In 2009 I was doing the festival circuit with my short film Gone Fishing. When touring festivals you start to see the same films and filmmakers pop up around you. And this film, ‘Next Floor’ by Denis Villeneuve, was one film I saw repeatedly. Sometimes Gone Fishing beat it, other times it didn’t. It’s an […]
Danny Stack just contaced me with some good news, so I asked him to blog about it… Over to Danny! Origin http://www.originshortfilm.co.uk/, my supernatural short film, has just won Best Horror Short at this year’s London Independent Film Festival. It’s hugely satisfying to get this kind of recognition on a project that I have slaved […]
I thought I would share the recent sales report I got from iTunes via Network Ireland for my short Gone Fishing. The report landed on my desk around the same time as VFX expert Russ Wharton emailed me from his iPhone commenting that Gone Fishing is still charting VERY highly on iTunes shorts – when […]
Leilani Holmes, film maker and friend, was one of the most vocal supporters of ‘Gone Fishing’. And so when I heard she was making a film, ‘Clowning Around’, and running an IndieGoGo campaign, I was one of the first to contribute. Lielani and her team ran a stellar campaign and raised $8,900 in total. One […]
A few months back I posted a series of blogs about DynamoPlayer, a cool way for me to rent my films or consumers online. You can read those original posts here and here. Soon after, I was contacted by a dynamic pair of Scotts film makers who had been beavering away at their own solution, […]
‘If you are going through hell, keep going…’ That’s what Winston Churchill said at any rate. And hell is what I was going through last Tuesday. Not because of a catastrophe on set or difficult actors, or even a crew that was making mistakes. On the contrary, everyone both in front on the camera and […]
I have been a little light on the blog front because I have been on set shooting a drama on Canon 5D MKII. It’s been terrific to actually be on the set of a major drama, shooting DSLR, just ahead of the Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass as it has really focussed my mind on […]
UPDATE – With 1 hour to go, John reached his goal! Thanks to everyone who contributed. Actor and Producer John Schwab has always been a great supporter of everything I have done. And he was one of the very first contributors to Gone Fishing. And so when I got this email from him today about […]
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 […]
A couple of weeks back was ‘DynamoPlayer week’ on my blog. At the time, as part of the analysis on DynamoPlayer I complained that I had not received any statements from Apple / iTunes / Shorts International… and as if by magic, my first one turned up last week! So a brief analysis of how […]
Above is a great animation that really sets out the scale and value that Facebook offers ANY business, not just film. And on that note, I finally got Gone Fishing up and on Facebook! Users can now rent and watch ‘Gone Fishing’ directly on Facebook (click here to see it in action), powered by DynamoPlayer […]
So Gone Fishing has been available for one week on DynamoPlayer (click on stats image to the right for a bigger view). I thought I would share some of the comments that I have received via blog, email and other sites. On my blog and after the first post on Dynamoplayer last Monday, Mike Barnes […]
Go on, Click the Play Button above… isn’t that a Game Changer? The last two years have seen more change in Indie film than ever before. There have been THREE major developments, First, the DSLR revolution and the Canon 5D MkII. This put high quality, low cost cameras into the hands of film makers. That […]
Note – this is the introduction video to the workshop (clip from the actual course below) REDUCED FROM £69.99 to £37.99 – SIGN UP HERE! The ‘Gone Fishing’ online Workshop is still on sale, reduced from £69.99 to just £37.99. Loads of film makers signed up after Christmas, to grab this bargain and to energize […]
Pictured here are my business partner David Chamberlains kids, glued to the screen and watching ‘Gone Fishing’. When they get to the end the usually shout out ‘Again, again! We want to see Goliath!’ It always amazes me how kids really ‘get’ it. Every year I receive emails from people who discover this short film […]
A few days ago, DP Vernon Layton contacted me and asked if I might share a story on Remembrance Sunday via my blog. As you may know, Venrnon shot ‘Gone Fishing’, which I also directed. And the experience was so magical, we became very good friends. So for me, it’s a privilege to be asked […]
During the making of Gone Fishing, I made lots of new friends during production and also on the festival circuit. One person spanned both, British actress Kerry Finlayson who is also jobbing it in Los Angeles. She quickly became our LA correspondent for Gone Fishing, collecting prints from FedEx and delivering to the Oscars guys, […]
So apparently I am both an Oscar nominated director and Sir Michael Grade agrees with my views on the British Film Industry. All beamed out to millions of viewers this morning on Sky News. Very entertaining! I did the interview yesterday literally at a moments notice (to be clear, I was in fact Oscars shortlisted […]
As part of the ongoing push to get ‘Gone Fishing’ out there, Shorts International have listed it as film of the week on their website. Here’s how Elly (pictured here)at Shorts Int. let me know… 'I just wanted to drop you a line to say that we're doing an iTunes pick of the week plug […]
I knew ‘Gone Fishing’ would always lead to unexpected places… It opened doors in Hollywood, took me around the world to amazing festivals and lead to amazing meetings. I had always imagined its success would be defined in ‘film making opportunities’. What has surprised me though is just how much difference it appears to have […]
We love the Nickel Film Festival. Why? Not only is it a great festival at the far eastern tip of Canada, but they also send you money. Well they sent me money anyhow. Twice! Gone Fishing played there last year and as part of the way Canadians do things (they go out of their way […]
Write down three word that are the very essence of what you are attempting to achieve with your project, then filter ALL creative and practical decisions though those three words. This will give you ultra clear focus. Being creative is a blessing and a curse. I have SO many ideas, many of which are very […]
Following the success of Gone Fishing on Channel 4 just a few weeks ago… I am delighted to announce that ‘Gone Fishing’, Britain’s ONLY 2009 Oscars Shortlisted Short Film is now available to buy and own in HD on iTunes! HOW COOL IS THAT! It’s taken an age to persuade the iTunes Gods to take […]
Here is a list of ten top tips for doing festival Q and A’s for your film… 1. Be nervous. You may naturally be on the edge of your seat, but if you are not, just GET NERVOUS. Audiences will warm to you if they feel you are a little terrified. 2. Thank the audience […]
Fantastic news! Channel 4 is showing ‘Gone Fishing’ on Tuesday 1st June, at midday, just before the Hitchcock classic ‘North By Northwest’. Amazingly, this is also the first short film that Channel 4 has bought in close to a decade, so it’s a real landmark for both ourselves and Network Ireland who closed the deal […]
