Why I haven’t used crowdfunding to pay for my next film… yet

Image courtesy of filmcourage.com

I’ve been lucky enough to get money from various people – The BBC, Channel 4, the NDCS, Jack Ashley, the UK Film Council, Film London and BSLZone – to make various films over the years. I’ve never had to resort to writing letters asking for loans (OK, just the once, and I paid him back) or using crowdfunding websites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo. With Kickstarter about to launch in the UK this month, the opportunities for getting people to pay you to make a movie are better than ever.

Making a feature film is the long term goal. I have a shortlist of about five story ideas that could be made on a low budget, which – with the right actors – could even end up on supermarket shelves for £5.97. Each of these ideas are in various stages, some more advanced than others. But how to finance a feature? I could do a Kevin Smith and pay for it by credit card, but all my cards are maxed out. I could do a Truffaut and get a dentist to raise my money for me, but I don’t know any dentists. I’ve thought about asking the BFI for some development money, but the application form looks like a nightmare.

That leaves me with crowdfunding, which seems to be the platform of choice for getting film projects off the ground. So why haven’t I used a crowdfunding site to launch a low budget feature film project?

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Stanley Kubrick was a self-shooter

Stanley Kubrick self operating on set

Self shooting is the term given to a director who has to operate his own sound and camera on location. This is happening more and more often in the media. The ability to use broadcast equipment and create quality images without the aid of a professional cameraman or soundman is becoming more and more commonplace in factual and news television production.

I’ve always resisted this trend, preferring to guide someone else more skilled than myself to getting the images I want.
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Billy 2.0 – If Apple made cochlear implants…

Watch the video above. Its an old film reel from 1928 of the premiere of Charlie Chaplin’s film The Circus. When an eagle eyed historian watched the film’s DVD extras, he spotted a woman walking along, talking into a handheld object near her mouth. There was only one possible explanation – she was a time traveller from the future, talking to someone on her mobile phone.

I don’t know what mobile phone coverage was like in 1928 – I suspect it might have been somewhat patchy – but in the end, it was revealed to be a woman in her 50s, using a handheld hearing aid manufactured in 1925.
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Billy 2.0 – What does a Cochlear Implant sound like?

I’d like to ask you a favour, if you’re reading this. Can you watch the video below, and tell me what speech and music sounds like to you in the comments section below?

There are several clips of speech and music – I’m assuming that the implant I am getting will be closest to the 20 channel samples you hear on the video.

This is an approximation of the sound of a cochlear implant using sound editing software.

Read the comments on the video here. A couple of CI users there who have said that they can hear a marked difference between ‘normal speech’ and that video!

What you may find is that if you listen to the video more than once, the speech and music becomes clearer each time. This is the brain ‘learning’ the sounds for you. This article explains how that works in more detail.

This link may also be interesting. PBS Video

I look forward to your thoughts.

Billy 2.0 – Starting a journey of known unknowns

Donald Rumsfeld

This is Donald Rumsfeld. He once said:

There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know. There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that, we now know we don’t know. But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.

He may have been derided at the time, but watching his speech I know exactly what he meant. 28 days from today I’m embarking on a journey of known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

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