Some Notes from the 2009 Producers Institute Opening Panel

Really fun conversation this morning at the opening session of the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies, covering all things related to the evolution of documentary storytelling.

Lots of people have been Tweeting from the event using the tag "#pint09." While there wasn't a live video feed of the panel as promised, I'm told that recorded video will show up soon (and I'll link to it once it does.)

I blogged earlier about some of the topics we planned to cover. We got to about half of them.

A few random notes, mostly sparked by things the audience said:

1. If you focus too much on new technologies and communications platforms, like Twitter and iPhone apps and Facebook, you can risk missing a big chunk of your audience (unless your film is intended explicitly at people under 35.) What about people over 35? Filmmakers ought to think about making their film available and generating buzz in traditional places (like theaters, film fests, Netflix, and Amazon) as well as on the Interwebs, iTunes, mobile devices, house parties, etc.

2. A lot of filmmakers can get intimidated by how much there is to do in this new world of audience cultivation and digital distribution: so many new platforms, formats, and modes of interactivity. But I also think there are so many new ways that you can seek out help from people you've never met. Your creative crew can grow from five to fifty if you know how to ask for assistance and get people involved (with tools like wikis, Ning, and even simple blogs like this one). Of course, you also have to be open to the kind of ideas and contributions you get -- and be willing to give up a bit of control in exchange for getting pro bono assistance from folks around the world. (In Fans, Friends & Followers, Jonathan Coulton, Robert Greenwald, and Timo Vuorensola talk about their approaches to crowdsourcing.)

3. We need a good way to connect filmmakers with social media experts, for advice/guidance/collaboration. Even tech-savvy filmmakers can benefit from smart ideas about engaging the audience and getting them talking about your work... and many social media folks would love to sink their teeth into some substantial film projects. Perhaps this is a job for the 2009 edition of The Conversation, now sort of in the planning stages for NYC later this year.
(We're still trying to nail down the right venue.) But if there are other initiatives doing this sort of thing, let me know...

Calling All Documentarians: Your Ideas About the Future of Doc Storytelling

The great Wendy Levy of BAVC has asked me to moderate a panel this Saturday in San Francisco, for the Producers Institute for New Media Technologies. Here's the description and the list of panelists. I'd love to get your questions, comments, and predictions here -- and we'll weave them into the conversation Saturday morning as much as possible (with credit). I'm told the panel will be live streamed here.

Descrip and panelists:

The Future of Visual Storytelling:
Content-Driven Technologies and the New Documentary Movement

There is no question that the way people consume content has fundamentally changed over the last several years. Whether online, on mobile devices, DVD/BluRay, or in physical spaces, the way we tell stories is also changing. What is the future of documentary filmmaking, with the reality of shorter attention spans, laptop culture and evolving technology that enables new ways to interact with narrative content? This panel will explore the emerging developments, new opportunities and technical challenges in the field – is interactivity the end of traditional narrativity?

Panelists:

Lance Weiler, The Workbook Project

Mark Gibson, Media Consultant

Tina Singleton, Witness

Joaquin Alvarado, CPB

Here are some of the topics I plan to bring up... feel free to respond or to add others in the comments below.

Round 1: In five years, what will people mean when they say “documentary”? What will have changed, what will remain the same about the form? What new possibilities will documentary storytellers be seizing?

Round 2: What today feels to you like the platform or new technology that offers the most potential for documentary storytellers to connect with audiences and change the world? (IE, the iPhone, games, Twitter, Facebook, YouTube, etc.)

Round 3: What’s the most significant change you see taking place among viewers, and the way they consume/create/interact with content?

Round 4: What’s one project that to you feels like it represents a new, experimental (perhaps interactive) direction in documentary storytelling?

Round 5: What is the role of the director, producer, and the creative team? Are they ringmasters, conversation catalysts, community organizers? How does the work of creating new elements around the film balance with all the work of creating the film itself? What about giving up control – how does that square with the traditional control-oriented nature of filmmaking?

Round 6: What question would you like to ask the audience, or your fellow panelists?

Things This Movie Web Site Does Wrong

Here's a Wednesday challenge for you: have a look at this Web site, and think about the things it does wrong from a digital marketing point-of-view. (Note: this is a movie I'm very interested in seeing, as a fan of Disney history, so I would *like* to see them doing a better job.)

I'd note at least four things:

1. The title of the movie, "the boys," is very hard to "own" on Google. The words are just too common (try searching on "the boys" in Google). Pick a title that is non-generic enough that you have a shot at appearing on the first page of Google results. ("Burma VJ," a doc from this year's Sundance Film Festival, is a good example.)
2. Site is built entirely in Flash, so there is no way to link to a specific part of it. Sites in Flash are close to invisible when it comes to search engines. There's also no way for bloggers or other Web sites to easily "grab" text, like the movie synopsis, when they want to write about it on their site.
3. There's no info whatsoever on where I can see the film (at festivals or in theaters).
4. No way for me to give them my e-mail so I can be notified when the DVD goes on sale.

What else can we learning, using this as a case study?

Sneak Preview of Tiffany Shlain's New Doc in SF, Feb. 18th

If you're in the Bay Area, Tiffany Shlain is doing an event next week. She'll show a rough cut of Act I from her current project, 'Connected: A Declaration of Interdependence,' and talk about her distribution and audience-building strategies for her earlier work. Wish I could go!

Worth a Gander: Web site for 'Objectified,' Gary Huswit's New Doc

Gary Huswit made a splash in 2007 with 'Helvetica,' a documentary that told the story of the world's most influential typeface. (It's airing on PBS this month.)

His new doc is 'Objectified,' about product design, and it'll premiere at SXSW this March.

The site is here. Hard to think of what else you'd want from the Web site for a film that has yet to be released: there's a trailer, a list of some of the better-known interviewees, a newsletter you can sign up for, a blog, and products you can buy. Most interesting option: for $500, you can become an "Objectifier." What do you get?

- An Objectified T-shirt
- An Objectified limited-edition silkscreen print by Build
- A “Helvetica” Blu-ray special edition by Experimental Jetset
- An invite for you and a guest to either the New York or London private sneak preview (whichever’s closer to you) of Objectified in early 2009, before the general public sees it
- A copy of the DVD of Objectified when it’s released
- Your name (or your company’s name if you prefer) will appear in the “thank you” section of the film’s credits
- More perks as we think them up

Also interesting that the first place Huswit released the movie's trailer to was Gizmodo, a site for techies and gadget hounds. That spawned dozens of comments, including, "Wow! That movie looks amazing. I had never heard of Helvetica before, I'm going to be checking it out."

A great way to tap into big audiences online that will likely be interested in the film...

Talking About My Next Book, Feb 1st in Boston

Rhonda Moskowitz was kind enough to invite me to speak at one of her monthly Connect the Docs meetings in Boston.

I'm going to be taking part on Sunday, February 1st at 7 pm, at the Coolidge Corner Theatre. The suggested contribution is $7, and the event takes place upstairs in the MiniMax Room.

My next book focuses on how filmmakers, musicians, and other artists can build an audience -- and a career -- in the digital era. I'm going to present some ideas from the book, and hopefully get some feedback from the crowd of real, live documentarians.

My working title for the book is "Fans, Friends & Followers: Building an Audience -- and a Career -- in the Digital Era." But that may change. (Your feedback is welcome.)

My plan is to have the book ready for purchase by March, when South by Southwest rolls around. If you're interested in receiving an early excerpt, simply drop me a line.

SnagFilms: Open for Business

As far as I can tell, the vast reporting team here at CinemaTech Global HQ broke the news about Ted Leonsis' SnagFilms a month ago, during Silverdocs.

Everything about that initial post was on-the-money (except I reported that the referral fee that Snag takes from a DVD sale would be eight percent; it's 8.5 percent).

Snag was officially unveiled today, with a bit of news that was new to me: they've also acquired the indie film hub IndieWIRE.

My take on Snag: this will be an important new way for connecting documentaries with audiences online, and generating revenue -- but many better-known films may be kept off the site because they've promised their digital/VOD rights to someone else.

In other reporting:

Walt Mossberg of the Wall Street Journal has a comprehensive review of SnagFilms.

USA Today has a story about Snag that includes some interesting commentary from founder Ted Leonsis.

"Because everything is digital now, costs are down, quality is up, and we have this whole new generation of non-fiction filmmakers," says Leonsis, majority owner of two Washington, D.C.-area sports teams and chairman of SnagFilms. "There's more product but less distribution. I wanted to solve that problem."

..."The Oscar-winning documentary of 2007 did $250,000 at the box office, which means that only 25,000 people saw it," Leonsis says. "Most videos on YouTube see at least 100,000 views, which would be like $1 million at the box office."

(Actually, Ted, I bet the average video on YouTube has fewer than 1000 views.... maybe even fewer than 100?)

'Distribution Now' panel from Silverdocs

Dave Nuttycombe was at the Silverdocs panel titled 'Distribution Now: Strategic Thinking for the Feature Doc,' and he posts these notes.

The consensus was that theatrical releasing is "screwed up," but that other opportunities are emerging. A snippet:

...[T]he new distribution strategy is “all about what you can do that’s analog.” That is, bringing people together and offering them something that they can’t get from the Internet.” Loyal audiences love community. To that end, [Jim] Browne [of Argot Pictures] mentioned the film 'Note By Note: The Making of Steinway L1037.' The piano company agreed to support the film by putting the namesake product on “tour,” trucking it to screenings and hiring Steinway artists to play it at shows.

Planning to Make a Niche Documentary? Read This

Great piece in Variety from Anne Thompson on new ways of marketing and distributing niche documentaries. She focuses mainly on two sports docs, 'In the Crease' and 'Kicking It.' From the piece:

In March 2005, Matt Gannon and Michael Sarner, former acquisition and marketing execs at Fox Searchlight and United Artists, respectively, put their passion for ice hockey into financing and shooting their first film, "In the Crease." The digital video doc is an underdog story of the California Wave Bantam AAA travel hockey team's two-year quest to win a national championship.

"We set out to do 'Spellbound' for sports fans," says Gannon. Figuring that their movie would have more of a shot with some star power, the filmmakers also interviewed such hockey all-stars as Brendan Shanahan and Joe Thornton.

After raising finishing funds, the filmmakers completed the pic and opted not to take the Sundance festival route.

"We knew early on we'd have a hard time getting the studios to release it theatrically," says Sarner. "We didn't want to miss the holiday season. Our bread-and-butter was DVD sales."

Science Doc is First to Use ArtistShare for Fund-Raising

The producers of the science documentary 'BLAST,' about the launch of a high-altitude telescope, claim that they're the first ones using ArtistShare to raise money for a film.

ArtistShare is an Internet financing site, originally for musicians. Fans can either pre-buy a download or a CD, or donate larger amounts -- which might earn them a producer's credit, tickets to live shows, original hand-written sheet music, etc.

'BLAST' is being featured on the homepage of ArtistShare; donate $150,000 to the project and you'll get a hand-written thank you letter from director Paul Devlin, tickets to a private screening at the SoHo House in Manhattan, and much, much more.

New documentary on William Castle

William Castle was one of the great innovators (and promoters) of mid-20th century Hollywood... the man who brought you joy buzzers beneath theater seats (in 'The Tingler'), skeletons flying above audiences (an effect he dubbed Emergo), and interactivity (a fake vote in 'Mr. Sardonicus.')

Now there's a documentary about Castle called 'Spine Tingler,' and I can't wait to see it. It played recently at the AFI Fest in Los Angeles, where it won the audience award for best documentary.

Here's the trailer:

A New DIY Manual for Indie Filmmakers

Hunter Weeks, director of the documentary '10 MPH', has just published a most excellent manual for other do-it-yourself indie filmmakers (it's especially geared to first-timers.) It's available for free on his Web site, or for 99 cents as a PDF/printable download.

From the introduction:

We had no formal training in making films and very little understanding of how the industry worked. This obviously meant we didn't have any connections either. But we could tell things were changing and felt we had the ability to jump in and figure it out. This spirit is one that many filmmakers share. It's a desire to do something more than the ordinary - to create something that will ultimately have an effect on people. After three years, I can honestly say I think we're figuring it out and it's a whole heck of a lot of work. But, the rewards are just enough that it leaves us hungering for more and just certain enough that we're on the path to whatever it is that we're supposed to be doing.

Hunter is also now experimenting with a Radiohead-style, "name your own price" program for the downloadable version of '10 MPH.'

His next doc, '10 Yards,' is about fantasy football. There's already a site up to promote it. Smart.

CinemaTech Filmmaker Q&A: Brett Gaylor of Open Source Cinema

At the IFP Filmmaker Conference last month, I had a chance to sit down in the speaker green room with Montreal-based documentarian Brett Gaylor.

We talked about his current project, a doc tentatively titled 'Basement Tapes,' which focuses on the changing concept of copyright -- and which is being made collaboratively. Brett is in the vanguard of people who are exploring the way large communities of people interested in a topic can work together on a film (in much the same way people work together to create Wikipedia.) Here's the video of our conversation, pretty much uncut...

Collaborative documentary about Wikipedia

Alex Afterman calls our attention to this documentary-in-progress about Wikipedia. From the site:

We plan to complete 'Truth in Numbers: The Wikipedia Story' by the end of 2007 and to widely distribute the film throughout America and internationally in 2008. Our film will be submitted to festivals around the world, experience a domestic and international theatrical run, see international television broadcasts, and finally become available on DVD and over the Internet.

- This is a not-for-profit project so please DONATE! to the production. (Yes, it's tax-deductible! Please type "wikidoc" in the 'Payment For' box.)

- If you donate $50 or more, we'll send you a FREE copy of the Special Edition DVD when the film is complete in 2008. Plus you get your name in the credits!

Here's the trailer:

New Pixar Documentary: 'The Pixar Story'

I'm eager to see the new doc 'The Pixar Story' when it's broadcast on TV, released on DVD, or released theatrically. (It played last month at Comic-Con.)

It was directed by Leslie Iwerks, the granddaughter of Ub Iwerks, who was Walt Disney's original partner. (An earlier film and book she produced focused on Ub's career.) Her production company has a Web site, but it's woefully short on clips from her work -- including the new Pixar project.

From Peter DeBruge's Variety review:

The movie is, above all else, a celebration of animation in all its forms. Iwerks naturally has a firm grasp of the medium's history and rightly sees Pixar as the catalyst for the recent resurgence of audience interest in animation.

Early in the movie, Lasseter credits the book "Walt Disney's Art of Animation" with inspiring him to enter the field, and Iwerks' film will no doubt have a similar effect on future generations. She focuses less on Pixar's behind-the-scenes methodology (with good reason, considering how exhaustively those details are chronicled on the Pixar DVDs themselves), but presents a treasure trove of rare footage, including clips of Lasseter's first two Student Academy Award-winning film-school projects, "Lady and the Lamp" and "NiteMare," which presage "Luxo Jr." and "Monsters Inc."

Iwerks also includes the computer-animated "Where the Wild Things Are" demo Lasseter and Glen Keane developed for Disney, as well as Catmull's U. of Ohio experiment in rendering his own hand (the first 3-D computer effect featured in a movie) and Loren Carpenter's 1980 fractal landscape experiment "Vol Libre" (which enabled Pixar's work on "Star Trek II").

Here's the IMDB info.

This Weekend: Woods Hole Film Festival

I had the pleasure of lunching today with filmmaker/techie David Tamés, who has been doing some shooting of late on the Ray Kurzweil documentary 'The Singularity is Near.' David has a great blog called Kino-Eye.com, and also maintains a list of events that would surely be of interest to CinemaTech readers in the Boston area.

And if you happen to be headed to Cape Cod this weekend, David has organized three really cool panels at the Woods Hole Film Festival:

- The future of long-form documentary in the age of Internet video
- Delivering Video via the Internet: Challenges and Opportunities, and
- Media Literacy in the 21st Century

Not only that, but one of David's short films, 'Smile Boston Project,' is screening at the fest next Saturday.