Jude Law on an iPhone?

CBS News reported on Sept 23, 2009 that Sally Potter's new film, Rage starring Jude Law, would be available as seven episodes on the Internet and for mobile devices.

Grip Rap

Peter Broderick's Ten Principles of Hybrid Distribution

Peter Broderick's list of 10 principles for hybrid distribution (which combines direct sales by filmmakers with distribution by third parties e.g. DVD distributors, TV channels, VOD companies, educational distributors) continues Broderick's ground-breaking work - getting indie films profitably distributed in the new world paradigm.

New Route to the Indies

As the autumn movie season of 2009 approached, two film critics sat down, via email, with seven key players in the independent film business. The resulting article appeared in the NY Times on Sept. 13th, 2009 and covered a number of topics that should be of interest to filmmakers and film students.

10 Planning Tips for Indie Filmmakers

Here is a list of 10 things you might want to consider before you start production.

Ted Hope Dispenses Good Advice

The video above is a tribute to Ted Hope. After you watch the video, click on this link to read the Sept. 17th, 2009 post on Ted Hope's indispensable blog. Excerpts from that post follow:

"The ways films were financed & sold for the last fifteen years are no longer do-able. Audiences don't consume the way they used to. There is no acquisition market and no business model has emerged for earning significant revenue on the internet."

"It's not enough to have a good story well told anymore. Cinema is over one hundred years old and stories can't just have a beginning, a middle, or an end.

"[E]mbrace the other aspects of filmmaking beyond content and production."

"The independent sector doesn't have the money to fool people to think that their mediocre work should be seen. More work needs to go into both making our films better and into how to reach and engage with our audiences in more rewarding way. Unless a filmmaker can demonstrate both of those qualities, they shouldn't be shooting their film. Failure in either department brings all of us down with it. We are all connected and only the best work lifts us (don't get me wrong, we can't have gate keepers determining what or who "is ready" to make a film -- we just have to be more demanding on ourselves)."

Sundance Announces a Microbudget Sidebar

As the Sept. 25th submission deadline for the 2010 Sundance Film Festival approaches, the Festival has announced a a new section featuring six to eight films selected for their innovative and original work in low- and no-budget filmmaking.

Here is a link to the interview Festival Director John Cooper gave to indieWIRE about the new NEXT section.