Informing SkyChasers

www.watchtheguild.com

At this point, The Guild has grown into the most successful web series I'm aware of... and it was an interview with the show's writer, producer, and star, Felicia Day, that got me thinking about how a web series can build an audience for genre content like SkyChasers.

Without a doubt, SkyChasers is the kind of content that supports transmedia. Many of the stories we can tell are short and sweet, like an episode of He-Man or Voltron, and could easily be broken down into episodes to allow for a season of web cartoons for kids.

On the other hand, the world also lends itself to richer, more full-bodied storytelling, like the kind of thing older kids and adults might follow in a web comic. While we'd keep the comics clean (and the cartoons well-written, for that matter) the differences between the media help us reach out to a wider audience.

Then, where a show like The Guild is selling t-shirts and DVD's, we can also be selling trading card games. Eventually, we can be selling toys. All that came out of hearing Felicia Day talk about her work.

After seeing the interview, I sat down and watched The Guild in it's entirety... and it really illuminated the kinds of lessons a character can learn over a season of webisodes. My writing plans for the SkyChasers series are starting to come into focus.

My personal feeling is that anyone who hopes to accomplish anything in film over the next ten years should be watching Felicia Day very closely. If you are, I'd love to know what sorts of things you've learned from her work!

Thanksgiving

Boy, has this been a rich, complex year of change. More than anytime in my past, I've been learning to accept collaboration and support as a part in my life, and it's the people who have made that possible that I'm most thankful for this holiday season.

On the one hand, by taking on the social media challenges Unified Pictures is faced with as an independent film company in the new Hollywood, I've opened myself up to a better life and more resources to bring to my own projects. In particular, I'm grateful to Kurt Rauer and Keith Kjarval for giving me that chance. In addition, I'm deeply thankful for the help Tim Montijo has shown me in finally moving my short film into post-production. Gentlemen, I am deeply, profoundly grateful for your help in taking the next step in my career.

On the other hand, the ensemble we've built at 8 Sided Films and on the 8 Sided Forum has been incredibly supportive, and as I write these words, I'm watching the most tremendous group of artists I've ever seen band together to bring Heartsgaard and Sam Bailey into reality, and help build a future for all of us in the media. For Aaron Lyons, Christie Insley, Dave McCallum, Johnny Derango, Narmar Hannah, Samantha Streets, Danielle K. Jones, Shawn MacAulay, Sheila Daley, Chris DeChristopher and Elizabeth Southard, I am supremely grateful. You are my family, and I love you.

For the first time since I was a student at Andover, two people have come into my life who are willing to challenge me to my limits, while at the same time supporting and helping me learn to overcome the obstacles I face along the way. This year I've grown closer to myself than I've ever been, largely because of their guidance and patience. Those people are martial and living arts instructor Sifu Marcus Lovemore and hypnotherapist Cymry Mongan. Thank you dearly, both of you.

Lastly, I need to mention my friend and partner-in-crime Gerard Marzilli, who this year has helped me relearn what friendship can mean to my life. Even apart from his unwavering loyalty, support, and enthusiasm, for which he is well known and for which I am endlessly grateful, his profound openness and willingness to grow has challenged me to become a better man. Then, his equally expansive forgiveness has granted me the space to meet that challenge. Gerard keeps life interesting and fun by meeting new frontiers gamely, and by playing with each and every discovery we make on our professional and personal journey towards fulfillment. This year has presented Gerard with some huge challenges (some of which came from me), and by meeting them with the spirit of exploration and a dogged determination to triumph, he's woken me up to the possibility that being an interdependent person might be stronger and more fulfilling than merely being an independent one.

Thank you, Gerard. You've become the very best of friends to me, my true brother, and when I try to express the love and gratitude I feel, I can't seem to find the words. I love you, and thank you.

To everyone who has helped me become a more complete, connected person, thank you!

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!

The Most Awesomest Thing Ever

Having the awareness to witness your own growth over the course of a project means you're getting good at something, I think. When you can see the things you're going better than ever before, as well as the things you'll do better next time, it means the actual work has become second nature. With your body and mind settling into the work, you can spare the attention to focus on other things.

That's how it was finishing the rough draft of SkyChasers last night. For those who don't know, I've been working on a tabletop role-playing game for kids about space commandoes battling giant bugs, robots, dinosaurs and other threats to humanity's future amongst the stars. Last night, I typed out the last few sentences of the rough draft, and e-mailed the results to some folks interested in developing the project with me. There's a definite sense that this is the best thing I've ever done, and at the same time I can see how much better it's going to be going forward.

Finishing the most recent draft of Sam Bailey felt much the same, as did the third draft of both the Heartsgaard film and the play. Finally, I've reached a point in my career where I'm continuously working on the most awesomest thing ever. I'm feeling pretty blessed to be doing such great work with such great people.

Know the Snake Oil Salemen

When a system (like the studio system) stops growing there's a high demand for alternative business models, and they start to crop up. Some of those business models will be built to take advantage of all the folks trying desperately to penetrate the old fort, and others will be based on genuine innovation.

As an aspiring filmmaker, your challenge lies in telling the difference - but how?

When it comes to my own approach to independent film, I try to distinguish myself by acting in service to my collaborators and my audience. Through the spirit of service, my collaborators rest assured that they can use our projects and plans to their advantage. Because they see I'm looking out for them, they stick around and chip in.

Look for business models that don't get their money before you do. Look for people who have good reasons for supporting your work. If someone's getting paid "to validate that you're serious", what incentive do they have to help you?

Nobody will pour time and effort into your career for good word of mouth advertising, when they already have five hundred bucks of your cash. While they may jump through a few hoops to satisfy a contract, it takes more than lip service to establish a new way of doing business.

Where are all the entry-level jobs in film?

This is a question I've gotten many, many times in one form or another, and if you're looking to be a director, producer, actor, designer, or other creative type, the answer is never really all that comforting...

In film, there aren't really any entry-level positions. Sometimes, you can find someone to work for as an assistant while you learn the ropes, but in the end you're going to be an independent contractor. You're looking to be your own boss, and that means there's no corporate ladder to climb. Getting your next job means finding people who need your services and showing them what you can do.

With all the agents, studios, and sundry side industries giving our business the illusion of structure, it sometimes seems like there's somebody in charge, deciding who works this year and who doesn't. Nope. In the end, you're in charge. Hollywood is no more or less than what you make of it.

Whether it's working for someone more experienced, shooting short films, making features on an entrepreneurial basis, picking up work on student movies or anything else, the way to get work is to show the other folks in our community what you can do. Do it often enough and well enough, and people will realize they need you.

Personally, I advocate starting your own projects and sheparding them towards the audience. If you're going to do the work of building your own business, why not take it the extra step, learn a little more, and reap the long-term rewards of owning something yourself? Still, maybe that's not your style. Maybe you're just looking for a way to get reliable work as a creative person.

Even if you "make it", that work will always be based on the projects you've just completed. What's more, it's never going to be as secure as a corporate position. You're not going to have someone standing over you telling you what to do, but you also don't have someone sharing the responsibility when you don't have enough work, or when you don't succeed at what you're doing.

Stop looking for the entry level position, and start creating.

The Awkward Offer

Something a little awkward happened today, and when I stopped to think it struck me as a very cool landmark for all of us at 8 Sided Films. If you'll permit me, I'd like to share the meat and potatoes without spilling any identifying details.

Someone I know offered to purchase and produce Sam Bailey. Mind you, the proposed budget was less than half of what we're proposing to pull together on our own. More importantly, they needed to assign their own cast and crew and rework the script with not one, but a team of other writers. Less Sideways, more Highlander is what they need.

Clearly, this person doesn't see the story we're telling. What they liked was the element of fantasy, and most of all the value we've created around the story up until now.

As far as selling Sam Bailey, that script is the perfect tool for our goals as an ensemble. I'm not rushing to see someone ruin my wood blocks trying to cram them through round holes. At the same time, I'll gladly carve that same person the smoothest, roundest ball they've ever seen - especially if it means putting my ensemble to work.

My point is that we've crossed a threshold. We're at a point where the monetary value of what we're doing at the forum is attracting attention. Ladies and gentlemen, that's a very exciting moment to witness!

Holy Grails

Making my most recent post in the Sam Bailey Forum got me thinking...

When entrepreneuring independent filmmakers undertake the process of making a movie, a good number of them never consider the financial prospects of their movie at all. For them, the film is about having something to show for themselves.

Those that take a slightly longer-term view of how the investment of film production factors into their future tend to point to two big challenges as the crux of their film's success or failure: financing and distribution.

After all, how can anyone make a movie without money? Once it's made, how will anyone see it without some kind of distribution in place?

From a strictly entrepreneurial standpoint, that's akin to putting the cart before the horse. Asking the question "How will anyone see the film?" presupposes that someone actually does. Are distributors and financers wrong for wanting proof before they put their resources at risk?

Why should they have to? In this age of social media, there are a number of ways for an artist to engage and build an audience. Even if that audience isn't as big as a feature film demands, the filmmaker can demonstrate what they can do with a given set of resources and time. With more time, with more resources, more comes of it.

Whether it's webisodes, viral marketing, cottage industry, online discussion, or preferably a combination of all of the above, social media is the key to media entrepreneurism today.

The audience has always been the holy grail, and financing and distribution are no longer the only way to reach them. For that reason alone, financing and distribution sources are going to have new criteria when it comes to doing business. So long as filmmakers are willing to use these changes to their advantage, those same financers and distributers are willing to let go of their creative and financial control.

After all, an audience is what they're after. Give them that, and you can have your money and distribution far cheaper than you imagine.

Sam Bailey hints at a larger world...

While the story of Sam Bailey needs to involve an element of fantasy, that fantasy isn't particularly flashy. Here's a man who has outlived every other human being he's ever known, and who doesn't really have a clue why and how. When push comes to shove, he's willing to leave well enough alone. Sam's problem, in a nutshell, is that he can't trust the world to do the same.

There's something marvelously grumpy and fairy-tale about Sam as a character, and it's a huge part of why we love this story. Cottage magic is what we're peddling. An immortal and a cab driver walk into a bar, and...

On the one hand, this raises the very promising question of what other strange miracles are taking place in the world of Sam Bailey. On the other hand, it puts a very intimate spin on anything that comes up. If there are vampires in this world, there's no way they're living in coffins. Possessive demons would be more concerned with conquering individual souls than taking over the world.

In the world of Sam Bailey, everything happens on a personal scale. Is life any different?

What kinds of myths and legends would you like to see in the world of Sam Bailey? Discuss it here.

Have big, expensive movie stars lost their appeal?

Check out this article in the Hollywood Reporter. In a sentence, it's about how movies like District 9 and Twilight have been dominating the box office at low price-points, with no big stars to be seen.

"Nobody says that a big wonderful movie needs to be expensive, it's just that that's been the trend, and perhaps the trend is misguided," said USC professor Jason Squire in the article.

Bob Iger makes a great point by bringing up the gradual decline of DVD as a big reason for studios to be more frugal. All the same, I'm not sure what we're seeing is a shift in how the studios do business, so much as the rise of new and different business models. Inside the studios, shareholders rely on company management to find the trends that most often yield success, and to stuff as much of their money as possible in the places where it's likely to grow. At the end of the day, an audience is what makes a movie successful. Can an actor have an audience? Obviously. Can a preexisting piece of content like a video game or comic book have an audience? Again, clearly. Anything or anyone who has been well liked by crowds mitigates risk, and the studios will continue doing everything they can to pack as much risk-mitigation as possible into their filmmaking slates.

What's more, District 9, Paranormal Activity, and Twilight don't make great examples of a changing studio system. District 9 was financed by a shrewdly risk-taking Peter Jackson, who saw value in Neill Blomkamp's vision. Paranormal Activity is famously independent, and Summit, the company behind the Twilight Saga, is self-owned and self-controlled.

Finding and taking the kinds of risks that change our industry will continue to be an independent endeavor. That's as true for casting as it is for any other kind of risk. Yes, big-name actors will continue to get most of the studio gigs. What's more, they continue to dominate the foreign sales market.

At the same time, this article does highlight the viability of using unknown talent, and the audience's willingness to watch actors they don't know - so long as a film has the means to grab their attention.

That's a very important point, and it's one independent filmmakers sometimes forget.

For my part, it's a fact I've made integral to everything we're building at 8 Sided Films. If you'd like to get to know the stars of Heartsgaard and Sam Bailey, please join us at the 8 Sided Forum!

The 8 Sided Forum welcomes Narmar Hannah!

Meet Narmar Hannah on the 8 Sided Forum!

Sometimes, life offers up a particularly delicious experience. For example, every so often we meet one of those people our friends have been talking up - and they turn out to be even more delightful than reports were suggesting. Meeting those people is almost always like reacquainting yourself with a childhood friend - you've got some catching up to do, but you have a common tongue.

Both Gerard and Christie have worked with Narmar, and both of them have swooned over how talented and fun she is. Either we didn't think to contact her before the first round of Heartsgaard auditions, or she had other commitments... Either way, when Gerard and I started weeding through the NowCasting submissions for our second go, her headshot was right there in the digital pile. Naturally, this prompted another conversation about how great Narmar is. Naturally, I kept his enthusiasm at a cool, professional distance. (Not an easy task for me - enthusiasm is one of the bonds shared between Gerard, Christie and myself!)

As soon as she walks in the door for her reading, everyone gets hugs. Enthusiastic hugs, no less! Having completed her lap around the casting lobby, she settles into a chair and starts sassing me, comfortable and loose as you please. Somehow this woman is already a member of the cast, and I'm the last to know? What's going on here?

Then, she tears into the script and offers up the most complete, generous, and vulnerable reading we'd seen for the Lawyer in two full rounds of auditions. Did Gerard or Christie coach her into showing me what I wanted to see? If they did, they'll never tell. Besides, it doesn't matter.

What is there to say? It's all true! Her kind heart, her wicked smile, and her taste for glory are part of what makes her perfect for the role of Casey. Her mind is easily quick enough to see the vision behind our plans, and her soul is hungry enough to help bring that vision into reality.

When something's right, the worst thing you can do is second guess it. Narmar Hannah is one of us, and among us she's precisely the one for whom Casey and the Lawyer were written.

Welcome home, old friend!

The 8 Sided Forum welcomes Samantha Streets!

Meet Samantha Streets on the 8 Sided Forum!

How does one describe an actress like Samantha Streets?

For that matter, how does one find an actor to play a woman who's wrestled with otherworldly visions and nightmares about mythological warfare since she was far too young to know about such things, crawled through the nasty sewers of drug addiction, and betrayed everyone in her life - only to emerge as a quirky, fun, well-adjusted woman who pretty much knows exactly who she is?

Oh, and that's only until the object of all her visions and fears sits himself down across from her at a table in TGI Fridays and buys her a blue marguerita.

Did I mention she's Swedish?

You'd need a young, female Johnny Depp to pull that off! How does a director find somebody like that?

Generally speaking, they're right under your nose. They're undercover. This person lives and breathes character so completely, it's going to take a stroke of brilliant insight or a catastrophic train wreck to get you to look past what they've shown you.

Even though I had both, I still wasn't catching on!

I'd known Samantha through theater friends, and my desire to cast her in something has led me to read her for parts she wasn't quite suited to. Because of her professionalism, her profound openness, and the sheer pleasure of her, I almost cast her anyway! Both Gerard and myself have been telling the other folks in the ensemble what a blast of fun she is. When I look at the slate of projects our ensemble will be working on, I can imagine countless ways her strange magic will help make our movies better, but I wasn't seeing a way to bring her into the ensemble through what we're doing now.

Strange magic. If that isn't a prophet, what is? Still, I wasn't seeing it. This is why awesome actors like Johnny Depp and Gary Oldman make their breaks in such interesting, quirky, brilliant little movies. Great directors spot those actors right away. Idiots like me pass them up.

So there I was sitting at my desk, pulling apart my files looking for my Heartsgaard prophet, when a little voice rang out in my head: "Samantha Streets can do this."

You know that voice. Because it's so easy to ignore, I'm training my body to bypass my brain and just do what it says. Like a robot, I send Samantha a casting breakdown and move on with my day. Even then, I didn't think twice about it.

Only when she responded, enthusiastic because finally someone was offering her the right role, did I see what was happening. Samantha Streets was saving my bacon. I literally read her email and jumped right out of my chair shouting "Wait a second!" Strange magic, hallelujah!

Thank you for being a part of our ensemble, Samantha! We're thrilled to have you with us, and we pledge to give you all the challenge and support an actress of your unique caliber commands.

Thank you, little tiny robot voice! You've given us the kind of actor every director dreams of exploring, and every performer longs to play with.

Watch your ass, Johnny Depp!

Lessons Learned in Casting

While I'll be posting later to welcome the two amazing women we've cast into Heartsgaard and the 8 Sided ensemble, I wanted to take a moment to talk about the process of casting Heartsgaard overall.

First, this process has taught me a little something about sussing out scheduling conflicts. Originally, I'd cast two women with some very specific scheduling needs, and meeting those needs only cast a light on how overbooked and overworked they already were. If the only thing I learned from this process is the importance of hiring people who are well and truly available, it would have been worth it.

At the same time, two truly magnificent things have come out of this process:

On the one hand, the scheduling gymnastics that went into accommodating our previous cast members, as well as our conversations in the wake of their departure, led to some leaps forward in the efficiency of our rehearsal process. Finding ways to accomplish more with less effort is the only way a group of independent artists like us can keep up with projects that are spending tens of millions of dollars to achieve the same goals we hope to meet on a shoestring. By highlighting the weaknesses in our rehearsal process, these events helped us find a way to meet your year-end goals for Heartsgaard with literally half as much work. Huzzah!

Secondly, we found a wealth of amazingly playful, fun, hard-working actresses last night who are very passionate about the work we're doing. In particular, the two we are casting demonstrated exactly the kind of cooperation our ensemble needs, and exactly the kind of sass our cast and crew loves to play around with. While I'll certainly miss the ladies we bid farewell to at the beginning of this emergency casting row of ours, there can be no doubt that this process has left Heartsgaard and the 8 Sided Ensemble in a much stronger place.

As soon as I get the phone calls done, I'll introduce you to our new ensemble members. If you've been reading this blog, you know that those are some of my favorite entries to write!

I'm not sure whether everything happens for a reason, or whether it's that every frustration is an opportunity in disguise. Is it by design or chaos theory that every conflict comes with a chance to make things better?

Does it even matter?

"Residuals are a thing of the past."

...says Joss Whedon in this interview. He also covers many of the realities of doing business online, per his experience with Dr. Horrible. Very informative, and entertaining as always.

Thanks to Joss Whedon, and to the Hollywood Reporter.

Piracy and Independent Film

Over the last few years, there's been a great deal of talk about whether piracy helps or hinders independent cinema. Filmmakers have suggested that pirates might help them bring their films to audiences they can't reach on their own. Through that audience, filmmakers can drive ticket and DVD sales in the markets where they have a stronger presence.

Before today, I'm not sure there's ever been a documented case where this actually happened.

Now, things are different. For the last few months, a microbudget independent fantasy film called Ink has been roadshowing across the country, after a long and difficult production process that must have involved every actor, production person, and animator in Denver, CO. After generating a wealth of grassroots support and plenty of good reviews, the producers of Ink were gearing up for a DVD and Blue-Ray release of Ink this Tuesday. That's tomorrow.

Over the weekend, their film somehow leaked to the pirate community. Oops.

Over the course of the last 24 hours, Ink has become #16 on the IMDb moviemeter, sandwiched between Where the Wild Things Are and A Christmas Carol. In the last few days, between 150,000 and 200,000 have downloaded the movie. Apparently, the film has been subtitled in Croatian.

What does this mean for films like Sam Bailey and Heartsgaard? For one, it means that the grassroots support we're already cultivating can indeed reach critical mass. All these people downloading illegally are following the internet buzz. For months (or possibly even years), the internet community has been getting familiar with Ink. On places like Facebook and Twitter, communities have discovered the movie and passed it along to their friends. Film professionals have talked about what an achievement the film is, and passed it onto their coworkers.

This is how viral marketing works. This is exactly why sites like http://www.whoissambailey.com/ and http://www.churchofsam.org/ exist - to generate that kind of interest.

Like Twitter and Facebook, piracy has become a legitimate tool that independent filmmakers can use to change the way movies are distributed. Thanks to Ink, our group can approach this particular resource with the benefit of hindsight - and a foundation built on all the publicity and viral marketing we've already set in motion.


If Ink can achieve these kinds of numbers, imagine what Sam Bailey or Heartsgaard can do! Boy howdy, times are changing!

A Casting Call for Lawyers

Heartsgaard is a comedy about fate, love, and other excuses... the story of Conrad Elisson, an actor with a recurring dream about Viking berzerkers, the mythological age of Ragnarok, and the white-haired witch who guides him into battle.

When he meets the woman who's been dreaming of prophesy, magic, and her Viking warrior, Conrad turns his life upside down choosing between a world of acting gigs and credit card bills, and one of prophecy and war.

Casey (THE LAWYER):
28-35 years old. When she met Conrad, Casey was starting law school. His creativity and bright mind drew her in, and the steady patterns of academia made it easy for the two of them. Now that she's wrapping up her schooling, it's time for Conrad to commit to a serious future. Se understands that he loves acting, but she also knows that if something was going to happen for him there, it would have by now.

In terms of production, Heartsgaard is currently in workshop as an interactive stage production through a budding repertory media company called 8 Sided Films. When our stage production has generated enough press, our ensemble has the production and distribution relationships to release a Heartsgaard film theatrically, on a limited basis. Both Heartsgaard and another project currently in pre-production are benefiting from our collective efforts to build a wider release on the foundation of ticket sales, largely using advance social media and viral marketing.

If you'd like to know more about us and our work, please visit us at www.8sidedforum.com. If you'd like to read the current draft of the screenplay or the stageplay, you can do so in the Heartsgaard discussion section, at www.8sidedforum.com/group/heartsgaard.

If you or anyone you know might be our prophet, please send headshots and resumes to tennyson@8sidedfilms.com.

Casting Call for Prophets

Heartsgaard is a comedy about fate, love, and other excuses... the story of Conrad Elisson, an actor with a recurring dream about Viking berzerkers, the mythological age of Ragnarok, and the white-haired witch who guides him into battle.

When he meets the woman who's been dreaming of prophesy, magic, and her Viking warrior, Conrad turns his life upside down choosing between a world of acting gigs and credit card bills, and one of prophecy and war.

Mariko (THE PROPHET):
28-35 years old. When she was young, Mariko's visions gave her a hard time connecting with reality, and her search for both answers and excuses lured into the drug culture at a very young age.

Five years ago, she met Conrad's best friend Simone in New York. Both women are artists, and they both share a rebellious streak - they were great friends until Mariko stole the money Simone was saving for an upcoming piece of performance installation, and used it for drugs. Since then, Mariko has cleaned up her act and earned a second chance with Simone.

In terms of production, Heartsgaard is currently in workshop as an interactive stage production through a budding repertory media company called 8 Sided Films. When our stage production has generated enough press, our ensemble has the production and distribution relationships to release a Heartsgaard film theatrically, on a limited basis. Both Heartsgaard and another project currently in pre-production are benefiting from our collective efforts to build a wider release on the foundation of ticket sales, largely using advance social media and viral marketing.

If you'd like to know more about us and our work, please visit us at http://www.8sidedforum.com/. If you'd like to read the current draft of the screenplay or the stageplay, you can do so in the Heartsgaard discussion section, at www.8sidedforum.com/group/heartsgaard.

If you or anyone you know might be our prophet, please send headshots and resumes to tennyson@8sidedfilms.com.

A Plan for SkyChasers

When the giant monsters who rule the stars chase mankind from our homeworld and into the reaches of space, our future rests in the hands of heroes small, quick, and brave enough to use their might against them. Explorers. Warriors. Kids... Skychasers.

What is SkyChasers? Several years ago, SkyChasers began as a tabletop role-playing game that I've fiddled with off and on. After years of mucking around, I'm finally closing in on playtesting it. With all the screenwriting and other work I've been doing, it hasn't been that much of a priority.

At the same time, the idea of kids battling ferocious dinosaurs and giant robots while the grown-ups cling to a rag-tag refugee existence in the stars has always stuck me as marketable. What kid doesn't want to be the hero?

First, I've got to get this game finished. There's a handful of artists I've met who I'd like to involve in the project, and once this draft is done I plan to see about luring them in. Together, we can use the game as a bible to nail down the look and feel of the game. Then, we start in on the web comics.

My uninformed hope is that within a year or two, we can build enough of an audience to make selling action figures a financially viable possibility. Again, I go back to kid space commandoes. While some of the action figures will obviously be specific characters from the comic, I'd like to sell toys that the kids can relate to - that they can literally see themselves in. By selling toys where a kid can literally go "this one is me", we let the world we're building become much more real for the kids. As the action figures take off, we can get into cool stuff like the giant robots and the vehicles.

By the time those things are humming along, 8 Sided Films should be in a good place to produce a television series - certainly a series of web cartoons. Web cartoons seems like an obvious route to go, now that I mention it... Eventually, I'd like to do a live-action movie. Clearly, that's decades into the future.

There are spec scripts I could be working on, but why should I? Right now, this seems like a better use of my time than another spec script. In terms of finding gigs in this day and age, it's just as valid and useful as another screenplay. What's more, nobody's buying! In terms of bringing money into my life and the life of my ensemble, my success is much more controllable. Lastly, it connects me with kids. That's keeps me on the cutting edge of social media, and it helps me keep connected to what's cool.

Lastly, SkyChasers is just heaps of fun.

If social media is the future, and if kids really do buy all the stuff, this might just be the perfect plan.

To keep an eye on SkyChasers, as well as get in on the playtesting (and if you're a geek parent, you'll want to), follow SkyChasers on the 8 Sided Forum: http://www.8sidedforum.com/group/skychasers

A Reader's Questions on Technique

These questions were sent in by a filmmaking student in Malaysia by the name of Samhaan Hameed, doing a project on indie cinematic technique. Before answering these questions, I'd like to point out that to whatever extent films have a common language, all films speak that language - independent or no. Filmmakers rely on the same basic principles that have supported fine art and performance art for centuries. If you understand blocking, if you understand visual design, and if you know the mechanics of drama and storytelling, you've got a rich vocabulary for film.

Do I need a good story to make a good film?
Any element that goes into your movie should be developed thoroughly and well. Because your screenplay is one of the hardest parts of the story to develop, and because it's the first crucial piece of foundation, you've really got to make sure it's the best script you've ever read.

Otherwise, you've failed your team before you've even started. Each member of the cast and production team is looking to you for the support they need to make a fantastic film. If you can't give them a fantastic script, everything that comes after is already ten times harder than it needs to be. Why would anyone bother to work on a project like that?

Forget good. Make it great.

Is there any inexpensive ways to minimize camera shake in a moving shot?
Basically, the ways I know how to move a camera are by hand, by dolly, by crane, and by steadicam. If you can get some of these tools on the cheap, that's great.

What I wouldn't recommend is trying to cheat or jury-rig something. If you don't have the right tools to get the shot you want, it's an opportunity to find a different shot that works better in the film. Play to your strengths, instead of trying to hide your weaknesses.

What are possible ways for setting up a certain mood of a scene using color?
Color theory is part of your design training, and whole textbooks have been written about it. One of the most basic principles is "warm vs. cool". As colors become more red, they become more inviting. As they become more blue, they become chillier and more foreboding. If you're looking to be overt, you can use these colors in the set dressings and the costumes. For subtler effects, you can use them in the lighting.

Is lighting/reflectors necessary for an outdoor scene?
Only if you want to get a clean shot. I recommend having some bounce boards handy, at the very least.

What are some tips that you can give to make digital video look more professional?
Hire a fantastic director of photography. Nine-tenths of a director's job is casting, and that's as true for the production team as it is for the actors.

What is different and imaginative to the viewers now?
Every audience member is different. Nobody knows what the next Star Wars or independent hit will be. If you want to surprise viewers with something new, you've got to take responsibility for finding it on your own. When you have the right mixture of familiarity and originality to both find an audience and shake things up, that's what they call your "vision". You're the expert, and putting that vision on film is your problem. Nobody else wants to take the risk that you're wrong, and why should they? That's why I like working independently. He who takes the risks, takes the rewards.

If your visions work out time and again, studios will start wanting to hire you. At least until you're wrong. If you make the most of the risks you're taking prior to the moment the studios notice you, you'll never need the them.

Why do you think Hollywood loves remakes and adaptations so much? Nobody knows what the audience will find refreshing, exciting, and new. What they find comforting, however, is pretty plain to see.

What are some tips you that can give for making a travel related short film?
I don't know the first thing about making documentaries, other than the importance of having a great story. That's where it all starts.

If you'd like to ask questions to anyone on my team, like my director of photography Johnny Derango, come on over to http://www.8sidedforum.com/. We all have profiles there, and at least one of us addresses everything that comes up in the forum. Besides, we'd love to get to know you!

Thanks to Samhaan Hameed for being the first person to submit questions to ask@8sidedfilms.com!

A Repertory Film Company

In theater, companies survive in one of two ways.

On the one hand, a playwright might create something that attracts the right combination of financing, name cast, and audience interest to create a hit in one major city or another, at which point the company that owns the show takes it on tour, starts the process of merchandising and licensing rights to other industries, and generally exploits the art in every way possible. While there's a lot of money to be made through this process, and while it's created some of the most wildly successful entertainments of all time, it is highly speculative.

Being as risky as it is, the person backing the project gets most of the creative control - and just about all the profit. Why not? They're the ones with the most to lose. In theater, companies that support this kind of business are generally Broadway companies or touring companies.

On the other hand, there are the repertory companies. By working together to produce an ongoing series of productions, by cutting costs and establishing a personal relationship with their audience, a group of artists take the risk away from investors, and thus keep more of the financial and creative control. As the collective body of work grows, they build a reputation for excellence in a specialized genre. That reputation fuels the enthusiasm and growth of their audience, until the company itself can become a brand.

In theater, these brands are usually the ones that last.

In the past, creating a repertory community with the global connectivity to support a film company was impossible. Today, technology has made it more than possible... We believe it's the way original cinema will thrive in the age of new media.

If you'd like to meet us personally, we proudly invite you to join our community at www.8sidedforum.com. Welcome to the New Media!