Broadcasting via My Laptop

I have recently started up a Laptop Journal.

I will be stopping from time to time to record my thoughts about film related issues, topics, ideas as well as use the Laptop Journal to keep you all up to date with the progress of Into the Shadows.

The videos will be recorded directly from my MacBook Pro Laptop camera hence the title. So keep an eye out for them, feel free to engage with me by posting comments about the journals or even making your own video responses.



Here is my latest entry.

Cheers,
Andrew.

Dark Knightsbridge

Into the Shadows has finally had its first fund raiser!

A few weeks back at Dendy Canberra we put on a screening of the Dark Knight and had a raffle with many great prizes! Thanks to the businesses who provided free gifts for the prizes and a big thank you to Impact Comics for the limited edition Batman Mobile that we raffled off! (Hence there store is our banner link)Also thank you to the girls at Dendy who helped organize and run the event on the night.

We sold out the cinema and a fair few raffle tickets, which helped us raise a smidgen over $600. This money will be the beginning of a pool of money we aim to fund raise to help pay for an online edit in the near future. We see this as a great to way to include the community in post-producing a local independent feature film.

And a BIG THANKS to Phil's mum and my mum; with out your last ditch efforts the prizes the raffle would never had been so good.

Also cheers to the guys on the night who helped sell raffle tickets and to Daniel at Plushroom graphics who designed the flyer we gave out on the night.

After the screening a small group of us celebrated at Knightsbridge in Braddon, one of the guys coined the term Dark Knightsbridge. Any ideas for the next fund raiser? It will be Bigger.

The great Picture Palace

A week back I drove to Sydney with a new edition to the Into the Shadows team, Callum Craigee, to shoot overlay footage of the Hayden Orpheum Picture Palace in Cremorne.
Walking into the Orpheum for me is like stepping back in time. Each cinema has its own personality, its own charm and of course its very own name.

I have only seen one film there, Michael Clayton (it was in the Walsh) but after going back there to film I will no doubt be back again and again and again. In a time when showmanship is hard to come by and cinemas are more like supermarkets an old Picture Palace is a soothing experience. If your love for cinema is flickering go to the Orpheum and the magic for you will spark back!

While there we interviewed Paul Dravet the General Manager of the Orpheum and shot lots of great footage of the cinemas. We even had the surprise pleasure of meeting Tv personality and owner of the Orpheum, Mike Walsh.

A big thank you must go out to Rachell and Brett (Booking Manager and Projectionist) who assisted us the whole morning and also thanks to the floor staff on that day!

Intern Journal

Hello, its Andy (the intern) here.

I decided to take a journey up from Melbourne to see what this film was about. The subject matter was the thing that drew me here. If no one is watching Australian films, and I want to make films in the future, what's the point if no one will be watching them? So this documentary had me interested from the start and I've tried to help Andrew and Phil tell this story over the past two weeks.

Since I arrived, the film has gone through a phase of intense editing into a rough cut which is almost complete. There have been many long nights. Copious amounts of red bull have been drunk, much to the dismay of Phil's dentist and many of Andrew's so called 'concept' maps drawn leaving the white board completely coloured in and me more confused. Quite a few road maps constructed also, so I don't get lost around Canberra. However, much progress has been made! Hopefully in a couple of days there will be a rough cut done and ready for a private screening and feedback from a select few. From there its a matter of overlaying the basic structure, with additional footage which we are gathering from the archive and with animations from Owen, as the film comes to life.

It is an exciting time and what I've observed is a new found motivation from the guys as the film starts taking shape and coming to fruition. Hopefully by the end of the month a fine cut will be complete and the movie will shake up an industry which is waiting to be rejuvenated.

Watch this space!

Encore Article

Into the Shadows is in Encore!

About a month ago Phil and I had a chat with Tracey from Encore Magazine (over the phone) and it led to this article being published about Into the Shadows. It’s our first picture in a film magazine and hopefully another step forward for the film. What do you guys think?

The big Aussie Film Myth

Local flicks more popular than credited

Michael Bodey | June 12, 2008

THE notion that Australians dislike Australian films is a myth, according to a research study commissioned by Film Finance Commission Australia.

The qualitative and quantitative study found Australian films did not suffer an intrinsic disadvantage against international films, despite the study's focus group research throwing up some disparaging remarks about local films.

"The qualitative research looked at the perceived wisdom; the quantitative research showed the perceived wisdom is wrong," said John Berenyi, managing director of Bergent Research, which conducted the study.

Read the story here.

What do you think? If you hear a film is Australian are you turned off or turned on?

What the, IF?

So a week ago I come home to find my monthly subscription of IF mag lying on the kitchen table. I flick through it, read a few articles then put it down. Just before I go on to make some dinner I think, oh Rachael's column (as I usually read the magazine front to back and check out her column regularly).

Then, what the? There is Into the Shadows in print for the first time in an Aussie film mag.

A great surprise!

Gone Filming

So the bag is packed, batteries are charged and my train ticket (print out) is wedged in my wallet. In a few hours I will not be bright eyed and bushy tailed nonetheless I will be on my first train ride from Canberra all the way to Dungog. From May 29- June 1 I will be in Dungog attending the Film Festival while Phil stays home editing.

I heard on a radio interview today, the director of the festival say something like, 'we need more venues that screen Australian films'. What do you think? Do our exhibitors need to support Australian films better or do Australian filmmakers need to make better films? Have Aussies lost the love for Aussie cinema? If you think 'we' have can it be revived?

Pollack has died

Phil and I love cinema full stop, so when I heard that a great film director died I thought it was relevant to add. After all great filmmakers breed great cinema.

Pollack died of cancer at his home in Pacific Palisades today surrounded by his family, his agent Leslee Dart said.

Pollack's biggest success was the 1985 film Out of Africa starring Robert Redford and Meryl Streep, which won Oscars for Best Director and Best Picture.

Read more here.

-Andrew

Dungog count down

As the new week breaks I am getting ready for the most exciting film festival on the Aussie calendar...Dungog!

Its only in its second year but it is already attracting great aussie films and a following.

Interested to know more about the festival? Find out here.

Interview with Honourable Peter Garret

After a few changes to dates and times I had secured an interview with the relatively new Minister for the Environment, Heritage and the Arts - The Hon Peter Garrett AM MP and at 5am on Thursday morning Phil and I packed up the old Honda and headed off to Sydney. As the sun rose a new day dawned for Into the Shadows as we decided this would be the last day Phil would shoot any more interviews. He will now go into post-production hibernation with the goal of having a fine cut of the film mid July 2008.

While waiting in the nearby cafe Encore Magazine called us and we did our first 'over-the-phone-interview' we are not sure when the story will be published but we are told there will be one written so we will keep you updated on that later.

Shortly after, we met Peter and interviewed him for the film. He was very gracious with his limited time and I want to thank his team for helping to make this happen. We then took advantage of the beautiful Sydney weather and shot some overlay of the Harbour surrounds before heading back home.

More Variety the better

There is a great article in Variety on the possibilities that are emerging for indie filmmakers or DIY filmmakers. The article talks about the models for online distribution giving an outline of the challenges that lie ahead before it can fully function. It also comments on the hard realities that most filmmakers are facing, in that they are still having to mix between traditional media and online media to promote themselves.

I think it is clear that there are no either/ors anymore. It seems that it is all about deciding what best suits you as a filmmaker (what are your constraints and advantages) but also and maybe more importantly what medium suits your film?

Check it out here and let me know your thoughts,

Andrew.

Into the Documentary Australia approved list

I know Andrew blogged about this before, but now Into the Shadows is actually on the list!

Click here for more information about the approved list and the awesome Documentary Australia Foundation website.

Just Sincere

I was thinking of all the different kinds of puns I could use for the title of this blog, but I thought it best to keep it short and sincere.

Below you will find the first full length feature film to have it's premiere on YouTube.

Its a pretty big step in the whole new technologies thing. And since Four Eyed Monsters was the first full length film (not premiered) on YouTube (foureyedmonsters youtube channel), you can bet you bottom dollar that YouTube have been waiting to premiere one on there for a while!

YouTube have been pretty savvy so far about a lot of things, and I figure that they have probably had a lot of offers to premiere a film and wouldn't want to premiere crap. And after watching the trailer, something tells me they definitely picked the right film here!

I'm am currently letting The Cult of Sincerity load so I can watch the whole thing.

You too can do the same...Enjoy!

First step to getting on IMDb

Into the Shadows has finally being submitted to IMDb for consideration! For anyone who wants to submit credits for their own work but does not know how check out this link

I had to search and scan to find this little link but it put me on the path to submitting the infomation IMDb require in order for your project to be considered for approval. Be prepared to give up half an hour or so of your time to fill out all the info.

So hopefully in four weeks time Into the Shadows will be on IMDb- fingers crossed!

Melbourne down, Sydney and Brisbane to go...

After three days in Melbourne we are back home, enthusiastic and ready to continue the hard slog of editing Into the Shadows together.

On Monday, we arrived in Melbourne and after dropping some bags of at our now regular, City Limits hotel, met Paul Coulter. Paul has had a long life in the film industry, from the days of the Melbourne film co-op, Melbourne Film Festival and finally running the Lumiere Cinema for 12 years before closing it in late 2005.

He made some interesting comments about distribution and exhibition in Australia and views the need for a vibrant screen culture as very important. Afterwards he offered us a lift into the city where we met with Tony Ayres.

Tony is currently producing a TV Series 'Bogan Pride' and we ended up interviewing him in the art-department store room, which actually worked out quite well. Tony spoke openly about his experiences making and releasing The Home Song Stories. He also commented on the way Australian films are financed and the grueling development processes that they must go through from script to screen.

After the interview Phil and I headed back to the hotel, then we were off in search of wood fired pizza and a cold beverage.

Tuesday was not as eventful. Matt Zeremes was unable to do his interview (so we postponed it till later in the month) and I could not get in contact with Matt Saville. Not wanting to waste a day, we packed up the camera and tripod and went scouting for overlay. We shot exteriors of some cinemas and imagery of the city scape then took a taxi out to Westgarth and recorded the old Valhalla cinema (now run by Palace). The building tells its own story of changing times, reflected in the mix of its past and modern architecture.

We then headed back into town to meet Jarred (four4ty), a singer, song writer and our potential music composer. We talked over a beer and discussed how we saw the music working in the doco. Jarred was really receptive and liked the idea of collaborating with us to create a dynamic soundtrack. Phil and I left the conversation with some enthusiasm and headed off to Lygon Street for dinner and more filming.

The highlight of the night was getting to film inside the projection room at the Nova followed by a free bottle of wine and great pizza and pasta.

Wednesday, we checked out of the hotel and headed off to meet Clayton Jacobson, the man behind the 2006 Aussie hit 'Kenny'. Clayton was welcoming from the minute he opened the door to the minute we left. The interview was insightful on many levels, filmmaking, distribution, exhibition and audience perception. We chatted with Clayton for a while after the interview and left inspired to continue on in our work for Into the Shadows.

Yet again Phil and I have returned from the city of Melbourne with more great stories, experiences and encouragement to keep on keeping on...

Last plane to Melbourne

It's 5am and I am about to head out to the airport for what will hopefully be our last plane trip to Melbourne (time for a morning coffee).

We have 5 interviews planned with some great Australian directors, an actor and a past exhibitor and all round film buff.

If all goes to plan we will be back in Canberra on Wednesday night with plenty to blog about. So until then, stay safe and have a great week!

-Andrew.

Richard Harris responds to 'Embracing Innovation - White paper'

Richard Harris: A Response to Robert Connolly’s White Paper

Robert Connolly’s paper Embracing Innovation is provocative, thoughtful and immensely timely. Robert is one of the few people who works successfully as a film practitioner who has the ability to step back from the industry, examine his own practice and preconceptions, and really look at how things could be done better. It’s a rare gift.

What has always amazed me in the almost twenty years I have been in this industry is how resistant it is to change. This is an industry that prides itself on its creative and technological innovation and yet it in so many areas it remains locked into paradigms and methodologies that were developed over 100 years ago. And there so often seems to be a fear within the industry of challenging them. This is the reason, whether you agree with Robert’s analysis and recommendations or not, that interventions like this paper are so valuable.

Robert’s paper starts with a look at the changing framework for filmmaking in this country and with a challenge to some of the myths and preconceptions that exist in the industry. However, the greatest strength of the paper is that Robert not only identifies problems but tries to make recommendations for change where possible. He is willing to go out on a limb on a number of issues, but just as importantly he is also willing to recognise that there are some issues that cannot be solved immediately but will require further discussion and negotiation with numerous industry players.

In terms of the analysis itself, Robert makes crucial points about the state of our sector, and the structural limitations within which filmmakers operate – the failed business model, the need for innovation, the perverse incentives that exist, and the bizarre treatment of income for filmmakers whose films are commercially successful. These are just some of the big picture issues that he correctly identifies as needing addressing.

Then he moves his focus to wages and fees – dangerous territory because there are always stories of abuse and exploitation in the film industry. What is important, however, is that he identifies that there are models outside of Australia that could provide models for moving forward, and that should be considered.

He correctly questions the fixed percentage model for producers’ fees (and also writers’ and directors’), which has always struck me as an odd invention, because in a system where there is no incentive for success – because there is no way to share in it for a producer – the only incentive is to bump your fee up in order for you to survive until you make your next film. The more the budget is, the more the producer earns – surely there has to be some more sophisticated way of calculating this; surely there needs to be some connection between success and rewards.

Finally, Robert looks at cast fees, an issue that has caused much consternation over the years, because of the seeming contradiction between the need to attract back our best and brightest stars and the need to keep budgets more realistic and in line with the size of our market. Robert’s nuanced proposal to cap cast fees is a vast improvement on a proposal that I made a number of years ago to simply cap, at a fixed rate, actors’ fees on FFC films (along the lines of the Fox Searchlight cap), because Robert’s proposal makes allowance for the marketplace value of that actor. This makes eminent common sense as a proposal, as it allows flexibility while recognizing the constraints within which our film financing operates.

Robert’s final four recommendations focus on issues that seem so basic and simple that you wonder why they have never been addressed – until you remember that there are very few ways for the industry to look at issues at a whole-of-industry level. Insurance, the seemingly endless expense of legals even on simple projects, the level of unnecessary reporting required – surely some of these mechanical blockages and expenses can be removed or streamlined so that filmmakers can get on with the job of filmmaking. It’s like the whole industry needs an enema to clear out all this detritus that has gathered over the years – and I hope Robert would forgive me for suggesting that that paper is the first dose.

Finally, Robert touches on just one of the issues of distribution – an area that gets scant attention so often within the production industry, and its seeming refrain that if we build it they will come! Robert focuses on the ever increasing delivery demands of the marketplace, which are becoming more and more excessive – and makes a plea for some sanity to return and for the responsibility not to continue to lie always with the filmmaker.

In some ways, I see Robert’s paper as just the start of a discussion that needs to continue beyond those structural areas that he has identified and really delve downwards into the production methodologies themselves. Why are crew structures the way they are? Do they need to stay that way? How do we maximize the benefits that can accrue from new technologies in the actual production process? There are countless questions about the micro that are worth asking and that could take the industry in interesting directions if there was a will to take it there.

This discussion only gets us so far, because it will not solve the many issues that the industry faces that are outside the scope of innovation in production – and in particular issues related to financing and distribution. These will have to be teased out and, who knows, even solved by Robert’s next paper. What this paper does, however, is start the process on what we can do in our own backyard – to fix a few of the problems that we have right now. He’s thinking global but acting locally (as the slogan goes). And who knows, if we can start to embrace a culture of innovation within the production sector perhaps we will even have the guts to begin to challenge the locked marketplace structure within which filmmakers operate. For encouraging this kind of radical thinking, Robert Connolly should be applauded.

This article is found on the Centre for Screen Business website.

What's at Risk: Justice Leauge or the Australian Film Industry?

Justice League Mortal is the film everyone is talking about and its not even in cinemas, yet-

Background:
A new tax incentive for Australian producers has been introduced, its called the Tax Offset (formally the Tax Rebate) and it provides up to a 40% Offset of budget of the film, which goes to the Producer. Like all incentives this one comes with its Red Tape. On this occasion a film must qualify under QAPE (Qualifying Australian Production Expenditure) to be able to access the Offset. This means that when a film is submitted, to the powers that be, a panel of assessors decide if the film is Australian 'enough' and if it is, then it gets the tick of approval. If not? Then find another country to film in with better tax breaks or change the script.

The Situation:
Justice League Mortal now sits in production limbo as, rumour has it, the Film Finance Corporation (FFC) rejected the producers preliminary request for the 40% Offset. So the question remains, are an Australian director, some key cast and crew enough to be an Australian Film? Or does the story have to be about a man cooking 'shrimp' on a Barbie in the outback? In today’s times, when filmmaking is becoming an increasingly global phenomenon the question is asked, what is an Australian film? And does an industry, that seems to be all but fading away, have the capacity to let such an investment go?

Well, on Wednesday, Dr. George Miller (director of Justice League) gave an impassioned response when interviewed by Fran Kelly on ABC Radio National about why he feels Justice League Mortal should receive the Offset.

There is an audio file of the interview and an interesting write up in The Sydney Morning Herald.

What do you think?

Want to know more about Justice League the comic? Find out here.

-Andrew.

Foundation Approved

All our time filling in forms and writing up applications has not been an entire waste!

Into the Shadows has been approved by the Documentary Australia Foundation to be a documentary deemed worthy of philanthropic support. Phil and I have issued the Foundation with a production still and synopsis, which will be added to their website shortly. In time Into the Shadows will appear on the Foundation's website 'Approved List' for all to view.

So, if you or someone you know, would like to donate to the production or post production costs of Into the Shadows you can, knowing that you are supporting an offical, charitable production. This also means you can now recieve tax breaks from your donation to the making of the film.

Support the making of Into the Shadows and share in the creation of the film that will raise the awareness, of the need for a fresh, dynamic, vibrant Australian cinema culture.

-Andrew.