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Ted Hope is an independent film producer. He's produced over 60 films. This is his blog.

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Collaboration 101: Working With Your Partner (In Life And On Set) -- Part 3 of 3

  • By Ted Hope
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  • October 8, 2011 12:52 PM
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  • 0 Comments
The last two days, Sophia Takal and Lawrence Michael Levine have been sharing how they have navigated both a personal and professional collaborative relationship. For me, my curiosity about their process was sparked when I watched Sophia's GREEN, a feature that moved, impressed, and scared me. I look forward to collaborating more fully with my wife on our movies (albeit only behind the camera), but watching Sophia's film, I knew I had a lot to still learn about the how to of the dual pursuit.I will be presenting GREEN in a little more than a week from now at my HopeForFilm screening series, and it is not a film you should miss. GREEN premiered at SxSW this year and deserves to travel far and wide. It has lodged itself into my memory. If you haven't been following Sophia & Lawrence's very revealing conversation this last three days, I suggest you travel back in time and start from Thursday's post and read it one sitting.
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More: Collaboration, Directing, Sustainability, Inspiration, First Features, Guest Posts

Collaboration 101: Working With Your Partner (In Life And On Set) -- Part 2 of 3

  • By Ted Hope
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  • October 7, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 0 Comments
Yesterday, in an effort to determine whether "Can A Couple Truly Collaborate Creatively (And Survive?)" we started to look at the origins of the collaborative filmmaking team of Sophia Takal and Lawrence Michael Levine -- who just so happen to be entangled romantically too. Today, they share a bit about what they went through when they embarked on their first feature, Lawrence's GABI ON THE ROOF IN JULY. They are as honest and forthcoming about their process, as they are in their filmmaking itself. As I said yesterday, "Whether you aspire to work with your significant other, or just collaborate well with your team, the back and forth and growth that Sophia and Lawrence have committed themselves to, can all teach us a few things."
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More: Collaboration, Directing, Sustainability, Inspiration, First Features, Guest Posts, Recommended Viewing

Can A Couple Truly Collaborate Creatively (And Survive?)

  • By Ted Hope
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  • October 6, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 1 Comment
Jealousy is great fodder for creation. Our hunger for love puts stress on us even once we have found it, earned it, and secured it. Love is both incredibly deep and incredibly delicate. It is strong and it is fragile. We can make movies about love until the end of time, and not even scratch the surface.Indie & Truly Free Film are both currently awash in collaborative filmmaking teams. Some are siblings, some are friends, and at least one of them is a couple: Sophia Takal and Lawrence Michael Levine. When I saw Sophia's GREEN, I was incredibly impressed and moved. Not only does Takal tackle the subject of jealousy straight on, she does it by also starring in it with her boyfriend/fiance; just to complicate things, their roommate, plays his lover. I understand creative challenges, but know I have a lot to learn when the creative challenges the personal. I asked Sophia and Lawrence to tell us a bit about how their collaboration came to be. Whether you aspire to work with your significant other, or just collaborate well with your team, the back and forth and growth that Sophia and Lawrence have committed themselves to, can all teach us a few things.
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More: Collaboration, Directing, Sustainability, Guest Posts, Career Management, Micro-budget Filmmaking

Does Indie Film Suffer The Same Problems As College Football?

  • By Ted Hope
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  • October 3, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 2 Comments
Entertainment Culture gets institutionalized. We start doing something for one reason, and it just becomes the way. Often the practice no longer lines up with the actual result. It requires that we step back and look at it for what it really is -- but that is a lot easier said than done.Comparisons often feel a bit stretched, but they still some times help, by providing a bit of distance, to help us recognize where our institutions went wrong. Attorney and Sales Rep George Rush previously shared with us a bit about the sales process and strategy of micro-budget filmmaking. As much as he is passionate about Indie Film, he also has another love, and through that prism offers up a bit of an alternative vision that could provide a nice corrective to the indie institution of film festivals.
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More: Sustainability, Guest Posts

How Would You Use All 27 New Platforms Available For Direct (aka DIY/DIWO) Distribution?

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 30, 2011 8:30 AM
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  • 15 Comments
We are awash in wonderful opportunities. Distribution has long been said to be one of the top concerns of Truly Free / Indie filmmakers. Ditto on the marketing side. We've been neglectful to address the equally important social side, but that's changing. Financing is always a challenge, but even there we have new help and hope. The great news is that never before have we had so many opportunities in all these areas.
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More: Audience, Innovation, Revenue, Sustainability, Platforms, Discovery

How Much Does An American Indie Producer Get Paid?

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 26, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 20 Comments
Even if we are not in it for the money, it does not mean we shouldn't be rewarded fairly for our knowledge, labor, services, expertise, relationships, and talent. It doesn't happen much. If you are either starting out or already at an expert level, what can you expect to earn producing in the American Indie Film Industry, circa 2011.
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More: Producing, Sustainability, Career Management

How Does Everyone Expect Filmmakers To Promote Movies?

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 23, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 10 Comments
Filmmakers know that Indie Films are sold on their back. Filmmakers know that it benefits their films and their careers to promote their movies. Filmmakers also recognize that they spend on the average two years developing their films, generally unpaid. And filmmakers also realize they are asked to spend eighteen months to two years promoting and publicizing their films, ALSO UNPAID.
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More: Promotion, Sustainability, International Sales

Must Read On MovieScope: Michael Gubbins' "Face The Music"

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 21, 2011 12:30 PM
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  • 1 Comment
I have had the pleasure of participating in two think tanks sessions with Michael Gubbins of the UK. He's a fun and thoughtful advocate for the change that needs to occur in our industry, if we want to survive. As he points out today in his article in MovieScope "Face The Music", ten years after the release of the iPod, has the film biz really learned anything from it's sister, the music industry?
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More: Recommended Reading, Business Models, Sustainability, Issues & Actions

Can We Create The Future Of Indie Marketing & Distribution -- Or Is It Already Dead?

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 11, 2011 3:00 AM
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  • 19 Comments
We speak of the need to utilize PMDs (aka Producers of Marketing & Distribution) on Indie/TFF movies these days, but how do these people get trained (not to mention, paid for)? Where do they learn their skill sets? Two or three years into this DIY Indie Movement of sorts, can you name more than three or four people (at best) who do this? Isn't this the missing piece? How come we all aren't doing more to train these folks?
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More: Issues & Actions, Sustainability

Our Obligation To Share

  • By Ted Hope
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  • August 4, 2011 3:00 AM
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  • 8 Comments
There are so many things that we need to do in order to make independent film a sustainable and vibrant culture and industry. That said, we are in a better place to do that than ever before. For the first time in our culture, we can say that that vision is dependent on no one else other than those who participate in it. The question is whether we are up for the challenge.
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More: Audience, Collaboration, Communication, Let's Make Better Films, Sustainability

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