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BMI will sponsor the Amplify Music Conference and Festival taking place in Downtown Las Vegas, through August 8. The agenda includes daily conferences, workshops, nightly showcases and more. HBO will be present at the Martha’s Vineyard African-American Film Festival, August 6-9 in Vineyard Haven, hosting the HBO Short Film Competition on August 9 at Katherine Cornell Theatre. Process is an international Hip Hop Theatre workshop festival, August 7-9 in Manchester, delivered by Breaking Cycles as a tool to preserve the language of Hip Hop Theatre within the British culture and as a provision to nurture and develop the talents of emerging young artists.The film festival will exhibit films inspired by and representative of global Hip Hop culture.

Indie Fest USA Expo and International Film Festival, August 8-15 in Anaheim, combines eight days of independent films, live music artists, celebrities, the opening night welcome party and closing night awards show. Village 8 Theatres in Louisville hosts the August 15 premiere of ‘Last Breath’, a horror and gore genre flick about a canabalistic killer on the loose, preying on young women, and the close-knit band of police detectives on his trail. Tejano Music Convention, August 15-17 in Dallas, seeks to increase and enhance the Tejano or Tex-Mex music genre, and to showcase new artists and assist in the development of the next generation of Tejano artists and fans. An example of one featured event used to reach these goals is the Tejano Mega Dance which will happen at the Dallas Convention Center. Flashforward2008 San Francisco, August 20-22, includes the international Flashforward Film Festival and Awards ceremony and a Flash-related industry Expo Hall and community center with opportunities for the entire Flash community to network and share knowledge. The Flashforward Conference party happens at Ruby Skye.

London Frightfest is held each August Bank holiday weekend. Over 75% of the films shown have been UK, European or world premieres of the latest must see fantasy, sci-fi and horror films. NVISION will gather visual computing professionals, world-class gamers, innovative artists and designers, and cutting-edge researchers to share their ideas, experiences, and passions, August 25-27 in San Jose. It will also be held in conjunction with the Fifth Annual iGames Expo. Telluride Film Festival sticking to its annual custom opens during the Labor Day weekend, August 29 to September 2, in the mountain village of Telluride. Los Angeles Film Acting Coach, Molli Benson, will be holding a free two day Film Actors Workshop, August 30-31 in Albuquerque. For more details contact mollibenson@aol.com.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will see trailers and sample clips of ‘Last Breath’ from C&T Productions (www.myspace.com/tracyandchase), a murder mystery about a cannibalistic serial killer called the “Southside Slasher” has an August 15 premiere at Village 8 Theatres, 4014 Dutchmans Lane, Louisville, Kentucky. A Spoilt Video Production release of a Mirko Virgili film, ‘Ganja Fiction’ an Italian short film, in the pulp style genre, starring Claudio Caminito Attore, in which the lives of the characters intertwine behind a single common denominator — marijuana. Modern electronica experimentalism band Phoenix Block. Comedy portrayals of Kim Waldauer, and Robert Christophe, from their Cube News 1 series, and Adventures of Cubegirl, that follows Kim, a cubicle worker by day and superhero when needed, rescuing employees from corporate abuse.

Errors & Omissions Insurance (E & O) acts like a shield to help protect indie film producers from a lawsuits dealing with copyright infringement, using music without proper permission, chain of title issues and a lot of other lawsuits that can come up when distributing a movie.

Without E & O insurance most film distribution companies will not release a movie through retailers. It’s a necessary cost of doing business with a majority of distributors, even at the independent film level.

There are indie film producers that already have E & O insurance in place before shopping their movie to distributors. When they finalize their distribution agreement they submit a copy of the original certificate of insurance to the distributor adding the distribution company as an additional insured on the policy. Indie film producers that complete movies on a steady basis usually have an E & O insurance policy in place before principal photography begins.

A good rule of thumb to remember is that indie films should have E & O insurance coverage not less than $1,000,000 for each claim and $3,000,000 aggregate for all claims with a policy deductible no greater than $10,000. A good E & O insurance representative can explain the entire process based on your movie’s unique elements.

There are those times an indie film producer realizes the original movie budget did not include a line item expense for E & O insurance or they had no idea that it would be a needed to get their movie sold and distributed. When they step to the table to sign a distribution agreement there is no money to pay for E & O insurance policy.

It’s not the end of the world if you find yourself short on money to get E & O insurance. If a distributor is really hot for a movie they can front the cost through a carrier they deal with on a regular basis. The indie film producer will not have to go out of pocket upfront for the cost. But the distribution company will recoup the money spent from any sales, commonly referred to as a “charge back” to the indie film producer.

Be realistic that it’s most likely the distribution company will not get an indie film producer a great rate on E & O insurance. Think of it like buying something on credit you can’t afford and paying a higher interest rate later on. But if an indie film producer’s pockets are light money there is not another choice unless you pass on the deal. Easy credit will cost indie film producers more of their future movie profits down the line.

An indie film producer is better off if they look around for E & O insurance, get a firm quote, and include that real cost into the overall movie budget before shooting one frame. Making indie movies takes a squeeze a nickel until it bleeds approach. Save all the money you can where you can in production! This is indie filmmaker Sid Kali typing FADE OUT.

Copyright (c) 2008 Daniel Lafleche

So, you have an indie film and you want to find distribution.

Never have so many options for distribution been available; never has it been so confusing to decide what is right for you and your film. The industry is experiencing a transitional moment; everyone knows online downloads are the future, but nobody knows exactly how it will play out. As well, distribution has gone online too, offering a plethora of choices for the indie filmmaker and producer. What to do, what to do.

This article is the first of a 5-part series that looks at all of the avenues open to you as a filmmaker and distributor. We’ll offer some tips on how to find your film a home.

Regardless of your film’s ultimate destination, your goal is to find a license buyer for your film. Who are film buyers? We’re talking about broadcast TV (cable, satellite, and terrestrial), home DVD companies, VOD service providers, and mobile content providers.

Let’s start this series by examining the psychology of this rare and overworked professional. Here are five things you should know about Film Buyers and 5 tips for putting the best face of your film forward.

1. Film Buyers want a ’story’. This little bit of terminology here might create some confusion. We’re not talking about the plot of your film or the subject matter of your documentary, but a story that will sell the film–on paper. You should be doing everything in your power to create that story. To do this, you have to distance yourself from the film you know and love and ask yourself: What will sell this film to somebody who does not know and love it the way I do? The answer to this question is the ’story’ you will use to sell your film.

The most obviously valuable raw material for a sales story is…star power. Film stars often fail to attract their audience, but nothing makes film buyers feel more peaceful than the presence of some known names in the mix. If you are bereft of any bona fide name power, do not fear, you have other options. Festival play and any press generated are also incredibly important. You should be knocking yourself out to find some kind of festival and press exposure for your film. Even if it’s not a top festival or a top publication, festival and press play will take your film from having no story at all to having a first chapter. Hype is over-hyped, but your film is going to look more valuable to buyers if it has a story. If you can say, “This film already had some exposure. This film has been reviewed. This film has played at a festival. This film has a response. This film has an online presence. This film has the beginnings of an audience or a niche audience,” then you have a story buyers will want to cuddle up with.

If you are looking for ideas you should check out the industry trades. Look at how distributors market their films, and figure out how to do this on a small scale. You want your story to be a comfortable and familiar one. “But my film is original, beautiful, heart-breaking, unique…and my marketing must be the same,” you say. This brings us to the next point…

2. Film Buyers think in dollars, not passion. When selling your film, don’t rely on your own enthusiasm and passion to make the sale. Again, channel your enthusiasm into a narrative the film buyer can understand, a narrative about how and why this film is going to attract people to it. Has this genre of film had any recent notable successes? Does your film intersect with any issues or topics that are garnering attention? Save your passion for your filmmaking, and focus your remaining energy into crafting a professional marketing campaign and learning the highly efficient language of film buyers.

3. Film buyers are overextended, have short attention spans, and don’t want to waste time. Film buyers are professionals. Hook them fast with a comprehensive one sheet (or sell sheet). The circumstances in which you are pitching your film are going to vary, but one thing that everybody will need at some point is a one sheet as part of their promotional package. Here is the crucial thing: your sheet should be short and to the point. This sheet is a cliff notes to the strongest features of your film. Do you have a few positive reviews? Great, use them in the press kit, but on the one sheet just use the best line from each one. Do you have some seasoned talent? Stick their names on the one sheet with 1 or 2 of their best-known films, but save full biographies for later. Any film can create a ton of paperwork, but nobody is going to go through it all. Don’t bury the selling features of your film and assume buyers will get to it. With that in mind, don’t assume a buyer will watch a screener. Most buyers accumulate hundreds and hundreds of screeners every year and many of these remain unwatched. Save your screeners for buyer’s who show interest, or even for buyers who you have a good feeling about.

4. Film Buyers want to work in their comfort zone. To save your time and your buyer’s time, you should always do research beforehand, especially if you are making the first move. Are you targeting a buyer that makes sense for your film? Why do you think so? What else had this buyer/company done that makes you think the company is right for your film. Again, these points can be, if not part of your one sheet, an introduction to the story of your film. You will look professional and on the ball, you will stand out if it seems like you have done the research and are personally addressing a buyer’s specific skills, past successes and proven strengths.

5. Film Buyers are freaked out. By and large film buyers are a worried bunch, cowering in the ruins of the decimated music industry and wondering if their business is going to disappear out from under their feet. Film and music are different animals, and the future of film in the era of online exhibition is still not completely foretold, but the mood is certainly wary. The film industry is in transition and everyone is handling it in their own way, some better than others. You’ll see conservative streaks, but also canny entrepreneurs looking to exploit the changing terrain. Overall, though, most buyers want to minimize advance spending. This practice, in itself is not suspicious, but for your own protection do your homework and make sure you are dealing with a reputable company and a company that is in a stable financial position.

The One Mic Nite Open Talent Showcase (OneMicNite@gmail.com), happening every Monday night in New York’s East Village, is a combination of of indie music or dance, theatre, poetry, art, and informal networking, in an open mic acoustic style setting. Latin Alternative Music Conference opens in New York July 7-11, and is geared towards the marketing of Spanish-language alternative music while striving for maximum exposure for Latin artists and repertoire in the U.S. marketplace. The Los Angeles Post Production Group (LAPPG) is a member driven organization for anyone with an interest or passion for film finishing and the post-production process, and will be meeting July 8 featuring Robert Mellette from ‘Dances With Films’ as well as A.J. Tesler and Jenny Stames from Independent TV Festival. Several panels are held during the first weekend of the Long Island International Film Expo – usually consisting of a distribution panel, a scriptwriting panel, legal music panel and a filmmaker panel and breakfast, running July 9-19 in New York. The Fourth meeting of The Lacuna (Net)works Film and Tv Networking happens on July 10 in London, and is suited for film makers, crew, actors, models, writers, photographers to do some networking, talk about premieres, meet new people and contacts, get business cards exchanged.

The 17th International Animation Festival, Anima Mundi 2009, in Rio de Janeiro, July 10-19, will present competition screenings, special programs, retrospectives, international guests and professional workshops, particularly one called, Open Studio, that allows the spectator to become the creator and exercise their imagination in seven different visualization techniques. Bryan Bertino, a writer/director who made his feature film debut with The Strangers. will speak at the July 11 Alameda Writers Group Meeting, July 11 in Glendale, about breaking into Hollywood, the struggles of directing your own work, and how he’s built his career. The Urban Individualists, a multicultural network of collaborating individualists working under the direction of Helene Ruiz (ruizhelene@aol.com), will be present at a July 17 public reception in Williamsburg, Brooklyn featuring music and poetry, opening an exhibition of works that will “dissect and examine aspects concerning the heart, from the banal to the complex.” The Sacramento Film and Music Festival, running July 17-26 in Sacramento, likes to point to a track record of picking films that go on to win major awards and/or achieve distribution beyond the festival circuit. But they also puts on “Sac Music Seen”, an original program for the Festival that pairs local filmmakers and musicians to make music videos, where bands submit their music and filmmakers provide the images.

Casual Games Association holds its annual agenda of events for the casual games industry, July 22-25, Casual Connect Seattle, bringing together talented and knowledgeable experts in the field for essential learning and  networking. Actress Scarlett Johansson will open LA Shorts Fest July 23-31, a festival accredited by the Academy of Motion Pictures Arts & Sciences, and that reportedly attracts more than 10,000 moviegoers, filmmakers and entertainment professionals looking for new talent. The Fourth International Conference on the Arts in Society, in conjunction with the Venice Biennale, happening in Venezia, July 28-31, addresses a range of issues and themes relating to the arts in society, and is a conference for any person with an interest in and a concern for art practice, public art, art theory, research and policy, curatorial and museum studies, and art education in any of its forms. The Independent Television Festival is a festival for independently produced, original and innovative television pilots and webseries in West Hollywood, July 31 to August 6, and with the support of institutions like Comcast, Current TV, Brightcove and FX and the talent of pilotmakers from all over the world, ITVFest facilitates independent production beyond the silver screen as a viable platform in which directors, writers and producers can showcase their original visions for the small screen.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog. Follow the posting of the news summary on Twitter at: twitter.com/actorschecklist. This month on the video news summary you will again see a dynamic array of artists in performance of film and music. These videos are now available on the Free Home Video Showcase which now serves as an archive for all past video presentations but without the audio news narration. The Actor’s Checklist is proud announce the return of the photo gallery which you can visit to upload valuable head shots or other photos of your choice, create profiles, and use your pictures or others found on the gallery as ecards which you can email to friends and associates with messages.

another one of the music videos i made when i was really bored and influenced by this one song and it reminded me of home. i didnt film any of this, it’s from a 50’s instructional film. music is no joy in mudville by believe it or not dcfc….

Join fellow activists, media makers, educators, journalists, policymakers and concerned citizens in calling for real and lasting changes to the nation’’s media system at the National Conference for Media Reform, June 6-8 in Minneapolis. Bill Moyers will deliver the keynote address. On June 7, the Alameda Writers Group in Glendale interviews humorous author, screenwriter, and producer Eric Garcia, best known for his novels, Anonymous Rex, Casual Rex, Hot & Sweaty Rex, Matchstick Men, and Cassandra French’s Finishing School for Boys. Eric Garcia’s Matchstick Men which was made into a 2003 film directed by Ridley Scott, starring Nicolas Cage. The annual Webby Award Competition, open to all organizations and individuals involved in designing, building, managing, maintaining, marketing or promoting Web sites for business, consumer of general audiences, takes place this year in New York, June 8-10. BANFF World Television Festival 2008 combining an international program competition, the Banff World Television Awards, with a comprehensive conference agenda, will be conducted June 8-11 from its always scenic location of Banff in the Canadian rockies.

This year, the Music 2.0 Summit has been combined with the Sixth Annual Digital Media Summit, in New York on June 9, to create one conference designed to put you at the center of the oncoming battles over digital content. The annual Maui Film Festival, kicks off June 11-15 in Wallea, Maui, and among the venues for screenings, Celestial Cinema has seating on the grass. This year’s North By Northeast Music and Film Festival covers three nights of performances, with about 400 showcasing bands performing at over 25 live music venues in downtown Toronto, from June 12-15. The NXNE Film Festival offers a unique program of music related feature films, documentaries and shorts. In the beachside resort village of Saugatuck, the Waterfront festival showcases many award-winning and critically acclaimed films. This year, June 12-15, they add a NewMedia Television Festival as a sidebar of the 10th annual Waterfront Film Festival, providing a platform for independent producers, directors, writers, and actors to share their pilots that could be aired via network and cable television, webmedia and other future forms of broadcast. Human Rights Watch’s International Film Festival, a venue for fiction, documentary and animated films and videos with a human rights theme, showcasing the heroic stories of activists and survivors from all over the world, has a June 13 launch date at New York’s Lincoln Center.

At Beyond Broadcast Conference 08, on June 17 in Washington, DC, the panelists examine the role of media in informing and mobilizing publics, and the rise of both citizen and data-driven news. The Los Angeles Film Festival / LA Film Festival Submissions Orientation, conceived as a platform for launching a film, will include the free annual Diversity EXPO that offers filmmakers access to more than 40 film companies and media arts organizations, during its run from June 19-29. Cinema Expo International 2008, in Amsterdam, June 23-26, guides its participants to competing in the European movie theater industry by displaying products and services, previewing upcoming cinema releases for the European market, and revealing what the movie studios and distributors have lined up, as well as many other activities. “Music in Films” held June 23 in Santa Monica, seeks to give its attendants an explanation of music rights, ownership vs. licensing issues, and even nuts and bolts on how a movie soundtrack is put together. Intro to Studio Production will cover basic use of all television studio equipment, including camera operations, lighting theory, color, and audio mixing, as well as control-room equipment and more, in a session conducted by Denver Open Media, on June 28. In addition to free open air screenings parties and concerts, The Brussels European Film Festival is hosting Film Workshop 2008 to give fledgling directors an opportunity to make a film with professionals during that week of the festival, which runs June 28 to July 6.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at most popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Bit Torrent, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist video blog, a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will see trailers and sample clips of Indie mystery feature, The Collective, entered in the Brooklyn International Film Festival, has a screening date set for June 5 at Brooklyn Lyceum Theater. Experimental rock, electronica , drum band, Sandbox — “Everything Starts In The Sandbox.” Comedic video entertainment from ACTORSandCREW, a networking and employment service for entertainment professionals in all categories. coldwave, industrial and hard rock band Mankind Is Obsolete (MKIO) with tracks from new album “Trapped Inside”. The Actor’s Checklist now lets you check the latest musical artists song releases on Apple’s iTunes, updated on an hourly basis.

The Durango Independent Film Festival, happening in Durango, will have an array of festival events including late night parties for filmmakers and VIPs running through March 8. The annual Chicago International Movies and Music Festival brings together movies and music, showcasing films about music, movie scores and soundtracks, and other syntheses of moving images and musical performance such as the world premiere of musician Martin Atkins’ directorial debut about his foray into the Chinese musical underground, ‘16 Days In China’, during the festival’s run March 5-8. Interactive discussion panels planned for the Puerto Rico Music Business Conference enable its participants to receive strategies, recommendations and true-life tales, applicable to any music genre, from experts currently shaping industry events. The Miami International Film Festival whose program is international in scope, but with a special emphasis on Ibero-American cinema, hosts over 350 filmmakers, producers, talent and industry representatives from around the world, during it’s run, March 6-15. Entertainment industry career guidance group urnetworkalliance is hosting a series of power breakfast sessions on Saturdays during the month of March. At the opening session Lelia Shearer, Casting Associate of Elissa Myers Casting, currently casting a mini series for PBS, will be in attendance. Joining the sessions is possible through the group’s Meetup page (www.meetup.com/urnetworkalliance/calendar/9613814/) or email to: info@urnetworkalliance.info

The Chicago/Midwest Chapter of the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences holds its annual Career Day Seminar on March 14, for college students interested in television as a career and for young professionals looking to advance in their profession. Certainly on the cutting edge, U.K. based group Crossover Play explores new forms of entertainment for digital media: the relationship between play and narrative, formats dependent on user contributions, mobile or location based entertainment with a broadcast component. It engages all this at the Sheffield Doc/Fest, March 15-20, and the group has presence on Facebook and Myspace as well. At Cable Congress ‘09 in Berlin, view tomorrow’s technology and discover the latest content available at the exhibition, in addition to panels featuring top executives from Europe and the world’s leading cable, technology and media companies. Then meet your peers at the exclusive Gala Dinner, Lounge Bar, buffet lunches or coffee breaks, all taking place March 18-20. The United States Institute for Theatre Technology Annual Conference & Stage Expo offers over 175 sessions featuring design, technology, costume, sound, architecture, management, engineering, and production. With over 150 exhibitors the Stage Expo provides conference attendees with the opportunity to see the newest products and services on the market today, when it runs March 18-21 in Cincinnati. Chicago Filmmakers Open Screening is back in operation, and it gets going again with a March 21 start date showing practically anything of a 20 minute duration that comes through the door, except of course, for X-rated material.

The upcoming Film/TV Production & Finance Summit taking place in Los Angeles, March 23-24, tackles current challenges attached to financing a film, television or online content in the current economy, as well as to address international co-ventures between the U.S. and Canada, how to make money through branding products with your content, online distribution, as well as, how to get the Film/TV production distributed and financed by studios. The Leadership Music Digital Summit, produced by Leadership Music, an educational 501(c)(3) focused on cultivating an educated, issue-oriented music community,  conducts the Summit, March 23-25 in Nashville to identify and explore new technology opportunities, innovations, and challenges, and to foster a knowledgeable, issue-oriented, vibrant community of music professionals. At this year’s 2009 Game Developers Conference, happening March 23-27 in San Francisco, some of the party and networking functions will include: Playstation Interactive Lounge; Intel Visual Adrenaline Lounge; Game Connection Reception; IGDA Members-Only Party; ISM Charity Poker Tournament; GDC World Mixer; Booth Crawl. NXT STAGE Online & Mobile Entertainment Conference & Market, is a market conference and networking forum to discover future trends and digital content, March 24-25 in Hollywood. This years IPTV World Forum 2009 in London will continue to address the key strategic issues for telcos deploying IPTV, and will also focus on the challenges facing satellite and internet broadcasters, when it runs March 25-27. This year’s South Beach International Animation Film Festival, running March 26 – April 5, offers screenings, parties and special events taking place at a variety of venues around Miami and the Beaches, along with art exhibits, hands-on demonstrations, seminars, and workshops about the newest technology and creative software. Film, Stage & Showbiz Expo will take place March 31 in New York, and will highlight some of the following areas: film festival, designer’s showcase, focus groups, round table meetings for networking, movie reel showcase, original music showcase, headshot lane, live audition recording, and much more.

The above events are only a sample of what is fully listed. Complete details are on the “Media, Entertainment and Performing Arts Industry News and Events” page. Video and podcast versions of this news summary are also available at popular video sites around the Web like MySpace, YouTube, Daily Motion, as well as on The Actor’s Checklist podcast blog is a great place to get your iPhone, ipod or Apple TV download from. The Free Home Video Showcase now serves as an archive for all past video presentations. This month on video you will again see an interesting array of performing artists from the indie sector on video, in a lineup that will be announced. The Actor’s Checklist continues to build it’s archive of high quality digital video. All past video uploads of the monthly news summary are now archived without the audio news narration to the Free Home Video Showcase.