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Citizen Super-8 - directors needed


NathanCoombs

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Hi all

 

I am still looking for participants to Citizen Super-8: a global documentary project which will weave a tapestry of all the universal roles people play in society.

 

So far we have a zen monk for 'belief' a boxing referee for 'Leadership' and a struggling author for 'art'.

 

When the ideas are in the project will be submitted for funding. If that is unsuccessful the project will be made with an eye to 3rd party distribution or tv acquisition and/or international festivals.

 

To know more check out the website:

 

http://www.workhorse.tv/citizensuper8.html

 

Or email me: ncoombs@fastmail.co.uk

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..I'm in. I'm planning to do a piece on *lost citizenship*. I'm going to use a combination of 16mm, super 8 and found footage to piece together a short documentary that will offer some insights into the process of losing citizenship rights through the story of an individual case. (at least that is the direction I'm envisioning at the moment)

 

Thanks for organizing this collaborative project, Nathan.

 

Steve

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This seems very cool, but I didn't see anything mentioning production deadlines or due dates etc. little more help about the basics details?

 

They are not fixed yet. But I am looking for fleshed out proposals for my funding application first. These proposals are due by April 1st.

 

If funding application is unsuccessful, I will set a deadline of around September time for sending the completed works to me by.

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I won't be participating in this challenge. There is going to be another Super 8 Cities challenge, isn't there?

 

I considered doing Super-8 Cities 2 alongside Citizens. But, in reality, I only have one life and some people would claim I already need to "get it"!

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Nathan,

 

I may be a bit slow but I am confused. Your web page suggests that the projects are self funded (a refrence to HD telecine for those who can afford it), but you are also doing fund raising and planning on selling the finished product.

 

I'm just wondering how the project works. Reading between the lines, I'm going to guess that each fillmmaker pays for their own production, you are fund raising to master the DVD and in the end the participants will share equally in any revenue (probably small) that the project creates. Is this in the ball park?

 

In the best case when would you like to have projects finished and turned in to you?

 

Will participants be retaining the copyrights to their work?

 

thanks

-Douglas

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Nathan,

 

I may be a bit slow but I am confused. Your web page suggests that the projects are self funded (a refrence to HD telecine for those who can afford it), but you are also doing fund raising and planning on selling the finished product.

 

I'm just wondering how the project works. Reading between the lines, I'm going to guess that each fillmmaker pays for their own production, you are fund raising to master the DVD and in the end the participants will share equally in any revenue (probably small) that the project creates. Is this in the ball park?

 

In the best case when would you like to have projects finished and turned in to you?

 

Will participants be retaining the copyrights to their work?

 

thanks

-Douglas

 

The fundraising is for the actual productions. Its a bit of a long shot, but worth it. In the event of fundraising being unsuccessful all the films are self-financed (including my own contribution) and rights are assigned to Workhorse TV for 12 months to attempt to attain festival, tv or online distribution. DVD sales, if we got down that path again, help establish the collection as a viable product, but sales are minimal, so there is no redistribution.

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...One of the cool things about this kind of collaborative project is that you have a lot of freedom to do what ever you want under just a few constraints that are designed to create a cohesive yet wildly differing documentary films on the broad theme of citizenship.

 

The process of producing these collaborative documentaries is quite anarchic and self-organizing. The goal of producing the DVD is really an effort to give short films a place to live and to give filmmakers the opportunity to log some credits between projects (or first time) We plan to list S8 cities on IMDB, and film festival credits, (we are submitting it to festivals

 

I don't know what sorts of grants Nathan is applying for, but in my view we need money to promote and distribute the final product. I think it is worth repeating (and should be noted on the Citizens website) that each filmmaker maintains full rights over the work that they produce.

 

I think you will see that "Super 8 Cities" really plays like a feature film because each film fits in the larger whole to create a kind of global documentary moment. Each film stands alone, but there is much meaning found in the relationships between them..

 

Steve

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The whole financial thing really needs to be figured out beforehand. I've seen filmmakers not fully appreciate how the "publicity work" that the distributor must do to promote the film is actually helping out all of the filmmakers on a myriad of levels. Instead the filmmakers sulk that they've been ripped off and what should be a completely positive adventure turns into an unnecessary soap opera.

 

Creating internet press releases in which all filmmakers have their names linked back to their own sites might be of value and may more important than receiving a hundred dollar check after a year's wait. If you come up with a distribution plan that everyone agrees with, you then don't have to rework it for future film project ideas you have.

 

Value added items that may be more important than financial renumeration are "first call" for the next project and perhaps a guarantee of funding for the next production. The filmmaker sacrifices on the first one, than if their project makes the cut they now have first right of acceptance or refusal on the next project and if they accept, the costs are covered based on the money the prior DVD made. Just an idea to consider.

 

On the other hand, a small amount of guranteed money can mean much more than a bigger guarantee down the road. Give the filmmaker a choice, a 100 dollar guarantee within a year of distribution, or a 500 dollar production grant on the next film project.

 

Just be creative, figuring this stuff out can be a lot of fun actually, especially if everyone is satisfied they aren't being ripped off.

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I considered doing Super-8 Cities 2 alongside Citizens. But, in reality, I only have one life and some people would claim I already need to "get it"!

 

Oh well. I'm doing it as a private project anyways, still, it would have been nice to have it distributed on a DVD. I guess Youtube.com is just as good for that. :)

 

Kind Regards - Matthew Buick. :)

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...Those that have bought a copy of the Super 8 Cities DVD know that the final product is very professionally produced. The DVD booklet is professionally printed and the DVD itself is also professionally printed. In addition the DVD menus are all beautifully crafted. All of this work is expensive. The end result is a finished product that all of the filmmakers can feel proud about and use to promote their filmmaking work.

 

Steve

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Oh well. I'm doing it as a private project anyways, still, it would have been nice to have it distributed on a DVD. I guess Youtube.com is just as good for that. :)

 

Kind Regards - Matthew Buick. :)

 

You Tube plays back between 4-6 frames per second, yech.

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The whole financial thing really needs to be figured out beforehand. I've seen filmmakers not fully appreciate how the "publicity work" that the distributor must do to promote the film is actually helping out all of the filmmakers on a myriad of levels. Instead the filmmakers sulk that they've been ripped off and what should be a completely positive adventure turns into an unnecessary soap opera.

 

Creating internet press releases in which all filmmakers have their names linked back to their own sites might be of value and may more important than receiving a hundred dollar check after a year's wait.

 

Luckily I think most of the participants do, at least vaguely, appreciate what a big deal producing all this is and how time consuming the production/distribution angle is. I'm not sure I could hold down a full time job and run these projects. In fact, I work part time and still have internet access at work and plenty of time to answer emails and send stuff off etc.

 

I will be aggressively pursuing commissioning funding, acquisitions and prime festival slots for citizens, even more so than for Cities and in terms of my labour it adds up to more than the cost of the film production, plus the fact that I self-finance my own contributions to the projects.

 

You are right about creating more publicity for the directors. And I hope the Citizens website will, as it develops, have plenty of information about the directors, including lots of links. If any of these films are acquired by tv, or even, in the best case scenario, commissioned by tv, that is an enormous first step for a director to turn professional - if that is what they desire.

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.............If any of these films are acquired by tv, or even, in the best case scenario, commissioned by tv, that is an enormous first step for a director to turn professional - if that is what they desire.

 

But what if you are approached and the distributor only wants to deal with you? If that happens, it may be too late to then approach the filmmakers and try and negotiate a deal with them.

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