Welcome to the world of modern filmmaking—a place where anyone can make anything at any time and put it online pretty much anywhere. Whether or not people actually watch it? Well, that's a different question. With the democratization of film comes the democratization of exhibitors, and in today's new media landscape, the number of platforms through which a filmmaker can show their work can be overwhelming.
In this week's episode of The No Film School Podcast, we sit down with a handful of short filmmakers whose projects have either been funded, licensed, or exhibited by the idiosyncratic video website Super Deluxe.
The Super Deluxe platform is one that should be a model for innovative filmmakers looking to get their work noticed. Self-described as "a community of creative weirdos making videos that are (we hope) more substantial than much of what you see on the internet," they are truly a service to filmmakers, providing funding, creative freedom, and, most importantly, trust.
While many of us aren't fortunate enough to have a platform like Super Deluxe behind our work, that doesn't mean that we shouldn't create the type of stories they actively seek out. The filmmakers they find are just as exciting and diverse as the platform's content.
Kenneth Gug, PipusLarsen, and Scott Ross started making Instagram videos and are now Sundance alum with their short doc,Deer Squad. Matt Wolf has been making feature documentaries for years, and Super Deluxe funded his doc short, Bayard & Me, a biography about Civil Rights leader Bayard Washington. Anna Kerrigan was brought on as a director for hire for the web series The Chances, following two deaf friends as they navigate the buzzy scene in Los Angeles.
There is no right way to go about getting your project recognized, although it's preferable to have a strategy rather than throwing something online and hoping it catches fire. All of these filmmakers came together at Sundance to discuss their own experience within the oversaturated new media landscape and their strategies in tailoring stories for an era of rabid media consumption.
For more, see our complete coverage of the 2017 Sundance Film Festival.
