KGB Productions

Read an article about this film and from the trailer it looks interesting.   The filmmaker ( Justin McConnell ) is pretty honest about the production of the film.  He tells that for less then 40K they made the film so they could get the film into shape to create a screener, which in turn would be available for sales at the AFM market .  He says a lot of interesting points about indie filmmaking.  These days it's pretty rock bottem budgets out there and even tougher to sell your film to distributors.  It's nothing I haven't heard before, but for a filmmaker to honestly say what it's like out there in the film market seems pretty refreshing, so you have to respect him for saying it.  I always believed if your producing a product your overhead has got to be low, and all the money you spend better get onto the screen.  It's a crowded market out there and you have to stand out, so you better have a hook for the movie or dist...

I've been working on a film about my dad for some time now, and it's also encompassed my mom too. I felt I could not talk about one without talking about the other one. Of course not having dad here and relying on memory can be a tricky thing. Facts and events sometimes get distorted, so I've been painstakingly trying to piece together past family history. This includes me as well, and no matter how uncomfortable I am in front of the camera I need to record fragments of memory so that hopefully in the end it will all piece together. I got the idea from Scorsese's film "Italian American" where the filmmaker interviews his mom & dad. If you get a chance to see it it's pretty funny and touching. Way back in 1996 I interviewed my mom. My dad had passed away a year earlier, and so with 16mm camera in hand I sat down mom and shot about two rolls of 16mm film. I basically set up a light and shot it. Took the film to DuArt Lab and had it transferred to videota...

With the weather changing here in the Northeast one wonders and ponders future events. I've been on Facebook a bit more then I'd like, but yet the site appeals to me because of its interaction with others. Social networking is something of a new thing. I mean it is to the vast majority of us. Of course back in the day there were bulletin boards and forums that one looked at for info and social networking of sorts. But now it's more mobile, and people are tweeting, and texting each other like it was going out of style. So what has this got to do with film making? Well everything of course, because these tools now put the power in YOUR hands to start a sort of grass roots distribution effort for your film. Don't get me wrong it's difficult to do. Nothing worth while is easy and why should marketing your film through social networks be easy. It's time consuming and tedious at best. I'll say it right now. I'm not that good at it, but I do like connecting t...

Last night I was watching " Frozen River " the indie film starring Melissa Chessington Leo in a breath taking performance of a single women raising two boys. I was a bit saddened to see that she did not get the academy award for her performance in the film. I hope to see her someday again real soon in another film. But this is not really about the film "frozen River" or Melissa Chessington Leo performance. Instead it's about indie film in general. There are so many other people out there who have more experience in this train of thought then I do, but since I did make a film, and have tried to get it shown I figured I could add my voice to all those other voices. As many of you who know I'm not a fan of the " mumblecore " films. In fact I just don't see how these films make any money at all. I see films like Susan Buice's and Arin Crumley's film " Four Eyed Monsters " and admire the work they put into that particular film. I e...

What is he talking about? I guess that's what your saying about now. Actually it was a line from " Independence Day " that Harry Connick Jr . says to Will Smith . Hey since I'm such a cinephile you know a movie quote was the only way I could express myself. Okay buddy I got the line, but what do you mean by it? Simple. I need to make a film. What film?, and what type of film I can only surmise would be a documentary of sorts. Who of you ask? Well I figured I start with my dad. I've been obsessed about his life since he became sick, and then passed away. Dad wasn't the most talkative person around, and he was pretty obstinate, but he was dad and we loved him. So what has this got to do about film making? Dad would say if you're a filmmaker "make me a film". It's that simple, and since my resources are stretched at the moment I figured I better do something that was a bit personal. I have been writing on and off about a man who suffers from Alz...

I've been writing a bit more then usual in the hopes that something catches fire. I downloaded the screenwriting program Celtx and am trying it out. It's a free program, and I wanted to see how the program preforms. I usual write my screenplays in Final draft, but wanted something new. I'm actually re-writing an old script while getting a feel for the Celtx program. So far so good, but I'm still getting used to the script formatting shortcuts. There's a lot I want to do over the Summer, and as usual the day job takes a lot out of me, so after all is said and done there seems to be never enough time for the things I love. Over at John Oak Daltons blog he has some interesting insights about microcinema, and grass roots filmmaking. If you get a chance take a look over there and read what he has to say. The one thing I love about the Internet is that there are people out there who are going through the same thing you're going through. Their interests and desires ar...

This Sunday I read an article in the Philadelphia Inquirer about Art houses being empty , and having a hard time surviving in today's economy. I do believe that the independent film distribution model is undergoing a change. There is more product and more specialized markets now. Meaning you can target the audience you want to see your movie. Instead of wasting money on advertising that won't draw in your audience you can now specifically target that audience you want to see your film. Of course this also means narrowing your film audience which isn't good if a film is going to be successful. After all you want your audience to be diverse and not narrow. I also came across this interview on indiewire called " Yes, the sky really is falling ". It's a cold hard look at distribution in today's digital market. It's not a fun read, but it has some eye opening stats that every producer should know about. I found it quite honest in it's portray...

I've been chomping at the bit to do another film. No surprise, but what? I've written several things and none seem viable, or even of interest, so I trudge along writing more material. I'm just basically just throwing things at the wall and seeing what sticks. Some showed promise, and then fall apart. Other ideas never see the light of day. What also gnaws at me is how I'll be able to do this. Money is short, and resources are limited. I've always been an advocate of paying people for their services, but in filmmaking a lot goes unsaid. In my late twenties I got sick and tired of hearing people complain about their money woes. I just wanted to get paid for my time. Many times I got promises or very little in monetary compensation. It soured my view on the production process. I promised myself I wouldn't do the same. Many projects that I worked on never saw the light of day. They eventually fell apart during post production, or just were simple forgotten when th...