by Brian Barnes As seriously independent micro-budget filmmakers we need an edge. Any little thing that will make our projects more likely to survive and thrive in the big, cruel marketplace that is feature film distribution. In pursuit of that edge, before making my first feature film, I did my due diligence and performed as […]
Guest post by Eben Skilleter Ahead of the final Guerilla Filmmakers 2 Day Masterclass next month, I asked past delegates to share their post event experiences. Here’s what Eben Skilleter got up to… Inspiration, Then Perspiration – Pre-production Trudging across a Hampshire field, in full retreat from the merciless weather, I wonder if I’ve gone […]
Guest post by Ross Aitkin I’m one of the 50 Kisses writers (Advice) and I’m in the middle of production of my feature debut (as co-writer/director/producer), a micro-budget comedy called ‘Kidnap Me’. It’s an edgy black comedy of love, sex and mistaken identity, in which a kinky couple book a roleplay kidnap experience, only to […]
Guest blog by producer Bethany Clift We have read a lot about how hard is to get independent films out there, especially films on the kind of budget we made Heretic for (£30k), so I wanted to counter this with our good news story. Yup, after three years of toil, tears and tragedy our no-budget […]
Guest blog by Greg Hall / Broke But Making Films In less than a week my new feature film COMMUNION opens in London at the Portobello Pop Up Cinema and begins it’s journey of self-distribution. I have made three feature films previously (my first being the micro budget film ‘The Plague’, which got some national […]
Guest blog by Sebastian Solberg Modern Man – Watch it, like it, share it with everyone you ever met – and use the hashtag #VMShortsvote: http://tinyurl.com/ModernManFilm From my London office-bedroom last Friday morning, I was able to travel to Wales to watch a woolly mammoth being brought to life with 3D technology, then take a […]
I asked DSLR magician Ken Simpson to share how he manages to pull off amazing movies with very little kit, crew but tons of guts. Here’s his detailed response… pretty amazing advice… I’ve had more than a few people ask me how I was able to achieve such a high level of production value with […]
Guest blog from Kristi Barnett (right). I asked Kristi to share her experiences making her innovative, no budget Transmedia project…HURST Every writer and film maker has their own reason as to why they’ve chosen to get into this creative and sometimes soul destroying medium. For me, it was a constant influx of ideas and […]
Following the Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass I asked some film makers to write guest blog entries. Here’s what Andy Phelps offered… ‘My partner-in-crime, Jake Hawkins, and I have been working on our first feature full-time since January this year; victims of the recession and the need to go and do something more creatively […]
‘It’s not what you know, it’s WHO you know’ goes the cliché. I know this is true and I kind of hate that fact. Surely talent trumps everything? I wish. Consequently, a large part of the The Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass was about networking. About confronting fear, embarrassment and generally being British when it comes […]
This weekend has seen the release of ‘Zombie Undead’, a micro budget horror film made by a film maker, Rhys Davies, who I first met a few years ago on my Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass. His journey and film is a classic example of micro budget film making, a true ‘micro crew’ production. In advance […]
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 […]
Please watch the clip in HD and full screen. The past couple of weeks have really rocked the world. First a shocking earthquake, tsunami and reactor leak in Japan, and the start of a campaign in the middle east. It reminds me of the fragility of life, of how we all live within the […]
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 […]
Over the last few days my blog has gone into overdrive with traffic about my post on DynamoPlayer, the new tool that allows film makers to stream and charge for their work. But how does it perform over time? I asked film maker Audrey Ewell to share her experiences. She has been selling her film […]
Gen asked me to post this on the blog, about her LA workshop… I knew for a long time that I wanted to make movies in Hollywood. That was my dream since, like many, I was blown away by Star Wars all those years ago. It was an incredibly powerful movie that has now become […]
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 […]
Last year I was Associate Producer on Stuart Hazeldines ‘EXAM’, a taught thriller set in one room. And yesterdays Oscars announcement was extraordinary news for one of our team… Stuart put it best on the Exam Facebook page… 'As EXAM blazes a trail across the worlds cinema screens it's important to remember that not all […]
Last year I helped out in the making of a short film called Chasing Cotards. I add my help was minimal! Ed and Sam who made the film have kept in touch as they entered into the festival experience. And what they told me was heart breaking, submission after submission followed by rejection after rejection. […]
Tweet By means of a little Christmas spirit, I thought I would share this film with you, made by David Reynolds. It was made as an entrant for the Pepsi film makers challenge. It really touched me when I saw it as it captured everything I love and hate about film making. And so I […]
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 […]
At the London Screenwriters Festival we ran a session called ‘Should You Produce?’ Then concept was simple. If you are a director, writer or actor etc… why wait for the big break? Create the big break by producing a film yourself. Lucy V Hay, who we all know, also works tirelessly for the festival, but […]
In the run up to the London Screenwriters Festival I found myself with a Tiger by the tail. We had been attempting to get publicity for the festival, and one journalist had perused me for a story about the film industry. And she was clear, she needed a story with some meat on the bones. […]
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 […]
From guest blogger Leilani Holmes at the London Screenwriters Festival 2010 And so it is over. I can hardly believe that so much has happened and how quickly it’s flown. I don’t yet feel changed by the experience but I’m completely loaded up with information that I haven’t fully assimilated yet so I’m expecting some […]
