Monday, Jul 14, 2008 12:13PM / Members only
Hey everyone,
Just wanted to let you know the American Zombie is now available on DVD. You can get it at Hollywood Video, on Amazon, or your favorite online retailer. Or rent it or put it in your Netflix queue!
There are a few extras on the DVD, including a commentary by me and co-writer Rebecca Sonnenshine, as well as one I did with the main zombie actors. There's also a short Behind the Scenes film and a couple of other goodies as well
Thanks again for your continued support!
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Friday, May 16, 2008 1:15PM / Members only
Hey everyone, My friend Karin Chien, an independent producer from New York is teaching a two-day seminar here in LA on May 31/June 1. I highly recommend this opportunity as Karin is awesome! Smart, talented, resourceful and unflappable -- all elements you would want in a producer. And now she's running an incredibly valuable workshop -- and if you sign up by May 19, you get a discount! If you know others who might be interested in this opportunity, please feel free to forward this on.
Filmmaking Outside the Box: Getting Your Film Financed and Distributed
You spent the last few months (or years) developing an incredible story or making a groundbreaking film. Don’t sit back and wait for money or distribution to somehow fall in your lap. Follow that same creative drive to get your film made and seen. Get the knowledge you need, create your own path, and take control of your film’s destiny. Ideal for anyone who has:
a) written a scrīpt and doesn’t know what to do next b) potential investors and doesn’t know what to do next c) arrived at a rough cut of a film and doesn’t know what to do next d) can’t find distribution and doesn’t know what to do next e) all of the above
Day 1 - Financing: Where to Look For it and How to Raise It Part I: Independent Film Financing Know what form of financing is best for your project - private equity, bank financing, soft money, deferrals, or a rights deal. Part II: International Financing Understand international co-productions, international treaties, foreign pre-sales, and why everyone is speed-dating at an international co-production market. Part III: Financing Materials Real-life examples of materials that lead to real money - press kits, lookbooks, trailers, letters of intent, private placement memos, offering documents, and business plans. Part IV: Private Investments How to structure a private equity investment. Part V: Business Plan Concepts How to write an executive summary, use comparables, determine your audience groups, devise a distribution and marketing plan, sketch out a revenue stream, estimate sales projections, produce a budget and schedule, and what risk factors and disclaimers to include.
Day 2 – Festival, Sales and Distribution: What To Do Once Your Film Is Finished + A Special Project-Specific Workshop Part I: Film Festivals and Sales Strategy Get answers to all your burning festival questions. Part II: Distribution Basics Learn what rights, markets, and territories to exploit on your film, what windows are, how revenue streams work, what cross-collaterization means and how to avoid it. Part III: Traditional Models vs New Platforms Downloads. Streaming. Disc-on-demand. New options popping up daily--what they mean money-wise, and how you can apply them to your project. Part IV: Project-Specific Workshop An interactive session that will get you thinking like a producer. Open discussion of projects, with group input and instructor guidance.
ALSO INCLUDED EACH DAY: Networking Lunch w/ Special Industry Guest. Each day will conclude with an Open Q+A: Come armed with questions.
BIO: Karin Chien is an independent film producer based in New York City. She has produced six feature films, including ROBOT STORIES (2002), THE MOTEL (2005), and UNDOING (2006). Her films have won over 50 film festival awards, premiered at Sundance, been nominated for an Independent Spirit Award, and received international distribution. Films currently in production include THE CHINATOWN FILM PROJECT, with Wayne Wang and Miguel Arteta. Ms. Chien recently launched dGenerate Films, a new venture to distribute independent Chinese cinema to the non-theatrical market in the States. She has served as a selection panelist for the Rockefeller Media Fellowships, on advisory boards for IFP/New York and for the Tribeca Film Institute. She currently teaches independent film producing and finance management at NYU and New York's School of Visual Arts.
Saturday, May 31, 10:00AM – 6:00PM Sunday, June 1, 10:00AM – 6:00PM Location: Blank Spaces 5405 Wilshire Blvd Los Angeles, CA 90036 Walk-In Entrance on Cloverdale. Major Cross Streets: Wilshire Blvd and La Brea Price (includes lunch meal each day): $275 Full 2-Day Seminar $225 Early Registration by May 19 $165 One Day Only (Choose Saturday or Sunday only) All payment must be paid in full in order to guarantee your seat. A confirmation email will be issued. Seats are limited.
To Register for Workshop: Call Karen Lin at 323-610-2413 or email: info@zuzufilms.com. Cash or Check. Pay pal add 4%. Note: There is a 15 participant minimum or the seminar will be cancelled and money (except for Paypal fees) will be fully refunded. Cancellation Policy: Full Refund only offered when cancellation is received by May 20, 2008. All cancellations must be received and confirmed by telephone (323-610-2413).
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Tuesday, Apr 1, 2008 6:18AM / Members only
Hi all, It's not too late to see AMERICAN ZOMBIE -- now playing at the Sunset 5 Theaters in Los Angeles. Please come check out the movie.. we've gotten some great reviews and I will be doing a Q&A Tomorrow (April 1st) after the 7:30pm show...along with some of the cast and crew. We did OK box office over the weekend, but want to get the numbers up for the entire run. That will ensure that it will play elsewhere. As always, thank you for your support!!
Grace
AMERICAN ZOMBIE NOW PLAYING AT
Laemmle's Sunset 5 8000 Sunset Blvd. West Hollywood, CA 90046
Showtimes: 12:30, 2:50, 5:10, 7:30 & 10:00
More info at www.americanzombiemovie.com
Tickets www.laemmle.com
Here's a review from the LA Daily News
LA DAILY NEWS 3 out of 4 stars
Laugh yourself to death with `Zombie'
BY BOB STRAUSS >FILM CRITIC
Just as it's about to wear out its one-joke premise, the horror mockumentary "American Zombie" deepens, grows complicated and even gets pretty scary. It's a poker-faced satire in which director Grace Lee - whose "Grace Lee Project" saw her tracking down women who shared her name - and her idiot friend from film school, John Solomon, try to portray "high-functioning zombies" as a misunderstood minority who are just like anybody else, except dead. But what starts out as a typically liberal plea for acceptance and equal rights slowly turns into something much darker, a metaphor for American paranoia at its hysterical worst - and, perhaps, its most justified. No one here gets out alive, or at least without being implicated in some kind of delusional prejudice, smug documentary filmmakers least of all. Lee and Solomon are hilariously passive-aggressive with one another ("Nobody wants to see `The Grace Lee Project 2,' " he says as the director keeps turning the camera on herself). And the key zombie players are all terrific, as are the film's funky/downscale L.A. locations.
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