Blog: IndieGoGo Funds a Film, Hong Kong Talks Digital & More

IndieGoGo Works Its Magic

The fantastic new online business IndieGoGo, which helps filmmakers raise money for their projects by finding potential audiences willing to donate money, has started to have an impact. IndieGoGo, which launched just a couple of weeks ago, allows filmmakers to post elements of their productions in order to garner interest from specific audiences. Clearly, the concept works: The Lilliput, a movie based on the true story about "a Jewish dwarf who survived the Holocaust by hiding in garbage cans," raised $10,000 in 45 days. Who said fundraising was a long-term task? Check out the site to see why it doesn't have to be.


Where the Online Docs Are

We offered up a list not unlike this one at Stream a couple of weeks ago, but multiple opinions don't hurt. Makeuseof.com has created its own list of "the best places to watch documentaries online," and while some of the obvious ones are on there (PBS Frontline, for example), the decision to highlight locations, rather than specific films, makes it slightly more useful than our own guide. Only slightly.

Minghella's Predictions for the Digital Age

Anthony Mingella's sudden death at the age of 54 yesterday caught the entertainment industry by surprise. The English Patient and Cold Mountain director was well-liked and well-known, inspiring a flurry of remembrances. Of them, the one that caught my eye was the one by Variety blogger Anne Thompson, who recalled an interview Minghella did during a 2006 fundraiser. I'll let her reminisce: "'Films haven't changed, they've just gotten faster,' Minghella said, predicting that 'the current leaps in technology, the digital age, will have a radical and convulsive impact on cinema as we know it, not the least in making it available to anybody and everybody, giving cinema the opportunity to grow, change, and perhaps dwindle as a commercial enterprise, while flourishing as an art form.'"


Hong Kong Chatter

In Hong Kong, a seminar at the FilMart convention hosted a rich conversation about the potential of digital distribution platforms. Reading this recap in Variety, you get the sense that there was a lot of agreement but very basic conclusions: "Consumers don't really care about technology." "The opportunity in China is unlimited. Content providers need to pay more attention and provide more paid services." "People are enjoying content on the Internet. If that is the transformation, what does it mean for you as a filmmaker?" And so on. Scroll to the end of the piece for a meaty dialogue on the issue of copyright protection in the digital age.


Indiana Jones and the Digital Gold

For all the financial and commercial weight carried by the upcoming fourth Indiana Jones movie, the promotion scheme behind it doesn't differ too much from that of a smaller film. Paramount is finding way to market the movie to people at their computer screens, rather than at the multiplexes. Now, they're releasing a widget to coincide with the release of the second trailer, and a contest tacked on for good measure. Those who manage to distribute the widget more than anyone else win a trip to the world premiere (that would be Cannes, right?)--and, of course, a big thank you from the studio for helping out with the promotion of the film.



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