Archive for October, 2009
Hunting for Film Talent: Production Jobs and Actor Jobs on One Fat Cigar!
Saturday, October 10th, 2009Since we’re now very close to the first phase of our launch, we thought we’d try and explain how it is possible for film makers to use our movie website, One Fat Cigar, to cast and crew your projects and apply for actor jobs/production jobs. The functionality we’re about to describe won’t all be there from our launch (we’re still testing a lot of it and doing our best to get it ready in time!), but by Christmas we hope to have most of the below working and provide a really great resource for film makers, casting directors and actors. As you can imagine this is a big work-in-progress so please bear with us – it will take a bit of time for us to iron out all the bugs before we can begin to add some additional ‘luxury’ features!
First of all, the site is designed to cope with developing projects from day 1 of script. This means that you can upload video about your project, what you’re trying to achieve, discuss it, and of course, get feedback from fans and friends. As you go through the various stages you’ll be able to add your key team members (Director, Cinematographer, Set Designer, Runner, Casting Director etc.) who will all be featured on the project profile. If you want they can do interviews, behind the scenes filming, images from location scouting, and written blogs and provide this as more info on your project – you can do as little or as much as you like.
What we like about it is that casting and crewing your project works as part of the mechanism. If you want you will be able to do video casting (i.e. upload a video/piece to camera which talks about the role you are offering and what you are seeking) and also key in certain information about the position. Otherwise, it can be done as a traditional job posting in text format.
For Actors and Casting Directors this ties in neatly, so that if you post a role to the site you will be able to a) make it visible to everyone or b) it will only appear and be visible to Actors who meet the criteria of the role – so this means that Actors have to be as accurate as they can with their primary information, but those who do see the role know they have a chance of getting it!!! (This is a priority so we should have this working shortly after launch).
Actors can then apply with their bio/cv and a brief note as well as a showreel and preferred headshot, which the production team can then shortlist. We’re working on some nice functionality for the short listing.
When we launch phases 2 and 3 for Pro members, Casting Directors will be able to directly contact Agents who can recommend Actors on their books with profiles on the site – and this will be particularly useful for movie projects, and major feature film productions. Therefore, if you have an agent, get them on the site when we launch the secondary phases – it will help you get some great roles!
Film makers can, of course, contact actors or crew directly if they like them for a particular role/position, so we’ve placed some emphasis on the showreel since, aside from the C.V. this is a real (excuse the pun!) selling point.
For Crew, the process is similar, but since Crews may have multiple skills – i.e. you may be an editor who can also work a camera – then we’ll cover for this in how the jobs are presented. They’ll still appear in your newsfeed/page and it will be easy to manage which positions you’ve applied for, which have said yes, “you’re on the shortlist” and those which have said, “not this time!” All applications are, of course, kept private and confidential to the general populous on the site.
Once selected for a role, you can be added to the cast or crew for the project, and this then automatically updates your ‘Credits/Filmography’. It’s that simple.
So that’s a first bit of insight into how casting and crewing will work. As always we’d love your feedback so let us know if there’s things you hate about other sites, and we’ll try not to make the same mistakes!
To join our mailing list: http://www.onefatcigar.com
To win one of 500 free premium membership for when we launch,
follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onefatcigar
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/onefatcigar
FILM MARKETING (Part 5): How filmmakers produce great EPKs (Electronic Press Kits) and why it is so important!
Saturday, October 3rd, 2009By Susie Tullett (Unit Publicist on Easy Virtue, The Illusionist, Peter and the Wolf etc..)
An EPK (Electronic Press Kit) is part of the essential Film Makers handbook. It’s something you need to do when filming, featuring all your key actors, directors and film crew- and it needs to be good since it will be used with any distribution you may have, or wish to have. This means your PR team have something to work with!
Essentially an EPK is a press kit produced in a Digital Format. The most basic EPKs consist of a collection of interviews with key cast and crew members, and some behind the scenes footage, plus in some cases a selection of final film clips, and possibly the theatrical trailer.
Content
A good EPK will generally contain a selection of ‘B’ roll – e.g. filmed activity behind the scenes. This would ideally contain shots of the director behind the camera, the set up of a stunt (if appropriate), footage of a willing actor in make-up, or anything else that represents the ‘colour’ and the atmosphere and making-of the film.
Interviews with the main actors and key crew will also be done to camera. The questions should be written once the script has been read, and the interviewer has a grasp of the subject matter and plot. These questions should be fairly in-depth and the artist should be encouraged to talk about their role, and their interaction with other characters. They should also be encouraged to talk about the costumes, any stunts they might have to do, and any special make up, so that clips from the film can later be inserted to illustrate a particular scene.
Formats of EPKs
Increasingly the term electronic press kit is being used to describe a DVD (or some other digitally recorded output) or website. EPKs can be in a number of formats:
- Video, DVD or web format. For use in broadcast the materials are often produced in Beta format and the standard of the material you produce must be of sufficient quality, with good lighting and decent production values to be shown on television.
- A simple EPK can be produced to go online, and therefore press should be directed to your website. One Fat Cigar will also be offering an exclusive service for the press to access EPK’s you have produced online, and there’s no reason not to report on the making of the EPK either (another PR opportunity!).
EPKs are produced and edited by a small number of highly specialist companies who employ Director/Producers (D/Ps) to write and edit each production. Some Unit photographers now have DV cameras as well as still cameras, and will alternate between shooting stills and B-roll. This can be a cheaper option than one of the dedicated EPK ‘houses’. A competent Unit Publicist, in association with the producer will identify the optimum EPK days from the shooting schedule.
Conclusion
My advice is to do the best you can in producing a decent EPK, whether you hire a DV camera for a few key days during your shoot and do it yourself, or whether your budget stretches to a specialist EPK production outfit. They are useful tools which can be handed over to broadcast companies to promote your film, posted on your website (and therefore linked to..) and provide some of the ‘Extras’ on the DVD. For examples of EPKs, have a look at www.specialtreats.com.uk
and www.closeup-productions.com
What to do now:
To get more news from me – sign up to onefatcigar’s mailing list: http://www.onefatcigar.com
To win one of 500 free premium membership for when we launch, follow us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/onefatcigar
Follow on Twitter: http://www.twitter.com/onefatcigar