Monthly Digest - SEPTEMBER 2018
October 01, 2018 | Dear Producer, No. 25
MUST READ
The first ever Dear Producer panel at the LA Film Festival was a great success. It was a truth-telling, tough love conversation filled with lessons learned, new ideas, inspiration and lots of laughs. An hour was not nearly enough time to cover everything we wanted to discuss or time for the audience to ask questions so Dear Producer has begun brainstorming a day-long workshop to take place in the Spring of 2019 to continue the conversation on a much bigger level. In the meantime, you can check out highlights from our conversation in the blog The Future of Producing: How to Soldier On as an Independent Producer and next week, I’ll share a full summary of the conversation.
Back in July, I wrote about How the Academy Rules Are Stacked Against Indie Producers and this month, Netflix Backs Off Awarding Producer Credits to Executives Amid Backlash. While I’m sure this is coincidental, it confirms that if you speak up and hold your ground, change can happen. Also, you must click on this article just to see the cartoon, it’s amazing.
Meanwhile, the Head of Italian Distributors’ Group Resigns Over Venice-Netflix Release Spat and raises the question of traditional windowing and how flexibility from exhibitors may benefit everyone.
Over at Amazon, chief Jennifer Salke made it clear that big changes are coming to the company’s struggling film business.
The Hollywood Reporter discusses how As Bob Iger bets the Mouse House on a streaming service, all of Hollywood will feel the impact of the shift to a direct-to-consumer model.
While Self-Distributed ‘Thunder Road’ Made Its Money Back in One Week proving that the direct-to-consumer model does indeed work on the independent level.
Switching over to financing, Film Independent published their 2018-19 Fundraising Calendar, Fall Edition steeped with grant opportunities, many with fall/winter deadlines.
And a new financier has popped up on the scene – Cutting Edge Group, the largest independent film music publisher, is expanding its role in the financing of indie films, advancing funds for music rights in the pictures.
For those who enjoy reading about the history of Hollywood as I do, the book Who Is Micheal Ovitz was released last week. If you don’t feel like reading the whole book, at least check out two excerpts The Deals Behind Spielberg’s Biggest Year How Michael Ovitz helped get Jurassic Park and Schindler’s List made and Why I Really Left CAA, you’ll learn something, I promise.
Lastly, school is back in session! Please share Dear Producer with your film school alumni and let faculty know how this new resource can benefit the school's emerging filmmakers and to encourage students to subscribe.
Keep Going,
Rebecca Green
Editor-in-Chief
ORIGINALS RECAP
REBECCA GREEN: #sidehustle
