Documentary Distribution Update

Peter Broderick, an independent film distribution consultant and strategist posted this month on getting ready for festivals, with Sundance about to start.  Getting into Sundance is something many of us dream of and so few achieve.  Needless to say, the advice goes beyond festivals and also provides a good check list, and primer on independent distribution windows, strategies and current trends; a definite must read if you’re about to, in the midst of, or thinking of distributing anything with pixels, consecutive frames and sound...   

 

Peter links to a post by Thom Powers Distribution Advice for 2014 – a must read, especially for doc filmmakers and to Ted Hope’s blog who in effect has curated a list about all things festival – and distribution – and this list is being updated as we move along! That should keep you busy for at least a while… once you’re done, why don’t you share what you learned here?

Where to Hide? Part 2

In “Where to Hide? Part 1”I talked about finding people online without much information to go by.  The story to follow  talks about the ‘other’ direction; being found.

It’s early 2008, the world is still in order and people go to work at Lehman Brothers:  I had a conservative client who apparently was close to circles that where close to the pope… kinda one, or two degrees of separation.  This just to make the point in what way the client was conservative.

I was working as a media consultant for the CEO. After a few months Clock Wise’s role was to be expanded into producing video content.  Since it was a sizeable budget Clock Wise needed to be vetted.  With nothing to worry about, I foresaw no problems.

Where to Hide? Part 1

I’ve written a bit about on-line privacy in the past months, and how can one ignore the topic with the N.S.A. scandal and the Snowden leaks.  In this and the next post I want to share a story each of on-line privacy issues from opposite directions.

 

The first and most recent story begins with a conversation I had over dinner with a guy who told me about his ex (which wasn’t all that “ex” as it turns out, but that’s a hole other topic and not for this blog). From the conversation I had gathered the following information:

New Year's Wishes

I'm not a big fan of New Year's resolutions - resolutions to do better should be an all year activity in my opinion - but let's pretend for a second... 

I came across a poem many years ago - it was a prayer actually - and I love its message and I find it befitting for a New Year's message. I went looking for it on-line to make sure I had the wording right and had to laugh; I found it on a German teen-girl site. I now remember learning the poem the summer I was 16 and working in a senior home run by Deacons. So, here goes:

"May you have the courage to accept what you cannot change, the strength to change what needs changing, and the wisdom to know one from the other." 

All I can add to that is: "Cheers for a sensational 2014 with all the right changes!"

If You Ain't Livin' On Edge, You're Takin' Too Much Space

The first time I heard the quote: "If you're not living on the edge, you're taking up too much space" was at "The Conversation" at Columbia University, March of 2010.  It was an exciting time, the internet and social media in particular were changing how a filmmaker - or any artist, content producer and creative - shared their wares with his or her audience and fan base. We now had direct access to audiences without layers of sales agents, distributors, aggregators, studios, etc.  We could engage directly, get our messages out AND (potentially) make some money.

Context - Part 3

A guest post Leadership Unplugged on Brian Solis’ site (yes, again) started out being about leadership and then went into context and content.  Written by Roland Deiser and Sylvain Newton the article makes some very relevant points about an ‘unplugged’ and less perfect leadership style in a fast changing and moving world.  What struck the nerve for me were the following paragraphs:

Social (yawn) Media – Social (what?) Business

The title sums it up: the term social media is a tad overused and social business is in theory happening but not really and who really gets it (other than Brian Solis)?

 

To start the conversation I want to highlight a few blog posts I’ve been reading by the “initiated”. They all just so happen to have been guest posts on Brian Solis’ blog as well as Brians’ two cents.

 

October of this year Chris Heuer wrote a guest blog on Brian Solis’ site with the title “Social Business is Dead! Long Live What’s Next”. In response Philip Sheldrake writes in November on the same blog: “Impatience is a Virtue: What’s Next for Social Business”.  And then Brian Solis sums it up in December with: “Social Business in not Dead: New charts and data reveal the real evolution of social businesses”.