Since I have been threatened with dismissal unless I produce some blog content, I decided that I should probably post something in this space before I find myself scraping by on a pittance from the dole.
Thankfully, I actually thought of a reasonably useful concept Eliza actually thought of a reasonably useful concept* that I’ll be revisiting from time to time. Once a week (or as events warrant), I’m going to draw together a list of links to some of the best film-related sites on the web, and post them here. I’ll try to limit the scope of this column to indie film, but if some mega-media-conglomerate stuff sneaks through, you’ll just have to accept that as the cost of living in a oligarchical society ruled by New Media robber barons who saturate popular culture with their dreck – errr, I mean, "Vertically Integrated, Cross Market Intellectual Property."
That said, lets get to the nutmeat of this thing, which I have unimaginatively titled "Linkages!":
First up in this inaugural edition is FilmRadar.com, a comprehensive guide to specialty film events in the greater Los Angeles area. This site (which also has a presence, along with most of the known world, on MySpace) and it’s associated newsletter are a great source for information on indie, revival house, art house, foreign film, cult movie, and documentary screenings. Kari Bible, the one woman band behind the site, also organizes outings to such events as the ever-popular Cinespia screening series at the Hollywood Forever Cemetery. For film geeks, FilmRadar is definitely worth a bookmark – it’s on my del.icio.us profile.
Next up today is a utility that cash-strapped indie filmmakers (i.e., everybody reading this) will find useful. Storyboard Pro Software is a freeware application that works within Filemaker Pro to create, well, storyboards. It’s an academic program without all the bells and whistles of the proprietary storyboard apps out there, but hey – it’s free.
Finally, we have the online retail/streaming/rental service from GreenCine. It’s your one-stop shop for all kinds of rare video, and it also accepts submissions for it’s video on demand service from filmmakers – but SAG signatories should check with the Guild before you submit, just to make sure you have all your i’s dotted and your t’s crossed. They get touchy when the contract is violated.
*That she has already patented – so this is my first and last Linkages! column. Sigh.