IFH 634: Electric Boogaloo: The Wild, Untold Story of Cannon Films with Austin Trunick

I've been preaching from the top of the Filmtrepreneur mountain for a while now that filmmakers need to build multiple revenue streams from their projects besides just the traditional renting and sales of the film. In my book Rise of the Filmtrepreneur, I discuss the revenue stream of online courses and classes.You can either sell courses on your own site and drive traffic to them or you can place your courses on existing market places like Udemy and Skillshare that have huge audiences that you can sell to.I join Skillshare a few years ago and started putting up courses on the platform. My profile grew and grew where I became a leader in the filmmaking education space on the platform with over 5800+ students, close to 1400 followers and over 100,000+ minutes watched. I was doing so well on the platform that Skillshare actually reached out to me on multiple occasions to discuss my company creating exclusive education for its platform. Things were going great until they weren't.Well back in Dec 2019, when the world wasn't the insane bizarro version of itself that it is today, all of my courses were abruptly ripped off the platform without warning. I was floored. I contacted Skillshare multiple times and never heard back. When I finally heard back they said I had violated their terms of service.They never gave me a warning nor did they give me an opportunity to fix any "issues" they had with my courses. It's crazy. One side of the company is asking me to produce more content for Skillshare while the other side shuts down all of my courses.I later found out that I was not alone and that Skillshare purged hundreds of instructors without warning violating their own terms of service. You can read about that here.I wanted to share the entire story of what happened in this podcast as a warning to all Filmtrepreneurs that depend solely on other platforms for their income. If you play in someones else's sandbox you need to play by their rules. I explain everything in the episode. Enjoy.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

22 Juni 202019min

Today on the show we have filmmaker and author Jon Fitzgerald. Jon has twenty-five years of experience in the independent film, internet, and film festival communities, a rare leader with a unique combination of skills.  As a filmmaker, he has produced a number of award-winning documentaries; and as a consultant, he has guided many independent film projects through the maze of festivals and hybrid distribution models.As a co-founder of the Slamdance Film Festival (1995), he led the event the next two seasons before being named the Festival Director for the prestigious AFI Film Festival in 1997.  After running AFI Fest for three years (1997-1999), he created a consulting business, guiding the launch of numerous film festivals (Bahamas, Lone Star, Orlando), directing several others (Santa Barbara, Topanga, and Abu Dhabi), and consulting to dozens more.Jon authored his first book, entitled Filmmaking for Change: Make Films That Transform the World, which was ground-breaking in the space.Again, based on the premise that powerful stories can create change, Jon founded Cause Cinema, connecting social impact films to related causes. The Company acts as a filter to the best of social impact cinema, integrating numerous film programs, social action campaigns, and unique exhibition models, giving audiences the tools to take action.Enjoy my conversation with Jon Fitzgerald.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

19 Juni 202045min

Today on the show returning 2-time champion, writer and filmmaker Joshua Caldwell. Joshua has been on the show twice before and both his episodes went viral.Well, he's back to talk about his new film INFAMOUS starring Bella Thorne, Jake Manley, Amber Riley, and former guest on the show Todd Jenkins.Arielle, a young woman who lives in a small Florida town, is stuck. Arielle has always wanted more: fame, popularity, and admiration. But when she falls for a recently paroled young criminal named Dean, she drags him back into a life of danger, learning that posting their criminal exploits on social media is an easy way to viral fame. They embark on a dangerous adventure together that leads to robbery, cop chases, and murder.Joshua and I speak about how he used his micro-budget skillset on a much larger budget. We also touch uponReleasing his film during COVID-19Working with movie stars on an indie budgetThe development processWorking with a studioShooting the entire film in 22 daysCOVID-19 and the future of our businessWorking with tighter creative restraintsSince INFAMOUS is coming out to theaters right in the middle of COVID-19, his distributor decided to pump the film out to drive-in theaters. Let's see what happens.Prepare for some knowledge bombs. Enjoy my conversation with Joshua Caldwell.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

12 Juni 20201h 31min

Today on the show we have host, filmmaker, entrepreneur, and president of Aputure Ted Sim. Ted is the host of the Indy Mogul Podcast and Youtube Channel. He took over the reins of the legendary Indy Mogul Youtube channel last year and has really created some amazing content.Ted Sim is a Los Angeles filmmaker, originally from Baltimore, MD. Though he has been living in California since 2009, he has traveled to over 45 different countries for work and to meet with local filmmakers from all around the world. He is an alumnus of UCLA's Film Program and is passionate about education.In 2014, Ted started working as President of Aputure USA. Aputure is a cinema technology company that designs and manufactures high-end lighting solutions and filmmaking equipment for digital creators. Ted and I talk shop, lighting, and making it in the film business. I love Aputure lights so much that I exclusively used them in the making on my last feature film On the Corner of Ego and Desire.I had a ball talking shop with Ted. This episode is going to be fun. Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

5 Juni 20201h 33min

A good friend and returning champion Stephen Follows wrote an amazing article discussing the future of Hollywood distribution. I asked him to jump back on the show to discuss. Here's a bit of the article.Change in the film industry is often an extremely gradual process. The views of those involved tend to be entrenched and hard to shift. Therefore, how the film industry will operate one year can reasonably be expected to be very close to that of the year before.Not so in 2020. The current COVID-19 pandemic has forced a number of huge changes upon the sector over a matter of days. Cinemas are shut, productions are on hiatus and almost everyone is at home watching TV and VOD content.In order to take the industry’s temperature at these uncertain times, I teamed up with Screendollars to interview 363 film professionals. We focused on the domestic market (i.e. the USA and Canada) and asked a range of questions about their views on the current changes and what they think a post-lockdown future may bring.We have a very eye-opening discussion about the future of Hollywood distribution, movie theaters, VOD, Trolls 2, and more. Enjoy!Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

29 Maj 202057min

I'm very excited to bring this episode to the IFH Tribe. Today on the show we have filmmaker, Filmtrepreneur, and self-distribution expert Steven Lewis Simpson. Steven has been able to generate hundreds of thousands in revenue for his film Neither Wolf Nor Dog without ever releasing it online. He made all his money self-distributing theatrically. Not only in the US but worldwide.In conversation we discuss how we, as filmmakers, can create our own creative reality, even in an industry as inaccessible as the film business. No-one has ever attempted the pan-European distribution he doing or released the way I have in the US. That amazes me as it seems so obvious. The key thing is that, people don't want to try what has never been done.Neither Wolf Nor Dog is one of the most culturally important American films in years and stars a 95-year-old Lakota elder who takes the audience into a contemporary landscape and reveals the echoes of the massive American Genocide that they still feel today. Not exactly a blockbuster-style film.At eighteen, Steven Lewis Simpson was Britain’s youngest stockbroker and trader. Four years later he moved to Hollywood to work at legendary Hollywood producer, Roger Corman’s studio. At twenty-three, he directed his award-winning first feature film, Ties.He recently theatrically self-distributed his sixth feature film, Neither Wolf Nor Dog, as he saw the few independent films that actually found distributors in the US were being poorly released. As a result of his re-imagining the theatrical distribution model, his film became the most successful self-distributed film in some time.The film achieved the longest theatrical run of any 2017 release in the USA – a wider release than the last two Palme d'Or winners and often out-grossing blockbusters when head to head, even though he had no distribution experience. He even has a new masterclass that can help you on your path.This episode might just change the way you look at making money with your film. Steven is a true Filmtrepreneur. Please enjoy my eye-opening conversation with Steven Lewis Simpson.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

22 Maj 20201h 26min

Every day I wake up and feel like I'm living in the "Upside Down" from Stranger Things. We are living in a once in a generation event and the world will never be the same. The film industry, like so many others, is taking it on the chin, and COVID-19 is the fist that is doing the punching.Our entire industry can't wait for a vaccine and effect treatment to re-open. The economic toll is too great for the millions of film industry workers, not to mention the thousands of support companies that make a living off the industry. Everyone in Hollywood has been scrambling to put together safety guidelines to put people back to work in a safe way."We can’t sit around for 18 months waiting for a vaccine. We have to find a way out without pharmaceuticals, and that’s repeat testing, taking people out of circulation, and then contact tracing, so it’s an interesting analogy."- Elizabeth “Betz” Halloran, Center for Inference and Dynamics of Infectious DiseasesAs indie filmmakers, we too need to figure out how to keep that film engine going but in a safe and responsible way. I was riding around my neighborhood in Los Angeles yesterday and I saw a group on young filmmakers shooting an indie film. They were NOT social distancing. They DID NOT have masks on, not even the crew. They were shooting like the world hadn't changed at all.I do understand the want and need to keep shooting. Trust I do, but it is irresponsible for you to endanger yourself, your talent, your crew, or anyone because of a lack of basic precautionary measures.This is why I decide to address this issue because I know indie filmmakers are going to shoot regardless of the risks. I don't want our artist passion to hurt anyone so I've gathered a collection of multiple film production safety guidelines from around Hollywood and the world as a potential blueprint for indie film productions.There is no perfect way to protect everyone that is part of film production from COVID-19. The balance of staying home to protect yourself and not making money to pay your bills is a very delicate one.If you absolutely need to put a film production together to shoot any kind of content please be safe and responsible about it. I hope the ideas I laid out here and in the podcast can help you come back in a safe way. No one should feel unsafe on a film set.Please share this article and podcast episode with your filmmaking colleagues. Be well and stay safe out there.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

15 Maj 202023min

Today I welcome back returning champion award-winning cinematographer Suki Medencevic A.S.C. I brought Suki back on the show to discuss Covid-19 and what Hollywood will look like after it passes, how to approach low-budget filmmaking from the cinematography side, and his game-changing cinematography course Light and Face - The Art of Cinematography from IFH Academy.This workshop will walk you through how to light the most important and emotional subject you could put in front of your lens, the enigmatic face on a low budget. This workshop is unique in that it will literally guide you through the entire process of making your film. Suki attended the renowned National Film School (FAMU), Prague, Czech Republic, where he earned a Master’s Degree with Honors in cinematography. Shortly thereafter, he went to the USA looking for his big break. Since his first feature film shoot in 1994, he has been working steadily in the film industry, making numerous features and made-for-TV films, television shows, commercials, and documentaries including American Horror Story for FX.He was involved in several high profile documentaries for Pixar, ILM, The Hearst Corporation, and he recently completed The History of Imagineering for Disney+.In 2010, he became a member of the American Cinematographers Society (ASC), the world’s most prestigious cinematographers’ organization.I can't tell you how excited I am to bring this interview to you.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/indie-film-hustle-a-filmmaking-podcast--2664729/support.

8 Maj 20201h 14min