What I learned from the festival circuit

After more than a year and almost 40 festival screenings, Enter the Dark's World Tour 2010 - 2011 is finally at an end.  It's been a great experience and I've learned quite a few things that will help me as I move forward with new projects.  I figured I might as well pass along some of these hard-earned nuggets to anyone who dares venture forth into the world of indie filmmaking.

First, in order to keep track of all the festivals I submitted to, I created a big-ole spreadsheet, including festival name, date of upcoming deadline, cost of entry, dates of the festival, location of festival, date when they would notify filmmakers of their decisions, whether I got in or not, and if we won any awards.

From these magic columns I can extrude the following data:

TOTAL SUBMISSIONS:  88
YES:  40
NO:    42
TO BE DETERMINED:  6

Almost a 50% batting average - not too bad.  I can tell you this - in the future I would not submit to as many festivals.  Since this was my first time, my main goal was getting as much exposure as possible and finding out which festivals were worth the entry fee.  Having submitted to that many festivals, I now have a pretty good idea which are the good ones, and which are the shady ones.

Miro Digital Arts - Shameless Plug Time

Well, now that the new year has rolled around it's time to roll up the sleeves and actually get back to work.  And speaking of work - I recently took a little time to spruce up the website for my editing business.

As you may know, while I quite enjoy rambling on this blog, and making short films, those things in no way actually pay the bills.  My real work is as an editor, and to be honest, work has slowed these past few years - hence the need to update the website and actually start (gasp) marketing myself.

So, here's my blatant marketing pitch:

When you have a moment, please check out my new website.  There you will see some of the work I do, and some of the projects I have recently completed.  I believe the work speaks for itself - documentary work that has aired on PBS's American Masters; corporate work for major companies such as Cisco, Old Navy and Skype; and independent films that have garnered multiple awards and have screened at festivals worldwide.

So if you, or anyone you know needs help editing a video, or has questions on how to finish their documentary, or how to get their indie film on Netflix, please drop by my website:
www.mirodigitalarts.com


Ok - now back to your regularly scheduled rambling...

Best TV Shows of the Decade

I decided to skip over the Top 10s of the year and go right for the big daddy - the Best of the Decade.

First up - Television.

 This last decade of TV represents for me, the golden age of television.  Simply put, it is the best television has ever produced:




The Wire - The best. Ever. David Simon's brutally honest dystopian vision is the gold standard.









 





The Sopranos - The one that started it all - and relaunched Journey's career.

















 
Breaking Bad - Fearless. Bold. Funny. Visionary. Brutal.















Mad Men - Tone-perfect subtle portrayal of the pivot point of a decade and a man's journey to find his authentic self.
















Deadwood -  David Milch's foul-mouthed Shakespearean western is a multi-layered tour-de-force.

Band of Brothers - Epic portrayal of the realities of war in the mid-century.

Dexter - Puts all those CSI clone shows to shame.  Michael C. Hall carries the show with nothing but subtle facial expressions.














 
Curb Your Enthusiasm - Seinfeld synthesized into a crack-like addictive journey into Larry David's warped vision of ultimate social discomfort and humiliation.















Battlestar Gallactica - Sci-Fi told on an epic scale while maintaining its focus on character.

Rescue Me - Foul-mouthed.  Daring.  Brutally honest.  Went head-first into post 9-11 territory that no one else with a sane mind would touch.  Thank you Dennis Leary.















These brilliant and revolutionary shows easily match up against the best television of any decade - perhaps even the best narrative dramas of any medium.  If will be interesting to see if the next decade can live up to these achievements.  Clearly the most creative minds are now working in television - where the showrunners (usually writers) can maintain control of their vision.

Not one of these shows was produced by traditional network television.  And no one cares anymore - the era of the networks is dead.  My children couldn't tell a network from cable or pay tv or YouTube or hulu or Netflix.  It is all simply visual storytelling that comes to them from a box in our home - or on a mobile device on the go.  The revolution is already over.

The best of the rest:

Six Feet Under
The Office
Rome
Entourage
Generation Kill
Friday Night Lights
30 Rock
True Blood
Survivor
The Daily Show With John Stewart
Lost

Next up:  Best Horror Movies of the Decade

Netflix Short Takes

I've been filling my head with lots of movies via Netflix recently.  I must be working on some idea lurking in the deep recesses of my subconscious that may eventually become a new short movie.

Or... I'm just giving myself nightmares for no good reason.

Anyway, here's a quick look at some of the movies that have been washing over my brain:
(WARNING - SPOILERS ABOUND)

Moon  2009 - Directed by Duncan Jones

Moon is a quiet, atmospheric sci-fi film that effectively captured my attention.  Sam Rockwell is brilliant, delivering two great performances as a man and his clone.  Or a clone and a man.  Er - as a clone and a clone - whatever.  This movie borrows ideas freely from 2001, Blade Runner, Silent Running and Solaris, but mostly captures the loneliness and madness that would ensue from being isolated on the moon.  As an interesting sidenote, the director just happens to be David Bowie's son, so I found it impossible to watch this movie and not sing to myself, "Planet Earth is blue and there's nothing I can do..."

4 stars (out of 5)







Trick r' Treat 2007 - Michael Dougherty

This little Halloween treat recalls some of the classic horror anthology flicks like Creepshow, as a number of storylines intertwine on a night when all the spooks come out to play. With tongue planted firmly on cheek, Dougherty still manages to set up some nice scares and easily the best Halloween atmosphere since... well, since the original Halloween.  The fact that this movie (which features Anna Paquin) was unable to get a theatrical release proves how broken the current distribution model is today.  Sure to be a Hallows Eve classic for years to come.


3 1/2 stars








Ginger Snaps  2000 - John Fawcett

If Heathers and American Werewolf in London had a quickie, this would be their lovechild - the movie Jennifer's Body wanted to be, but couldn't get it right.  A clever coming of age story of two sisters, their morbid fascination with death and the teenage bummers that come with being a werewolf, this movie, brilliantly written by Fawcett and Karen Walton, shines brightest in the relationship between the sisters.  While the tone in the first act is perfect, the movie becomes a one-note song and drags a bit in the middle when it becomes obvious that older sis is becoming a hairy beast, and lil' sis is going to try to stop it.  However, the film redeems itself with a powerful ending as it focuses again mostly on the bonds of sisterhood, and less on the bloody scares of lycanthropy.

3 1/2 stars




Inland Empire 2006 - David Lynch

For diehard fans only, Inland Empire is Lynch's most inaccessible and unabashedly surreal movie since Eraserhead.  The story of an actress, Laura Dern, who gets a part on a new movie, whose story may be cursed, who then gets involved with her leading man and then literally falls into her role - blurring the lines of reality, dream, cinema, consciousness, and a room with rabbit-headed people speaking in non-sequitors, Inland Empire is simultaneously frustrating, tedious, brain-fatiguing, thought-provoking and amazing.  Oh yeah, and there's another whole plot-line involving eastern-European prostitutes.  And a crying woman who watches the whole movie with you, on tv.  Or is it radio?

Trying to decipher the riddle of this movie is pointless - it speaks directly to your subconscious.  Let the images and concepts bathe you and take you.  No one does dream-logic like Lynch, and this is his most intricate and rudderless journey yet.  But there are moments of pure Jungian cinema that no one but Lynch can pull off.

3 stars

For an inside look at Lynch's ground-breaking filmmaking techniques for Inland Empire (shot on DV video over the course of a couple of years, with no finished script - which explains a lot) be sure to check out the documentaries, Lynch and Lynch 2.  Again, these are for true Lynch fans only - those who would enjoy a verite look into the mind and working habits of this true auteur.


Antichrist 2009 - Lars von Trier

The most controversial movie of last year, Antichrist is a love letter to depression and madness.  When it premiered at Cannes, it received a large share of jeers and hisses, along with a special anti-award as "the most misogynist movie from the self-proclaimed biggest director in the world".  Seeing the movie already knowing all the hype and fuss actually sets it up much better - I was able to go in, already aware of the "shocking bits" and focus more on the amazing tone and courageous performances by Willem Dafoe and Charlotte Gainsbourg.

If nothing else, von Trier showcases amazing cinematic chops and scenes of pure brilliance and horror that stick with you long after the more talked about provocative self-mutilating shocks.  Of note are the tour-de-force black and white prologue; the dream scenes of her walking through the woods, her body magically illuminated as she moves in super slo-motion; the shots of bodies and hands rising through the earth; and especially the self-disemboweling fox who mystifyingly utters the words, "Chaos reigns".

Indeed it does.

3 1/2 stars


Deep Red 1975 - Dario Argento

Argento's finest movie not called Suspiria, Deep Red is an almost-masterpiece filled with wondeful giallo shocks.  Argento, like Lynch and von Trier, excels mostly in producing singular moments, memorable scenes of extraordinary beauty and horror.  If you pay too much attention to the actual plot, glaring cracks appear, so instead focus on those moments: the opening murder scene where shattered glass inevitably takes on a major role; the amazing art direction of the Hopper-Nighthawks inspired night club; and the crazy scene of the self-propelled cackling toy.  Argento's masterfully suspenseful setups are as critical as his lovingly gore-filled murderous climaxes.

4 stars






Funny Games 1997 - Michael Haneke.

I loathed this movie.  Really.  I can't remember a movie I hated more.  Haneke has created an anti-movie wrapped up as a home-invasion thriller that is a big F.U. to his audience.  He essentially mocks his audience the whole way through - breaking down the 4th wall - goading them to examine why they are watching such perverse violence.  Well you know what, I didn't make this meaningless violent dreck - you did.  I hated everyone in the movie - the stupid family who deserved to die for their lack of survivor instincts (I mean please... PICK UP A FRIGGIN WEAPON ARE YOU KIDDING ME??!??!), the smug, cheeky lunatics whose faces I wanted to smash in, and even the dog who barks incessantly.  Oh, isn't it clever when Haneke lets his sadistic killer pick up the remote and rewind the movie to change the outcome - yeah, watch this buddy as I fast forward through your movie so I can see if there is any point to this Brechtian meta masturbation.  This is the only movie I can recall flipping the bird to as it painfully got to it's final shot. Let me outta here.

Haneke, please leave the big ideas to filmmakers who can handle it. If you want to watch a movie that deals with themes of violence in society and the media, do yourself a favor and watch something of value like A Clockwork Orange or Taxi Driver.
 
1 star (only because of the first act suspenseful buildup of the cheeky, ever-polite intruders)


Godzilla: Final Wars 2004 - (does it really matter?)

Step 1 - Connect PS3 player to Plasma screen
Step 2 - download Netflix Watch Instantly App to PS3
Step 3 - stream movies from your Netflix queue through the PS3 to your big-ass screen
Step 4 - pick out the loudest, biggest, Godzilla-est movie ever
Step 5 - tell your two kids they're gonna see something really cool
Step 6 - non-stop giant monster-on-monster action
Step 7 - happy kids
Step 8 - happy dad
Step 9 - do it again (what Godzilla movie are we watching next, Dad?)

3 stars

The Commune - a Netflix Success Story... sort of

Welcome to the exciting new world of indie film distribution - where everything is possible but nothing is real.  Where millions of people worldwide can view your cinematic vision, but very few will actually pay for it.  You can get lots of attention, your name splattered all over google search results, your efforts discussed on multiple websites - a sort of psuedo-celebrity, while you continually struggle to pay your bills and figure out how you can possibly justify the expense of making your next movie.

And that's if you're lucky...

The Commune, a fearless, original, and thought-provoking film made by my friend, Elisabeth Fies, and one that I edited and helped to produce was recently fortunate to be picked up by Netflix.  This, in and of itself is a huge accomplishment.  Most indie movies will never get this far. It took over a year of herculean effort by Lis and many others to get this done.  We first had to sign on with IndieFlix to act as our digital distributor.  They posted a page on their website that offers our movie as a DVD or a digital stream.  They also act as a liaison between us and Netflix, iTunes, Amazon and others.  If you submit your award-winning indie film to Netflix directly, too bad, they will just ignore it.  You have to go through a distributor - Netflix doesn't want to have to deal with hoards of indie filmmakers and their (mostly unmarketable) pet projects.  I can't say that I blame them.

So, IndieFlix makes their pitch to Netflix on your behalf and hopefully, if you're lucky, Netflix will say yes - well... sort of.  What happens is, if you're lucky enough to get chosen, Netflix sets up a dummy page on their site for your movie.  It lists the name, director, artwork, synopsis, etc - just like any other movie.  The only difference is that is will say "Availability Date Unknown".  You'll see this a lot on Netflix.

This is a kind of distribution purgatory.  You're in - but you're not.   You see, Netflix wants you to prove that there are enough interested folks out there just dying to see your movie before they will actually buy it from you.  You have to write-up your marketing strategy.  You have to show all your great reviews and how many people have "liked" you on your facebook page.  Most importantly you have to urge, plead and beg everyone you know (and everyone they know) to go to that Netflix page and put your movie in their queue.  And it would also be really cool if they could rate it (at least 3 stars - 4 is better).  And oh yeah, could you post a review as well.  And while you're there, please mark other people's reviews as "helpful".  Sounds like a lot of hoops to jump through?  It is.

And how many people must put your film in their queue before Netflix will buy it?

Beats me...

I never actually knew.  They would never give us a clear figure.  I can tell you that we were in the hundreds for months and nothing happened.  Until about a month ago when we hit some milestone, or we just came up on their list of available movies to purchase - I don't know, but we got that magic email that WE WERE IN!!!  They were going to buy from us, not their usual request of 50 DVDs, but an almost unheard of (for a little-known indie flick) 200 DVDs!  This was incredible.  This meant that all of our friends and fans had done a tremendous job of mercilessly banging on that Netflix page like a raving mob of fans rushing the gates at a Led Zeppelin concert.  A huge win for all of us.  This meant that anyone who wanted to see our film could now easily bop on over to Netflix, put that baby in their queue, and wait for the mailman to deliver our little bundle of cult-thriller joy right into their mailbox.

What a world we live in!

What is that you say?  How much money did we actually make in our Netflix deal?  Well...  that's where reality kinda smacks you in the face.  Let's just say that after IndieFlix gets their cut (they are acting as our distributor, so of course they get their take), Elisabeth was paid back just about enough to cover the costs of her original order of 1000 DVDs that she had replicated, printed and shrink-wrapped -  200 of which eventually found their way to Netflix.  So you could say that she got 800 DVDs for free.

As for return on investment of her production costs of actually making the movie...  Uh...

Here's where you can actually help.  Yes, you can go over to Netflix and put The Commune in your queue.  Eventually we will get some money from the amount of people who actually rent or stream it.  If you are even more interested in the movie however, an even better way to support indie filmmaking would be to go to our site www.thecommunemovie.com and buy a DVD from Lis directly. That s%@! is pure profit for her at this point and would start to make a dent in her considerable debt.

And that would mean that she could actually go out and make her next movie, providing even more though-provoking entertainment for us all.

And what a world that would be!