Blog Entries

So you've created a Blog Home page and had some fun with page tabs... now let's write your first post. Blog entries can be: An introduction about yourself and why you're into film and what you want to do Updates on your application process Chronicling the shooting of a film Chronicling the writing of a script Blog about your experiences while at film school Random musings You can even create a "Series" which is a group of related blog entries that are related to each other. (Chronicling...

Once you have a blog home page you can optionally add new tabs at the top for your portfolio, contact information, or resume. Here's an example of a portfolio page. Step 1 - Add page Click the "Add Page" button on your blog home page. This will create a tab at the top of your Blog home. Note - you can also add a "Page" to a Blog Entry as well so be sure that you are on your blog home page when adding a page. This will create a tab on your blog home page. Step 2 - Name page What title do...

Supporter+ Members can have their own blog on FilmSchool.org. This is blog with examples of the things you can do with this exclusive new feature on the site. Once you are a Supporter+ Member you can create a blog. This is the home for all your blog entries on the site. This blog's home page is here. Once you have a Blog page you can then create "Blog Entries" which are normal blog posts. Blog entries can be: An introduction about yourself and why you're into film and what you want to do...

How I chose between NYU Dramatic Writing and AFI Screenwriting. I anguished over the thought of turning down either school. As a true cinephile, how could I consider living outside of LA? That’s where the industry is. I had to attend AFI. But what about the legends born out of New York, like Tisch’s own Donald Glover, Kenneth Lonnergan, or Tony Kushner? New York's cultural scene is fertile ground, and for that NYU appealed to me so much more. After painful weeks of indecision and...

Scrolling past all of my classmates successes on FB (and mostly being OK with it) I came across a post asking for film school advice. 'What should I know before applying to film school?' The replies spanned from mundane financial issues to sour grape rejects listing all the successful directors who insist film school is a waste of time. I thought about my own decisions. The good and bad. Why the core decision for me to go to Grad School paid off, why it didn't and that it might be a good way...

"Mark Duplass, a director, actor, writer, and producer, discusses the migration of filmmakers to television, to the emergence of VOD and its impact on micro-budget film. Duplass has eight pieces of advice for those who want to start a career in filmmaking. He also talks on the changing models of film and television distribution/production, how those changes affect those in the independent sphere, and why carving out your particular corner of the sandbox is going to be the key to maintaining...

My last post was all about the develop, prep and shooting of my short film. For Heads/Tails process, the next phase has been our crowdfunding campaign. For most creatives, this is without a doubt, raising money can be the most nerve wracking aspect of the project. In my case, I know exactly how much money I need to re-coup after putting the project rentals and purchases on a credit card and budgeting a fair deal for my crew and post-production staff. Which is why I'm writing this post right...

We all want to make movies. We wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case. But making any movie, even a short can feel daunting no matter how much experience you have. Here's how I made my hopefully triumphant return to directing. I'll start from the very beginning... The Script - How did I write my script for a short film? A saying I picked up at the UCLA Professional Producing Program is "make is the shoe fit the foot". I think it's something that applies to all aspects of production...

It's nearly the end of March and for the second year in a row, I have not received any acceptances for the MFA screenwriting programs I applied to. Of the 4 programs, currently I have two denials, one interview, and one I have not heard anything from. So now what? First, I admit to myself that I'm taking a second round of rejections a lot harder than the first. It hurts. I'd be a liar to say otherwise. It filled me with self doubt. Why not me? What am I missing? What did I mess up? Where...

I'm going to take our humble leader Chris's lead and start with a run down of how I've worked in the industry so far and where I plan on going from here. I'll give you a hint, it's involved a lot of travel and quite a bit of luck. To begin with, I'm a stereotype. I have been playing with cameras and writing for as long as I can remember. Perhaps less common though, I've never done anything else besides work in the film industry. A very long, personal story made short, I took 4 years off...