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  • The Decline of of Name Talent Value

    Wednesday, Oct 21, 2009 4:36PM / Standard Entry

    I was at a panel on film financing tonight and one very well established Distributor named Robby Little said something I found very interesting and underscored some of what I've been blogging about recently.

    He coined it "The Susan Boyle Factor."

    Basically - in one day Susan Boyle was world famous.  WORLD FAMOUS.   This is the first time in history that this phenomenon is possible.  In the past it took years of cultivating world fame - even if it was infamy more than fame.   But if Ms. Boyle can become famous in one day - what does that mean to the value of everyone who has been able to command super high fees on movie because of the decade the spent cultivating a celebrity name?

    The fact that people can become famous overnight is going to level the playing field a bit.

    Already Mr. Little commented that distributors and buyers are simply not that impressed with names.  However - somewhat contrasting this was his acknowledgment that "name value" still did exist - but mostly on the side of protecting your losses.   Basically - if you have a name and a solid genre and the film is medium, you might still make your money back.

    His thought on the approach was to not chase after names.  Go for who you want, if they can't match your price, then find someone else.

    Ten years ago this would have been unthinkable to hear.  Everything was "get a name, get a name, get a name."  

    A couple other interesting points came up, but I will incorporate them into other blogs I'm sure.



  • Movie Budgets - the New Models

    Thursday, Oct 15, 2009 4:54AM / Standard Entry

    At this point I think we're looking at two kinds of movie budgets versus five.

    It used to be:

    1) Ridiculously high price tag blockbusters  (100m +)
    2) Medium high studio films  (30ish to 60ish million)
    3) High Indies (2 to 30 m independently made then studio picked up.
    4) Low Budget Indies (mostly direct to video 500k to 2m)
    5) Ultra low and micro budget indies (under 500k... rarely break out, but do sometimes)

    I think the future is:

    1) Ridiculously high price tag blockbusters  (100m +)
    2) Everything else independent which will mostly be in the sub 1m range and even more commonly sub 500k)

    I think the ultra micro budget world will be so filled with competition, it will be difficult to break out but very niche concepts will actually flourish.

    Very much like the music industry I think that the industry will become more workable for more people, but less lucrative for everyone.


  • My Official Complete Demo Reel - ONLINE!

    Wednesday, Oct 14, 2009 8:36AM / Standard Entry

    I've posted my entire Demo Reel online.  This is not, of course, everything I've shot, just a sample of the kinds of work I've done. 


    I've been very forunate to get so much directing work without ever having an agent, but I'm hoping now to acquire some representation so that I can do more television episodic work as well as pursuing features.  If anyone who reads this happens to enjoy my work and has contacts with a reputable agency for literary (directing/writing) talent, I would very much appreciate any contacts.  I've spent a lot of time learning my craft, but not as much time networking.

    The website will play the demo reel just like a DVD, except higher quality.   You can even select to see the movie in full screen mode (far right button when playing the movie).






  • Behind the Photos -

    Sunday, Oct 11, 2009 8:38AM / Video

    Just saw this video.  I think for a site like this one which has a lot of people looking at a lot of beautiful people it's a decent movie to see to keep things in perspective.


    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oYfwIAWWH6M




  • Performance Art - live drawing

    Friday, Oct 9, 2009 1:56PM / Standard Entry

    I saw this and it reminded me of sort of a developed form of what Pat Lee has been doing with his live drawing shows and I wondered if this is a bit of a shape of things to come for the performance world.  The interesting thing to note is the question:

    Have we become so reliant on and accustomed to graphical cheats that to see someone actually be able to create in front of us carries a new weight?


    Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=518XP8prwZo




Stats

  • I am a writer and director of episodic television, commercials, music videos, surreality, and very soon features. You can see my work here: www.markallen.net (hasn't been updated for 2 years)...

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  • Occupation:  DirectorScreenwriterComposer
  • Gender: Male
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