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campaign New rewards for contributing to finishing fund!

Hey, I have a couple of questions. This seems like a nice project, altruistic. You're trying to raise 10k for a finishing fund. Ok. Can you tell me exactly what you need finished?

Here's why I ask. I've worked professionally and independently as a serious filmmaker for about 15 years now. In that time, I have frequently seen the following scenario.

10 people work on a film for a year, and get paid 4 grand to split. Then at the very end, they need a title sequence, or a digital master copy, or a dvd menu, or color balancing, or some technical part of the requisite process that they don't know how to do. Then some outside contractor gives them a quote. "Oh, you need a pro level digitally encrypted drive to drive transfer" and asks for 10 grand to get the job done. The filmmakers, not realizing that the task only requires a drag and drop to accomplish, pay the money, and check off whatever box. Then in traditional capitalist fashion, 1 person who told a lie and did one simple task makes more money than all the people who worked honestly for a year combined. In example, some major streaming services require multiple subtitle tracks for publication. If you knew exactly what you were doing, it's free, and takes just a few days. Ask for a quote from the wrong person, and that one extra day of work turns into a "service contract for the diversification of transcoded multilingual subtracks and synchronization to high grade internal source deck pre cut"......... You'll find a few extra lines at the bottom of the invoice. 740 dollars for transportation to encoding site, etc. But it's just someone willing to lie to you, upselling a relatively minor operation that could be handled for a grand or less, or free if you're hardworking and fairly bright. How much is a cup of soda? It's $2.79 right? It's not. It cost them an adjusted 1 cent for the soda and the cup combined. The cup costs them more than the soda does, and they'll give you a cup for free. I've seen people pay 70 grand for subtitles for a 3 minute web video about a tractor. It can be done with google translate and 70 dollars on Fiverr.

My point is, maybe your 10k in remaining tasks could be done over the weekend for free, by someone with a couple of supercomputers and a spare 75c in electricity. (which I do have available to donate for the right cause). If your "remaining task" is actually just to pay the filmmakers for the work they've already done, I think that's totally legitimate, but I couldn't help you with that.

If you need a little help, and it's within reason, I might be willing to handle some post or mastering tasks for you. I have a lot of gear and experience, and jobs that are a big deal for some people can be very easy for me. If I can save you 10 grand by donating 10 hours, I'd see that as a good use of my time. If someone wants 10 grand from you for 800 dollars worth of work, I'll donate that 800 dollars worth of work. Perhaps that's not the situation but I've seen it go down that way, many, many, times, so I thought I'd at least offer, just in case.

In your upcoming marketing phase, you might wish to refer to the workflow I set up and outlined in the post "save point social media launch" which illustrates how one can fully automate an entire campaign, reducing your workload exponentially. It's complicated, but it's not anywhere near as horrible as managing 20 social media accounts on a daily basis while trying to prep for your next film.
 
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Nate North said:
Hey, I have a couple of questions. This seems like a nice project, altruistic. You're trying to raise 10k for a finishing fund. Ok. Can you tell me exactly what you need finished?

Here's why I ask. I've worked professionally and independently as a serious filmmaker for about 15 years now. In that time, I have frequently seen the following scenario.

10 people work on a film for a year, and get paid 4 grand to split. Then at the very end, they need a title sequence, or a digital master copy, or a dvd menu, or color balancing, or some technical part of the requisite process that they don't know how to do. Then some outside contractor gives them a quote. "Oh, you need a pro level digitally encrypted drive to drive transfer" and asks for 10 grand to get the job done. The filmmakers, not realizing that the task only requires a drag and drop to accomplish, pay the money, and check off whatever box. Then in traditional capitalist fashion, 1 person who told a lie and did one simple task makes more money than all the people who worked honestly for a year combined. In example, some major streaming services require multiple subtitle tracks for publication. If you knew exactly what you were doing, it's free, and takes just a few days. Ask for a quote from the wrong person, and that one extra day of work turns into a "service contract for the diversification of transcoded multilingual subtracks and synchronization to high grade internal source deck pre cut"......... You'll find a few extra lines at the bottom of the invoice. 740 dollars for transportation to encoding site, etc. But it's just someone willing to lie to you, upselling a relatively minor operation that could be handled for a grand or less, or free if you're hardworking and fairly bright. How much is a cup of soda? It's $2.79 right? It's not. It cost them an adjusted 1 cent for the soda and the cup combined. The cup costs them more than the soda does, and they'll give you a cup for free. I've seen people pay 70 grand for subtitles for a 3 minute web video about a tractor. It can be done with google translate and 70 dollars on Fiverr.

My point is, maybe your 10k in remaining tasks could be done over the weekend for free, by someone with a couple of supercomputers and a spare 75c in electricity. (which I do have available to donate for the right cause). If your "remaining task" is actually just to pay the filmmakers for the work they've already done, I think that's totally legitimate, but I couldn't help you with that.

If you need a little help, and it's within reason, I might be willing to handle some post or mastering tasks for you. I have a lot of gear and experience, and jobs that are a big deal for some people can be very easy for me. If I can save you 10 grand by donating 10 hours, I'd see that as a good use of my time. If someone wants 10 grand from you for 800 dollars worth of work, I'll donate that 800 dollars worth of work. Perhaps that's not the situation but I've seen it go down that way, many, many, times, so I thought I'd at least offer, just in case.

In your upcoming marketing phase, you might wish to refer to the workflow I set up and outlined in the post "save point social media launch" which illustrates how one can fully automate an entire campaign, reducing your workload exponentially. It's complicated, but it's not anywhere near as horrible as managing 20 social media accounts on a daily basis while trying to prep for your next film.
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Hi Nate,

Many thanks for your message, and I hope this finds you well. Thank you so much for your very kind offer to help. For someone like me who struggles against the capitalist matrix we're caught in and that you reference (love it!), this offer gives me some hope for our world!! :)

Here's the situation: the film will be complete in a few weeks, regardless of whether or not I'm able to raise this last bit of funding. The only outstanding work to be done is color grading (we have someone we're working with). The director is Joel Fendelman, and we've been working with contacts/companies he's cultivated relationships with over years. The finishing fund is mainly to recoup costs for services rendered on Joel's part--mainly editing (the film was shot over 2 1/2 years, with nearly 200 hours of footage... Joel has worked meticulously to craft a number of versions to make sure we really get it right, because so much is at stake in getting this right, least of all doing honor to the community that placed their trust in us to document their lives for so long!)--and on the part of the second producer/camera man/sound man/composer and music-scorer (he lives here in town and has done most of the second string filmmaking when Joel isn't here--Joel doesn't live locally). The people contracted to do color, sound, credits, poster, etc. will all be paid, but they're being paid out of money that is designated to go to Joel and the second producer (I'm the first producer). A portion of the funding is to submit to a few festivals and for travel costs for Joel to attend the series of private screenings we are going to be having in October.

I'm the founder and director of a nonprofit organization that works with public schools in the county (North Putnam is one of our partner districts) and I (my nonprofit) contracted Joel to make the film after showing one of his award-winning films, "Man on Fire," to my class (I'm a college professor). I was so impressed with the way he told that story and the way that he interacted with my students when he visited with us. It was like one of those universe-placing-the-exact-right-person-in-my-path moments, and I just had this sense that making this film, with Joel, was the next move I had to make to move the needle in the conversation about public education. I knew that we needed to do this film on an extremely professional level to have it be taken seriously and to even stand a chance of making the impact I'm hoping it will make.

Hope this helps clear things up! Grateful for any ideas you have!

All best,
Beth
 
bbenedix said:
Hi Nate,

Many thanks for your message, and I hope this finds you well. Thank you so much for your very kind offer to help. For someone like me who struggles against the capitalist matrix we're caught in and that you reference (love it!), this offer gives me some hope for our world!! :)

Here's the situation: the film will be complete in a few weeks, regardless of whether or not I'm able to raise this last bit of funding. The only outstanding work to be done is color grading (we have someone we're working with). The director is Joel Fendelman, and we've been working with contacts/companies he's cultivated relationships with over years. The finishing fund is mainly to recoup costs for services rendered on Joel's part--mainly editing (the film was shot over 2 1/2 years, with nearly 200 hours of footage... Joel has worked meticulously to craft a number of versions to make sure we really get it right, because so much is at stake in getting this right, least of all doing honor to the community that placed their trust in us to document their lives for so long!)--and on the part of the second producer/camera man/sound man/composer and music-scorer (he lives here in town and has done most of the second string filmmaking when Joel isn't here--Joel doesn't live locally). The people contracted to do color, sound, credits, poster, etc. will all be paid, but they're being paid out of money that is designated to go to Joel and the second producer (I'm the first producer). A portion of the funding is to submit to a few festivals and for travel costs for Joel to attend the series of private screenings we are going to be having in October.

I'm the founder and director of a nonprofit organization that works with public schools in the county (North Putnam is one of our partner districts) and I (my nonprofit) contracted Joel to make the film after showing one of his award-winning films, "Man on Fire," to my class (I'm a college professor). I was so impressed with the way he told that story and the way that he interacted with my students when he visited with us. It was like one of those universe-placing-the-exact-right-person-in-my-path moments, and I just had this sense that making this film, with Joel, was the next move I had to make to move the needle in the conversation about public education. I knew that we needed to do this film on an extremely professional level to have it be taken seriously and to even stand a chance of making the impact I'm hoping it will make.

Hope this helps clear things up! Grateful for any ideas you have!

All best,
Beth
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Sounds really cool, and I appreciate that you are doing good work in shining a light on our undervalued and underfunded public education system. I still haven't figured out why people vote to defund education. Seems like shooting yourself in the foot, from a long term perspective.

It actually sounds like you have things fairly well in hand, and I commend your team on the hard work this kind of thing takes. I've released some features, and I think many underestimate the long hours involved in creating something so involved.

In any case, it doesn't sound like you need my direct help, but I would point out a very simple and cheap piece of software that I use, that really makes a difference with very low effort. It's called Topaz Video AI, and it's basically a 1 click solution to clean up digital errors in your film, and upscale it to 4k, since many streamers prefer availability in that format. I think it's like 100 bucks or similar, but I use it for everything now, just as like a "clear coat" after all the real work has been done, and it's been effective for me.

Anyway, best of luck on your project, and I hope you can help get the word out about the hardships public schools face in trying to provide a good education amidst dwindling resources.
 
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