NoFilmSchool » thirdrail

IFP Announces Selections for 2010 Project Forum (Including My Project '3rd Rail')

Ryan Koo — Fri, 13 Aug 2010 17:03:52 +0000

Independent Film Week (IFW) takes place every September in New York, and it’s a whirlwind event chock full of panels, screenings, networking events, and meetings. One part of IFW is the Project Forum, wherein filmmakers meet with financiers, producers, distributors, and other enablers. Films participating in the Project Forum range from those in the development stage to those in need of finishing funds. I’m happy to announce that 3rd Rail, the transmedia project I’ve been working on with Zack Lieberman (my co-writer/director on The West Side), has been selected to participate in the No Borders International Co-Production Market. (more…)

The Script Frenzy challenge: 100 pages in 30 days

Ryan Koo — Fri, 19 Mar 2010 16:00:00 +0000

The first annual Script Frenzy kicks off April 1st, challenging participants to write 100 pages in 30 days. There’s no entry free and there are no prizes. If you finish a screenplay (draft) in 30 days, that script itself is the reward! Because carving out large chunks of time to write is one of the hardest things to do in the non-MTV version of The Real World, here’s an opportunity to motivate and get that big idea out of your head and onto paper. Script Frenzy is run by the folks behind National Novel Writing Month, which has been around (and popular) for ten years.

Last April 1st, Zack and I embarked on our own unofficial script frenzy by “banishing” ourselves to beautiful Costa Rica, where we co-wrote 145 pages in 45 days (we spent the final two weeks of our 60-day trip revising). The result, Third Rail, made the rounds in Hollywood and garnered us twenty-one meetings; it was selected for Power to the Pixel’s Pixel Pitch, and ultimately… I’m not sure. Third Rail is either in development hell, or it’s not even in development; either way, for all intents and purposes, it’s in limbo. This is what happens when you write a big, ambitious project requiring other people’s money, instead of just doing it yourself.

And so I’ve got one eye on the Script Frenzy site and another on my calendar, trying to figure out if I can (once again) dedicate April to screenwriting. Can you?

Reflections on the Pixel Pitch and the transmedia market

Ryan Koo — Fri, 16 Oct 2009 11:55:25 +0000

Despite the fact that Zack and I have been pitching and developing our transmedia project Third Rail for over a year, it was a mad rush to pull together a trailer and rehearse our presentation for yesterday’s first annual Pixel Pitch here in London. During this process, which we had to conduct virtually — with him in New York, and myself temporarily in North Carolina — we considered a few different approaches to our verbal sell, some more theatrical and some more straightforward. Ultimately we went with the straightforward approach, and, in retrospect, that was probably a mistake. (more…)

Power to the Pixel

Ryan Koo — Mon, 12 Oct 2009 16:41:34 +0000

Zack and I are excitedly headed to London this week for the Power to the Pixel Cross-Media Film Forum, which opens the Times BFI London Film Festival. There, we will be pitching our next project, Third Rail, to a very qualified jury and a sold-out audience of 200; we’re seeking funding and distribution for our ambitious (and long-time-coming) transmedia undertaking, which I’m sure you’ll hear more about here in the coming weeks. 120 applicants applied for the Pixel Pitch and we are fortunate enough to be among the seven projects selected. There are a lot of great speakers and events at the conference, so if you’re in London, head on down!

Why didn't we think of this before?

Ryan Koo — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 23:52:48 +0000

Along with The West Side co-creator Zachary Lieberman, this is my house in Costa Rica for the next two months. Why are we here? To get some work done. Really! (more…)