NoFilmSchool » sitelight

Sitelight: Distribber

Ryan Koo — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 16:00:45 +0000

With this weekend’s release of the iPad, Apple has once again proved they know how to design an elegant product and market its simplicity as a virtue. However, there is one big knock against Apple when it comes to their software/hardware ecosystem, and that is enabling independent content creators to sell their product. It’s ironic — so many of us use Apple computers to design, edit, write, program, or otherwise bring our creations to life — but when it comes time to distribute or monetize our work, Apple generally leaves us SOL. Getting an indie movie into iTunes has been notoriously tough; I’ve kept tabs on developments at Tunecore only to have their planned video release options disappear from their site.

Thus, Distribber: recently acquired by crowdfunding site IndieGoGo, Distribber is one of the new “minimalist middlemen”¹ that focuses on helping indies get their film into iTunes, Amazon VOD, and Netflix. These three stores lack an “upload” button — they all have walls around their paid content (you can get a podcast into iTunes, but only if it’s free). Distribber steps in as your “distributor” in an attempt to get your film into each store; they make no guarantees that your film will be accepted, but they refund you if your project doesn’t get in. Right now their fee is $1295, which includes a number of formatting issues and other ushering. Considering other indie distributors have charged “digitization fees” of up to $20k, Distribber’s service and price point is disruptive and very enabling for filmmakers planning on going the self-distribution route, even if it’s as Plan B.

Of course, it’d be nice if all three marketplaces would allow independent creators to sell their content without needing a middleman. But a non-exclusive, inexpensive middleman such as Distribber, like health care reform, is a BFD.

Not an established term, but I’m coining it!

Sitelight: Daily Dose of Imagery

Ryan Koo — Mon, 22 Feb 2010 17:00:23 +0000

Daily Dose of Imagery is the online — and ongoing — portolio of candid shots taken by the Iranian-born, Canada-residing photographer Sam Javanrouh. In the same vein as nofilmschool – although a bit more obvious because of its name — Daily Dose of Imagery features a new post every day. If you’re primarily shooting video on your DSLR, Sam’s work is a great example of what you can do if you take the camera out of movie mode. The site is a steady stream of well-shot photos of everyday life, which are also included in the RSS feed, so if you’re an RSS user head on over and subscribe (not to mention to the nofilmschool RSS feed)!

Link: Daily Dose of Imagery

Sitelight: Smashing Magazine

Ryan Koo — Fri, 19 Feb 2010 17:00:42 +0000

One of the most important things I learned on the job as a Senior Designer at MTV was: you don’t have to reinvent the wheel every time. As a graphic designer, assembling a toolkit of brushes, textures, templates, and other elements is a crucial step to maximizing your design capabilities and efficiency. The other thing I learned was: you don’t really have to know what you’re doing! Thanks to thousands of readily available tutorials on the ‘net, if you’re not sure how to achieve a particular look or effect, all you have to do is google it. My favorite resource at the moment for tutorials and resources (including helpful posts like 50 Free UI and Web Design Wireframing Kits, Adobe Illustrator Tutorials – Best Of, and 40+ Excellent Freefonts For Professional Design) is Smashing Magazine. If you’re a graphic designer you probably already know about Smashing, but if you’re a filmmaker who also does some design — and a lot of us do, these days — check out the site (they also have a book).

Link: Smashing Magazine.