The Top Film Festivals Worth the Entry Fee

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What is Film Financing — How to Get Funding for a Movie

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ore than almost any other artistic medium, filmmaking depends on money. And the more expansive a filmmaker’s vision for a movie is, the more money they’ll need. Very few filmmakers get into the movie business because they’re interested in dealing with money, but often an effective filmmaker is good at film financing. So what is film financing, and how can you get money behind your next movie?

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Average Movie Budget — How Much Do Movies Cost to Make?

Why are major Hollywood movies so expensive these days? It seems like everything costs at least $200 million to make. Surely, there has to be a happy medium between indies and blockbusters. As it turns out, while the average movie budget has exploded over the last few decades, it’s still a far cry from your typical “Avengers” movie. So buckle up as we take you through a journey of the average of how much it costs to make cinema magic.

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What is Production Value in Film — Low Budget Into High Art

What is production value? You have heard the term thrown around by filmmakers or in behind-the-scenes videos without knowing exactly what they mean. We will start off with a production value definition, then get into why you want to keep it high, how to improve the production value of independent projects, and we’ll take a look at a few examples of production value in blockbuster films.

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Short Story Contests Worth Your Time — Prizes, Fees, Deadlines

Writing contests are great ways to build your portfolio, and hone your writing skills. For emerging writers especially, the price to pay is usually quite small, while the rewards range from getting published to receiving thousands. Not a bad trade-off. The only reasonable downside is all the extra work…for well…all the extra rejection. Ah, I’m only slightly kidding. Rejection is part of the journey. It’s the bumpy road that takes you from nobody to somebody. So even if you don’t win first prize, entering into contests can help you get better. This article looks at some of the best short story contests out there right now.… Keep reading

Guerilla Filmmaking — Style, Tips, Gear, and Movie Examples

Most movies you watch are shot with film permits, in a studio, and with a full production crew that is doing everything “by the book.” But not every movie made has a chance to shoot in this way; even big films might have to do things on the downlow. We are, of course, talking about guerilla filmmaking, a style that has been around for quite some time. But what is guerilla filmmaking and how does one go about making a guerilla film yourself? Take a look at our guerilla filmmaking tips, definition, and examples to learn all about it.

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Dogme 95 — Rules, Manifesto and Films of a Radical Experiment

By the 1990’s, filmmakers worldwide were starting to resent the direction that cinema was going in. From Hollywood to Bollywood to nearly every other “wood” in between, big-budget movies were taking over the landscape of film. In response, Danish filmmakers Lars von Trier, Kristian Levring, Soren Kragh-Jacobsen, and Thomas Vinterberg created Dogme 95, a radical film movement that intended to strip cinema of the technical effects that it was becoming reliant on.Continue reading Dogme 95 — Rules, Manifesto and Films of a Radical Experiment

13 Steps Towards Green Film Production We Can All Take

Filmmaking by its very nature is very counteractive toward sustainability. Sets and props are temporarily built, special effects cause chaos, and don’t get us started on plastic water bottles. But green film production is not a myth. Being sustainable with your productions may seem like a daunting task, but with the right steps, it’s very much achievable and benefit your film in ways you didn’t otherwise know.

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