SENATE PASSES JOBS ACT WITH MODIFIED CROWDFUNDING RULES

By Scott Macaulay

The JOBS (Jumpstart Our Small Businesses) Act, a collection of six bills intended to make it easy for small businesses to raise capital by relaxing various Securities and Exchange Commission requirements, including those related to crowdfunding, passed the Senate yesterday. It is now headed back to the House for reconciliation and could become law next week.

While the House version of the bill passed swiftly with bipartisan backing, its passage through the Senate was rockier, with some Democrats and progressives warning that the bill would dilute necessary investor protections contained in the 2002, post-Enron Sarbanes Oxley Act. The bill exempts what it calls “emerging growth companies,” or those with under $1 billion in revenue (!), from some more recent regulations contained in the Dodd-Frank bill. SEC public disclosure rules applying to companies with over 500 shareholders and $10 million in assets are eased too; they now apply to companies with over 2,000 shareholders. The bill passed the Senate with an amendment sponsored by Democrat Jeff Merkley of Oregon and Republican Scott Brown of Massachussetts specifically addressing crowdfunding. From the New York Times:

The Merkley-Brown amendment would require companies to provide tax returns or financial statements to investors before the offering. In contrast, the House bill would allow companies to raise $1 million without providing any financial statements to potential investors.

The House bill would allow individual investors to invest up to $10,000 or 10 percent of their annual income per year, whichever was less. The Merkley-Brown amendment would limit those investments to the greater of $2,000 or 5 percent of either annual income or net worth, if either figure was less than $100,000.

Investors with annual income or net worth of more than $100,000 could invest up to $100,000 or 10 percent of annual income, the amendment states. The amendment also requires greater disclosure of financial results as the amount that the company intends to raise goes up.

(For more details on the Merkley-Brown amendment, see Crowdsourcing.org.)

Critics of the bill view it as a sop to the financial services industry, declaring that it will lead to the “boiler … Read the rest

CROWDFUNDING BILL STALLS IN THE SENATE

By Scott Macaulay

The JOBS (Jumpstart our Business Startups) Act, which passed the House last week, has stalled in the Senate over criticism by Democrats over some of its provisions, including those related to crowdfunding, the strategy being used today by many independent filmmakers.

Currently, it is illegal to use crowdfunding platforms like Kickstarter and Indiegogo to solicit actual investments. Monies pledged on these platforms are donations usually lacking any tax benefit or further income possiblity for the funder. (Or, increasingly, they are pre-buys for a specific goods or services.) The JOBS Act aims to change that, allowing businesses, including filmmakers, to solicit actual investment over the internet. A person — even someone not qualifying as an “accredited investor” — could invest up to $10,000, or 10% of his or her income (whichever is less), in a startup capitalized at $1 million or below and receive an equity position in the business.

Until this week, the bill, which is supported by President Obama, appeared headed for bipartisan consensus and quick passage. However, the pushback has now begun, with critics arguing that the JOBS Act dilutes investor protections needed in the aftermath of the financial crisis. The New York Times editorialized against the bill in its current form on Sunday:

House Republicans, Senate Democrats and President Obama have found something they can all support: a terrible package of bills that would undo essential investor protections, reduce market transparency and distort the efficient allocation of capital….

Another provision would permit “crowd funding” — raising money from small investors through the Internet — without requiring those companies to provide meaningful disclosure and without adequate oversight by the Securities and Exchange Commission. John Coffee Jr., a securities law expert, has dubbed that the “Boiler Room Legalization Act.”

In a good roundup on this issue by Adrienne Burke at the Forbes Techonomy blog, businessman and “crowdfunding activist” Nick Tommarello argues the more free-market position:

[Tommarello] says incentives are already there for intermediaries to regulate themselves. Tommarello believes crowd investing platforms will need to do due diligence on businesses they host in order to attract investors. Take Kickstarter

… Read the rest

THE MICRO-BUDGET CONVERSATION: IS ENOUGH…ENOUGH?

By John Yost

When and how did Edward Burns become the mouthpiece of micro budget cinema?

That’s a question I asked on Facebook after a late night holiday bender and noticing the ridiculous amount of press Ed got for making a film that certainly didn’t cost him 9K. Then I thought, who really does make a film for 9K? If you add up all the favors and salaries that are not getting paid you’re in the hundreds of thousands. Then I thought, oh man is there any such thing as micro-budget at all? Or is it like the myth of cover girl beauty. (Isn’t he married to a model, by the way?) Then before I could kill myself, Lucas McNelly commented in defense of Ed. Lucas and I have been communicating on and off, and recently, FCF has started development on a documentary of his A Year Without REnt and this experiment we call indie filmmaking.

Now don’t get me wrong, Ed Burns is a good filmmaker, and I think it’s great that he is jumping into micro-budget filmmaking with both feet. Lucas made a good point that he is also making low-budget filmmaking acceptable to a wider audience. All good things.

I think my biggest problem with Ed being the mouthpiece is the expectation it sets. By having a large arsenal of personal favors and resources far beyond the scope of any micro-budget filmmaker he sets a false expectation to the filmgoing audience. The industry often does the same thing by taking a film that cost hundreds of thousands to make and finish, fudging the numbers to put it in the four-digit range, and then using that as it’s selling point. This is the same as taking someone who is a size 12, photographing them, and then using Photoshop to make them look a size 4. We cultivate an audience that has disjointed expectations between budget and product. They demand a certain quality of product, yet no one can truly make that product with the tools (or body) they are given. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not surprised this has happened in … Read the rest

FILMMAKER LAUNCHES CURATED KICKSTARTER PAGE

By Scott Macaulay

With thanks to the good folks at Kickstarter, today we debut our curated page on the crowdfunding platform. At Filmmaker Magazine on Kickstarter you’ll always find a half dozen or so projects that we believe deserve your support. These will be projects by filmmakers we support through the magazine or site (like, for example, those from our annual “25 New Faces” list), those whose work has impressed us in the past, or perhaps just those whose project descriptions are particularly compelling. And while film and video projects will, naturally, comprise the bulk of our recommendations, I hope to sprinkle in projects in other areas like technology, music and publishing. There will always be a short blurb explaining why we’ve made the pick.

We’ve launched the page with the following projects:

* Fourplay. Kyle Henry made our 25 New Faces list following his eerie, assured independent feature, Room. For the last couple of years he’s been making Fourplay, a series of shorts about sexual intimacy. As they’ve been completed they’ve played places like Outfest, Cannes and, upcoming, Sundance. This last Kickstarter campaign will underwrite final post production and go towards a major festival debut.

* The Joneses. Aviva Wishnow, whose previous production, Blank City, was a necessary chronicle of the New York No Wave scene, is producing Moby Longinotto’s documentary about a “transgender trailer park matriarch, Jheri Jones, and her two adult sons in Bible belt Mississippi.” (This project has only a few days left, so if it sounds interesting, click on the title.)

* Aunt Louisa. Filmmaker readers may remember producer Thomas Woodrow, who blogged for this site from the Sundance Producers’ Lab. After producing films like True Adolescents and Bass Ackwards, and toiling in the trenches of DIY distribution, he’s now moving over to the director’s chair. Aunt Louisa is his personal short that will go the festival route and also serve as a calling card for his and his creative team’s planned feature.

* The Doc Yard. The Doc Yard is Boston’s excellent documentary screening series that not only shows great films but … Read the rest

KICKSTARTER: SARA NODJOUMI AND TILL SCHAUDER’S “THE IRAN JOB”

By Dan Schoenbrun

The Kickstarter campaign for Iranian basketball documentary The Iran Job ends next Monday, but the project has already passed its ambitious $50,000 goal. In production for several years, The Iran Job (which is fiscally sponsored by IFP) is seeking finishing funds to prepare for a 2012 release. The documentary follows Kevin Sheppard, an American basketball player who has become an unlikely spokesperson for reform while playing ball in Iran. Per the project’s Kickstarter page:

With tensions running high between Iran and the West, Kevin tries to separate sports from politics, only to find that politics is impossible to escape in Iran. Along the way he forms an unlikely alliance with three outspoken Iranian women. Thanks to these women, his apartment turns into an oasis of free speech, where they discuss everything from politics to religion to gender roles. Kevin’s season in Iran culminates in something much bigger than basketball: the uprising and subsequent suppression of Iran’s reformist Green Movement – a powerful prelude to the currently unfolding Arab Spring.

In a recent email conversation with FILMMAKER, co-director Till Schauder discussed the genesis of the project, explaining why Sheppard turned out to be such a compelling protagonist. “We took two years to find our protagonist, but the wait was well worth it,” Shauder explained. “Kevin is not only a terrific basketball player, and smart and insightful. He’s also one of the funniest guys I’ve ever met. He adds a sense of humor that I think is unusual for a film about a country typically associated with Islamist terrorists or illegal nukes.”

Schauder went on to discuss his and Nodjoumi’s plans for the project. “We’re raising funds to complete the broadcast version, to finance the film’s outreach campaign and other costs associated with the release. We’ve submitted to festivals and are hoping for our world premiere in the spring or first quarter of 2012.”

You can donate to The Iran Job now over at Kickstarter. And be sure to check out this accompanying video, which serves as something of a trailer for the doc:

… Read the rest

A YEAR WITHOUT RENT, PART SIX

By Lucas McNelly

I wasn’t supposed to go to Europe. You can’t really drive there (unless you’re the Muppets) and flights across the pond are expensive, but when a production comes calling, I listen. This one made it easy, asking would I come to the UK if they covered the plane ticket?

A no-brainer.

Which is how I ended up in Newcastle upon Tyne, a small city near Scotland, serving as gaffer in a country where I have absolutely no idea how the electricity works. And when I ask how much I can put into a circuit, I’m told that, well, that depends on the wiring. In other words, no one knows. My solution? Start plugging stuff in until the circuit trips, unplug the last one, and see how much is left. There’s the answer.

The United Kingdom (England?) is only my second non-US country on A Year Without Rent, but one thing that seems to be evident is that the American DIY mentality, the one that says “fuck y’all, we’re making this movie whether you like it or not”, isn’t nearly as prevalent as it is in the States. Oh sure, it’s there, but it’s on a delay. There’s no Gregory Bayne overseas (hell, there’s only a handful in the U.S.). Or if there is, I haven’t heard about him, which might be all the proof you need.

Follow me on a tangent. I’ll get back to my trip to Europe in a minute. Honest.

It’s been a couple of years since indie filmmakers in the U.S. could rely on studios or the festival system or pretty much anyone to take care of them. Oh sure, Sundance used to create careers more or less out of thin air, but anyone who’s been paying attention knows those days are long gone. Kevin Smith said recently that CLERKS probably wouldn’t get into Sundance if he made it now. I’ll go further: he probably wouldn’t even bother submitting it, and if he did, I doubt it’d get much serious consideration.

Every month, more indie filmmakers come to the conclusion that no one’s going to … Read the rest

KICKSTARTER: KEITH MILLER’S “WELCOME TO PINE HILL”

By Dan Schoenbrun

On the heels of this week’s Slamdance lineup announcement, Welcome to Pine Hill, one of the films premiering in competition, has launched a new Kickstarter campaign. A verite, doc-narrative blend (and an alum of the 2011 IFP Narrative Labs), Pine Hill follows Shannon Harper, a former drug dealer who reexamines his past after receiving some life-altering news. Director Keith Miller has crafted an intimate, stirring, and emotionally authentic first feature; one that’s sure to have quite a life on the 2012 festival circuit. For now though, Miller and his team need your help. Per their Kickstarter page:

Keith Miller and Shannon Harper first met fighting over a lost puppy one late night in Brooklyn, NY. Inspired by the chance encounter and a range of true experiences they blurred reality and fiction to create a movie called WELCOME TO PINE HILL. We’re here to raise some last-minute funds to prepare PINE HILL for its World Premiere and to make sure Shannon can travel to see himself on the big screen for the first time.

You can contribute to Welcome to Pine Hill through January 17^th. And be sure to check out their new Kickstarter video, which features clips from the film as well as some behind-the-scenes interviews with both Keith and Shannon:

… Read the rest

KICKSTARTER: “LEAVE ME LIKE YOU FOUND ME”

By Scott Macaulay

Producer Adele Romanski (The Myth of the American Sleepover, The Freebie) is stepping into the director’s chair with Leave Me Like You Found Me, and she is raising post-production funds on Kickstarter. You can read our interview with Adele about Myth this past summer and check out her Kickstarter video below.

From the Kickstarter page:

A few years back while on a camping trip in California, I had the idea to shoot a film in a national park. The idea was to try and capture something small and intimate and beautiful within the backdrop of something vast and expansive and also beautiful. Thus LEAVE ME LIKE YOU FOUND ME was born.

It is a story about two people who – after a year of being broken up & sad & lonely – decide to get back together. They just want to feel okay again and are hopeful that over the course of the last year they have grown enough as people to make the relationship work. To me this was a familiar idea… that place of total & utter heartbreak where you forget all the flaws of your last love and in your depressed state convince yourself that having them back would fix everything.

As I’ve spent the past few years making films – both as a producer & now as a director – I’ve come to realize that there is a special place in my heart for what I call ‘destination filmmaking’. Touching down in new place and going to work at bringing a vision to the screen while at the same time being immersed in a new location and finding a new routine to your day. This is how I have fallen in love with places like Detroit & Downeast Maine. And I think that making LEAVE ME was for me, the epitome of ‘destination filmmaking’. For two weeks my cast, my crew & myself camped in the woods – slept in tents, built a fire each night, hiked through said woods & made a movie. It was a truly unique experience about which

… Read the rest

THE MICROBUDGET CONVERSATION: WHAT IS OUR END GOAL?

By John Yost

As the editor of this column it is my job to choose the contributors, shape the voice, and move the column in a forward direction. The last post really struck up a good conversation, and it is now clear that my decision to move the blog in a new direction would be a welcome change. This does not mean, however, that we will stop talking with micro-budget filmmakers on timely topics and take the time to check in on their latest projects. Despite what some people feel, one of the functions of this column is to help contributing filmmakers get the word out about their latest endeavors, fundraising, and upcoming releases. This is not a thinly veiled attempt at advertising — this is just good form. I will be working hard to add new voices like genre, documentary, and perspectives of industry professionals, as well as more diary entries from filmmakers in different stages of production and distribution. These new topics and subjects will hopefully spark a large amount of chatter that I hope to put back into the conversation as well. So if you have something you just have to say…write it up and email it my way.

In an effort to close this season and move into the New Year, I’d like to take a moment to look back, reflect, and give my opinion. Think of this as a “Letter from the Editor” post.

Authenticity.

This has been the year of the honest, transparent filmmaker. The large majority of contributors I’ve met talk about being honest about your limitations and how to use them to your advantage. The real debate in my mind is, will this last? Will we continue to be more open about fundraising? Will we search our hearts for what we really want as a filmmaker and move towards that? Will we work harder to make content that truly reflects who we are as opposed to what festivals and foreign markets like? Will we be brave enough to forge a new industry that relies on community, honesty, and hard work to carry us through tough … Read the rest

IFP LABS: HOW TO MERCHANDISE EFFECTIVELY

By Dan Schoenbrun

A recurring topic all last week at IFP’s Marketing and Distribution Labs was how indie filmmakers can get the most out of their film’s release, both monetarily and in terms of marketing. Friday morning the conversation turned granular (but no less interesting) with lab leaders Jon Reiss, Amy Dotson, and Milton Tabbot discussing the pros and cons of various forms of merchandising.

Stressed repeatedly – the key thing to remember is that each film requires a distinct merchandising campaign. Think about your film’s core audience, and what kinds of products they would most likely be interested in. Then plan accordingly.

Here’s a list of merchandising opportunities that filmmakers should consider when taking their film out on the festival (or screening) circuit.

Sell DVDs at Screenings
If you’ve already had DVDs pressed by the time your film is screening, you should seriously consider selling them directly to the audience after the film. It’s a golden opportunity to reach fans directly, and one of the only instances where you’ll get to keep one hundred percent of the profits. Probably best not to sell at your festival premiere, but at subsequent theatrical screenings, it’s a tactic that could prove lucrative.

Important: If you’re in the process of negotiating DVD distribution, make sure to find out from the distributor if they’ll allow you to sell DVDs in this kind of scenario.

Equally important: You should make sure to negotiate a price below market value at which you can buy mass quantities of your DVD directly from the distributor.

Print Postcards, Business Cards, or Both
This will be essential to the marketing campaign surrounding your festival appearance(s). Make sure your postcards are visually appealing, and that they advertise the time and location of your screening. There was some debate this morning about whether postcards or business cards were ideal for this sort of marketing. Business cards, one filmmaker argued, are less likely to be discarded because of their wallet-friendly size. Whichever option you go with, make sure that your physical marketing materials clearly and effectively get the word out about your film, and about how … Read the rest