Emmy for Best PSA Campaign!

 I just won an Emmy award for best PSA campaign for Literacy Together.

You can watch a video of the whole campaign here: https://vimeo.com/699220793

"Work" a Very Short Film

This film was made for a 10 second film contest: https://vimeo.com/640166376

Why do we toil so long and hard at work, spending most of our time in a miserable cycle? There is so much more to life. Made for the Asheville 10 second film contest.

One Hell of an Angel at Sick Chicks Flicks Film Festival

One Hell of an Angel not only had a great screening at the Sick Chicks Flicks Film Festival in Cary, NC we also won best feature film!  They call the awards the blood ravens.  What an honor!  I could feel a genuine love for independent film from everyone involved.  I had such a blast at this festival!

 

Homeward Bound PSA

My Toxic Backyard for Sale

My Toxic Backyard is available for sale on the webpage and at Amazon.  

Rent it on Amazon!

You can buy DVDs directly on the webpage. Click "purchase" and it will take you to the official store here: https://www.createspace.com/433956  If you'd rather go through Amazon here's a link for DVDs: http://amzn.com/B00UGJCPYE. You can get free shipping with orders over $35.  

If you haven't read about how I messed up my first project with Createspace you can go back and see why there's a separate page and project that I manage for VOD (Video on Demand.)  That link is here: www.amazon.com/dp/B00U7UVE1W


UPDATE: After about 14 weeks, the VOD option is now live on Amazon.  I was bringing a retired project back out of retirement and was told it should take about 2 weeks.  I think this long wait was a fluke.  The staff was very helpful every time I reminded them that I was still waiting.  My main takeaway is, make sure your project is live and available on Amazon well before you want to announce it.

Traditional distribution

This used to be the only way to go, but now with alternative distribution you have choices to make.  Traditional distribution has both advantages and disadvantages and a lot of how you choose to proceed will depend on the kind of deal you’re offered.  Going with traditional distribution may not be the best way to get your movie seen and sold...

But it never hurts to try.  The advantage with traditional distribution is that established distribution companies have experience and will market your film and get it seen places that you might not have thought of.  The downside is they take a huge cut out of the profits to do this and many times the filmmaker hardly sees a dime.  Another downside is that there are many small distribution houses that will take your film and sometimes your money and do nothing with it.  You have to do your research and be really careful who you trust.  One good rule of thumb is don’t give them any money up front.  Look at their library of other work and see if your film is a good fit there.  And ask what their marketing strategy is for your film and how they plan to sell it and reach audiences.

You might be able to use multiple distributors for different markets.  There’s domestic (US) and foreign sales and you might strike one deal with one distributor and have a different deal for a different region with another. You can find distributors online through web searches.  The search method I've used is to find a film similar to mine, see who the distributor is and look up the contact info and just cold call.  You'll stand a better chance of getting through to someone if you have a sales agent.  They can be expensive though and your film will probably be one of many in their roster, but they have connections that you don't.

If you can't afford a sales agent and want to have a better chance of making a connection with a few, well researched distributors you might consider a trip to a film market.  The Cannes Film Market (Le Marché du film) is the largest market in the world and The American Film Market (AFM) is the largest in America.  You'll want to set up multiple meetings well in advance and do lots of prep work on who you want to meet, your pitch and your business card.  Attending a market is an expensive endeavor and you definitely want to do your homework ahead of time.

For My Toxic Backyard, I’ve been approached by a few acquisitions people.  These are the people that look for new films to add to their company’s inventory.  You’ll find them at film festivals and film markets and when you win awards, they’ll start to find you.  I’ve sent screeners to them, and I even followed up to see if they’d had a chance to see my film but it never went anywhere. 

Being a documentary with educational value, my next step will be to approach companies that distribute educational copies to college and university libraries.  Media copies are much more expensive than personal copies (like what you would buy or rent at home) because with media copies you get licensing to have screenings in classrooms full of kids and it can be checked out and seen over and over without additional fees.  Media copies can run anywhere from $100 to $500.  And since it’s a completely different kind of licensing and audience, it won’t interfere with distribution for home use.  Next I'll talk about self-distribution.

Limited Theatrical Release

Having a theatrical release seems really lofty, but it’s totally doable.  First, find a small art house movie theater and see if you can get them to give you a screening, maybe at an odd time, maybe for one time only, but see if they’ll split the ticket revenue with you.  Usually the theater keeps 60% of ticket sales and the distributor (in this case that’s you) gets 40%.  You might think, yea of course they’ll go for it, I’m the one giving them my movie, but keep in mind that you’re a risk to them from a business standpoint.  You are responsible for getting people to buy tickets, not them.  You have to advertise your own screening and fill up those seats.  They’ll post the time your screening is happening and maybe they’ll have a marquee or something, but you have to do everything else.  That’s what traditional distributors do, that’s why that system is still in place.  It works.  Distributors buy airtime and ad space.  They screen trailers and get posters out there and seen so people know there’s a movie at the theater that they need to go see.

If the theater doesn't want to take a chance on you, that’s totally understandable and you can still do a screening, just rent the theater.  You can rent a small movie theater at anywhere from $300-$500.  Now there’s no risk to the theater and let’s say you sell tickets at $10 a pop, if you rented the theater for $300 that’s only 30 tickets you have to sell to break even.  Anything over 30 is 100% profit going straight to you.  You might actually make money.

One thing you'll have to get together a head of time is a DCP of your film.  DCP, or Digital Cinema Package is the format you'll need to have your film in so it will play in a professional digital projector.  That can be an expensive endeavor if you have someone else do it ($1,500 to $3,000) but I made one with Open DCP.  It was a pain, but worth it.  I have more info on how I did it here.

 Another advantage to a theatrical release is a film critic might now review your film, since it’s available to the public.  You might be able to do this at the film festival stage with local critics in the area the festival is happening, but there are lots of films for them to write about and it’s harder to get a review.  In your home town, you stand a better chance.  Reviews give you free advertising, an unbiased opinion that people are more likely to trust and critical reviews show that your film is of interest to the public.

My Toxic Backyard screened at a fantastic local arts theater, the Fine Arts Theater, for a week, which was unprecedented and awesome.  There was never a sold out screening, and audience sizes varied greatly from day to day.  I was a little disappointed at my own inability to fill the theater.  Even with extensive community outreach weeks before the screening, a story on the local news, radio interviews and magazine articles it wasn't enough to generate as strong of a turn out as I would have liked.  I was able to split ticket sales and still made some money.  I also got two movie reviews in local papers.  Both were really positive!  It was definitely a worth while venture, just not something to take lightly.

The Cannes Film Festival Video

I finally had the chance to go over all the little snippets of video footage that Lela and I grabbed at the Cannes Film Festival with our GoPros and iPhones.  Here's a short video of our amazing time at the festival (including our celebrity red carpet walk.)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSllW851SMY&feature=youtu.be

Film Festival Run Down

You pretty much have a year to show your film on the film festival circuit.  Most festivals won't let you release your film to the public before it screens at their festival and most don't want movies more than a year old.  So a year is about all the time you have for that.  Why?  It's hard enough getting people to attend a film festival, but they keep attendance up by giving cinephiles something different than the mainstream, something new and fresh, and something exclusive.

My Toxic Backyard has had a great run. It's been accepted to 9 different film festivals and even won best film at one of them, which makes this year a great success.  Whenever possible a filmmaker should attend the festivals where their film is screening. I've chronicled my experiences at the Thin Line Film Festival (plus a video here) and on the Southern Circuit (and a radio interview.)  I couldn't make it to the Greenpoint Film Festival but, I was able to send my associate producer, writer and editor Jaime Byrd to accept our award there.

Here is a run down of all the festivals and awards My Toxic Backyard has garnered in the past year:

Winner: Best Documentary Feature, Greenpoint Film Festival
Winner: Best Film, Mountain Express Best of WNC 2014
Nominated: 4 Emmys Including:
      Best Documentary: Katie Damien, Jaime Byrd, Michael Klatt, Bob Peck
      Best Cinematography: (Non-news Photography) Katie Damien
      Best Editing: Jaime Byrd, Katie Damien
      Best Audio Post: Bob Peck, Jaime Byrd, Katie Damien 
Official Selection: Southern Circuit
Official Selection: Thin Line Film Festival
Official Selection: Twin Rivers Film Festival
Official Selection: Reel and Meal
Official Selection: Utopia Film Festival
Official Selection: River's Edge Film Festival
Official Selection: Wild Goose Festival
Official Selection: Compress Fest (trailer)
Official Selection: AAAC Creative Sector Summit

My Toxic Backyard Wins Best Documentary Film at Greenpoint Film Festival

My Toxic Backyard just won the highest honor a film can win at a film festival: Best Documentary Feature!  I'm so excited!  What an honor!

http://greenpointfilmfestival.org/

Jaime Byrd (second from the left) speaking on a panel at the Greenpoint Film Festival

A news article about the festival

News article continuted

Second Parent

Adoption law is supposed to be based on the best interests of the child.  I made this short film when I discovered an issue a lot of gay couples must face when trying to adopt a child.  While many states will allow gay couples to adopt children, they will only do so if one person out of that couple adopts as a single parent.  In the eyes of the law, that second parent is not recognized.  What if the adopting parent looses their job and benefits and that second parent ends up wanting to put their child on their health insurance?  What happens if the child has to be hospitalized while the adopting parent is out of town?  What happens if the adopting parent dies? 

http://youtu.be/g8xhVKEQZ90
A lot of talented Asheville folks helped make this movie possible working in front of the camera and behind the scenes.  Thank you for your support and for giving your time to help make this short film happen.

Katie

Poster Designed by: Anthony Abraira http://anthonyabraira.com

Winner Best Filmmaker in WNC!!!

Thank you to everyone who voted for me as best filmmaker for 2014 in the Mountain Express Best of and also My Toxic Backyard for best film of the year!  Wow! I'm so happy for the attention this brings to the community living around the CTS site and long fight they have had for safe drinking water. I'm so honored!

Katie

http://bestofwnc.com/category/arts-entertainment/locally-made-film/
http://bestofwnc.com/category/arts-entertainment/local-filmmaker/

Cannes Film Festival and Romania

I just returned from a whirlwind vacation/work trip to the Cannes Film Festival where my award-winning short film "Joint Effort" screened (see the movie here: In a previous post) and then Romania where I visited Dracula's castle.  If you want to know more about Cannes check out the page I made dedicated to my experiences there: My page about Cannes and stay tuned (I just realized how antiquated that term is.  In the digital age, does anyone tune a dial anymore?) for more on Romania! 

Katie

David Ostergaard, Tina Herring, Lela Winton, Billy Goodrum, there with the award-winning short film "Joint Effort" produced by Gorilla with a Mustache Films.

a bedroom in Dracula's Caster (Bran Castle)

My Toxic Backyard in Southern Circuit

So excited to have My Toxic Backyard accepted to the Southern Circuit film screening tour. http://www.southarts.org/touring-arts/southern-circuit/  This documentary is 1 of only 18 films that made it in!!!  I'll be traveling across 5 states to host screenings at different universities and art collectives.

Going to the Cannes Film Festival!

I'm going to the Cannes Film Festival where "Joint Effort" is screening!

I am beyond excited!  The short film I directed, "Joint Effort" won the top prize in the National Film Competition and in addition to a cash prize will now be playing at the Cannes Film Festival in May!  And I'm going!!!  Every sentence ends with an exclamation point because that's how excited I am!

Our film isn't in competition, we are on the business side of things.  This is the perfect opportunity to try to secure some foreign distribution for our feature film and get some finishing funds.  In addition to winning best film, Gorilla with a Mustache Films also took home: 

Best Writing
Best Comedy Film
Best Actor David Ostergaard
3rd place audience choice award 

We will be wheeling and dealing and living it up on the French Riviera.  I'll take lots of pictures so stay tuned for more.

Joint Effort in the News Everywhere!

We've had so much coverage about our little film:


 http://youtu.be/juKa6Mjt2W4

https://soundcloud.com/katiedamien/880am-the-revolution-jeff

Asheville filmmakers win big in National Film Challenge, will have movie screened at Cannes

Jason Sandford | December 27, 2013

A team of Asheville filmmakers recently won big with their film entry in the 2013 National Film Challenge. Their movie, Joint Effort, won the Best Film award and will go to the 2014 Cannes Film Festival for a special screening.

The movie was the work of Asheville’s Gorilla With A Mustache Films, a five-person team of producers that includes the following: Lela Winton, Katie Damien, Eruch Adams, Coranna Adams, and Matt Shepard.

Joint Effort is a comedy about a package delivery gone horribly wrong. For the National Film Challenge, the group had one weekend to write, shoot, and edit the short film, then present it to the judges. Joint Effort won other awards. David Ostergaard won for Best Actor, while Eruch Adams and Will Eill won for Best Writer. Joint Effort also won the Best Use of Genre -Comedy award and was second runner-up for the Audience Choice Award. More here.
Here’s the credit rundown for Joint Effort: Katie Damien, director, with Lela Winton as second unit director. Cinematograpy by Andy Crespo. Cast: David Ostergaard, Matt Shepard, Darren Marshall, and Adam Meier.

More about the National Film Challenge and the prizes awarded:

The best film is sent to the Cannes Film Festival and given a $3000 prize. GoPro, the title sponsor, is giving out another $3000 prize for the best use of a GoPro Camera in a movie. And the Audience choice winner receives $1000. The top 15 films are selected by judges for online voting determined by YouTube and Vimeo likes . “Joint Effort” was chosen as one of those top 15 films. The team of Asheville residents is undergoing a campaign to get the word out about the film and to encourage people to vote and to hopefully win the Audience Choice award.
Producer and director Katie Damien said, “There’s some stiff competition in this contest.  Overall the quality of all the top films is very high.  I feel really honored to have our film chosen as one of the best!  Asheville might not be as big as Dallas or Paris, but we’ve got some really talented people here in the mountains.”

About Gorilla with a Mustache Films: Established in 2010 when a group of producers collaborated on a 48 Hour Film Project. They won Best Picture for the city of Asheville. Heady with their recent victory (and drunk on their own sense of power), the group decided to pursue a feature film, as well as other short films. The Gorillas are currently in post-production on their first feature film “One Hell of an Angel.”
Joint Effort on IMDb: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt3347134/combined
Company IMDb page: http://www.imdb.com/company/co0385222/
Gorilla with a Mustache on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GorillaWithaMustache
http://www.ashvegas.com/asheville-filmmakers-win-big-in-national-film-challenge-will-have-movie-screened-at-cannes

Gorilla With A Mustache wins National Film Challenge with "Joint Effort"

By Dan Thornton on December 26, 2013
The Gorilla With A Mustache Films team out of Asheville, North Carolina won the Best Film Award in the National Film Challenge 2013  this week and the film will go on to the Cannes Film Festival this coming year for a special screening.
Their entry, Joint Effort, is a comedy about a package delivery gone wrong.
The team, in accordance with the National Film Challenge rules was given an assignment and had one weekend to write,shoot, and edit the short film, then present it to the judges. No small feat.  
Other awards received for the film were: Best Actor -  David Ostergaard, and Best Writer  Eruch Adams and Will Eill for Joint Effort.  Joint Effort also won the Best Use of Genre -Comedy award and 2nd Runner Up for the Audience Choice Award.
Gorilla With A Mustache Films is a 5 person team of producers: Lela Winton, Katie Damien, Eruch Adams, Coranna Adams, and Matt Shepard.  They have  participated in multiple 48 Hour Film Project competitions and now for the first time, the National Film Challenge. Each time the team was slightly different in regards to the cast and crew, but has always had the same core of producers. 
 Joint Effort was directed by Katie Damien with Lela Winton as second unit director. Cinematograpy by Andy Crespo.  Cast: David Ostergaard, Matt Shepard, Darren Marshall., and Adam Meier.

http://www.gigspotting.net/national-film-challenge-2013-winner-gorilla-with-a-mustache-with-joint-effort.html

My Short Film is an International Winner!

I just made a short film "Joint Effort" that was picked as one of the top 15 in an international competition! They are doing online voting for an audience award and you can help by liking the video on YouTube: http://youtu.be/xs7UzQCwCa0 (just hit the thumbs up button) and Vimeo: http://vimeo.com/81675843 (there is a heart in the top right inside the video window.) You have to be logged in to like it.  If we get the most likes, we could win $1000!  It's a pretty funny movie too.  We had a great cast and crew made of entirely volunteers and the whole movie was made in one weekend.  Enjoy the show!

(there is a thumbs up button at the top right corner of the movie here, but you have to be logged in for it to count, you can log in to gmail, google, or youtube to like it in this player.)

P.S. - the film would probably get a PG rating.  There are lots of drugs in it... 2.2 pounds to be exact.

Nosferatooth

Here's my latest short film, "Nosferatooth, " the horror/comedy about a vampire with a tooth ache. WARNING: there's lots of cussing and some blood, but overall, it's pretty funny. Enjoy!

My movie in Google+ Film Festival

This is the 2nd Film Festival my movie "Second Parent" has made it into!  And unlike most festivals which only take place at a particular physical location, this one is happening as an online event.  So you can all finally see my movie!  It will be playing in a block of shorts on Saturday December 1st at 8pm (Eastern Standard Time) 5pm for my West coast friends and family.

Go to: https://plus.google.com/u/0/events/c3e426r5u1pv0knk8vhge1gj9ok for the event info.
And for more info on the festival: http://www.ugpff.com

This is the only time you'll be able to see my movie this year.  I can't make it available on youtube or any other site like that because I'm still submitting it to Film Festivals.  So if you want to see the movie along with some other great short films, follow the links above and mark your calendars.  I'll be available online for a Q&A after the films.

Katie

Second Parent Trailer

I'm looking for film festivals to submit this film to.  If you can think of any that would be a good fit, please leave a comment.