Guest post by Ewan Thomas, Writer / Director I started working in the film industry 10 years ago, in post-production. But I’d always wanted to shoot my own film, so I moved to London wanting to “make it” as a film director. Shoot my first feature film. This means facing challenges and obstacles – so […]
Jen Handorf, veteran of five Brit low budget horror flicks, shared her experience at the London Breakfast Club today. It was an insightful conversation with a producer who has been prolific in production and effective in distribution and sales. Listen to the podcast below… Having worked on so many films, Jen has managed to distil […]
Past LSF team creatives The Clarkson Twins and Gemma Hurley, are putting on a show…! I asked Michael to share what he had learned about breaking into comedy via fringe theater… Over to Michael… Hello there! Michael Clarkson here. If you’ve ever attended the London Screenwriters’ Festival and pitched at the Great British Pitchfest, you […]
This weekend we hosted our ‘How To Fund A Film’ workshop, an exploration into how EIS / SEIS / UK Tax credit and crowdfunding can be combined to get your film funded. Some of the information was truly mind boggling, both in an accountancy way, but also an opportunity way. If you can find the […]
That’s right – 20% of your short film budget can be recouped if you jump through some specific hoops. Of course, all of this is as relevant to shorts as it is micro budget feature films. It’s dry, accounts stuff always is, but it could also be 20% of your budget! My producer friend Stephen […]
I have recently heard from two film makers who have had problems with their applications for the UK Film Tax Credit, regarding their cultural test. I asked Ivan to advise, and here is what he had to say… One of the most important things to learn about the UK Film Tax Credit is how to […]
Money. It’s the biggest problem any filmmaker faces. Great ideas are worth diddly if you can’t shoot, edited and get your film out there – and to do that, even at the most microbudget level – you will need cash. In this podcast with producer Ivan Clements, we talk about getting your film financed using […]
Film maker Leilani Holmes has always been a vocal supporter of everything I do, and so when I discovered she was producing an ambitious short, I asked her to share her thoughts with us all. She is running an IndieGoGo campaign for her film ‘Clowning Around’, and after I post this blog, I am […]
Attracting money ALWAYS begins with the question… WHY? Why on earth should I give YOU money as opposed to buying a car, building a patio, going on holiday, funding some inner city kids dancing project, investing in stocks and shares etc… you get the picture. And yet SO MANY film makers, myself included, rarely address […]
Last Sunday was the very first American Independents Day, this year (which sold out) it was with producers and rockstars of American Indie film, Ted Hope and Christine Vachon… and the atmosphere ion the room was electric! Producer Mike Mindel (www.dontlethimin.com) has been good enough to share his extensive and detailed notes with us all […]
Following last weeks successful podcast with IndieGoGo’s Danae Ringelmann (listen here), I promised I would follow up with a series on crowd funding. This is the second in that series, the final one coming next week in the form of a specific ‘how to’ article, but for now, here is a podcast I recorded today […]
Have you made a ‘film’ or a ‘movie’? More importantly, are you seeking ‘funding’ or ‘financing’? Some time ago I blogged about this cartoon by Alan Parker. I love it because it captures the essence of why I believe state funding for film is not always a good thing, how it fosters a sense that […]
So… much has been said about the closure of the UKFC. Little remains for me to add that has not already been said over and over. It appears to me that people are polarised into two groups. 1. Those who gained something tangible and useful from the UKFC2. Those how gained little or nothing from […]
When I haven’t written a blog entry for three of four days you know one of a three things have taken place in my life. Either I am writing, or not much has happened, or so much has happened that I just can’t get to the computer! It’s the latter. Since the book launch on […]
Some time ago I asked if any of our 175 Associate Producers would like to attend a film festival on behalf of Gone Fishing (I have run out of money!). Of course there would be no expenses or flights, but certainly a ripping time and life experience to be had. From my home town, Wigan […]
Extraordinary news! We have managed to secure corporate sponsorship for our endeavours over the next few months! What does this mean? In short, we can make sure that we attend all the big events and that we can video blog it fully. But you were already doing that I hear you say. Yes, you are […]
Great news! Executive Producer David Hardwick has come onboard Gone Fishing, adding to our coffers. This is particularly good news for me as Dave has now invested in every single film I have made! He should be given a knighthood as a patron for the arts! The pic here is taken in Cannes a few […]
We hit our 100th contributor last night (thank you Wendy!), bringing the total raised so far to… £19,685! Blimey! I mean really, BLIMEY! We are still short though, so if you know anyone who may want to come on the course or come to the premiere, click here. I have been working on the £100 […]
I am delighted to announce that the production company, Bradgate Films, have come on board as a co-producer for ‘Gone Fishing’. Through their excellent connections they have managed to bring £5k of private investment to the project, which is excellent news. Here is what Bradgate say about themselves… ‘Bradgate Films are an emerging, midlands based […]
As we hit the tarmac running today – Monday – just a recap on where we stand money wise. Over the weekend we received a further £500 in donations. So thank you to Paul Nugent, Huw Jenkins, Hazeley Wilson, Jurgen Wolf, Rod Duncan, John Basham, Steve Payne and Simon Reglar. Splendid. We are in the […]
Yesterday I sent out a mail to my mailing list, asking for crew help and specifically a storyboard artist. Boy! I got about 250 responses, so it’s going to take me a little time to get through everyone. It struck me, there is enough enthusiasm and passion there to make five short movies! I think […]
OK so fund raising is continuing, and we now have a rather spiffy graph, to show us all where we are at. In the last day we had four more people contribute, raising the cash figure to £2,200 – they are Mike Mindel, Ross Edwards, Martin Bowen and Harriet Barbir. So thank you very much […]
I have just spent a frantic week, working on casting and all sorts of other stuff. There will be a script redraft very soon, and this little tweak I hope to be the final one. Most important though is that cash has started to flow into the production- pictured is a post card that came […]
OK – Here is a brief update as to where we are at with Gone Fishing. From this point onward, we plan to make regular updates to this page, but for now, here is a potted history of how we got here, to July 12th 2007. Back in May, Marc Samuelson from Samuelson Productions, read […]
Finally, the funding proposals for ‘Gone Fishing’ have arrived from the printers. In the next few days we are going to be approaching everyone we know to help out and get involved. We will almost certainly be contacting you too! And if we don’t know you, but you are interested, you can contact us at […]
