More SXSW Stories and Bits
I've been back for a couple of days, now, but there are still a bundle of things I'm hoping to blog about. When it comes to festivals, there's so much that happens in a short period of time, it's tough to fit it all in. I'm going jot several things into this post so you can explore on your own (until I have time to do these items some justice).
- Indie HD Training DVD -- One of the MOST exciting things that happened was that I met Mike Curtis from HDforIndies. Although we've had numerous email exchanges, podcasts and corresponding site referrals, we had never met in person. After a recording session for SW Studio, we were able to discuss the a project that has been near and dear to my (professor) heart for quite some time. Mike tells me that he's going to put all of the precise, money-saving information in his head into a DVD and/or web application for independent filmmakers. As a teacher, this excites me terribly. For all of the people who don't make it to Austin (which is, of course, most of the world), there's an easy way for people to make good decisions about equipment, save money AND ensure the optimal production workflow for their projects. AWESOME! I'll keep you posted on his progress.
- BSIDE -- is a new approach to independent film marketing. As I understand it, BSIDE goes to film festivals and creates a giant P2P environment that allows the filmmakers to communicate about their films (in a blog type format), allows audience members to rate films and post comments, allowing festival attendees to find the films with the strongest audience appeal. They also distribute films in conventional ways (e.g. IFC) AND use very tight-target niche marketing to connect avid audiences with films on their preferred topics. Their business model dovetails with the Documentary Panelists who indicated that the path to profitability for many independents is this sort of web-based niche marketing.
- Julia Kwan, Erik Paulsson Podcast -- One of the best films I saw at Sundance 2006 was EVE AND THE FIREHORSE. I found out that the film will be screening at Phoenix Film Festival next week, so I'm going to encourage EVERYONE in Phoenix to get to the film. While at SXSW, I recorded an interview with the film's talented director and gifted producer. I'm going to rush that PODCAST to "press".
- IndieWIRE -- I finally caught up with Eugene Hernandez from IndieWIRE. I had met him years earlier at Telluride and had been following both his "serious" reporting and his blog. He always seemed to be covering the stories that I would have liked, breaking independent film stories that I loved reading. I also met the two Brians ... just to make it confusing for the rest of the world. They came to our panel discussion on Blogging About Film. I couldn't understand why they weren't on it, as well. Regardless, one of the highlights of my festival was meeting up with them.
- Screeners -- After the panel discussion, a few independent filmmakers gave me "screeners" of their films. All were documentaries and, in each case, the filmmaker requested feedback and coverage if his/her film was good. So, I've got a few films to watch yet. One is about a young pilot who explores Australia with her father as a co-pilot. Another is about what happens after one dies. It covers everything from burial to being shot into space. I described it to a friend who LOVES documentaries and she said it sounded interesting to her. See, there is an audience for every film! I'll blog more after I view the films.
- SXSW Interactive -- earlier in the week, I started to write about how valuable I thought SXSW was ideal for faculty professional growth for college, university and secondary school teachers. Next year, I'm going to make more of an effort to catch several of the Interactive Panels. I met some of the interactive attendees and ended up talking about building better websites for film projects, web standardization and CSS. A lot of the information was directly applicable to MCC classes. I'm going to encourage more Maricopa faculty to attend SXSW.
No doubt I'll be blogging more about these topics in the near future. I just wanted to get the rest of the topics out because no one likes to read old news. It's even less fun to write it.
