Current contest

[icerose]

I don't know if this is appropriate or not, (if its not feel free to delete or move) but I am in a contest community thingy its kind of hard to describe. It's not a writers board like this, not really focused on writing or anything like that. Point is that if you enter the contest get among the top four, your project is considered for production. You get 1.5% of the budget up front and 1.5% of the profits. Its a lot of fun and I've met a lot of people, mostly in the indie field. I'm currently in 12th place. It's called film ties, you can just click on the link to get there. It's been really interesting. You can see my profile by following that link, its easy to sign up if you so desire.

http://www.filmties.com/view_profile.php?member_id=2817&aid=2817

Sara

Oh and the contest is free to join.

[icerose]

They are trying to reach 100,000 members so they can fund two feature length movies every month or every two months (sorry can't remember which) and those funds will go straight to member scriptwriters/filmmaker movies. Just thought you'd like to know the update. :)
Sara

[dpaterso]

Thanks for posting the link. Could interest some people.

A few things popped into my head when I read your posts. (It's hard not to be cynical in this day and age when everyone and their dog wants to charge for some kind of "service" so pardon me if this sounds negative, I'm trying not to be.)

If they achieve their target membership, the odds against your ever having your script made into a film, and your receiving any kind of payment, plummet to what -- 100,000-to-1? Or 50,000-to-1? That's arguably similar to the odds you're already up against in the real world.

If funding relies upon a paying membership, you may have a long time to wait in any case, even if your script does make it into the top four. No membership, no money, no film. The more members, the tougher the competition. Don't bet on staying in 12th place never mind top four.

Very few production companies have the resources to shoot a couple of films each month, every month (or every two months). Back in the days of Raoul Walsh and his ilk, 12-day and 18-day shoots were the norm. But these guys were no amateurs, and they were driven by a rigid studio business model. Who's behind this idea? What resources do they have? How many films have they made?

Without knowing anything else about the outfit you're talking about, this idea smells of pie in the sky to me, but that's just my opinion, which isn't worth the paper it's written on. I could be wrong (it has been known!) so bear that in mind when considering any of the above.

-Derek
My Web Page - naked women, bestial sex, and whopping big lies. (http://hometown.aol.co.uk/DPaterson57)
Take the critiques you get with a grain of salt. Invariably, some of the critics will be kooks, bitter curmudgeons, or complete fools. ~odocoileus

[Rainy Night]

I checked out the website also, I think they are relying on revenue generated by advertising to fund the films. The more members, the more people who view the ads, the more revenue generated.

[Mac H.]

I was turned off by their silly claim that they have 'patented' their unique business model. Yeah, right. In fact, they've only started the application for a patent - it hasn't even reached the point of being posted as an applied patent on the US Patent office website.

Interesting, though. Very pie in the sky.

While shooting 2 films a month may seem huge by hollywood standards, remember that the Hollywood way isn't the only way to make movies. There are other methods - for example, the Nigerian 'nollywood' method involves churning out a film from concept->script->filming->DVD sales in about 2 weeks.

They can do it by each 'studio' using an almost identical set of actors, props, locations, etc so it is almost equivalent to filming a daily TV series.

We might sneer because they look cheap, but remember - they are making movies, and profitable ones, in direct competition to pirated hollywood multi-million dollar extravaganzas.

Hmm - Anyone want to do a nollywood movie?

Mac.

[Writer2011]

Sara,

I checked out the site, a bit confusing to follow but i'll have to spend more time on it...From what I've seen it seems pretty interesting.

[icerose]

Sorry it has taken me so long to reply.

The reason why its patent pending finance model is because they are the first ones to use advertising revenue not memberships costs to fund movies.

Second, well The first contest is over and mine was among the selected to be produced. We are kind of the guine pigs of the whole thing as this was the first run through.

The founder is a writer/musician who wants to help others I guess.

The next contest starts in May and is only open to 100 submissions, your chance of being selected greatly improves. Plus they accept many low budget ones so they can give writers a leg up so to speak and producers to get some films under their belts.

I seriously doubt they will be doing movies that quickly, I think they will be taking on two projects a month, not finishing them, and thats only if revenue is high. Also they won't be the only one filming. Many independants have signed on and would be doing their own films. But they have to pool their scripts if they didn't write them, their cast, crew, music everything from the site, its to go back in to support it kind of thing.

Also not all the members are script writers, there are actors, crew, musicians, and just plain old fans.

With the contest they select one from the top four, leaving the decision of who to pick first to the members, then pick one from the rest (this time they picked several as many can be done on a low budget). Then it goes into an interactive module thing and you can participate on every single step. If they like your ideas you get producer credit for participating.

And since their funding rely on advertising they already have 30 million for this year, since most of the ideas posted thus far are low budget, helping many of them isn't very difficult.

Well If I can answer any other questions I'd be happy to. I'll know more once my own process begins. I should recieve my contract in the next thirty days and a check when they decide what budget to assign my script.

If you do join, please add me as a friend.

Sara