.

By starting during prep and production, you are allowing your audience to be involved in the creation of your work. This in turn invests them with the success of your film. This can happen through crowdsourcing of various creative aspects of the film or through crowdfunding the budget for the film. These engaged audience members will be active core promoters because they will feel a connection with your film.

4. WHEN YOU HAVE FINISHED YOUR FILM, YOU ARE HALF DONE

Distribution and marketing can take as long and cost as much, or more than you spent on your film. The new 50/50 is not a revenue split but the mental shift that filmmakers must make about the filmmaking process.

Too many filmmakers have no resources for the second half of the process once they finish their films. It is a shame. Why make a brilliant wonderful film if you do not have the resources to get it to its audience.

This is not a hard and fast rule, remember all films are unique. But it is a good guideline when embarking on a project.

- Money for distribution and marketing should be budgeted for, raised and put into escrow. It is far better to have $50,000 to release a $50,000 film than to make a $100,000 film with no way of getting it to an audience.

- We must create new crew positions to be responsible for these tasks.

5. WE MUST TAKE BACK THE THEATRICAL EXPERIENCE AND REDEFINE IT AS LIVE EVENT/ THEATRICAL

Many people feel that the theatrical release is dead. It is too expensive and time consuming for independent filmmakers to engage. I believe it should be reborn.

Theatrical has come to mean a paid screening in conventional theaters with built in sound and visual projection that start on Friday – end Thursday with a review Friday in venuses that all sell popcorn.

Any booking of a film into a projected environment that does not meet the conventions outlined above falls into a category of “non-theatrical” or “semi-theatrical”. Given that these screenings are defined primarily in negative terms (non-, semi-,) it is not surprising that they receive a second-class status.

This classification of theatrical markets wasn’t always the case. In the earliest days of motion picture films, screenings occurred in a variety of spaces: storefronts, tents, public parks, churches. Films often toured with vaudeville acts or circuses or on their own.

6. CREATE PRODUCTS PEOPLE WANT TO BUY

Is it a wonder that in the digital era people have stopped buying DVDs? For what is a DVD but a package of 0s and 1s in a crap plastic case.

We should look to musicians who have struggled with this conundrum for longer than we. Just as they are touring, many of them understand the difference between a physical product and a digital product and not only price them accordingly, but create added value to their physical products that cannot be replicated digitally.

Consider items that your fans and audience will want to purchase, it will be different for every film. Consider books of photographs that contain the DVD. Video games, Toys that can be printed on demand with new three dimensional printers.

7. DIGITAL RIGHTS ARE A MINEFIELD – BE CAREFUL


8. ENTERTAINMENT COMPANIES MUST MOVE BEYOND OLD WAYS OF DOING BUSINESS

Just as filmmakers must think out side the box in terms of the way they make and distribute and market films, companies need to do this as well.

Everyone is hurting in the birth of this new paradigm, so more than ever it is necessary to work together.

I believe it is important for filmmakers to collaborate with experienced and reputable companies in getting their work seen. Unless you are completely committed to DIY for philosophical reasons, or because you cannot find a company to partner with, I recommend DIY being a last resort. You will still end up doing more work than you can imagine on a release in a company supported split rights scenario.

In turn, companies need to embrace the split rights world we live in and stop being so omnivorous of our rights, if you are not going to provide monetary compensation for those rights or have no plans to you should not demand them.

Companies need to be more transparent about their ways of conducting business.

9. EXPLORE NEW WAYS TO TELL STORIES

We live in a fractured marketplace for media. Audiences have media and consumption preferences. You can’t bend them, you must accommodate them.

We must embrace new forms beyond the short and the feature and recognize that a film can be one part of a larger narrative universe that can be explored in a variety of mediums.

Think of a story that takes place via a feature film, but extends out over mobile devices, gaming consoles, social networks, through websites, text messages, downloadable clips, or iPhone apps. An exciting amount of creative potential awaits adventurous filmmakers.

Further, audiences want to participate with culture. By allowing them to participate, filmmakers open themselves up to a deeper relationship with their audiences.

Don’t be proprietary with your media. Give people assets — footage, sounds, environments. Let them re-edit your scenes.

Not all of your audience is going to engage in this way, but a devoted core who will.

10. WE MUST SUPPORT EACH OTHER AS A COMMUNITY

Filmmakers are lovers of film and our best allies. We must support one another’s work. The more generous you are – the more you will receive in return.

Similarly, if there is a film that you love – support it in other ways. Use your newly developed social networking skills to tell your own fans and followers why they should see the film. They are your followers, they are interested in your tastes and opinions, use that power to the good of the film community.

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Edit to add: Scott Kirsner has an audio interview with Jon here.

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Now - it may interest you to know that the movie that was discussed here (see the video at the bottom of that post) SITA SINGS THE BLUES (which you can watch on YouTube for free) is being released on DVD by Indiepix. From the press release:

"To get any film made is a miracle To conceive of a film like this is a greater miracle. Two Thumbs up!"
-- Roger Ebert, Chicago Sun Times

Captivating, mesmerizing, spellbinding"

-- Chicago Reader

"An irrefutable argument for classic 2-D animation as a viable, vibrant low-budget arthouse medium for adults"

-- Variety

THIS DECEMBER, INDIEPIX PRESENTS THE GREATEST BREAK-UP STORY EVER TOLD -- A BEAUTIFULLY ANIMATED MASTERPIECE WHICH HAS PLAYED IN OVER 200 INTERNATIONAL FILM FESTIVALS AND CAPTURED 30+ AWARDS

Winner of the Prestigious Silver Bear for Best Feature Film at the Berlin International Film Festival in 2008 and numerous other awards, the international festival smash (with 100% rating on Rotten Tomatoes), SITA SINGS THE BLUES makes its DVD debut this December courtesy of IndiePix Films. Available for $24.95srp

Sita is a Hindu goddess, the leading lady ofIndia’s epic the Ramayana and a dutiful wife who follows her husband Rama on a 14 year exile to a forest, only to be kidnapped by an evil king from Sri Lanka. Despite remaining faithful to her husband, Sita is put through many tests. Nina (the filmmaker Nina Paley herself) is an artist who finds parallels in Sita’s life when her husband – in India on a work project - decides to break up their marriage and dump her via email. Three hilarious Indonesian shadow puppets with Indian accents – linking the popularity of the Ramayana from India all the way to the Far East - narrate both the ancient tragedy and modern comedy in this beautifully animated interpretation of the epic.

In her first feature length film, Paley juxtaposes multiple narrative and visual styles to create a highly entertaining yet moving vision of the Ramayana. Musical numbers choreographed to the 1920's jazz vocals of Annette Hanshaw feature a cast of hundreds: flying monkeys, evil monsters, gods, goddesses, warriors, sages, and winged eyeballs. A tale of truth, justice and a woman’s cry for equal treatment. SITA SINGS THE BLUES earns its tagline as "The Greatest Break-Up Story Ever Told."

DVD Extras: Director's commentary and interview, the bonus short "Fetch!" and more

Format : DVD/Single

Run time: 82 mins. + extras

Price: $24.95srp

Prebook/Street: November 17/December 15

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This is an example of new media in action. Using free social networking tools and legal licensing tools to create a unique film experience that makes money for the producer. It's different, it's new (sort of) and it's about the manifesto that Jon speaks of above. There are companies out there that are understanding this is the new paradigm - free, split-rights deals, unique marketing, designed packaging, merchandising, letting go and allowing the fans their turn "at bat."

This Is The World You Live In Now...

Courtesy of Scott Kirsner.

Not a Press Release But Close Enough: Android Army

From my partner in nefarious media, Bill Martell:

So, Bill from Pulp 2.0 and I were talking about this... and instead of looking at this as The Death Of Cinema, we've decided to use this as an opportunity. To make lemonade out of the lemons. Basically, I’m taking my own advice and looking at projects with strong ancillary possibilities. I have a script called ANDROID ARMY that is often a bridesmaid, but so far has not been a bride. People keep *almost* making this script. The great thing about it is that it’s affordable sci-fi, and has some really strange characters. It is the only thing I've ever written that screams: "Action Figures!" It also screams video game and comic book and game cards and all of that other stuff. The stuff that used to be ancillary rights but now seems to be driving the market. So, we are going to try to set it up as a video game and a comic book and maybe even a toy line *before* we try to set it up as a movie. Instead of looking at the movie first and the ancillary stuff second, the plan is to reverse that - and look at video games and all of those things that used to be “after markets” as equals to cinema. To play this ancillary game Hollywood seems to be playing.

Hey, the economy sucks - games and comic books and all of those things that used to be ancillaries are hurting. We understand that. This is not a case of thinking that setting this up as a comic book is going to be easy, this is trying to break down some other door - find some other way in with this project. If we do all of this and nothing happens, how is that any different than trying to set up the script with a bunch of producers?

Yes, we are looking at this as telling the story through other media. It won't be any easier but it will keep us busy and moving forward. As I posted last week, the media business has to be rethought - from conception, promotion and marketing, production and distribution. Bill and I are reworking the rules in our favor to move us forward and reach the important goal: Getting the property into your hot little hands. As Bill says...

I did not start writing screenplays to sell dolls, but many of my favorite films have action figures... no, not CASABLANCA, but ALIENS does. So, for a while, if I have a choice between the story idea that can sell to multiple markets or a story idea that can only be a movie, I'm going to pick the additional markets one. I'm not writing anything I don't like, just selecting from ideas I do like or twisting an idea a little to give it additional chances to be bought and made. I’m kicking down different doors.

And that’s kind of exciting.

Yeah - it is. It stretches different muscles of thought but it's all Mad Pulp Media.

Technology That Affects You and Me

Mark R Robertson at Reel SEO Video Marketing reports that YouTube is now supporting HD 1080p video. They're also going back and re-encoding previous uploaded 1080 video capable projects. What does that mean?

Hmmm... let's see:

• Broadcast quality video streaming for free to the producer.

• Ad capable (if it gets enough hits)

• Basically you have your own network!

So get that Canon 7D out there and start shooting!

Jim Shelley runs down the whole ITablet and open source tablet rumors. This is important because quite frankly no one really wants to read their comics on an IPhone. It really does the artists and storytellers a disservice. We can do better.

And yes - we must do better. We are poised to take some of the business away from people who forgot the audience. Well hell, we are the audience and we at least deserve a shot to try an entertain "our people."

While at AFM I heard Stephen Susco (GRUDGE) talking about genre writing, and I'll paraphrase here and say:

You don't see thousands of websites that get millions of hits and funnel billions of dollars centered around the Rom-Com. There's a huge audience for genre material (Scifi, Action, Horror and the blending of same) that's always hungry.

Feed them something good.

Zombies in 7D!

From Row Three:

Dead Season Week 1 Selects from enzosauce on Vimeo.

Note how they put the Canon 7D camera at odd angles and settings (From above as a body is dragged across the floor, into the water with the actors). You can't do that with a film camera without a lot of extra equipment and crew to help stage the shot. I'm looking at these and thinking ladder for one shot and a "dive bag" for the other.

This frees up the Director and DP (maybe the same person!) to concentrate on the creative aspect of things - working with the actors, staging shots, lighting, camera moves - the visual storytelling.

That, kids is the win.

Quote for Tomorrow

From Warren Ellis regarding his new book released POD, SHIVERING SANDS:

A persistent criticism of my interest in POD has been that only writers at my level of cultural awareness can make any kind of success out of it. And some of them will now be saying, well, even Warren Ellis can only move 400 copies in the first week of a POD project. But, for one thing, it is about the long game. For everybody. The book doesn’t go away. And, for another, if I’m not aware enough of you to order that POD project — whose fault is that, really? Because, I’ve got to tell you, I wasn’t born with a book deal in one hand and an exclusive comics contract wrapped around my other flipper. Hell, when I was starting out, there wasn’t even an internet.

It is about the long game. The building of a library of content and internet presence that allows people to discover and recommend your work.