Bradford aims to be UK Capital of Film
Having blogged about a number of conferences I’ve been to in the last year, it’s great to finally get a chance to blog about an event I actually spoke at.
Over the weekend I was thrilled to be part of the Industry Weekend at the Bite The Mango Film Festival which has been taking place at Bradford’s National Media Museum.
Bite The Mango?
The fourteenth Bite The Mango Film Festival, sponsored by the UK Film Council, BAFTA (British Academy of Film and Television Arts), Screen Yorkshire and a few others is running from 19th to 25th September and is an opportunity to see the UK premieres of some exciting films from around the globe.
You may be unaware of Bradford’s ambitious plan to be the first UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation) ‘city of film‘ but they are taking it very seriously indeed.
And rightly so, Bradford has a fine pedigree in film making, as I was to find out.
The city has been the location for a number of successful films over the years including Wuthering Heights (1939), The Railway Children (1970); Monty Python’s Meaning of Life (1979); Pink Floyd – The Wall (1982) and more recently, ‘1920′ the first Indian feature film to be filmed in the region.
Opening Night Film - The Fall
On the opening night of the festival, I joined a packed audience in the National Media Museum’s Pictureville cinema to see what has probably been the most touching film of the year for me, The Fall.
Directed by acclaimed Indian director, Tarsem Singh who also directed REM’s “Losing My Religion” music video, it is a fairy tale for adults lusciously filmed over 26 gorgeous locations including Bali, Fiji, China, the Himalayas, Turkey and Namibia.
As the comments after the YouTube trailer indicate, I’m not the only one to have been mesmerised by The Fall.
Starring Lee Pace of US TV drama Pushing Daisies and astonishing child actress Catinca Untaru, it’s a dazzling story about an injured Hollywood stuntman’s tall tales whilst convalescing in hospital. It’s released in the UK on October 3. Definitely worth checking out.
On to the business of my talk at the Industry Weekend accompanying the Bite The Mango Film Festival.
My Talk at Bite The Mango
I was asked share insights about alternative methods of film distribution, with an emphasis on using the web and social media and some of my experiences as an online video pioneer(!).
You can view the slides from my talk on slideshare. They are essentially a re-mixed version of my Marketing Tech conference presentation with a slant towards using social media for promoting films.
My examples included work by web cinema pioneers Four Eyed Monsters and A Swarm of Angels.
Other Interesting Talks at Bite The Mango
I really enjoyed the talks by film industry experts at Bite The Mango, especially the first by Steve Nesbit, film maker and director and founder of BeTheMovieStar.com, a global casting network and community.
The Screen Yorkshire Digital Shorts session also had some great speakers with Matt Taabu, a film maker recently commissioned by the scheme providing excellent words of advice for aspiring film makers and showing some of the best shorts I’ve seen in a long time.
Matt’s Into The Woods short film about a family lost in the woods left the room in stunned silence at the end. Heady stuff.
As with most of these things, you can only prepare so much for a presentation and give it your best, hoping the topics chosen resonate with the audience. An actress in the audience came up to me at the end and said that my session had been the best of the day for her which was extremely encouraging.
I learnt that actors, film makers and directors are really keen on using social media but like much of the wider world, think it is the preserve of the elite few geeky enough to understand how it works.
I hope my presentation put paid to that.
I’ve blogged some of my notes from Steve Nesbit’s talk here as they were incredibly illuminating. As usual, these are a collection of my favourite quotes and notable points from his informal presentation, re-printed verbatim from my scribbles.
If you were at Bite The Mango and attended any of the talks described in this post, please share your experiences in the comments!
Steve Nesbit’s tips at Bite The Mango
Short films in the UK – an expensive hobby.
In Europe and the US – a legitimate enterprise.
Making a short film in the UK very much about calling in a lot of favours.
On distribution opportunities for short films:
Audiences will watch “Rambo 7” and not high brow artistic content. Cheap film production means we are in a similar situation as in the early days of the internet. Before Google there were search companies like Alta Vista, Web Crawler.
The web needs a navigational system that helps people find the right short film.
Year on year we are about sophistication: we’ve gone from discovering ‘carry out’ meals to ‘cocktail in a can’. Convenience is key…
Short form content needs to be scheduled. Needs to be simple for people to use.
Editorial does not mean taking away ‘on-demand’.
There are too many choices out there and few linked to the lean-back TV viewing experience.
Lesssons He Has Learned
Paramount – be honest with yourself.
For aspiring cinematographers:
If what motivates you is telling stories, be a film maker.
You’ve got to try every type of lighting technique you can. Create things the way you think it should be created.
Earn the right to make the movies you want.
View it as a profession, a business.
Often very tough to make a living as a film maker.
Find ways to earn money within film/TV whilst practising your craft.
Keep shooting, keep talking to cinematographers.
You are a cinematographer because you say you are.
The end of the 90s up to 2003, funding was good for commercials. Ad agencies now more interested in using the internet and ambient stuff to sell their brand.
Doing commercials allow you to earn a living and play with lovely toys.
The best equipment available often hired for commercials…
When starting out, don’t buy equipment, concentrate on feeding yourself.
For aspiring directors:
Don’t let financial restraints dictate the story. Look after your actors.
Where I’ve got a budget that will take it, I put in a ‘passion project’.
Don’t chase funding. Be ruthless about casting.
Cream does rise to the top.
You get your rewards at the end.
Related posts:
- Next speaking engagement: Bite The Mango Festival Film Festival, Bradford
- b.TWEEN08 – Relegating Conference Q And A Sessions To The Dustbin
- Sheffield Melts Creativity – Melt 2008 Inspiration Session – Part 4
- 4Talent Inspiration Session – Building Online Communities like Flickr and Habbo Hotel – Part 3
