Posted by Mat on June 6, 2013
(Today we’ve got a guest post from the guys over at Mercenary Opus about their new project. Check it out!)
Hey friends and family,
I hope your day is starting off great. Most of you probably saw that last Tuesday we launched a Kickstarter campaign for a feature length film project we’ve been pouring everything we have into called MERCENARY OPUS. Today we’re updating you and asking for stronger support.
Thank you SO much to all of our backers… we’re getting a little more RPMs in our speed after a slow start but we have reached only 2% with 24 days remaining. It would be great to be at 60% right now… campaigns that shoot way over their goal typically reach 60% within their first week-
The good news is there IS a packaged film ready to commence principal photography, with a great cast and crew, and you can be involved by buying a perk at various levels starting from $1, AND, be part of the filmmaking process from the very beginning. Our vision is to reinvent how the world can pre-buy their media content. You, at home, should have the right to pre-buy your films with all sorts of added perks including autographed-screenplay / poster, artwork, VIP tix to the film’s premiere AND after party! There are perks all the way up to even having either a speaking or non-speaking role in the film!!!
Recently added is a FAQ section at the bottom of our MERCENARY OPUS Kickstarter page, answering a few of your questions over the last week… is your question not among them?… don’t hesitate to ask, we will respond promptly, I promise-
It would mean the world to us if you’d contribute and spread the word by clicking the Facebook and Twitter buttons under the main video on the page in the link below and Share with your friends and family. Just a small contribution and a couple clicks to share, will make a HUGE difference!!!
Remember, to get that great viral sensation we need lots of strength early on. For those of you that are waiting, just know that the earlier the better for the campaign overall… for that viral support to build.
Lets get Kickstarter staff to put us in their “staff picks”-
Hope to see your contributions and shares and tweets soon. Tell your friends, “No contribution is too small” 
Best,
- Mike
PS. Please fwd this to friends, family, co-workers…anyone you think would be interested.
PSS. The more contributors the better! “The earlier the better” for our chances of the campaign going viral.
Here’s the link again: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/732317085/mercenary-opus-movie-project
More Mercenary Opus Movie Project links:
http://www.facebook.com/mercenaryopus
http://www.twitter.com/mercenaryopus
http://www.facebook.com/themikealtieri
http://www.twitter.com/michaelaltieri
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Posted by Mat on March 26, 2013
Do you have a great idea that you know will be a hit in the Film market? Try using crowdfunding to rack up enough money to make your project happen. Many new products and businesses have been started with much success from the use of crowdfunding.
Crowdfunding is an effort of people that network together over the internet to support projects created by people and organizations that don’t have the necessary funds to get their project started. Crowdfunding can be used for all types of projects. Many video game developers have gained a lot of popularity in recent times due to using crowdfunding to pay for their first game. To make it worth an individual’s investment, the product or service is usually provided to the investor for less than it would normally cost and sometimes the product or service is available to them before it is available to the public.
If you have a great film idea, the crowdfunding platform Big-Concepts will be able to get your project in gear. Big-Concepts at www.big-concepts.com is a unique platform that reaches out to many people interested in investing in film projects. To use Big-Concepts, you simply have to create a video describing the project and document the terms of what investors will receive if they contribute to your project. In no time at all, you will be receiving funds to get your film project started.
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Posted by Mat on February 11, 2013
Look quick to find her, she’s at the front and end of the film. Producer says “I had no idea…if I had, she would have a bigger role…She is stunning.”
Nominated for “Best Indie Feature 2012” by C-47 Magazine (Houston)
Beer & Seed – Indie Film with Edge
www.beerandseedthemovie.com
by Bill Cox
A dark comedy about an older student (Veteran) who returns to college for a second chance in life, it doesn’t go as planned. A humorous look at college life and college vice, it contains the comedy hit “I Love the Fat Chicks”.
Life doesn’t always turn out as planned. Sometimes you want to start over, and that is what this film depicts. It champions the human spirit and is a gift of encouragement to older and younger viewers alike.
Available on Amazon.com download and rental!
Jessica Vasquez is Miss Bikini Universe and the librarian in the movie. She was brought to the set by another actress and scored a small role. Had she been more available, she would have gotten more.
Bill Cox, Writer/Producer from Houston, Texas is a professional Event Producer. A Navy Veteran and graduate of Central Michigan University, he uses his experience to achieve a gritty realism in this film. He can be contacted: wmacox@comcast.net
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Posted by Mat on January 23, 2013
Here at the Filmsensei, I get a lot of requests by filmmakers to feature their work on the site. Most of the time, the films are amateur pieces of work with little to no interest by my audience. Bad horror movies being the most submitted. And most of the time I pass on spotlighting the work.
However, once in a blue moon I get something different. Something interesting. Something unique and incredibly intriguing.
Something like “Out of Africa: Quest for the Northern Lights,” an in production film from BoilerRoom Studios and filmmaker, Richard Arabome, out of Johannesburg in South Africa. As someone who has spent a lot of time in Iceland, and who has sat in wonder and watched the Northern Lights play out in the sky like waves crashing against the shore, “Out of Africa: Quest for the Northern Lights” and its concept have me hooked. I absolutely cannot wait to see what Arabome comes up with.
Here are some more details, direct from the filmmaker himself.
Out of Africa: Quest For The Northern Lights
Written Produced & Directed By Richard Arabome for
BoilerRoom Studios PTY Ltd, Johannesburg, South Africa.
www.broomstudios.com
Co Produced by Runar Ingi for Frame Erf, Reykjavik, Iceland.
Status: Principal Photography starts Feb 01 2013
This is a 90 minute long feature docu-reality film, billed as a culture shock piece, it will seek to showcase how alien cultures, harsh climatic and environmental factors can force a human to face their most profound fear and eventually become one with an otherwise ‘alien’ way of life.
Synopsis
60,000 years ago, homo-sapiens set out on a quest to dominate, populate and colonize the planet Earth; in 2013, one man eliminates the harsh elements his ancestors faced tens of thousands of years ago, and instead opts for the safety of the serene skies as he gets transported from the mother continent Africa, to the northern most capital of the planet…
Meet Richard Arabome: an African author and filmmaker on an intrepid tour of our planet’s most northern habitat, the magical and mystical Iceland.
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Posted by Mat on January 19, 2013
Indie Film Spotlight:
Beer & Seed
www.beerandseedthemovie.com
Dark Comedy about an older student who returns to college for a second chance. It doesn’t go as planned.
Includes the comedy hit song “I Love the Fat Chicks”
Beer & Seed is a humorous look at the seedier side of college life. BEER & SEED is a “back to school” film.
An older student tries to start over by going back to school, it doesn’t go as planned
100% filmed in Houston at Rice University, Lifeway Recovery School, R.W. Productions Studio and other Houston locations.
Available on Amazon.com download and rental!
Thank you for supporting Indie Films!
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Posted by Mat on November 15, 2012
UPDATE: Breaking Dawn 2 Smashes Twilight Saga Records Overseas
THURSDAY 9 AM UPDATE: Twi-Hards are saying goodbye to Bella and Edward. Movie theaters around North America are reporting long lines and sold-out showtimes for Breaking Dawn Part 2 as the last installment in Summit Entertainment’s Twilight Saga releases at 10 PM Thursday and midnight Friday. Here are photos from Arizona, Michigan, Delaware and New York:
THURSDAY 9 AM: Giant online ticket-seller Fandango reports this morning that The Twilight Saga: Breaking Dawn Part 2 represents 92% of today’s sales. What’s 
more, thousands of showtimes are already sold out across the country before the final Twilight Saga installment releases at Friday midnight. Hollywood is expecting the epic conclusion to gross somewhere between a low of $130 million and as much as $150 million (a franchise record) this opening weekend in North America. According to a recent Fandango survey of more than 1,000 moviegoers, Breaking Dawn Part 2 is the most anticipated film of the fall, with 57% of fans planning to see it more than once on the big screen. It has been among the site’s Top 3 ticket-sellers each day in U.S./Canada since advance tickets first went on sale on October 1st. “It’s the most anticipated moviegoing event of the season,” said Paul Yanover, President of Fandango. Already, Breaking Dawn Part 2 is shattering franchise records internationally where it opened this week.
Related: ‘Breaking Dawn 2′ Smashes Records Abroad
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Posted by Mat on November 15, 2012
Waters gonna rise up, wild animals gonna rerun from the grave, and screenplays gonna be online for your consideration. We have recently posted links to screenplays available to download for your consideration from Universal Pictures, Focus Features, Sony Pictures Classics and Lionsgate. Now, thanks to Fox Searchlight, we can read all of Hushpuppy’s pearls of wisdom in the screenplay for Beasts of the Southern Wild, plus download (legally) screenplays for The Sessions, Hitchcock, and The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel. (more…)
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Posted by Mat on November 15, 2012
Aaron Sorkin‘s Steve Jobs film will consist of only three scenes – and you will love each of them equally, you will cherish their rapid-fire dialogue and wit, you will feel as if you know Steve Jobs and Apple when they end, and you will also probably have to try to remember what in the hell “NeXT” was.
Reporting from their own “Hero Summit,” The Daily Beast (via THR and /Film) shares some very interesting details regarding the set-up and structure of Sorkin’s Sony-landed Jobs biopic. Namely, the project will consist of just three scenes. Pardon, Sorkin, can you expound? “This entire movie is going to be three scenes, and three scenes only, that all take place in real time.” Uh huh.
But wait! Sorkin’s plan is actually, well, somewhat masterful (hell, the man is an Oscar winner). See, these won’t be just three random scenes, but three thirty-minute scenes that are all set in the lead-up to three major Apple product launches. Those three launches? The original Macintosh computer (1984), the NeXT Cube (1990), and the original iPod (2001). Now if that doesn’t illuminate both Jobs and Apple on one heck of a brilliant, microcosmic level, nothing else will.
The screenwriter has also figured out exactly how he’s going to end the film – with a “text or voiceover of the quote, ‘Here’s to the crazy ones,’ which refers to Apple’s famous ‘Think Different’ TV ad campaign from 1997.” That certainly sounds specific and a might constricting, but Sorkin said of his plan: “If I can earn that ending then I’ll have written the movie that I want to write.”
Sorkin officially signed on for the project in May of this year. There is still no word on who will direct or star in the production.
Sorkin’s film is, of course, not to be confused with Jobs, the Joshua Michael Stern-directed, Ashton Kutcher-starring Jobs biopic that will certainly be less, er, creative.
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Posted by Mat on November 15, 2012
#FINDForum 2012: Reality Bites – The Perils of the Doc
Several weeks ago, I had the unique opportunity to hear several of the finest women in documentary filmmaking at the Film Independent Forum. They came to talk about their experiences as filmmakers with tight budgets, working with regular human beings, while trying to craft a very specific story. It wasn’t always easy, but what they all learned was the art of “shift and adapt.”
Documentary is like improv for actors:
you have to be flexible, willing to say yes to changes and go where the story leads you.
Katie Galloway – co-director, Better This World
If you have not yet seen Better This World, what are you waiting for? It is phenomenal. The film looks at the cases of Bradley Crowder and David McKay, a pair of fledgling activists who were seized by the FBI at the 2008 Republican National Convention and charged with terrorism.
Their prosecution hinged on FBI informant Brandon Darby – a well-known former activist of the radical collective Common Ground. Darby initially agreed to participate with the documentary, but when he discovered the filmmakers were also following Crowder and McKay and getting their side of the story, he backed out.
Losing one of their main characters during filming, Galloway and co-director Kelly Duane de la Vega had to quickly readjust to keep their film intact. They hired a voice over actor to narrate official testimony given by Darby, used graphics to illustrate important parts of the narrative and fair used segments from a previously created story on the radio program, This American Life. The outcome is a seamless documentary that gives the viewer all sides of the story, leaving the door open for you to draw your own conclusions.
Rory Kennedy – director, Ethel
Rory Kennedy’s biggest obstacle to overcome in the creation of Ethel, a documentary about her mother Ethel Kennedy, was her family. As is well known by now, she struggled with the idea of doing the documentary initially, but when her mother agreed to participate, she had no other choice but to move forward.
She was not prepared, however, for her mother not to answer questions asked during their marathon interview session. Rory says she also received a fair amount of teasing and ribbing from her brothers and sisters when it came time to interview them for their segments.
A long-time filmmaker and well versed in the twists and turns of documentary filmmaking, Rory used these obstacles and the eccentricities of her family and made them part of the film. One moment in particular – the moment when Rory asks about Daddy’s [Robert F. Kennedy’s] death – is especially touching and poignant. Ethel Kennedy becomes very quiet, responding to her daughter’s question with silence before finally suggesting they move on. That silence is the best answer to a question in a documentary I have heard.
Amy Berg – director, West of Memphis
By now you’re probably aware of Joe Berlinger and Bruce Sinofsky’s devastating documentary Paradise Lost about the railroading and prosecution of the West Memphis Three: Damien Wayne Echols, who sat on death row, and Jessie Misskelley, Jr. and Jason Baldwin, both of whom had life sentences.
The Three were found guilty of the murder of three young boys in the early 1990s. The subject of several documentaries and an overwhelming amount of community support from everyday day folk as well as celebrities, their case became high profile as a result of the gross miscarriage of justice.
Unknown to anyone, working behind the scenes with their own detective were Fran and Peter Jackson – yes, that Fran and Peter Jackson. They were making a documentary with acclaimed filmmaker Amy Berg, who had spent six months working on a very specific narrative for the film. It was not looking good for Echols, Misskelley and Baldwin. They had maybe one month left of shooting in West Memphis, Arkansas and when they were done shooting there, they were done.
After a day of extensive notes on the film, Fran and Peter invited Amy over for dinner. In the car they let her know that the three men were going to be released (never mind the fact that they made her sit through hours of notes, but the information was not public yet)! They had very limited time to get into town, film the reaction, get interviews and finish the film fast enough to get it to Toronto for the festival. Shift and adapt became an internal mantra.
The ongoing joke throughout the panel was, “This isn’t radio; if it goes off the rails you’re screwed.” Documentary is like improv for actors: you have to be flexible, willing to say yes to changes and go where the story leads you. You never know, you could have the next Ethel on your hands.
Watch the films for yourself:
– by Erikka Yancy, Documentary Producer & Film Independent Guest Blogger
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Posted by Mat on November 14, 2012
Cosmopolis director David Cronenberg has signed on to voice Tales From The Organ Trade. The documentary is produced by Toronto’s Associated Producers in association with HBO, Global TV and Canal D. Tales From The Organ Trade is scheduled to be broadcast on HBO next year. Directed by Ric Esther Bienstock, the investigative documentary tracks the global market in the illegal sales of human body parts. David Cronenberg is repped by WME and Sentient Entertainment.
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