I connected with Matthew Giegerich recently, who’s a talented co-creator (along with Chelsea Mize) behind the “Home At Last” web series which debuts later next month. Watch the hilarious trailer below! So how this post came together is Matt reached out to us via Spidvid to help promote his web series. I get lots of these kinds of requests every day but most don’t excited me. This one really did, and I was most impressed with the fact that Matt attracted many top actors for his web series including William Russ, who many of you know from Boy Meets World, and Jeff Lewis who is best known from The Guild.

I pleaded with him to put together a post so our community could learn how to attract top acting talent to their videos and shows. He graciously did and I’ve posted it below, so big thanks to Matt, and huge congrats to him for getting top tier acting talent in his web series! We anxiously await episode 1 of Home At Last next month.

Home At Last – Trailer from Matt Giegerich & Chelsea Mize on UnleashVideo

Tips For Attracting Big Actors To Your Web Series

I think the most important thing we did to get big actors attached to the show, was to have the idea that maybe we could do it. I think that the reason it doesn’t happen more often is probably because creators don’t think it’s possible to get good, recognizable actors to work on their projects.

We actually didn’t even consider it either, until a few recognizable faces sent in their head shots and info through Actor’s Access. At that point, the seed had been planted. What if we could cast whoever we wanted (within reason) for a couple of these roles?

So once we gave ourselves permission to allow ourselves to think that way, we were off. We made a list of all of the actors that could possibly play the role of “Bob” (the homeless guy) on the show.

William Russ was at the top of the list. We all grew up watching him on Boy Meets World, and he’s incredible in American History X. Obviously, we thought it was a long shot, but we contacted him right away. We used IMDBPro to get his contact information. This is a big tool that might be under utilized. Basically you pay 20 bucks a month and you have access to contact info for most actors (well, usually for their representation).

So we got in touch with Russ’s agent, and the agent was a very straight forward guy. He just said “send the script and if he likes it we’ll get back in touch.” I think it was only a couple of days. William enjoyed the script and said it made him laugh out loud, and he wanted to meet with us.

So we met. We didn’t officially have him on board yet, but we had lunch. And we talked about the script, and his involvement, and the kind of tone of what we were going for. He wanted to get some exposure to new media, and we obviously had a ton of knowledge to gain from him (he’s directed a few shows, in addition to having starred on BMW all those years).

But I think William’s curiosity for new media production and the fact that he liked the script are almost entirely why he did the project. And once he came on board he was just as amazing to work with as we all expected. He has such a good sense of timing and rhythm and pacing and blocking – pretty much everything that goes into making a show.

Those contributions were almost bigger than his acting itself. Of course his acting was phenomenal, but between takes he had tons of nuggets of wisdom to share. One thing in particular, and it’s small, but lots of small things really add up… One thing was a problem we were having with an entrance. We needed a character to enter the apartment and close the door quickly. But having him turn even slightly to close the door was messing up the flow of the scene. We were kind of clueless as to how to solve the problem. Then William suggested that he just close the door with his foot. It’s the kind of thing you see on TV all the time and you don’t even notice, but it makes a big difference in the show, and I think we used the foot close on more than one occasion!

Then it was pretty much a similar process for getting Jeff Lewis on board. We had a part that we thought he would be great for, we contacted his agent, he liked the script and took the role.

Another thing that may have helped us with bringing Jeff onto the project is that we were using a great director (Stephen Sprinkles) who worked on an IFC web series a couple of years back, and has made some really good shorts. We were also using a very talented DP (Chris Darnell) that Jeff had worked with before on both The Guild and The Jeff Lewis 5 Minute Comedy Hour. Darnell has worked a lot in new media, and his work has probably been seen by twenty or thirty or forty million viewers.

So when we contacted Jeff, we definitely mentioned that we already had Darnell on board. I think having that kind of quality assurance goes a long way. I think that actors are sometimes hesitant to work on an online project because stuff online is bad so much of the time. So if you can crew up with really talented, established people, better known actors might come on board because they know that you will turn out pro-quality work.

So I guess the three big things are:

1. Use IMDBPro

2. Write a good script

3. Build a solid team before you contact actors

Needs actors for your projects? We have many talented actors in our Spidvid community! Grab a free Spidvid profile right now, and join our new media movement.

Jeremy Campbell Guest Post, Lists, Production Tool actors, attracting actors, filmmaker, filmmaking, Hollywood, IMDB, Jeff Lewis, Matt Giegerich, new media, online show, online video, screenwriting, script, scriptwriting, team building, web series, web show, William Russ

Every once in awhile I’m presented with a great opportunity to help fund a very worthwhile film by a talented filmmaker. Today I take a look at a feature film with loads of potential named “Man-Child” by filmmaker Ryan Koo (pictured above) of NoFilmSchool.

Ryan has opted to use Kickstarter as his platform for raising money to create the film. His stats to date are most impressive as he has 1,200 funders, and has raised $71,010 to date out with his end goal being $115,000. Among the funders is 11-time NBA champion coach, Phil Jackson!

But there’s just 7 days left, so please check out the Man-Child Kickstarter page now to watch Koo’s brilliant pitch video (also embedded below), learn more about the intriguing film, how the money will be spent, and perhaps most importantly what you receive as rewards for donating.

More about the Man-Child film project below from Ryan

Man-child is an independent fiction film (not a documentary) that takes place in the surprisingly high-stakes world of youth basketball. I hope to shoot it independently in North Carolina (where I grew up playing basketball) next summer. My entire life has been leading up to this point, and so I’m asking for your help!

In 2009, the NCAA lowered the age limit on who can be considered an official basketball “prospect” to include 7th graders. While there have been a number of basketball films made about high school, college, or pro athletes, today’s recruiting — legal and illegal — begins much earlier. It’s a fascinating and treacherous world which often leaves big decisions in the hands of little kids.

The film explores sports, education, religion, and sex in America through the eyes of a talented 13 year-old basketball player (sexuality, I should note, is not presented in any sort of exploitative manner, and factors organically into the “learning personal responsibility” storyline). While it is narrative fiction, it explores a very real world.

HERE’S A SYNOPSIS OF THE PLOT:

An amateur video of 13 year-old Terran “TJ” Jackson playing basketball hits the internet and turns his life upside down. TJ is soon nationally ranked among other 7th graders and declared to be “the next Dwayne Wade” despite being in middle school.

As a result of this exposure, free athletic gear and various hangers-on find their way to the doorstep of his small, predominantly-black Christian school. While TJ navigates the religious curriculum — and simultaneously a sexually active relationship with his girlfriend — he learns about the youth basketball world and the recruiting machine that powers it. With his newfound fame, he must choose between educational institutes, father figures, and belief systems.

A few years from now TJ could be a millionaire, but right now all he has is basketball. It’s a lot for anyone to handle — much less a 13 year-old.

Is it going to be good?

It’s totally going to be good! I’m very happy to share that the script for “Man-child” was just accepted to IFP’s Emerging Narrative Program, which provides mentorship and access to producers. Around 350 scripts applied and only 20 were accepted, so I would like to think this is a solid step toward Not Sucking (percentage wise, that’s harder than getting into Harvard. Just saying!). I’m also honored to have been selected as one of 25 filmmakers invited to participate in the inaugural Emerging Visions program at the Film Society of Lincoln Center this October — also because of this script.

For the IFP event, an oft-requested supplement is a “lookbook,” wherein writers pull still images from existing sources in order to convey what they want the movie to look like. Instead of using still images, however, I decided to make a multimedia look book: a collage of film and TV clips to demonstrate the aesthetic of Man-child. Because it’s intended for producers, it gets a bit technical, but I hope you’ll find it interesting. At the very least, I hope you like the 1970s basketball clip — short shorts are always funny:

If this fundraising campaign is successful, with the help of the IFP and Lincoln Center programs I hope to be able to bring the right personnel on board to make this film as good as it can possibly be, and to reach a wide audience with the film as well.

I talk about myself plenty in the video, but if you’d like a bio of what I’ve done film-wise so far in my life, here’s a third-person bio.

How can I help produce the film?

• The goal of this campaign is to raise $115,000. See the FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) at the bottom of this page for exactly where all this money will go — it’s NOT going to me, it’s going to the production of the film. As far as movies go — especially sports movies — this is a very small amount of money with which to make a feature film.
• The campaign has a hard deadline of 11:59pm on September 23rd.
• If you decide to help, you pledge whatever you want in exchange for cool rewards (for example, a DVD of the film when it’s done, an HD download, your name in the credits, a blog post on my web site NoFilmSchool… the list goes on!).
• The more you pledge, the better the rewards! Take a look at the column on the right to see what’s available.
• If I make the goal by the deadline, your credit card is charged what you pledged (but not until then). I get to make the movie, you get your rewards, and everyone’s happy. I’d be more than happy, obviously — I’ll be more ecstatic than I’ve ever been in my life, and hopefully you’ll feel good too.
• If I don’t make the goal by the deadline (falling even a penny short), your credit card is not charged, I get nothing, you don’t get any reward(s), and the world doesn’t find out what it’s like to be 13 year-old, basketball-playing Terran “TJ” Jackson.

What is this 1 frame per dollar thing?

• An 80 minute film is 115,000 frames [24 frames per second X 60 seconds a minute X 80 minutes = 115,200].
• If the movie is longer than 80 minutes — which it’s 99.9999% certain to be — each dollar will actually equal MORE than 1 frame. I’m estimating a short 80 minute runtime to ensure you’re sponsoring at least one unique frame for every dollar pledged.
• No matter what amount you pledge, you will be sent the UNIQUE frames of the movie that you made happen. 5 bucks = 5 frames, 24 bucks = one second of the film (and the full DVD with special features!).

Another way you can participate (other than backing the project) is to SPREAD THE WORD about the project! E-mail a friend, share it on facebook, post it to an online forum, make smoke signals… any way you can get the word out is a HUGE help.

Again, please help make this film a reality by donating on the Kickstarter page.

Jeremy Campbell Mention crowdsourcing, donation, feature film, film, film development, film funding, film project, film rewards, filmmaker, funders, Kickstarter, Koo, LA Lakers, new media, No film School, nofilmschool, Phil Jackson, Ryan Koo, writer

Wouldn’t it be nice if every video project you collaborated on, you were passionate about and proud of them?! Unfortunately life isn’t a fantasy land, so it doesn’t always work out this way. Below are 6 ways to help you be part of more quality video entertainment projects that you can be proud of.

1. Control your own destiny – The top way to be part of video projects you can be proud of, is to create your own opportunities by leading or co-leading projects. It’s always smart to have influence over your project’s fate.

2. People, people, people – Be sure to associate yourself with credible people who have respected completed projects under their belts. If someone has little or no experience as a key team member, then it’s hard to forecast how the end result will turn out.

3. Don’t overstretch your budget – Budgets will always be limited so learn how to work inside of them, and always allocate at least 10-20% of the budget towards miscellaneous “things” because unforeseen expenses will ALWAYS pop up!

4. Timing is everything – Projects will almost always cost more than you originally planned, and take longer too. Don’t set an exact date for release unless you are 100% confident you will get there in time, and if a firm release date is mandatory. Give yourself a time buffer so you don’t feel like a time-inefficient idiot later.

5. Relationships matter – Treat your team members with respect, and listen, listen, listen to them. You don’t have to like everyone, but don’t create drama and conflict because that will kill team chemistry and morale, and even take down entire projects. Also keep in mind that not everyone will share your unique sense of  humor, so be friendly before being funny.

6. Never release it – If you get a video created but at the end of the journey aren’t excited and proud of what you and your team have put together, then don’t release it! Chances are you can make a few simple edits to cut the non-proud parts and come out with a winner that will make your team, and most importantly your viewing audience smile.

Have something to add? Please add it below with a quick comment.

If you want to create more entertaining videos that you can be proud of, but need to build a project team first, then grab a Spidvid profile and connect with the talent you need to collaborate with!

Jeremy Campbell Lists, resources create video, create videos, creative, filmmaker, filmmaking, how to, new media, online video, produce videos, video, video production, web video

How do you write scripts for your films? An old school approach with ink and paper, or do you prefer writing your scripts in a digital format? If you are a screenwriter or director, chances are pretty decent that you have downloaded Celtx’s pre-production software for managing your script work flow and collaborative efforts.

Celtx is a free desktop product that has been downloaded over 1,000,000 times by people in 170 different countries, in 30 different languages. I’ve long known about Celtx and always assumed its creators were based in Los Angeles or Silicon Valley, but was surprised to learn that Celtx is a product of St.John’s, Newfoundland. We are based in Toronto, and I’m always proud to hear about cutting-edge technology getting developed in Canada.

Below are a couple screen shots of Celtx’s script writing software.

If you want to get full value out of the product, then check out the “Mastering Celtx” book below (Amazon link) by Terry Borst which is being released tomorrow!

If you are a Spidvid member you should be using Celtx for your collaborative projects.  Celtx is the perfect pre-production tool to complement your Spidvid projects, and any other film project you want to successfully bring to fruition.

Jeremy Campbell Production Tool Celtx, Celtx Studio, director, film production, film software, film tool, filmmaker, filmmaking, indie film, pre-production, screenwriting, script, scriptwriting, software, video production, work flow, writing

The traditional short filmmaker is focused on taking their time to carefully plan out every aspect of their production, team, and work flow. From start to finish this type of film project takes many months to complete, which to me is risky because many short films don’t do that great. It’s a numbers game, and so a filmmaker that releases 2 or 3 short films per year has less chances of success than a filmmaker who aims to release 2x or even 4x+ that number.

It can be argued that the filmmaker who produces 2 or 3 per year perhaps has higher quality content, but what I’m seeing more and more are these lean and fast moving video creators and teams cranking out far more content than the traditional filmmaker is accustomed to, and large audiences totally buying in. Perhaps there’s less “polish” on every short film but for the most part it’s a numbers game because nobody knows what will stick with an audience, and what will fail miserably.

The most popular YouTube channels are the ones where the creator is cranking out 1, 2, or more videos every week, and so it seems to me that the future of the modern filmmaker is based upon consistently and regularly releasing entertaining videos that have production value which tell interesting stories.

What do you think about the ever-evolving world of filmmaking? Do you believe in investing more hours per film and releasing less often, or do you think it’s a better approach to move fast and get more content out there to increase the number of chances for success?

Jeremy Campbell community film quantity, filmmaker, filmmaking, online video, quality films, quality videos, video creator, video production, video quantity, videomaker, web video