Independent Film Week 08.

"Every year around this time, as the city plays host to the annual IFP-sponsored gathering known as Independent Film Week, there is a great deal of discussion about the successes and challenges that have punctuated the previous year in the independent filmmaking community," writes S James Snyder in the New York Sun. "In years past, conversations have focused on emerging genres, evolving technology, and the ever-expanding number of film festivals. But this year, as Independent Film Week rolls ahead through Thursday at multiple New York venues, the focus is a bit more global and the dialogues are a bit more intense."

Updated through 9/20.

"This morning Cartoon College producer/my soon-to-be-husband Josh Melrod and I picked up our badges and registered so now it's off to the races." Filmmaker Tara Wray (Manhattan, Kansas) is blogging for Filmmaker.

IndieWIRE's got a cordoned-off section going: Eugene Hernandez profiles Barry Jenkins, whose marvelously understated Medicine for Melancholy opens the event this evening, and Peter Broderick opens a two-parter: "Welcome to the New World of Distribution."

Andrew Grant notes that he and Aaron Hillis - together, they are Benten Films - are each on panels this year.

The Voice notes that Kevin Smith is there with Zack and Miri Make a Porno.

Updates: Michael Tully has a rundown of some of the more interesting goings on at Hammer to Nail.

Kevin Kelly talks with Jenkins, too, for the SpoutBlog.

Updates, 9/16: "Dedicated to the theme 'Filmmaking 2.0,' the first weekday of Independent Film Week 08 explored changes emerging in the film business at FIT in New York City," report Brian Brooks and Eugene Hernandez. "Sundance's Geoff Gilmore spoke out about the state of festivals and imagined what such events might be like in a decade, while Rainbow Media chief Josh Sapan elaborated on his company's growing strategy to bring indie, foreign and doc features to home theaters via video-on-demand." Also at indieWIRE: Peter Broderick's Part 2.

Anthony Kaufman comments: "[W]hat's seemingly astonishing about VOD is [IFC President Jonathan] Sehring's claim that the gross dollar revenue ratio from VOD to theatrical is 2 to 1. That means a film such as This is England, for example, which made about $350,000 in theaters made another $700,000 on VOD.... Here's the downside: As Roadside Attractions's Howard Cohen told me, 'The lesson for us is if it has no life theatrically, then it has no life on VOD.'"

Todd Rohal: "We began our meetings right away yesterday (Monday) morning. We had a list of 15 companies to speak with over the course of 4 hours, rotating from one table to the next every 15 minutes. This is the core of the Emerging Narratives program - meeting and discussing our script with as many different people as possible."

Also at Filmmaker, Rodney Evans has an update on how things are going with the No Borders program.

Updates, 9/17: James Van Maanen's been "Watching new documentaries take shape during Independent Film Week."

Filmmakers carry on blogging at Filmmaker.

Updates, 9/18: Filmmaker's Scott Macaulay passes along an email from producer Ted Hope: "Ted ties a lot of stuff together here, knitting observations about the ground-level activism of independent filmmakers, broadband adoption in the US, the current election season and the macro-collapse of the global finance industry, which is in the process of being creatively destroyed as we speak."

This passage from David Lowery's report for Hammer to Nail leapt out Karina Longworth as well: "Most of the folks at Independent Film Week have projects in development. They're trying to attach producers, to find money, to build buzz, to find more money. We're only one day removed from Black Monday, but what a nice counter to all that downtown woe to see that the hustle and bustle of this insane business we're in is as strong as ever, and focused here to a hilt. Independent film seems to be an increasingly illogical business venture, and yet the drive to find those ever-diminishing means is stronger than ever."

At indieWIRE, Eric Kohn has another distribution model roundup.

Scott Kirsner has notes from his conversation with Robert Greenwald.

Updates, 9/20: "The savviest independent filmmakers showing a wide variety of works-in-progress this week at IFP's Independent Film Week Conference understood the importance of pleasing their audiences," reports Eric Kohn for indieWIRE. "On countless panels and ongoing discussions around town, members of the industry lamented the current state of affairs with familiar anxiety, discouraged because the current glut of product hasn't made things any easier. But when Kevin Smith took the stage last Sunday to mark the 15th anniversary of his own journey to IFP with Clerks, he insisted that filmmakers set on finishing their projects mainly need to focus on impressing anyone willing to invest. 'It doesn't matter if you have ten bucks or ten million bucks - your job remains the same," he said. "Making it with someone else's money is better.'"

Scott Kirsner: "The Numbers I'd Like to See from SnagFilms."

Posted by dwhudson at September 15, 2008 7:52 AM