TriFilm at Poyner Spruill

Posted on May 17, 2013 by Camden Watts

Huge thanks to everyone for coming to the TriFilm social last night! I saw a lot of familiar faces and had the pleasure of meeting so many new folks. So happy we could come together in downtown Raleigh, N.C., for a few drinks.

Thank you all for giving me a chance to geek out and live vicariously through you. It was wonderful to hear about what you’re working on: getting new cameras, cutting demo reels, earning graduate degrees, starting new businesses, and launching new projects. We have such a thriving film community. I love it.

Thank you, Poyner Spruill

Special thanks to the folks at Poyner Spruill for hosting last night’s social. They gave us such a warm welcome! They worked with me for many months to coordinate everything. They deserve a BIG thank you for all the effort that goes into planning something like that — and making it seem so easy! Not to mention offering all of the delicious food and drink they served last night. Yum!

At the social last night a few folks asked me about Poyner Spruill and what they do. They recently helped me with some of my entertainment law needs. They were so easy to work with and took the time to make sure I understood everything. I’m incredibly grateful to have an ally help me with the legal part of making films. It gives me peace of mind, which helps me put more energy towards making my films instead of worrying about legalities.

For more info on how Poyner Spruill can help you check out their site: ncentertainmentlaw.com.

About TriFilm

What exactly is TriFilm? Short answer: it’s a support system for people in the local film community.

TriFilm is currently a series of free socials that happen throughout the year, coordinated by yours truly with support from local businesses in the industry. The goal is to unify the existing, thriving film community. It’s a chance to get away from the cameras and computers, learn about what others are doing, and find the support you need to keep your projects going.

I started planning these socials years ago while working on my first feature-length film, Abandoned Allies. We had our first social in January 2010. With encouragement from people like Nene Kalu and Beth Yerxa, the socials have continued to grow.

Want to learn more? Check out the TriFilm page.

TriFilm social at Poyner Spruill, May 2013

Loved seeing familiar faces at the social!

These strawberry appetizers were so delicious. The plate was empty by the end of the night. Nomnomnom.

Poyner Spruill gave us a very warm welcome at the TriFilm Social. Loved their koozies!

Steven Soderbergh’s ‘State of Cinema’ Address

Posted on May 15, 2013 by Camden Watts

At the San Francisco International Film Festival this year, Steven Soderbergh gave a ‘State of Cinema’ address. Have you seen it yet? If not, go read the transcript or watch the speech. It’s about 40 minutes long and it’s awesome.

Here’s one of my favorite parts of it:

I want to jump up on the table and scream, “Do you know how lucky we are to be doing this? Do you understand that the only way to repay that karmic debt is to make something good, is to make something ambitious, something beautiful, something memorable?” But I didn’t do that. I just sat there, and I smiled.

- Steven Soderbergh

Selling Twitter Follows

Posted on May 13, 2013 by Camden Watts

This is dumb.

As I mentioned in a previous blog post, some high-profile crowdfunding campaigns are making waves. They’re breaking records, raising millions of dollars, and capitalizing on the celebrity power attached to the projects. It’s getting people talking. I love powerful conversations.

One thing is bugging me, though.

Some people are selling the “reward” of having a someone follow back on Twitter. I saw it on the Veronica Mars campaign in March. Now I’ve seen it on the Melissa Joan Hart campaign.

Is this becoming a trend?

Man, I hope not.

It’s dumb.

To explain, here are some words from Ken Levine, a blogger and film guy who recently wrote about Zach Braff’s campaign where he added a side bar about MJH’s twitter reward:

Did you see where Melissa Joan Hart is trying to get a project funded on Kickstarter? And here’s her big incentive: She’ll follow you on Twitter for a year. Oh, be still my heart! You and Melissa will be BFF’s! Every day she’ll go on Twitter to see how you’re coming on that dress you’re making for the prom. OR… she agrees to follow 20,000 people and never once looks at her Twitter page. Which do you think is more likely?

Then IndieWire touched on the subject in a recent article titled “Why Will Melissa Joan Hart’s Kickstarter Campaign Fail? Let’s Explain It All.” It’s a great article that explains a number of the reasons why I didn’t contribute to the campaign. Regarding the twitter “reward” they wrote:

Some of the most impressive(ly awkward) reward descriptions:

For a whole year?!?!…for $100

Two of our main cast members (not Melissa Joan Hart) will follow you on Twitter for a full year. We don’t know who they are yet, but we know you’ll want them following you (on Twitter only)! You’ll also receive…

Seriously. Y’all. Twitter is a free means of connecting with people.

I don’t understand why the “reward” of having someone follow you back is part of a Kickstarter project, much less one that’s listed at the $100+ level. You can follow these celebs, tweet them, and they can respond to you — without having them follow you on Twitter, much less donating to the campaign. Also, having them follow you doesn’t mean that they’ll see your tweets or even talk to you online — so what’s the point?

I feel like selling the promise to follow back as a Kickstarter reward is odd. And … wrong. It flies in the face of a lot of the rules of social media.

Am I alone in this thinking? If you disagree with me, please enlighten me. Use the comments. I’d love to know what you think about it.

Film Premiere: Granny’s Got Game

Posted on May 9, 2013 by Camden Watts

via

Granny’s Got Game, a documentary film by Angela Alford about a senior women’s basketball team, will have a North Carolina premiere on Monday, May 20th at 7:00 pm. I’ve heard so much about the film from Angela and I’m so glad there will be a local screening. I hope to be there.

Here are a few words from the filmmaker:

After two and half years of work, I’m very excited about this local premiere. It will be a chance for the audience to not only see the film, but meet these inspiring women in person. I’m proud that Granny’s Got Game is a film about strong women without a vapid love story, a film about seniors that doesn’t poke fun at them, a film about sports where winning isn’t the most important thing, and a documentary that will leave you uplifted. We are hoping to have a big crowd to not only honor these amazing women, but to demonstrate that there is interest in this kind of film.

– Angela Alford

For more information and to purchase tickets visit http://grannysgotgameraleighcolony.eventbrite.com.

Granny’s Got Game Promo Trailer from Angela Alford on Vimeo.

Season of Change: the Kickstarter Arguments

Posted on May 8, 2013 by Camden Watts

Zach Braff in his fundraising video on Kickstarter via

The conversations about celebrities using Kickstarter are getting heated these days, eh? I blogged about the Veronica Mars Kickstarter campaign in March. The campaign caused some strong reactions when it launched and quickly proceeded to break records on Kickstarter. Now the Zach Braff campaign is causing a stir.

I’ve been reading a lot and chatting with folks, trying to understand the cause for such strong reactions to these two particular campaigns. Whoopi Goldberg had a Kickstarter campaign last summer for her directorial debut, but no one seemed upset about that. Maybe because she wasn’t raising millions of dollars?

People are heated, no two ways about it.

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NC Film Incentives

Posted on April 22, 2013 by Camden Watts

Screenshot of THR. Read the full article here.

North Carolina’s film industry was featured in The Hollywood Reporter last weekend in an article titled ‘1,000-Plus Protest Bill Targeting North Carolina’s Movie, TV Tax Breaks‘. It’s a great article. Go read it.

Folks were protesting in Wilmington, N.C., because of a bill that would change the state’s film tax incentives. I learned about the bill last week when the Star News published an article titled ‘Local film leaders say bill would end N.C. film industry‘. Go read that article, too. It explains the bill and how it would change the tax credit.

I’m fascinated by the tax incentives and the affect they have had on the N.C. film industry. The tax incentives have helped the state’s film industry grow a lot. The NC Film Office (NCFO) published significant, record-breaking numbers in a press release on March 26, 2013:

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