dianafilms

conflict resolution

Remove blame, present the problem, express the goal and ask for the best way to go about achieving it collectively and co-responsibly.

 

how to make your mobile site? just google it!

HowToGoMo.com

Do you need a mobile site? Google has case studies to show you how & why you might need one.

What will it look like?  They made an 'emulator' to show you what things look like on a mobile device.

Google has pre-selected a handful of vendors and ad agencies that can do the work for the brand.

So, they are offering free advice, tools and resources.  The three things you really need to offer if you want to do business with people these days.  Think of it as freemium luxe, smart marketing, web 2.5 etc...

And once the site is built, google would like to handle your marketing.

hmm, thoughts?  Has the time for mobile sites finally arrived?  Most mobile sites I've seen really suck, except for the ones relating to sports and stock info, at least the info is right there, front & center.

Is there a way to build a site that can do both tablets and mobiles, or am I being a typical producer? 

the platform agnostic in me likes the idea of creative approaches to this branding game, so I offer this freebie piece of digital strategy.  Websites are so 1997, mobile sites are so 2006, and tablet sites are just getting started.  So why not leapfrog and just make a hybrid site that is good for a tablet and good for a phone?  Make the website the mothership of all information and make the tablet the "to go" version, and the mobile site can tag along.   

francesca

why photographers need producers who know how to shoot video

Here's the deal, editorials and ads on tablets are going to start moving because they have to. Video, even without sound, is far more compelling than a still image on a screen.  Ok, I'm a little biased, I work as a producer, my job is making pictures dance. That being said, I did start out as a photographer before moving to film, video and digital media. As much as I LOVE stills and evocative art, and I really do love them, the tablet is a screen and screens are far more interesting when the pictures are moving.  They just are.  I would love to see that proven wrong, I really would.  But things are progressing towards movement, motion.  For fearless established photographers who wish to adapt, its vital that you pick up video skills and a trursworthy sidekick who can produce with you so that all you do is shoot and ramp up to edit.  Let the producer handle the rest.  Your clients will love the ability to call on you to do both and your accountant will love the fact that you're working more.

From cynopsis: "The latest Mobile Mix report from Millennial Media took a look at the iOS over the third quarter of 2011 and found that mobile impressions grew 60% year-over-year across all iOS devices.

In fact, iPad impressions alone grew 456% on Millennial's platform. Other findings from the report include:

The iPhone accounted for 54% of iOS impressions on Millennial's platform.

Android was the leading operating system across smartphones and connected devices as it grabbed 56% of impressions.

In terms of ad spend on applications, Android apps had a 49% share, which is a growth of 20% quarter-over-quarter."

Big question about Branding, positioning for Start Ups

hey start-ups, do you want to build tools for your community

or

do you want to build a community around your tools?

Do you want to position your brand as a resource and a place to grow and co-create a vision, or do you just want to have people buy your stuff? 

Why not be a resource that sells good stuff, not just your own stuff, but generally good stuff? In the age of the curator, its just as much about having good taste (an eye for talent and good products) as it is about being in good company.  Its about D.I.Y. and becoming increasingly more about D.I.W.O.

How else to we filter through the massive information overload, we rely on curators and tastemakers, we rely on our friends.  So while you might be building a brand, now you're building it with and for others and what they say and do on your site matters more than ever.

So, don't be a tool, be a resource who shares tools, information and is there to be of service to a community. 

L'Shana Tovah

May your work, art, life and love all converge in harmony with your authentic self.

Advice to the budding documentarian

I just answered a question posted by a colleague who is working on her first documentary and I thought this would be useful to some of the folks who visit here as well.  The text is below.

Hey Sabrina,

Great question and open to many answers.  I'll stick to some process oriented bits of guidance:

1) Write a master proposal that you can tailor for different grants and project phases.

i.e. some grantmakers only fund development, others prefer to fund projects at the finishing phase.

 

2) Build a community around your project, find people who want to support you and who would benefit from seeing the film.

         a) Reaching out to this amazing group is a good start, also check out Doculink and folks from IDFA, The Flaherty Seminar

         b) When I think of people who benefit from the film, I think of people who are very familiar with the subject, issues you're dealing with, groups are good for feedback as well as support.

 

3) Find a few mentors who can coach you through your various growth phases: 

         a) One type of great advisor is someone who has made many docs before,  

         b) Another key advisor group you'll need are the people who are subject matter experts.  

 

4) Once you have a clear roadmap for the film, you've identified your target audience; it’s a good idea to make a realistic assessment of who would fund your project.  A great place to start is the Foundation Library, while you're doing that you can also explore indiegogo and kickstarter and build an online campaign for your development phase.  That is the hardest phase to fund since there's not much more than an idea to demonstrate. If you've made a trailer that closely matches your vision and intentions you can create a compelling case and make that idea more tangible as well as showing your ability to craft a good story.

 

Hope this advice is helpful to you.

Patience, perseverance and persistence,

Every day, just move the project forward a little. 

Make a phone call, send an email, do a little research, write up a pitch document when you're good and fired up.  Take risks, make foolish choices and give yourself permission to make mistakes.

You'll get there.

Warmly,

Francesca

building peace

we can either be a bridge to peace and understanding or a block to conflict, one flows, the other merely slows

right speech

Before speaking about something you feel needs correcting (aka criticism), engaging in gossip, you might want to question your motives and intended outcome.  The art of being a good human, a good leader, and a good colleague etc... is learning when to listen, when to observe and when to act/speak.

"Is it true? Is it beneficial? Is this the right time and place to say it? Am I the right person to say this? If you can honestly answer Yes to all four questions, go ahead with your comments. Even then, though, you have to look at their results. If you see that they weren’t actually beneficial or timely, learn from your mistake. That’s how your discernment grows." —Thanissaro Bhikkhu

my addendum to this has been: Is it loving?  Is it Kind?  Is it needed?  Is it useful and to whom?  Will it bring peace, clarity and closure in the long term?  Is it respectfully phrased?  Is your ego attached to the outcome in any way? i.e. do you need to be right about something?  Are you saying this because you need to say it, or because someone needs to hear it?  Would silence preferable? 

LOVE

Keep the focus on the story, enjoy the work, respect the audience and most of all, find joy in the doing. Kvell because of the community y/our project created, think of all the careers you're supporting and the jobs you're creating.  You're very fortunate!

If you can, allow yourself to fall in love with it (the process), just a little.  That bounce in your step and that joy is contagious, that top down happy thing has its own momentum and inteligence.  It makes good projects great and difficulties bearable.

 

excerpt from: Notes to New Producers
© Francesca Prada All Rights Reserved 2010

Original Announcement for Sexy Food the Lit Series

Hey there,
Started this tribe for the scribes, foodies and supporters.
Please join and feel free contribute your words, recipes etc. or just your comments.
Our first event in SF is in October, the call for writing is below. This event should be lots of fun!
Francesca


Get Lit @ CAV
Presents
SexyFood®
An evening of genrebending fun for cunning linguists©

Are you a cunning linguist?
Of course you are, well at least we think so.
Does your writing elicit the occasional moan and peel of delight?
How would you like to read it to an appreciative audience, lovers of food and lovers of love and the love artists who love them?

When is this? Sunday October 15th. What will happen at the reading?
5 or 6 writers will have 5 to 8 minutes each to read any of the following:
short story, poem, recipe, essay, neo-benshi, ditty (acapella or acoustic), short-short or flash fiction or an excerpt from your novel, play or screenplay. Requirements: if you are a food writer/culinary expert/chef/sommelier please submit erotica. If you write erotica please submit something that has culinary leanings. Keep your voice, switch genres for a night or two…

What about my chapbook? My novel? My zine? My anthology? My art?
If you’re one of the performers then please bring your wares, we’ll set up a table in the back for the sale of such good works; also, rumor has it you’ll get a drink ticket to sample some of CAV’s fine wines and beverages. Performers should bring their mailing list as well, so your people can see more of you.

Well, its settled then, please send us your writing published, pending or new
DEADLINE: by early deadline 9/7/06 or 9/15/06 as the absolute deadline.
Pdf’s and Mp3’s can be sent to Email Address: sexyfood@gmail.com, and you can join our tribe: http://tribes.tribe.net/sexyfood Questions, brainstorms and logistics: Francesca  ###-###-####
                       
SexyFood® is a digital and paperless operation. We are only accepting digital submissions at this time, if you need help just call us, we’ll be only too happy to help.

About the series founders: Francesca Prada is an award winning filmmaker and theater director, her films have screened at over 70 film festivals and have aired on PBS, Sundance, IFC and HBO. When not making films or directing she works as a script & story consultant.
Francesca’s blog: http://tribes.tribe.net/sexyfood

Joan Gelfand is the Vice President of the Women’s National Book Association and “Seeking Center,” her book of poems is published by Two Bridges Press. Her 2nd book of poems and a collection of short stories are due out next year. Read Joan’s blog: jg.typepad.com/ciel