I am feeling really appreciative of some wonderful sites that help producers do important things like get funded, get into film festivals, distribute themselves, etc. Please feel free to add to this.
At the top of my list right now is current.tv. It is a site where you can upload content and get selected for broadcast. They are actually looking for subjects that aren't being covered by the mainstream media, and they pay some money, so it's a pretty cool thing.
Another site that I adore is blip.tv. Their players are pretty, their compression is good and they have lots of ways to help you distribute yourself throughout the internet by cross-posting. And you can put ads on your videos and get money through click income.
If you are planning on submitting to film festivals you must join withoutabox.com. It is withoutadoubt the best way to find and submit to the majority of festivals.
A rather new site that I like, but I am still trying to figure out is indiegogo.com. The whole purpose of the site is to help filmmakers fund their projects. You set up a goal and ask people to donate to help you meet the goal. It's a pretty cool concept, though so far I haven't gotten any donations for the project that I set up (My love project). You could change that for me by donating $10 right now...hint...hint...hint...
And of course, for local Santa Barbara Independent Producers, you can't beat the indie coop at sbindies.com. This is a social networking site for local media producers to connect for production collaborating, brainstorming, sharing jobs and resources, bartering and trading.
That's all I can think of at the moment. As I said before, please feel free to add to my list, it's always good to know about cool sites.
Last night I went to this awesome mixer for NAWBO (The National Association of Women Business Owners.) I must say, this is a very good group to be involved with.
It was hosted in the Montecito estate of the lovely Patty DeDominic, a self-made woman who started her staffing business out of her home as a busy mom and sold the business for something like 27 million dollars last year. I have to admit, I regretted not changing into my "dress up" flip flops. This was quite a classy affair. I especially enjoyed the deserts, and talking with other women who are smart enough (or crazy enough) to start their own companies.
Shortly after i got home I got a call from my friend Rachel who has Direct TV. The video piece I did on inmate firefighters was playing on the Current Channel.
Current tv is both an internet site and several television stations that broadcast original content uploaded by producers from all over the world. This was my first time submitting something to Current, and it was a wonderful experience. Even their lawyer was really nice, and reassuring when I started to get the heebie jeebies at some of the terminology in the agreement.
It was interesting to see the changes they made to the original piece. I had initially titled it "Uncommon Heroes of the California Wildfires" and left it a bit long for flexibility. They retitiled it "Convicts on Fire" and added a lot more of me talking at the front.
Current.tv recently sent me an email congratulating me for becoming an official "Pod Person".
I've never considered myself a part of any particular group before. I feel warm and fuzzy. Like a pea in a pod.
This is especially exciting because part of my being a pod person is that my pod, the Uncommon Heroes of the California Wildfires, has been selected to air on international television. That's right, not only will people in the United States get to see the video, but Current also has stations in the UK and Ireland.
Nice. Now for the final step to make that happen - signing an agreement to give exclusive rights to the piece to Current...skreech! What does that mean?
I am hoping that it just means the edited piece that they are airing for broadcast, and that I can still repurpose the content for other projects. I am tempted to say fine, let them have the rights, take the money and run, but then part of me thinks, what if I want to contribute to my friend Jennie's firefighter documentary? Or what if I decide that this is such a great story that it warrants a documentary itself? I have been invited to film at the camp and out on the lines, who knows, this could be a fun documentary.
Even if I don't decide to use it later, Peter Davidson who worked on this with me might want to pursue it more.
This whole giving up rights thing makes me nervous. Maybe if there was a plain English explanation of what all that legal jargon means I might feel more comfortable, but as it is I had to get a legal interpreter to explain it to me and I'm still not sure I understand.
Hopefully I'll get it all cleared up this morning and the pod can air today...
I'll post as soon as I know. Current has channels on Direct TV, Comcast, AT&T and Time Warner. Here are the channels:
You can watch Current TV online or enjoy it from the comfort of your couch:
channel 366
directv
channel 196
dish network
channel 107
comcast
channel 189
at&t u-verse
check listings
time warner
And in other exciting news, I got the new iphone! I love it! It is so amazing. I can't tell you, it's awesome!
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