B-Side - The audience is never wrong » Uncategorized

Buzz from the Edmonton International Film Festival

Cassie — Thu, 15 Oct 2009 16:54:00 +0000

Located in the heart of the Canadian Prairies, Edmonton is a city that loves movies, and is reported to be the number one per capita movie rental city in Canada. The Edmonton International Film Festival satisfies Edmontonians’ insatiable desire for quality cinema each autumn by delivering a slate of outstanding independent films from around the globe. The 2009 EIFF took place September 25- October 3, and B-Side’s Festival Genius schedule was there to catch the buzz.

Here are just a few of the top feature films from the Edmonton International Film Festival as rated by Festival Genius users:

It Might Get Loud (4.4/5 stars) - Directed by Davis Guggenheim. Featured review by user Sylvia – Sharon: “It’s a love story between three men and their guitars. It goes back to where it all began, their influences and first guitars. I love the twinkle in Jimmy Page’s eyes when he plays, even after all these years. I would highly recommend this movie. It makes you just wish you were at the final session.”

Winnebago Man (4.4/5 stars) - Directed by Ben Steinbauer. Featured review by user nweighill: “This was a lot of fun and the Q&A was as much fun as the film. It made me think that behind every piece of stupidity we see daily in the media there are real people who have their own story!”

Sticky Fingers (4.2/5 stars) – Directed by Ken Scott, starring Aure Atika, Claude Legault, Jean Pierre Bergeron, Patrice Robitaille and Roy Dupuis. Featured review by user FelixandOscar: “A witty and entertaining film. Smart and funny. It made me laugh and want to go on a pilgrimage.”

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Back to School with CHOPS

Cassie — Thu, 20 Aug 2009 23:29:12 +0000

In June, B-Side launched the national screening program for the remarkable film about the power of music called CHOPS. As a result, CHOPS has screened at music and film festivals including Angel City Jazz Festival and the Maryland Film Festival throughout the summer. With a new school year just around the corner, B-Side has been working very closely with Jazz at Lincoln Center’s (JALC) education department to offer the CHOPS screening program to high schools across the country.

As Wynton Marsalis, musician and artistic director at JALC says, “without the commitment of educators who understand the importance of jazz and are willing to tackle its challenges, we couldn’t do what we do at the annual Essentially Ellington Competition and Festival.”

Included in a packet of Essentially Ellington materials provided to 1600 high school band directors were details about hosting a screening of CHOPS and information about creating an event that could be tailored to each school’s community. With many school districts cutting art programs completely from their curriculum, the CHOPS screening event is a perfect fundraiser, a meet-and-greet for parents, a showcase for a music program, or simply a fun way to gather the community for a night of entertainment and conversation. For more information about hosting your own screening of CHOPS click here.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

Focus On: ITV Festival 2009 Industry Panels

Cassie — Wed, 29 Jul 2009 07:13:18 +0000

The Independent Television Festival, which B-Side first partnered with in 2008, is a unique event that encourages change in conventional television and the growth of artistic expression in TV and new media. This year’s fest runs Friday, July 31st through Thursday, August 6th in Los Angeles and is packed with independently-produced pilots, international shows, web series and mobisodes, in addition to informative industry panels and networking events.

The 2009 ITV Festival lineup features panels that are not to be missed, including:

Development: Executives Explain – August 1st, 2:30 PM

The process of development to many people is a mysterious underworld reserved for the privileged. In this panel, development executives and development gurus will simplify the process, outlining and explaining what to expect, how to protect yourself and how to move your project up the ladder.

Panelists:
Scott Freeman, EVP Bunim Murray
Monika Zielinska, Manager, Comedy Central
David Bickel, Executive Producer, Yes, Dear
Andy Weil, Exectuvie, Berman Braun

International Format Panel: Selling Your Show Overseas – August 4th, 3:30 PM

If you’re developing any kind of show at all, you simply have to have a concept about its viability in the international market. That makes it more enticing to buyers and more profitable for you. But how do you even do that? How does a show like Cash Cab sell in 40 different countries? If there’s a show I love in Calcutta, what should I do if I think it can be a hit in the USA? This panel is all about selling formats, one of the most profitable ventures in the entertainment business.

Panelists:
Karrie Wolfe, SVP RDF USA
Kevin Kappock, Former VP Lion Television
Matt Gaven, Executive Producer

Special Screening with Kevin Pollak – August 5th, 8:30 PM

Kevin Pollak will be on hand to talk about his independent venture which the LA Times describes thusly… “Kevin pollak’s Chat show is streamed on the internet, and there’s no reason to stop a good interview – not for time slots, not for commercials and certainly not for censors. The long-format show is unlike anything else on the web or certainly, with its unfiltered conversations, on broadcast television.”

For a full list of panels and the complete ITV Festival programming lineup, be sure to visit the B-Side-hosted interactive online schedule. Tickets are still available & can be purchased online.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

10 things you can do to increase user participation on your B-Side Festival Genius site

Chris Holland — Thu, 21 May 2009 20:01:55 +0000

Festival directors who use B-Side’s Festival Genius service for their fest web sites know that they should be encouraging more user participation from their audience, but they don’t know quite how to go about it. Here, then, are ten practical ways to solicit feedback from your audience and to foster a healthy environment of user activity on your site.

Encourage the audience to visit the web site in all of your printed materials. Let them know that they can leave feedback about individual films on the web site, and that such feedback is important to the festivals and the individual filmmakers.
Let the filmmakers know that they can actively solicit feedback from the audience. If a filmmaker asks the audience to go to the web site because it’s important to them personally, the chances of follow-through are much higher. The post-screening Q&A is a great time to do this.
Get your volunteers to create accounts and add films to their calendars before the festival begins. Not only will this create some activity on the Festival Genius site, but the volunteers will be more familiar with your film lineup and they’ll know more about how the festival web site works. When someone asks them a question about the site, they’re more likely to give a good answer.
Feature a different film each day on your blog and/or twitter account. Link directly to the film’s Festival Genius details page when you do so.
Instruct your theater managers — and anyone else likely to introduce a film or moderate a Q&A — to mention the web site whenever they stand in front of an audience. Direct word of mouth to a captive and attentive audience is the most effective tool to spur action.
Make sure your staff and volunteers know that the site is optimized to recognize mobile browsers on iPhones, Blackberries, and other smart phones. The mobile version of the site includes stills, synopses, and even trailers if the phone supports playback.
Prime the pump with positive reviews from staff members before the festival begins. Normal accounts cannot rate films until the film has screened at least once, but admin accounts may rate and review a film at any time. Let us know which accounts should be granted admin access before the festival starts and we’ll upgrade them. Then you can let each staff member say a few nice words about their favorite films.
Ask your filmmakers to link directly to their details pages from their own web sites. More traffic = more activity and you might even pick up some additional ticket sales.
Include the words “rate and review your favorite films on our web site” in each and every e-mail blast that goes out shortly before, during, and immediately after your festival. Include a link to the films or schedule page so the reader can get started right away.
Feature the results of the audience buzz in your newsletter or blog regularly during the festival. You don’t have to feature just the highest rated or scheduled films — pull out quotes from reviews of films you want to feature, or highlight highly-rated films that are unexpected hits. Use the data generated by the audience to inspire further attendance and activity.
Bonus tip! Lead by example. Make sure that you or someone on your staff rates the films you’ve seen as they screen.

© cholland for B-Side - The audience is never wrong, 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags:

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

B-Side Call for Entries Newsletter 4/9.

jesse — Mon, 13 Apr 2009 22:40:59 +0000

Here’s last week’s B-Side Call for Entries Newsletter, highlighting some really cool B-Side partner festivals!

—

Royal Flush Festival

The team that brought you the EVIL CITY FILM FEST and ROYAL FLUSH MAGAZINE proudly present, ROYAL FLUSH FESTIVAL, a fresh force in the independent film, art and music scene. Evil City Film Fest last screened over 100 indie films (including NYC premieres for 13 features) and now prepares to ignite the landscape with this new incarnation, Royal Flush Festival.

Royal Flush Festival continues Evil City’s original dedication to alternative art as we enter our 5th year. Royal Flush Magazine is a nationally distributed art rag that packs in the best of underground media & music, video games and pop-culture. Clearly, Royal Flush Magazine is a natural partner.

This year’s festival will hit this fall, from October 15th thru 18th, 2009.
We’ll feature full-length narratives & documentaries, short films, music videos, animation, horror and student films as part of our usual eclectic & exclusive program. In addition, we’ll be welcoming several major elements to our festivities in the form of nightly live music shows, art openings, and our closing night awards blow-out. This event is certain to give all participants the very most bang for their buck.
We’re pleased to officially open up our CALL FOR ENTRIES for the 2009 film season. We exist to give you, the earnest filmmaker, an opportunity to showcase your work with NYC’s excellent new independent festival.
Get to http://royalflushfestival.com/ for details, including general info, festival history, submission forms & more…
And, Withoutabox users will enjoy an additional $5 discount!

May 22, 2009 – Regular Deadline.
June 19, 2009 – Late Deadline.

All Sports Los Angeles Film Festival

Whether it is a dramatic or comedic piece, ASLAFF welcomes screenwriters and filmmakers to share their great stories in regards to the world of sports. This festival will give the many sports fanatics an outlet for their love of competition in the medium of cinema.

ASLAFF will include any subject matter that deals with mental and physical competition for the sake of winning. The stories will include anything from auto racing and badminton to spelling bees and chess.

Our jury and judges already include 1984 Gold Medalist Ambrose “Rowdy” Gaines and ESPN Sideline Reporter Holly Rowe. Also on the panel are established producers, screenwriters, and television staff writers. More are soon to be added.

For more information and updates, please check the festival website at www.AllSportsLAFilmFest.com or write info@AllSportsLAFilmFest.com.

We are currently accepting submissions and our next deadline is April 15th.

Submissions strategies that work

indieWIRE posted this article about the Cinereach awards, about which I hadn’t heard before. The Reach Film Fellowship looks like an intense program for nascent filmmakers, and Cinereach supports filmmakers in a variety of other ways, including “up to $400,000 in grants and awards to documentary and narrative films.”

“Last night’s event was the conclusion of the intensive six-month Reach Film Fellowship program in which McQueen, Russell and two other filmmakers – Jules Monteyne and Dena Greenbaum – were paired with mentors and advisors who helped them take their short films from script or treatment through completion. In addition to Kim and Bishop, this year’s mentors were Producer Jeremy Kipp Walker (“Half Nelson”) and Writer/Director Nicole Kassell (“The Woodsman”). All four fellows received a grant of $5,000 at the start of the program, in addition to donated materials and services from sponsors like Kodak, Postworks and Showbiz Software.”

There are a lot of filmmakers out there struggling in isolation (away from film-active cities like New York, Los Angeles, and Austin, where film programs abound) who probably don’t think to explore their options when it comes to such aid. There’s a lot of money — not to mention services and expertise — to be had just for the asking. Get googling and see what you can find.

Excerpted from Chris Holland’s Film Festival Secrets blog. Read more festival advice in Film Festival Secrets: A Handbook for Independent Filmmakers.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

@rooftopfilms wins our SXSW Twitter review contest!

Chris Holland — Fri, 27 Mar 2009 15:31:09 +0000

We asked you to prove that brevity is the soul of wit. These 140-character reviews submitted via Twitter drove the point home.

Grand prize winner @rooftopfilms won two passes to the Atlanta Film Festival and a $50 Alamo Drafthouse gift card with this review of Winnebago Man:

YouTube’s World’s Angriest Man gets in touch w/ inner misanthrope;
softens when he meets ‘net generation face2face. Let’s Tweet him!

Daily winners of the contest were: @micahprude, @lindseybe, @snax, @nickrob, @shanezilla, @mmhaustin, @Jenn_Brown, and @toddlucier. If you were a daily winner and have not picked up your t-shirt, please send a direct message to @festg for more information.

The final winner was picked from the finalists by our panel of judges, about whom you can read here: http://www.bside.com/about/genius/sxswtweet/

We will be conducting more Twitter contests at festivals to come; if you’d like to learn about these as we announce them, please follow @festg on Twitter.

Please join us in thanking our sponsors:

The Atlanta Film Festival / @atlantafilmfest

The Original Alamo Drafthouse Cinema / @drafthouse

B-Side’s official Twitter account: @bsidenews

Follow the B-Side staffers: @hyams, @stomptokyo, @jrtrussell, @cengland

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

New festivals: Oxford, Omaha, Women in Film BC

Chris Holland — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 18:48:13 +0000

The 2009 Festival Communities for these festivals launched this week!

The Oxford Film Festival

The annual film festival for Oxford, Mississippi celebrates its sixth year with a slate of over ninety films. Included in the roster is the world premiere of Crude Independence, a documentary about the recent oil boom in North Dakota.

“Once again we’ve got another great line up this year. We have a world premiere film as well as a couple of regional premieres. We are especially thrilled to be hosting many of the directors, producers and actors of these films and expect this year’s festival to be the best yet,” said festival Co-Director Molly Fergusson.

The 2009 Oxford Film Festival runs Thursday, February 5 to Sunday, February 8, 2009 in Oxford, MS at the Malco Studios. Visit the Oxford Film Festival web site or their lineup of films.

The Omaha Film Festival

The Omaha Film Festival brings over sixty films to the city of Omaha including an exclusive program of Nebraska short films. The festival itself takes place February 23 through March 1st and is preceded by a two-day filmmaking conference at Creighton University.

Among the films in this year’s program: School Play, a doc about an elaborate elementary school production of The Wizard of Oz; narrative feature A Deal is a Deal with Colm Meaney and Imelda Staunton; and Phantom Punch, in which Ving Rhames portrays controversial former world heavyweight boxing champ Sonny Liston.

Visit the Omaha Film Festival web site or their lineup of films.

The Women in Film BC Festival

Women in Film & Television Vancouver is proud to present the 4th Annual Women In Film Festival, March 4th-8th, 2009, at the Vancity Theatre in association with the WIFTI Short Film Showcase, and screenings at the BC Women’s Hospital Chan Centre for Family Health Education at CFRI.

The Women In Film Festival 2009 will present over 40 films by talented teams of filmmakers. Mark your calendars on March 4th, 2009, at 7:00pm for the Vancouver Premiere of their Opening Night Film, The Baby Formula, directed by Alison Reid (in attendance).

Visit the Women in Film & TV Vancouver web site or their lineup of films.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

B-Side NEW(s) for June 25, 2008

Steph Layton — Wed, 25 Jun 2008 16:58:33 +0000

SCOUTS ARE CANCELLED

New to B-Side is the stark and inventive documentary “Scouts are Cancelled” that uniquely documents the writings of Canadian poet John Stiles and visually interprets his commentary on small town life in rural Nova Scotia. Recently screened at celebrated B-Side partner festival Hot Docs, the film received a glowing analysis in the current issue of the critical film journal CineACTION.

CICADAS

Great news for Austin filmmaker Kat Candler — her beautifully sweet coming of age story “cicadas” will screen as part of WNET’s REEL 13 series on July 19.

BLOOD CAR

“Are gas prices killing you?” B-Side 40 Fridays* favorite “Blood Car” is back on bside.com after screening at the prestigious Edinburgh International Film Festival last week. Part social commentary, part B-Movie slasher flick, part beer-out-your nose ridiculous comedy, Blood Car has enough sex-crazed, bloodthirsty vegans and inappropriate humor to satisfy everyone — and as the CIA agent says in the film “killing people for fuel is not racist… it’s patriotic”. Celebrate your freedom… buy Blood Car!

*40 Fridays – proper noun 1. Research. 2. B-Side working stiffs’ excuse to start the weekend early, watch movies, and drink malt liquor.

Interested in distributing your film through B-Side? Contact Steph Layton in Acquisitions.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh

FilmStew: The B-Side of Boffo BO

Chris Hyams — Tue, 27 May 2008 04:14:57 +0000

Well, this is officially the first time the word "Boffo" has been used in conjunction with B-Side. Richard Horgan of FilmStew wrote a nice piece last week on B-Side’s Roll Your Own Screening program for Super High Me. The very generous subtitle reads:

Although Super High Me’s grassroots exploits are of an entirely different nature than Indiana Jones’ imminent record-busting totals, they deserve to be celebrated just as loudly.

The story includes a good summary of the numbers behind the program:

From April 20th through this past Tuesday, May 20th, there were a total of 1,576 grassroots screenings in 975 cities (with 1,076 of those taking place on opening day). Events ranged from private parties for 20 people to public screenings at 2,000-plus seat auditoriums.

… as well as an interesting analysis we did comparing the attendance for our opening day (4/20) with the opening weekends of the top-grossing documentaries of all time:

"Our opening weekend attendance is greater than six of the top ten grossers of all time (including March of the Penguins, Sicko and Winged Migration), which had more typical platform release patterns. It’s worth noting also that Super High Me’s opening attendance is tallied from one day, and primarily single screenings, compared to three days with 4-5 screenings per day for traditional exhibition," [Hyams] continues. "Considering that the vast majority of films spend more on marketing than they earn in gross theatrical revenue, this level of attendance for a documentary is unprecedented. Even before taking into account the marketing budget for Super High Me, which was less than $5,000."

The last point is really the key behind B-Side’s exhibition model, what we call Groundswell. Yes, our screenings are free, so there is no box office. However, according to the MPAA’s annual research statistics, most — if not all — movies lose money during their theatrical run.

In 2006, the theatrical marketing costs for the average studio film was $34.5 million. That same average film grossed $32.7 million at the box office. Once you factor in the 50/50 box office split with exhibitors (theater owners), you have a pretty unattractive business. And while you’re at it, factor in the $65.8 million production cost for that same average film. That leaves the golden ratio of $4 spent on production and $2 spent on marketing for every $1 in gross theatrical revenue. Yikes.

So why is it that studios even bother releasing films in theaters? Trust me, it’s not because of the magical communal experience of sitting in a dark room together. Sure, that might be why we go, but to these guys it’s just math. 2/3 of industry-wide revenues are from DVD sales. Most films generate gross DVD revenues roughly equivalent to box office — but without the pesky 50/50 split with theaters (retailers take less than 25% of DVD sale price). The rub, of course, is that no one has figured out how to sell $100 million worth of DVDs without first doing $100 million at the box office. (Forget for the moment the Disney straight-to-DVD machine).

So for us, the idea was pretty simple. If everyone else loses so much money trying to make money at the box office, what if we just tried to not lose money? Could we get the same benefits without any of the risk?

By turning exhibition over to fans — the community — we have found a way to get some of that dark theater communal magic, plus a whole bunch of press and buzz, without spending all that money. And the results have been pretty amazing so far:

widest ever single day opening of a documentary (1,076 screens vs. Fahrenheit 9/11’s 868)
higher opening weekend attendance than more than half the top-grossing docs of all time (see above)
peaked at #29 on Google Trends Hot 100 searches across the US.

And then there’s this:

Meanwhile, over on Netflix, whose Red Envelope Entertainment was a producer on the film, Super High Me is, according to Red Envelope exec Liesl Copland, "tracking better than some of the best reviewed films of the year [that we've been involved with]."

So the real proof will come on June 17, when the Super High Me DVD streets. Until then, I’m flattered to hear Richard describe our campaign as "nothing short of groundbreaking."

Check out the full story here.

Feed enhanced by Better Feed from Ozh