Working on our 10 Year Anniversary campaign, that’s what! We’re not prepared to show you what we’ve cooked up just yet (we wanna make sure the damn thing works), but keep your eye out for our new ads to start running in January 2007.
SAGIndie is happy to announce that we’ve just launched our brand new Diversity Screening Series web site. It’s chock full of Web 2.0, AJAX-y goodness, so please drop by for news, screening schedules, and to sign-up for news alerts, so you can be the first to hear about future events.
Student Filmmakers:
Want to get an “A” in your
film theory class without sleeping
with your professor, have grateful classmates buy you Jager shots, and
basically be the alpha film-nerd on campus? Well, if that’s the height of your
ambition as a student filmmaker, we can help you achieve your pathologically
narcissistic dreams!
Adobe gave us a 10 seat
license of Production Studio to give to the film school of our choice. Of
course, we all wanted to give it to our alma maters, but squabbling over whose
college was most deserving
degenerated into an all-out donnybrook, which left two of our staff in tears
and the other two engaged in a brutal
plastic knife fight in the 7th floor coffee room.
To settle the matter we’ve
decided to offer the license to the school of the student filmmaker who sends
in the best essay on the following, incredibly unimaginative theme: “Why My
School Deserves a 10 Seat License from SAGIndie and Adobe”. This is where you (and your
innate filmmaker’s aptitude for shameless self-promotion) come in. Write your
essay, send it in, and the rewards mentioned above can be yours.
But first, read the
following rules, and abide by them fully. Some rules are made for breaking.
These aren’t.
1) Each essay must be 350 words or less.
2) One submission per student – though there is no limit
on the number of submissions allowed from each school.
3) Submissions MUST be written by a current student of each respective film school.
4) Multimedia presentations are allowable, but must
include a hard copy of the printed essay.
5) The deadline for submissions is November 3, 2006.
Please send your essay,
including your name, your school’s name, and the name of your faculty advisor
to:
SAGIndie
ATTN: Adobe Contest
5757 Wilshire Blvd., 7th Floor
Los Angeles, CA
90036
SAGIndie is pleased to
announce the launch of our Diversity Screening Series, a program dedicated to
promoting films with a diverse cast and/or diverse themes. SAGIndie and the
Screen Actors Guild are committed to increasing employment opportunities for performers
of all types, a commitment shown in our sponsorship of diversity-themed film
festivals, our diversity outreach programs, and our Low Budget Diversity in
Casting Incentive. The Diversity Screening Series is an exciting next step in
this constantly evolving campaign.
The screenings will be held
quarterly in New York and Los Angeles, with other cities to follow as
the program matures and moves forward.
Thank you for your interest
in submitting your film to this exciting new event. We look forward to watching
all your films – every last one of the thousands and thousands of excellent films that will be soon coming our way. To
help us make that happen, though, you should read the following guidelines.
Learn them. Live them. Submissions that do not follow the guidelines will find
themselves moldering away in the SAGIndie Vault of Misfit Films.
1) The SAGIndie Diversity Screening Series is intended to promote films produced under the SAG Low Budget Agreements. However, if you (or your Uncle Theodore) have deep pockets and have made an awesome diversity film for more than 3.75 million, we’ll consider it - provided you buy us a starter home in the red-hot California real estate market.
2) This should be a no-brainer, but here goes: submitted films MUST have diverse cast, themes, or situations to be considered. They MUST also be SAG films. No exceptions. Thank you.
3) Brownie points are awarded to films using the Screen Actors Guild’s Diversity in Casting incentive.
4) Submissions must be in DVD format ONLY. VHS is dead, and we will not watch your film on YouTube (we’re too busy watching funny cat videos).
5) Submissions become the property of SAGIndie, and will not be returned. But don’t worry - we won’t show the really bad ones at a booze-soaked bad-movie party. We promise.
6) Print out this Submission Form, fill it out completely, and send it along with your DVD to the address on the form.
7) And finally, don’t call us, we’ll call you. Seriously.
That’s it! Simple, no? Thanks for your submission, and good luck!
NEW! Visit our brand new Diversity Screening Series web site! Featuring news, screening schedules, and a consolidated film submission area, not to mention tons of geeky-friendly social networking features!
PROLOGUE
We at SAGIndie decided to try a little something new this year, and hold a panel at Comic-con. We figured there we would find many aspiring indie filmmakers wanting to make low-budget sci-fi and fantasy films, and who probably weren’t aware that they could actually afford to use professional talent. What better place to educate said filmmakers than their Mecca, Comic-Con?
ACT I
Scott and I woke up (in our respective apartments, get your mind of out the gutter!) so early on Saturday that the sun wasn’t even up. Under the cover of night, we ran away from home to join the circus that is San Diego’s annual Comic Convention. We met up at Union Station to take the train south. Plans were almost thwarted here, when we realized that the line was longer than my list of reasons not to have kids. We also figured out that our grumpiness is in direct correlation to how sure we are that we’re going to miss our train (multiply that by empty tummies squared and lack of sleep to the 18th power and you’ve got a breed of supergrump that is scarier than my seventh grade math teacher.)
We calmed down a little when we made it to the train in the nick of time…until we realized we were sitting behind the most annoying girl ever. You know how painfully unfunny kids are when they’re, like, eight years old and are just discovering what a sense of humor is, and they try really hard to be sarcastic and stuff? She was less funny than that. What’s even worse is that she sure hit it off with the guy next to her, so the next three hours we were forced to listen to this girl and her plot to go to wealthy older Beverly Hills couples and offer to bear children for them if they get her into show business. No matter how loud I turned Children of Bodom up on my i-Pod, I couldn’t drown her out.
Upon arriving in San Diego, we promptly (accidentally) gave some poor guy the wrong directions to the covention center. To console ourselves, we had breakfast at some nook whose name escapes me right now, where I had the best omelette of my life. After that, it was time to get down to business, so we checked in, got our badges and admired how precious dorky 9th grade boys can be.
ACT II
I’m finding it difficult to find words to describe Comic-con. Crowded is one that comes to mind. Expensive is another. I was lost on a good number of the references. I know, I know, it’s Comic-con. But I figured "I’m a nerd, I watch cartoons, I’ll fit in here!" That wasn’t enough. I don’t care about Star Wars, The Matrix, LOTR, superhero comics being turned into blockbusters. I used to pretend I did, but as I got older and more secure with myself, I found myself less and less worried about not being in the upper-echelons of geekdom. I knew that if I had really belonged there, I wouldn’t have been so irritated by not being able to get through the massive crowd to an area less claustraphobic, or pushed along by the crowd when I wanted to stop and look at something. We did, however, take a ton of pictures and marvel (get it?) at the effort that it must have taken these fans to get their costumes together.
After wandering around the lower level and exploring the upstairs autograph area, we went to the room where we were to hold our panel and Q&A. There was an indie film-fest going on (!!!), but all the films were non-union. (Even though I found out later some of the actors were actually SAG - very naughty.) The film fest ended and we set up the presentation, which went by faster than expected. We had a decent crowd for not having advertised, coupled with our competition: a LOST panel. Unfortunately, some of the audience left when they realized we weren’t showing any films. The (lucky) people who stayed were treated to the comedic stylings of Mr. Scott Garner and his hilariously sensitive microphone. The Q&A was brief, but several people stayed after to talk to us more. It’s very satisfying to dispell negative rumors about SAG and show people what a good deal these contracts are. Once everyone had cleared out of the room, we debated whether or not to stick around and explore some more, but decided against it. If we hurried, we could make it home in time for dinner!
We left, spirits higher now, at the thought of making it home early. We just weren’t made to last in a place like this. We walked the mile back to the station, following the yellow bricks embedded on the edge of the sidewalk, just barely making it back in time to catch the 4:20 train back into the city. After ten minutes of waiting, we realized that the 4:20 train must be late. It was a disappointing realization, as it was becoming, like, unbearably hot. (Now I’ve lived in both Arizona, where temperatures regularly reach in excess of 110 degrees as early as the end of May, and Chicago, where you truly understand the agony of extreme humidity - so trust me when I say it was unbearably hot. I feared the only way I was going to get my jeans off was with a heavy duty nail polish remover.) It was nearing 5 pm when the Amtrack employees finally realized they needed to let us know what was going on. Apparently, the trains were coming into the station but not leaving, because Amtrack was experiencing technical difficulties. It occured to us now that we may be stranded in San Diego, unless a train that could carry us home came along.
ACT III
By the beginning of the third hour standing in the sun waiting for a train that may or may not ever arrive, the crowd had grown to the size of a mob and was understandably upset. It might have been a little better had we been allowed to form a line inside, or at least in the shade. Scott and I made some calls to a friend who had access to a computer, and got the addresses and numbers of several rental car places in the area. When we realized the closest one was, like, over a mile away, we decided to call them first. You know, just in case. Our suspicions were confirmed. They were all closed. Getting home seemed even less like a possibility at that point, and I overheard angry people exclaiming that no hotels in the area had rooms available.
So we gave up the hope of returning, resigning ourselves to a feral life on the mean streets of SD, and turned our focus to organizing a coup d’etat. I was fashioning a bayonet when Scott wandered off for a smoke, and as soon as he was out of sight and ear-shot, the announcement was made: The train is boarding now! (I took a picture of the scene, to give you an idea.) I stood by the boarding gate alone with our bags, eyes stinging with tears at the thought of us missing this train because he had wandered off. I tried calling him, but all I got was his voice mail. My heart sank into the deep recesses of my tummy as I watched as the crowd boarded the train. There was no sight of him, we never going to make it home.
But wait!
Just when I couldn’t get any more dramatic, Scott appeared in the crowd, strolling casually to where I was standing. How can he be so non-chalant?!? (I would characterize my demeanor as "cool and collected" - Ed.) He almost had us stranded! We got in line and politely made our way to the train. After scoring a window seat (!!!) but still extremely grumpy about the whole ordeal, we put on our i-Pods and watched as the seventh circle of hell faded in the distance. I was starving and contemplating a much deserved trip to the dining car, when an announcement was made. There was no food on this train. Anywhere. I was too exhausted to get angry, so I just listened to Jay-Z and made a mental note to justify my thug once I made it back to Los Angeles.
There’s no place like home.
Our Signatory Workshop last night played to a full house, as the word about the new Low Budget Agreements has begun to spread across the independent film community, not unlike a vile, miasmic cloud of toxic gas (except, in a good way).
There were a few hard-core skeptics in the record-setting crowd (I can honestly say I never thought I’d see an SRO house for a 2 hour spiel on contracts), but for the most part it seems that the positive aspects of the new agreements, especially the Ultra Low Budget agreement, are becoming clearer to filmmakers.
Rather than belabor those points here (I’ll leave the belaboring to Paul), I’d just like to say to anyone who has any questions about these new agreements: Call us. Email us. Come to the workshop.
Knowledge is power. Something scary and incomprehensible (say, the music of Ashlee Simpson) can seem benign, even beneficial, when all the facts are known (okay, bad example).
We literally only exist to talk to you, to answer your questions, and to help you make your film using professional actors. We live to serve.
To drive home the point, I’m providing Paul’s home phone number to everyone out there. You can call him anytime day or night (don’t worry, he deosn’t have a social life for you to interrupt) at: 323-548….
Err, after a intense deliberation with Paul, I’ve decided that it would probably be best to just leave you with the office number: 323.549.6064.
Call us there. We’ll talk.
Attention digital filmmakers-
If you’ve missed the first three weeks of the IFP FIND Digital Seminar, there’s no need to fret: they’ve got four action-packed weeks left! Get your geek on with moderator Tara Veneruso as she and her guests walk you through the process of making a digital film, from pre-pro to post, and beyond.
We’re very proud to be hosting this year’s seminar in the James Cagney Room at SAG Headquarters. What does that mean to you? Plenty of free parking, and you don’t have to go to Beverly Hills.
