The team at Spectrum Films hope Simon McQuoid’s Mortal Kombat was just the first of many major films to use its refurbished Atmos mix theatre.
The Fox Studios-based post house completed a full interior rebuild of the Dolby-accredited theatre prior to coming on board with the project last year.
Spectrum provided Di, Final Mix, and deliverables for the action blockbuster from Sydney, collaborating across international borders to deliver the final product.
The same could also be said about the theatre upgrade, for which Spectrum head of sound Angus Robertson worked with US-based acoustic consultants Salter across eight weeks to transform the facility’s interior, before conducting four weeks of testing.
The process involved performing initial test recordings inside the theatre, with the results sent to Salter’s Felipe Tavera and Jason Duty.
After analysing the recordings, the pair recommended a design that involved a complete deconstruction of the interior,...
The Fox Studios-based post house completed a full interior rebuild of the Dolby-accredited theatre prior to coming on board with the project last year.
Spectrum provided Di, Final Mix, and deliverables for the action blockbuster from Sydney, collaborating across international borders to deliver the final product.
The same could also be said about the theatre upgrade, for which Spectrum head of sound Angus Robertson worked with US-based acoustic consultants Salter across eight weeks to transform the facility’s interior, before conducting four weeks of testing.
The process involved performing initial test recordings inside the theatre, with the results sent to Salter’s Felipe Tavera and Jason Duty.
After analysing the recordings, the pair recommended a design that involved a complete deconstruction of the interior,...
- 6/7/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Saban Films has acquired North American rights to “Long Story Short,” written by, directed by and co-starring Josh Lawson. The romantic comedy also stars Rafe Spall, Zahra Newman, Ronny Chieng and Dena Kaplan. Studiocanal is handling international sales for the film, and is releasing it in Australia and New Zealand.
“Long Story Short” follows Teddy (Spall), who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life. He must use every precious moment wisely to keep from losing the love of his life, and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
Lawson previously directed comedy feature “The Little Death” in 2014. He was Oscar-nominated in 2018 for live-action short film “The Eleven O’Clock,” which he wrote, starred in and produced. His acting credits include “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” “Bombshell” and the upcoming Warner Bros. movie “Mortal Kombat.
“Long Story Short” follows Teddy (Spall), who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life. He must use every precious moment wisely to keep from losing the love of his life, and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
Lawson previously directed comedy feature “The Little Death” in 2014. He was Oscar-nominated in 2018 for live-action short film “The Eleven O’Clock,” which he wrote, starred in and produced. His acting credits include “Anchorman 2: The Legend Continues,” “Bombshell” and the upcoming Warner Bros. movie “Mortal Kombat.
- 3/4/2021
- by Leo Barraclough
- Variety Film + TV
It was always going to be a big ask for Stage 23.
Antaine Furlong’s sci-fi thriller Ascendant (formerly Rising Wolf) required the visual effects company to provide more than 400 VFX shots, including 2D composites, photoreal 3D environments, and complex supernatural effects sequences, all while navigating a global pandemic.
However, through the use of cloud rendering, an expansion of their team from four to 15, and a transition to a largely remote workflow, Stage 23 managed to overcome the odds to bring Furlong’s vision of a dark, near-future Shanghai to life.
The independently-funded feature, which is about a young environmentalist who awakes in the elevator of a super high-rise building at the mercy of her tormentors, is scheduled for release at the beginning of April, having been filmed at Fox Studios last year.
Written by Furlong and Kieron Holland, the film stars Charlotte Best (Home and Away), Susan Prior (The Rover), and...
Antaine Furlong’s sci-fi thriller Ascendant (formerly Rising Wolf) required the visual effects company to provide more than 400 VFX shots, including 2D composites, photoreal 3D environments, and complex supernatural effects sequences, all while navigating a global pandemic.
However, through the use of cloud rendering, an expansion of their team from four to 15, and a transition to a largely remote workflow, Stage 23 managed to overcome the odds to bring Furlong’s vision of a dark, near-future Shanghai to life.
The independently-funded feature, which is about a young environmentalist who awakes in the elevator of a super high-rise building at the mercy of her tormentors, is scheduled for release at the beginning of April, having been filmed at Fox Studios last year.
Written by Furlong and Kieron Holland, the film stars Charlotte Best (Home and Away), Susan Prior (The Rover), and...
- 2/24/2021
- by Sean Slatter
- IF.com.au
Spectrum Films has assumed management of Definition Films’ post-production facility at Fox Studios.
The deal for the site comes as Definition Films founder David Gross turns his focus to showrunning; he is set to helm IMAX feature docs and premium factual via the recently announced MGM/K2 Studios partnership.
The Definition Films facility, located in building 53A on the lot, hosts a Dolby Atmos sound mixing theatre with 2D and 3D laser projection, a premium 4K Di grading theatre, a Dolby Vision Hdr finishing room, and five additional multi-purpose suites.
The 4K Di grading theatre.
Recent projects completed there include full picture and sound services on The King and Little Monsters, and the final mix for Leah Purcell’s The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson.
In making the announcement Spectrum MD Josh Pomeranz said: “We couldn’t be more pleased with being able to grow Spectrum’s offer...
The deal for the site comes as Definition Films founder David Gross turns his focus to showrunning; he is set to helm IMAX feature docs and premium factual via the recently announced MGM/K2 Studios partnership.
The Definition Films facility, located in building 53A on the lot, hosts a Dolby Atmos sound mixing theatre with 2D and 3D laser projection, a premium 4K Di grading theatre, a Dolby Vision Hdr finishing room, and five additional multi-purpose suites.
The 4K Di grading theatre.
Recent projects completed there include full picture and sound services on The King and Little Monsters, and the final mix for Leah Purcell’s The Drovers Wife: The Legend of Molly Johnson.
In making the announcement Spectrum MD Josh Pomeranz said: “We couldn’t be more pleased with being able to grow Spectrum’s offer...
- 11/25/2020
- by Jackie Keast
- IF.com.au
Supernatural horror film “Encircled” looks set to go into production in Australia, at a time when almost all other movie shoots are suspended due to the coronavirus outbreak.
Australia’s nationwide lockdown is set to be in place for many more months, but the “Encircled” producers have no intention of breaking the country’s stay-at-home directives. Rather they aim to make use of their team’s visual effects skills, and to reverse part of the film-making process.
The film, about six strangers caught in a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong, and an escape through Hell, is scripted by successful Aussie writer duo, Shayne Armstrong and S. P. Krause. It was scheduled to go into pre-production this month. Instead, director Christian Debney will do more pre-visualization than originally intended and start work on the VFX.
“Normally effects are done afterwards, but we can do them first,...
Australia’s nationwide lockdown is set to be in place for many more months, but the “Encircled” producers have no intention of breaking the country’s stay-at-home directives. Rather they aim to make use of their team’s visual effects skills, and to reverse part of the film-making process.
The film, about six strangers caught in a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong, and an escape through Hell, is scripted by successful Aussie writer duo, Shayne Armstrong and S. P. Krause. It was scheduled to go into pre-production this month. Instead, director Christian Debney will do more pre-visualization than originally intended and start work on the VFX.
“Normally effects are done afterwards, but we can do them first,...
- 4/15/2020
- by Patrick Frater
- Variety Film + TV
‘Encircled’ concept art.
In a reversal of the traditional production process, the creative team behind supernatural thriller/horror Encircled today started creating the VFX.
That will be followed by casting, script readings and detailed pre-visualisation, all conducted remotely.
“We were scheduled to start pre-production in late April. Despite the Covid-19 shutdown, we are moving ahead with some of the non studio-based elements of the movie,” says producer Ross Howden. “Almost like making the film in reverse, we will start with visual effects.”
VFX guru Christian Debney of Stage 23 is making his feature directing debut on the film scripted by Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause.
The plot revolves around six strangers who are caught within a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong. With no memory of who they are or how they got there, they quickly discover the only way out is hell.”
ScreenLaunch’s Howden is producing with Michael Robertson,...
In a reversal of the traditional production process, the creative team behind supernatural thriller/horror Encircled today started creating the VFX.
That will be followed by casting, script readings and detailed pre-visualisation, all conducted remotely.
“We were scheduled to start pre-production in late April. Despite the Covid-19 shutdown, we are moving ahead with some of the non studio-based elements of the movie,” says producer Ross Howden. “Almost like making the film in reverse, we will start with visual effects.”
VFX guru Christian Debney of Stage 23 is making his feature directing debut on the film scripted by Shayne Armstrong and S.P. Krause.
The plot revolves around six strangers who are caught within a protective circle in the aftermath of an occult ritual gone wrong. With no memory of who they are or how they got there, they quickly discover the only way out is hell.”
ScreenLaunch’s Howden is producing with Michael Robertson,...
- 4/15/2020
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Netflix has taken global rights, excluding China, Australia and New Zealand, to Aussie family feature Go Karts.
Pic comes from director Owen Trevor, most noted for helming multiple episodes of UK series Top Gear, and production outfit See Pictures, which has credits including the Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue comedy Swinging Safari and Simon Baker’s Breath.
Go Karts follows 15-year-old Jack who, after his mother moves them to a new town, discovers go kart racing and dedicates himself to the sport. With the support of an old race-car driver with a secret past, Jack must learn to control his recklessness to win the national title.
William Lodder leads the cast with Richard Roxburgh, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Frances O’Connor, Dan Wyllie, Cooper van Grootel, and Damian de Montemas.
Roadshow Films is releasing the film theatrically in non-Netflix territories on January 16 under the title Go!; the streaming release has...
Pic comes from director Owen Trevor, most noted for helming multiple episodes of UK series Top Gear, and production outfit See Pictures, which has credits including the Guy Pearce and Kylie Minogue comedy Swinging Safari and Simon Baker’s Breath.
Go Karts follows 15-year-old Jack who, after his mother moves them to a new town, discovers go kart racing and dedicates himself to the sport. With the support of an old race-car driver with a secret past, Jack must learn to control his recklessness to win the national title.
William Lodder leads the cast with Richard Roxburgh, Anastasia Bampos, Darius Amarfio-Jefferson, Frances O’Connor, Dan Wyllie, Cooper van Grootel, and Damian de Montemas.
Roadshow Films is releasing the film theatrically in non-Netflix territories on January 16 under the title Go!; the streaming release has...
- 1/13/2020
- by Tom Grater
- Deadline Film + TV
Roster includes Slay The Dragon, Allagash.
London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.
2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.
Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...
London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.
2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.
Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...
- 10/29/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Roster includes Slay The Dragon, Allagash.
London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.
2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.
Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...
London-based sales outfit Kew Media Distribution (Kmd) heads to Afm next week with a slate that includes Nick Broomfield’s documentary My Father And Me, sci-fi 2067 starring Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten, and Susan Hill’s The Small Hand: A Ghost Story.
2067 takes place on an earth ravaged by climate change when a utility worker who may hold the key to mankind’s survival is dispatched to the future and lands in a luscious green world where he seems to be the only person around.
Seth Larney directed the Arcadia, Kojo, Freedom Films and Futurism Studios production,...
- 10/29/2019
- by 36¦Jeremy Kay¦54¦
- ScreenDaily
Shoot is under way in Sydney, Australia, on rom-com Long Story Short, starring Rafe Spall (I Give It A Year), Zahra Newman, (Truth), Ronny Chieng (Crazy Rich Asians), Noni Hazlehurst (A Place To Call Home), Dena Kaplan (Dance Academy) and Josh Lawson (Anchor Man).
Lawson directs his original screenplay, which is backed by Screen Australia and sold by Studiocanal. Jamie Hilton is producing alongside Michael Pontin and Isabel Stanfield for See Pictures, marking a second collaboration with Lawson after their Toronto break-out The Little Death in 2014.
The story follows Teddy (Spall), who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life. He must use every precious moment wisely to keep from losing the love of his life, and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
Create Nsw and Spectrum Films are also also part of the production team.
Lawson directs his original screenplay, which is backed by Screen Australia and sold by Studiocanal. Jamie Hilton is producing alongside Michael Pontin and Isabel Stanfield for See Pictures, marking a second collaboration with Lawson after their Toronto break-out The Little Death in 2014.
The story follows Teddy (Spall), who wakes up the morning after his wedding to discover that every few minutes he’s jumping forward to the next year of his life. He must use every precious moment wisely to keep from losing the love of his life, and to learn to love the life he’s losing.
Create Nsw and Spectrum Films are also also part of the production team.
- 8/23/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Josh Lawson directing feature from his own screenplay.
Rafe Spall, Ronny Chieng, Zahra Newman and Noni Hazlehurst have signed to star in Australian director Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy Long Story Short which begins shooting today (August 23) in Australia.
It is produced by Studiocanal Australia and See Pictures, with backing from Screen Australia, in association with Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
Studiocanal is also handling worldwide sales.
Lawson is directing from his original screenplay and will also act in the film. His credits include short film The Eleven O’Clock, which was Oscar-nominated in 2018, and his debut feature The Little Death,...
Rafe Spall, Ronny Chieng, Zahra Newman and Noni Hazlehurst have signed to star in Australian director Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy Long Story Short which begins shooting today (August 23) in Australia.
It is produced by Studiocanal Australia and See Pictures, with backing from Screen Australia, in association with Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
Studiocanal is also handling worldwide sales.
Lawson is directing from his original screenplay and will also act in the film. His credits include short film The Eleven O’Clock, which was Oscar-nominated in 2018, and his debut feature The Little Death,...
- 8/23/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
Josh Lawson directing feature from his own screenplay.
Principal photography begins today (Aug 23) in Australia on Long Story Short, Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy.
Rafe Spall, Ronny Chieng, Zahra Newman and Noni Hazlehurst lead the project’s cast.
Producers are Studiocanal Australia and See Pictures, with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
Studiocanal is also handling worldwide sales.
Lawson is directing from his original screenplay and will also act in the film. His credits include short film The Eleven O’Clock, which was Oscar-nominated in 2018, and his debut feature The Little Death,...
Principal photography begins today (Aug 23) in Australia on Long Story Short, Josh Lawson’s romantic comedy.
Rafe Spall, Ronny Chieng, Zahra Newman and Noni Hazlehurst lead the project’s cast.
Producers are Studiocanal Australia and See Pictures, with major production investment from Screen Australia, in association with Create Nsw and Spectrum Films.
Studiocanal is also handling worldwide sales.
Lawson is directing from his original screenplay and will also act in the film. His credits include short film The Eleven O’Clock, which was Oscar-nominated in 2018, and his debut feature The Little Death,...
- 8/23/2019
- by Tom Grater
- ScreenDaily
(L-r) Catherine Armstrong, Josh Pomeranz and Dave Hollingsworth (Photo credit: Daniel Asher Smith).
Strengthening its management team Spectrum Films has promoted Catherine Armstrong to general manager, Sydney, and hired Dave Hollingsworth as executive director.
Both moves have been triggered by the resignation of general manager Adam Scott, who departs next month to take up an international position yet to be announced.
Armstrong’s promotion rewards her efforts over the past three years as head of post production. Hollingsworth, who starts on Monday, will oversee the technical operation and workflow as well as focusing on the company’s strategic growth in Australia and internationally.
Both report to managing director Josh Pomeranz, who tells If: “Catherine has made an outstanding contribution to the company and this promotion is a natural progression for her.
“Dave’s experience internationally with post and VFX divisions in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Warner Brothers Studios post facility...
Strengthening its management team Spectrum Films has promoted Catherine Armstrong to general manager, Sydney, and hired Dave Hollingsworth as executive director.
Both moves have been triggered by the resignation of general manager Adam Scott, who departs next month to take up an international position yet to be announced.
Armstrong’s promotion rewards her efforts over the past three years as head of post production. Hollingsworth, who starts on Monday, will oversee the technical operation and workflow as well as focusing on the company’s strategic growth in Australia and internationally.
Both report to managing director Josh Pomeranz, who tells If: “Catherine has made an outstanding contribution to the company and this promotion is a natural progression for her.
“Dave’s experience internationally with post and VFX divisions in Vancouver and Los Angeles, Warner Brothers Studios post facility...
- 4/5/2019
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Ambitious Chinese buyer Jl Vision has picked up rights to Oz sci-fi-thriller 2067 starring X-Men’s Kodi Smit-McPhee and Ryan Kwanten (True Blood).
Jl Vision is lining up a 10,000+ screen release next year in China for the recently shot film which is set in a deforested and oxygen-deprived world reeling from climate change. Smit-McPhee plays Ethan Whyte, a narcissistic underground tunnel worker who embarks on a journey through time while Kwanten plays Jude Mathers who serves as Ethan’s protector and conscience.
The deal was inked by Odin’s Eye Entertainment on behalf of Arcadia and Kojo Entertainment. Pic is currently in post-production in Sydney and we can reveal a first look at Smit-McPhee. The Alpha and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes star will next be seen as Nightcrawler in X-Men movie Dark Phoenix and with Eddie Murphy in Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name.
Earlier this year...
Jl Vision is lining up a 10,000+ screen release next year in China for the recently shot film which is set in a deforested and oxygen-deprived world reeling from climate change. Smit-McPhee plays Ethan Whyte, a narcissistic underground tunnel worker who embarks on a journey through time while Kwanten plays Jude Mathers who serves as Ethan’s protector and conscience.
The deal was inked by Odin’s Eye Entertainment on behalf of Arcadia and Kojo Entertainment. Pic is currently in post-production in Sydney and we can reveal a first look at Smit-McPhee. The Alpha and Dawn Of The Planet Of The Apes star will next be seen as Nightcrawler in X-Men movie Dark Phoenix and with Eddie Murphy in Netflix film Dolemite Is My Name.
Earlier this year...
- 3/19/2019
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
Back row: Damian Walshe-Howling, Kodi Smit-McPhee, Deborah Mailman, Ryan Kwanten, Aaron Glenane; Front row Sana’a Shaik, Finn Little, Seth Larney, Leeanna Walsman (Photo credit Matt Byrne).
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ryan Kwanten, Deborah Mailman, Aaron Glenane, Damian Walshe-Howling, Leeanna Walsman and Finn Little are starring in Seth Larney’s 2067.
Now shooting at the Adelaide Studios, the sci-fi mystery thriller is set in a deforested and oxygen-deprived world – the result of climate change – which forces humanity to look to the future for salvation.
Shout! Studios has pre-bought North American rights to the film produced by Arcadia’s Lisa Shaunessy and Kojo Entertainment’s Kate Croser.
Smit-McPhee plays Ethan Whyte, an arrogant and selfish underground tunnel worker who embarks on a journey through time that tests his faith in humanity.
Kwanten is Jude Mathers, a tunnel rat and Ethan’s protector who believes only humans can control their own fate.
Glenane is Richard Whyte,...
Kodi Smit-McPhee, Ryan Kwanten, Deborah Mailman, Aaron Glenane, Damian Walshe-Howling, Leeanna Walsman and Finn Little are starring in Seth Larney’s 2067.
Now shooting at the Adelaide Studios, the sci-fi mystery thriller is set in a deforested and oxygen-deprived world – the result of climate change – which forces humanity to look to the future for salvation.
Shout! Studios has pre-bought North American rights to the film produced by Arcadia’s Lisa Shaunessy and Kojo Entertainment’s Kate Croser.
Smit-McPhee plays Ethan Whyte, an arrogant and selfish underground tunnel worker who embarks on a journey through time that tests his faith in humanity.
Kwanten is Jude Mathers, a tunnel rat and Ethan’s protector who believes only humans can control their own fate.
Glenane is Richard Whyte,...
- 11/15/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
Exclusive: Ryan Kwanten (True Blood) and Kodi Smit-McPhee (X-Men Apocalypse) lead cast in climate-change sci-fi-thriller 2067, which is now underway in Australia.
Also starring are Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires), Aaron Glenane (Killing Ground), Damian Walshe-Howling (Mystery Road), Leeanna Walsman (Safe Harbour), Finn Little (Storm Boy) and Oz newcomers Sana’a Shaik and Matt Testro.
Seth Larney (Tombiruo) is writing and directing the feature which will see humans looking to the future for answers after the planet’s forests, wildlife and plants are ravaged by climate change. Producing are Lisa Shaunessy (Killing Ground) through her Arcadia production banner, and Kate Croser of Kojo Entertainment.
Kew Media Distribution, part of Kew Media Group, is handling international sales, excluding Australia and New Zealand where Umbrella Entertainment has distribution rights. Shout! Studios has acquired all North American rights. The film started principal photography at Adelaide Studios, South Australia on November 3.
Australian Government funding and investment...
Also starring are Deborah Mailman (The Sapphires), Aaron Glenane (Killing Ground), Damian Walshe-Howling (Mystery Road), Leeanna Walsman (Safe Harbour), Finn Little (Storm Boy) and Oz newcomers Sana’a Shaik and Matt Testro.
Seth Larney (Tombiruo) is writing and directing the feature which will see humans looking to the future for answers after the planet’s forests, wildlife and plants are ravaged by climate change. Producing are Lisa Shaunessy (Killing Ground) through her Arcadia production banner, and Kate Croser of Kojo Entertainment.
Kew Media Distribution, part of Kew Media Group, is handling international sales, excluding Australia and New Zealand where Umbrella Entertainment has distribution rights. Shout! Studios has acquired all North American rights. The film started principal photography at Adelaide Studios, South Australia on November 3.
Australian Government funding and investment...
- 11/15/2018
- by Andreas Wiseman
- Deadline Film + TV
‘Backtrack Boys.’
Russell Crowe last week urged his 2.73 million Twitter followers to see Backtrack Boys in cinemas, lauding Catherine Scott’s feature documentary as really special and a great story.
A reasonable number of Crowe’s followers did so as Umbrella Entertainment launched the film as an alternate content release, which means exhibitors have the flexibility to run limited sessions.
Meanwhile writer-director Heath Davis’ drama Book Week began its staggered roll-out on eight screens via Bonsai Films.
Backtrack Boys examines a youth program run by rule-breaking jackaroo Bernie Shakeshaft (hailed by Crowe as a “good fella and a bit of a genius”) on the outskirts of Armidale Nsw. Voted as the top feature documentary at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the film collected $24,000 from one session on Saturday and Sunday on 44 screens, and $56,000 including festival screenings.
This opens theatrically in Australia on Thursday.
It’s really special.
Go and see it.
Russell Crowe last week urged his 2.73 million Twitter followers to see Backtrack Boys in cinemas, lauding Catherine Scott’s feature documentary as really special and a great story.
A reasonable number of Crowe’s followers did so as Umbrella Entertainment launched the film as an alternate content release, which means exhibitors have the flexibility to run limited sessions.
Meanwhile writer-director Heath Davis’ drama Book Week began its staggered roll-out on eight screens via Bonsai Films.
Backtrack Boys examines a youth program run by rule-breaking jackaroo Bernie Shakeshaft (hailed by Crowe as a “good fella and a bit of a genius”) on the outskirts of Armidale Nsw. Voted as the top feature documentary at the Melbourne International Film Festival, the film collected $24,000 from one session on Saturday and Sunday on 44 screens, and $56,000 including festival screenings.
This opens theatrically in Australia on Thursday.
It’s really special.
Go and see it.
- 10/28/2018
- by The IF Team
- IF.com.au
A24 and DirecTV have acquired North American rights to the Australian crime thriller 1%, The Hollywood Reporter has learned exclusively. A 2018 release is planned in theaters and on DirecTV.
Stephen McCallum made his feature directorial debut with the film, featuring a script by Matt Nable. It is set in the dangerous world of outlaw motorcycle gangs and centers on two men who grapple with fraternity, loyalty and betrayal to control the crime-ridden scene. Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville, Aaron Pederson and Nable are among the cast.
See Pictures' James Hilton and Michael Pontin produced 1%, with Josh Pomeranz,...
Stephen McCallum made his feature directorial debut with the film, featuring a script by Matt Nable. It is set in the dangerous world of outlaw motorcycle gangs and centers on two men who grapple with fraternity, loyalty and betrayal to control the crime-ridden scene. Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Simone Kessell, Josh McConville, Aaron Pederson and Nable are among the cast.
See Pictures' James Hilton and Michael Pontin produced 1%, with Josh Pomeranz,...
- 9/11/2017
- by Ashley Lee
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
(L-r): Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee and Matt Nable.
Principal photography on 1%, the feature debut of Stephen McCallum, has kicked off today..
The film is backed by Ticket to Ride, Screenwest, Spectrum Films, Red Apple Cameras and Head Gear Films..
1% is written by actor Matt Nable (Hacksaw Ridge, Arrow, Fell) and will be helmed by McCallum, who graduated from Aftrs in 2011 with an acclaimed TV spot for GetUp! under his belt, as well as shorts like Six Straws.
Jamie Hilton and Michael Pontin are producing for Perth and Sydney based See Pictures; their third film in Western Australia this year after Simon Baker's Breath and Ben C. Lucas' OtherLife..
Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross and Stephen Boyle are Executive Producers..
1% is set in a fictional motorcycle club called The Copperheads. Joining Nable in the cast is Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Josh McConville, Simone Kessell and Aaron Pederson.
Principal photography on 1%, the feature debut of Stephen McCallum, has kicked off today..
The film is backed by Ticket to Ride, Screenwest, Spectrum Films, Red Apple Cameras and Head Gear Films..
1% is written by actor Matt Nable (Hacksaw Ridge, Arrow, Fell) and will be helmed by McCallum, who graduated from Aftrs in 2011 with an acclaimed TV spot for GetUp! under his belt, as well as shorts like Six Straws.
Jamie Hilton and Michael Pontin are producing for Perth and Sydney based See Pictures; their third film in Western Australia this year after Simon Baker's Breath and Ben C. Lucas' OtherLife..
Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, Phil Hunt, Compton Ross and Stephen Boyle are Executive Producers..
1% is set in a fictional motorcycle club called The Copperheads. Joining Nable in the cast is Ryan Corr, Abbey Lee, Josh McConville, Simone Kessell and Aaron Pederson.
- 11/14/2016
- by Harry Windsor
- IF.com.au
Big Bad Love host Becky Lucas.
Five documentaries from emerging filmmakers will screen on ABC2 and iview over the next two months as part of the ABC and Screen Australia.s Opening Shot initiative.
This is the fourth season of the initiative, which gives five filmmaking teams.—.all with a director under 35 years of age.—.the opportunity to create a prime- time doco with a younger perspective.
ABC TV Head of Factual, Steve Bibb, said this season would bring a diverse range of perspectives to our screens. .It.s never been more important to be making local content told from the perspective of young Australians."
Screen Australia.s senior manager, documentary, Liz Stevens said Opening Shot was a proven launching pad, as demonstrated by the success of past alumni like Maya Newell (Growing Up Gayby) and Madeleine Parry (Meatwork).
.We look forward to seeing how these new stories connect with...
Five documentaries from emerging filmmakers will screen on ABC2 and iview over the next two months as part of the ABC and Screen Australia.s Opening Shot initiative.
This is the fourth season of the initiative, which gives five filmmaking teams.—.all with a director under 35 years of age.—.the opportunity to create a prime- time doco with a younger perspective.
ABC TV Head of Factual, Steve Bibb, said this season would bring a diverse range of perspectives to our screens. .It.s never been more important to be making local content told from the perspective of young Australians."
Screen Australia.s senior manager, documentary, Liz Stevens said Opening Shot was a proven launching pad, as demonstrated by the success of past alumni like Maya Newell (Growing Up Gayby) and Madeleine Parry (Meatwork).
.We look forward to seeing how these new stories connect with...
- 10/25/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Big Bad Love host Becky Lucas.
Five documentaries from emerging filmmakers will screen on ABC2 and iview over the next two months as part of the ABC and Screen Australia.s Opening Shot initiative.
This is the fourth season of the initiative, which gives five filmmaking teams.—.all with a director under 35 years of age.—.the opportunity to create a prime- time doco with a younger perspective.
ABC TV Head of Factual, Steve Bibb, said this season would bring a diverse range of perspectives to our screens. .It.s never been more important to be making local content told from the perspective of young Australians."
Screen Australia.s senior manager, documentary, Liz Stevens said Opening Shot was a proven launching pad, as demonstrated by the success of past alumni like Maya Newell (Growing Up Gayby) and Madeleine Parry (Meatwork).
.We look forward to seeing how these new stories connect with...
Five documentaries from emerging filmmakers will screen on ABC2 and iview over the next two months as part of the ABC and Screen Australia.s Opening Shot initiative.
This is the fourth season of the initiative, which gives five filmmaking teams.—.all with a director under 35 years of age.—.the opportunity to create a prime- time doco with a younger perspective.
ABC TV Head of Factual, Steve Bibb, said this season would bring a diverse range of perspectives to our screens. .It.s never been more important to be making local content told from the perspective of young Australians."
Screen Australia.s senior manager, documentary, Liz Stevens said Opening Shot was a proven launching pad, as demonstrated by the success of past alumni like Maya Newell (Growing Up Gayby) and Madeleine Parry (Meatwork).
.We look forward to seeing how these new stories connect with...
- 10/25/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
.
Spectrum Films has moved into its new home at Fox Studios after a raft of key appointments..
The new site on the second floor of the Frank Hurley Building at Fox Studios Australia is now operational..
With Adam Scott now a partner in the business working in tandem with Josh Pomeranz, Spectrum Films "3.0" offers refined technical services including edit suites, online picture finishing, colour grading and a custom built sound mixing theatre, as well as sound design, editing and post sound management.
The new post facility will be looked after by recently appointed post producer, Catherine Armstrong, and head of sound, Angus Robertson.
Armstrong, whose credits include Please Like Me, Tanna, Dance Academy, Underbelly and Paper giants: Magzine Wars, had previously worked at SoundFirm for almost two years as post producer.
Robertson's credits include Dead Calm, The Year My Voice Broke and Black Robe, as well as his more...
Spectrum Films has moved into its new home at Fox Studios after a raft of key appointments..
The new site on the second floor of the Frank Hurley Building at Fox Studios Australia is now operational..
With Adam Scott now a partner in the business working in tandem with Josh Pomeranz, Spectrum Films "3.0" offers refined technical services including edit suites, online picture finishing, colour grading and a custom built sound mixing theatre, as well as sound design, editing and post sound management.
The new post facility will be looked after by recently appointed post producer, Catherine Armstrong, and head of sound, Angus Robertson.
Armstrong, whose credits include Please Like Me, Tanna, Dance Academy, Underbelly and Paper giants: Magzine Wars, had previously worked at SoundFirm for almost two years as post producer.
Robertson's credits include Dead Calm, The Year My Voice Broke and Black Robe, as well as his more...
- 3/16/2016
- by Staff Writer
- IF.com.au
Spectrum Films will start a new chapter in its 51 year history early next year by moving into a new creative space in the heart of the Fox Studios.
It.s just the second time the post production facility founded by Hans Pomeranz in a converted shop in Willoughby has shifted its operations.
Spectrum Films has been based in Building 53 on the Fox lot since the studios opened in 1998, well before the advent of Avid and other digital devices.
Managing director Josh Pomeranz and general manager Adam Scott- who is taking a stake in the business- see the move as the next evolution of Spectrum Films.
.We have come a long way from the converted chicken shop in Willoughby, and we look forward to welcoming our Spectrum family on the balcony soon,. Pomeranz said.
The opportunity to shift to the far more central location - the second floor of the Frank Hurley...
It.s just the second time the post production facility founded by Hans Pomeranz in a converted shop in Willoughby has shifted its operations.
Spectrum Films has been based in Building 53 on the Fox lot since the studios opened in 1998, well before the advent of Avid and other digital devices.
Managing director Josh Pomeranz and general manager Adam Scott- who is taking a stake in the business- see the move as the next evolution of Spectrum Films.
.We have come a long way from the converted chicken shop in Willoughby, and we look forward to welcoming our Spectrum family on the balcony soon,. Pomeranz said.
The opportunity to shift to the far more central location - the second floor of the Frank Hurley...
- 11/8/2015
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Filming has started in Western Australia on the new Ben C. Lucas science fiction thriller, Other Life,.
The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and Tj Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.
This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an Aacta Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.
Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O.Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.
OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has...
The film, starring Jessica De Gouw, Thomas Cocquerel, and Tj Power, will be shot of five weeks, with Entertainment One taking care of the release in Australia and New Zealand.
This is the second feature for Lucas, whose debut, Wasted on the Young, was acquired by Paramount in Australia and nominated for an Aacta Award after a successful festival circuit including Sydney Film Festival, Toronto International Film Festival, Pusan International Film Festival, South By Southwest Film Festival, and Torino Film Festival.
Otherlife will be produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Pontin, Janelle Landers, Aidan O.Bryan, Marco Mehlitz,Tommaso Fiacchino, and Bo Hyde. Executive producers include Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Kendal Morgan Rhodes,Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu, and Stephen Boyle.
OtherLife is based on the popular novel, Solitaire, by Kelley Eskridge. The screenplay has...
- 8/23/2015
- by Brian Karlovsky
- IF.com.au
The Little Death is a film that has been trying to tease out information for a while now, and we finally get a Red Band Trailer so we know exactly where things are going.
Where things are going, apparently, is straight to the oddest corners of the world of sexuality, and deep into the mind of writer/director Josh Lawson.
Check it out above, and don’t miss this one on June 26th.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
The Little Death
Written and Directed by Josh Lawson
Staring Josh Lawson, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Patrick Brammall, Alan Dukes, Lisa McCune, Erin James, Tj Power, Kim Gyngell and Lachy Hulme
The Little Death, which marks the arrival of Australian writer-director Josh Lawson, is both an edgy sex comedy and a warm-hearted depiction of the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney. Lawson’s searing and...
Where things are going, apparently, is straight to the oddest corners of the world of sexuality, and deep into the mind of writer/director Josh Lawson.
Check it out above, and don’t miss this one on June 26th.
Photo courtesy of Magnolia Pictures
The Little Death
Written and Directed by Josh Lawson
Staring Josh Lawson, Bojana Novakovic, Damon Herriman, Kate Mulvany, Kate Box, Patrick Brammall, Alan Dukes, Lisa McCune, Erin James, Tj Power, Kim Gyngell and Lachy Hulme
The Little Death, which marks the arrival of Australian writer-director Josh Lawson, is both an edgy sex comedy and a warm-hearted depiction of the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney. Lawson’s searing and...
- 5/4/2015
- by Marc Eastman
- AreYouScreening.com
Josh Lawson.s feature film The Little Death as well as two short films and an online documentary will be showcased at the 22nd South by Southwest (SXSW) Film Conference and Festival in Austin, Texas, next month.
The Little Death is a sex comedy dealing with a number of different couples who are each grappling with different problems in their relationships and sex lives. Having premiered internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, The Little Death will screen in the Narrative Spotlight category at SXSW.
Yianni Warnock.s short film Happy with Bear (produced by Charles Williams) will enjoy its world premiere at the festival screening in the Narrative Shorts section. Running at six minutes, 28 seconds, Happy with Bear explores the loneliness of a Singaporean exchange student and her attempts to find solace by posting fictional images of herself online.
Also in the Narrative Shorts section is Australian...
The Little Death is a sex comedy dealing with a number of different couples who are each grappling with different problems in their relationships and sex lives. Having premiered internationally at the Toronto International Film Festival last year, The Little Death will screen in the Narrative Spotlight category at SXSW.
Yianni Warnock.s short film Happy with Bear (produced by Charles Williams) will enjoy its world premiere at the festival screening in the Narrative Shorts section. Running at six minutes, 28 seconds, Happy with Bear explores the loneliness of a Singaporean exchange student and her attempts to find solace by posting fictional images of herself online.
Also in the Narrative Shorts section is Australian...
- 2/11/2015
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
.It.s a great Australian story of an immigrant who came here with nothing and started something,. says Josh Pomeranz, Managing Director of Spectrum Films.
He.s talking about the company.s 50-year history, and he.s right.
Fifty years ago, his father Hans, an immigrant from Holland, started a company which we know now as Spectrum Films. It began as a one room editing suite in North Sydney before moving to Willoughby (famous for starting off as a chicken shop and for the parties held in the parking lot) before settling at its current home in the hub of Sydney.s Entertainment centre, Fox Studios.
.Dad started this company in 1964 and I.m immensely proud of what has been achieved during that time,. says Pomeranz, who took over from his father as MD in 2002.
.I.m hugely proud that we have reached this milestone and the achievement that represents.
He.s talking about the company.s 50-year history, and he.s right.
Fifty years ago, his father Hans, an immigrant from Holland, started a company which we know now as Spectrum Films. It began as a one room editing suite in North Sydney before moving to Willoughby (famous for starting off as a chicken shop and for the parties held in the parking lot) before settling at its current home in the hub of Sydney.s Entertainment centre, Fox Studios.
.Dad started this company in 1964 and I.m immensely proud of what has been achieved during that time,. says Pomeranz, who took over from his father as MD in 2002.
.I.m hugely proud that we have reached this milestone and the achievement that represents.
- 12/9/2014
- by Emily Blatchford
- IF.com.au
Magnolia has acquired North American rights to Josh Lawson’s sex comedy, while LevelK has closed further international sales.
The Little Death premiered in Canada at the start of the month and centres on five suburban couples and their fetishes.
LevelK has closed deals with California Filmes for Latin America, Apex for South Korea, M2 for Poland and Cirko for Hungary.
As previously reported, LevelK licensed the comedy in the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment). eOne Films Australia will release on September 25.
The cast of emerging talent includes Damon Herriman, Bojana Novakovic, Kate Mulvany and Josh Lawson.
Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder produced for See Pictures. Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle served as executive producers.
Magnolia has earmarked a 2015 release and brokered the deal with UTA Independent Film Group and Level K on behalf of the...
The Little Death premiered in Canada at the start of the month and centres on five suburban couples and their fetishes.
LevelK has closed deals with California Filmes for Latin America, Apex for South Korea, M2 for Poland and Cirko for Hungary.
As previously reported, LevelK licensed the comedy in the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment). eOne Films Australia will release on September 25.
The cast of emerging talent includes Damon Herriman, Bojana Novakovic, Kate Mulvany and Josh Lawson.
Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder produced for See Pictures. Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle served as executive producers.
Magnolia has earmarked a 2015 release and brokered the deal with UTA Independent Film Group and Level K on behalf of the...
- 9/23/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
The latest Toronto acquisition has trickled in as Magnolia announced a North American deal for Josh Lawson’s sex comedy. LevelK handles international sales.
The Little Death premiered in Canada at the start of the month and centres on five suburban couples and their fetishes.
The cast of emerging talent includes Damon Herriman, Bojana Novakovic, Kate Mulvany and Josh Lawson.
Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder produced for See Pictures. Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle served as executive producers.
Magnolia has earmarked a 2015 release and brokered the deal with UTA Independent Film Group and Level K on behalf of the filmmakers.
The Little Death premiered in Canada at the start of the month and centres on five suburban couples and their fetishes.
The cast of emerging talent includes Damon Herriman, Bojana Novakovic, Kate Mulvany and Josh Lawson.
Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder produced for See Pictures. Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle served as executive producers.
Magnolia has earmarked a 2015 release and brokered the deal with UTA Independent Film Group and Level K on behalf of the filmmakers.
- 9/23/2014
- by jeremykay67@gmail.com (Jeremy Kay)
- ScreenDaily
This comic exploration of "the extraordinary sex lives of ordinary people," per the press release, stars breakout talent including Damon Herriman ("J. Edgar"), Bojana Novakovic ("Burning Man"), Kate Mulvany ("The Great Gatsby") and Lawson himself ("House of Lies"). Aussie director Lawson's debut plumbs the sexual kinks of five suburban couples, from the mundane to the hilarious and fetishistic. Magnolia president Eamonn Bowles promises "shockingly funny sex humor" and "a warmly affectionate look at adult relationships." The company is eyeing a 2015 release. The film was produced by Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures, and executive produced by Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle. Australian trailer below.
- 9/23/2014
- by Ryan Lattanzio
- Thompson on Hollywood
LevelK sells Australian sex comedy to raft of territories.
Josh Lawson’s sex-fetish comedy The Little Death has been snapped up by buyers following its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
LevelK has sold the film to the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment).
Negotiations are currently ongoing in Toronto for multiple territories, according to LevelK.
Lawson’s directorial debut explores the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney and stars Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner, J. Edgar), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies, Anchorman 2).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; and executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing by Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Screen Australia...
Josh Lawson’s sex-fetish comedy The Little Death has been snapped up by buyers following its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
LevelK has sold the film to the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment).
Negotiations are currently ongoing in Toronto for multiple territories, according to LevelK.
Lawson’s directorial debut explores the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney and stars Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner, J. Edgar), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies, Anchorman 2).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; and executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing by Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Screen Australia...
- 9/9/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
LevelK sells Australian sex comedy to raft of territories.
Josh Lawson’s sex-fetish comedy The Little Death has been snapped up by buyers following its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
LevelK has sold the film to the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment).
Negotiations are currently ongoing in Toronto for multiple territories, according to LevelK.
Lawson’s directorial debut explores the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney and stars Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner, J. Edgar), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies, Anchorman 2).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; and executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing by Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple...
Josh Lawson’s sex-fetish comedy The Little Death has been snapped up by buyers following its international premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival.
LevelK has sold the film to the UK (Kaleidoscope), France and Spain (Wild Bunch), Germany, Switzerland and Austria (WeltKino), Greece (Seven Films) and Taiwan (Joint Entertainment).
Negotiations are currently ongoing in Toronto for multiple territories, according to LevelK.
Lawson’s directorial debut explores the secret lives of five suburban couples living in Sydney and stars Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner, J. Edgar), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies, Anchorman 2).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; and executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing by Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple...
- 9/9/2014
- by michael.rosser@screendaily.com (Michael Rosser)
- ScreenDaily
LevelK, Ticket to Ride partner on Josh Lawson’s debut.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded sales on Josh Lawson’s debut feature The Little Death about the sex lives of five Australian couples.
Shot in and around Sydney, the comedy-drama stars an ensemble of rising talent including Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House Of Lies).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing of the feature came from Ticket To Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple, Spectrum Films and Metrol Technology.
eOne Films Australia will release locally on September 25.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded sales on Josh Lawson’s debut feature The Little Death about the sex lives of five Australian couples.
Shot in and around Sydney, the comedy-drama stars an ensemble of rising talent including Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House Of Lies).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing of the feature came from Ticket To Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple, Spectrum Films and Metrol Technology.
eOne Films Australia will release locally on September 25.
- 8/20/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
LevelK, Ticket to Ride partner on Josh Lawson’s debut.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded sales on Josh Lawson’s debut drama The Little Death about the sex lives of five Australian couples.
Shot in and around Sydney, the film stars an ensemble of rising talent including Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing of the feature came from Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple, Spectrum Films and Metrol Technology.
eOne Films Australia will release locally on September 25, 2014.
Copenhagen-based sales outfit LevelK has boarded sales on Josh Lawson’s debut drama The Little Death about the sex lives of five Australian couples.
Shot in and around Sydney, the film stars an ensemble of rising talent including Damon Herriman (The Water Diviner), Bojana Novakovic (Burning Man), Kate Mulvany (The Great Gatsby) and Josh Lawson (House of Lies).
Producers are Jamie Hilton, Michael Petroni and Matt Reeder for See Pictures; executive producers are Phil Hunt, Compton Ross, Josh Pomeranz, Viv Scanu and Stephen Boyle.
Financing of the feature came from Ticket to Ride in association with Head Gear Film, Night Kitchen Productions, Red Apple, Spectrum Films and Metrol Technology.
eOne Films Australia will release locally on September 25, 2014.
- 8/20/2014
- by andreas.wiseman@screendaily.com (Andreas Wiseman)
- ScreenDaily
Thomas Mai has produced or executive produced six films and is a former sales agent turned crowdfunding pioneer. He is from Denmark and lives in Sydney, Australia with his Brazilian wife Josie. For the last two years Thomas has worked at FanDependent, together with Josh Pomeranz from Spectrum Films to run Crowdfunding campaigns and Crowdsourced distribution through a grant from Screen Australia. Thomas has teamed up with Pozible to help five filmmakers reach a crowdfunding goal of a minimum $100,000 through the ‘Mission:Pozible’ program: http://www.pozible.com/mission-pozible
Here is the second part of his incredible piece on the intricacies of crowdfunding campaigns. Read Part 1 Here
4. Video
I cannot emphasize this enough: as a filmmaker your video is the single most important tool to succeed in your crowdfunding efforts.
Do not underestimate how important it is to get it right. When I launch a crowdfunding campaign, my team and I usually do about 10 drafts of the script before shooting the video, then we reshoot many times before editing. You are not ready to launch your crowdfunding campaign before your video is perfect: end of story.
Too many people just show a trailer or have bad lighting, sound or focus in their video which will trigger people to stop watching. You have to remember that even though your film and crowdfunding campaign is a huge important milestone in your life it means nothing to people who do not know you. We live in a world where we are constantly being bombarded with texts, instant messaging, viral videos, advertising, trailers, TV, sports, social media, gaming consoles... anything to grab our attention.
There is so much noise out there done by brilliant people in billion dollar industries and unfortunately that is who you are competing with. If your video is below average people will jump to the next thing before you can say even say ‘crowdfunding’. So spend a lot of time to get it right. As a matter of pride the video is supposed to be the one area where filmmakers should have a huge advantage. Don’t fail the most basic film job as you will never get another chance to make a first impression.
5. Switch your thinking from ‘ what ’ to ‘ why ’
When you pitch to a distributor, sales agent, financier, government, tv station etc. you pitch the What. This is what they will have taught you in film school. The what is: What is the budget? What is the film about? What demographic will see the film? What is the cast etc. You know the drill.
But in crowdfunding you are pitching directly to the audience and they don’t care about the What. They only care about the Why. Why are you making this film? Why is this film important? Why should I as a member of the audience care? And most importantly Why should I give you my hard earned money when I can send money to a charity, go to the movies or have drinks with some of my best friends for the amount you want from me? If you can’t answer this paramount question then you are not ready to crowdfund.
6. Move people through emotion
Any well done commercial will get you emotionally involved in 30 seconds. They either do that by reminding you of pain you might have experienced or by showing how awesome it would be if you bought Xyz. Sometimes it is a combination of both (and yes I am simplifying things for the sake of the length of this article). Your video should ideally be two minutes maximum, this is more than adequate to get your message across, (and attention spans online are incredibly short).
You also have to choose someone to be your project’s presenter/ambassador. Why? Do you want to give money to someone that you have never even laid eyes on? The video is the best way to create a connection between you and your audience. The person should do an introduction on Why you are making the film and the length should be around 15 - 20 seconds, then you cut to a minute of trailer/teaser footage and then you end with an outro from the same person explaining Why you need people to donate to your campaign. I advise you to check out the videos that we did for the 11 films I was involved in, you can find them online at the platforms listed in the chart (above).
Read More: 11 Things I Learned from Running 11 Crowdfunding Campaigns: Part 2
7. B2B to B2C
Something has changed over the last 10 years. You might not have noticed it but with the rise of social media, crowdfunding platforms, YouTube channels, iTunes, VOD, sales from your own website, we as filmmakers are quietly shifting away from being in B2B (that is business school talk for ‘Business 2 Business’).
In other words when you needed money to make your film you would go to businesses out there to write you a check and in return you would hand over the rights to your movie and then they would go and deal with those pesky people called ‘The Audience’. This is what filmmakers have been doing for the last 100 years or so.
But now you are becoming more and more of a B2C (fancy definition for ‘Business 2 Consumers’) which basically means that you have started or should start to deal directly with your audience. This is terrifying for many filmmakers, even those who have no problems dealing with the public when the film is completed. But the idea of dealing with the public on a daily basis is a scary proposition.
There is a significant upside to operating in a B2C market: building a loyal audience.
Even the most active filmmakers can only make a new film every two years (and that is a great batting average) two years is a long time to chase financing and your next project. Why not start to have an ongoing relationship with your audience throughout those two years and make your film career more sustainable? Remember that you are only as strong as the fans you represent.
8. What to offer for pledges
Do rewards matter? Yes and no. No because the average donation we got across the 11 films was $194.30 and most of them gave above and beyond on what the actual pledge level was. But yes, people will be happy to receive something from your film. The more personalized it is, the more it means to them.
The more mass produced it is the less meaning it has. Generally speaking mass produced rewards ie DVD’s, downloads, t-shirts, posters etc. should be at the entry points between the $10 - $100 pledge. And the more exclusive visit to the set, meet the cast, dinner party, premiere tickets, after party tickets, co- and executive producer tickets should be at the higher end of the scale between $100 - $10,000. Try to offer unique rewards that are limited by time or quantity.
9. The three circles of influence and the monetary goal
How are you going to get traffic/visitors to your crowdfunding link I hear you ask? Great question.
Think of all of your friends, families and close social media contact as your first circle of influence. These are the people who most likely will give you money and support your latest film idea no matter how bad it is. They will support you because they know you. I estimate that 50% of the people in your first circle will give you support.
The second circle is friends of friends, old and forgotten roommates and that girl you kissed in college so many years ago. They will support you because they know you and because they like the idea. If they don’t like the idea they will not support you. About 15% of them will probably give you money.
The third and final circle are the most important if you are going for more than $50,000. These are people who have no idea who you are but who like your idea. You contact them through PR, blogs, ads, general awareness etc. You should expect about 1 - 2% of them will probably give you money.
The numbers above should give you a rough idea of how much money you can ask for. Find out how many people you can contact and do the math. It is all a numbers game.
10. Its not about the money
Most people are so focused on the money when it comes to crowdfunding, but in my opinion that is the least important part. At the end of the day it is all about raising money for your film. But if you forget about the money, then crowdfunding becomes a great test tool to see if anybody cares about your film. It takes an average of three years to make a film (coming up with the idea, many drafts of scripts, financing, casting, pre - production, production, post - production, marketing and distribution). Think about it. How often has a studio, great director or amazing cast been wrong and completely failed at the box office?
Crowdfunding is all about finding out if there is enough demand for you to justify spending the next three years of your life on the film. If not, be happy, change your idea and move on to the next film. The normal way of testing the demand is to do test screenings but that is After the film has already been shot. Crowdfunding allows us to pitch the idea to consumers and if enough go for it then by all means make the film.
11. Inverted bell curve
Great, you launched your campaign and you are up and running and for the first couple of days you are pulling in $5K - $20K. Everyone is happy, but then the pledges abruptly slow down. What happened? You have exhausted your first and second circle of influence and you have not yet managed to tap in to the third circle of influence. This is where all the work is. You will go through a dry spell in the middle and hopefully your campaign should pick up speed at the end of your campaign resulting in the inverted bell curve. This is normal but fight hard to not make it so. You want daily activity. Monitor the views of the trailer and the donations closely and find out where the traffic is coming from.
This is where all your research should pay off so you can contact all the organisations, blogs, names, journalists in your massive spreadsheet.
If one thing doesn’t work, try another. I always think of the Us Marine corps mantra:
Adapt, Improvise, Overcome...until it all works out.
Yes, you will get frustrated and want to give up many times during your campaign, this is normal.
Believe me, I have been there 11 times!
I wish you the best of luck
Thomas...
Here is the second part of his incredible piece on the intricacies of crowdfunding campaigns. Read Part 1 Here
4. Video
I cannot emphasize this enough: as a filmmaker your video is the single most important tool to succeed in your crowdfunding efforts.
Do not underestimate how important it is to get it right. When I launch a crowdfunding campaign, my team and I usually do about 10 drafts of the script before shooting the video, then we reshoot many times before editing. You are not ready to launch your crowdfunding campaign before your video is perfect: end of story.
Too many people just show a trailer or have bad lighting, sound or focus in their video which will trigger people to stop watching. You have to remember that even though your film and crowdfunding campaign is a huge important milestone in your life it means nothing to people who do not know you. We live in a world where we are constantly being bombarded with texts, instant messaging, viral videos, advertising, trailers, TV, sports, social media, gaming consoles... anything to grab our attention.
There is so much noise out there done by brilliant people in billion dollar industries and unfortunately that is who you are competing with. If your video is below average people will jump to the next thing before you can say even say ‘crowdfunding’. So spend a lot of time to get it right. As a matter of pride the video is supposed to be the one area where filmmakers should have a huge advantage. Don’t fail the most basic film job as you will never get another chance to make a first impression.
5. Switch your thinking from ‘ what ’ to ‘ why ’
When you pitch to a distributor, sales agent, financier, government, tv station etc. you pitch the What. This is what they will have taught you in film school. The what is: What is the budget? What is the film about? What demographic will see the film? What is the cast etc. You know the drill.
But in crowdfunding you are pitching directly to the audience and they don’t care about the What. They only care about the Why. Why are you making this film? Why is this film important? Why should I as a member of the audience care? And most importantly Why should I give you my hard earned money when I can send money to a charity, go to the movies or have drinks with some of my best friends for the amount you want from me? If you can’t answer this paramount question then you are not ready to crowdfund.
6. Move people through emotion
Any well done commercial will get you emotionally involved in 30 seconds. They either do that by reminding you of pain you might have experienced or by showing how awesome it would be if you bought Xyz. Sometimes it is a combination of both (and yes I am simplifying things for the sake of the length of this article). Your video should ideally be two minutes maximum, this is more than adequate to get your message across, (and attention spans online are incredibly short).
You also have to choose someone to be your project’s presenter/ambassador. Why? Do you want to give money to someone that you have never even laid eyes on? The video is the best way to create a connection between you and your audience. The person should do an introduction on Why you are making the film and the length should be around 15 - 20 seconds, then you cut to a minute of trailer/teaser footage and then you end with an outro from the same person explaining Why you need people to donate to your campaign. I advise you to check out the videos that we did for the 11 films I was involved in, you can find them online at the platforms listed in the chart (above).
Read More: 11 Things I Learned from Running 11 Crowdfunding Campaigns: Part 2
7. B2B to B2C
Something has changed over the last 10 years. You might not have noticed it but with the rise of social media, crowdfunding platforms, YouTube channels, iTunes, VOD, sales from your own website, we as filmmakers are quietly shifting away from being in B2B (that is business school talk for ‘Business 2 Business’).
In other words when you needed money to make your film you would go to businesses out there to write you a check and in return you would hand over the rights to your movie and then they would go and deal with those pesky people called ‘The Audience’. This is what filmmakers have been doing for the last 100 years or so.
But now you are becoming more and more of a B2C (fancy definition for ‘Business 2 Consumers’) which basically means that you have started or should start to deal directly with your audience. This is terrifying for many filmmakers, even those who have no problems dealing with the public when the film is completed. But the idea of dealing with the public on a daily basis is a scary proposition.
There is a significant upside to operating in a B2C market: building a loyal audience.
Even the most active filmmakers can only make a new film every two years (and that is a great batting average) two years is a long time to chase financing and your next project. Why not start to have an ongoing relationship with your audience throughout those two years and make your film career more sustainable? Remember that you are only as strong as the fans you represent.
8. What to offer for pledges
Do rewards matter? Yes and no. No because the average donation we got across the 11 films was $194.30 and most of them gave above and beyond on what the actual pledge level was. But yes, people will be happy to receive something from your film. The more personalized it is, the more it means to them.
The more mass produced it is the less meaning it has. Generally speaking mass produced rewards ie DVD’s, downloads, t-shirts, posters etc. should be at the entry points between the $10 - $100 pledge. And the more exclusive visit to the set, meet the cast, dinner party, premiere tickets, after party tickets, co- and executive producer tickets should be at the higher end of the scale between $100 - $10,000. Try to offer unique rewards that are limited by time or quantity.
9. The three circles of influence and the monetary goal
How are you going to get traffic/visitors to your crowdfunding link I hear you ask? Great question.
Think of all of your friends, families and close social media contact as your first circle of influence. These are the people who most likely will give you money and support your latest film idea no matter how bad it is. They will support you because they know you. I estimate that 50% of the people in your first circle will give you support.
The second circle is friends of friends, old and forgotten roommates and that girl you kissed in college so many years ago. They will support you because they know you and because they like the idea. If they don’t like the idea they will not support you. About 15% of them will probably give you money.
The third and final circle are the most important if you are going for more than $50,000. These are people who have no idea who you are but who like your idea. You contact them through PR, blogs, ads, general awareness etc. You should expect about 1 - 2% of them will probably give you money.
The numbers above should give you a rough idea of how much money you can ask for. Find out how many people you can contact and do the math. It is all a numbers game.
10. Its not about the money
Most people are so focused on the money when it comes to crowdfunding, but in my opinion that is the least important part. At the end of the day it is all about raising money for your film. But if you forget about the money, then crowdfunding becomes a great test tool to see if anybody cares about your film. It takes an average of three years to make a film (coming up with the idea, many drafts of scripts, financing, casting, pre - production, production, post - production, marketing and distribution). Think about it. How often has a studio, great director or amazing cast been wrong and completely failed at the box office?
Crowdfunding is all about finding out if there is enough demand for you to justify spending the next three years of your life on the film. If not, be happy, change your idea and move on to the next film. The normal way of testing the demand is to do test screenings but that is After the film has already been shot. Crowdfunding allows us to pitch the idea to consumers and if enough go for it then by all means make the film.
11. Inverted bell curve
Great, you launched your campaign and you are up and running and for the first couple of days you are pulling in $5K - $20K. Everyone is happy, but then the pledges abruptly slow down. What happened? You have exhausted your first and second circle of influence and you have not yet managed to tap in to the third circle of influence. This is where all the work is. You will go through a dry spell in the middle and hopefully your campaign should pick up speed at the end of your campaign resulting in the inverted bell curve. This is normal but fight hard to not make it so. You want daily activity. Monitor the views of the trailer and the donations closely and find out where the traffic is coming from.
This is where all your research should pay off so you can contact all the organisations, blogs, names, journalists in your massive spreadsheet.
If one thing doesn’t work, try another. I always think of the Us Marine corps mantra:
Adapt, Improvise, Overcome...until it all works out.
Yes, you will get frustrated and want to give up many times during your campaign, this is normal.
Believe me, I have been there 11 times!
I wish you the best of luck
Thomas...
- 8/14/2014
- by Thomas Mai
- Sydney's Buzz
Thomas Mai has produced or executive produced six films and is a former sales agent turned crowdfunding pioneer. He is from Denmark and lives in Sydney, Australia with his Brazilian wife Josie. For the last two years Thomas has worked at FanDependent, together with Josh Pomeranz from Spectrum Films to run Crowdfunding campaigns and Crowdsourced distribution through a grant from Screen Australia. Thomas has teamed up with Pozible to help five filmmakers reach a crowdfunding goal of a minimum $100,000 through the ‘Mission:Pozible’ program: http://www.pozible.com/mission-pozible
1. The Numbers
I have run 11 crowdfunding campaigns over the last two years. Most, but not all of these, are from first time filmmakers.
Seven succeed and four failed. That is a 63.63% success rate or if you are a pessimist a 36.37% failure rate. When I say failure it is important to bear in mind that 3 out of the 4 “failed” campaigns were on Indiegogo which allows flexible funding, meaning that the campaigns still received the money despite their “failure” to meet the crowdfunding goal.
What is astounding is that it only took 416 funders on the documentary Deep Blue Sea to raise $60,594 which is an average donation of $145 per funder. The documentary Gayby Baby managed to raise $104,756 from 1,244 funders which is an average donation of $84 per funder. The average donation across all 11 campaigns is an impressive $194.30 per funder. 3,198 people donated an average of $194.30 across the 11 campaigns. That is a lot of money from each contributor and a lot more than the average cinema ticket, DVD or VOD sale, which goes to show the value of passionate supporters.
The most important stat that I keep track of during a crowdfunding campaign is the donation per view. If you take the total raised and divide it by the amounts of video views then you get an average donation per view. Why is this important? Well if I tell you that we made an average of $29.24 on Deep Blue Sea each time someone watched our trailer then I am certain you will understand the importance of this stat. On Gayby Baby we made an average of $9.11 as it took 11,500 trailer views to reach the $104,756. When the campaign is running I check the amount of views daily as this is the true indicator as to whether we have reached new funders.
2. The Platform
The first question I get from any filmmaker is what crowdfunding platform should I choose? Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Pozible or? (full disclosure, I have teamed up with Pozible for the next 3 months to help 5 filmmakers raise a minimum of $100,000, you can read more about the program here http://www.pozible.com/mission-pozible)
It is not about what the platform can do for your campaign but rather what can You do for Your campaign. At the end of the day, the success of your crowdfunding campaign is not about which platform you are on but rather how much traffic You create for your own project. All the platforms run thousands of campaigns each month and the chances are slim that you will be featured on their landing page or in their newsletter, therefore the visitors have to come from your own network or contacts and the press and attention that you can create.
Think of each platform as a vehicle that you are in charge of the driving. How far you go and how fast you get there depends on your work. What you put in is what you are going to get out. Make no mistake, running a crowdfunding campaign is hard work, regardless of the platform.
There are pro’s and con’s with each platform and there are too many platforms to list so I will only concentrate on Indiegogo, Kickstarter and Pozible.
Indiegogo
Pro’s
Indiegogo offers flexible funding so you still get your money even if you don’t reach you crowdfunding goal (but you pay a higher fee 9%, the normal fee is 4% before credit card fee’s).
Indiegogo does not need to approve your project, all you need is a PayPal account. You can be based anywhere in the world.
Indiegogo accepts credit cards and PayPal.
Indiegogo will give your campaign a personalized url.
Indiegogo embeds either your YouTube or Vimeo link.
Con’s
Even though Indiegogo was first on the scene before Kickstarter, they are not as big as Kickstarter.
They allow almost any project, so there are projects of “lower” quality on there.
Indiegogo does not offer many stats and does not disclose its success rate.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter has really become synonymous with crowdfunding and have done a great job with many successful campaigns. Kickstarter claims (as of the time of this writing) a 42.73% success rate.
Pro’s
There is no denying that Kickstarter is the Granddaddy when it comes to crowdfunding in terms of money raised, backers, press etc. But as I wrote earlier it is still up to you to drive the traffic and if you don’t get on the front page or in the newsletter it will not help you.
Kickstarter are very open about their stats and they share them for everyone to follow.
Con’s
Kickstarter only accept the Amazonwallet payment system which can be a hassle.
Kickstarter will only let you use their video player so no YouTube or Vimeo embedment.
Kickstarter will give you a random number before your long url.
You need to live in the Us, UK, Canada, Australia or Nz to host a project on Kickstarter.
Kickstarter charges 5%.
Pozible
Pozible was started in Australia by Rick Chen (born in China) and Alan Crabbe (born in N. Ireland) and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Shanghai & San Francisco.
Pro’s
Pozible accepts credit cards, PayPal and Bitcoin.
Pozible will give your campaign a personalized url.
Pozible embeds either your YouTube or Vimeo link.
Pozible charges 4% and if you raise more than $500,00 it drops to 3%.
Pozible has access to closed Chinese market as Rick Chen is from China.
Pozible has a 56% success rate.
You can be based anywhere in the world (well not North Korea but that’s a different story).
You can find the names of all the staff and email them questions.
They have a dedicated film person working with them the next 3 months (that would be me).
Con’s
There is no denying that Pozible is has a smaller audience than Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Has “only” launched 6,902 projects.
Has “only” crowdfunded $22,888,048
Your projects need to be approved by Pozible
3. The Workload
There is a lot of work that goes into making a crowdfunding campaign successful. I usually spend a full three months with my clients Before the campaign goes live. So what takes three months? The strategy, research on who could help spread the message, the rewards, writing the script, shooting and editing the video.
Yes, we spend a lot of time researching who out there can help our campaign along. But we don’t ask for favors, we believe in a win - win situation for everyone. On the film Deep Blue Sea, which is a documentary on asylum seekers arriving at Australia by boat, we teamed up with several organizations who had like-minded views on the subject. But instead of asking for money we offered the organizations the chance to host their own screenings for their members, we offered for them to come and speak at the official screenings as well as a booth at the venues. We also offered for them to sell the DVD directly to their members. One must remember that all organizations have limited time, energy and money and if you only ask without giving anything back they will most likely not respond.
When your campaign goes live it is a constant mad rush to get it across the finish line. As soon as the clock starts ticking you and your team will have to work at least full time to get your message out there. Get all the help you can get from family, friends, interns etc, as you are under time pressure and your project is on the line. Fight for your film, succeed and be rewarded.
Thomas Mai will be back next week with more tips about running a successful crowdfunding campaign.
To read more about Thomas’ current project - helping experienced filmmakers to raise more than $100k through crowdfunding - go to: www.pozible.com/missionpozible...
1. The Numbers
I have run 11 crowdfunding campaigns over the last two years. Most, but not all of these, are from first time filmmakers.
Seven succeed and four failed. That is a 63.63% success rate or if you are a pessimist a 36.37% failure rate. When I say failure it is important to bear in mind that 3 out of the 4 “failed” campaigns were on Indiegogo which allows flexible funding, meaning that the campaigns still received the money despite their “failure” to meet the crowdfunding goal.
What is astounding is that it only took 416 funders on the documentary Deep Blue Sea to raise $60,594 which is an average donation of $145 per funder. The documentary Gayby Baby managed to raise $104,756 from 1,244 funders which is an average donation of $84 per funder. The average donation across all 11 campaigns is an impressive $194.30 per funder. 3,198 people donated an average of $194.30 across the 11 campaigns. That is a lot of money from each contributor and a lot more than the average cinema ticket, DVD or VOD sale, which goes to show the value of passionate supporters.
The most important stat that I keep track of during a crowdfunding campaign is the donation per view. If you take the total raised and divide it by the amounts of video views then you get an average donation per view. Why is this important? Well if I tell you that we made an average of $29.24 on Deep Blue Sea each time someone watched our trailer then I am certain you will understand the importance of this stat. On Gayby Baby we made an average of $9.11 as it took 11,500 trailer views to reach the $104,756. When the campaign is running I check the amount of views daily as this is the true indicator as to whether we have reached new funders.
2. The Platform
The first question I get from any filmmaker is what crowdfunding platform should I choose? Kickstarter, Indiegogo, Pozible or? (full disclosure, I have teamed up with Pozible for the next 3 months to help 5 filmmakers raise a minimum of $100,000, you can read more about the program here http://www.pozible.com/mission-pozible)
It is not about what the platform can do for your campaign but rather what can You do for Your campaign. At the end of the day, the success of your crowdfunding campaign is not about which platform you are on but rather how much traffic You create for your own project. All the platforms run thousands of campaigns each month and the chances are slim that you will be featured on their landing page or in their newsletter, therefore the visitors have to come from your own network or contacts and the press and attention that you can create.
Think of each platform as a vehicle that you are in charge of the driving. How far you go and how fast you get there depends on your work. What you put in is what you are going to get out. Make no mistake, running a crowdfunding campaign is hard work, regardless of the platform.
There are pro’s and con’s with each platform and there are too many platforms to list so I will only concentrate on Indiegogo, Kickstarter and Pozible.
Indiegogo
Pro’s
Indiegogo offers flexible funding so you still get your money even if you don’t reach you crowdfunding goal (but you pay a higher fee 9%, the normal fee is 4% before credit card fee’s).
Indiegogo does not need to approve your project, all you need is a PayPal account. You can be based anywhere in the world.
Indiegogo accepts credit cards and PayPal.
Indiegogo will give your campaign a personalized url.
Indiegogo embeds either your YouTube or Vimeo link.
Con’s
Even though Indiegogo was first on the scene before Kickstarter, they are not as big as Kickstarter.
They allow almost any project, so there are projects of “lower” quality on there.
Indiegogo does not offer many stats and does not disclose its success rate.
Kickstarter
Kickstarter has really become synonymous with crowdfunding and have done a great job with many successful campaigns. Kickstarter claims (as of the time of this writing) a 42.73% success rate.
Pro’s
There is no denying that Kickstarter is the Granddaddy when it comes to crowdfunding in terms of money raised, backers, press etc. But as I wrote earlier it is still up to you to drive the traffic and if you don’t get on the front page or in the newsletter it will not help you.
Kickstarter are very open about their stats and they share them for everyone to follow.
Con’s
Kickstarter only accept the Amazonwallet payment system which can be a hassle.
Kickstarter will only let you use their video player so no YouTube or Vimeo embedment.
Kickstarter will give you a random number before your long url.
You need to live in the Us, UK, Canada, Australia or Nz to host a project on Kickstarter.
Kickstarter charges 5%.
Pozible
Pozible was started in Australia by Rick Chen (born in China) and Alan Crabbe (born in N. Ireland) and has offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Shanghai & San Francisco.
Pro’s
Pozible accepts credit cards, PayPal and Bitcoin.
Pozible will give your campaign a personalized url.
Pozible embeds either your YouTube or Vimeo link.
Pozible charges 4% and if you raise more than $500,00 it drops to 3%.
Pozible has access to closed Chinese market as Rick Chen is from China.
Pozible has a 56% success rate.
You can be based anywhere in the world (well not North Korea but that’s a different story).
You can find the names of all the staff and email them questions.
They have a dedicated film person working with them the next 3 months (that would be me).
Con’s
There is no denying that Pozible is has a smaller audience than Kickstarter and Indiegogo.
Has “only” launched 6,902 projects.
Has “only” crowdfunded $22,888,048
Your projects need to be approved by Pozible
3. The Workload
There is a lot of work that goes into making a crowdfunding campaign successful. I usually spend a full three months with my clients Before the campaign goes live. So what takes three months? The strategy, research on who could help spread the message, the rewards, writing the script, shooting and editing the video.
Yes, we spend a lot of time researching who out there can help our campaign along. But we don’t ask for favors, we believe in a win - win situation for everyone. On the film Deep Blue Sea, which is a documentary on asylum seekers arriving at Australia by boat, we teamed up with several organizations who had like-minded views on the subject. But instead of asking for money we offered the organizations the chance to host their own screenings for their members, we offered for them to come and speak at the official screenings as well as a booth at the venues. We also offered for them to sell the DVD directly to their members. One must remember that all organizations have limited time, energy and money and if you only ask without giving anything back they will most likely not respond.
When your campaign goes live it is a constant mad rush to get it across the finish line. As soon as the clock starts ticking you and your team will have to work at least full time to get your message out there. Get all the help you can get from family, friends, interns etc, as you are under time pressure and your project is on the line. Fight for your film, succeed and be rewarded.
Thomas Mai will be back next week with more tips about running a successful crowdfunding campaign.
To read more about Thomas’ current project - helping experienced filmmakers to raise more than $100k through crowdfunding - go to: www.pozible.com/missionpozible...
- 8/14/2014
- by Thomas Mai
- Sydney's Buzz
The ailing screen production sector is set to get a major boost with more than $80 million worth of films, TV dramas and a documentary receiving funding from Screen Australia.
The agency is investing more than $12 million in four features, four adult dramas, two children.s dramas and a theatrical doc. In addition Scroz is providing completion funding to sex comedy The Little Deaths, writer-director Josh Lawson.s feature debut.
The projects include a Blinky Bill animated movie, a comedy set during the Cronulla race riots, the long-mooted Molly Meldrum TV drama and The Principal, the first drama commissioned by Sbs since Better Man.
.We have backed some of our great contemporary writers, directors and producers, alongside some exciting new voices, . said Screen Australia head of production Sally Caplan.
.The projects target audiences as diverse as Australia is today, with projects which are ambitious, risk-taking and culturally important, revealing we have...
The agency is investing more than $12 million in four features, four adult dramas, two children.s dramas and a theatrical doc. In addition Scroz is providing completion funding to sex comedy The Little Deaths, writer-director Josh Lawson.s feature debut.
The projects include a Blinky Bill animated movie, a comedy set during the Cronulla race riots, the long-mooted Molly Meldrum TV drama and The Principal, the first drama commissioned by Sbs since Better Man.
.We have backed some of our great contemporary writers, directors and producers, alongside some exciting new voices, . said Screen Australia head of production Sally Caplan.
.The projects target audiences as diverse as Australia is today, with projects which are ambitious, risk-taking and culturally important, revealing we have...
- 8/6/2014
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
A young filmmaker living in the Philippines has won the inaugural picSeeder competition. Avid Liongoren's pitch, Saving Sally, was voted the winner by five of the six international judges.
The intention of the contest launched in February by filmmaker Bill Bennett and his wife, producer Jennifer Cluff, was to reward a short film by an aspiring filmmaker. Only after the judges had viewed the short-listed entries and chosen Saving Sally did they discover it.s a feature-length film, a highly original, three-way love story involving a boy, a girl, and a monster.
The prize: post production house Spectrum will fund the completion of the film, including the compositing and marketing materials. French-based international sales agent Wild Bunch aims to launch the title at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Bennett describes Saving Sally as a .gentle, witty and charming film,. which combines live action and animation. He showed a rough cut to Spectrum.s head Josh Pomeranz,...
The intention of the contest launched in February by filmmaker Bill Bennett and his wife, producer Jennifer Cluff, was to reward a short film by an aspiring filmmaker. Only after the judges had viewed the short-listed entries and chosen Saving Sally did they discover it.s a feature-length film, a highly original, three-way love story involving a boy, a girl, and a monster.
The prize: post production house Spectrum will fund the completion of the film, including the compositing and marketing materials. French-based international sales agent Wild Bunch aims to launch the title at the 2014 Cannes Film Festival.
Bennett describes Saving Sally as a .gentle, witty and charming film,. which combines live action and animation. He showed a rough cut to Spectrum.s head Josh Pomeranz,...
- 10/17/2013
- by Don Groves
- IF.com.au
Video blogger Christiaan Van Vuuren and Nick Boshier, one of the creators of Beached Az, are in advanced discussions to partner with Fandependent, the company being set up by Thomas Mai and Josh Pomeranz to help finance and commercialise Australian content online.
The filmmaking pair plan to use crowd funding to finance a feature film, to be directed by Van Vuuren, about .a dubious character. from the Sydney western suburb of Punchbowl.
.He.s already got 146,00 fans on Facebook, YouTube and other online sites,. said Boshier. .I.ve been accused of being this character but fervently deny it. In fact I think it.s insulting because I.m much better looking!.
The animated Beached Az started life online and 21 one-minute episodes were subsequently shown on ABC TV. Since then, Boshier and Van Vuuren have created and distributed 16 episodes of the live action Bondi Hipsters series online . and have another 10 in the can.
The filmmaking pair plan to use crowd funding to finance a feature film, to be directed by Van Vuuren, about .a dubious character. from the Sydney western suburb of Punchbowl.
.He.s already got 146,00 fans on Facebook, YouTube and other online sites,. said Boshier. .I.ve been accused of being this character but fervently deny it. In fact I think it.s insulting because I.m much better looking!.
The animated Beached Az started life online and 21 one-minute episodes were subsequently shown on ABC TV. Since then, Boshier and Van Vuuren have created and distributed 16 episodes of the live action Bondi Hipsters series online . and have another 10 in the can.
- 4/19/2012
- by Sandy George
- IF.com.au
Thomas Mai and Josh Pomeranz of Spectrum 2.0 are the recipients of Screen Australia’s latest round of the Innovation Distribution program.
Mai and Pomeranz’s FanDependent is a platform to support low-budget screen content that doesn’t fit into the traditional distribution and exhibition model.
The platform will partner with 10 filmmaker teams over two years to help build an audience and raise finance through crowd-funding.
Selected teams will then be supported to market, sell and release their low-budget project to maximise commercial potential and audience.
To a wider audience, video blogs and workshops will be available. Screen Australia’s funding for the program will span over two years, 2012-2013, by which time FanDependent is expected to be self-sustainable.
When Encore spoke with Mai in October he said the concept of being an ‘independent’ filmmaker is over. “You are ‘fan-dependent’. Now with social media you have a two-way conversation with your fans.
Mai and Pomeranz’s FanDependent is a platform to support low-budget screen content that doesn’t fit into the traditional distribution and exhibition model.
The platform will partner with 10 filmmaker teams over two years to help build an audience and raise finance through crowd-funding.
Selected teams will then be supported to market, sell and release their low-budget project to maximise commercial potential and audience.
To a wider audience, video blogs and workshops will be available. Screen Australia’s funding for the program will span over two years, 2012-2013, by which time FanDependent is expected to be self-sustainable.
When Encore spoke with Mai in October he said the concept of being an ‘independent’ filmmaker is over. “You are ‘fan-dependent’. Now with social media you have a two-way conversation with your fans.
- 12/9/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Danish film expert Thomas Mai has joined forces with Sydney-based post-production house Spectrum Films to create Spectrum 2.0 specialising in digital production, finance and marketing initiatives.
Mai, an international film sales and marketing expert with 15 years sales experience, has worked with Lars Von Trier’s Zentropa and has sold hundreds of films globally but more recently has refined crowd funding models and online marketing consulting on two Australian productions, The Tunnel and Finnish/Germany/Australian co-production Iron Sky.
Spectrum’s Managing Director Josh Pomeranz said in a statement, “Our business has grown recently and this move to bring Thomas Mai to Australia is a perfect example of how we want to work with the industry to provide opportunities to work internationally and how we believe our business needs to develop.”
While Pomeranz will head the core business of Spectrum, Mai will manage Spectrum 2.0 with the first new initiative from Spectrum 2.0 will be Audience Republic,...
Mai, an international film sales and marketing expert with 15 years sales experience, has worked with Lars Von Trier’s Zentropa and has sold hundreds of films globally but more recently has refined crowd funding models and online marketing consulting on two Australian productions, The Tunnel and Finnish/Germany/Australian co-production Iron Sky.
Spectrum’s Managing Director Josh Pomeranz said in a statement, “Our business has grown recently and this move to bring Thomas Mai to Australia is a perfect example of how we want to work with the industry to provide opportunities to work internationally and how we believe our business needs to develop.”
While Pomeranz will head the core business of Spectrum, Mai will manage Spectrum 2.0 with the first new initiative from Spectrum 2.0 will be Audience Republic,...
- 9/1/2011
- by Colin Delaney
- Encore Magazine
Australia’s screen professionals must be free to practice their skills anywhere in the world, but how do we stop this healthy career development from becoming a dangerous brain drain? Miguel Gonzalez reports.
If we were to make a list of all the Australian screen practitioners who have made it overseas, it would be a very long list indeed. It would probably start with the A-list creatives everybody knows, followed by the more anonymous and numerous executives, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, VFX artists and technicians working all over the world.
While it is to be expected that many – if not all – industry practitioners would seek to expand their horizons and work internationally at some point in their careers to reach other markets, work in other systems and cultures and develop new skills, leaving Australia should not be an act of professional desperation.
The historical fluctuation in the volume of international...
If we were to make a list of all the Australian screen practitioners who have made it overseas, it would be a very long list indeed. It would probably start with the A-list creatives everybody knows, followed by the more anonymous and numerous executives, directors, producers, editors, cinematographers, VFX artists and technicians working all over the world.
While it is to be expected that many – if not all – industry practitioners would seek to expand their horizons and work internationally at some point in their careers to reach other markets, work in other systems and cultures and develop new skills, leaving Australia should not be an act of professional desperation.
The historical fluctuation in the volume of international...
- 5/24/2011
- by Miguel Gonzalez
- Encore Magazine
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