Skillset UK

Skillset is the UK government's development portal for the film industry, with a whole range of really useful information including job descriptions, skills sets for particular crew roles and links to unit standards. This, for instance is taken from the unit standard on what directors need to know / do in order to understand whether their ideas actually are viable.



D1 INVESTIGATE THE VIABILITY OF IDEAS FOR PRODUCTIONS
This is what you must be able to do
1. ensure you keep yourself up-to-date with trends and developments in the industry including those with relevance to the context of the medium in which you work
2. network to establish good working relationships with people known to possess potential ideas
3. initiate ideas and encourage new ideas from others
4. review and select ideas that meet your own capabilities and objectives or those of your organisation
5. where appropriate,organise the securing of the necessary rights for development and production of potential projects in good time
6. establish with relevant people the commercial and artistic viability and audience appeal
7. appoint and negotiate with relevant people who will bring quality and value to the proposed projects
8. manage the development process by encouraging constructive discussion with relevant people
9. review the development work and base final decisions about the feasibility of projects on appropriate research and discussion
10.collate necessary information to enable the preparation of an attractive pitch to be made to relevant people
11.interact with the producer in the way that best suits their own individual modus operandi and this particular project

This reminds me of the Producer's Profile outlined by the Canadian Cultural HR group, available here.. Use it as a check list and tell us what you need to learn......

Piracy

A DVD-quality copy of the sci-fi blockbuster “District 9″ was posted to file-trading networks over Labor Day weekend. The movie was downloaded over one million times within the first 24 hours. Downloads are likely to exceed the leaked workprint of another SA-linked movie, “X-Men Origins: Wolverine,” which was downloaded over 4 million times.



Filmcontact.com says that most movies are available on the Internet within a few days of their release, but the quality is typically poor and all but the most prolific pirates avoid them. The “District 9″ release is described as an R5 copy, or a retail DVD sold in Region 5 — Eastern Europe, India, Africa, North Korea and Mongolia. Studios release R5 DVDs early and without any special features or image processing in an effort to compete with bootlegs in areas where piracy is prevalent......

Sundance No-Budget Films

Sundance, Robert Redford's now iconic film festival has announced the launch of a new section called "Next," which will focus on six to eight innovative and original low- and no-budget films.



The idea behind "Next" is to discover and promote new filmmakers whose vision is hemmed in only by available funding. THAT MEANS YOU, PORT ELIZABETH!!!!!

Programmers hope to introduce these directors, previously known to the devotees of the mumble core and dogma movements, to the wealth of viewers, talent and media at Sundance.

If you're a no-budget filmmaker and want to get in on "Next," submissions are still being accepted for 2010. Get more info here.

Co-Production

The National Film and Video Foundation (NFVF) has announced new co-production guidelines.

Co-Production basically allows for South African producers to join forces with producers from other countries with whom we have treaties, and access their government funding mechanisms as well as our own. As much as 80% of a budget can therefore come from overseas government funds.



Our Co-production partners include Canada, Italy, Germany and the UK, with unconfirmed buzz of more to come (France / Australia / New Zealand?) later this year.

Read the guidelines here. And read more here on the principles of Co-Production from the Knowledge Foundation, authors of the above chart.

District 9 SFX

Found this while looking for the previous post - SFX behind District 9....

100 Years of Special Effects

A potted history:

PcTv4Me

Is this the future of how we'll consume our television product? This mailer for PcTv4Me just arrived in my in-box, offering 2,000 world wide TV channels direct to my PC for no monthly fee - just the cost of the software.

The blurb claims the product offers:

• Hundreds of channels from around the world to watch. And new channels
• are added every day
• Hundreds of Radio stations to listen to anytime, all of the time. And new
• stations are added daily
• Available 24 hours per day right from your PC and laptop
• All of the programming is uncensored
• No additional hardware needed

South Africa is one of the countries the package claims to include. I wonder if SABC is factoring stuff like this into their revenue calculations. I mean, although this may be the future of consumption, I doubt they think it's "the right thing to do."

More info here

Shortcut Wednesdays

Here's a good one; how to mobilize yourselves: in Cape Town from 2nd September......

Shortcut Wednesdays offers a platform for Filmmakers to showcase their film projects in their chosen genre (ie. short story, documentary, commercial, music video, anime), leading to acknowledgement and exposure of their work.

Beginning the first Wednesday from September the 2nd and every month following, each event will showcase a selection of Films from different genres in the following categories:
1) Student
2) Professional
3) Newcomers



Each event will be uniquely packaged according to Collaborations with various Sponsors in conjunction with This Side Up Events and Speedway Café 105. Prizes, awards and audience participation will be encouraged. There's a Facebook site if you're interested.

Discop Africa - Broadcast market

The Kenya edition of DISCOP AFRICA runs from 16th - 18th September,

This Broadcast-focussed Marketplace combines 3 days of individual meetings between participants organised in advance of the event by our in-house research staff as well as a conference programme addressing 5 important issues related to the development of television business in Africa.



Topics to be addressed in the conference programme will include:

1. How to create a compelling programming bouquet that can attract viewers and advertising revenues
2. How to build and manage an efficient television air-time sales department
3. How to establish distribution deals with mobile operators
4. The importance of television to provide health care and medical news
5. The emerging roles of China, Brazil and India in the African television landscape

In addition, a series of 3 training and case-studies workshops specifically aimed at African audiovisual content producers will cover the formating, funding and distribution of programs "Made In Africa". ScreenAfrica has reported that over 330 participants have already registered to attend.

NFVF Responds to Media Criticism

Eddie Mbalo, CEO of the NFVF, responds in his blog to criticism of the organisation's funding decisions regarding its support (or lack of it) for blockbusters like District 9.



"While the NFVF continuously encourages filmmakers to consider SA audiences in their work as the widest possible viewership for every film means financial success for investors and producers, box office success is not about good PR for the institution....."

Make up your own mind by visiting www.nfvf.co.za