The most common amounts asked for: $1 and $5 (more commonly delivered as the guilt trip of “the price of a cappuccino”). I am one person. If I gave each time I was asked by everyone, I’d be out $7,553 in the last 10 days alone. Now figure in the fact that only ~16 people out of all those who’ve asked have ever interacted with me on any other level in social media beyond the ask. Those ~16 people are a combination of real life friends and folks whose work I’ve seen before.

Looking at the streams of the entire sample group, only 30 or so out of several hundred begging for money talk about any topics other than, well, begging for money. In other words, listening to these people who all share a dream doesn’t often add any value to the amount of attention I’m spending on listening. A select few share useful advice or engage and talk to people, etc, but mostly it’s just “gimme gimme gimme”.

Filmmakers should strive to remember that their audience’s time and attention is valuable. I realize that to you, the aspiring filmmaker, your dream is just as valuable, but how likely is the average person to fork over money to you if you treat your social stream like a target for an Amway pitch or a corner for panhandling? Some filmmakers say “But I’m trading ‘producer credits’ or swag or raffling a few signed copies or a non speaking part in the film for money”. I’ll give you that the perceived value of a give away coupled with an ask makes what you are doing seem less ‘Amway’ on the surface, but most of your listeners would rather trade you their attention, and eventually money, for real valuable engagement. For learning something about making a film. For trading techniques or ways to save money, for words of encouragement, and more. Give aways should never be your focus, any more than a steady stream of begging for money should be. It makes what you are asking and offering valueless to tie it in to pseudo producer credits and such.

You need a to see yourself as part of a larger picture, escaping the blinders of your goal for even a moment each time you sign in to your networks to see how you can be and do more than your ask. You are not interacting in a vacuum or a silo. You are one of many who need help financing a dream. Your ask contributes to a great, vast pool of asks made by many. What are you doing between asking for money that gives camaraderie, help, value or interest outside of the film or fundraising for it? How are you making your interactions worthy of the attention (and eventually money) you are asking people to give you?

Note: This post is written from the point of view of the non-film industry audience member. The folks who have no desire to be “in a movie” or to get their name in your credits – they just want to watch a good film and enjoy  themselves. These are the people you want to buy tickets, DVDs, digital copies of the film, rentals on VOD, etc. Not everyone wants to feel invested in your project – some people just want to enjoy the end product. You should be building relationships as much as or more than you fundraise to make that segment of your potential fan base happy. If you want the filmmaker point of view, this post by Ted Hope outlines it nicely.

Media Info:

Contact: Leslie Poston and Amy Greenlaw from Film POP!

Website: http://filmpop.tv or http://nhfilmfestival.com/

FILM POP AND NH FILM FESTIVAL, PORTSMOUTH, NH – Film POP! is pleased to announce that it will be working with the Festival this year as a Media Partner, and will lead and execute the online promotional efforts and strategy of the 10th Annual New Hampshire Film Festival in 2010.

“We are very fortunate to have Leslie and Amy of Film POP! onboard for NHFF 2010,” said NHFF Executive Director Nicole Gregg. “Film POP!’s expertise, experience and creativity in new media will help the New Hampshire Film Festival continue to bring greater exposure to high-quality independent film.”

This year marks the Tenth Anniversary of the New Hampshire Film Festival. Portsmouth’s film community members have been dubbed the future “Sundance East” by local news outlet Experience Magazine. This highlights the caliber of films and attending filmmakers each year, as well as the thriving local film community. Past Jury members include Ann Cusack, and Board members include renowned filmmaker, writer and director Chase Bailey and producer Mark Constance. The festival has been attended by actors such as Cusack and Brett Cullen and has also been home to such phenomenal films as Shooting Beauty, Food, Inc., The Sensation of Sight, and Burning Plain.

Film POP! has many exciting things planned for the New Hampshire Film Festival this year, including geolocation tie-ins, local business promotion, transmedia cross over, and Google Earth integration. Film POP! has several other tricks up their sleeves to surprise attendees of the festival as well. From events, films, meet and greet opportunities, festival tie ins, product placement and so much more, the Tenth Anniversary of the New Hampshire Film Festival will be celebrated in style, on and off line.

Film POP! is the brainchild of Amy Greenlaw and Leslie Poston. Between them they bring decades of experience in film, video, television, music and marketing to the table. You can reach Leslie via Twitter at http://twitter.com/leslie or email at leslie@filmpop.tv. You can reach Amy via Twitter at http://twitter.com/girlgamy or email at amy@filmpop.tv. You can also follow the New Hampshire Film Festival news on Twitter via http://twitter.com/nhff or through Film POP! on Twitter at http://twitter.com/filmpop. Film POP! will be joining Vital Design on the New Hampshire Film Festival marketing team, long time print and traditional media outlet and web design firm for the festival.

There are very few rules to the festival, like making sure your film is shot on one of the above mentioned items, non-professional. It also must be under 10 minutes. After watching some of the films, I was amazed at the creativity, newness, and the simplicity. Many of the films would be accepted into the bigger festivals I am sure. As a matter of fact I would recommend that some festival programmers take a gander at the amazing work on this site and also on Vimeo.
The Disposable Film Festival originates in San Francisco and hosts screenings in Paris, London, Brussels, New York, most recently Beijing, and other cities worldwide. DFF also give talks and host other events during the year, like their bike-in movie screenings (ride your bike into a screening as opposed to a drive-in).

So what are you waiting for? Get out there and make a film, celebrate art and your creativity!

It’s incredibly difficult to tailor a talk or panel to a room evenly divided between the more advanced users and the social media “noobs”. I like to think I do a good job, but I know I leave as frustrated as my audience when I’ve spent an hour or two trying to address both sides of the coin. Our workshop we offer via Film POP!, educational things I do like PodCamp NH and classes and seminars via Uptown Uncorked do address the issue,  but only a few people at a time.

Learning how to take the temperature of the room at the start and how to read the crowd as you go helps a bit as well, but even then you have half of the room who thinks you’re going too fast dispensing information (and this while your discussing the basic trifecta of Twitter, Facebook and YouTube, and not even scratching the surface of the much cooler more advanced stuff), and the other half who craves more detail, more help – more meat.

My call to action in this post for event planners: make a conscious effort to offer two tracks for your attendees if possible: 101 and Senior Thesis, so to speak. Then take it a step further and really screen the folks in each. Don’t be afraid to gently suggest to someone that they may want to attend the other workshop or session based on their knowledge level or skill set. I know social media is all about helping each other out, but at some point that comes with a cost for the more advanced folks in the room as every discussion devolves to answer simple questions.

My call to action for speakers and teachers in this space: let’s make our own tracks when the event planners don’t do it for us. If you want to teach advanced tools, and you have a room of advanced level folks ready to learn that includes  a few 101 level students, set the time up to reduce questions (offer to take them at the end, for example) and allow yourself to teach to the advanced level. If a 101 level student wants to insert a question that will veer the discussion off course, gently remind them that questions will be at the end – don’t allow them to derail the discussion for others. Then at the end, offer to help them with their questions between sessions or over drinks at the after party. If, on the others hand, your room is full of beginning social media stars, teach to that level, and make the same offer of a more in depth discussion to the handful of advanced users who may be in the room.

If you are speaking or educating in this space and are careful with your time, aware of your audience and perceptive, you can make a room of mixed knowledge attendees happy. It just takes care and practice.

Note: This review contains spoilers.

•••

Bryan Poyser’s funny and complicated “Lovers of Hate” could be a study of how a very dysfunctional sibling relationship can make all other relationships seem “normal”. The Writer/Director came up with “Lovers of Hate” after staying one night at a home near Park City, by himself – the very one that appeared in the film. During the Q&A he said he was all alone in the house and thought he could hide and no one would have known he was even there.  But the real mastery is in the story he created and the wonderful performances by his actors.

“Lovers of Hate” centers around two brothers and the one woman they both love. Rudy, played masterfully by Christopher Doubek (The Happy Poet, Earthling), is a walking train wreck. The film opens with Rudy trying to shower in a DIY car wash because he is living in his car after his wife threw him out. Rudy’s very successful younger brother, Paul (Alex Karpovsky) writes children’s novels in the vein of Harry Potter, an idea he got from his older brother who used to tell him these stories when they were kids. Heather Kafka is brilliant as Rudy’s estranged wife, Diana. Things get more uncomfortable when Paul figures out that Rudy and Diana are no longer together after an awkward dinner while in town promoting his latest book. Following the dinner, Paul goes to a mansion in Park City owned by a friend, to write his next novel, but his brother Rudy beats him there and hides in the house. While hiding he discovers his wife Diana has come for a weekend of sex and more sex.

Still remaining hidden in this 4 story house, Rudy plays pranks to sabotage the couple’s weekend. But what’s amazing and uncomfortable is when Rudy is hiding and has to listen and sometimes watch his brother have sex with the woman he still loves. Half of this film is Doubek acting without speaking, which I found to be astounding. Kafka’s portrayal of Diana is multilayered and evokes a mixed bag of emotions. Out of the three main characters I felt the most sorry for her and being caught in the middle of this broken relationship.

In the illustrated e-book on the Lovers of Hate website (very cool, check it out), Poyser states “The people that you’re closest to are usually the ones that you end up hurting the most.” Something I think everyone can identify with and each of this film’s characters have flaws that we have all experienced in one way or another in our lifetime.

House Bill 1664 threatens to close the New Hampshire Film & Television Office

House Bill 1664 (HB1664), “an act making appropriations reductions in the operating budget for fiscal year 2011 and relative to state revenues and expenditures,” has been introduced to the New Hampshire House of Representatives and, along with numerous other state programs, threatens to completely shut down the New Hampshire Film & Television Office.

The original form of the bill proposed to cut up to $76 million in state funding, however, the House Finance Committee earlier this week unanimously agreed to a revised proposal which now cuts $47 million, including eliminating the entire $113,000 budget of the one-person Film & Television Office. The bill has reported out of committee and is scheduled to hit the House floor for a vote next Wednesday, where it is expected to pass.

The bill will then move on to the Senate. Concurrently, the Senate has introduced its own budget bills for consideration and word has it that the Film & Television Office is currentlynot included in these proposals. Once the Senate has approved its version of the budget, a committee of conference will meet and work on a final proposal of cuts. As the committee of conference will be made up of members of both the House and the Senate, it is important that members of New Hampshire’s film and television industry contact their representatives and senators and convey the importance of keeping our state’s Film & Television Office infrastructure intact.

Your testimonials are important. Let your legislators know about the impact the New Hampshire Film & Television Office has had on your work in the Granite State. We’ve heard from many of you who have said that referrals from the Film Office Production Directory have resulted in numerous job opportunities, and there are many other stories about how the New Hampshire Film & Television Office has affected the industry in positive ways. Please forward those experiences along to your elected officials.

You can find your legislator here

Here are some important facts about the New Hampshire Film & Television Office. Please share them with your elected officials:

• From July 2008 to June 2009, the New Hampshire Film & Television Office helped bring in an estimated total production spend of just over $1,000,000 into New Hampshire. That’s $82.30 for every $1 spent to fund the New Hampshire Film & Television Office. (This is a conservative estimate and does not apply any kind of economic impact multiplier.)
• In 2000, the New Hampshire Film & Television Office Production Directory listed 46 production companies doing business in the state. In 2010, our directory currently lists 100 production companies, up from 46 in 2000 – an increase of 117%.
• There are currently 438 professional media production individuals and companies listed in our directory – taxpayers who are currently being served by the New Hampshire Film & Television Office.
• During Fiscal Year 2009, the New Hampshire Film & Television Office responded to 104 production-related inquiries.

Please feel free to contact the New Hampshire Film & Television Office at 603-271-2220 or via email at film@nh.gov should you have any questions, or visit us on the Web at www.nh.gov/film.

Thank you for your continued support.

Sincerely,

Van McLeod
Commissioner
State of New Hampshire
Department of Cultural Resources

Matthew W. Newton
Director
State of New Hampshire
Film & Television Offic

We both felt pretty strongly about Food, Inc. and the message it portrays. It is periodically available to view for free online at sites like Hulu. We highly recommend taking a look at it – you’ll learn something and be entertained.

note: video compressed to iPhone size – full size, HD video available on request