05.13.08
Posted in Film, Film Festivals, Mike McCafferty at 9:41 pm by Amanda Rogers
Variety has announced that Changeling will be shown at the Cannes Film Festival this month. The film was written by J. Michael Straczynski, directed by Clint Eastwood, and stars Angelina Jolie.
Changeling is a mystery about a mother whose prayer for her kidnapped son to return home is answered. It doesn’t take long, however, for her to suspect that the boy who comes back is not hers.
So why am I blogging about this film? Because our own Mike McCafferty has a small role in it! He plays the role of a ticket agent. I’m really hoping that he won’t be cut from this film and that we’ll actually be able to see him this time.
The Cannes Film Festival runs from May 14 - 25, and Changeling is premiering on Tuesday, May 20. Hopefully some of you French fans will be able to attend and see this film. If not, Changeling is scheduled to get a wide release in France on February 4, 2009. In the U.S., Changeling will be released on November 7, 2008. See the schedule below for the release dates for a few more countries:
| USA |
November 7, 2008 |
|
| Spain |
December 19, 2008 |
|
| UK |
January 2, 2009 |
|
| France |
February 4, 2009 |
|
| Germany |
March 12, 2009 |
|
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05.08.08
Posted in "The Invisible Man", Conventions, Fans, Invisible Man Fan Club at 8:13 pm by Amanda Rogers
Times are hard for a lot of folks right now and, unfortunately, the I-Maniacs fan club board hasn’t escaped feeling some financial pressures as well. So, I’m sorry to say that this year the fan club will not be hosting an I-ManiCon.
I always look forward to our annual gathering of cast and fans, so I do have to say I’m disappointed. But this isn’t the first time that a year or two has been skipped, so if you were saving your spare change to attend, please keep saving. The fan club board will, hopefully, be able to swing it financially next year. I’m crossing my fingers!
Our Guest Cast Panel at I-ManiCon 2006
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05.06.08
Posted in Nestor Carbonell, TV at 8:20 pm by Amanda Rogers
Lost fans can rejoice! Nestor Carbonell will be reprising his role of Richard Alpert in this week’s episode of Lost, entitled Cabin Fever, according to TV Guide’s Michael Ausiello. The episode airs this Thursday, May 8, at 10:00 p.m./9:00 p.m. Central on ABC.
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05.05.08
Posted in Fans, Media/Publicity, TV at 9:28 pm by Amanda Rogers
Fellow Invisible Man fan, Laura M., wrote a nice little profile piece about Shoom Zone Productions and my project in her blog Musings of a Grown Woman. Go check it out!
While you’re there, check out the rest of her blog. Laura is a very talented writer who is currently working toward her Ph.D. in English. Besides being an Invisible Man fan, Laura is also a huge Moonlight fan; and most of her blogging is about the show, its stars, and the fandom’s efforts to get Moonlight renewed. Yep, another fan campaign.
Moonlight is doing quite well in the ratings; and while it looks promising that the show will get renewed, the fans are not taking any chances. Instead of waiting till their show gets cancelled, they are playing it smart and supporting their show while it’s still on top. If you’re a Moonlight fan and want to help show your support for the show, go to http://renewmoonlight.com.
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04.30.08
Posted in Classes/Books, Film Financing at 10:26 pm by Amanda Rogers
Continuing the discussion from An Evening With Lew Horwitz, Part 2, let’s talk about sales agents.
Lew advises that you need to get a sales agent. Don’t sell your film yourself!
Wait just a minute. Isn’t that opposite of the advice that Sandra Schulberg gave a couple of months ago in a class that I took? Yes it is.
I have a rule when it comes to getting advice or learning something new and it’s this: Get several opinions. Don’t just accept the opinion of the first person to come along, because, as noted above, even the experts don’t always agree. This rule applies to more than just the film industry. It can be applied to just about everything in life. And when you come across a different opinion, dig deeper, get more information, and then make up your own mind. You’ll find that you’ll make better and more informed decisions.
So why does Lew think a sales agent is so vital?
- According to him, without an agent, nobody will talk to you. By nobody, I’m assuming he means banks and distributors.
- A sales agent will give you an estimate of every territory’s value for your film. That’s important to know because, according to him, you need to keep the budget of your film to the value of the estimates. Don’t bluff yourself, he warns. Be realistic with your budget.
As much as Lew recommends that you hire a sales agent, he also warns not to trust them. “Love them, but don’t trust them,” he says. So how can you protect yourself from your own sales agent?
- Don’t let your film get packaged with other films. You don’t want cross-collateralization because if the other films don’t make any money and your film does, you’ll be sharing your profits with the filmmakers whose films weren’t profitable. Not a good thing.
- Give your sales agent some leeway to make deals without having to get your approval every time, but be sure to state in the contract with your agent that they cannot license your film for less than X % of his estimate without your express permission.
- Make sure you see the quarterly reports.
- Make sure the bank knows about your deal with your sales agent. You can do this by sending the bank a letter detailing the agreement conditions and asking them to uphold those conditions. Your sales agent might not be scared of you, but he/she won’t mess with the bank.
- Hire the best attorneys. Make sure they have a lot of experience with independent films.
The jury is still out for me as to whether getting a sales agent is the best route to go. Lew insists that it is, but, obviously, Sandra Schulberg has been able to sell her films without one. I’m definitely going to have to look into this further before deciding which route is the best one for me to take.
Coming in part four I’ll talk about what Lew has to say about bonds and banks.
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