#scarecrowvfx

This post, which appeared first on Indiewire, was written by our Director of Business Development, Taylor Kephart. In it, he offers filmmakers a how-to guide of optimal festival behavior. 

In a lot of ways the festival/film-market world is like a traveling circus that represents the center of the film world as execs, buyers, sellers and filmmakers converge to watch movies and negotiate over distribution rights. In the aftermath of Toronto, IFP Independent Film Week, San Sebastian and NYFF, and ahead of AFM, Sundance, and Cannes, we are in the thick of the festival season. And so this seems to be the perfect time to talk about how to best prepare for festivals. If you are a filmmaker contemplating attending your first festival or a festival veteran looking to get more out of your next visit, here are a few tips picked up over the years. 

1. Prepare, prepare, prepare.

In all seriousness, research is the best thing anyone can do before going to a festival or film market. From reviewing IMDB pages to get info for potential meetings to researching the films showing at the festival, the more you know the better. In addition, if you can find out who the people you’re meeting with have worked with previously, and find connections among your own network, you’ll be that much more prepared and able to find common ground with your contacts.

2. Be flexible.

Even though you’re super prepared and ready to go, it could be that you are not going to meet who you originally planned to meet. This shouldn’t throw you off, though. Just relax and be open to talking to everyone around you. In fact, it’s the connections you make at the bar, in line at brunch, or coming out of the theater that may be the most useful to you and your company. Which leads to …

3. Get that elevator pitch ready.

Be ready to sell, sell, sell the film, company, or service you are offering. Everyone else is, so practice your elevator pitch before you get there: the 30-second snapshot of what it is you are at the market for and what makes you, your film, or your service so special. Just as importantly, make the pitch memorable. It’s not just what you say but how you say it — you want them to remember you from the hundreds of other pitches they’ll hear.

4. Be current.

Have you seen the latest blockbuster? Do you have an opinion on “Gone Girl” yet? Are you ready to expound on the new digital deals rolling out every day? If not, time to pick up the latest copy of Variety and hop on to Deadline.com (or Indiewire.com!) and whatever pop culture sites you surf, because what’s been playing or what you’ve watched recently is often the icebreaker for more meaningful conversations.

5. Follow up.

Once you’ve made your contacts, swilled a few handmade drinks and had your fill of filet and caviar, make sure to email/call/ and re-acquaint yourself with those you’ve been in touch with. After all, it’s not networking if there’s no follow up!

Keep these simple tips in mind to make the most of your festival experience.

This article is written by Taylor Kephart, our new Director of Business Development. Prior to joining Scarecrow, Taylor was the President of Benaroya Pictures and has produced several films.

Six years ago, I attended TIFF (Toronto International Film Festival) for the premiere of NEW YORK I LOVE YOU, a movie I executive produced in my capacity as President of Benaroya Pictures. Now older, wiser, and with considerably more gray hair, I made my way to TIFF once more but in a completely different capacity, as Director of Business Development at Scarecrow VFX. It’s interesting how one’s perception of the same thing changes depending on what they look for.

This time around, I couldn’t help but notice the increased usage of VFX in independent films. With the lowered costs of VFX from WAY back in 2008 to now, I saw films utilizing VFX in subtle but important ways. There were small indie films from Scandinavia, big budget dramas that the studios were pushing in anticipation of awards season, and effect-heavy horror films from Spain, all leaning on digital assets to assist in the storytelling process. It was exciting to see it all, and also eye-opening: the demand for VFX across all budget levels seems to have risen since the last time I attended the venerable Canadian market. On top of that, in my many conversations with people inside and outside of the industry, I perceived an information gap as far as how VFX companies can fit in to the overall puzzle of getting a movie produced. To put it simply, the VFX community needs to do a better job of informing and educating the overall film world of their place in the process, and how an efficient business plan and workflow can actually save productions money.

Networking is still an integral part of the festival experience. Regardless of the reason why you attend, an international film festival like TIFF offers the greatest array of opportunities to connect with all kinds of filmmakers, producers, and execs, who have travelled from all over the world in order to watch movies and connect to people of similar mindset and pursuits.

Ultimately, I came away from TIFF feeling energized and inspired by the essence of the movie industry: stories transformed into visuals and projected onto the big screen in more and more creative and sophisticated ways due to technology. VFX is an integral part of the technology that allows filmmakers to tell their stories and, as a film aficionado and the director of business for Scarecrow VFX, my challenge will be to contribute to the expansion of VFX use in the movie industry.

  This post is written by Scarecrow VFX Founder & CEO, Rohin Aggarwal.  

This was my second Comic-Con and I have walked away dazzled by the amount of money spent on the booths. Every entertainment company trying to reach consumers has a presence, whether it's a small booth or a massive one. As usual, there were a few reveals that made standing in lines for hours bearable (http://popwatch.ew.com/2014/07/29/comic-con-2014-videos-mad-max-simpsons/), as well as plenty of celebrity sightings and autograph signing. If you've never been to Comic Con (or the San Diego Convention Center), it's a massive venue and can be an exhausting few days. In fact, long queues at events can actually be a savior - they let you take a guilt-free break from walking around the hall.

So what were my biggest takeaways this year?

  THE GOOD: Loads of TV.  From the Constantine billboard across the street, to all the Gotham memorabilia handed out, TV is definitely beginning to take a major presence at Comic Con. DC focused a lot on it and so did Marvel along with all the traditional players. There's a lot of great TV coming out and I am very excited about a number of those shows.

  THE BAD: Illusion of exclusivity.  Despite already speaking to a niche audience (the Comic Con crowd), a lot of companies made their events even more exclusive - requiring you to queue up for tickets first and then queue up to go in when your ticketed time arrives. While in a way this makes sense (they are able to air & share longer-form content with their audiences), it's annoying for anyone who does a day-trip to Comic Con. Invariably most things leak online, either officially or unofficially, soon after the event so you can always get it that way and avoid the double-queues.

While we’re busy gearing up to start work on productions now, it’s important to take a moment to reflect on how far we’ve come in the past year. In July of 2013, Scarecrow VFX was an idea…and an ambitious one at that. Our model made sense conceptually, but in reality, it would require building sophisticated technology and ramping up business in a very competitive industry.

Fortunately, the hard work of our team has paid off. After a year of developing technology and building an amazing network of artists (who we are extremely excited about engaging eminently), we are officially ready to work! 

Our esteemed team of advisors has been instrumental in shaping our business, and we owe them a debt of gratitude as well.  The combination of brilliant minds like Cliff Plumer, Nancy St. John, Stan Szymanski, Sheena Duggal, Dominique Derrenger, J.J. Blumenkranz, Erik Weaver and Mike Ashton have been invaluable in helping us to create this new, innovative approach to VFX that we hope will become a useful model for VFX production now and in the future.

This is a post written by Michelle Reed, our Director of Marketing.

This year marked the sixth year of the PGA’s Produced By Conference.  Although I had always heard positive things about the conference, it’s rare that I ever learn anything truly new or useful at these types of events.  I knew we’d hear some interesting stories (besides the panels, there were one-on-one sessions with Francis Coppola, Norman Lear and David Fincher), but I didn’t expect to learn much that would actually affect my work and perspective on filmmaking today.  Luckily, however, I was wrong and ended up taking more notes in these two days than I have at every other conference combined.  Here are a few tidbits I picked up that may be helpful to you as well:

  Check out the BILL HICKS Case Study.  Gravitas Ventures pulled back the curtain and published their distribution strategy, marketing materials and real VOD numbers in one document.  This is an absolute must-read for anyone releasing a film today and, lucky for you, you can download it instantly right here.

Having trouble finding a distributor?  Or a territory you haven’t sold yet?  Consider going through Vimeo, where you can now pick the territories, prices and availability windows for your films yourself.  This filmmaker friendly platform also gives you a 90/10 revenue split, which is phenomenal.

If you’re looking for financing, see if there is a way you can utilize slated.com, cinereach.org, seedandspark.com or rockethub.com.  In addition to the traditional crowdsourcing sites like kickstarter.com and indiegogo.com, these other online resources may be appropriate for your project as well.

Distributors have begun to hire PMD’s, or “Producers of Marketing & Distribution,” for some of the films they acquire.  This new role is designed to specifically oversee the marketing and distribution phases of a film’s release.  If you’re having trouble managing this phase of the process, consider hiring a PMD.

If you’re looking to get into the online video space, YouTube released a Creator Handbook that outlines the steps and recommendations to creating a successful channel and following.  I highly recommend checking it out if this is a route you are seriously considering.

Lastly, I think Seth Rogen gave the simplest, best advice when he addressed a theatre full of frustrated producers and told them to simply make their movies themselves.  “Write something you can shoot,” and (with technology what it is today) you can literally use your camera phone and YouTube to produce and distribute a film almost immediately.  That was their plan with Superbad – to borrow a camera and a little cash and shoot it with friends – so there’s no excuse for not moving forward and making a movie today if you truly feel passionate about the project.

This is a post written by the company’s CEO, Rohin Aggarwal, in light of Scarecrow’s official launch.

  We are a Visual Effects company built to support Independent Filmmakers and Freelance VFX Artists around the globe.

  A decade ago, visual effects consisted mostly of fixing filming mistakes and adding a few dazzling effects to wow audiences.  Over the past 10 years, however, the artists and programmers who make this technology possible have made such great strides that they have literally changed the landscape of contemporary filmmaking. 

  Visual effects is now an integral part of storytelling. It is an element that is considered at the script stage of development rather than the post stage of production. Stories that could never be told before are now possible; stories such as AVATAR and GRAVITY. However, most of these films still need to run through the studio system as they often require budgets in the $100M+ range.

  Scarecrow VFX was built around the idea that visual effects can enhance the merits of a good story and should not be limited to studios alone. We want to democratize visual effects and help improve access for independent filmmakers.  We help independent filmmakers tell stories that were previously deemed impossible on budgets under $40M. How do we do this?

  1. By delivering quality without the price: With Scarecrow, our clients work with A-list artists without incurring the usually unaffordably high costs. Our unique virtual model lets us strip down overhead and reduce unnecessary costs.

  2. By offering access to a global pool of talented artists. Our artists have worked at some of the world’s biggest facilities (89% come from facilities such as ILM, Digital Domain and Sony Imageworks) and have created some of the most iconic images in film history.

  3. By working with an exceptional production management team with experience on both large studio fare and noteworthy independent films.

  4. By using a proprietary and highly secure platform that lets filmmakers track the progress of their show anytime and anywhere.

  5. By engaging vfx artists that are passionate about the project.  Artists get to choose the projects they work on and so they are more invested and better able to deliver the filmmaker’s vision.

  Some artists may be reading this with skepticism, thinking that the above made promises mean we’re going to squeeze our artists to benefit our clients. Let me address that concern – our artists are just as important to us as our clients.

  Scarecrow was built with the feedback and support of dozens of artists who have collaborated with us on our vision. Our artists join us as freelancers, so it’s important to us to make sure they have a good experience as well.  If they don’t, they’ll simply vote with their feet and go elsewhere.

  If you are an artist reading this, you should join our platform because with Scarecrow VFX, you can work wherever, whenever and on whatever projects you choose.  A Scarecrow artist’s obligation is to deliver the project to the agreed parameters – beyond that, they have the flexibility of working their own hours and from their own space.

  In order to deliver value for our artists, we strive to be fair in our compensation to them. While the reality is that VFX is a global marketplace and applications for projects are competitive, we have a strict policy to not focus solely on price. After all, a good artist, charging twice as much, can sometimes finish a project in less than half the time than a less experienced and cheaper artist. Ultimately, our goal is to select the artist(s) who will be the best fit for each project.

  In a nutshell, by launching Scarecrow VFX we are striving to achieve the birth of a new and sustainable model for VFX that will benefit both filmmakers and artists around the globe.