How a Teenaged First-Time Director Won Tribeca With His No-Budget Feature -
Philip Youmans, a nineteen year old, wrote, shot and directed Burning Cane, a feature length film, which would go onto win the Founders Prize at Tribeca Film Fest. The idea first came to him as a sixteen year-old in junior-high school. NoFilmSchool has the full story and interview, and this is my pick for inspirational story of the week.
A few big take-aways from me -
1) he had a singular vision and was obsessed - every successful director I know is obsessed and won’t stop until they make their vision a reality. Youmans tells NoFilmSchool: "I've been making short films since I was in eighth grade. They were very bad in the beginning but I kept making more and more. I was getting better, learning about the things that didn't work. I learned through a lot of trial and error and put all of my money into my shorts growing up. That's why I didn't travel that much—I would put all of my money into the shorts. That, and gas for my car." That to me is the single biggest commonality I've found among successful filmmakers - whether you give them ten dollars or ten million dollars, they will spend every last cent of it making films, learning the craft, making mistakes and having break-throughs until they bring their vision to reality. Of course, the trick is marrying this to actual talent, but talent without obsession rarely goes this far.
2) he told a story that was native to his experience - the guy's a kid, what experience can he bring to film, some would ask? Well, read the interview - he knows his locale and focused on what he knew best. This was a story he could tell because he grew up right in the middle of it.
3) he had the gumption to reach out for help (to Benh Zeitlin no less) and that alone will help make his career. Sure, he got lucky here too, and actually got a response. But it was having the gumption to try - he didn't have any connections, he reached out via Instagram. Similarly to how Raymond Santana tweeted Ava DuVernay to get her interested in the story of the Central Park Five for When They See Us (which was partly his story), Youmans took a chance and it worked. He also relied on the help of his friends - as he says in the article, only your friends will help you make a low-budget film - "Friends are willing to stick through it with you even when things are incredibly uncertain" and that's true for any film, and any business endeavor.
Great coverage from NoFilmSchool - and a filmmaker we'll undoubtedly be hearing from again. Reading stories like this one renews my faith in indie film, and I hope it does the same for you.
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Film
Quibi: The next Go90, or streaming unicorn? - Quibi is setting out where other streaming platforms have failed: creating a mobile streaming platform. The differences: an executive all star team, backing by major studios, and rising trends in mobile consumption. But at the end of the day, will this only benefit major studios, or will it help Quibi to become a success as well? The debate continues on Digiday, who also report that Quibi has dropped plans for connected-apps, and is sticking with mobile only plans.
Amazon Brings Shows to Life to Stand Out in the Streaming Space Amazon is using multi media experiences to help promote their shows. Examples include The Garden of Delights, a sensory experience used to promote Good Omes at SXSW, and bringing back Carnegie Deli during the upfronts tp promote Marvelous Ms. Maisel. “
It's about going beyond the binge," said Callif. "How do you keep the conversation going with fans and get them not only excited and continuing with these properties, but also to hopefully be sharing it with their friends and family to get them engaged?"
Me: Transmedia storytelling is still at work, just under different names.
Video streaming apps go local for stories Upcoming Netflix originals such as 'Yeh Ballet' and 'Kaali Khuhi' will be based in small towns in India. With most OTT services needing relevant content to fuel their subscription-based models, “heartland stories” are forming a core content strategy, according to industry experts. In short, you can’t conquer a country without working with local storytellers. People want content that reflects their lives, and Netflix (and other SVODs) will have to invest a lot in local production to keep subscriber growth moving. Let’s just hope they work with some “true indies” along the way.
Youtube is changing how subscribers counts are displayed, possibly shifting its culture - While it seems like a small change, this could lead to big problems, especially as more attention is being paid to subscriber counts. I’m all for Instagram hiding like counts, so we stop obsessing over esteem, but the video business is a business, it’s not just social, and the last thing the video business needs is less transparency or “rounding errors.”
Cinelytic in the News – I’ve been following the development of Cinelytic for awhile now (it launched when I was helping run another data project, so we spoke a lot), and it’s up and running now and making some news. Check out this article in the Verge on how Cinelytic’s technology supports the business side of film. And also this interview with Fox Business News, where Cinelytic’s CEO, Tobias Queisser discusses their use of artificial intelligence to shake up the film industry. I think it’s a pretty smart tool for modeling potential film performance, and it’s worth using if you are a brand, platform or producer making a lot of narrative content (it doesn’t work for docs really).
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Branded Content
AI vs Curation and the Attention Economy- Joe Marchese is one of the smartest people in the business, and he recently left Fox to work in VC, with a focus on smart start-ups curating the future of media (among other things) He penned a nice article for Redef about the need for better systems for getting people’s attention than the crap AI systems we’ve built, which are focused on maximizing eyeballs cheaply for advertising (he calls it fracking for attention...nice one). As he says: “In effect, we have abdicated our responsibility for curating what is worthy of a fellow human’s attention to A.I. which, in turn, is optimizing only for immediate engagement and advertising margin.” And he makes a strong case for what’s needed: “However, the brands, retailers, and media companies that understand how to operate in the current Attention Economy will become trusted curators and shape the future of culture and commerce.” (emphasis mine). Read the full piece for what he thinks will work and how he’s working to build that future.
Film Independent held a Branded Content panel, and the takeaways are worth a read, and the full panel video is at the link. (h/t Sundance Creative Distribution newsletter). I take issue with the title - selling out vs. getting paid what you love to do, which perpetuates this myth that making branded content is somehow just about a paycheck - it can be creative in its own right, but the tips and feeback here are relatively solid.
How culpable are filmmakers who support frauds/bad companies in ads/branded content? - Hyperallergic has a good little article about Errol Morris’s work for Thernos (and AIG and Nike) and the ethical implications. Few people stop to think about the actual ethical implications (beyond the idea of “selling out,” so this is worth reading and contemplating for anyone thinking about this space.
BBC StoryWorks boss: Content marketing is advertising Jelana Li, head of BBC Storyworks AUNZ, rejects the idea that content marketing shouldn’t be viewed as advertising, but rather still carries the “function” of advertising,” which is to sell a product” “Consumers are very smart these days, they know when content contains a commercial message and if it’s not labelled as such, they feel betrayed,” Li says. Me: Amen. Part of being “authentic” with storytelling is acknowledging that any brand message is in some manner an advertisement. Even if your true KPI is societal change, or something else, your brand value increases (when this is done well) by the affinity with a good story, and no one is fooled by this. And if they are, they’ll be even more pissed off when they find out the truth. So be up front about it.
Why The North Face manipulating Wikipedia confirms our darkest fears of advertising - Another slap your face moment in brand mishaps this past week - The North Face and its Brazilian agency Leo Burnett Tailor Made boasted about how the brand evaded Wikipedia editors to slyly embed the outdoor apparel giant’s products in high-traffic tourism pages for sites like Peru’s Huayna Picchu, Brazil’s Guarita State Park, and Scotland’s Isle of Skye. Wikipedia immediately called out The North Face in a Twitter thread, accusing the brand of lying about collaborating with the platform. Remember, authenticity is a buzzword for a reason.
Indigenous Media uses 60 Second Docs to Carve out a niche in the branded content world - Jake Avnett (CEO of Idigenous Media) is able to push strong branded content in a digital medium through film conventions. This is made apparent through the success of 60 second docs. Me: they’ve made 500 documentaries, generating 3.5bn total views and have 7 million followers, showing you can build an audience with great short form, but the key remains a mix of original/nonbranded, branded content and (pretty much) ads - content diversification.
The secret to great branded content? It’s not about the brand : Marketing Interactive lays out how to make great branded content, and guess what, authenticity is part of the key. Among their recommendations:
Find authentic stories by engaging local storytellers
Scout out your filmmaker through their short films
Don’t make your brand the hero, be part of the hero’s journey - me, this one is crucial.
Don’t be afraid to go long
Think long term
Create a content universe - It works better when the brand story is part of a bigger project. All great advice for brand storytellers.
Future Proof: How much branding can you put in branded content? Podcast: Branded content is absolutely everywhere… but why? What format works best, at each stage of a customer’s journey? How transparent should you be? And how much branding is simply too much? Dr Alex Connock, Associate Fellow at Said Business School and founder of Missile Digital, talks to the Future Proof podcast about his research and industry experience, sharing insights for marketers exploring the brave new world of branded content.
For Netflix’s ‘When They See Us,’ Branded Content Becomes a Powerful Educational Tool
The Atlantic using branded content for social causes through ‘When they See Us’ to inspire empathy and educate audiences about the problems plaguing the US incarceration system. Me: this is a great example of brand collaboration - in this case, two platforms who are also brands, working together to “build a story universe” that could tell more of the story that didn’t fit in the Netflix miniseries.
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SOCIAL MEDIA
The Real Difference Between Creators and Influencers - very interesting how things change with time, and from platform to platform. Most of the difference is YouTube (creators) vs. other platforms (influencers), but it’s also about how transactional the relationship is, etc.
Unlocking TikTok: how marketers are experimenting with the video app- although Tik Tok is still new and less-inhibited by brands and larger corporations, marketers are trying to find their way in. But find it they will, as they’re desperate for your attention and if you are a day younger than me, that’s the main place you visit now.
Influencers you don't follow will soon be in your Instagram feed - trying to avoid that one annoying influencer? Well too bad. Brands are now investing money into advertising that will allow influencer ads to show up in your feed. Gross, but also to be expected.
MUSIC/PODCASTS
The podcast industry expected to create $1 billion in annual revenue by 2021 - with more startups investing in the podcast industry, advertisers are investing more money. The seemingly insatiable appetite for more podcasts can’t last forever – like video, there’s only so much we can consumer, but for now, it’s a good time to be a creator.
iTunes' Death Is All About How We Listen To Music Today - and the way we listen to music is through streaming. Begs the question - now what happens to all the music we’ve digitally purchased. Glad my faves are all on Vinyl.
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