Continuance Pictures Wants to Make Your Horror Movie

Continuance Pictures, producers of the upcoming horror film ISOLATION, have announced a new film initiative - that could help budding filmmakers get their film off the ground! 

The 'CONTINUE' initiative has been inspired and encouraged by horror maestro Jason Blum. Continuance's Tristan Barr and David Gim were speaking to Blum (“Halloween”, “The Purge”) at the recent Busan Film Market where he inspired the prolific producing unit to get a film fund going.

“Jason gave us incredible advice on shooting with low budgets and testing contents with short films”, says Barr, co-founder of the company.

The chat led to a new film initiative, in which budding filmmakers will have the chance to produce their own short with feature film or TV series potential. At the same time, the company has also announced a new horror movie, which Barr will helm.

Through their new initiative, Continuance Pictures will foster the untapped creativity of new writers, directors and producers by assisting them in the development and production of a film through a short film initiative.

“The initiative is a pragmatic approach to filmmaking in the digital age”, says Barr, whose film ‘’Watch the Sunset’’ was one of the most celebrated Australian films of 2017. ‘’The initiative will connect emerging talent to the film industry and other creatives through investment and opportunity.’’

Continuance Pictures is a global company, with connections in Asia and Australia - they are a partner of former CAA and Sierra Infinity fixture Ina Petersen, who last year launched Inner Voice Artists, a Los Angeles-based international management and production company, and are currently working with Korean partners on “Isolation”, a horror story which Barr will also write and direct.

“Isolation” tells of the lone survivor of a plane crash who encounter a demon being while lost in the wilderness.

Continuance Pictures launches the “Continue” short film initiative this month, offering emerging talent the opportunity to prove themselves on the world stage. With an aim to inspire innovation and harness the potential of the current media landscape, the new studio will foster a creative culture in which bold choices are rewarded.

“As a filmmaker, there is nothing worse than receiving a “rejection letter” and not understanding why. Through this process the team at Continuance Pictures we are attempting to provide feedback to applicants to build working relationships and ongoing opportunities for the future.”

The short film initiative assists in the creation of acclaimed short films and their submission to film festivals around the world. These short films can then be used as a proof of concept, convincing larger studios and investors of the potential of related feature-length films, television series and franchises.

Adds Barr, “As I have learnt with Watch the Sunset, momentum is such an integral part of the process of surviving in this business. We will be capitalizing on festival screenings with meetings in the marketplace with the already developed feature script of the project.”

‘’Watch the Sunset’’ was an 83 minute, one-shot, low-budget feature film that Barr wrote and directed and was highly-regarded at festivals and was named one of the top 5 films of the year by local critics. Barr says “Creating low budget short films empowers creatives by giving them creative control and the chance to prove themselves on the world stage.”

Continuance Pictures plans to support local and international creators through their short film production initiative. The purpose of the ‘Continue’ Short Film Initiative is to create acclaimed short films that can be used as a proof of concept for feature-length productions and franchises.

The initiative allows larger studios to grasp the potential of a project and the creators. Writers, directors and producers can submit their projects via the Continuance Pictures website.

“Continuance Pictures are strong supporters of diversity in the media, and this is reflected in our selection process,” explains Gim. Each submission is reviewed and judged based on a range of criteria, including diversity, creativity, originality, and budget considerations.

Continuance Pictures are looking to offer qualified, high-concept proposals up to $10,000 to spend on the production’s budget. Writers, directors and producers who have bold and innovative ideas are invited to submit their scripts to the Continue Short Film Initiative via the Continuance Pictures website before 5 pm AEDT on the 1st of February 2019.

Go to their website here to submit.

The Great Indie Film Promotion!

Well.. I might be overselling it.. just a wee bit.

A few problems have arisen over the past several months in trying to get indie film promotion and networking moving forward. At the heart of most of this is sucky internet. As of late I've actually had a good connection. Why? I don't know... but I'm going to follow the old standby of not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

Additionally just the scope of indie film. Big Hollywood is easy to promote as their output and associated output is far less than 1% of the films made every year. Even if you eliminate national cinemas from the pool the majority of films made every years are by indie filmmakers. That's a hell of a lot films and filmmakers.

Participation is also a key factor. Not everyone is Timothy J. Cox or Kate Davies-Speak. I'd be willing to argue nobody is. Both of them have been instrumental in the promotion of indie film. Timothy J. Cox actively promotes films he is in and the works of others. Kate Davies-Speak uses her social media, I'm most specifically familiar with her Twitter activity, to engage those in indie film to share among themselves and promote each other. Her #ShowreelShareDay and #TrailerShare days have encouraged me to use the indie film community, whether they know it or not, to promote themselves.

I've mentioned the use of hashtags before for different promotions. What I'm aiming to try now is to build this to a weekly indie film promotion where filmmakers, actors, reviewers and others can share links to trailers, interviews, reviews, and have others retweet their links.

Weekly? A bit too much? Not really, because my ultimate goal is to build this to a daily promotion. Obviously I can't do that on my own. But Hollywood gets almost by the minute promotion, and much of that is given to them for free. But ask someone to do that for indie films and many will want to charge for it. Yep... throw free money at the rich and charge the working class.

My intention, at least in this function, is to get others involved with promoting indie films. Ideally those who will be open to having a regular social media promotion. That could be a day a year, a day a month, but eventually those days add up and over time that could build into a daily promotion. As the promotion builds we will eventually trend the hashtag, and if it builds to the point it gets in the top 10 then it will be getting more attention due to that, and that certainly is a goal.

I am going to start of the promotion on Thursdays. Probably beginning around 9 a.m. (East Coast/New York time) and continuing throughout the day till like 11 or midnight. I fully expect the first time, or first several times to flop. It takes a while to build up anything and I will start with promo tweets for a handful of indie films throughout the day. Of course anybody else who tweets the hashtag with their own promo tweet will be retweeted by me and hopefully others.

The hashtag is #MyIndieFilmPromotion

I will be tweeting and retweeting from two Twitter accounts: @SexAndBloodShow (shut up... I've already commented it was a poor choice for a Twitter url) and @MIFilmAdvantage.

The reason for Thursday is to keep from conflicting with my work schedule and Thursday is not the weekend, not the first day of the week and not a church day. I'm wanting to keep it on a day when people will less likely be occupied with something else.

What to share?

Pretty much anything that helps promote your film or a film in which you are involved or someone's film you are trying to promote. Trailers, IMDb listings, interviews, reviews, etc. If they'll fit in a tweet, by all means include them all. You can also add up to 4 images in a tweet too if you want to include posters, screencaps or other promotional materials. Sometimes when I have promoted films in the past I would create an image with a summary of a film, cast, etc. so I could include more about the film beyond the Twitter character count.

A few things to note:

Filmmakers - Often when I try to collect info for promoting films on Twitter with a Tweet. Rather than actually 'reply' with info like I've requested most just click on 'like'. If I want to actually collect any info then I have to search it out as a result. This is time consuming. Nobody knows your film, cast, social media links, etc. better than you. Not only will providing information help me out, it's a good habit to get into when it comes to soliciting reviews as it helps out the reviewer. What you can provide in a minute or two can take somebody else an hour or longer to have to search for it.

Reviewers - Let me be specific about what is and is not indie film. Indie film is not made with millions of dollars with big name actors. Indie film is individuals and even small companies making their own films. The United States has a problem with multi-million dollar movies masquerading as indie films because they are not made by one of the Big 6 studios. You are welcome to join in and help to promote indie films, but if you are confused about what they are and instead use the hashtag to promote bigger studio films you will be asked to stop.

Why this particular promotion?

As I've mentioned, internet has been a problem here. I've at least had a fairly consistent connection, but bandwidth often sucks. As I have been using mobile internet more, it does not require as much bandwidth as my computer does. This is a way for me to become more actively involved in promotion that I can also do on a phone or tablet.

I will tweet about the date of the first #MyIndieFilmPromotion rather than springing it on you. You don't have to specifically tweet within the hours I am. I will search the hashtag and retweet any tweets. You can also use a tweet scheduler online or a social media hub to schedule tweets. Any retweets are encouraged and very much appreciated.

Indie Film TV: Coming to a Browser Near You... Sort of

Friday Night Indie TV

A new project I'm working on in the vein of my Friday Night 80s Party I used to run. Looking for it to be a six hour block of programming to be tweeted on Friday nights from 6pm to midnight E.S.T. featuring short indie films, web series, and a feature length indie film; all available to watch for free on YouTube, Vimeo or other video sharing sites.

What started this?

Frankly myself becoming sick of network TV. With what seems like a pell mell cancellation of shows and changes in shows without one ounce of regard for the fans, network TV has picked up bad habits from "big retail". Network TV's response of "we don't answer questions about our program changes" (paraphrased) illustrates without a doubt that the viewer does not matter and the viewer is just someone to be played like someone being sold a used car or time share.

There are far more indie filmmakers, and I mean FAR more, than there are big studios. No, indie filmmakers are NOT investment firms that spend millions to make a film strictly for a return and call themselves independents. Indie filmmakers work out of their homes, even rent time in small studios, and investments are small and only offset what they have to spend out of pocket often putting it on a credit card. 

Far more filmmakers are making better and by far more original films than what is coming out of big studios. It may not be as high gloss and CGI filled as what Hollywood wants to force feed you, but all that gloss and CGI is replaced with things like story, heart and sweat.

With all of what is being produced by indie filmmakers, and there is a gargantuan lot that is being produced by indie filmmakers, and ignored by self-ploclaimed Roger Ebert wannabe film critics (and if I hurt anybody's feelings with that... GOOD!), why not organize some of that content into a programming block like TV does?

True. This is not a TV network or channel. But it is a basis that maybe someone else can build on and rather than the usual star and smug filled content big studios and networks want to proffer, they might be able to run with it and provide an indie only web channel. Just a thought.

My initial idea for a block of programming, naturally likely to change, is to have:

1) A horror show/hour featuring several short subjects.

2) A comedy show/hour featuring several short subjects.

3) A non-themed showcase featuring other short subjects.

4) A regular web series episode

5) A full length feature film for the Friday Night Movie of the Week

6) A video podcast review or interview show.

I would also like to fill in gaps with music videos from up and coming indie bands and some retro TV commercials just for fun.

In addition to the block of tweets on Friday nights I also want to set up a blog specifically for the show in which I'll post each week's programming block so you can access it anytime at your leisure.

This is not content exclusive to me. These are shorts and films that you could find on your own if you knew what to search for and where to search. I'm just doing the work in putting it together and hopefully will be able to depend on indie filmmakers to provide me with links to their films I can use. This is simply another way to help promote indie film and at the same time give a finger to network TV.

This will take some time to set up, most especially with my internet being as poor as it is. Right now I'm looking at it being a few months away. I'll keep you updated.

*Addendum - I cannot use VOD, Prime or any other paid or subscription services for this. The idea is to make it like a block of TV programming someone can just tune in and watch. This means free to watch and publicly accessible videos only. The advantage to you as a filmmaker is getting your work seen and also being introduced via this promotion to people who may not be familiar with you or your work.

Fletch

Luna Films Announces Production of Three Knee Deep

Luna Films has announced that James Marshall (Twin Peaks, A Few Good Men) and Louis Mandylor (My Big Fat Greek Wedding, Martial Law) have signed to star in the new series Three Knee Deep, which goes into production in Bucharest in January 2018.

Three Knee Deep is a harrowing psychological drama set against the backdrop of the world of “black ops” special rendition and detention. The show will follow the lives of a handful of criminals incarcerated in a secret prison and the lengths that certain government officials will go to get what they want.

The first season will consist of 5 episodes. The series will be shopped upon completion.

Marshall is hot off Showtime’s Twin Peaks, in which he reprised his role of James Hurley, while Mandylor recently completed work on Jesse V. Johnson’s The Pay Up.

Bobby Barbacioru (Hotel of the Damned) directs and produces under his Luna Films umbrella.

Holt Boggs, Adam Horner, Manuela Harabor and Marius Stanescu are set to co-star in the series.

Keep up with series updates on the Three Knee Deep Facebook page. For more information on Bobby Barbacioru you can check out his IMDb profile and his director reel on YouTube.

Lisa Ovies to Direct Beverly Hills Lizard People

Cthulhu Crush Productions have announced that filmmaker Lisa Ovies will direct horror-comedy Beverly Hills Lizard People.

Written by Cthulhu Crush’s Jody Wheeler, Beverly Hills Lizard People is described as a mix of Slither and Scream, and tells of an ancient race of shape-shifting Lizard People from the depths of the Earth who return to the surface to reclaim what was once theirs: Beverly Hills.

An estimated 12.5 million Americans believe in the existence of Lizard People.

Wheeler and Steve Parker produce for Cthulhu Crush Productions alongside I No.Films.

Ovies is an award winning producer, director and actress. Her feature Taking My Parents to Burning Man took home audience choice awards at the Sonoma International Film Festival, the Newport Beach Film Festival and the Maui Film Festival. Puppet Killer, currently in post-production, has gotten huge buzz and anticipation based on its unique premise.

“Lisa got BHLP from word one. She not only got the horror elements, but the moments of humor peppered through the script, laughs that emerged from the terror, not in spite of it,” Wheeler said.

“Everyone swears they’ve met people who were not quite human,” Parker said. “Who knows? They may indeed have been shape-shifting reptilians looking to rule the world.  Or just looking to improve their tan.”

“I had to direct this,” Ovies said. “It’s a crazy blend of horror, humor, and personal empowerment — precisely the kind of stories I love to tell. I’m looking forward to getting people to wonder what’s really beneath the skin of their best friends or loved ones.”

Ovies is represented by Moving Pictures Talent & Entertainment Group. Her IMDb page.

Beverly Hills Lizard People will be the fourth Cthulhu Crush Production, whose films include Love, Colin and the current horror flick WTF!. Wheeler and Parker were also creatives on cult hits Judas Kiss and The Dark Place.

Production is slated to begin Summer 2018, in Vancouver, Canada.

Official Synopsis

Disturbed from their ancient slumber by the excavation of a cross-town subway, the ancient reptilian masters of a faded empire strike out to reclaim what was once theirs: Beverly Hills.

Ground zero for their invasion? A once popular, though now faded, hotel, currently the site of a reality TV cooking show competition, and directly overhead of their secret city. Can the collection of unlikely contestants — ambitious, backstabbing, and determined — stop the shape-shifting Terrors From Below below before the reptilian ravagers achieve their goal of conquering first Beverly Hills and then the world?

Jody Wheeler

CEO & Creative Partner

Jody Wheeler is an award-winning creative, based in Los Angeles. He is the writer-producer-director of the 2014 mystery-thriller THE DARK PLACE, the writer of HEAT WAVE, the producer JUDAS KISS and the forthcoming WTF!. He wrote for the groundbreaking TV series “Inside / Outside The Beltway.” His short film “In The Closet” was nominated for the 2008 IRIS Prize. He’s a graduate of the UCLA MFA Screenwriting program.

Steve Parker

CFO & Creative Partner

Steve Parker is an award-winning editor and executive producer, based in San Francisco. He directed, shot and edited the music video of Tom Robinson’s “Loved By You”, produced  the shorts “Begging for Change”, and “Barbie Boy,” and the feature films JUDAS KISS, THE DARK PLACE, and the forthcoming WTF!. He recently directed the short “Love, Colin”, set to premiere in 2016.

Want Me to Promote Your Film with Cartoon Captions?

No, I'm not offering a pay for promotion service, or any kind of paid service. This is just something I do for fun, that coincidentally can help to promote your indie film using humor; and also sates my sadistic tendencies for torture. :)

Some of you, yeah the both of you, have probably noticed the captioned screencaps I have been using to promote Slashening 2's crowdfunding. I started this on my own initiative promoting the release of Fear Town, USA and the first The Slashening on Blu-ray. The reason why is because if you've seen their work you already know they have a damn good sense of humor. And frankly, having seen the ending of Fear Town, USA, they pretty much set a line that would be hard to cross. They promised to cross that line in Slashening 2, and I'm not sure I want to see what can cross that line. O.O

Of course the point of that rambling is that Brandon and Rey have provided me with screencaps to use, perhaps at times regretfully on their part, and I don't know if there is such a thing as going too far when the picture you're starting with has a plate of vagina on the wall. But to do the same thing with others' films might offend someone.

If you want me to promote your film with my captioning, you'll have to tell me, and of course either provide screencaps or provide a download I can screencap myself. And of course you'll have to have a good sense of humor.

Before you ask me, have a look at some of the captioning I did for Slashening 2:

If you still have the daring and gumption to ask, contact me on my Twitter or Facebook page. And don't forget you can support the making of Slashening 2 by donating on their GoFundMe page.

Toxic Fletch

Indie Filmmakers: Getting Higher Ratings for Your Movies

Whether it was three decades ago or today's online community with its social media, good buzz on a movie has always been necessary. Things have changed though and the expression "there's no such thing as bad publicity" does not apply to films when it comes to their online ratings. 

We don't buy printed movie guides anymore. Instead of just what one reviewer says being pertinent it is now the average of what anybody says that determines a movie's online rating. So if everybody is talking, just how can you influence everybody? Well, you can't; but you can influence the talk before it gets started.

For some context for this article, I am just someone with a blog who posts opinions about movies. That does not make me a film critic and I am certainly not a filmmaker. As a filmmaker, you know better how to promote your film than I would, but as a reviewer I know some things that makes reviewers tick, and I'm going to share one of those that will help some of you to get better ratings on your films just starting out.

The key is that we who review movies online are not very original. We're even less original than the flurry of remakes, sequels and reboots flooding the theaters and TV today. This is nothing new as often times through the years anybody who has had to share an opinion on something has often relied on the opinions of others to form theirs.

The reason, as I have probably stated to some of you, that I don't read reviews before I write mine is that I find so much duplicity in online reviews. People are often swayed by the opinions of others for their own opinions, and that is central to getting good ratings at the outset.

What you need is 1) to find reviewers you feel will be friendly to you and/or your type of movie and 2) who also rate the movies they review on other sites like IMDb, TMDb, and Letterboxd. If your initial wave of reviewers is friendly to you, then your rating is going to be higher. IMDb is the most important site to get a good average rating on as it is the first one that comes up in searches for your movie, and other reviewers will be using it to cull information for their reviews, and will be influenced by the rating; it only takes 5 ratings on IMDb to get a rating average.

Well now just how do you find reviewers who will likely be friendly to you, and who rate movies on IMDb? Well through IMDb, silly. Find movies on IMDb you feel are in a similar category as your movie, that have a good average rating, and check under the critic reviews. Those sites/reviewers most likely posted links themselves and probably rated the movie on IMDb as well. You can follow those links and if you're smart enough to make a movie you're smart enough to figure out who's the easy pickings by reading their reviews.

Of course the bigger sites are important. If you get one of the bigger sites to give your film a review and they pan it, then you're going to have reviewers influenced by that. You may want to consider getting some positive vibe going first before asking the bigger review sites. Reverse the influence so to speak.

I am not an expert on movie promotion or on other reviewers. This is just a trend I have noticed. That doesn't mean it's science or foolproof. But it does give you a perspective you might be able to use to help get your films noticed, and in a more positive light.

Will some reviewers likely be upset with me for posting this, or even likely be offended by my comments? I can only hope! :)

Indie Film Crowdfunding: The Electra Complex

The Electra Complex is a feature length film written by Clarissa Jacobson and Jessica Janos, directed by Jessica Janos and starring Violet Paley and Kansas Bowling as two punk rock conceptual artist strippers destroying Hollywood circa 1992.

Time and Place: Hollywood, 1992.  

What Was: Beepers were in, G.G. Allin was alive. Ecstasy was cool and a sick house in the hills was selling for under half a mil.

What is: Too bad Rachel Keith, squatter punk, 19, only has five...  

Cents.

Jessica Janos, from an interview on We Are Moving Stories talks about her upcoming project:

"Electra Complex, a feature film I wrote with Clarissa Jacobson. Set in early 90s Hollywood, it’s about two punk rock, conceptual-artist strippers. Our logline is: Pussy. Brains. Punk. FUCK YOU!!! I’m yet to see how effective that logline is, but this is a funny, deep, dirty, sexy, sad, victorious story and so fun to read."

Guy Jackson said of the screenplay:

"For my money, THE ELECTRA COMPLEX is also one of the single best feminist screenplays I have ever read. It pulls off that win by setting its audience up for a Sleaze-A-Thon of sex, drugs, strippers, and women making seemingly horrific life decisions, and all seeming for the benefit of the leeriest of audience members...THEN reverses that flow in A Flow Reversal Miracle that'll make men question every dark thought they've ever had about women and make women cheer. It's a reversal that also achieves an extraordinary substance, it turns a new angle of spotlight on maltreatment of women."

This is Independent Filmmaking. There are no billionaire studios getting big business support in exchange for screen credits. These are filmmakers who have to pay their own way, and pay for everything. They depend on the support of regular people like us and not freebies from big business. As such, this film is being made in parts, as many independent films are, as they are able to get the funds. You can help them to make the next part.

Support this indie film by donating on their IndieGoGo Page.

Keep up with The Electra Complex on Twitter and Facebook.