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Wow. I always thought production was the tough part of filmmaking. Now I’m wondering what the heck the easy part is!
As mentioned in our previous post, Matt and I were sponsored by the National Screen Institute to attend TIFF with our Features First Sci-Fi Thriller “SYNAPSE”. Our mission: whatever we wanted it to be.
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Transmedia was a big buzzword at the Banff World Media festival this year, and continues to have Producers, Writers, Directors and Marketing teams scratching their heads. You may have heard the word before, or one of its cousins like “multiplatform”, “second-screen”, etc. but it’s all the same thing.
Most think Transmedia is about fun facts popping up on your iPhone while you watch a movie. They’re wrong. If we’re going to play in this new media landscape, we need to start seeing Transmedia as a way to tell an immersive story with multiple access points.
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Those who read about screenwriting often bump up against the same group of tips/rules time and time again. This time around, as we wrap up phase 2 of our NSI Features First program, I’ve punched out a new draft of Synapse and I’d like to share some things I’ve learned that AREN’T those same old boring (but of course important!) rules.
Nerds unite! The time is drawing near for the Calgary Comic & Entertainment Expo. Every year, we’re honoured to speak on a panel or two about filmmaking and new media. This year, however, Matt and Scott will be on four panels throughout the weekend. We invite everyone who wants to pick our brains to join us! Here’s the schedule, still marked as “tentative”:
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After many long days and short nights, our first phase of the 2014 Features First program is over. Phase 1 was a week-long boot camp in Toronto, with all four teams coming together for intense sessions of feedback and mind-blowing conversations with industry pros, from Broadcasters and Distributors to Producers, Indie Filmmakers and Agents.
Check out our full list of posts here.
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Our final day of Phase 1 for the NSI Features First program consisted of a full-morning mock pitch session. We were lucky to meet four Producers from some of Canada’s top production companies, who came in for some one-on-one 20-minute pitches.
We welcomed Elise Cousineau from Sienna Films; Sonya Di Rienzo from Whizbang Films; Mark Montefiore from Montefiore Films and Kevin Krikst from Rhombus Media.
So what’s the best way to pitch your film?
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Wow. Day 4 was enlightening in vastly different ways than our previous days at NSI Features First. Today we met with Broadcasters, Distributors, Telefilm and Marketing Strategists. It was definitely a day for the Producers, though Screenwriters should absolutely be paying attention to these lessons.
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We met with three literary agents during our first phase of the NSI Features First program, and enjoyed some enlightening discussions about the nature of the screenwriter/agent relationship, the producer/agent relationship, what working with an agent is like and what agents look for these days.
Here are our Top Ten Tips from those conversations:
Take cover ’cause I’m droppin’ knowledge bombs.
We had a mind blowing discussion today with Canadian Producer Martin Katz from Prospero Pictures. Katz (pronounced Kaits) is most known for his Producing work with David Cronenberg. He’s also been a long-time advocate of new media content and has his fingers firmly on the pulse of the industry, in Canada and around the world. Our chat focused on the state of the film production industry in Canada and what the landscape is like for new and emerging filmmakers.
It’s day two here at #FeaturesFirst and time flies when you’re having fun. We covered plenty of things today so don’t just read this post, make sure to check out our Features First Index Post to see everything we were up to today and the rest of the week.