The Kickstarter Film Festival

Comments (Archived):

1. Is your family friend’s film going to be featured?

   1. i don’t think so

2. Brooklyn, London, Los Angeles; first time I have seen those three things grouped together!

   1. One of them is not actually a city.

      1. Which one?

         1. LA, clearly.Its more of a constellation of gravitational forces. Big star forms over on the far side of a hill & the universe bends mass into shape around the star.It an elemental force of social nature, but not a city.

            1. megacity

            2. The soccer team in LA has the perfect name – Galaxy.Star based, irregularly shaped, unpredictable.

            3. Downtown LA is quickly becoming a real city, again. In 1929, the intersection of broadway and 7th had the heaviest traffic in the world. It had 500,000 people crossing the street each day! Sure, the automobile and abundant land meant people abandoned the city. But Today, there are sky scrapers under construction again. It recently had the worlds largest concrete pour in preparation for a (unicorn) one billion dollar building.

         2. Brooklyn is a borough of New York City…or did I miss the cessation?

            1. Its a city in my mind

            2. “I’m in a New….uh Brooklyn State of Mind” ♬♪♫♫

            3. https://www.youtube.com/wat…

            4. Schooling. Thanks….or should I say, tanks?

            5. She nailed it. “Shhhe neiled iT.”

            6. When you think about it it’s a pretty good name actually. “Brook” is very peaceful and “Lyn” is feminine. Two syllables works well.Much harder to fall in love with a city with 5 syllables and nothing attractive in each such as Phil A Del Phi A.

            7. Dutch for broken land.

            8. Hirsh means [deer|hart|stag in germanFeld means [field|pad|pitch] in german.Consequently hirshfeld could be a place to hold stag parties.Hence “Scores” could have been called Hirshfeld’s.

            9. That’s how we – Canada – got Rob Ford. By calling a group of separate cities one city.The province of Ontario amalgamated 6 cities and called it Toronto. Turns out that the suburban cities – Etobicoke, in particular – do not appreciate how the original Toronto never really considers – or worse acknowledges the existence of – the suburban point of view.So, they send a message. A large, crude message.

            10. It’s a defacto city.After all New York isn’t a “state of mind” either. And how can a city never sleep? Cities don’t sleep.They should put back up that sign that used to appear (see attached image).

            11. Brooklyn was a separate city until the 1890s

   2. My wife, who is Japanese, showed me a high-end Japanese fashion magazine recently where the issue was dedicated to “Paris vs. Brooklyn – which is the fashion capital of the world?”

3. Kickstarter and old Volvo station wagon. Somehow these things go together nicely.Looks like it’ll be a spectacular night.

4. This is just one of those ideas that makes you think, “yes, that is a great idea.’ I am sure it will be fun.

5. London? Tempting.

6. Potentially useful for tomorrow’s festivities: http://time.com/2967834/bro…

   1. Serious question here Brandon. (Never having even tried the stuff). Do people, when they are in large crowds like that, care or even think about getting nabbed for smoking?

      1. Oh boy… airing smelly laundry on AVC!I think it depends on the event / crowd. People smoke outside in Brooklyn all the time. Even at large events, but that’s a bit rare and when it happens folks usually find a discreet spot in a corner away from the crowd (but sometimes not). Now with it being decriminalized in the borough, who knows what’ll happen!I guess I’ll have to push the button and see what comes of it. At least it’ll be easy for any of you with a good sense of smell to find me there. 😉

         1. “Now with it being decriminalized in the borough”I don’t believe this is technically decriminalization. It’s called something else. Can’t think off the top of the name for it. Similar to not giving tickets for going 57mph in a 55 zone. Law still say you can get a ticket. It’s a resource issue.This is an example of decriminalization:http://www.usatoday.com/sto…I guess I’ll have to push the button and see what comes of it. At least it’ll be easy for any of you with a good sense of smell to find me there. ;-)An often ignored thought on allowing smoking of marijuana is that it excludes people who don’t smoke from the “party” going on in the minds of the people who do smoke. [1] Have you ever been around people who smoke or drink when you don’t? It’s not exactly fun for either party.[1] Hence creating a social hazard of forcing people who need to socialize to engage in a habit that they might not engage in.

            1. I think you just have to be aware of your surroundings and respectful of those around you. But also don’t put yourself in situations where the majority of people will be doing things you’re not into. There’s a reason why I don’t go to Burning Man. 🙂

            2. Burning man is kind of a lemming fest, right? Reminds me of how hipsters are so cool [1] that you can actually tell they are hipsters because they all look the same and are such but don’t they claim to actually be indifferent individuals?[1] Just saw my first hipsters at the local suburban coffee and music joint. Time to change the look if it made it to where I am.

            3. I think that the culture change is happening quickly in front of the legal change.People are noticeably smoking everywhere now, discreetly but openly.i consider this overall healthy and its heartening to see this change happening.

            4. i consider this overall healthy and its heartening to see this change happening.It’s not healthy if you don’t like to be exposed to the smoke or the way people act when they are smoking. It must be great if you are smoking or don’t care about those things.Along the same lines although I tend to drink a glass of wine or have a drink when out to dinner, I find that many people who drink tend to get loud and annoying because of the amount of alcohol they drink. And I’m not talking sloppy drunk I just mean enough to get loud and annoying (laughter, high voice etc.)

            5. selective reinforcement.

7. Looks like a great lineup.

8. I think I may have mentioned this once before here — my dear childhood friend Morgan Nichols raised $25K on Kickstarter (https://www.kickstarter.com… in 2011 for his movie, which he’s since made and released, called “How To Make Movies at Home”. It’s since won a number of awards and played at a number of festivals – see http://www.howtomakemoviesa…. What’s so cool to me about the movie is that the intent of the film is to encourage young people, especially kids, to get into filmmaking while giving them some basic essential filmmaking skills. As I’ve told Morgan, I think the one-two punch of Kickstarter and his film are two ingredients to start creating more of a “start-up culture” around films where bands of people find each other and make films on their own, without needing Hollywood’s blessing or money.

   1. are two ingredients to start creating more of a “start-up culture” around films where bands of people find each other and make films on their own, without needing Hollywood’s blessing or money.My personal feeling is that there is already more than enough people doing creative things right now. [1] Why is there this push? As if doing any well executed creative project is good period. (Like religion and education, all good. Sorry not the case.) All this will do (what you are saying) is shove additional entertainment out into the world which already has to much entertainment choices as it is. Is there some shortage of songs, art and movies?What’s so cool to me about the movie is that the intent of the film is to encourage young people, especially kids, to get into filmmakingI can’t think of a worse idea than encouraging a young person, unless they have a trust fund or well to do parents, from entering film making. To much competition. You will wake up after the buzz and end up supporting yourself waiting tables. And miss the best most energetic years of your life.This concept isn’t new. It has been happening in the movie and music business for years. Lot’s of dreamers and very few people making a living. What is good about that?Here’s an idea. Concentrate on your career and making money first. Then you can spend your free time having fun making movies, music, art or whatever you want to do. In other words once you have your life “in the can”.[1] Would love to see someone counter this statement by the way perhaps with some “oh it will all work out just follow your dreams and what makes you happy”.

      1. The movie is definitely not about encouraging young people to enter film making *as a career*. Actually quite the opposite. It’s more about positioning filmmaking as a craft, even a hobby, that is something anyone can engage in. An additional purpose of the film is to show how movies can be made in a way that doesn’t require a trust fund. The central plot tension is between a group of film making hobbyist in Maine whose group is disrupted when a Hollywood studio comes to town to film a TV show. Catch the movie if you can.

         1. The movie is definitely not about encouraging young people to enter film making *as a career*. Actually quite the opposite But you said this:What’s so cool to me about the movie is that the intent of the film is to encourage young people, especially kids, to get into filmmaking And you also said this:where bands of people find each other and make films on their own, without needing Hollywood’s blessing or money”

            1. “Get into filmmaking” like one gets into playing the guitar or maybe even learning to code (as a hobby). One can get into guitar without planning to become Eric Clapton. “Get into filmmaking” doesn’t mean “move to hollywood, make a career in the movies, and sell your soul.” In fact, a key intent of the movie is to celebrate the craft of movie making and to show that, as the title implies, anyone can do it at home given modern equipment, provided they know some of the essential techniques (some of which the movie shows).”bands of people find each other and make films on their own” … yes, which is actually what the filmmaker does many weekends. He and his friends – a moviemaking “band” that were the model for the main characters in the film – spend weekends making “Lo Films” that are shot over the course of day or two.

            2. I think if the word “hobby” had been there and the world “hollywood” was not there I wouldn’t have jumped to the conclusion that I did. [1][1] Which is sometimes the point of a good movie, eh, it can mean different things to different people.

      2. Hi LE, the key ingredients of good movie making: tell interesting stories and summarise important topics in digestible lengths. These skills are extremely applicable to the business world, no need for the trust fund!

         1. Exactly how is the connnection made that by putting up a project on kickstarter and, say, learn to “tell interesting stories and summarize important topics in digestible lengths”?In your statement the conclusion seems to be that there is a feedback mechanism on kickstarter where people critique all films (the ones that don’t rise to the top) and it’s process that gets refined while people learn by doing. And that people actually act on any criticism and learn from it. How many do that?People vote by supporting a project which is not the same as people critiquing all or anything close to all projects where some learn from it. Of course someone can of course learn by just attempting or helping with a project obviously.And as far as the tie in to “skills are extremely applicable to the business world” I would tend to agree with that.But somehow I don’t feel that most people doing kickstarter movies are looking to learn something because they are in or hope to be in the business world.Separately I shot an entire wedding and put it up on vimeo (for free). I had fun and I learned from doing that. But I already have a job and I had more fun doing than that participating in the wedding. But I have to tell you that the editing and uploading time to vimeo was extremely time consuming. It wasn’t a trivial process by any means.

      3. I’m with you on the religion and education thing, but artistic expression is healthy – period. Doesn’t mean that every artistic project should or will earn accolades/money – but to write off even trying to make a movie due to the risk of failure is a pathetic excuse and missing the point entirely. It is the exact attitude that has lead to a culturally bankrupt pop culture. “Only bet on the sure thing”. Bullshit….. Invest in more people trying more projects. Cream rises to the top.

9. Maybe in the future they will consider having the festival in their own backyard in Greenpoint @ Transmitter Park (http://www.nycgovparks.org/… – on the small side yes, nevertheless an amazing spot ….

10. No details on the London one 🙁

11. Summer

12. Great stuff Fred.There can never be too much encouragement and access to resources for people to express themselves.More is better and the best rises to the top.

13. That looks great. I’m waiting to see details on streaming from home.