Book PR

I'm looking into getting publicity for my eBook Megachrist.com

I just found something called ping.fm which links accounts together http://ping.fm/

Pub Crawl Webisodes

I’ve been looking into making webisodes from Pub Crawl movie to try and market it. By keeping them down to 15 minutes or less I can upload them to YouTube.

So far the film breaks down to 14 Webisodes, varying in time from 7 minutes to 14 minutes.

It would be great to get some sponsors, but I don’t think it will happen.

I used Final Cut Pro to edit the Webisodes from the movie footage. It has a widescreen look to it, as it is in 2.35 aspect ratio.

Pub Crawl Webisode list is as follows:

1. 1.The Oxford arms
2. 2.The Hawley arms
3. 3.The Lock Tavern
4. 4.The Barfly
5. 5.The Fiddlers Elbow
6. 6.The Enterprise
7. 7.Diner
8. 8.The Barfly Again
9. 9.The Bouncer
10. 10.The Good Mixer
11. 11.More Good Mixer
12. 12.THe Dublin Castle
13. 13.The Band
14. 14.THe End

Pub Crawl Widescreen and Colour Grading

I’ve been trying to do a widescreen edit of Pub Crawl movie and I have also been using Final cut to do some colour grading.

One thing that I have noticed is when trying to compress the widescreen film so I can put it on DVD or the internet there seem to be some problems.

Final cut has a filter that allows you to have a widescreen look to your movie. You can choose 2.35 as one of the options, this is what most movies like Transformers use. When you go to the cinema and the screen widen’s out this is what is being projected.

If you are making a movie using a 35mm camera, there are various ways of getting widescreen onto film, using special lenses.

Another way is to just crop the top and bottom of a 16 x 9 video or film. This is what Final Cut Widescreen filter does.

The you output the file from FCP as a Quicktime movie, hoping that it is saved in the right aspect ratio of 1 to 2.35. Only it doesn’t, it outputs as 1888 x 1062, which is about 1 to 1.175.

It should be 1888 x 804 or 1920 x 816. If you want to show on DVD then 720 x 306 would be right and a 1440 x 612 file should be fine in theory working with iDVD to get the film onto DVD.

What the video convertors seem to be doing is outputting a file with black bands on the top and bottom of the film rather than cropping the film to the right video size.

The best program that I have found for doing video conversion is MPEG Streamclip by Squared 5. Just drag the .mov output file from FCP onto the MPEG window then you can output an mp4 file in the right resolution.

It takes  along time to convert, especially if you get Streamclip to do multiple passes.

One thing that I have found with FCP is that if you set the filters for widescreen 2.35 and the 3 colour correction on one video clip then copy the clip. You can paste the filter attributes to multiple video clips, rather than having to edit filters on each clip.

Production for Second Movie

I’m looking at producing a second movie from one of my scripts. So far I have two scripts that I am thinking of producing. The problem is they are much bigger budgets than our last movie.

I want to shoot next movie on Sony FS100 and Canon 5D MkII. I haven’t used it yet but, will probably edit on FCP X.

The first script I am considering is Megachrist.com. Which is set in London. What I wanted to do was try and get hollywood A list to play the parts of the prophets. 

These are short but important parts for the movie, Moses, Buddha, Jesus and Mohammad. I am thinking of re-writing current ending. More information about Megachrist.com is on the website including the current script.

To be honest I’m really not sure what the budget would be my estimate is £500,000. My wish list for A list actors are Chris Rock, Owen Wilson, Jackie Chan and Madonna. From the actors listed the movie ought to be a comedy, but it’s not.

It is chicken and egg, if I can get letters of intent from actors, assuming they like script, then I have a good chance of raising money. It would be nice to have an Exec producer who has raised more than this in the past. So if you know someone, send me an Email.

The second script that I am considering is “Zombie Biker Girls”. this is comedy horror set in Los Angeles. What I am looking at is going to LA to shoot for about 3 months and picking up crew and cast in LA.

The budget for the movie will depend on what actors we use. One option is too shoot on SAG low budget contracts.

The other option I am thinking of is too get an actor who has his own production company to join as a co-producer.

One of the parts in the movie, Jack was written with Jack Nicholson in mind... while I would love to be making a movie with Jack Nicholson any of the following are great actors too Tom Hanks, Nick Nolte, Michael Madsen, Michael Caine, Robert Redford or Harvey Keitel.

If I am honest and not just hopelessly optimistic I probably can’t even get a script to any of these actors let alone have them read it and want to co-produce movie. What it does have going for it it is that is set set in LA.

The Black Arts- eBook

My third book is available on Apple iBooks and Amazon kindle.

This is the book with a book from Megachrist.com so if you have Megachrist.com you already have it.

Here is the story it started as an adult script based on Harry Potter, but set in New York... a college for evil witches.

Suzi Chang is a chinese / Japanese Ninja Assassin who works for the Tokyo Yakuza. She has come to America to go to the Black Arts College.

It's a college in New York that teaches Black Magic, Kung Fu, Sex and crime.

She learns Kung Fu magic, rides a dragon and battles an evil witch called Wanda, who turns out to be her real mother.

Sex Drugs Death - eBook

My second book Sex Drugs Death is out on Apple iBooks and Amazon kindle.

Here is the write up from Amazon:

Three Hookers rob the Chicago Chinese Triads and the Mob... of millions of dollars and drugs and escape on Harley Davidson’s and travel down Route 66 to sell the drugs in Los Angeles.

Meanwhile in LA… Debra Silvers a screen writer is working on a script with her father Jack Golden a producer and her husband director Bob Silvers. The movie is about an affair that she had with her mother.

Her mother Gillian Golden, a famous Hollywood Agent and does not want the movie made. She tries to get them to stop by faking a suicide attempt, but it goes wrong and she dies, but a Voodooo Witchdoctor brings her back as a Zombie God.

She meets some biker filmmaker’s, Sam and Chrissy in a rock club and they decide to make a movie the Zombie Biker Girls.

Sam and Chrissy are also the fences for the hookers drug deal. The Triads and the Mob, want their drugs and money back... and they want the girls dead.

A nympho, a drug addict and a killer. These are Charlie’s Devil’s... SEX DRUGS DEATH.

Megachrist.com

It’s a book, a script and a website. Not sure why I haven’t mention it in this blog before. Probably doesn’t matter as so few people read blog.

You can buy paperback on Amazon.

Selling more eBooks

I’ve bought John Locke’s book “How I Sold 1 Million eBooks” and it has some good advice about how to sell and market your eBook. I’m not going to spoil it, if you want the information buy the book from Amazon I think it’s about £2.

Pirates of the Caribbean 4

Trailer for new Pirates movie... posted from YouTube... I didn't know I could do that... isn't tech marvelous.

It wouldn't let me type, but I figured it out... still can't change font as menu drops down behind movie... really useful there blogger tech peeps.

Crowd Funding in the UK

I've found New Crowd Funding website based in the UK, called Sponsume.com. It's Free to use and is all or nothing funding, similar to Kickstarter in the USA. That is you only get the money if you reach the full target in the time you pick for the project.


Rather than offering investment in your movie or project, you offer rewards, like signed DVD's, Tee Shirts, Producer credits or thanks on the movie credits.


I have started a project to try and help with Self Distribution funding for the Film premiere and the URL is http://www.sponsume.com/project/pub-crawl


Check it out and you can use it to get on guest list for Pub Crawl Film Premiere, if you can get to London on 29th March 2011 and fancy a movie, a band and some beer.

SEX DRUGS DEATH - Book Preview

I've started writing next book based on a couple of my scripts. 


The scripts are:


Zombie Biker Girls is a low budget movie set in Los Angeles. A Hells Angel film production company are making a Zombie movie staring a real Zombie . . .   a Hollywood agent.


Sex Drugs Death Three Hookers rob the Chicago Chinese Triads and the Mob of millions of dollars and drugs and escape on Motorcycles down Route 66 to LA.


The scripts have some characters in common. I'm calling the book Sex Drugs Death


There is a preview on Createspace here 


https://www.createspace.com/pub/community/give.review.do?id=1078843

MOFILM New York 2011 Competition

Times Square, New York

Enter the MOFILM Competition via Shooting People and you get a 3 month trail of Shooting People. My Shooting People account has lapsed, but I found it useful when I was making Pub Crawl. I posted adverts for actors and crew there. They also have networking meetings once a month. I would recommend them, the link is at http://shootingpeople.org/mofilm/  


By entering as a 'Shooter' you get some unique bonuses:

• you need collaborators to make your MOFILM entry, and you can do this using our casting and crewing tools
• any Shooter that picks up a prize will get free publicity through the site and our international partners, reaching approx 2 million eyeballs
• we’ll keep you up to date with all the latest MOFILM news direct to your inbox so you won’t miss out
• one Shooting People member who enters the competition will win a Flip Ultra High Definition Camcorder With 8GB Memory

If you aren't a member of Shooting People - you can also get a free three month trial (usually £20) to help you make your film. I would love to win and go back to New York, it's a wonderful town...

I used some an image and some text from shooting people website here. Sorry about the text layout bloggers formatting went crazy when I added bullet points...

83rd Academy Awards

The 83rd Academy Awards is live on Sky and ABC on Sunday. While I have Sky 1 and Sky Living, I don’t have SKy Premiere, as it would cost me an extra £20 on my Virginmedia bill.

I could get Sky movies for a month, but I thought I would try and see if I could watch it free on the Internet. The first one I found offered to let me watch it free, if I paid $49.99 as a one off payment. They seemed to totally miss the concept of free... if I pay $50 it’s not free.

I found that for $4.99 I can watch everything on the Internet direct from oscar.com, the Academy’s official website. OK all I have to do is register and enter the credit card details... what this it is telling me, I’m un-invited because I don’t live in the USA.

I found another site Livestream.com have the Oscars, but it seems to be live from the Red Carpet. That’s like being outside and not being able to get a ticket.

I did find a blog that had 15 ways to watch the 2010 Oscars, not really what I wanted. So i’ve decided to watch the show on Sky Living on monday night. All I need to do is not watch any news Sunday night or monday morning...

Google Adverts

I’ve added Google Adverts to the website in the hope of making a little bit of money. It all helps.

I’m trying use YouTube promoted video’s, but all I can find is Google AdWords in my Google account. When I select Promoted video’s, it just takes my to my YouTube account.

I can’t seem to find the promoted video reports, that I saw when I created the campaign.

I’m not spending much, just seeing how it works. my bids for a click thru are £0.02. I should have selected dollars so I could bid lower.

So far none of the ads have run and it seems to be saying I need an AdWords specialist to look over the words I’ve selected.

THe other thing is it gives information on how much bids are for the words I have and the smallest is £0.55 going up to £2.00. This may be fine if I was selling a car, but I’m trying to sell a $3.95 internet movie viewing.

I think I would go broke quick if I pay £2 so as someone can think about wether he will down load our movie for £3. I must be doing something wrong somewhere. I’ve Emailed youTube sales, no reply so far.

New Nikon 7000 does 1080p video with Auto Focus

This new Nikon 7000, it does full 1080p HD video with Auto Focus. I know everyone is using Canon &D or 550's for shooting movies, but all my SLR gear is Nikon and I like the lenses. I want one.
So things are changing and Nikon DSLR gives filmmakers a choice. NIkon website has information about Nikon D-Movie HD video http://tinyurl.com/6zc7zv8


Read review on dpreview.com


Nikon D7000 Key Features

• 16.2MP CMOS sensor
• 1080p HD video recording with mic jack for external microphone
• ISO 100-6400 (plus H1 and H2 equivalent to ISO 12,800/25,600)
• 39-point AF system with 3D tracking
• 2016 pixel metering sensor
• Scene Recognition System (see 2016 pixel sensor, above) aids metering + focus accuracy
• Twin SD card slots
• 3.0 inch 921k dot LCD screen
• New Live View/movie shooting switch
• Full-time AF in Live View/movie modes
• Up to 6fps continuous shooting
• Lockable shooting mode dial
• Built-in intervalometer
• Electronic virtual horizon
• Shutter tested to 150K actuations

More Details on Nikons website at http://tinyurl.com/2utpa77

Short Crawl

This is a short film, it is edited from Pub Crawl. It's in the Cannes Short Film Corner.


It is low res, I made it 480 x 270 so it is true 16 x 9 image. The scenes I used, don't include Jay Wheddon who plays Bill, a photographer in the film.


The track used is by The Absolute Belters it's called Bollox to the Bouncers. They are on myspace at http://www.myspace.com/theabsolutebelters

Pub Crawl Trailer on YouTube

I'm promoting the Trailer to Pub Crawl movie, on YouTube, with a link to movie on our website. Not sure how well it will work, I will update about it in the future when I know more.

Pub Crawl Movie Shoot

Pub Crawl was shot on a Canon XHA1 in 1440 x 1080 HD. It was shot in available light on location in Camden town, London , UK. We used a small crew, mainly one camera and boom sound with sound recorded on the camera.

The nice thing is as we shot it in bars, beer and food was on set. Real beer is used in the shoots. Everyone had a good time shooting the movie and it was shoot in 10 days.

We shot in the most well-known Camden Pubs, The Oxford, the Hawley, The Lock Tavern, the Barfly, The Enterprise, The Fiddlers Elbow and The Dublin Castle

Most days we wrapped by 4pm. The last days shooting was in the Dublin Castle, where we filmed the band The Absolute Belters, so this was also the wrap party.

I grew up in Camden and I lived there for more than 30 years, so I know the area well. The idea of shooting Pub Crawl came to me while drinking down the pub. I thought that pub conversations could make a good story. Going for a drink and watching the Grand National, is something that I’ve done many times with my mates.

The trailer and the start of Pub Crawl movie are on 555 Films website at www.555films.net and more information about the movie is available on IMDb at www.imdb.com/title/tt1600846/

The movie will be released first on the Internet and in May 2011 on DVD.

Writing a Press Release for Pub Crawl

I needed to write a press release for Pub Crawl. I have done a night school journalism course at the london school of printing, but that was a while ago. So I did a search on google and found lots of articles about how to write one. The first paragraph needs to have most of the information. The who, what, where, when or why of the story.

Does the release need pictures or just text?

Well I did both. One with the poster at the top. The story I went with is that I started 555 Films while I was unemployed. I had already been writing scripts and I had written the Pub Crawl script, just after the 2006 Grand National. I did go out and watch the race in the pub, with my mates. I had thought about writing a script about conversations down the pub. I liked the idea of how it tends to change the drunker you get.

Tony comes up with plan for solving all the worlds problems, in a bar, usually this is a sign of being very drunk and is the sort of thing you totally forget in the morning. Paul and Bill discussing the lottery. Bill likes to buy a ticket so he has a chance of winning, while Paul thinks it’s a waste of time, because a 14,000,000 to 1 chance is no chance.

Bob talking about making a movie called Pub Crawl, Jaz his lawyer who has invested in one of his past movies and who he has had an affair with, while remaining friends. Ray, Bill, Tony, Mick and Bob played in a band and used to go to see bands in Camden Town, in the 80’s. So they talk about gigs they remember. Bill remembers losing his jacket and walking home cold on a white christmas.

None of this conversation is in the press release to get that you have to watch the movie. Penny could have written a much better press release than I did, as she’s been a journalist for twenty years...

So now I have the press release, I’m using PressGo to send it out and I’ve booked the Soho Screening Room for the press screening. What exactly is supposed to go in a Press Kit? I think I should have hired a PR company..

Looking for Investors for Distribution

I have added an investors page, basically I need to borrow about £5,000 from the Bank or some other lender to get the money for the self distribution.

If I could get 10 investors to put in £500 for 1% or one investor to put in £5,000 for 10 % producer profits, that seems easier to me.

So if you want to be a Film Producer and you have some spare cash to invest email me, you have my business card.

As the Film is finished, it’s not the same as investing in a script, you can watch the movie before you invest.

I can link the movie to anyone serious about investing in Pub Crawl.

New Website ... New Blog

I’ve moved the website from RapidWeaver to Apple’s iWeb. All the dates on the blog have been reset to 14th Feb 2011. Oh well it’s old stuff anyway.

I’m trying to get Pub Crawl released in the Cinemas. I don’t have the money yet or any quotes for how much it will cost to hire cinema’s, which is kind of holding up any business plan.

As this is all supposed to happen next month there is not much time. I have no idea why Odeon can not give any quotes for how much it is to hire Camden Town Odeon.

I just found out that cinemas use DCP files, not Apple quicktime...They seem complex, so I’m going to see if I can get the 69 GB Quicktime file of the movie converted to a DCP on a USB Hard Drive.

I will add to the blog as I know more.