Chris Jones Blog

Sky Movies Movie Geek Show Now Online... Special Report from the Screenwriters Festival 2009

A couple of weeks back I was a speaker at the Cheltenham Writers Festival (day 1 blog here, day 2 blog here), which was a fantastic event. I recommend you go next year as it’s such good value and superbly organised. During the event, I was interviewed by Sky for the Move Geek Show, which has now appeared online and you can watch here -  part one above… then part two below… And remember, you can watch it full-screen by clicking the icon in the bottom right of the video window.

NOTE - Some people have had problems loading these videos - you can watch on Sky's dedicated site here - Part 1 and Part 2 of The Movie Geek Show)

Hope you enjoyed it. Right, I am about to get on a plane to go to the Bilbao Film Festival in Spain!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

What websites do you use in 2009?

Yesterday I sent a request out to my list for information on film making websites that we are using right now – I wanted to figure out what indie film makers consider to be the best resources in 2009. I have had an overwhelming response, but keep them coming. If you haven’t already emailed me with some of the film related sites, services or blogs that you use, then please take a moment to let us know (email [email protected]). I will share the results on the blog in the next week or so, and it should be a great resource that is hand picked by users and not just a big robot from Google.

On another note, I just got a copy in the post of the local newspaper from my home town in Wigan, about Louise Steggals (she was on the blog last week) and her trip to the USA (Cape Fear Film Festival) for Gone Fishing. You can see the article as a PDF HERE

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Twittering Escalates!

Finally I am getting my head around Twitter and what it can really offer us all. First off, the video here is from TED and is a good background to the creation of Twitter.

So what have I learned so far?

Well first off, you need a computer desktop version, you can’t rely on the website as that’s just too many clicks to get to the good stuff. I use Twhirl which sits on my desktop and beeps when I get a tweet, and is easy to add tweets to when I want to. I have also set my blog up to automatically tweet when I update too. That’s pretty cool. The other thing I have relaised is that I really need to get Twitter on my phone. I have an ancient phone and have been locked into a contract which will expire soon and I suspect I will get an iPhone and can tweet on the move then. For instance, it would be great to Twitter from the End Of The Pier Film Festival Awards this Saturday night. But right now, I can’t.

As for the Tweets? At first it feels kind of odd, until you get people tweeting back, and then you are in a conversation. I am starting to get hooked on it and I don’t know if that’s a good thing or a bad thing.

I have just been asked by the organizers of the Heart Of Gold Film Festival to Tweet Hugh Jackaman as (in their words)… Hugh is giving away $100,000 this coming Friday to a charity or not for profit (we are not for profit). You just twitter him about it - the one people are most passionate about will win! So I have done my bit and who knows, they may even win.

When I was in LA, my manager Andy Trapani, who also produced The Haunting in Connecticut, told me when the film was released, they did a search for the film on Twitter (there is a word search engine on the Twitter website) and got real time feedback from audiences as they twittered each other, unaware that the film makers were listening in – seems Twitter is a great tool for getting honest feedback instantly.

You can follow me on twitter with livingspiritpix

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Great Write Up on IndieFest.com!

While I was in LA I did a great interview with IndieFest.com. It was just after I got back from Heart Of Gold and the weird jetlag combined with the very large café latte I had just drunk made for a particularly entertaining phone conversation with the delightful journalist, Laura Lee.

It went live just now so you can read it here…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

6:15am... Ring ring... hello, you are live on the radio!

Today has started with a series of interviews for Australian media – and as there is an obvious time zone difference, so I was up at 6.15am talking to down under drive time talk show hosts, bleary eyed with coffee in hand. These interviews are a warm up for The Heart Of Gold Film Festival where Gone Fishing is playing (at the end of March), but also where I am running my Guerilla Film Makers Masterclass (details of the UK based course here on my site, but it’s the new redux version for Oz!)

These interviews were set up by Heart Of Gold’s publicist, Angela Vogt, and really show the value of having someone to handle PR. Great coverage and penetration on a very important local level ahead of time and not post festival which is near useless. In these live interviews, you get the call and the host says ‘Hi, how you doing? So we are on in 30 seconds… Hold please… Boom… YOU ARE ON LIVE RADIO!’ It’s quite a buzz in the moment!

So first was an interview at 6.15am with Cam Young from ABC Coast FM – you can listen to it here, courtesy of Simon Van Der Spoel (one of our Associate Producers – his email he just sent to me below). Second was a print interview at 6.45am with Jannette Parke, a journalist from The Gympie Times (their our local daily paper and big festival supporter) and finally was a scheduled radio interview at 7.45am with Michael Smith, drive time presenter of 4BC Brisbane, a talk back style station, but this was rescheduled for tomorrow as they had a big news story. They were good enough to call me to apologise and arrange for same time tommorrow. Crikey a days work done before most people get to work in rainy London!

I tried hard to name check the festival as many times as I could, which is paramount in these kinds of interviews, as well as talk about the masterclass and the movie. It’s really great doing interviews where the host has been properly prepped by someone, so thank you Angela for a stellar job.

So… if you are in Australia, and you want to come along to the Masterclass in Gympie, or even just come to Gympie to see a host of super shorts, you can sign up on their website here.

OK, so here is the mail I got from Simon in Australia just now…

‘I'm driving along after doing a commercial shoot, and I'm channel surfing on the radio and I come across ABC and here the words "Gone Fishing" briefly before I've moved on...now wait a sec...could it be... I've gone too far on station flicking, have to go around....*hiss* *static*... "Chris Jones...shortlisted...Heart of Gold"...*static*  Up next....Chris Jones!

So I park the car at work, and sit in air-conditioned comfort as I listen to you and the presenter have a chat! And then I get a plug which was a crackup, very cool mate!’

Blimey…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Actix bring Axicom PR to help with the push

I had a fantastic meeting this morning with the publicists who have been offered to us by the very nice people at Actix, who have partnered with us on the next, and potentially most exciting step on the Gone Fishing journey.

We are lucky enough to have head honcho Julian Tanner, at Axicom Cohn&Wolfe handling the campaign for us. He and his team came over to my flat today to watch Gone Fishing on BluRay  - and the response was extremely positive.

We immediately started spitballing all sorts of new ideas and angles to get the attention of the press. Of course I can’t reveal what they are just now, but it will require me to fly back form LA in early Feb, and some of them are quite ‘left field’. One thing we have tried to do is come up with a short pitchable angle, as things like ‘it’s a great movie’ just don’t cut it with the press, they need more. Right now we are thinking along the lines of ‘the guy who wrote that book about film making, took all his own medicine and Gone Fishing is the result… and it might just win an Oscar!’ There are other one liners too, so we may not go with that one yet. Happily, they have a sister company in LA too, so I should be hooking up with them next week when I hit the tarmac running.

All very, very EXCITING!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Variety Hits The Streets!

I walked into the office at Ealing Studios today to a barrage of emails and calls regarding the Variety article. I had known about this since last week, but it’s just hit the streets in print, and it’s a WHOLE PAGE! This is very good PR for us as Variety is one of the top industry newspapers and it is read world wide.

The article talks about Gone Fishing and another animated short called ‘This End Up’, but it’s the fact that Gone Fishing gets a picture nearly half of the page that really helps. Here is a link to a scan of the article, or a link to the online text version here.

WOW! It’s all getting so very, very REAL!

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

2009 Arrives with GREAT NEWS!

As we welcome in 2009, I was delighted to get notice of two separate articles about Gone Fishing in two very prestigious film journals. First off is a great write up in Daily Variety, a piece about how short films contend for the Oscars. It’s really great news for us. You can read the article here on the Variety website.

Second is a stunning article in Kodak’s own magazine called InCamera. All those lovely images that we shot during filming have really paid off here, the main shot of Bill and Simon walking down the ‘leafy corridor’ having been snapped by Vernon our DP. You can read the PDF here (or there is a browser version here).

All in, a GREAT start to 2009.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Press Site Now Live!

The new Gone Fishing PRESS website is now up and running. This is a dedicated website for members of the press and is not a film site about the movie. I decided to do this when I noticed while attending festivals, just how reluctant journalists seem to be now, to carry a press pack around with them. And it makes sense too, as I can continually update a digital one, as well as being eco friendlier.

The idea is to make geting content to a publication as easy as possible. Like all websites, this will always be work in progress.

I have also had some small bright business cards printed with this URL clearly emblazoned across it – this means I can give the journalist something in their hand in the moment, something with ONE simple message… Press info is here…

The URL is itself easy to remember too – www.gonefishingpress.com

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Press Pack Revamped!

We are in the throes of updating and reformatting the whole ‘Gone Fishing’ press pack. What we have is great, but it’s a little outdated now, and also, now I have been out there in the world with it, I can see how we can improve it.

The big thing I have found is that journalists will no longer carry very much around with them. So it all needs reducing. The plan is to have three basic versions.

1. A business card which directs the person to a special and ‘press only’ website. One URL and you are there, everything at your finger tips. That’s of course the lightest one.

2. A USB memory stick with press pack, photos and clips on it. Small but expensive for us, so it will be reserved for the best opportunities (If you know any where that we can get 50 – 100 256mb USB memory sticks for free, that would be great – we are happy to have a company logo on it as a sponsor, and we will put our own sticker on the other side)

3. A double DVD case with the movie on DVD, a press pack on CD with stills and clips, and a micro reduced paper print out of the press pack that will fit inside the DVD case neatly. The case will have a DVD cover with the words PRESS PACK emblazoned across it - this has the added advantage of being ‘packaged’ where most of the eye catching good stuff is on the outside of the box. It’s shiny too and everyone likes that!

All of this needs to be completed and in place by the second week of January. As an added thrill, we also find out about the BAFTA nominations on January 15th, and if we are lucky enough to get nominated, it’s the awards on February 8th! You can watch a video of the BAFTA’s from last year below…

We also just got news that we are in a very high profile film festival, but until it’s announced, I can’t say which. But they did send a terrific PDF with lots of tips for making a press pack… here are some of their highlights…

PRESS PACKS
1) Press release (include the 5 W’s: who, what, when, where, and why if available)

2) Background on the story, any press clips on the making of the film, or related articles

3) Bios on filmmakers, stars, cast, and crew

4) CD including headshots of the director, producer, writer and principal cast. Also include stills from the film, with a print out of the photos on the disk (in icon size) including captions for the photos and photographer credit. 300 dpi, no larger than 4”x6” format

5) CD of soundtrack of the film (if available)

6) Postcard or one sheet with the times your film is being screened – this can also be posted on the cover of the press kit

7) Try and make the cover of your press kit unique. Remember you’ll be in a filing system with many other film titles the media will be looking at. All press attending the Festival like to have a press kit on the film they are seeing.

All good stuff…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author

www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Dinard, new opportunites arise...

During the festival at Dinard, I made a whole pile of new contacts and built some good new relationships. One new relationship is with a reporter from Variety magazine, and over dinner on the closing night, we discussed among many things, the Oscars and Gone Fishing. He said he would see if he could put something in the article that he was writing about Dinard… And he did! It’s only a small mention which you can read here…

This article then precipitated contact with Miramax, who contacted me yesterday expressing interest in seeing the film. Of course I am happy to send them a DVD but I am trying to set up a screening on 35mm in Soho. It’s so much better (and easier) to be invited than it is to bang the door down.

This is terrific news and really illustrates that what you get out of these events is rarely what you expect, and often better than you imagined! Awesome.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

MovieScope article completed

I have just completed the article for Moviescope magazine, which has turned out rather well. I had 1200 words (two pages in the magazine) to deliver and knew that I needed ten times that amount to get it all across, so I had to choose carefully what I wrote about. I finally settled on the most important aspect, that of choosing the biggest dream you have, the one that keeps you awake at nights, and following that with passion to its logical ends…

Here is a short except from what I wrote…

…whatever you choose, you will always do the very least you consider is needed to get the job done. It’s human nature, and commonly called the path of least resistance. So really, my success or failure on Gone Fishing would lie in the choice of logical end to my endeavour, and also in knowing that I would ALWAYS choose the path of least resistance to that end goal – so the trick to success lies in the choosing of that goal – a small hill or the highest mountain? Failure is an almost certain statistical outcome, but failing to climb a hill creates few new opportunities, whereas failing to climb a mountain will certainly open up a new world. So the greater endeavour becomes an almost certain win win proposition. Win if you make it, win if you fail to make it.    

I announced that my goal would be to win the 2009 Academy Award for Best Short Film. That I felt, was about as big a goal a short film could score.

As I made the announcement I felt the immediate pressure. I needed to be at the very top of my game, with top cast and crew, 35mm film, and a narrative that would reach out and connect with audiences in a positive way...

…and like all great stories, it’s not the outcome that is compelling, but the journey undertaken. And I knew that if I involved people in my journey, they would feel like they were themselves part of that Oscars bid too. In that way, whether we get nominated or not, whether we win or not is unimportant, it’s that we try our very very best. David and Goliath is always compelling, and we always align with David…

I recently figured out that we have a great press hook in the Goliath angle, it just makes for great headlines IF we get the nomination on Jan 22nd…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Crossing the first threshold...

My life is starting to fill up with choices. Tough choices. For the first time ever in my career I have been forced to turn down work, and to add to the amazement, really good work too. In the last few weeks I have been offered a really great little film for Ford, and also a HUGE two part period documentary with a major British actor in the lead. I didn’t turn down these projects lightly…

The work load with Gone Fishing and my own projects is so huge, that I have to be very careful. When I train new film makers I talk about the windows of opportunities that open up, and how important it is to recognise them, and to step through them. Right now I have a window in front of me, those who have done the Gone Fishing Seminar will know exactly which window I am talking about, and I MUST make that a priority. That involves getting outside of my comfort zone - perhaps you could also characterise it as moving from the Ordinary World to Special World in Chris Voglers / Joseph Campbells ‘Hero’s Journey’ model. (I am planning to run the Gone Fishing Seminar one last time here in the UK before it is released on DVD - if you want to attend, drop me an email at [email protected]).

No matter how exciting the future may look, it is also filled with uncertainty, and it’s that lack of rigid routine and mystery that on a very deep level can cause anxiety and fear. I have seen it in others, I sense it in my own choices now, but I embrace it as a part of the journey that I am on. If these fears were not present, on a very fundamental level, the journey I am undertaking would not be worthy or my time. An adventure is no adventure without risk…

So I am choosing, I hope, wisely, from a place of passion, and from a tactical perspective.

I am perhaps being a little introspective too, as I am just completing a feature article for Moviescope magazine on the whole Gone Fishing experience. I am writing about how, in the making of Gone Fishing, I applied my own teachings and processes that I have written about in the Guerilla books. I will let you know when this magazine hits the streets.

Onwards and upwards…

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Getting the posters out into the community

Today I dropped off some framed posters from Gone Fishing, signed by myself, Ivan, Eddie and Vernon. Pictured here is the lovely Rebecca Budds from Midnight Transfer. Rebecca really helped us through some tricky post production problems back in December of last year when we were grading there, with John Claude. She commented how it was nice to hear how the film was doing as many other short film makers rarely get in contact after they have been given help at MT. So there is a lesson for us all there, to involve those who help us, all the way through the life of the project.

I also met with the equally lovely Martin Butterworth from The Creative Partnership. Martin designed the poster in the first place and the flying hook and beautiful blue skies were all his ideas and execution. He was delighted with the poster and we had a quick chat about were to hang it – perhaps the loo, at the least we have a ‘captive viewer’ in those most private of moments! 

Framing and giving these posters and presenting them to these companies serves two purposes.

First off, it is a small token of gratitude for their help in the first place. Second, all these guys work at a very high level. Creative Partnerships reception looks like a West End cinema lobby with ALL the posters from the latest big films – posters that that they designed. This means that if a Gone Fishing poster is hung in reception, if only for a week or three, all those important ‘film people’ who are wandering in and out might see it (remember I gave them signed copies in a frame, ready to be hung)… and that may jog their memory when it comes to the BAFTA’s and the Oscars.

Key to our success now is visibility – and without a huge budget, we must be cunning in getting the film out there is a highly targeted manner. And this is a great place to start.

Onward and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

PS - If  you are interested, we have 3 signed posters left...

Facebook and Myspace Campaign Begins

I want to introduce to you Ian who is going to be our Captain Facebook in the army that we are assembling – mission objective? January 22nd and The Oscars 2009 Nomination for Best Short Film. And yes, that's Ian making a characteristic leap of faith!

So over to Ian...

Hi everyone and thanks for offering to help with the online promotion of Gone Fishing. In order to help publicise the film on facebook, would you mind helping us with a number of tasks? The whole thing should take about as long as it takes to watch Gone Fishing!

 

1. Become A Fan
On facebook, goto http://www.new.facebook.com/pages/Gone-Fishing/68634785374 and click "Become A Fan"

 

2. Write On The Wall
Post a message on the wall saying why you like Gone Fishing, and what the production blog has taught you about film making.

 

3. Join The Group
Goto http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21115279481&ref=mf and click the join link.

 

4. Tell Your Friends
Invite your friends to join the facebook group. To do thisgo to http://www.new.facebook.com/group.php?gid=21115279481&ref=mf

 

Under the column on the right, headed "Invite Friends"click the tick box next to each of your friends (this takes a whilebut it is worth it!).

 

Write a short message to your friends explaining why you are inviting them - doesn't need to be long. When I invited my friends I just wrote:

 

"Hello! Please, please, please support independent film making in Britain - Gone Fishing deserves a shot at getting the Oscar for best short film. Please show your support by joining this group. Thanks, Ian."

 

You may want to let people know they can view a trailer here...

 

http://www.vimeo.com/1531615

 

Facebook only allows you to invite 100 people at a time, so you may have to do it in batches. Don't worry, you can't invite someone more than once, so if you forget who you did / didn't invite, it won't result in multiple invites! Don't worry about pestering your friends - if they have been on Facebook for more than 5 minutesthey will be used to it :)

 

5. Comment Again
Post another positive message on the group page (http://WWW.new.facebook.Com/group.php?gid=21115279481&ref=mf).

 

6. Post To Your Profile
Post a note on your facebook profile relating to one of the blog posts. Go to http://www.facebook.com/posted.php and enter a Gone Fishing related URL into the box under "Post a link" then click "Post". On the next page, select the most eye-catching thumbnail image (clicking the arrows under "Choose a thumbnail" lets you cycle through the options).

 

You are now initiated into our little secret society! To complete your initiation, join our private Facebook group at http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=22902109333 - we will use this for sharing as much information as possible so we all learn how to promote our films online in the future.

 

If you have any problems understanding what I have written above, do not hestiate to contact me - I  am usually available on the Internet somewhere (skype: readikusmsn, [email protected], facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=505016383) so will try my best to help!

 

Thanks againand we will be in touch soon...
[email protected]

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

IMDb Rating Finally In!

IMDB has finally updated our user rating and we have our score – as write this, it’s 8.6 which is derived from 75 votes – in the screengrab here you can see the breakdown of those votes, which is interesting. IMDB weight these scores, so you will see that we actually have a score of 9.4 (!), but have been dropped down to 8.6.

The reason it took as long as it did to get ‘registered’ is explained in an email I got from IMDb creator and owner, Col Needham…

… a film must have a release date on IMDb before the rating is published. Until the first release date all votes are held in limbo. This is to stop "fanboys" from stuffing the ballot for their favourite unseen titles before they are released. We've queued up and updated to add your July LA screenings and the upcoming Oldenburg date so the votes should be counted & live within a few days…
Col Needham Founder & managing director, IMDb

And as for the weighting of votes, here is what they say about it on the site…

'The User Rating score of a title in the Internet Movie Database is based on a "weighted average" of the votes cast by our large base of registered users on a 1 to 10 scale (10 being best). Weighting takes into account additional factors and calculations besides just the number of people who voted and what their votes were. That means it is not the arithmetic average or arithmetic mean of the scores, though those can be seen by looking at the detailed breakdown of the user ratings.

We use this formula to help prevent organized groups of people from attempting to "stuff the ballot box" and create an artificially inflated (or deflated) rating for a title. To prevent abuse of the system, we do not disclose what the additional factors and calculations in the formula are.

We have carefully refined the weighting formula over the many years the database has been in operation, with all titles being affected by it equally, so as to provide the maximum levels of fairness and accuracy across the board. Though IMDb staff votes may be displayed as a category in the detailed breakdown of the voting, the staff or non-staff status of voters is not a part of the weighting formula and does not affect the final weighted score. And because of the universal application of the weighting formula, no title has been or can be singled out for ratings manipulation by our staff...'

It seems pretty reasonable really. As a guide, Andrea Arnold’s 2003 short, Wasp, which won the Oscar, has a rating of 7.6 (with a ‘real’ score or 7.9). But the great thing for Wasp is the number of votes, which is 386!

Onward and Upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

The Posters Are Finally Sent Out!

Finally, the postal tubes for the posters arrived – at the same time as the newest member of Team Living Spirit. Catherine Balavage, pictured here, started today. Hoorah! After being asked why she thought it was a good idea to get cramped into a tiny, overheated, noisy office, her answer was simple… ‘I wanted to be part of the team who made it to the Oscars!’ We like Catherine. She is also a writer and talented actress (she just starred in The Wolfman, $25m remake of the Universal classic, shot at Pinewood Studios), and I am hoping that her wee Scotts accent will help charm some more support out of sponsors.

So one of the jobs today was to get the posters that we had printed and signed, off to the people who bought them – which we did, in a very organised production line. We still have a few signed posters left over, signed by me, Editor Eddie Hamilton, Producer Ivan Clements and DP Vernon Layton. So far we have just covered the costs of the printing by selling these posters, but we are still on a funds drive, now the Oscars bid is underway. So now is your chance to get one before they get sent off to festivals.

If you want to buy one of the last few signed posters, you can get one here.

Onward and Upward!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Interview on Spolier Alert Radio

On the closing night of the Rhode Island Film Festival, I did a radio interview with Toni Pennacchia of Merging Arts Productions, for a Rhode Island radio station. That interview has since been podcast by Toni on her site, Spolier Alert Radio. It features interviews with a bunch of other film makers and gives you a full flavour of the laid back Rhode Island Film festival experience.

You can hear this interview here…

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Can you rate Gone Fishing on IMDB... WE NEED YOUR VOTES!

We need to boost the presence of Gone Fishing on IMDB (the Internet Movie Database) – this is the first place professionals look when considering a film. I need to ask you two things. First off, can you please go to IMDB and just visit the Gone Fishing page. You can do that here…

Second, can you rate it out of ten. It’s a bit cryptic how this works as I know e have had more than five votes (it says still awaiting five votes). To vote, or ‘rate’ a film, you will need to register, which is free and takes only a minute. After you have registered or if you already have an account, go to the Gone Fishing page here, and at the top, you will see two sets of stars – the ones on the left are the User Ratings (and we are still awaiting enough votes to get a figure in) and the ones on the right are YOUR ratings. Just hover your mouse over the stars and you will see that they go up and down. Click on the rating you want to give. From the screen grab above, you can see that I gave myself 10 out of 10.

In IMDB pro, the big brother to IMDB, we can track the popularity and visits and it can become a vital tool. At the moment we are hovering at a rating of about 35,000, but it will be fascinating to see if these visits and votes can make a big impact or not on this figure – if they do, then we all know for future reference, that it is possible to force a spike in IMDB, if needed for PR.

Many thanks for taking the time to vote, it makes a HUGE difference.

UPDATE - I have no evidence of this but I suspect IMDB somehow rates users, and people who sign up and vote for one film are not considered as highly as those who vote for multiple films. So please spend five minutes voting for a bunch of your favourite feature films, just for the fun. That I hope will get your vote in the running.

Onwards and upwards!

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]

Kodak Awards Official Selection Screenings

 Yesterday was the official selection screenings of the Kodak shortlisted films at the Curzon West End. I have written a much lengthier blog entry to publish next week, after the whole event has ended, about my thoughts and feelings regarding the entire experience and the British Film Industry. For now though, this is just a short précis of events.

The day started with Sam Clark from Kodak giving each of the eight candidates a certificate for getting down the final eight. Seeing a photo opportunity, I held it high and grinned broadly – unless you were there, you just won’t know if the there were 10 people or 1000 people in the auditorium! As crazy as these kind of pictures are, they are very useful down the line in mythologizing both oneself as a film maker, as well as the film (the pic shows me and producer Ivan Clements and was taken by fellow film maker Suki Singh who is now making a Microwave feature film – good for him and I can’t wait to see the results! I also believe he cut a deal with Sam from Kodak while at the screening, so he is also making the difficult choice of shooting on film. Again, good for him! A good deal is always to be made at events like these).

Only a few screenings left now and we are all very excited about the award ceremony on Thursday night. Screenings left are...

Tuesday 29, 3pm Curzon Soho Mini-Cine
99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DY

Wednesday 30, 3pm VMI
c/o 16mm Café, 19 D'Arblay Street. London, W1F 8ED

Thursday 31st 11am Curzon Soho Mini-Cine
99 Shaftesbury Avenue, London, W1D 5DY

Chris Jones, Film Maker and Author
www.livingspirit.com
[email protected]